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a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit
Celebrating and promoting film as art and education
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER CFI EDUCATION CFI RELEASING
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MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
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D O N O R S
Through the generous support of our donors we will: • Continue the high-quality, innovative programming that has earned CFI its international reputation. • Bring more Bay Area audiences into contact with the world’s most celebrated and visionary filmmakers. • Expand CFI Education to offer Bay Area students more media literacy and hands-on filmmaking programs and bring more filmmakers into local schools. • Ensure the highest industry standards at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, one of the nation’s premier non-profit movie theaters. For more information about how you can support CFI please visit cafilm.org/support or contact Liana Bender at 415.526.5838 or at LBender@cafilm.org. With your support we will continue the quality of programming that enriches the fabric of this community.
C FI TH A NK S THE FOLLOW ING INDI V IDUA L S A ND FOUNDATION S FOR THEIR GENEROUS SUPP ORT OF THE C A LIFORNI A FILM IN S T IT U T E! LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
THE JAY PRITZKER FOUNDATION
STEPHEN AND MARY MIZROCH
AMY KEROES AND JEFF FISHER
CHRISTOPHER B. AND JEANNIE MEG SMITH
ERIC SCHWARTZ, EAS FUND
CATHY AND ROBERT NOURAFSHAN
LISA LORD
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JACKIE AND KEN BROAD INVESTOR CIRCLE GRUBER FAMILY FOUNDATION DRUSIE AND JIM DAVIS, DRUSIE DAVIS FAMILY FUND MARGARET E. HAAS PLATINUM CIRCLE MICHAEL AND ROXANNE KLEIN MACQUARIE GROUP FOUNDATION NANCY AND RICH ROBBINS MICHAEL AND SUSAN SCHWARTZ FUND LOIS AND MEL TUKMAN CHRISTINE ZECCA FOUNDATION
ANONYMOUS (2) THE ALLEN FAMILY FUND JEAN BEDECARRAX KAMALA GEROUX-BERRY AND DAVID BERRY SHERYLE BOLTON AND STEVE SHANE NANCY AND GARY CARLSTON ALICE CORNING
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MAJOR FOUNDATION SUPPORT
DENNIS P. FISCO AND PAMELA POLITE FISCO
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SABRINA CHEN-LOUIE
LYNNE HALE
MARIE AND BRIAN COLLINS
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ELIZA KOEPPEL
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MARIN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION THE BERNARD OSHER FOUNDATION
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FRED M. LEVIN AND NANCY LIVINGSTON, THE SHENSON FOUNDATION
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MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
The MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL is celebrating 35 years of the best independent and world cinema and we could not have done it without you!
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O P E N I N G
N I G H T
Welcome to the 35th Mill Valley Film Festival! Our 11-day celebration officially kicks off with two exceptional Opening Night films and a Gala to remember.
ON THE ROAD
US/F RA N CE /U K/B RA ZI L 2 0 1 2 • 1 2 5 MI N S
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
T HUR S DAY, OCTOB E R 4 , 6 :3 0 PM & 6 :4 5 PM $13 0 G E N E R A L / $12 0 M E M B E R •
• CH RI S TOPH ER B. S M IT H R AFAEL F ILM CE NTER FILM ONLY $ 4 5 G E N E R A L / $ 4 0 M E M B E R
Jack Kerouac’s alter ego, Sal Paradise (Sam Riley), shambles after the manic, ecstatic Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) as they crisscross the countr y fueled by Benzedrine-laced tea, hot barroom jazz and a desire for sensor y kicks in Walter Salles’ masterful adaptation of the generation-defining novel. See page 48 for complete film information.
OPENING NIGHT GALA FOLLOWS THE OPENING NIGHT SCREENINGS
Thursday, October 4; 9:30 pm – Midnight Downtown Plaza, Mill Valley After our Opening Night films, join us at the downtown plaza of Mill Valley for delicious savories and sweets, wine, beer and cocktails as we celebrate our landmark 35th Festival! This year, the spotlight will be on our local chefs who, in partnership with local farms, will bring the best of Marin’s culinar y treasures to the table. Our favorite local brewer y, Lagunitas, will be ser ving up a special batch of MVFF Anniversar y brew. Enjoy a great evening together celebrating the rich histor y of the Mill Valley Film Festival.
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O P E N I N G
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OPENING NIGHT SPONSOR
S I LV E R L I N I N G S P L AY B O O K
U S 2 0 1 2 • 1 2 0 M IN S
David O. Russell’s pitch-perfect blend of humor and pathos features a slew of inspired performances (including Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro and Jennifer Lawrence). Silver Linings Playbook deals with delicate issues with the deft touch only a true filmmaking virtuoso can provide. See page 54 for complete film information.
PHOTOS BY TOMMY LAU
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MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
THUR SDAY, OCTOBE R 4 , 7 :0 0 PM & 7 :1 5 PM • CI N ÉARTS @S EQU OIA $13 0 G E N E R A L / $12 0 M E M B E R • FILM ONLY $ 4 5 G E N E R A L / $ 4 0 M E M B E R
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MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35TH ANNIVERSARY SPOTLIGHTS AND TRIBUTES SPOTLIGHT ON J O H N
TRIBUTE TO D U S T I N
B O B
TH O R N TO N
H OFF MA N
CENTERPIECE SPOTLIGHT ON D R E A M W O R K S A N I M A T I O N
TRIBUTE TO M I R A
NA IR
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
SPOTLIGHT ON B I L L Y
H AW KE S
For program and event updates, special guest information and so much more, visit:
MVFF.COM
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S P O T L I G H T
Saturday, October 6, 7:00 pm Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center Program & Recaption: General $85 / Members $75 Join us for the spotlight program featuring a conversation with John Hawkes, a screening of The Sessions, and onstage special guests director Ben Lewin and actor William H. Macy. John Hawkes will be presented with the MVFF Award, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning. After the event, join us at the stylish Tiburon Tavern, which features elevated comfort food paired with Northern California’s freshest coastal influences. This gastropub-inn will tempt you with its farm-to-table dining approach and excite you with its chic vibe.
SPOTLIGHT SPONSORED BY
JOHN HAWKES Despite working in the movies for more than 25 years, actor John Hawkes seems to be in the midst of a cinematic coming-out party. From homicidal baddies (the Oscar® -nominated role of Teardrop in 2010’s Winter’s Bone, Patrick in MVFF 2011 selection Martha Marcy May Marlene) to sympathetic everymen (in Me and You and Everyone We Know and HBO’s Deadwood), Hawkes specializes in soulful, complex characters with deep—usually deeply fl awed—humanity. The 53-year-old Minnesota native has been an integral link in many ensembles, often supporting strong leading ladies like Jennifer Lawrence, Vera Farmiga and Miranda July (and we love him for that). But with his funny, sensitive and heartbreaking portrayal of disabled poet-journalist Mark O’Brien in Ben Lewin’s The Sessions, Hawkes finally takes center stage, bolstered by his own superb supporting cast. We predict that soon enough this wonderful actor’s leadingman dance card will be perpetually full, and it’s about time.
THE SESSIONS DIRECTOR: BEN LEWIN
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
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US 2012 • 94 MINS
Portraying poet-journalist Mark O’Brien, who was confined to an iron lung after being stricken with polio as a child, actor John Hawkes crackles with wit, frustration and anticipation as he attempts to lose his virginity with the help of Cheryl (Helen Hunt), a professional sex surrogate.
RECEPTION SPONSORED BY
See page 53 for complete film information.
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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Congratulations to the 35th Mill Valley Film Festival! Ticket holders receive 15% off their purchase during the Festival!
27 Miller Avenue Downtown Mill Valley 415-380-8691
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OPEN DAILY 11:30AM - 10PM 507 MILLER AVENUE, MILL VALLEY
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Avril Couris 415.380.4626 Jay Patterson 415.380.4631
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Stop by today! AAA Mill Valley 60 Belvedere Drive (at Reed Blvd) Mill Valley, CA 94941 (415) 380-6000
9/4/12 3:25 AM
S P O T L I G H T
Sunday, October 7, 6:30 pm Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center Program & Reception: $85 General / $75 Member Film Only: $45 General / $40 Member Our Spotlight program honoring Billy Bob Thornton features an onstage inter view and a screening of Jayne Mansfield’s Car. Billy Bob Thornton will be presented with the MVFF Award, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning. Join us for a memorable reception at Hawk’s Tavern, a locally-owned, neighborhood restaurant serving seasonally inspired dishes prepared using locally sourced, sustainable and organic ingredients. SPOTLIGHT SPONSORED BY
RECEPTION SPONSORED BY
B I L LY B O B T H O R N T O N When Billy Bob Thornton encountered Billy Wilder at a Hollywood Christmas party in the 1980s, the master filmmaker counseled the young actor to pursue his screenwriting ambitions. That fruitful career advice led to the fatalist noir One False Move, the swamp gothic The Gift and deft portraits of complicated households in A Family Thing, Daddy & Them and Jayne Mansfield’s Car—and of course, his outstanding 1996 breakthrough Sling Blade, which received an Academy Award® for Best Screenplay. As a leading man with the soul of a character actor and a writer-director with the heart of a Southern novelist, Thornton explores the dark, uncanny depths of troubled families, lonely men and desperate opportunists, rendering them genuine and sympathetic. In his acting, directing, writing and music, Thornton draws from the well of his diverse influences and Arkansas upbringing to conjure the past and make it as real as the present.
JAYN E MA N SFI E L D’ S CAR D I R E C T O R : B I L LY B O B T H O R N T O N
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US 2012 • 122 MINS
The thick Alabama air drips with atmosphere in Billy Bob Thornton’s visceral, provocative tale of a strained Southern family encountering distant English counterparts who have come to bury their recently deceased matriarch among “her people,” co-starring Robert Duvall and Kevin Bacon. See page 44 for complete film information.
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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The Framing Dragon
Art Rogers F ine P ortraiture 415.663.8345
www.artrogers.com
EXQUISITE ITALIAN FRAMES MUSEUM QUALITY FRAMING
447 Miller Avenue Mill Valley, CA 415-388-1497 Open Tues — Sat 10-6
We’ll roll out the red carpet for your new home in Marin... The downtown Mill Valley agents of Frank Howard Allen celebrate our local hometown Mill Valley Film Festival! Visit us at our convenient downtown location.
