AFI Film Festival Thru Thursday: The Crème De La Creme

Plan to plant yourself in Hollywood for the rest of this week, reveling in the fantastic films from around the world, as well as Galas; Special Screenings; Panels, Roundtables, and Conversations; New Auteurs, American Independents, Midnight Terrors, Breakthrough Discoveries, Classics, Recent Restorations, and Shorts sections.

You don't even need a date for this exciting venture. You'll be surrounded by like minded individuals eager to chat and converse about their favorite flicks. You may even connect with a future possibility since they say, water seeks its own level.

How lucky to not only live in the movie capital but to be able to take the subway right to the center of Hollywood, where the Festival takes place, avoiding parking hassles, freeway congestion, and outrageous gas prices. From Studio City’s Universal Metro station, it’s merely a hop ski and a jump, i.e. one exit, taking a few minutes. Now try to beat that!

I was fortunate enough to attend a special screening of the French/Iranian/Italian film The Past, Iran’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission for 2012. The director/writer, Asghar Farhadi, previously helmed A Separation, 2011’s Academy Award Winner for Best Foreign Film.

Farhadi appeared at a Q & A following the film, revealing his thoughts, via an interpreter, on the movie’s meaning and his intentions. Jacqueline Lyanga, Director of AFI Fest ’13, who has done a superb job picking the best of the best for the festival, was terrific interviewing Farhadi.

The Past handles deep and intense relationship themes that are provocative, profound, and penetrating. It’s an enlightening and illuminating expose on interpersonal communication, integrity, misinterpretations, faux pas, forgiveness, forgetting the past, friction, fear, and the blending of families.

Everyone can relate to these issues and Farhadi has made sure to include multiple perspectives and viewpoints, particularly those from the three children, Pauline Burlet (Lucie), Elyes Aguis (Fouad), and Jeanne Jestin (Lea), all who display excellent acting skills, quiet confidence, and persuasive believability.

Berenice Bejo (Oscar nominated for The Artist) is once again stunning to watch as the lead character, for which she won a Palme D’Or Best Actress Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in May.

Bejo stars as a single mother of teenager, Lucie and younger daughter, Lea. She's divorcing her ex-husband, Samir, (although not the father of her offspring) in order to marry Ahmad, whose wife is in a coma, and whom she is currently living with, along with his young son, Fouad.

If you think that’s convoluted, be prepared for continuous, unexpected intrigue. To reveal any further plot points would take away from the pleasure and stimulation of the surprises, twists, and turns, which make this brilliant feature so moving and mesmerizing.

Both male principals, Ali Mosaffa (Ahmad) and Tahar Rahim (Samir), give compelling performances with powerful screen presence and are especially easy on the eyes.

You’ll be in awe during the intensity of the final scene, yearning for more, as you sense the passion Farhadi has successfully conveyed through his potent, effective direction and impressive script.

Check out the red carpet photos for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, based on Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, covering his life and the 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa’s president.

Idris Elba plays Mandela and Naomie Harris, his wife Winnie. Director Justin Chadwick won Best Drama Serial by the British Academy Television Awards for his highly acclaimed TV miniseries, Bleak House, and helmed The Other Boleyn Girl and The First Grader.

Producer, Anant Singh and composer Alex Heffes were present on the red carpet.

Free tickets, packages, passes and more info at afi.com/afifest.