Annual Top Films Lists

Top 50 Most Anticipated American Independent Films of 2019: #48. Casey Affleck’s Light of My Life

Published on January 22, 2019

Light of My Life

Conceptually it could have added so much to the performance art and art imitating life discourse, unfortunately, Casey Affleck‘s directorial debut I’m Still Here (trailer) was a wet firecracker and the post-life further complicated his own public persona. Coincidentally, it’s the second film, Light of My Life, that could serve as a conversation starter outside the context of the film. Post Manchester by the Sea, filming took place in February of 2017 in British Columbia’s Okanagan valley. Elisabeth Moss, Affleck and Anna Pniowsky are among the players while The Light Between Oceans cinematographer Adam Arkapaw works in the West Coast glow.

Gist: This centers on a father (Affleck) and his young daughter Rag (Anna Pniowsky), who are trapped in the woods after a deadly pandemic radically alters the world. As the father struggles to protect his daughter’s innocence, shielding her from the newfound dangers of man, their bond is tested.

Release Date/Prediction: After being a no-show on the fest circuit in 2018, the Berlin Film Festival nabbed the world premiere and fitted this in the Panorama section.

Eric Lavallée

Eric Lavallée is the founder, CEO, editor-in-chief, film journalist and critic at IONCINEMA.com (founded in 2000). Eric is a regular at Sundance, Cannes and TIFF. He has a BFA in Film Studies at the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2013 he served as a Narrative Competition Jury Member at the SXSW Film Festival. He was an associate producer on Mark Jackson's This Teacher (2018 LA Film Festival, 2018 BFI London). In 2022 he served as a New Flesh Comp for Best First Feature at the 2022 Fantasia Intl. Film Festival. Current top films for 2022 include Tár (Todd Field), All That Breathes (Shaunak Sen), Aftersun (Charlotte Wells).