L to r: Michelle Bell, Andy Gellepis, Back, l to r: Cindy Uriarte, Dana Dworin and Bernard Link Dana LoisMichelle Scheinberg, Ron Susskind, Front, l toDworin, r: , Debra Allen, Bell, Fay Torson, Lois Scheinberg, Gellepis and Kim Strub Tom Bolles, Andy Susan Csordas and Debra Allen
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Downtown Mill Valley Office: 25 E. Blithedale Avenue 415.384.0667 Online at: fhallen.com
9/4/12 3:25 AM
35th ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE
Tuesday, October 9, 7:00 pm Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center Program & Benefit: $250 General / $225 Members Program only $85 General / $75 Members Join us for a Tribute Program honoring the career of Dustin Hoffman, including a Variety Masterclass Discussion between Dustin Hoffman and Variety Executive Editor Steven Gaydos, and a film screening and career clips overview. Dustin Hoffman will be presented with the MVFF Award, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning. After the program, the evening continues with dinner to benefit MVFF at Frantoio Ristorante and Olive Oil Co., one of Marin County’s premier dining destinations. TRIBUTE CO-SPONSORED BY
DUSTIN HOFFMAN A true Hollywood icon, in his four-and-a-half decades onscreen Dustin Hoffman has won two Oscars® and created countless indelible characters, from Midnight Cowboy’s crippled street hustler “Ratso” Rizzo to Tootsie’s crossdressing feminist soap star. Without Hoffman’s inimitable delivery, seemingly throwaway lines like “I’m walkin’ here!” and “I’m an excellent driver” would have never made it into the cultural lexicon. He even helped define the doubt and disillusionment of an entire generation in All the President’s Men and The Graduate, in which director Mike Nichols cast him as Benjamin Braddock for an “underdog” quality he so perfectly projected. It’s precisely this everyman relatability that has endeared Hoffman to audiences for so long. Now, the great actor has channeled his formidable experience and talent into his directorial debut, the charming comedy-drama Quartet. As Hoffman kicks off a new phase of his ever-evolving career, now is the perfect time to give this film legend the tribute he so richly deserves.
QUARTET
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
PROGRAMANDRECEPTION
DIRECTOR: DUSTIN HOFFMAN US 2012 • 95 MIN
Three aging opera singers (the powerhouse trio of Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins) are preparing for an upcoming concert at their retirement home when famous diva Jean (the inimitable Maggie Smith) arrives unexpectedly in Dustin Hoffman’s blithe yet moving directorial debut.. See page 49 for complete film information. BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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CENTERPIECE SPOTLIGHT
Wednesday, October 10, 7:00 pm Century Cinema, Corte Madera Program & Film Screening: $17 Adults / $15 Members $10 Children ages 12 and under Celebrate the Festival’s midpoint with a special screening of Rise of the Guardians and conversation with director Peter Ramsey. DreamWorks Animation SKG will be presented with the MVFF Award, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning.
CENTERPIECE CO-SPONSORED BY
D R E A M W O R K S A N I M AT I O N For almost two decades, DreamWorks Animation has been creating highcaliber, family-friendly, computer-generated animated feature films—making household names of Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda. DreamWorks Animation takes engaging stories and combines them with breathtaking imagery and a sensibility that is both sophisticated and playful. The result appeals to children as well as adults of all ages, and has captured the imaginations of millions. MVFF is delighted to be screening the newest DreamWorks Animation feature, Rise of the Guardians, as our Centerpiece Spotlight.
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS DIRECTOR: PETER RAMSEY US 2012 • 89 MINS
DreamWorks Animation takes us on an epic adventure that tells the story of a group of heroes—each with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit known as Pitch tries to take over the world, the immortal Guardians—Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost and the Sandman—must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imaginations of children all over the world.
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
CENTERPIECEPROGRAM
See page 51 for complete film information.
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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Thank you MVFF for bringing us 35 years of excitement and magic!
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MFliegauf@gmail.com 415.384.1113
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Where great music comes to life. Join us for our first concerts of the season and Gala celebration.
QUARTET SAN FRANCISCO
Viva Italia! Sunday Concert, October 28 at 3pm Carnivale Italian Season-Opening Gala
Sunday, October 28 at 5:30pm Tuesday Concert, October 30 at 7:30pm
Subscribe to 3, 4 or 5 concerts. Single tickets go on sale Take the journey with us.
September 10.
marinsymphony.org • 415.479.8100 • facebook.com/marinsymphony
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T R I B U T E
Wednesday, October 10, 7:00 pm Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center Program & Reception: General $80 / Members $70 Program Only: General $35 / Members $30 Join us for a Tribute Program honoring the career of Mira Nair, including an onstage conversation with Nair and a special screening of one of her films. Mira Nair will be presented with the MVFF Award, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning. The evening continues with a reception at Nourish at Harbor Point. Nourish offers excellent food and service in an elegant yet relaxed waterfront setting. Their dishes are prepared to the highest standards with local, sustainable and organic ingredients.
SALAAM BOMBAY!
MONSOON WEDDING
MIRA NAIR With Salaam Bombay!, her startlingly poignant 1988 feature debut, Mira Nair immediately announced herself as a world-class filmmaker whose deeply humanistic vision of life and cinema would give rise to some of the most emotionally gripping and visually inventive films of the past two decades. From the colorful culture-clashing of Mississippi Masala and the sensual delights of Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love to the voluptuous Victorian critique of Vanity Fair and the globehopping adventures of Amelia, Nair has ranged among disparate epochs, stories and characters with remarkable aplomb, and always with palpable empathy for the dispossessed. Perhaps most celebrated for 2001’s brilliantly conceived, multiple award–winning Monsoon Wedding, for which she returned to her native India, Nair once again works on a large canvas with this year’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, in which a young Pakistani chases success on Wall Street while feeling the pull of his homeland. Despite her new film’s title, Nair herself has never been reluctant to delve into tricky terrain, much to the benefit of appreciative audiences worldwide.
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
PROGRAMANDRECEPTION
RECEPTION SPONSORED BY
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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MUSIC EVENTS 19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley Box Office: (415) 388-1100 Info and Tickets: www.sweetwatermusichall.com
1 1 DAY S O F M U S I C , CO C KTAILS AND DINING SPECIALS at S W E E T W A T E R M U S I C H A L L & C A F É
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
Happy Hour with Pulse Pass holder specials Mon–Fri 4:00 PM–7:00 PM Sunday Live Music Brunches with specials 11:00 AM–2:00 PM OCT 4
OFFICIAL MVFF OPENING NIGHT AFTER-PARTY with DJ Dance Party 10:00 PM* Free for Gala Ticket holders and MVFF badge holders. Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com
OCT 5
VILLAGE MUSIC ALL STARS with Very Special Guests Post-premier live show celebrating John Goddard and Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com
OCT 6
VINYL – Mill Valley’s Favorite Old School Funk, Latin, Reggae and R&B Band Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com
OCT 7
SUNDAY LIVE MUSIC BRUNCH: Specials for MVFF badge holders, 11:00 AM–2PM* Evening Live Show - Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com
OCT 8
OPEN MIC NIGHT * Join Austin De Lone and Friends for Open Mic – You never know who will show up! Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com
OCT 9
RUCKATAN LATIN TRIBE * Latin and Reggae Fusion at Its Finest Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com
OCT 10 EVENING LIVE SHOW – Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com OCT 11 JUNO WHAT?! with Sophistafunk * Late 70s and 80s Inspired High Energy Funk and Disco Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com OCT 12 HI DE HO SHOW John Goddard hosts his annual music film montage – Info and Tickets: mvff.com OCT 13 LIVE EVENING SHOW (TBD) - Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com OCT 14 SUNDAY LIVE MUSIC BRUNCH: Specials for MVFF badge holders, 11 AM–2 PM* Evening Live Show - Info and Tickets: sweetwatermusichall.com * Denotes MVFF badge holders get free admission, space available as the venue has limited capacity.
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MUSIC EVENTS
MVFF PULSE PASS ONLY $149 INCLUDES: • 3 days of Mill Valley ASCAP Music Café • 2 General Admission MVFF film vouchers • Admission for one to the Official Opening Night After-Party at Sweetwater Music Hall & Café. • Admission for one to the “Ruckatan Latin Tribe” at the Sweetwater on Tuesday, October 9 • Admission for one to “Juno What?! with Sophistafunk“ at Sweetwater (Funk and Disco) on Thursday, October 11 • Happy hour specials and Sunday Music Brunches at Sweetwater throughout the Festival Available in very limited quantity. Complete details: mvff.com/pulsepass ASCAP Music Café and other events at Sweetwater based on availability and are first-come, first-served.
JOHN DOE
ASCAP M USI C CAF É
T H U R S D AY , O CTO B E R 1 1 – S AT U R D AY , O CTO B E R 1 3 1:00 PM–5:00 PM S W E E T W AT E R M U S I C H A L L & C A F É 19 CORTE MADERA AVE., MILL VALLEY The Mill Valley Film Festival presents the inaugural Mill Valley ASCAP Music Café, a dynamic showcase dedicated to exceptional live performances of new, emerging and established talent. Stop in to hear a wide range of exciting songwriters and artists from diverse musical genres in a program produced by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). These intimate performances and networking events will provide the perfect setting for those in the music and film communities to connect, with the goal of fostering collaboration on future film projects. 4 live performances each day for 3 straight days Artists scheduled to appear include: JOHN DOE FRANKMUSIK POMPLAMOOSE JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD NOVA ALBION
SPONSORED BY
For complete line-up: mvff.com Open and free to all MVFF badge holders on a space-available basis.
Offi cial Media Sponsor
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
POMPL AMOOSE
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Congratulations to the 35th Mill Valley Film Festival
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SPECIAL LIVE EVENTS VILL AGE MUSIC: L A ST OF THE GREAT REC ORD STORES
MUSIC EVENTS FOLLOWING FILMS AT 142 THROCKMORTON OCTOBER 6: JAMES CULLINGHAM AND CHRIS FUNK IN PERSON James Cullingham, director of In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey, will present Chris Funk of The Decemberists in a musical tribute to the great steel-string guitarist. (See page 42 for full film details.) OCTOBER 12: DREW DENNY IN PERSON Following a screening of her film The Most Fun I’ve Ever Had With My Pants On, director-actress-musician Drew Denny will perform a solo set. (See page 47 for full film details.)
VILLAGE MUSIC ALL STARS WITH VERY SPECIAL GUESTS Premiere After-Party immediately following the film
JOHN GODDARD
Friday, October 5 Sweetwater Music Hall 19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley Join us at the Sweetwater Music Hall & Café for a special live show celebrating John Goddard and Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores. Separate ticket needed; purchase tickets at sweetwatermusichall.com
See page 26 for Focus: Rock ‘n’ Soul information. DREW DENNY
HI DE HO SHOW Village Music’s John Goddard—our maestro of all things musical—veejays an uncut outtake fiesta of fabulous faves (think Elvis, Bettye, Santana) from his legendary live Sweetwater shows. It’s the extravaganza he’s always wanted to doo be doo. So, be there! Sweetwater Music Hall 19 Corte Madera Ave. , Mill Valley Tickets: mvff.com
See page 60 for full film details.
TUESDAY NIGHT COMEDY MARK PITTA & FRIENDS 142 Throckmorton Theatre Tickets & Info: 142throckmortontheatre.com MARK PITTA
Add a few good laughs to your life! Join A us for Tuesday Evening Comedy with u Mark Pitta and Friends. Mark Pitta hosts an evening where established M headliners and up-and-coming comics can drop by and work on new h material. You may see five comics, or an improv group or a comedy m vvideo or even a scene from a new play in progress.
See page 40 for full program information. n. BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
CHRIS FUNK OF THE DECEMBERISTS
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C L O S I N G
N I G H T
The 35th Mill Valley Film Festival comes to a close with another incredible film. After the film, join us at 32TEN Studios for our Closing Night Party.
