AFI Fest ended October with a whole lot of buzz, from incredible premieres to the announcement of its Grand Jury Award Winners, special screenings, and more. The festival brought together the best of the best and most highly anticipated films, one of them being Netflix’s The Mosquito Bowl, which had its premiere during AFI Fest on Oct. 22 at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Director/Co-Writer/Producer Peter Berg and stars Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson, Tom Francis, Pat McAfee, Brent Comer, Jack Ingram, and Lola Bond were all in attendance at the event.
In addition, author Buzz Bissinger, screenwriter Mark L. Smith, producers Alex Gayner and Brian Grazer, Executive Producer Ezra Emanuel, Cinematographer Jacques Jouffret, Editors Jon Otazua and Garret Donnelly, Sound Designers Wylie Stateman and Anne Jimkes, Casting Director Rachel Tenner, Costume Designer Liz McGregor, Hair & Makeup Designer Angela Conte, Production Designer Phil Ivey, VFX Supervisor Ariel Velasco Shaw, VFX Producer Lynzi Grant, and Chris Hrasky, Michael James, and Munaf Rayani of Explosions in the Sky all came out to support the film’s fantastic premiere.
The Mosquito Bowl Makes Its AFI Fest Moment a Memorable Night
A powerful film called for an equally powerful premiere event, and it truly was that. AFI President and CEO Bob Gazzale shared opening remarks before welcoming director Peter Berg to introduce the film. The U.S. Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon also delivered a performance. Following the screening, Peter Berg, Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson, Tom Francis, and Wylie Stateman all took part in a Q&A session moderated by Kyle Buchanan.
Bill Skarsgård Shares What Makes the Theater Experience So Special
In an interview with the American Film Institute shared on Instagram, The Mosquito Bowl star Bill Skarsgård said, “In a time where everyone’s stuck on their own phones and their tiny little screens and that’s how they connect, it’s like the excitement of watching a great film filled with a theater audience where they gasp at the same time you do or they laugh at the same time as you do, or they maybe laugh at something else that you don’t laugh at and like the experience of collectively seeing something and how your experience differs from someone else in real time, it’s magical.”
In The Mosquito Bowl, “Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, four of America’s top College Football stars set their fame aside to enlist in the Marines. As they prepare for the brutal invasion of Okinawa, they’ll play in a legendary game featuring some of the greatest players in history – a game that, for many, will be the last they ever play” (source: Netflix press release).
Check out some more photos below from the premiere. The Mosquito Bowl is out now in theaters and will be available to stream on Netflix on Nov. 25.
Photo Credits: Charley Gallay / Getty Images for Netflix
Leave a Reply