Festival president Nino Simone says, “We are excited about this year’s diverse line-up. The festival is proud to announce that for the first time, there will be cash prizes—$10,000 across the various categories—awarded to our filmmakers. As always, we are proud to feature a wide range of filmmakers and talent—everyone from Sharon Stone and Deepak Chopra to the late Alexis Arquette, in one of her last films, are gracing the festival screens.”

 At 6:45 p.m., there is a special screening of Leslie Zemeckis’ “Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer,” a story of the world’s first female tiger trainer who survived multiple maulings and claimed her love for her tigers was so great she wanted “to be killed by my animals,” produced by Leslie’s husband Robert Zemeckis.

 At 8:30pm, there is a special screening of the popular and controversial documentary feature-length film, “The Reality of Truth,” which follows Mike "Zappy" Zapolin and his friends, including Michelle Rodriguez, as they attempt to go inside their minds to expand their consciousness. Guided by Deepak Chopra the “Psychenauts” have direct experience with techniques including meditation, breathing, and shamanism over a four year period and learn from today’s top thought leaders, including Joel Osteen, Ram Dass, Marianne Williamson, David Lynch, Foster Gamble, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Peter Coyote, and many more.

Another highlight film of Opening Night is “An Undeniable Voice,” a short documentary by directors Price Arana and Adam Rothlein. Sam Harris, believed to be one of the youngest to survive the camps during the Holocaust, shares his amazing story of survival with philanthropist and activist Sharon Stone. The film screens in the 8:45 p.m. Block.

The Opening Night after-party is hosted by the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard.

On Sunday, April 30th, at 7:45 p.m., the closing night film is the feature “Zen Dog” — Trapped by daily routine, a man experiences complete freedom by dreaming himself across the country in a psychedelic Volkswagen with the guiding words of philosopher Alan Watts — written & directed by Rick Darge, and starring Kyle Gallner, Adam Herschman, Celia Diane, Clea DuVall, and the voice of Alan Watts. 

Other features include: “The Girl Who Invented Kissing,” by director Tom Sierchio, and starring Dash Mihok, Suki Waterhouse, Vincent Piazza, Abbie Cornish, Johnny Messner and Luke Wilson; “Delinquent” from filmmaker Kieran Valla; “The 86: Los Ocho Seis” from filmmaker Javier Mujica; and “Apricot Groves from filmmaker Pouria Heidary Oureh.”

Documentary features include: “John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs,” from filmmaker Derek Wayne Johnson, featuring John G. Avildsen, Burt Reynolds, Jerry Weintraub, Martin Scorcese and Sylvester Stallone; “Tupamaro,” directed by Martin Markovitz and featuring Hugo Chavez and Anderson Cooper;  “Where Have You Gone Lou DiMaggio?” directed by Brad Kuhlman and featuring comedians, Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Joy Behar, Richard Belzer, Howie Mandel, Colin Quinn, and others;  “Rod Taylor: Pulling No Punches,” directed by Robert de Young and featuring Angela Lansbury, Maggie Smith, Veronica Cartwright, Tippi Hedren, Baz Luhrmann, Bryan Brown, and many more Hollywood luminaries; and “Legendary AD,” written/directed by Leonardo Corbucci and starring the Assistant Directors (ADs) from the top crossing films of all time.

Highighted shorts include: “The Curse of Don Scarducci,” written/directed by Chris Fondulas and featuring the Golden Globe Winner Alec Baldwin, Maulik Pancholy, Halley Feiffer, and Purva Bedi;  “It Happened Again Last Night,” featuring Chris Mulkey, Randy Wayne, and Amanda Wyss;   “Model Citizen,” written/directed by Matt Berman and starring Super Model, Angie Everhart, Traci Lords, Costas Mandylor, Eddie Jemison, Kevin Farley, Scott Michael Campbell, Diane Salinger, and Kelly Perine;  “Six Matches,” directed by Denis Agarkov and featuring the Oscar-nominated Eric Roberts; “Wannabe,” written/directed by Matthew Manson and starring Malcolm-Jamal Warner; “The Shadow Hours,” written/directed by Kyle Higgins, music by Bear McCreary and starring Tom Riley and Britt Lower; multiple film festival award winner, “Cuckold Picasso,” directed by Lance Larson; “Popsy,” based on Stephen King’s short story directed by David Merriman;  “No Song to Sing,” directed by Lukasz Gasiorowski with Composer/Producer, Ewen Bremner of “Trainspotting” fame;  and “The Pretender,” directed by Nathan Morse and starring the late Alexis Arquette in one of her last films.

 Please visit beverlyhillsfilmfestival.com for a complete line-up of the 2017 official selections.