‘Rifkin’s Festival’ Trailer: Woody Allen Returns with a San Sebastian Film Festival Romance
Zack Sharf
Woody Allen’s career continues to plow ahead with the upcoming world premiere of his new romantic-comedy “Rifkin’s Festival” on the opening night of Spain’s 2020 San Sebastian Film Festival (September 18). The occasion makes sense for “Rifkin’s Festival” as the story centers around an American couple who attends the San Sebastian Film Festival. Allen shot the film on location in San Sebastian.
“Rifkin’s Festival” stars Gina Gershon and Wallace Shawn as the American couple who travel to the San Sebastian Film Festival and are pulled in opposite directions. The wife starts an affair with a famous French film director and the husband falls in love with a local Spanish woman. The cast also includes Elena Anaya, Louis Garrel, and Christoph Waltz.
“Rifkin’s Festival” will mark Allen’s second San Sebastian opener after “Melinda and Melinda” at the 2004 festival, where he was also the recipient of the Donostia Award for career achievement. Other Allen films that have played San Sebastian include “Manhattan,” “Zelig,” “Match Point,” and “Irrational Man,” among others.
Allen’s latest film arrives at a time when he continues to be a polarizing cultural figure due to the allegation of sexual assault made against him by his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow. The last Woody Allen movie, “A Rainy Day in New York,” was dropped by distributor Amazon Studios in the wake of the resurfaced allegation and never opened in U.S. theaters or on VOD platforms. Allen’s “Rainy Day” stars Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Hall spoke out against him and donated their salaries from working on the film to anti-harassment charities.
The release of Allen’s latest book, “Apropos of Nothing,” also caused an uproar earlier this year. Hachette, the original publishing company who had the rights to the book, dropped “Apropos of Nothing” because of backlash. Employees of the company even staged a walkout when it was announced Hachette would be releasing the book. Allen’s book was later picked up and released by Arcade Publishing.
There are no current U.S. release plans for “Rifkin’s Festival.” Given that Allen’s “A Rainy Day in a New York” never received a U.S. theatrical release, it’s unclear if Allen’s latest will ever land a domestic distributor. Watch the official trailer for “Rifkin’s Festival” in the video below.
You may also like
