If you’re wondering whatever happened to The Sixth Sense wonder child Haley Joel Osment, you’ll finally get your answer at the upcoming Portland Film Festival. The film Sex Ed stars Osment and is opening the festival on August 26, Tuesday.
After his success starring in movies such as Forrest Gump, AI and Pay It Forward as a child, Osment’s film career petered out. His performance in Sex Ed signals a comeback that people who have seen the movie are starting to believe will actually happen. “It’s genuine, funny, and not the least bit precious about its material, which involves inner-city students and an indisputably adult Haley Joel Osment as their plucky sex ed teacher. This is exactly the sort of movie you want to stumble across on the festival circuit,” wrote Ben Coleman of The Portland Mercury.
Sex Ed will open the Portland Film Festival at the Crystal Ballroom. Osment will make an appearance at the premiere with director Isaac Feder and several other cast members. In the film Osment plays a college graduate who wants to teach algebra but finds himself roped into becoming a sex education teacher while still being a virgin.
.@MarvistaEnt to release Haley Joel Osment rom-com SEX ED: http://t.co/moIXuiLCQp pic.twitter.com/IqeWfhoCVa
— Indiewire (@indiewire) August 12, 2014
This is the second year of the Portland Film Festival, which started last year and was considered to be a success. Independent filmmakers Joshua Leake and Jay Cornelius started the festival in order to screen new films during an event that is “by filmmakers and for filmmakers.” Independent films and documentaries are featured at the event.
The Portland Film Festival closes on September 1 with a film directed by another celebrity, Jason Momoa of Conan The Barbarian (2011) and Game Of Thrones fame. His film, Road To Paloma, stars Wes Studi and Lisa Bonet. Momoa will also be conducting a workshop on using DSLR cameras with his director of photography, Brian Mendoza.