Christian Bale, Casey Affleck’s “Out of Furnace” included in AFI Fest lineup

PanARMENIAN.Net - Bennett Miller’s “Foxcatcher” won't be finished in time for this year's AFI Fest 2013, but programmers at the festival have added the world premiere of “Out of the Furnace” to this fall's gathering, LA Times reported.

The festival also will screen Ben Stiller’s remake of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and hold a tribute for Bruce Dern, who stars in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska.”

"Out of the Furnace," directed by Scott Cooper (“Crazy Heart”), stars Christian Bale as a blue-collar worker trying to save his troubled war veteran brother (Casey Affleck), who has run afoul of a bad man played by Woody Harrelson.

Festival organizers previously announced that they would host screenings of director John Lee Hancock’s “Saving Mr. Banks,” its North American premiere opening the AFI Fest, and writer-director Joel and Ethan Coen’s “Inside Llewyn Davis,” which will be the closing-night presentation.

"Mitty" previously played at the New York Film Festival while "Nebraska" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

This year’s festival is Nov. 7-14.

AFI Fest is the American Film Institute's annual celebration of artistic excellence. The festival is a celebration of global cinema and today’s Hollywood – a showcase for the best festival films of the year and an opportunity for master filmmakers and emerging artists to come together with audiences in the movie capital of the world. AFI Fest is the only festival of its stature that is free to the public. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI Fest as a qualifying festival for the Short Films category for the annual Academy Awards.

The festival has paid tribute to numerous influential filmmakers and artists over the years, including Agnès Varda, Pedro Almodóvar and David Lynch as Guest Artistic Directors, and has screened scores of films that have produced Oscar nominations and wins.