Press Release from the Lone Star Film Society
Billy Bob Thornton Project JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR to Open 2012 Lone Star Film Festival
Writer, Director and Star Thornton to Present Film on Opening Night, Participate in Audience Q&A
Lone Star Film Society Also Set to Honor the Academy Award Winner with its Lifetime Achievement Award at Festival Ball
FORT WORTH, Texas – Oct. 4, 2012 – The Lone Star Film Society (LSFS) today announced JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR, written, directed and starring Academy Award-winner Billy Bob Thornton, as the opening night film for the 2012 Lone Star Film Festival, Nov. 7 -11 in Sundance Square, Fort Worth.
Set in 1969 Alabama, JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR is a heartfelt and often hilarious family drama that touches on intergenerational conflict, mortality and the culture clash between two families – one American and one British – brought together by the death of a loved one. In addition to Thornton, the film’s top-notch cast includes fellow Oscar® winners Robert Duvall and John Hurt, Golden Globe winner Kevin Bacon, Robert Patrick, Frances O’Connor and Ray Stevenson.
“This film is Mr. Thornton’s first as a director in 10 years, which makes it a perfect opening night selection for the Lone Star Film Festival, where he will also be honored for his storied career as an actor,” said Alec Jhangiani, director of the Lone Star Film Society. “It gives us a unique opportunity to celebrate the multiple facets of his talent. That it is a Southern family drama with an outstanding ensemble cast makes it even more fitting for our festival and sure-fire fan favorite.”
While in Fort Worth to support his film at the festival, Thornton also will accept the Lone Star Film Society’s highest honor, the Achievement in Film Award. He will join fellow LSFS Achievement in Film honoree Albert S. Ruddy, Academy Award-winning producer of THE GODFATHER and MILLION DOLLAR BABY, and music legend Billy Joe Shaver, recipient of the Stephen Bruton Award, at the Lone Star Film Festival Ball on Thursday, November 8 at the Fort Worth Convention Center Ballroom.
Past recipients of the LSFS Achievement in Film Award include Jeff Bridges, Sidney Lumet, Martin Sheen, Bill Paxton and Gregory Peck. The Stephen Bruton Award, which celebrates exceptional artists whose careers, though anchored in music, include artistic expression in film, has been bestowed upon Kris Kristofferson, T Bone Burnett and Willie Nelson.
Representing the most dynamic talent in international cinema, the Lone Star Film Festival has become a marquee cultural event in Fort Worth. The 2012 Festival will once again feature the most talked about films of the year from all over the world, as well as educational panels, celebrity guests, and nightly parties featuring celebrated musical acts.
This year’s festival line-up will be announced next week with individual ticket sales available beginning October 10. Movie lovers who want to experience all the festival has to offer can purchase full-access passes now at http://www.lonestarfilmsociety.com.
Stay up to date with 2012 festival by liking Lone Star on Facebook and following Lone Star on Twitter @LoneStarFilmSoc.
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ABOUT BILLY BOB THORNTON
Academy Award-winning writer, actor, director and musician, Billy Bob Thornton has an extensive and impressive career in motion pictures, television and theater. Charismatic and uniquely talented, Thornton has established himself as one of the most sought after filmmakers of his generation.
Thornton’s 1996 release of the critically acclaimed and phenomenally popular feature film “Sling Blade,” which he starred in and directed from an original script he wrote, firmly secured his status as a preeminent filmmaker. For his efforts, he was honored with both an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. The film, produced by The Shooting Gallery and released by Miramax, also starred Robert Duvall, JT Walsh, Dwight Yoakum and John Ritter.
In 1998, Thornton received an Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his celebrated work in the tightly woven drama “A Simple Plan” for director Sam Raimi, as well as a Best Supporting Actor award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Screen Actors Guild.
Showing the versatility of his acting abilities, in 2001 Thornton starred in the caper comedy “Bandits” for director Barry Levinson and co-starring Bruce Willis and Cate Blanchett; the noir “The Man Who Wasn’t There” for the Coen Brothers; and the heart-wrenching drama “Monster’s Ball,” in which he co-starred with Halle Berry, Peter Boyle and Heath Ledger.