CLOSING NIGHT FILM Over the 35-year histor y of the Mill Valley Film Festival, we have presented an amazing array of incredible Closing Night films, including last year’s Academy Award ® -winner for Best Picture, The Artist. This year, join us in celebrating our 35th Anniversar y as we present a fitting close to our Festival. Details can be found at mvff.com.
201 0 TH E D EBT
2 01 1 TH E A R TI S T
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14
F I L M & PA RTY: $ 85 G ENER AL / $ 75 M EM BER • FILM ON LY $ 50 GEN ERAL / $4 5 M EM BER
CLOSING NIGHT CO-SPONSORS
C LO S I N G N I G H T PA R T Y FOLLOWS THE CLOSING NIGHT SCREENINGS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14 • 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM • 32TEN STUDIOS, 3210 KERNER, SAN RAFAEL TANYA DUERI
MISTI LAYNE
TANYA DUERI
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
20 0 9 YOU NG V ICTORIA
Savor, indulge and relax with scrumptious Sol Food and many other featured caterers. As well as wine, beer and signature cocktails, live music and an alwaysmemorable atmosphere. BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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M V F F
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PREMIERES
2012 FOCUS
WO R L D
2012 FOCUS LIST
P R E MI E RE S
L ATI N A M E R I C A
After Winter, Spring Be Home Soon: Letters from My Grandfather
All In (Daniel Burman
ARGENTINA/SPAIN)
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
Elemental
Aprocryphal (Ernesto Fundora 5@5 PUZZLIN’ EVIDENCE
The Institute
Behind the Mirrors (Julio O. Ramos PERU) 5@5 CROSSEYED AND PAINLESS
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth (Frauke Sandig, Eric Black
Maelstrom
Here and There (Antonio Méndez Esparza
Rebels with a Cause
Richness of Internal Space (Kai Parlange
Room to Breathe
Thursday Till Sunday (Dominga Sotomayor
To Chris Marker, An Unsent Letter
Una Noche (Lucy Mulloy
MEXICO)
GERMANY/US) US/SPAIN/MEXICO) MEXICO)
CHILE/THE NETHERLAND s) US/UK/CUBA )
Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores
Violeta Went to Heaven (Andrés Wood CHILE/ARGENTINA/BRAZIL/SPAIn)
N O R T H
Xingu (Cao Hamburger
AME RICA N
P R EM I ER E S
Mars et Avril Normal! Ricky on Leacock Someone Like Me Strutter Tainá 3—An Amazon Legend The Wall
U S
P RE M IE RE S
Argo
THE ENVIRONMENT After Winter, Spring (Judith Lit
The Deep Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth Highway In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey Jayne Mansfield’s Car Lore The Missing Piece: The Truth About the Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa
Road North Silver Linings Playbook The Sinners
US/FRANCE )
Bidder 70 (Beth Gage, George Gage Critical Mass (Mike Freedman
US)
UK )
Elemental (Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth (Frauke Sandig, Eric Black
US)
GERMANY/US)
The New Environmentalists: From Kenya to the Arctic Circle (John Antonelli, Tom Dusenbery, Will Parrinello US, ARGENTINA, CHINA, KENYA, PHILIPPINES, RUSSIA ) Rebels With a Cause (Nancy Kelly Still (Jose Tadeu Bijos
The Attack
BRAZIL )
US)
US)
5@5 LIFETIME PILING UP Xingu (Cao Hamburger
BRAZIL )
ROCK ‘N’ SOUL Fat Kid Rules the World (Matthew Lillard The Hi De Ho Show (John Goddard
US)
US)
In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey (James Cullingham CANADA ) The Most Fun I’ve Ever Had With My Pants On (Drew Denny US) Not Fade Away (David Chase
US)
Road North (Mika Kaurismäki The Sapphires (Wayne Blair
FINLAND)
AUSTRALIA )
Strutter (Allison Anders, Kurt Voss Unwieldy Beast (Gary Weimberg
US)
US)
5@5 LIFETIME PILING UP ACTORS TURNED DIRECTORS Ben Affleck Dustin Hoffman Matthew Lillard
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Billy Bob Thornton
9/5/12 9:38 AM
M V F F GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THE 35TH MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL: Check MVFF.COM for our most current schedule and newly announced or surprise screenings, special guests and more. We go to print with this schedule a month before the Festival launches—so, for up-to-the-minute news, visit: MVFF.COM
Follow @MVFF on Twitter
VOLUNTEER! Contact us now for volunteer opportunities before, during and after the Festival! mvffvolunteers@cafilm.org
F I L M C AT E G O R I E S VALLEY OF THE DOCS The latest in documentary filmmaking, from heartfelt stories of activism to historical pieces to current events. SP ON S ORED
BY
ZAENTZ MEDIA CENTER A WAREHAM DEVELOPMENT
5@5 AND MVFF SHORTS
An assortment of short cinematic gems, sometimes preceding feature films, others in a program of their own. Many amazing feature films start their journey to the big screen as a short film. Catch them now! This year’s 5@5 shorts series takes its program titles from the songs of Talking Heads. SP ON S ORED
BY
US CINEMA A showcase for new films from around the US by master and emerging filmmakers who share a talent for and add their voice to independent storytelling. SP ON S ORED
BY
ZAENTZ MEDIA CENTER
415-526-5833
A WAREHAM DEVELOPMENT
Be a part of a milestone year.
WORLD CINEMA
Free t-shirt, festival vouchers, special screenings and more!
Stories from six continents that will change the way we understand our global neighbors and ourselves. SP ON S ORED
MVFF AWARD
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
The MVFF Award, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning, is awarded annually to MVFF Spotlight Artists and Tributees.
Giving young people a taste of cultures and adventures they won’t find any where else while nur turing SP ON S ORED their love of film.
BY
BY
T H E B A F TA L A P R I Z E The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles (BAFTA LA) is the only Anglo-American professional organization founded to promote and advance original work within the industries of the moving image. BAFTA LA serves as the bridge between the Hollywood and British production and entertainment business communities. BAFTA is headquartered in London with HRH Prince William as its President. More info at: bafta.org/losangeles/
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
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For ten years, this prestigious organization has awarded the BAFTA LA Prize to the best short film at the Mill Valley Film Festival. In addition, two runners-up are recognized with a Certificate of Excellence. This year’s prizes will be awarded on Closing Night by British Consul General Priya Guha, and announced in the press and on our website following the Festival.
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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2
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.org BEFORE THE FILM
AFTER THE FILM
B
efore the movie, join us for a classic Chinese cuisine dinner, enjoying your favorite wine & beverages and tasty appetizers with our fabulous Chinese food. You’ll surely like the warm & quick service in this contemporary setting.
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fter the movie, stop by and enjoy classic Chinese cuisine. We serve until midnight. Our banquet room seats up to 150 people. Full bar. Catering. We deliver hot food to your door.
1238 4th Street . San Rafael . 415.460.9883
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CHILDREN’S FILMFEST Bollywood Dreams nnnnnnnn
One of the wonderful and more recent surprises in the world of international children’s cinema has been Bollywood’s production of several films for young people. This year we proudly present two of the best, combining incomparable Bollywood fl ash and fun with positive social commentary. And we’re continuing the glitzy tzy theme in a children’s parade and party courtesy of Xanadu Productions (producer’s of MVFF 2011’s 011’s Circus Parade). We’re also highlighting our seven-year relationship with Croatia’s SAF Cakovecc children’s animation studio by screening SAF shorts before all Children’s FilmFest st features. And thanks to an exchange program facilitated by Sarah Klein from Stop and d Go Animation, we’re offering kids 8 to 12 a weekend animation workshop with SAF’s ’s Jasminka Bijelic Ljubic. Come Com and join us for an international sampling of the very best in n children’s movies! chil
Chillar Party (Bollywood) Lotte and the Moonstone Secret Stanley’s Tiffin Box (Bollywood) Tainá 3—An Amazon Legend Tales of the Night (3D) MVFF Youth Reel (a peer-juried reel for teens)
CHILDREN’S ANIMATION WORKSHOP Saturday & Sunday, October 6 & 7, 1:00-5:00 pm Intel Computer Clubhouse, 1115 Third Street, San Rafael
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST ALLACCESS BADGE Good for one (1) all-access admission to all Children’s FilmFest screenings, parade and children’s party. Each adult and child must have his or her own badge. $25
$100 (limited to 10 participants age 8-12) Join Croatian animator and assistant director of SAF Cakovec, Jasminka Bijelic Ljubic in a twoday workshop for ages 8 to 12. All materials and equipment (and lunch) supplied to make your own short animated film. This workshop is limited to 10 young people ages 8 to 12 only, so sign up now!
FREE BOLLYWOOD LIVE PARADE AND PLAZA PARTY Sunday, October 7 Procession starts behind the Rafael Film Center on Julia Street
Join us in an Indianthemed parade led by decorated horses, immediately following the October 7 screening of Stanley’s Tiffin Box at the Smith Rafael Film Center. The short route (designed for little ones) culminates at the downtown Plaza with live Indian music, food (provided by Arizmendi Bakery, Mr. Pickles and Lotus Chaat) and a performance by the Vandhana Dance Company, featuring Kathak dancer Megan Black. You don’t have to go to the film—everyone is welcome!
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST BOLLYWOOD PARTY Saturday, October 13, 2:30 pm 142 Throckmorton Theatre $6 for children, $9 for adults
Bring the family to the FilmFest children’s party, featuring our Indian bazaar, offering henna tattoos and bindis from the Bombay Beauty Bar; costumed pictures at Punjab Pix; and dance lessons in our Bollywood Ballroom. Live entertainment in the Taj Theater features popular band Crunchy Frog, tabla players, youth dancers and two short films. Yummy treats to eat and drink from Mumbai Morsels (a.k.a. Whole Foods)!
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
SPONSORED BY
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST PROGRAMS
nnnnnn nnnnnnnnnnnnnn ABOUT SUBTITLES To enhance very young viewers’ appreciation of foreign-language movies, we have actors read subtitles aloud. Where we can, we play the readings through individual headphones, to allow those who do not require the service to have an equally pleasurable film experience.
Headsets are offered on a first-come, firstserved basis to young people only. Films with readers are marked thus: Indicates subtitles with headphones Indicates subtitles read aloud
A G E R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S The age range following each program description is a suggestion only. It cannot adequately address everyone’s sense of appropriate or inappropriate content. Each child is different, and each parent has different standards.
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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9/4/12 3:26 AM
STAR WARS, EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE
PROGRAM
Century Cinema, Corte Madera
Come and celebrate the 35th Anniversary of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope on the big screen—in the way it was made to be experienced. Although it first appeared a long, long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away, Star Wars—which took on its current moniker for the 1997 rerelease—remains a cultural touchstone for Baby Boomers who first thrilled to Luke and Leia’s intergalactic adventures, as well as for subsequent generations of sci-fi thrill-seekers.
$14.50 Adults / $13.50 Members $10 Children ages 12 and under
Bring family and friends of all ages to this anniversary screening of the blockbuster that keeps on giving.
