Kate Beckinsale’s “Love & Friendship” to open San Francisco Film Fest

PanARMENIAN.Net - The 59th San Francisco International Film Festival will open with Whit Stillman’s “Love & Friendship,” starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny, on April 21 at the Castro Theatre, Variety reports.

“Love & Friendship,” an adaptation of a Jane Austen novella, centers on Beckinsale’s character trying to finagle her way out of a scandal and gain matrimonial advantage for herself and her daughter. It’s set in the 1790s as it peers into the affairs of the privileged and those who aspire to be.

Amazon and Roadside Attractions acquired the domestic rights to the film at Sundance this year. The comedy of manners reunites Stillman with “Last Days of Disco” stars Beckinsale and Sevigny. Xavier Samuel, Stephen Fry and Emma Greenwell round out the cast.

Stillman and Beckinsale are expected to attend the San Francisco screening.

The festival also set James Schamus’ directorial debut “Indignation,” starring Logan Lerman, as its centerpiece event on April 30 at the Victoria Theatre. The film is based on novelist Philip Roth’s fictionalized account of his college experiences in the ’50s.

Schamus is expected to attend.

The festival will come to a close May 5 at the Castro with local director Jesse Moss’ documentary “The Bandit,” a look at Burt Reynolds, stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham and their high-speed pursuit comedy “Smokey and the Bandit.”