Guests Expected
This screening will feature an in-depth onstage conversation with director Olivia Wilde. Actors Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, and Nico Hiraga are expected to attend.
Description
On the eve of their high school graduation, driven students Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein) realize they’ve excelled at academics and failed at fun. They plan to erase that mistake by stuffing four years of hijinks into one wild night. In her feature directing debut, actress Olivia Wilde offers a lively, uproarious, and fresh take on the teen comedy that balances hilarity with genuine heart.
“Not since Superbad has a high school comedy so perfectly nailed how exhilarating it feels to act out at that age, capturing the thrill of making a series of potentially irreversible mistakes with the person who’s always been there for you, even as it acknowledges the inevitability that said confidante can’t be your wing-woman forever.” — Peter Debruge, Variety
Sponsored by
Co-Presented by
Sketchfest
With Support From
Sharon and Stan Meresman
Anne MacMillian Pedrero and Robert Pedrero
After starting her career as an actor, Olivia Wilde has branched out into producing, writing, and directing. She won a News & Documentary Emmy Award for her role as an executive producer on the documentary short Body Team 12 (2015). She made her writing and directing debut with the narrative short Free Hugs (2011) and went on to direct the short No Love Like Yours (2016) and the music videos Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros: No Love Like Yours (2016) and Red Hot Chili Peppers: Dark Necessities (2016). Booksmart is her feature directorial debut, of which she says, “ I’m really inspired by the teen comedies that inspired me when I was younger, and [Booksmart] feels like a modern-day Clueless meets Dazed and Confused. I think it has a very, very unusual and fun tone to it. It’s a very personal movie… The whole idea of the movie is learning to really see people, and to feel seen yourself.”
Trailer
Film Details
Year 2019
Language English
Runtime 105
Country USA
Director Olivia Wilde
Producer Megan Ellison, Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Jessica Elbaum, Katie Silberman
Writer Katie Silberman
Editor Jamie Gross
Cinematographer Jason McCormick
Cast Kaitlyn Dever, Beanie Feldstein, Jessica Williams, Will Forte, Lisa Kudrow, Jason Sudeikis
Print Source United Artists Releasing/Annapurna PicturesMariaS@AnnapurnaPics.com