Monday, October 8 Pre-show starts at 5:00 pm Screening at 6:00 pm
Join the party for the 35th anniversary of Star Wars, including: SPONSORED BY
• Star Wars-themed photo booth opportunity!
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
3 5 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y C E L E B R AT I O N
• Meeting members of the 501st Legion, billed as “the world’s definitive imperial costuming organization.” Get your picture taken with Darth! • Costume parade! Come as your favorite Star Wars character and join the parade! • Special prizes and giveaways! • Watch out for special guests and join in a Q&A after the screening. (Just hope that Chewbacca doesn’t sit in front of you and block the view…) See page 56 for film details.
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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F I L M S
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
5@5: CROSSEYED AND PAINLESS
5@5: I’M NOT IN LOVE
5@5: LIFETIME PILING UP
5@5
5@5
5@5
“Lost my shape—trying to act casual.” Spanning three continents, these short films highlight individuals who find themselves in situations that tax their emotional and physical limits. Laurence Walsh’s WWIIera Why Are You Here (Poland, 13 mins) catches some German soldiers pinned down by a sniper in the final days of the war. In Noah Pritzker’s low-key Little Dad (US, 12 mins) a father has a complicated heart-toheart with his young son about the perils of self-expression. Evan Viera’s sumptuously animated Caldera (US, 12 mins) portrays a dystopian society and one woman’s effort to break away from its oppressiveness. In Julio O. Ramos’ tense Behind the Mirrors (Peru, 12 mins), night managers of a sleazy hotel encounter sex and murder when a celebrity checks in. And in Dana Turken’s poignant, surreal Arthur and the Bunnies (US, 20 mins), the title character has a very unusual and thankless physical malady. —Sterling Hedgpeth
“You’ll touch me in a minute—but that’s not what I want to do.” Affairs of the heart run the spectrum in this shorts collection, humorous and touching in turn. Reed Van Dyk’s Hung Up (US, 11 mins) shows how one phone call from the ex can change everything. In Alexander Poe’s The Break-Up Tour (US, 7 mins), a man hosts a New York City walking tour, chronicling the landmarks of his doomed relationship. Glenn Kiser’s Sabbatical (US, 12 mins) portrays a gay couple reuniting to process their time on a break from each other. In Burleigh Smith’s The Things My Father Never Taught Me (Australia, 7 mins), a man imparts his knowledge of the fairer sex to his son. Shanti Thakur’s Red Tulips, A Story About Forgetting (US, 15 mins) explores a world in which everyone suffers from short-term memory loss. Holle Singer’s Abandoned (US, 5 mins) dissects the tortured romantic ennui of its despondent male narrator. And in Brian McAllister’s The Man at the Counter (US, 9 mins), a young coffee store clerk’s encounter with an elderly customer leaves a long-lasting impression. —Sterling Hedgpeth
“I can see my lifetime piling up—reaching from my bedroom to the stars.” Nonfiction films shed light on our world, portraying real people, events and situations, but they can also “tell stories” as creatively as any fiction film. In Kevin Gordon’s Manufactured Fortunes (US, 5 mins), a fortune cookie’s journey from factory to restaurant resonates with man’s eternal quest for meaning. A project to understand the world’s simplest form of communication turns into a lesson in generosity in Jason Berger and Amy Laslett’s Good Karma $1 (US, 15 mins). A diver seeks to understand the spiritual connection between the ocean and humankind in Still (US, 11 mins) by Jose Tadeu Bijos. Nadav Kurtz’s Paradise (US, 10 mins), set among Chicago’s tallest skyscrapers, peers inside the lives of three immigrant window cleaners. Laura Green’s Installation (US, 8 mins) explores the boundaries between art and industry as it documents the process of constructing Richard Serra’s massive steel sculpture. A San Francisco piano player takes his music to the streets in Brandon Loper’s Unwieldy Beast (US, 6 mins), and Gary Weimberg’s Fathers & Sons, 10 True Stories (US, 8 mins) captures the father-son relationship from cradle to grave, from perfect to painful. —Kelly Clement
T O TA L P R O G R A M 69 M I N S
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 5:00 PM SEQUOIA 2 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 9:45 PM R AFAEL 3
T O TA L P R O G R A M 6 6 M I N S
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 8:45 PM R AFAEL 3 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 4:00 PM SEQUOIA 1
T O TA L P R O G R A M 6 3 M I N S
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 9:45 PM SEQUOIA 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 5:00 PM R AFAEL 3
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5@5: PUZZLIN’ EVIDENCE
5@5: SLIPPERY PEOPLE
F I L M S
AFTER WINTER, SPRING (APRES L’HIVER, LE PRINTEMPS)
5@5
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
“Well I hope you’re happy with what you’ve made.” These shorts explore alienation and challenge our perceptions of ourselves and our place in the world. In Kim Gunter’s meditative As Above, So Below (New Zealand, 17 mins), the last days of a terminally ill man ground him in harmonic convergence with the landscape and the universe. In Ursula Rani Sarma’s The Woods (US, 12 mins), a mental patient finds her grasp of reality slipping. Kyoungju Kim uses texture and membranes, stark lighting and image reversals, aural dislocation and emulsion scratching to Melt in the Shade (US, 6 mins). In Ernesto Fundora’s Apocryphal (Mexico, 17 mins), the line between the 1% and the 99% proves to be illusory for a mysterious businessman. And finally, in Thibault Le Texler’s remarkable The Human Factor (France, 29 mins), 1950s archival footage deftly complements an intimate and intellectual discourse between an efficiency expert on assignment and his wife back home, addressing issues of innovation, domesticity, progress, family and how we choose to let them inform our humanity. A stunner. —Sterling Hedgpeth
“They were living creatures. Watch ‘em come to life right before your eyes.” Motivations, values, priorities—even sanity— can be fluid, or elusive altogether. These slippery people evade easy descriptions. In Christoph Kuschnig’s heart-wrenching Hatch (Austria, 19 mins), two couples are forced to make momentous decisions on a bleak Christmas morning. In Miranda de Pencier’s Throat Song (Canada, 17 mins), an Inuit woman remembers lessons from her grandmother when faced with the hardships of poverty and violence around her. In Michael Kratochvil’s dialogue-free Eileen Pratt (Australia, 15 mins), a lonely woman skirts the brink of madness before going over the edge. Finally, in Bryan Buckley’s Asad (South Africa, 18 mins), a Somali youth emulates the pirates that terrorize his village, but his relationship with a local fi sherman proves life-changing. —Sterling Hedgpeth
US/FR ANCE 2012 • 74 MINS
T O TA L P R O G R A M 8 1 M I N S
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 4:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 5:00 PM R AFAEL 3
T O TA L P R O G R A M 69 M I N S
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 9:45 PM R AFAEL 2 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 5:00 PM R AFAEL 3
Director/Producer Judith Lit Cinematographer Stéphane Carbon Editor Jennifer Chinlund Print Source Terra Productions
FOCUS: THE ENVIRONMENT • In French and English with English subtitles. A hundred years ago, farmers comprised more than half of France’s population; today they number less than three percent. With the inexorable encroachment of modern agriculture, suburban sprawl and European Union bureaucracy, how do these remaining small farmers sustain their way of life? After moving to the Périgord region, filmmaker Judith Lit spent three years sculpting an intimate portrait of her neighbors, the selfproclaimed peasants who’ve been working the land for generations. Here in the Dordogne, Lit is reminded of her childhood on her family’s Pennsylvania farm, gaining a strong connection to the hardy, hardworking, no-nonsense locals—including her elderly neighbor Alfred who, at 88, is still out every day pruning his beloved grapevines. Proud of their heritage and their vocations, they do not resist progress per se but clearly struggle with the complications that it brings. Can they, should they, adapt to the new methods and technologies of today’s big agribusiness? WORLD PREMIERE —Joanne Parsont
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5@5
PRECEDED BY
BETWEEN LAND AND SEA US 2012 • 9 MINS Director J. Christian Jensen, Sarah Berkovich
Romance and reality collide for a couple living in a lighthouse on a tiny Bay Area island. T O TA L P R O G R A M 8 3 M I N S
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 12:15 PM R AFAEL 2 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 9:30 PM R AFAEL 2 BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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F I L M S ALL IN
ARGO
THE ATTACK
WORLD CINEMA
US CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
ARGENTINA /SPAIN 2012 • 113 MINS
US 2012 • 120 MINS
Director Daniel Burman Producers/ Screenwriters Daniel Burman, Sergio Dubcovsky Cinematographer Daniel Ortega Editor Luis Barros Cast Jorge Drexler, Valeria Bertuccelli, Norma Aleandro, Luis Brandoni, Gabriel Schultz Print Source Primer Plano Film Group
Director Ben Affl eck Producers Ben Affl eck George Clooney, Grant Heslov Screenwriter Chris Terrio Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto Editor William Goldenberg Cast Ben Affl eck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Clea DuVall Print Source Warner Bros.
LEBANON/FR ANCE/QATAR/BELGIUM 2012 • 102 MINS
FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA • In Spanish with English subtitles. For divorced dad Uriel Cohan (Oscar ® -winning songwriter for The Motorcycle Diaries, Jorge Drexler), life in Buenos Aires means tending his two kids, running his father’s finance company, chasing women and playing high-stakes poker, but not necessarily in that order. Just when Uriel refuses to go “all in” with any woman, his ex-lover Gloria (Valeria Bertuccelli of XXY) appears, upping the ante with the possibility for something real and lasting. Wanting to impress Gloria and transcend his daily life, Uriel pretends to be someone he’s not. His friend, his doctor and a rock-star rabbi all advise him to stop telling lies and start living the truth. Meanwhile, Gloria is mourning her father and longing to connect with her elusive mother (a spot-on Norma Aleandro). Renowned director-screenwriter Daniel Burman (Family Law, MVFF 2006) deals this romantic comedy with astute precision as Uriel tries to keep his house of cards from collapsing and turn a pack of lies into a winning hand. —Carol Harada
SPECIAL PREMIERE • In the grand tradition of 1970s espionage thrillers, actor-director Ben Affleck has crafted an unflinchingly tense caper film, which follows the reallife exploits of CIA agent Tony Mendez (Affleck) as he attempts to free a small group of US Embassy workers trapped in Iran during the hostage crisis of 1979–81. Mendez concocts the mad-genius scheme of creating a phony film production (the titular Star Wars rip-off) in order to “exfil” the Americans out of the country by having them pose as the movie’s Canadian crew. While even the opening credits are delightfully retro, Argo is still very much of the moment, especially given the ongoing tensions between Iran and the West. It’s a thorny subject to be sure, but Affleck never oversimplifies, instead choosing to focus on the human toll of international strife. In doing so, he’s created a masterful blend of Hollywood farce, political potboiler and family drama. US PREMIERE —Michelle Devereaux
(LA SUERTE EN TUS MANOS)
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 9:15 PM SEQUOIA 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 12:00 PM R AFAEL 3
SPONSORED BY
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ACQUA HOTEL
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 7:00 PM* R AFAEL 1 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 9:15 PM R AFAEL 1
*INVITED GUEST: Ben Affleck General $25 / Members $20
Director Ziad Doueiri Producer Jean Bréhat Screenwriters Ziad Doueiri, Joelle Touma Cinematographer Tommaso Fiorilli Editor Dominique Marcombe Cast Ali Suliman, Evgenia Dodena, Reymond Amsalem, Dvir Benedek Print Source Cohen Media Group
In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles. By all appearances, Palestinian-Israeli surgeon Amin Jaafari (Ali Suliman, Lemon Tree, MVFF 2008) has it all. As an admired and respected member of his community, he has carved a space for himself and his wife, Sihem, at the crossroads of two troubled societies. Amin’s world is abruptly shattered when Sihem is killed in a Tel Aviv suicide bombing. As Israeli police evidence mounts, it appears that Sihem could have been responsible. A stunned Amin is haunted by how he could have missed any sign of his wife’s double life. Evading the police and following his own intuition, he travels alone to the Palestinian Territories to find those who might have recruited her. In the narrow streets and among the shadowed alleys he becomes an unwelcome visitor. Based on a popular novel by Yasmina Khadra, this compelling and fascinating story bravely enters into the complicated world of redemption and revenge in the Middle East. US PREMIERE —Janis Plotkin WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 6:45 PM SEQUOIA 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1:15 PM R AFAEL 2 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H T HE A R A B CULT UR A L A ND C OMMUNI T Y CEN T ER .
