Start Your Spreadsheets - The Philadelphia Film Festival Program Guide Is Here!

UPDATED. See below.

People, it is officially that time of year again. The 2008 Philadelphia Film Festival Program Guide is out. You can find it at your local TLA video store, or download a PDF copy at the festival's official website. There's even a mini version for your convenience. Guest-wise we're looking at some pretty big names—like John Leguizamo (who'll be getting an artistic achievement award), William H. Macy, and Patti Smith—and more are still to be announced. Patti Smith is here in connection with the closing night film, a portrait of the artist entitled Patti Smith: Dream of Life. This year we're looking at some interesting programs, including a tribute to contemporary Indian cinema, a retrospective of classic film noir, an expanded Danger After Dark section (woo hoo!), the first ever juried awards for animation, and the Lights! Camera! Music! series. Venues include the Ritz East, the Ritz Five, the Prince Music Theater, the Bridge, the I-House, and the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Other films that caught our eye after a first glance through the program include films we've mentioned on Phillyist before and have been looking forward to already, like the Jet Li and Jackie Chan team-up film The Forbidden Kingdom and the British family film Son of Rambow; controversial and fascinating films like the Iranian Jesus, the Spirit of God, which tells the Islamic view of the life and preaching of Jesus Christ as set down in the Koran; documentaries like Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry (about the history of tattooing), The Pixar Story, Passion and Power: The Technology of Orgasm, and Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story; more local-themed films than we can even mention here; films that are bound to seem very apropos once we get closer to mid-April, like Electile Dysfunction and Holler Back - [not] Voting in an American Town; all the noir films, of course—we love us some noir; Danger After Dark films like Mirageman (superheroes!), Pistoleros (guns!), Storm (Matrix-like!), Timecrimes (time travel!), Triangle (directed by Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam, and Johnnie To!), The Sperm (!), and Who Is KK Downey? (hipsters die!); and finally there's the extremely intriguing Mystery Film, a hit film from the 2008 Sundance Film Festival which the Philly festival can only screen under the condition that they not mention its true identity at all.

In other words, it looks like another doozie this year, folks. Keep your browsers tuned to Phillyist.com for plenty more coverage of the festival in the near future. Huzzah!

UPDATE: D'oh! In our excitement to get this post up quickly, we forgot to mention some rather important information. Ticket sales start TODAY for Philadelphia Film Society members, and for the general public on Monday, March 17th. You can get the tickets online at PhillyFests.com; on the phone at 267-765-9700 x4, 10AM-9PM daily; and in person at any TLA video location. And if you want to see movies for cheap, you can volunteer! For more info on that, contact Parinda Patel, Volunteer Coordinator, at volunteer@phillyfests.com. The festival itself runs from April 3rd through the 15th. Mark your calendars!

Image via Phillyfests.com