San Diego International Film Festival returning with La Jolla in the lineup

The 24th annual San Diego International Film Festival returns in October with most events in the La Jolla area.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun, a lot of great activities and a lot of incredible films,” said Tonya Mantooth, the festival’s artistic director and chief executive.

This year’s film lineup will be “shining a light on perspectives from across cultures and around the world,” she said.

“Each film that we curate has its own purpose in the festival,” she said. “I think if there’s one thing that really kind of stands out for me this year overall is the sense of when you’re in a time in the world where it’s a little chaotic, I think we all look to the arts and we look to artists to help us find that meaning of understanding the past [and] imagining the future. And I think that’s really what we’re seeing — deeply personal stories that are coming in from around the world.”

The Lot La Jolla will host the opening film, Luca Guadagnino’s “After the Hunt,” starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield, at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 15, followed by an after-party. The festival will run through Sunday, Oct. 19.

The festival’s screeners started the process of watching about 3,500 films in January and continued through July, ending with a list of 100 to be included.

This year’s slate includes films from 29 countries representing narrative, documentary, shorts and animation.

Among them are “Hamnet,” starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal; “Rental Family,” starring Brendan Fraser; “Omaha,” starring John Magaro; and “Silent Rebellion,” starring Lila Gueneau and Grégoire Colin.

Most screenings will be at the AMC 14 cinema at the Westfield UTC mall just outside La Jolla.

“The true role of a film festival is to be able to still have a platform for independent storytellers to be able to bring their work to light,” Mantooth said. “What I’ve seen grow the most are filmmaker submissions extending around the world, and that is really a key piece for us as a team to highlight the international work that is being done.”

The festival’s annual Night of the Stars Tribute will begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, at La Jolla’s Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center with a red-carpet walk and reception, followed by presentations of awards to 2025 honorees.

The evening also will showcase the finalists in the second annual Focus on Impact Student Art Competition and a silent auction benefiting the festival’s Focus on Impact educational program, which uses film as a tool for education and conversation for San Diego-area students.

La Jolla has long served as a host site for the San Diego International Film Festival for multiple reasons, Mantooth said.

“I think La Jolla holds such a special place for most people in San Diego and outside of San Diego,” she said. “First of all, [for] its stunning beauty there on the coast, but [also] its rich history.”

One of the awards to be presented during the Night of the Stars Tribute is the Gregory Peck Award of Excellence in Cinema, whose previous honorees include Laurence Fishburne, Patrick Stewart and Annette Bening.

Peck’s La Jolla ties run deep, as the acclaimed late actor grew up in La Jolla, where his father ran a pharmacy. Peck also co-founded La Jolla Playhouse along with Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer.

Other offerings of the festival will include Culinary Cinema on Oct. 19 at AMC 14, in which viewers will get a dining experience that matches something in a film. This year the film will include food of Japan, with a particular focus on a chef who explores the spiritual aspects behind it. Chefs will create dishes inspired by the film. They will be announced in coming weeks.

For festival tickets and more information, visit sdfilmfest.com.