CARNAGE, the big screen adaptation of the Tony Award winning play GOD OF CARNAGE by Yasmina Reza, will open the 49th edition of the New York Film Festival, one of the most important film showcases in the country. The film, the latest by controversial director Roman Polanski, has as its central story the volatile confrontation that ensues between two Brooklyn couples after their children are involved in a playground fight. It features a stellar ensemble cast of Academy Award winners and nominees, including Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly (in the roles originated on Broadway by Marcia Gay Harden, Hope Davis, Jeff Daniels and James Gandolfini). The director, who won the European Film Award as Best Director last year for the THE GHOSTWRITER, is not expected to attend, since his presence in the United States could lead to his arrest for a morals charge that dates back to the 1970s. Polanski was under house arrest for most of last year in Switzerland as authorities debated whether to extradite him to the United States after he attended the Zurich Film Festival. Sony Pictures Classics will release the film in North America later this year. The New York Film Festival, which runs from September 30 to October 16, has had quite the winning streak in selecting films as its Opening Night Gala that have figured in the Oscar race, including such esteemed titles as THE SOCIAL NETWORK and THE QUEEN. For more information, visit: www.filmlinc.com
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