Screening introduced by AFI FEST Guest Artistic Director Greta Gerwig
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s celebrated World War II fantasy A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH — called STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN in the U.S. owing to its most memorable special effect, a celestial escalator transporting souls from Earth to heaven — continues to rank among the greatest British films of all time. Downed Royal Air Force pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) escapes death when his conductor to the afterlife (Marius Goring) loses sight of him in the English Channel fog. Having fallen in love with June (Kim Hunter), a member of the American Women’s Army Corps, Carter passionately pleads his case with the heavenly authorities that it’s not yet his time to go.