SPONSORED BY
G R U B E R FA M I LY F O U N D AT I O N
CAFILM.ORG
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BAY OF ALL SAINTS
F I L M S
BE HOME SOON: LETTERS FROM MY GRANDFATHER
BEYOND THE HILLS
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA
BR A ZIL 2011 • 74 MINS
US 2012 • 75 MINS
ROMANIA 2012 • 150 MINS
Director/Cinematographer/Editor Annie Eastman Producers Diane Markrow, Davis Coombe Print Source A Crowded Peninsula
Director/Producer Melissa A. Howden Cinematographer Brandon Batten Editor Nao Nakazawa Print Source Melissa A. Howden
Director/Producer/Screenwriter Cristian Mungiu Cinematographer Oleg Mutu Editor Mircea Olteanu Cast Cosmina Stratan, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuta, Dana Tapalaga Print Source IFC Films
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 9:15 PM 142 THROCKMORTON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 5:00 PM 142 THROCKMORTON
Tumbleweeds roll timelessly across a New Mexico landscape in this visually and emotionally compelling family story of an Episcopalian priest who went off to World War II and never returned, but whose legacy resonates still. In 1941, filmmaker Melissa Howden’s grandfather volunteered to serve as chaplain for troops leaving for the Philippines. Frederick, known as Ted, wrote letters to his wife and young sons chronicling his journey, all signed “be home soon.” But Ted–voiced in the film by Peter Coyote–did not come home. His family later discovered he had survived the notorious Bataan Death March but succumbed to illness and malnutrition months later. Now his granddaughter excavates family lore in a search for understanding, retracing Ted’s journey and coming to terms with the faith and principles that drove him while piecing together the missing parts of her heritage. This lyrical testament touches a universal nerve in its exploration of war and devotion, love and loss, family myth and patrimony. WORLD PREMIERE —Zoë Elton PRECEDED BY
GRANDMOTHERS (ABUELAS)
UK 2011 • 9 MINS
In Romanian with English subtitles. Cristian Mungiu’s much-anticipated follow-up to his award-winning 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days delivers a formally rigorous masterpiece that confirms the Romanian filmmaker as a cinematic titan. At the same time, Beyond the Hills extends the earlier film’s critique of social and patriarchal hypocrisy while taking on no less than faith, desire, God and the Devil (probably). Reunited after months of being apart, Voichita (Cosmina Stratan) and Alina (Cristina Flutur) clinch each other tightly in a train station. The former has chosen to become a nun, living in a rural monastery; the latter has come to rekindle a long-dormant intimacy. But when Voichita refuses to leave her new home, Alina’s behavior becomes highly erratic, leading the head monk to conclude that this visitor is, in fact, demonically possessed. Mungiu here takes his country’s fertile New Wave to its logical bigger-picture endpoint—and aims at its future beyond the horizon. —Dave Fear SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 11:45 AM SEQUOIA 1 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 12:00 PM R AFAEL 1
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
In Portuguese with English subtitles. “The people who have money live in the sky. Those who don’t have money live over the tide,” says Norato, one of hundreds of residents living in the Bay of All Saints, a waterfront stretch in Salvador, Brazil, where illegal houses built on fragile wooden stilts hang precariously above a sea of sewer and garbage. Filmed over a span of six years, this extraordinary documentary follows the daily struggles of three single-mother households as they struggle to keep their families together while awaiting the construction of inland government housing funded by a $49 million World Bank slum-eradication program, a project that seems to have stalled indefinitely. A poignant and inspiring character study, Bay of All Saints exposes the disastrous consequences of the chronic government corruption and negligence that has perpetuated a cycle of abject poverty in a community that, despite an uncertain future, has managed to keep its fighting spirit intact. —Julia Barbosa
(DUPA DEALURI)
Director Afarin Eghbal
Using stunning animation techniques, this heartbreaking oral history conveys the struggle of Argentine grandmothers searching for their offspring among the “disappeared” citizens of Argentina’s Dirty War. T O TA L P R O G R A M 8 4 M I N S
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 6:45 PM R AFAEL 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2:30 PM R AFAEL 3
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SPONSORED BY
N O U R I SH AT H A R BOR P O INT
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9/5/12 7:37 AM
F I L M S BIDDER 70
BODY COMPLETE
CAESAR MUST DIE (CESARE DEVE MORIRE)
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
US 2012 • 73 MINS
AUSTRIA 2012 • 86 MINS
ITALY 2012 • 76 MINS
Directors/Producers Beth Gage, George Gage Cinematographer George Gage Editor Ryan Sufferne Print Source Gage & Gage Productions
Director/Screenwriter Lukas Sturm Producer Robert Hofferer Cinematographer Sashin Sisic Editors Britta Nahler, Thomas Vondrak Cast Asli Bayram, Senad Basic, Adnan Haskovic, Miraj Grbic Print Source Artdeluxe GmbH
Directors Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani Producer Grazia Volpi Screenwriters Paolo Taviani, Vittorio Taviani, Fabio Cavalli Cinematographer Simone Zampagni Editor Roberto Perpignani Cast Cosimo Rega, Salvatore Striano, Giovanni Arcuri, Antonio Frasca, Juan Dario Bonetti, Vittorio Parrella Print Source Adopt Films
FOCUS: THE ENVIRONMENT • In 2008, the Bush administration opened southern Utah to drilling and held an oil and gas lease auction on 116 parcels of public land. Deeply concerned about climate change and the environmental impact the drilling would have on the unspoiled wilderness he loved, recent college grad Tim DeChristopher went to the auction to protest. When picketing felt insufficient, DeChristopher impulsively crashed the auction, making bogus bids on nearly every parcel, eventually resulting in a two-count felony charge. With the Obama administration in office a month later, the land leases were ultimately canceled—but the government continued its legal action against DeChristopher. Meanwhile, he became a leading environmental activist and, as captured in this film, an inspirational model of civil disobedience in the face of injustice. —Joanne Parsont PRECEDED BY
THE NEW ENVIRONMENTALISTS 2012 US 2012 • 28 MINS Director Will Parrinello, John Antonelli, Tom Dusenbery
Robert Redford narrates the stories of six environmental activists who each seek to protect Earth’s natural resources, combat pollution and fight for environmental justice. T O TA L P R O G R A M 10 1 M I N S
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 11:30 AM SEQUOIA 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2:00 PM R AFAEL 3 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H T HE BIONEER S
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In English, German and Bosnian with English subtitles. Sensing history repeating itself, journalist Nicole flies from Vienna to the Bosnian village of Morovci to track down Edina, who has gone missing. Edina had recently returned to Morovci to fulfill her murdered father’s last wish for a proper burial. However, her father was one of thousands of Muslim victims of ethnic cleansing in the 1992 war, and Morovci has since been remade—facts complicating her task. Now Edina herself has vanished mid-mission. As they search for her, Nicole and her television crew face resistance from traumatized villagers and a despotic mayor. Their few allies, meanwhile, include the forensic specialists painstakingly piecing together the scattered remains of the victims. When the body is complete, the soul can rest. When the truth is told, a new future is possible. This poignant thriller examines what it means for a people to face up to a shared past, and what happens when they won’t. —Carol Harada SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 9:15 PM SEQUOIA 2
In Italian with English subtitles. Power. Ambition. Loyalty. Betrayal. Inmates of a maximum-security prison on the outskirts of Rome act out the big themes in Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Julius Caesar as part of the institution’s theater laboratory. Brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (whose 1982 The Night of the Shooting Stars won the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes) capture the intense preparations. Shot in black-and-white amid the prison’s stark surroundings, rehearsals reveal the actors’ turmoil as they find their way into their respective characters. Shorn of costumes, elaborate sets and polished performances, the play’s soliloquies, whispered conspiracies and rousing speeches restore the weight of the personal to politics. In this genre-defying film, which won the Berlin International Film Festival’s prestigious Golden Bear, the Tavianis demonstrate the relevance of Brutus’ agonies, Cassius’ cunning and Antony’s protean nature even—or perhaps especially—for the most powerless among us. —Shari Kizirian MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 6:30 PM* R AFAEL 1 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 5:00 PM SEQUOIA 2
*Post screening panel on October 8 with Lesley Currier of Marin Shakespeare and actors from their Shakespeare at San Quentin program. P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H M A RIN SH A K E SP E A RE
SPONSORED BY
VIMEO
CAFILM.ORG
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THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE
F I L M S
CRITICAL MASS
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
US 2012 • 119 MINS
INDIA 2011 • 130 MINS
UK 2012 • 100 MINS
Directors/Producers Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon Cinematographers Anthony Savini, Buddy Squires Editor Michael Levine Print Source Sundance Selects
Directors Nitesh Tiwari, Vikas Bahl Producer Ronnie Screwvala Screenwriters Vijay Maurya, Nitesh Tiwari Cinematographer Amitabha Singh Editors Amit Pawar, Aarif Sheikh Cast Irrfan Khan, Sanath Menon, Rohan Grover, Naman Jain Print Source UTV Motion Pictures
Director/Producer Mike Freedman Cinematographer Brian Strange Editor Anthony Stadler Print Source Mike Freedman
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
In 1989, five youths of color from Harlem were detained for unlaw ful assembly in Central Park. Nearby in the park that night, a white woman jogger was brutally assaulted, raped and left for dead. Detectives hell-bent on making a quick conviction subjected the naïve, hapless youths to hours of escalating interrogation. Tired, poor and hungry, they were easily manipulated into confessing to what would infamously become known as the “wilding.” All fi ve served six to 13 years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit. Master documentarian Ken Burns, continuing his exploration of race and power in America, retraces the missteps of the power elite, the media, the lawyers and police in a city split along race and class lines. In unraveling this miscarriage of justice, the film does much more to restore the humanity of these fi ve wronged individuals than did the confession by the actual assailant in 2002. —Carol Harada SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 3:30 PM R AFAEL 1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 3:15 PM R AFAEL 1
For more Ken Burns, see Insight Ken Burns, page 65.
