Start the season off right with The Independent Film Channel’s (IFC) entertaining new line-up of programming featuring the highly anticipated IFC Original series, Dinner for Five, hosted and created by Jon Favreau (Made), and the IFC Original documentary, Murder by Numbers, tracing the dark evolution of serial killer films. IFC provides audiences a compelling schedule of programs with exclusive IFC Original productions, unique on-air film festivals presenting movies from IFC’s extensive library, distinctive film strands and monthly premieres of noteworthy independent cinema.
Frances Berwick, Senior Vice President of Programming and Productions, IFC, comments, “IFC’s original programming continues to surpass itself year after year. This upcoming season’s provocative documentary and witty new series reflect the network’s position in the entertainment industry as the medium for independent visionaries and creative filmmakers.”
IFC ORIGINALS
Murder by Numbers – Premieres Friday, February 22 at 10:00PM (ET/PT)
From the late 60s to the 90s, the number of serial killer movies has significantly multiplied from 3 films in the 1960s to 107 in the 1990s and has emerged as a significant genre in mass entertainment attracting blockbuster crowds. The IFC Original documentary Murder by Numbers, premiering Friday, February 22 at 10:00PM(ET/PT) , traces the over 30 year evolution of the genre and analyzes the many shapes and sizes of the sinister figures behind the films. Though complex and often disturbing, serial killer movies tap into the public’s deepest fears and at the same time entertain raking in box office success. Murder by Numbers sheds new light on this movie phenomenon and shows the way that film mirrors society.
Dinner for Five – Series premiere Monday, April 15 at 8:00PM (ET/PT)
IFC presents the series premiere of Dinner for Five hosted by Jon Favreau (Made). Based on a special conceived by Favreau, which premiered to critical acclaim on the network in the Summer 2001, the series will air Mondays at 8:00PM ET/PT beginning Monday, April 15 (encoring Wednesdays at 10:00PM/ET and Saturdays at 7:30PM/ET). Each of the eight episodes features Favreau and four guests from the entertainment industry sharing an evening of dining and dialogue – the unscripted kind, that is. Joining Favreau for the premiere episode will be Made co-stars Peter Falk (Columbo) and Vince Vaughn (Swingers), in addition to Garry Shandling (The Larry Sanders Show) and Cheri Oteri (Saturday Night Live). Other upcoming dinner guests will be Christian Slater (Very Bad Things),
Ron Livingston (Band of Brothers), Illeana Douglas (Ghost World), Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park), Rod Steiger (Academy Award-winner In the Heat of the Night), Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects), Fred Willard (Best In Show) and Sarah Silverman (Greg The Bunny), among other celebrity guests.
With the Filmmaker: Portraits by Albert Maysles – encores Mondays at 8:00PM (ET)
With the Filmmaker: Portraits by Albert Maysles is an exciting four-part series focusing on filmmakers and their personal visions. Each portrait created and directed by the award-winning documentarian, Albert Maysles (Gimme Shelter), offers the viewer a rare firsthand glimpse at the person behind the vision. The legendary Maysles presents an intimate view of some today’s most provocative auteurs on and off the set and always in action. One episode documents Martin Scorsese (Kundun, Raging Bull, Mean Streets) as he prepares to fulfill a 20-year dream filming Gangs of New York at Cinecitta studios in Rome. Along with Scorsese, audiences meet newcomer Wes Anderson (Rushmore) at work on The Royal Tenenbaums; the actor-director Robert Duvall (The Apostle) working on Assassination Tango; and independent maverick Jane Campion (The Piano) as she prepares to film In the Cut.
At The Angelika *Check your local listings.
This IFC Original series takes a behind-the-scenes look at today’s top independent films. Hosted by Alison Bailes and shot on location at the Angelika Film Center, the premier theater for independent films in Manhattan, the series provides cutting-edge news on the latest films, filmmakers, actors and other independent film news.
Independent Focus *Check your local listings.
The IFC Original series, produced and presented in cooperation with IFP/West, provides insightful one-on-one interviews with the industry’s biggest and brightest filmmakers. Host Elvis Mitchell, film authoritarian and critic for The New York Times, takes an in-depth look at the art of filmmaking and discusses the latest and greatest works of his guests. Previous directors have included acclaimed visionaries Oliver Stone (Salvador), Steven Soderbergh (The Limey), Wes Anderson (Rushmore), David Lynch (Lost Highway), Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia), Guy Ritchie (Snatch), Chris Nolan (Memento). Independent Focus with Robert Altman (Gosford Park) premiered this January.
SAMURAI SATURDAYS– airs Saturdays at 8:00AM (ET)
Finally the alternative to Saturday morning cartoons! IFC presents Samurai Saturdays, an action series with a worldwide following, which tells the tale of the talented blind swordsman, Zatoichi, as he wanders the Japanese countryside from adventure to adventure.
ON-AIR FILM FESTIVALS
Doc Week – airs Monday, January 21 to Friday, January 25
While other networks are out in the water swimming with sharks, IFC is safely on the ‘doc’ with a weeklong festival of great documentaries in Doc Week, airing every night beginning Monday, January 21 at 8:00PM/ET and continuing to Friday, January 25. Doc Week presents the cablecast premiere of Wim Wender’s Oscar