It was announced today that John Lee Hancocks new film, Saving Mr. Banks, starring Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell and Paul Giamatti, with cinematography from Academy Award nominated cinematographer John Schwartzman (Seabiscuit, Armageddon), will open the 2013 Camerimage Film Festival with a gala screening (and Poland premiere) on Saturday, November 16th at Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, Poland just three weeks before the films US wide release. The announcement was made by Camerimage Festival Director Marek Żydowicz.
Saving Mr. Banks tells the extraordinary, untold backstory of how Disneys iconic classic Mary Poppins made it to the big screen. Walt Disney’s daughters begged him to make a movie of their favorite book, P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins, so he made them a promise one that he didn’t realize would take 20 years to keep. In his quest to obtain the rights, Disney comes up against an uncompromising writer who has absolutely no intention of letting her beloved magical nanny get the Hollywood treatment. However, as the books slowly stop selling and money grows short, Travers reluctantly agrees to go to Los Angeles to hear Disney’s plans for the adaptation. For those two short weeks in 1961, Walt Disney pulls out all of his magic in hopes to win Travers over. Armed with imaginative storyboards and catchy songs from the talented Sherman Brothers, Disney launches an aggressive pitch campaign for Travers, but the author doesn’t budge. It is only when he reaches into his own childhood that Disney discovers the truth about the ghosts that haunt Travers, and together they set Mary Poppins free to ultimately make one of the most endearing films in cinematic history.
Saving Mr. Banks is the latest film to be added to a stellar lineup of films screening at the 21st edition of Camerimage, the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography. To view the Festivals full competition lineup, visit the festival’s official site and check back soon for ComingSoon.net’s coverage from the event.