In Hindi with English subtitles. It’s anything but politics as usual when the Chillar Party— a colorfully nicknamed gang of school kids living in an apartment colony—takes on a self-important minister who uses Mumbai’s stray-dog problem to garner publicity and regain prominence. At stake is Bhidu, or Buddy, the stray dog that’s the only friend of Fatka, the stray orphan boy who works in the colony washing cars. The minister needs to make an example of Buddy—and his master, Fatka—no matter whom it hurts. He manipulates the colony’s manager into doing his dirty work to make already-homeless Fatka jobless, friendless and dogless too, if the dogcatcher grabs Buddy. Parents in the colony bow to authority, rationalizing that their kids will get over it. But kids being kids, they see beyond social, economic and even species differences well before the adults can understand it’s not just a matter of stray dogs but of friendship and loyalty. —R. McNair PRECEDED BY
BLUE MAGIC (PLAVA CAROLIJA)
2009 • 3 MINS
FOCUS: THE ENVIRONMENT • Critical Mass is an enthralling and well-mannered horror story of a documentary, examining the human population explosion and its attendant exploitation of natural resources with a careful balance of doomsday scenarios and guardedly optimistic prescriptions for change. Spotlighting the impact of population growth on both the planet and our psychology, it soon becomes a story of mice and men. Filmmaker Mike Freedman structures his smart, engaging narrative around the work of research psychologist John Calhoun in the early 1960s , which demonstrated the bleak effects of overpopulation on rats. The visual conversation Freedman sets up features inconvenient truths that may make even the most socially committed among us squirm under new insights. Using testimonies of more than 20 leading scientists, academics and authors from around the world, this eye-opening summary of present and future challenges should be required viewing for everyone as we head toward the nine billion mark by 2050. SPECIAL PREVIEW —Deanna Quinones
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
CHILLAR PARTY
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1:30 PM SEQUOIA 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 5:45 PM 142 THROCKMORTON
This animated shor t was made by young ar tists in the SAF Cakovec animation workshop. T O TA L P R O G R A M 13 3 M I N S
SPONSORED BY
MILL VA LLE Y LIBR A RY FO U NDATION & THE FRIENDS
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 11:15 AM R AFAEL 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 11:00 AM SEQUOIA 2 SPONSORED BY
PACIFIC SUN
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2012MVFF-FSNotes-PP CORREX5.indd 37
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9/5/12 7:37 AM
F I L M S THE DEEP
ELEMENTAL
FAT KID RULES THE WORLD
(DJÚPI )
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
WORLD CINEMA
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
US CINEMA
ICEL AND 2012 • 91 MINS
2012 • 93 MINS
US 2012 • 98 MINS
Director Baltasar Kormákur Producers Baltasar Kormákur, Agnes Johansen Screenwriter Jón Atli Jónason Cinematographer Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson Editor Sverrir Kristjánsson Cast Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jóhann G. Jóhannsson, Theodór Júlíusson Print Source Blueeyes Productions
Directors/Producers Gayatri Roshan, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee Cinematographer Emily Topper Editor Pedro Kos Print Source Go Project Films
Director Matthew Lillard Producers Rick Rosenthal, Nick Morton, Jane Charles, Jennifer Maas, Evan Wasserstrom, Talan Torriero, Matthew Lillard Screenwriters Michael M.B. Galvin, Peter Speakman Cinematographer Noah Rosenthal Editor Michelle Witten Cast Jacob Wysocki, Matt O’Leary, Billy Campbell, Lili Simmons, Dylan Arnold Print Source Whitewater Films
In Icelandic with English subtitles. On March 11, 1984, a fishing boat sailing from the Westmann Islands sank in the frigid waters off the south coast of Iceland. Against withering odds, lone survivor Gudlaugur (Gulli) Fridthórsson swam nearly seven kilometers of hostile sea to return to land, where he would be welcomed home a national hero and medical curiosity. Gulli’s ordeal is the subject of Baltasar Kormákur’s The Deep, an intimately realistic depiction of one man’s determined battle to survive. The extraordinary true story begins unremarkably: Crewmembers go boozing the night before and nurse next-morning hangovers as their families see them off into the predawn darkness. Yet these quotidian preparations take place against a backdrop of awesome natural power—volcanoes, snowstorms, aurora borealis and an angry sea. Kormákur gets the most out of this juxtaposition, shooting many of his interiors in close quarters before unleashing young Gulli, exhausted and treading water, into a desperate struggle that does not end at the shoreline. US PREMIERE —Aaron Lazenby
FOCUS: THE ENVIRONMENT • For three resourceful eco–warriors—one based here in Marin County—the battle to save the planet from environmental catastrophe is not merely a matter of science or politics but an inspired and inspiring personal mission. In India, water activist Rajendra Singh takes on his biggest challenge yet when he leads the charge to purify the Ganges of pollutants. Indigenous activist Eriel Deranger wages war against the tar sands oil extraction that has turned parts of Alberta, Canada into a carcinogenic wasteland. And in San Rafael, Australian inventor Jay Harman applies what he observes in nature to product designs that greatly reduce energy use, and possibly point to an ingenious solution to global warming. This stunningly photographed documentary deftly interweaves their journeys, creating not just a portrait of true activism—demonstrating what can be accomplished at the individual level— but also serving as a rousing call to action. WORLD PREMIERE —Pam Grady TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 6:45 PM R AFAEL 2 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 6:30 PM 142 THROCKMORTON
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 6:00 PM CINEMA CORTE MADER A THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 4:00 PM R AFAEL 2
FOCUS: ROCK’N’SOUL/ACTORS TURNED DIRECTORS • Ironic title alert: Awkward teen Troy Billings (Terri star Jacob Wysocki) rules nothing, except perhaps the World of Warcraft–esque video game he plugs into nightly. The real world, in a word, sucks. Troy’s active fantasy life can’t disguise the fact that he doesn’t have any friends or that his ex-Marine father (Billy Campbell) is a disapproving control freak. Determined to end it all, Troy steps in front of a bus—and an unlikely savior appears. Marcus (Matt O’Leary), a sometime musician and full-time pill-popper, convinces the reluctant Troy to join his new band, sparking a surprising friendship between ne’er-do-well and ne’erdo-anything-cool. Based on KL Going’s bestselling young adult novel, which used Kurt Cobain as inspiration, Fat Kid Rules the World marks the directorial debut of actor Matthew Lillard (The Descendants, MVFF 2011), once a frequent player in high-school comedies himself. There’s not a twinge of She’s All That in this darkly funny, well-acted character study, which eschews prom-night dilemmas in favor of far thornier life lessons. —Cheryl Eddy SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 3:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 7:00 PM R AFAEL 2
The members screening on October 9 is free to CFI members presenting a ticket. P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H T HE ICEL A NDIC A S S O CI AT ION OF NOR T HERN C A L IFORNI A SPONSORED BY
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WELL S FARGO
SPONSORED BY
BELLAM SELF STORAGE & BOXES
SPONSORED BY
MARIN MAGAZINE
CAFILM.ORG
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FLICKER
A GIRL LIKE HER
(FLIMMER)
F I L M S
A HAPPY EVENT
(UN HEUREUX ÉVÉNEMENT )
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA
SWEDEN 2012 • 99 MINS
US 2011 • 48 MINS
FR ANCE 2011 • 114 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Patrik Eklund Producer Mathias Fjällström Cinematographer David Grehn Editors Patrik Eklund, Stefan Sundlof Cast Kjell Bergqvist, Allan Svensson, Jacob Nordenson, Anki Larrson Print Source Swedish Film Institute
Director/Producer/Editor Ann Fessler Cinematographer Dennis Goulden Print Source Circle A Studio
Director Rémi Bezançon Producers Eric Altmayer, Niolas Altmayer, Isabelle Grellat Screenwriters Rémi Bezançon, Vanessa Portal Cinematographer Antoine Monod Editor Sophie Reine Cast Louise Bourgoin, Pio Marmaï, Josiane Balasko, Thierry Frémont Print Source Screen Media Films
In Swedish with English subtitles. From Sweden (by way of the Coen Brothers, The Office and Napoleon Dynamite) comes this hilariously deadpan tale of a utility company determined to modernize, though fate has other plans. Things at Unicom were sliding downhill even before a massive power outage plunged the citizens of tiny Backberga into darkness. But the post-blackout fallout is nothing short of disastrous: There’s the boss who dreams a superhero will save the day; the lonely-hearted janitor with a paralyzing fear of spiders; the pair of technicians reeling from high-voltage close encounters; and a hapless middle-manager caught in a Sisyphean cycle of computer meltdowns. Writer-director Patrik Eklund (Oscar ® nominee for 2010’s Instead of Abracadabra) lenses his lovable small-town losers in 1970s shades of brown and orange, lending a retro quality to the film’s undeniable charm. But with references to 4G networks, “noobs” and Blue Screens of Death, this is surely 21st-century comedy at its finest. —Cheryl Eddy SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 9:00 PM R AFAEL 2 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 3:15 PM R AFAEL 2 W I T H S UP P OR T F R OM T HE B A RBR O O SHER P RO SUECI A FOUNDAT ION
SPONSORED BY
THE LOD G E AT TIBU RON
Ann Fessler’s gripping documentary recovers the narratives of unmarried pregnant women in the early 1960s, when the dawn of the sexual revolution was still pretty dark. Lacking sex education and easy access to birth control, women who conceived out of wedlock were forced to go into hiding and afterward “surrender” their children for adoption, holding their experience as a shameful secret, never to be spoken of. Candid accounts detail wrenching experiences against archival footage of educational films and documentaries of the era, suggesting that while coded terms may have been replaced, complex emotions and social and political issues associated with reproductive rights remain. —Holly Roach PRECEDED BY
MONDAYS AT RACINE US 2011 • 39 MINS Director Cynthia Wade
Beauty is more than skin deep, and these women know it. One Monday a month, sisters Rachel and Cynthia open their Long Island beauty salon to women living with cancer. The sisters bring out the femininity and selfregard of women who fear they’ve lost it all to the disease. Amid transformations in relationships with family and friends, the women find their true beauty and strength together. T O TA L P R O G R A M 8 7 M I N S
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1:30 PM 142 THROCKMORTON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 7:00 PM R AFAEL 3
SPONSORED BY
CROWDTORCH
In French with English subtitles. It is no small coincidence that, at the outset of this witty, candid meditation on motherhood, a philosophy professor invokes Kafka’s Metamorphosis as he’s speaking with his bright and (unbeknownst to him) pregnant protégée, Barbara (Louise Bourgoin). Based on Éliette Abécassis’s best-selling novel, Rémi Bezançon’s whimsical taboo-breaking tale follows Barbara’s transformation from her meetcute with a video store clerk (Pio Marmaï) to her impulsive, not to mention implosive, decision to bear a child. In a standout performance, Bourgoin is simultaneously vulnerable and resilient as a woman struggling to reconcile her intellectual pursuits with her visceral experience as a first-time mother. In a style reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Bezançon boldly mines the comedy and tragedy of Barbara’s predicament, exploring how our true education in life comes not from unified theories but from the tangled web of family and friends that challenges, confounds and ultimately defines us. —Laura Swanbeck WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 4:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 5:30 PM R AFAEL 3 W I T H S UP P OR T F R OM F RENCH A MERIC A N CULT UR A L S O CIE T Y
SPONSORED BY
RUBY LIVINGDESIGN
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2012MVFF-FSNotes-PP CORREX5.indd 39
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
WORLD CINEMA
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F I L M S HEART OF SKY, HEART OF EARTH
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA US/SPAIN 2012 • 110 MINS
Directors/Producers/Screenwriters Frauke Sandig, Eric Black Cinematographer Eric Black Editor Grete Jentzen Print Source Umbrella Films
Director/Screenwriter Antonio Méndez Esparza Producers Ori Dov Gratch, Pedro Hernández Santos, Tim Hobbs, Antonio Méndez Esparza, Diana Wade Cinematographer Barbu Balasoiu Editor Filippo Conz Cast Pedro De los Santos, Teresa Ramírez Aguirre, Lorena Guadalupe Pantaleón Vázquez Print Source Torch Films
