LA BAMBA Special Screening Introduced by Star Lou Diamond Phillips

Kent Jones’ work as a director includes the multiple award-winning DIANE (2019); the documentary landmark HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT (a Film Forum premiere in 2015); and A LETTER TO ELIA (2010), co-directed with Martin Scorsese. A longtime collaborator of Scorsese’s, Jones co-wrote his epic documentary MY VOYAGE TO ITALY (1999). Jones’ film criticism has appeared in multiple journals, magazines, catalogues, newspapers, and web publications. He is the author of several books, including Physical Evidence, a collection of his criticism, and the BFI Modern Classics volume on Robert Bresson’s L’ARGENT. In addition, he was the editor of a 2012 book on Olivier Assayas, published by the Vienna Film Museum. He served as Executive Director of the World Cinema Project from 2009 to 2012 and, from 2013 to 2019, he served as Director of The New York Film Festival, where his curatorial vision helped shape the global cinematic conversation. Jones was a 2012 Guggenheim fellow. In 2015, he was made a Chevalier de l’Order des Arts et Lettres by the French government. He lives in New York City. Willem Dafoe has appeared in well over one hundred films and is internationally respected for his versatility and bold performances. Driven by artistic curiosity, he explores the human condition through a wide range of projects across the globe, from large-scale productions to independent cinema. His upcoming films include THE BIRTHDAY PARTY, GONZO GIRL, TENZING, and WERWULF. Next year and onward, he will be seen in TIME OUT, WHITE LIES, CUDDLE, and A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Dafoe has received four Academy Award® nominations—for PLATOON, SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, THE FLORIDA PROJECT, and AT ETERNITY’S GATE—along with numerous other major critical and international honors. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with many of the most influential directors in modern cinema. He also remains deeply connected to experimental theater as a founding member of The Wooster Group and currently serves as Artistic Director of the theatre department for the Venice Biennale. Edmund Donovan is an actor whose work across film, television, and theater has quickly established him as one of the industry’s rising talents. His breakout performance in LATE FAME has earned early critical praise following the film’s premieres at the Venice and New York Film Festivals. Named one of Variety’s “10 Actors to Watch” for 2025, he recently wrapped production as the male lead on the highly anticipated THE NIGHTINGALE, TriStar’s feature adaptation of the global bestseller by Kristin Hannah, starring Dakota and Elle Fanning. Other notable credits include Hulu’s Tell Me Lies, Apple Original Films’ ECHO VALLEY, starring opposite Sydney Sweeney and Julianne Moore; the 2024 Sundance pic YOUR MONSTER, as well as Alex Garland’s A24 pic CIVIL WAR alongside Kirsten Dunst. Breaking out with his theater performance in Samuel D. Hunter’s play Greater Clements, he earned an Obie Award, a Drama Desk Award, and a Lucille Lortel Award. And he made his Broadway debut in the Tony-nominated Clyde’s. Donovan resides in New York.