We still haven’t grown up. Freaks & Geeks at the 17th AFF. Festival passes
The geeks among you will have spotted it: on this very day last year, we announced the exact same section right here. The freaks have something simpler to remember—that they can finally buy a pass for the 17th TAURON American Film Festival. It’s hardly surprising that we’re returning to the subject of arrested development right now: we haven’t come of age ourselves yet. We’re still a year away from eighteen—and, by American standards, a full four years. So we have every right to take our time, just like the characters in the second edition of Freaks & Geeks, which we’re once again putting together with Filmweb from comedies made two decades ago. Festival passes and media and industry accreditations go on sale today, while the festival itself returns to Wrocław, as always, from November 17 to 22.
Passes and accreditations
Festival passes and media and industry accreditations—available to working journalists and film industry professionals—can be purchased until October 31 or while supplies last. They offer the fullest festival experience, with access to 26 on-site screenings. Passes and accreditations do not include access to the online edition.
Prices:
-
Festival pass: PLN 390
-
Festival pass for New Horizons Cinema Friends Club Card holders: PLN 375
-
Industry accreditation: PLN 390
-
Media accreditation: PLN 290
Details on purchasing and using passes and accreditation
Adulthood is overrated
A stretched-out T-shirt from your favorite band or a haircut entrusted exclusively to the scissors of close friends. A dead-end job or an entire day spent procrastinating with buddies on the couch. A table littered with empty bottles or a bong wedged onto the middle shelf of a sticky bookcase. You know the type—you met him at last year’s American Film Festival, during screenings in the Freaks & Geeks section. This year’s edition does what sequels to twenty-first-century comedies tend to do: it gives its protagonists room to grow up, then acts surprised when they never quite get around to it.
After coming-of-age stories, then, it’s time for tales of those who—although they really should have—took their sweet time growing up. American comedy of the 2000s is a treasure trove of such narratives, turning the deadlock between self-determination and a crumbling value system into the defining dilemma of its era. It is often a dilemma the characters themselves remain unaware of, one that leaves them tragically stuck in place. It falls to skilled screenwriters and directors with a feel for improvisation to make these eccentrics see it.
To do so, filmmakers will sometimes have to shout over guitar riffs (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), and at other times cut through clouds of marijuana-induced haze (Pineapple Express). They will also confront their protagonists’ stubborn refusal to grow up with formative moments: a pregnancy that forces radical change, only to call its purpose and validity into question (Knocked Up), or an impending wedding that, alongside romantic fulfillment, reveals a profound shortage of another kind of love—the love between friends (I Love You, Man). Ceremonies will have a special power this year, with wedding altars witnessing the intertwined fates of rivals vying for their friend’s heart (Bridesmaids), as well as sons raised by single parents who must start calling each other brothers when their parents begin a new relationship (Step Brothers). Best of all, you don’t need to bring a wedding gift—just a sense of humor and a willingness to join this big comedy wedding bash.
Pineapple Express, dir. David Gordon Green
The programme will feature:
-
Step Brothers, dir. Adam McKay
-
I Love You, Man, dir. John Hamburg
-
Pineapple Express, dir. David Gordon Green
-
Bridesmaids, dir. Paul Feig
-
Knocked Up, dir. Judd Apatow
-
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, dir. Jake Kasdan
The series remains in the hands of Filmweb editors Jan Lubaczewski and Maciej Satora, who are also returning with another season of the podcast accompanying the section. They’ll discuss every film in this year’s lineup, with the first episode arriving October 12.
17th TAURON American Film Festival: what’s in the lineup?
As always, the festival program will feature the latest and best independent films from the US, international festival hits, top-tier Hollywood productions and cult classics. We recently announced the first titles in the Women on the Road section—a program that takes this year’s theme out for a spin. We’ll be revealing more of the lineup over the coming weeks, so be sure to follow AFF on social media. The full program will be announced November 3, followed by the launch of sales for individual on-site screening tickets, online packages and online access on November 5.
Read about the Women on the Road section