FOCUS: THE ENVIRONMENT/LATIN AMERICA • In Spanish and Mayan with English subtitles. According to the ancient Mayans, the present world as we know it will end on December 21, 2012 and a new cycle will arise. What is the truth behind the predictions of the Mayan calendar? How will the stor y end? This empowering human rights documentary allows the Mayans of today to provide the answers. Through the use of exquisite dreamlike imagery and music set against the harsh realities of corrupt governments and heartless multinationals, directors Eric Black and Frauke Sandig present the intimate stories of six modern-day Mayans intent on preserving the sacred ceremonies of their ancestors and incorporating them into everyday life. Ultimately, Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth is a deeply moving and haunting film that gives voice to the indigenous people who understand their calendar not as an inevitable prophecy but as the closing of a circle, and a way to a new beginning. US PREMIERE —Delfin Vigil SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 6:15 PM SEQUOIA 2 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 8:00 PM R AFAEL 3
SPONSORED BY
WHOLE FOODS MARKET
THE HI DE HO SHOW
(AQUÍ Y ALLÁ)
GERMANY/US 2011 • 99 MINS
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H M A RIN IN T ERFA I T H C OUNCIL / W I T H SUP P OR T F ROM T HE GERM A N C ON SUL AT E GENER A L S A N F R A NCI S C O
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HERE AND THERE
FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA • In Spanish with English subtitles. In his feature film debut, writer-director Antonio Méndez Esparza creates a world that pulls us in and never lets go. When Pedro returns to his small Mexican village of Copa, he’s not sure what to expect. He’s been away from his family for years, working multiple jobs in New York to send money to his wife and daughters back home. His wife greets him with quiet yet unequivocal affection. Young daughter Heidi is curious and open, while his eldest, Lorena, is hesitant, remembering the father she knew as a little girl through the guarded eyes of a teenager. As the family begins to rediscover one another, Pedro struggles to support them while keeping his dream alive of playing music with his band, The Copa Kings. With a natural style that is as lyrical as it is devastating, moments large and small are deftly, gracefully explored in this profoundly affecting drama. —Kristine Kolton
US CINEMA
FOCUS: ROCK’N’SOUL • Hi De Ho Show fans take note: This is the extravaganza that John Goddard—our maestro of the marvels and mysteries of all things musical—has always wanted to do . . . be doo be doo. Veejaying clips from his personal archives, Goddard spins an uncut outtake fiesta of fabulous faves from his legendary Village Music shows at the original Sweetwater—plus some of those extraordinary in-store appearances. (Remember packing in to see Elvis Costello?) The invitation-only shows began after Sweetwater’s Jeanie Patterson bemoaned never getting someone like Ry Cooder to play a club so small. “Why not?” asked Goddard, and the roster grew: Santana, John Lee Hooker, the Fairfield Four, Carla Thomas, Jimmy Scott, Bettye Lavette, Charles Brown . . . Add Audie Delone as impromptu music director and it was, per Goddard, as though Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland were putting on a show and “hired a bandleader like Benny Goodman to run the thing.” The nonstop extravaganza takes place at the Sweetwater. Be there! —Zoë Elton FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 8:00 PM SWEET WATER MUSIC HALL
See also: Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores, page 60.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 6:00 PM R AFAEL 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 3:15 PM R AFAEL 3 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H C A N A L A L L I A NCE / W T IH SUP P OR T F ROM T HE C ON SUL AT E GENER A L OF SPA IN IN S A N F R A NCI S C O
SPONSORED BY
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA WINERY
CAFILM.ORG
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F I L M S
HOLY MOTORS
THE IMPOSSIBLE
WORLD CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
NEPAL 2012 • 75 MINS
FR ANCE 2012 • 115 MINS
SPAIN/US 2012 • 107 MINS
Director Deepak Rauniyar Producers Joslyn Barnes, Danny Glover, Deepak Rauniyar Screenwriter Abinash Bikram Shah Cinematographers Deepak Rauniyar, Apal Sing, Jyoti Kesar Shimha Editors David Barker, Rita Meher Cast Dayahang Rai, Asha Magarati, Shristi Ghimire, Eelum Dixit, Sandip Chhetri, Reecha Sharma Print Source Seagull Films
Director/Screenwriter Leos Carax Producers Martine Marignac, Albert Prévost, Maurice Tinchant Cinematographers Yves Cape, Caroline Champetier Editor Nelly Quettier Cast Denis Lavant, Michel Piccoli, Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue, Edith Scob, Leos Carax Print Source Indomina Media
Director Juan Antonio Bayona Producers Belén Atienza, Álvaro Augustín, Ghislain Barrois, Enrique López Lavigne Screenwriter Sergio G. Sánchez Cinematographer Óscar Faura Editor Elena Ruiz Cast Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts, Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Holland Print Source Summit Entertainment
In French with English subtitles. Given the Quixotic title of French provocateur Leos Carax’s wild tour de force, it’s tempting to think he views his leading man, Denis Lavant, as being on a mission from God. Chauffeured around Paris by the icy, statuesque beauty Céline (French film legend Edith Scob), Monsieur Oscar (Lavant) transforms himself into grotesque and sublime characters as he acts out the fantasies of various clients. There’s also something quite profane in Lavant’s portrayals, and maybe that’s the point—for Carax, the grotesque is the sublime, and the profane, sacred. Unquestionably, this is cinéma du look at its most gorgeous—the screen radiates with shocking, beautiful imagery as Lavant playacts often mind-bending scenarios. But it’s also surprisingly funny and emotional; although full of cinematic allusions (from Jacques Demy’s forlorn musicals to Planet of the Apes), Holy Motors is never just an intellectual exercise. At its eccentric heart, it’s about the roles we assume in an attempt to make authentic connections. Playing God has never seemed so vulnerably human. —Michelle Devereaux
Rarely has the combination of perseverance, courage and the power of the familial bond been so powerfully rendered onscreen as in Juan Antonio Bayona’s nail-bitingly thrilling portrayal of one family’s fight for survival in the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that devastated the coastal regions of Southeast Asia. Underscoring the jawdropping scenes of the tsunami’s immediate impact is a deeply moving family drama featuring extraordinary performances by Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts as a vacationing couple who have everything, including three vibrant sons (the eldest played by a terrific Tom Holland). But what happens when everything you have—a beautiful house, loving relationships, vibrant children and a promising career—is ripped away from you in mere seconds? Based on true events, the sheer force of this human drama proves impossible to resist. —Karen Davis
In Nepali with English subtitles. All aboard the bus to Kathmandu! As if the mountain terrain weren’t challenging enough, our bus is repeatedly stopped by bandhs—spontaneous civil disobedience blockades—a frequent phenomenon since the end of the civil war. Meanwhile, a young woman can’t decide between her boyfriend and the fiancé arriving to marry her; a gay man hopes to reunite with his estranged lover; a soldier rushes to his wife in time to try out a fertility potion he’s swallowed (not knowing she’s kept some secrets from him); and the bus driver knows the woman he loves may be forced back into prostitution if he doesn’t show up with money for her sick child. Deepak Rauniyar’s debut feature has provoked a tumultuous response from Nepali audiences with its realistic characters and their taboo-shrouded issues. Rendered in an improvised cinematic style that heightens an already wild ride, Highway is being called the harbinger of a new era in Nepali filmmaking. US PREMIERE —Frako Loden FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 6:15 PM R AFAEL 3 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 4:00 PM 142 THROCKMORTON P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H CEN T ER FOR A SI A N A MERIC A N MEDI A A ND T HE 3 RD i SF IN T ERN AT ION A L S OU T H A SI A N F IL M F E S T I VA L
SPONSORED BY
EXTRANOMICAL TOURS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 7:00 PM* SEQUOIA 2
*See mvff.com for details and pricing.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 6:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 3:15 PM R AFAEL 1 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H F RENCH A MERIC A N CULT UR A L S O CIE T Y
SPONSORED BY
YELP
SPONSORED BY
G R U B E R FA M I LY F O U N D AT I O N
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2012MVFF-FSNotes-PP CORREX5.indd 41
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
HIGHWAY
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F I L M S IN ANOTHER COUNTRY
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
(DA-REUN NA-RA-E-SUH)
IN SEARCH OF BLIND JOE DEATH: THE SAGA OF JOHN FAHEY
IN YOUR DREAMS STEVIE NICKS
WORLD CINEMA
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
KOREA 2012 • 89 MINS
C ANADA 2012 • 58 MINS
US 2012 • 99 MINS
Director/Producer/Screenwriter Hong Sang-soo Cinematographers Jee Yunejeong, Park Hong-yeol Editor Hahm Sung Won Cast Isabelle Huppert, Jun-Sang Yu, Jung Yu Mi Print Source Kino Lorber
Director James Cullingham Producers James Cullingham, Monica Szenteszky, Tina Witham Cinematographer Igal Hecht Editors Caroline Christie, Jessica Anne Cullingham Print Source Tamarack Productions
Director Dave Stewart Producers Dave Stewart, Paul Boyd Cinematographers Dave Stewart, Shane McLafferty, Paul Boyd, Ivad Rodrigue, Jon Sadler, Kori Bundi Editor Shane McLafferty Print Source Now Unlimited
FOCUS: ROCK’N’SOUL • “Guitar is a caller. It brings forth emotions you didn’t know you had.” So wrote the masterful steel-string player John Fahey. As a guitarist, composer, writer, painter and musicologist, he moved to the rhythm of his own strumming, influencing scores of acolytes (Pete Townshend of The Who considered him the folk guitar equivalent of William Burroughs). Featuring interviews with Townshend and Chris Funk of The Decemberists, and filled with Fahey’s music—some recorded under the titular name in homage to old blues troubadours— In Search of Blind Joe Death celebrates one of the true musical greats. US PREMIERE —Steven Jenkins
FOCUS: ROCK’N’SOUL • SPECIAL PREMIERE Decadent rock star, ’70s sur vivor, gypsy songbird, cape-clad dervish, white-winged dove—the inimitable Stevie Nicks has entranced millions of fans worldwide with her poetic lyrics, sultry singing and featherand-lace style. Having remained a powerful pop force for more than four decades, in 2010 Nicks embarked on the recording of a new solo album, In Your Dreams, produced by former Eurythmics mastermind Dave Stewart. With cameras in tow, documentarian Stewart and diva Nicks set up shop in her home studio and reveal their collaborative creative process, as snippets of words and music undergo inspired tinkering and emerge as fully-fledged gems. Throughout, Nicks shares intimate memories of childhood and her high-flying days with Fleetwood Mac, reflects on Hurricane Katrina in a particularly moving song and insists on just the right guitar solo even as Stewart and album co-producer Glen Ballard challenge her choices. Shifting dynamically among video formats, painstaking recording sessions and revealing interviews, this magic-tinged musical journey is a loving and tuneful portrait of the eternally bewitching Gold Dust Woman. —Steven Jenkins
In Korean and English with English subtitles. South Korea’s prolific auteur Hong Sangsoo brings us the story of an aspiring young filmmaker who retreats to a sleepy seaside town and writes a script inspired by her new surroundings. The narrative cascades into three distinct yet intermingled vignettes imagining a beautiful French visitor as a different character in each: a famous film director, a wealthy housewife and a recently divorced woman (all played by the inimitable Isabelle Huppert). Themes, plots, locations and props recur as the foreign visitor interacts with the locals, including a jealous pregnant woman, her flirtatious husband, a helpful young neighbor and an affable lifeguard. Hong’s signature story-within-astory structure allows for an almost dreamlike narrative, offering front-row seats to the writer’s imagination as she writes and rewrites. The fun lies in identifying the recurring detail s and is topped of f with a whimsical visual style punctuated by playful zooms and action just outside of the frame. Comedic and charming effects abound. —Holly Roach TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 4:15 PM SEQUOIA 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 9:45 PM R AFAEL 3 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H CEN T ER FOR A SI A N A MERIC A N MEDI A
PRECEDED BY
APPROXIMATELY NELS CLINE US 2011 • 27 MINS Director Steven Okazaki
Bay Area filmmaker Steven Okazaki documents the Wilco guitarist laying down grooves. T O TA L P R O G R A M 8 5 M I N S
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 8:00 PM* 142 THROCKMORTON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 7:15 PM SEQUOIA 2
*Following the Oct. 6 screening, Chris Funk of The Decemberists will play a John Fahey tribute set; see page 23 for details. $25 General / $20 Members
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 6:30 PM* R AFAEL 1
*INVITED GUEST: Stevie Nicks General $30 / Members $25
P R ODUCED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H S T EEP PRODUC T ION S INC. SPONSORED BY
SPONSORED BY
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C AT D V - S Q U A R E B OX S Y S T E M S LT D .
