#edfred

The Education of Fredrick Fitzell has been listed on Flicks.au since March as a September release thru Icon. It was also listed in various other places without solid confirmation for several wide/country release dates dating back to late spring/Summer of last year, Sept-November of 2019 and so on. Speculation isn't confirmation.

So, this "September!!" is info that's been floating around since Spring. This is not new information. This is not confirmed from Protagonist or been officially announced through them, eOne, et al.

Sept. 30th is also a Wednesday, so unless it is common for Australia to drop indie films mid-week it could just be a placeholder. When it was rumored to be opening in March, it was listed as March 2020, the March 1st 2020, then back to March and then covid-19 changed the industry dates globally. Also, in an interview given by Dir. Chris MacBride in late May, he said they had only just completed the final cut right before the interview, during a couple of weeks right after covid-19 & addressed the challenges of having to do the last minute mixing remotely because of it. It wasn't even complete in March to premiere. Selections for September festivals hadn't been completed at that point in March either.

TIFF runs Sept 10-19th this year and is a hybrid event with streaming/satellite as well as limited physical shows. MacBride being Canadian would out that as a shot for either Canadian or Midnight Madness. MacBride's much lauded 'The Conspiracy' opened at FantasticFest in Austin, so those are the two I've been watching most closely. Fantastic cancelled but announced plans to do some online stuff which will be announced over the next few weeks, and TIFF will be announcing their remaining selections shortly as well; traditionally they both announce their lineups in late July-early August.

There was no word from the Marché Cannes about Fred being picked up though it was screened for distribution. Considering the restrictions on gatherings and theatres (esp in the US) and considering how MacBride has repeatedly said Fred is a film made for festival audience, I have little faith it will drop in Australia alone in September.

Cross fingers for a TIFF or FF selection and distribution pickup/announcement if it is selected for either of those festivals.

Beyond those two possible fests boosting a pickup for distribution (or a streaming bid from Netflix or whomever), I have no idea when it would actually be available for any of us to see. Placeholders are common, penciled-in dates allow for some mild promo (Icon could have had clips from EdFred on it's sizzle reel at the beginning of the year) but nothing has been confirmed or announced by any official party involved in the film. I keep most of my own speculation off of tumblr or public SM specifically because it's all speculation and wool gathering I don't want misinterpreted in any way. Could it be selected for TIFF or FF? Sure, we'll find out soon. Will it actually hit theatres on Sept 30th in Australia? I'll believe it when I hear direct confirmation or see a trailer.

Excited about Christopher MacBride's new film 'The Education of Fredrick Fitzell'? Well, so am I! Here is an interview he did with "What On Earth Is Going On", in which they discuss Filmmaking in general! It's a great interview and I highly recommend it.