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.
- 53rd Annie Awards: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Makes History with Clean Sweep of 10 Wins - February 21, 2026
- 6th Set Decorators Society of America (SDSA) Awards: ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘Hamnet,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ Take Top Honors - February 21, 2026
- 76th Berlin Film Festival Awards: ‘Yellow Letters’ Wins Golden Bear for Best Film; ‘Queen at Sea’ Nabs Two Among Festival Unrest Over Politics - February 21, 2026
53rd Annie Awards: ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Makes History with Clean Sweep of 10 Wins 
6th Set Decorators Society of America (SDSA) Awards: ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘Hamnet,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ Take Top Honors 
76th Berlin Film Festival Awards: ‘Yellow Letters’ Wins Golden Bear for Best Film; ‘Queen at Sea’ Nabs Two Among Festival Unrest Over Politics 
‘Flies (Moscas)’ Review: To Be a Fly on the Wall is to See All in Fernando Eimbcke’s Quiet Family Drama [B-] Berlinale