ZAENTZ MEDIA CENTER, A WAREHAM DEVELOPMENT
SPONSORED BY
S W E E T WATE R M U SI C H A LL AND CAFÉ
CAFILM.ORG
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F I L M S
ITALY: LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
IT’S A DISASTER
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
US CINEMA
US 2012 • 92 MINS
ITALY 2011 • 79 MINS
US 2012 • 88 MINS
Director/Editor Spencer McCall Producers Uriah Findley, Spencer McCall Cinematographers Paul Encinas, Rudy Lopez Cast Carolee Gilligan Wheeler, Jason Schupp, Michael Wertz, Kiyomi Tanouye, Daniel Shoup, Geordie Aitken Print Source Pen & Banjo Films
Directors Gustav Hofer, Luca Ragazzi Producers Gustav Hofer, Vania Del Borgo Cinematographer Michele Paradisi Editor Desideria Rayner Print Source Filmstransit
Director/Screenwriter Todd Berger Producers Gordon Bijelonic, Jeff Grace, Brett D. Thompson, Datari Turner Cinematographer Nancy Schreiber Editor Franklin Peterson Cast Julia Stiles, David Cross, America Ferrera, Erinn Hayes, Rachel Boston, Jesse Draper Print Source Oscilloscope
“To the dark horses with the spirit to look up and see, a recondite family awaits.” With this mystical promise—or perhaps sinister threat—that begins the gleefully unclassifiable The Institute, viewers are invited to enter a strange alternate-reality game in which the rules keep changing and the players cannot be trusted. Ostensibly an investigation into the Jejune Institute, a decades-old San Francisco–based underground organization dedicated to socio-reengineering and the deliberately hazy concept of divine nonchalance, this ingenious whatsit is at once a wonderfully strange mystery yarn, a satire of Werner Erhard–era self-actualization movements and a celebration of only-inNorCal counterculture mania. In his feature debut, Bay Area filmmaker Spencer McCall blends fact and fiction, incorporating found footage, comic-strip panels, clever motion graphics and a dizzily dislocating sense of straight-faced obfuscation within his fascinating exposé. Adventurous viewers will delight in this Pynchonesque fantasia on secret gaming subsectors, human force fields, rainbow-haired improvisationalists and utopian dreamers (real people or actors, you decide). WORLD PREMIERE —Steven Jenkins
Luca and Gustav’s story may have started with an eviction letter, but the title leaves no room for doubt. The country many call “il Bel Paese” for its unique artistic and natural heritage is today a place of many contradictions. Besides the financial crisis, Italy is undergoing a veritable cultural meltdown. Like many of their friends, the duo consider moving abroad in search of new opportunities. Before making the big leap, however, they decide to embark on a farewell road trip in a vintage Fiat 500 to explore some of the country’s most iconic people and places. With fanciful animation and an ever-changing array of colorful cars, they paint a heartfelt portrait of contemporary Italy devoid of clichés. This delightful documentary, Best Feature and Audience Award–winner at the Milano Film Festival, triumphs with its genuine depiction of a place many love yet so many leave. —Laura Costantino TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 6:45 PM SEQUOIA 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 7:15 PM R AFAEL 3 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H F R A MEL INE W I T H S UP P OR T F R OM T HE I TA L I A N C ULT UR A L IN S T I T U T E
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 4:30 PM R AFAEL 3 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2:00 PM SEQUOIA 2
With quick-witted dialogue and a restrained all-star cast that deftly parses out the limelight among the ensemble, Todd Berger’s second feature makes the benign act of weekly brunch richly intense and quite possibly deadly. Pete and Emma (Mill Valley’s own Erinn Hayes) have been hosting couples brunch for eons, welcoming loose duo Lexi and Buck, perpetually engaged Shane and Hedy (America Ferrara) and uptight Tracy (Julia Stiles) and her ever-evolving plusone, this time taking the form of cuddly history teacher Glenn (David Cross). Through the cacophony of small talk, a pattern emerges—cellphone and Internet service are spotty, the fellas can’t get the game on the TV and sirens breeze by intermittently. By the time the gang puts aside their vegan quiches and interpersonal dramas to realize a dirty bomb has gone off and the world may be ending, it’s anybody’s guess who will survive or who will end up with whom in this pressure-cooker comedy. —Alexis Whitham
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
THE INSTITUTE
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1:45 PM R AFAEL 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 8:00 PM R AFAEL 1
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H S A N F R A NCI S C O T RE A S URE HUN T S
SPONSORED BY
SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE
SPONSORED BY
SAN ANSELMO INN
SPONSORED BY
H AW K ’S TAV E R N
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F I L M S JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (L’ ULTIMO TERRESTRE)
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
US CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
US/RUSSIA 2012 • 122 MINS
ITALY 2011 • 96 MINS
Director Billy Bob Thornton Producers Geyer Kosinski, Aleksandr Rodnyansky Screenwriters Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson Cinematographer Barry Markowitz Editor Lauren Zuckerman Cast Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Duvall, John Hurt, Kevin Bacon, Robert Patrick Print Source Anchor Bay
Director/Screenwriter Gian Alfonso Pacinotti Producer Domenico Procacci Cinematographer Vladan Radovic Editor Clelio Benevento Cast Gabriele Spinelli, Anna Bellato, Luca Marinelli, Teco Celio Print Source Fandango
FOCUS: ACTORS TURNED DIRECTORS • The thick Alabama air drips with atmosphere in this visceral and provocative tale of a Southern family co-written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, who also stars alongside a powerhouse ensemble that includes Robert Duvall, Kevin Bacon, Robert Patrick and John Hurt. The year is 1969, and the volatile state of the Caldwell family reflects the country’s confl icted culture at large as three brothers (Bacon, Patrick and Thornton) vie for the approval of their tough-asnails father (Duvall). After news comes from England that the family’s estranged matriarch has died, her widower (Hurt) arrives with their son and daughter to lay his wife to rest with “her people.” As the two families meet for the first time, a culture clash ensues that, for better or worse, leaves no one untouched. Jayne Mansfield’s Car resonates with a dark, whimsical charm and a soundtrack that will bring a smile to babyboomer lips. US PREMIERE —Kristine Kolton SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 7:00 PM* R AFAEL 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 5:00 PM R AFAEL 1
*See page 13 for Spotlight details and pricing.
SPONSORED BY
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SONNEN BMW
In Italian with English subtitles. What would you do if aliens were about to land on Earth? Comic artist–turned-filmmaker Gian Alfonso Pacinotti, better known as Gipi, takes inspiration from the Italian graphic novel Nessuno Mi Farà del Male (“Nobody Will Hurt Me”) to depict an extraterrestrial landing in a desolated Tuscan suburb. Luca, a socially awkward bingo attendant, finds himself shaken to the core by the arrival, as do those around him: his aging father, his transgendered friend and his despicable coworkers. Even the Pope issues an edict on the “Aventus Martianis.” Strangely, the aliens’ arrival is relatively peaceful. Nevertheless, a spiritual crisis sets in, accompanied by emotional chaos. In the midst of this confusion of the soul, uncanny events unfold and new loves are born. Original, unexpected, darkly comedic and poignant, The Last Man on Earth created quite a buzz at its Venice Film Festival premiere for its fresh look at Italy’s special place in the galaxy. —Laura Costantino TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 9:30 PM SEQUOIA 2 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 7:15 PM R AFAEL 3 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H I TA L I A N CULT UR A L IN S T I T U T E OF S A N F R A NCI S C O
SPONSORED BY
P I A Z Z A D ’A N G E L O
CAFILM.ORG
9/5/12 9:31 AM
F I L M S
LONG DISTANCE REVOLUTIONARY: A JOURNEY WITH MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
LORE
WORLD CINEMA
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA
JAPAN/FR ANCE 2012 • 105 MINS
US 2012 • 119 MINS
AUSTR ALIA 2012 • 105 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Abbas Kiarostami Producers Abbas Kiarostami, Charles Gillibert, Nathanaël Karmitz Cinematographer Katsumi Yanagijima Editor Bahman Kiarostami Cast Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno, Ryo Kase, Denden, Mihoko Suzuki, Kaneko Kubota Print Source IFC Films
Director Stephen Vittoria Producers Stephen Vittoria, Katyana Farzanrad, Noelle Hanrahan Cinematographer Erik Sorensen Editors Erik Sorensen, Stephen Vittoria Print Source Street Legal Cinema
Director Cate Shortland Producers Benny Drechsel, