Los Angeles, Oct 9 (AP/UNB) — Clint Eastwood's film "Richard Jewell" is having its world premiere at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles in November.

The American Film Institute announced Tuesday that the film had been added to a lineup for its annual film festival.

Eastwood directed the film, written by Billy Ray, about the true story of the security guard who went from hero to suspect after the 1996 Atlanta Olympic bombing that killed one woman. Paul Walter Hauser plays the title character. Sam Rockwell, Kathy Bates and Jon Hamm co-star.

"Richard Jewell," a Warner Bros. release, will open in theaters on Dec. 13.

The 2019 AFI Fest will open with the premiere of "Queen & Slim" on Nov. 14 and close with "The Banker" on Nov. 21.

Beijing, Oct. 9 (Xinhua/UNB) -- Patriotic films dominated Chinese theaters during the National Day holiday and generated a record 5 billion yuan (about 708 million U.S. dollars) of box office revenue.

China saw a total of 135 million moviegoers from Sept. 30 to Oct. 7, with three key movies, namely "My People, My Country," "The Captain" and "The Climbers," raking in 2.22 billion yuan, 1.98 billion yuan and 823 million yuan, respectively, figures from the China Movie Data Information Network showed Tuesday.

The trio of patriotic films' box office success indicates audiences' recognition of the filmmakers' innovative and enterprising spirit in artistic creation. Also, the national feeling displayed in the movies echoes the rising patriotic passion among the Chinese people, said Sun Xianghui, director of the China Film Art Research Center.

RECOGNITION

A seven-part epic anthology by seven directors led by Chen Kaige, "My People, My Country," has become the top-grossing film in terms of audience satisfaction among all the domestic films ever surveyed, according to the China Film Archive.

The film recalls seven important historical moments in China over the past seven decades, ranging from the founding of the PRC in 1949, China's successful test of its first atomic bomb, the return of Hong Kong to the motherland in 1997, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games to the Shenzhou 11 manned mission crew members' safe returning to Earth in 2016.

"My People, My Country" earned a record 91 points out of a total of 100 in the latest China film audience satisfaction survey covering the three Chinese films that premiered around Oct. 1, the National Day.

It ranked the first in terms of audience satisfaction among all the 267 domestic films covered since the survey was launched in early 2015, according to the archive.

Co-conducted by the China Film Art Research Center, the China film audience satisfaction survey is a film evaluation system independent of the China film box office.

The survey adopts methods of on-site sampling surveys at theaters, online surveys of film industry workers and experts and big data analysis to comprehensively evaluate domestic films from the perspectives of screen depiction, ideological content and film popularity.

"The Captain," a cinematic portrayal of a miraculous emergency landing of the Sichuan Airlines flight 3U8633 in May 2018, took the sixth place on the audience satisfaction chart covering all the domestic films ever surveyed by scoring 87.1 points, according to the archive.

"The Climbers," which dramatizes the real-life expedition of Chinese mountaineers ascending Mount Qomolangma in 1960 and 1975, came the 12th with 85.4 points.

The overall audience satisfaction with Chinese films screened during the just-concluded National Day holiday reached 88.6 points, the highest ever recorded by the survey, which has so far covered 31 seasonal and holiday screening periods, the archive said.

INNOVATION

By putting the spotlight on ordinary people, "My People, My Country" adopts a much different approach for history telling from previous films of the same genre.

It stars Huang Bo as an engineer who manages to make an electric flagpole for the PRC's founding ceremony on Oct. 1, 1949, Ge You as a Beijing taxi driver who gets a ticket to the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games but offers it to a boy who lost his father in a deadly earthquake that year and Zhang Yi as an unnamed researcher who contributes to China's nuclear science research.

Through examining the seemingly distant yet close ties between individuals and the country featuring the historical, classic moments over the past 70 years, the film aims to awaken the "common memories" of Chinese people around the world.

"Either based on real-life events or inspired by historical moments, the three films are works that come in step with the pulse of the times with warm feelings," said Li Qian, a Beijing-based screenwriter.

Depicting legendary moments from the angles of the ordinary makes "My People, My Country" a patriotic film that is easy for viewers to resonate with, she added.

Foreseeing further potential for the patriotic film trio to continue their market success in the days to come, the China Film Archive commended in a statement their achievements in broadening the genre of and lifting the popularity of patriotic films.

Los Angeles, Oct. 9 (Xinhua/UNB) -- In a charming outdoor setting at Raleigh Studios lot in Hollywood, California, amid glowing linen tents and cozy clusters of comfy couches, a handsome crowd of cinephiles lined up to join the Hollywood Film Festival (HFF), which kicked its new season off with a bang over the past weekend.

