Film Screening: The Iron Giant from Cindependent Film Festival

Event Timeline

12:00pm to 1:00pm - Social hour

1:00pm - Film

The Iron Giant (1999)

Legendary animator and director, Brad Bird's breakthrough feature film debut, The Iron Giant, came out when he was 41 years old. His journey to the production of the film, included an unnoficial apprenticeship with the "Nine Old Men" at Disney Animation as a child, education at Cal Arts with schoolmates including Tim Burton and John Lasseter, collaboration with Steven Speilberg, and creative consulting on the early seasons of The Simpsons. Despite immediate critical acclaim for The Iron Giant upon its release in 1999, the film was a box office bomb. Over time, the film has gained a wide following and is considered to be among the best films of its genre. The Iron Giant also is distinct as a hand drawn animated film in a time when the form has come to be dominated by digital animation.

Synopsis: In this animated adaptation of Ted Hughes' Cold War fable, a giant alien robot (Vin Diesel) crash-lands near the small town of Rockwell, Maine, in 1957. Exploring the area, a local 9-year-old boy, Hogarth, discovers the robot, and soon forms an unlikely friendship with him. When a paranoid government agent, Kent Mansley, becomes determined to destroy the robot, Hogarth and beatnik Dean McCoppin (Harry Connick Jr.) must do what they can to save the misunderstood machine.

About CindeSpotlight

Each September, Cindependent is proud to shine a spotlight on undiscovered and rising talent from across the country and the globe. And as a festival, we're especially proud to celebrate the brilliant independent filmmakers who live and work in the greater Cincinnati area. The Cindependent Spotlight series will carry that celebratory spirit across the calendar year, with 9 handpicked repertory film screenings and 4 special programs running from March to December in the black box theater at the Contemporary Arts Center.

The repertory lineup features the debut films from auteur directors, Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love and Basketball), Tim Burton (Pee Wee's Big Adventure), Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides), Anna Rose Holmer (The Fits), and Brad Bird (The Iron Giant), alongside some true star making turns by the Queen City herself in films by John Huston (The Asphalt Jungle), John Sayles (Eight Men Out), Larry Yust (Homebodies), and William Wyler (The Best Years of Our Lives). The special programs include a first of its kind Dance Film program curated by local filmmaker and Cindependent alum, Cat Rider, in August, and a Cindependent 2025 Best of Fest program in October.

Cindependent Spotlight events will feature community partners, special guests, and unlimited opportunities to learn from and connect with industry professionals and film enthusiasts. Cindependent is set apart by our dedication to recognizing and elevating the freshest new voices in independent filmmaking and by our commitment to uplifting the Cincinnati film community in all of its many facets. We are excited to share this stirring program of breakthrough film as we continue to build together as a community.

Visit www.cindependentfilmfest.org to see more of our work.

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Host or Publisher Allyson West, Cindependent Film Festival