The opening night party of the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema was held in the cozy surroundings of the Creekstone Inn on Thursday, Jan. 5. Entertainment was provided by Julie Ragins and Curtis Brengle, the husband and wife duo known as PEAR. Photo by Tom Kluzak

One of the highlights of the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema’s second weekend is an hour-long Q&A with Academy Award-nominated actress Anne Archer. Archer received her Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her role as Beth Gallagher in Adrian Lyne’s 1987 thriller “Fatal Attraction.”
Anne Archer, Academy Award nominee for “Fatal Attraction,” appears with IIFC Founder and Director Stephen Savage for an hour-long Q&A at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, onstage at the Rustic Theatre. Photo by Mike Marsland
Hosted by IIFC Founder and Director Stephen Savage, the 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, discussion with Archer will be one film fans will want to attend. Archer will discuss her impressive and varied career, her approach to acting for stage, screen and television, her working relationship with some of Hollywood’s greatest directors, and the leading men with whom she has acted.

Archer, daughter of actors John Archer and Marjorie Lord, is known for her sultry voice, red hair and nuanced acting. Born into a show business family, Archer went from college at the Claremont Colleges to television roles in prestigious series such as “Men at Law,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “The F.B.I,” “Mod Squad,” “Ironside,” “Alias Smith and Jones,” “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice” and “Mannix.”

She made her big screen debut in 1973 opposite Jon Voight in “The All American Boy,” and won accolades for her leading role in “Lifeguard” in 1976 with Sam Elliott. In 1993, Archer won a Golden Globe as part of the ensemble cast of Robert Altman’s “Short Cuts.”

During the opening party on Thursday, Jan. 5, IIFC Director Stephen Savage (far right) and friends discuss the films to be shown. The festival runs through Jan. 15 with films at the Rustic Theatre and Silver Pines Lodge, and parties at several sites. Photo by
Tom Kluzak

Her work on stage was also noteworthy — in the world premiere of “The Poison Tree” at the Mark Taper Forum in 2000, as Mrs. Robinson in London’s West End 2001 production of “The Graduate,” for which she received rave reviews, and in a starring role in “The Trial of Jane Fonda” at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014.

In one of those special Idyllwild connections, Archer played the leading role of Ramona at the Ramona Pageant in 1969. Savage joined the Ramona staff in 2014 as executive creative director.

Mirroring her show business parents, Archer has been married to producer, actor, writer and director Terry Jastrow for 37 years. “It’s hard to have a balanced life if you don’t get the family thing right,” said Archer.

Also of note is the Idyllwild Arts production, “Standpoint,” written and directed by 2016 IAA film graduate Erik Hirschhorn and starring former IAA student Dakota Bailey, Idyllwild resident musician Analia Lenchantin and IAA dance faculty member Jonathan Sharp. Screening next at 3:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, at Silver Pines Lodge, at 3:05 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13, at the Rustic and at 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, at the Rustic, “Standpoint” is the story of Aliza, a young Jewish dancer in Nazi-occupied Poland who, in order to save her family, must travel to Prague for a ballet audition.

For more information, view the IIFC program available at IIFC headquarters, The Rustic Theatre.

Children of all ages were mesmerized by the short films shown at the Idyllwild Library as part of the fourth-annual Children’s Film Festival. The second half of the free festival, with eight films for children ages 10 and up, will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, in the Library Conference Room. It runs in conjunction with the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema.
Photo by Tom Kluzak