The festival, under the direction of Chairman Bradford Parks and CEO David Knott, has undergone an important transformation over the last couple of years to become a younger, cooler one dedicated to the principles of diversity, inclusion and global outreach.

"We see ourselves as the United Nations for film festivals," Parks told Xinhua.

"For us, it's not just about hosting an action-packed week of high-profile screenings and VIP parties. It's about providing new talent from around the globe with real access to Hollywood and building long-term relationships with our global partners that last a lifetime," Parks said.

"More than just a competition, HFF strives to create relationships between filmmakers and producers and representatives, fashioning an open environment in an industry that is experiencing significant change across all sectors," reported Variety, a renowned American entertainment news outlet.

HFF is now fired up with their new mission. "We'd like to make it possible for every talented kid in every country in the world to have a chance to come to Hollywood and take a seat at the VIP table," Knott told Xinhua.

It is making strides toward that laudable goal. As a significant step toward creating opportunities in Hollywood for filmmakers of many nations, HFF established high-level relations with China via the China Film Association, the International Creative Coalition, and American Hollywood Television & Film Media group.

Items under discussion were cooperative opportunities in film, masterclasses and cultural events with an eye to serving as a positive bridge between U.S. filmmakers and their Chinese counterparts.

At the 2019 Opening Night this past weekend, HFF announced its second official international alliance with the members of the Cannes Film Festival's African Pavilion, led by the Pavilion's President and Founder Karina Barclais.

Newly-appointed Kenyan Consul General to Los Angeles Njeri Karago told Xinhua: "We welcome this opportunity to work with HFF to develop the Kenyan and African film industries to the next level."

"We are at a turning point," Barclais told Xinhua. "There will come a time when white directors don't look for a black actor or a white actor, they will look for an artist who can play the part. But we still have a long way to go."

"As a writer and filmmaker who has been working to improve the representation of women and blacks in the media, we hope this association with HFF will help us tell our own authentic stories," said award-winning author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga of Zimbabwe.

She said that Hollywood tends to make stereotypical African stories or stories about slavery. "We are African filmmakers, but we are also individual artists with our own unique voices who want to make films about ordinary individuals with their own strengths, fears, and aspirations."

The HFF panel on the state of the African film industry also touched on the striking similarities between the African film industry now and the Chinese film industry just 15 years ago.

In 2004, China's box office was a little over 20 million U.S. dollars, but now its box office is almost 9 billion dollars, according to HFF's Grand Jury.

"Africa has 1.8 billion people. With the right industry infra-structure and government support, there is nothing to stop Africa from achieving the same success," it said.

HFF also hosted compelling panels on topics such as the pros and cons of social media influencers, and the future of AR/VR/XR tech-driven media.

Los Angeles, Oct 8 (AP/UNB) — Eagles are planning massive performances of their album "Hotel California" during their 2020 tour.

Performances of the band's 1976 album will include a 46-piece orchestra and a 22-voice choir. Organizers announced Tuesday that in total, 77 musicians are expected to be onstage while Eagles perform hits from the album including "New Kid in Town" and "Life in the Fast Lane."

The band's 2020 tour will kick off Feb. 7 in Atlanta and end April 18 in Los Angeles. Stops will include New York, Dallas, Houston and San Francisco.

The band recently performed the album in its entirety at shows in Las Vegas, the first time in its history that it had played the whole album in concert.

Tickets go on sale Friday on Ticketmaster.

Beijing, Oct. 8 (Xinhua/UNB) -- "My People, My Country," a film that draws on historical and classic moments since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in October 1949, has become the top-scoring film in terms of audience satisfaction among all the domestic films ever surveyed, according to the China Film Archive.

Debuting on Sept. 30 as a gift for the nation as the PRC celebrates its 70th founding anniversary this year, the film earned a record 91 points out of a total of 100 in the latest China film audience satisfaction survey covering three Chinese films that premiered around the National Day, Oct. 1.

It ranked first in terms of audience satisfaction among all the 267 domestic films covered since the survey was launched in early 2015, the archive said.

Featuring seven short stories and seven directors led by Chen Kaige, "My People, My Country" focuses on the seemingly distant yet close ties between individuals and the country, aiming to awaken the common memories of Chinese people around the world.

Co-conducted by the China Film Art Research Center, the China film audience satisfaction survey is a film evaluation system independent of the China film box office.

The survey adopts methods of on-site sampling surveys at theaters, online surveys of film industry workers and experts and big data analysis to comprehensively evaluate domestic films from the perspectives of screen depiction, ideological content and film popularity.

"My People, My Country" has grossed a total box office of more than 2.2 billion yuan (about 308 million U.S. dollars) on the Chinese mainland over the past eight days, according to the China Movie Data Information Network.