Each of the three performances garnered Thornton unprecedented critical acclaim, and resulted in him being named Best Actor of 2001 by the National Board of Review, Golden Globe nominations for Best Actor in a Drama for “The Man Who Wasn’t There” and Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for “Bandits,” and an American Film Institute Award nomination for Best Actor for “The Man Who Wasn’t There.”
For his second and third directorial outings, Thornton chose the comedy “Daddy And Them,” which he again wrote and starred in, and the best-selling Cormac McCarthy novel, the epic “All The Pretty Horses,” starring Matt Damon, Penelope Cruz and Henry Thomas.
This summer, Thornton stepped behind the camera once again to direct and star in the ensemble drama “Jayne Mansfield’s Car,” an original script co-written by Thornton and longtime collaborator Epperson. In addition, Thornton directed “The King of Luck,” a documentary about country music legend and longtime friend Willie Nelson.
Thornton numerous starring roles include the action thriller “Faster,” co-starring Dwayne Johnson and the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ best-selling novel “The Informers.” His other recent projects include “Mr. Woodcock,” “Pushing Tin” and “Friday Night Lights.” He garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for his role in the critically acclaimed box-office hit “Bad Santa,” and received rave reviews for his portrayal of legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett in Touchstone Pictures’ “The Alamo.”
In addition, Thornton co-starred in the blockbuster action-adventure film “Armageddon” with Bruce Willis, “U-Turn” directed by Oliver Stone, “Primary Colors” opposite John Travolta and Emma Thompson for director Mike Nichols, “Intolerable Cruelty” co-starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones, and “Love Actually,” with Hugh Grant, Laura Linney and Liam Neeson.
ABOUT JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR
Jim Caldwell (Robert Duvall) is the head of a wealthy, rancorous small-town clan that includes acid-dropping pothead Carroll (Kevin Bacon), obsessive-compulsive oddball Skip (Billy Bob Thornton), uptight square Jimbo (Robert Patrick) and Southern belle Donna (Katherine LaNasa). Jim, Carroll and Skip take great pride in their military service; Jimbo is still embarrassed by his posting to the army’s laundry, a sore spot that his brothers and father will never let him forget. As the Caldwells’ domestic conflicts worsen, more fuel is added to the fire by the news of the death of Jim’s ex-wife Naomi, who had left him to marry cultured Englishman Kingsley Bedford (John Hurt) – who has now arrived in town with his children Phillip (Ray Stevenson) and Camilla (Frances O’Connor) to honor Naomi’s wish to be buried “with her own people.” Face to face with the man who stole his wife from him, Jim must struggle not only with his lingering anger and resentment, but his own fear of mortality. Even as Jim tentatively bridges the gulf with Kingsley to honor the memory of the woman they both loved, he seems incapable of tackling his most pressing issue: his troubled relationship with his own sons, still desperately seeking his approval well into adulthood.
ABOUT THE LONE STAR FILM FESTIVAL
The Lone Star Film Festival (LSFF) is an annual event hosted by the Lone Star Film Society (LSFS). The festival seeks to uncover and platform emerging films, talent, trends, production methods and distribution models that will shape the future of film.
The festival also brings together the most talked about films of the year along with undiscovered gems by some of today’s most promising emerging filmmakers.
Not only does the LSFF screen these films, but it provides mentorship and resources to help the films and filmmakers find the audiences that are critical to their success. In pursuing these objectives, the Festival fulfills the LSFS mission of celebrating film as an art form and promoting the City of Fort Worth to the world. By helping to develop a new dimension to Fort Worth’s vibrant cultural landscape, the LSFS adds cultural depth to the city and contributes to economic development through quality of life and tourism.
In 2011, LSFF films represented no less than 40 awards and 130 nominations including the Academy Award Winner for Best Picture, THE ARTIST, and Oscar® nominee for Best Picture, THE DESCENDANTS.
Reel Screen Time 