Around this time every year we ask Phoenix Film Festival executive director Jason Carney the same question: Is there a film you’re particularly excited about this year? And every year, he’s ready with an answer.
This year, his pick is the opening night selection – the comedy Power Ballad with Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.
“It was one I really wanted,” Carney says. “I love films about music. It’s so charming. Also, I’m a huge fan of [director/co-writer] John Carney. No relation.”
Carney (Jason) is quick to add that this isn’t the only title about which he’s excited on the schedule for the annual cinematic shindig, held once again at Harkins Scottsdale 101 from April 9-April 19.
‘There’s a really cool film called Carolina Caroline,” he enthuses. “Very Bonnie & Clyde. Samara Weaving falls for a conman, and they leave a path of crime. Very well done; she’s great.”
Another highlight for Carney is Tuner, a caper movie directed by Daniel Roher of The AI Doc. “Leo Woodall plays the lead, and Dustin Hoffman and Jean Reno are also in it.”
He also mentions On the String, Isabel Hagen’s tale of the vagaries of working as a classical musician. “It’s funny; it’s got a stand-up comedian playing the lead. It’s a good dramedy.”
Strikingly absent from this year’s Fest are any major celebrity appearances.
“We don’t have any celebrity guests this year,” explains Carney. “There were some available, but I didn’t believe in the films. We want to book the best movies possible.”
Even so, this year’s Festival will feature much more than movies: A kid’s day (April 11) and such fun grown-up events as a “Musical Mayhem Singalong,” a VHS Swap and “The Fabulous Film Trivia Olympics.” And as always, the Fest runs concurrently with the annual International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival.
Go to phoenixfilmfestival.com for details.
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For those who prefer a showcase to a festival, check out the 2026 Architectural Film Showcase, April 16, April 18 and April 21, at three different architecturally significant Valley venues. The Showcase is held in conjunction with the long-running Steve Weiss film series “No Festival Required.”
Ancestral Artistry: The Influence of Africans and Creoles of Color on Louisiana Architecture plays at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 16 at the Third Street Theatre Phoenix Center for the Arts. A “work-in-progress” screening of Remembering the Future with Herb Greene plays at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 18 at the Pavillion at Taliesin West. There’s limited seating for this one; it’s followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Lila Cohen (Greene’s grand-niece) and John Rogers.
The Showcase wraps up at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre, an appropriate venue for April Wright’s Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace. For details and tickets go to nofestivalrequired.com.
