Angelina Jolie-Pitt’s ‘By the Sea’ to Open AFI Fest
After the cold reception of her last two films, In the Land of Blood and Honey and Unbroken, Angelina Jolie-Pitt is hoping the third time’s the charm with By the Sea, which will open the AFI Fest. She is the star (with husband Brad Pitt), writer and director. The 29th fest will run from November 5-12 and By the Sea opens nationwide from Universal just over a week later on November 13th.
Set in France during the mid-1970s, Vanessa (Jolie), a former dancer, and her husband Roland, an American writer (Pitt), travel the country together. They seem to be growing apart, but when they linger in one quiet, seaside town they begin to draw close to some of its more vibrant inhabitants, such as a local bar/café-keeper and a hotel owner.
While it looks like it could be a bit of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? it could also end up like the Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor bomb Boom! We’ll see where it falls.
For the record, the last five films to open the fest:
2014 – A Most Violent Year
2013 – Saving Mr. Banks
2012 – Hitchcock
2011 – J. Edgar
2010 – Love and Other Drugs
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- Frontrunner Friday Oscar Predictions: We Need to Talk About ‘Marty’ - January 30, 2026
- 2026 Sundance Film Festival: ‘Josephine’ Wins Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award - January 30, 2026
- Midnight Critics Circle (MCC) Awards: ‘Marty Supreme’ Wins Best Picture - January 28, 2026
Frontrunner Friday Oscar Predictions: We Need to Talk About ‘Marty’ 
2026 Sundance Film Festival: ‘Josephine’ Wins Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 137 – ‘Je Tu Il Elle’ (Chantal Akerman, 1974) 
Midnight Critics Circle (MCC) Awards: ‘Marty Supreme’ Wins Best Picture