Join us for a screening followed by a Q&A with writer-director Bart Layton, Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan and Blake Jenner.

Moderated by Joe Neumaier.

SYNOPSIS
American Animals is the unbelievable but entirely true story of four young men who attempt to execute one of the most audacious art heists in U.S. history. The film centers around two friends from the middle-class suburbs of Lexington, Kentucky.Spencer (Barry Keoghan), is determined to become an artist but feels he lacks the essential ingredient that unites all great artists – suffering. His closest friend, Warren (Evan Peters), has also been raised to believe that his life will be special, and that he will be unique in some way. But as they leave the suburbs for universities in the same town, the realities of adult life begin to dawn on them and with that, the realization that their lives may in fact never be important or special in any way. Determined to live lives that are out of the ordinary, they plan the brazen theft of some of the world’s most valuable books from the special collections room of Spencer's college Library. Enlisting two more friends, accounting major Eric (Jared Abrahamson) and fitness fanatic Chas (Blake Jenner), and taking their cues from heist movies, the gang meticulously plots the theft and subsequent fence of the stolen artworks. Although some of the group begin to have second thoughts, they discover that the plan has seemingly taken on a life of its own. Unfolding from multiple perspectives, and innovatively incorporating the real-life figures at the heart of the story, writer-director Bart Layton (The Imposter) takes the heist movie into bold new territory.

PANELIST BIOS
Bart Layton - Writer-Director
Bart Layton is a multi-award winning producer and director, renowned for tackling controversial and challenging subject matter with tremendous visual style and journalistic rigor. He thrives on creating work with distinctive visual flair, and pushing the boundaries of conventional storytelling techniques. He has been the Creative Director of leading U.K. production company Raw for the past 12 years, originating and directing  a number of award-winning documentaries and series. In 2011, Bart directed his first documentary feature film, The Imposter, which received widespread critical acclaim for its originality and storytelling following its debut at Sundance in 2012. The film picked up a number of prestigious awards in the process, before winning two BIFA awards and a BAFTA for best debut film and being shortlisted for the 2013 Academy Awards. The Imposter has since become one of the highest grossing British documentaries of all time.

Evan Peters - Actor
Evan Peters is one of Hollywood's most versatile actors with critical acclaim in both television and film. He is currently starring in the seventh season of FX's Emmy-nominated series American Horror Story entitled Cult.  He will next star in Bryan Buckley's film The Pirates of Somalia, alongside Al Pacino and Barkhad Abdi.  Later this year, Peters reprises his role as Quicksilver in the next installation of 20th Century Fox's X-Men: Dark Phoenix.  Directed by Simon Kinberg, the cast also includes Jennifer Lawrence, Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender. The film is released on November 2, 2018. Peters also appeared in X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014. Last year, Peters appeared in Liza Johnson's Elvis and Nixon alongside Kevin Spacey and Michael Shannon.  Peters also starred in The Lazarus Effect, alongside Olivia Wilde and Mark Duplass as well as in Matthew Vaughn's critically acclaimed Kick-Ass, with Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Peters first gained recognition for his debut performance in Michael Picchiottino's film Clipping Adam.  Portraying the life of a troubled teenager earned Peters the award for Best Breakthrough Performance at the Phoenix Film Festival in 2004. Peters' other film credits include Safelight, Never Back Down (1+2), Gardens of the Night, Remarkable Power and American Crime.
Peters starred in ABC's Invasion and made regular television appearances in CW's award-winning series One Tree Hill, and ABC's The Days.  Additional television credits include Dirt, Parenthood, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, and The Office.

Barry Keoghan - Actor
Barry Keoghan appears in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk for Warner Brothers, opposite Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh and Cillian Murphy, and co-starred in Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of a Sacred Deer, alongside Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. Keoghan was one of the breakout stars of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival for his performance in writer/director Rebecca Daly's film Mammal opposite Rachel Griffiths. Other credits include Yann Demange's '71 with Jack O'Connell, Martin Radich's Norfolk, Trespass Against Us with Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson and Sean Harris, and Lance Daly's Black 47, which he recently wrapped. Keoghan was also named one of Screen International's Stars of Tomorrow in 2015.

Blake Jenner - Actor
Blake Jenner is one of Hollywood's most exciting and versatile young actors working today. Jenner's writing debut, the independent feature Juvenile, in which he also stars, is a coming-of-age film about the nature of violence and the search for redemption. The film is directed and executive produced by Bradley Buecker (Glee and American Horror Story) and premiered at Austin's Fantastic Fest earlier this year; Jenner was also awarded the Rising Star Award at the San Diego Film Festival in 2017. Jenner starred in the critically acclaimed feature The Edge of Seventeen opposite Hailee Steinfeld and Woody Harrelson for producer James L. Brooks.  He also appeared alongside Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning in Sidney Hall for Academy Award-winning director Shawn Christensen.  Jenner was the lead in Richard Linklater's nostalgia comedy feature Everybody Wants Some. Television credits include playing series regular Ryder Lynn on the Fox hit comedy Glee and a recurring role on the CBS hit Supergirl. Jenner first broke out on the second season of The Glee Project, where he was selected as one of fourteen contestants to compete, ultimately winning the competition and landing him a role on Glee.