Oscar Isaac in ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’

As the summer movie season starts to come to a close, the next phase in the movie year focuses on the the films jockeying for a ticket to the Dolby Theater next March.  One stop on the road comes with the onslaught of the fall festival season, where studios big and small hope to ride the waves of good buzz and positive early reviews to awards glory and independently made films hope to lock in distribution.  The Venice Film Festival opens August 28th and will premiere the eagerly anticipated Alfonso Cuaron science fiction film Gravity, while the Toronto Film Festival will run concurrently unveiling a wide assortment of films including August: Osage County and The Fifth Estate.   Other key festivals include Telluride, which historically keeps their selections a secret until screening time, and the New York Film Festival, which is set to premiere Captain Phillips.  Now comes word that the Coen Brothers may take their Inside Llewyn Davis to the AFI Film Festival as the closing night gala.

Inside Llewyn Davis, the sixteenth feature film from writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen, made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this past May where it won the Grand Prix (or second place) under the jury headed by president Steven Spielberg, and earned stellar reviews nearly across the board.  The film centers on a week in the life of Llewyn Davis, a folk singer, as he struggles to navigate through the Greenwich Village scene in 1961.  Up and coming actor Oscar Isaac (Drive) stars in the film along with Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund, Emmy nominee Adam Driver and frequent Coen Brothers collaborator John Goodman.  CBS Films acquired the title this past spring and will release the film on December 6th.

The AFI Film Festival is one of the last stops on the festival road, taking place in the beginning of November, which typically prevents the Los Angeles-based film festival from capturing big-ticket premieres, instead relying on continuing the buzz of past festival highlights.  Inside Llewyn Davis, which is also headed for a slot at NYFF, would close the film festival November 14th.  Last year’s closing night entry was Steven Spielberg’s eventual Oscar also-ran Lincoln.  Check out the latest trailer for Inside Llewyn Davis below.