Tim Blake Nelson will accompany his TIFF-premiering prison drama The Life And Deaths Of Wilson Shedd to the Philadelphia Film Festival later this month to be honored with the Artistic Achievement in Directing Award.
PFF’s 35th edition is set for Oct. 15-25 presented by nonprofit Philadelphia Film Society.
The Life And Deaths Of Wilson Shedd stars Amanda Seyfried as a creative writing teacher at a maximum security prison who falls for a charismatic inmate played by Scoot McNairy.
Also at the festival, Jesse Eisenberg will introduce the closing-night screening of his film The Debut after joining Terry Gross for an in-person Fresh Air Live conversation, the festival’s first partnership with the long-running interview show produced by Philadelphia’s WHYY.
Noah Segan will present The Only Living Pickpocket In New York with a Q&A after, as will Tony Gilroy for Behemoth!.
A mix of international cinema, independent films, documentaries, animation and repertory screenings includesCannes Palm d’Or-winnerFjord by Cristian Mungiu; James Gray’s Paper Tiger; Ava DuVernay’s 14th; Jordan Firstman’s Club Kid; Brad Bird’s Ray Gunn; All Of A Sudden by Ryûsuke Hamaguchi; Elsinore by Simon Stone; Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord; Josephine by Beth de Araújo; La Bola Negra by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, winner of the TIFF People’s Choice Award; and Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine.
PFF will screen North American premieres of Julien Gaspar-Oliveri’s The Blow and Warwick Thornton’s Wolfram; the U.S. premiere of Michaël R. Roskam’s Le Faux Soir; and East Coast premieres of Félix de Givry’s Goodbye Cruel World, Jay Silverman’s Yale, Neto Villalobos Brenes’ Love Is The Monster and Ken Kwapis’ We Are The Shaggs.
Festival sections include Filmadelphia, showcasing local filmmakers, State of the Union, Cinema de France, Sight & Soundtrack, After Hours, Masters of Cinema and From the Vaults.
Michael Lerman is the festival’s Artistic Director and chief creative officer, and Trey Shields is Director of Programming
PFF drew just over 30,000 attendees 2025. This year is looking higher. The fest’s website crashed twice after being inundated when it opened for ticket sales Thursday, organizers said.
The Film Society hosts about 250,000 people year-round across its cinemas, the historic 450-seat Film Society Center, which completed a $1.6 million renovation last year, as well as Film Society Bourse and Film Society East, both former Landmark locations.
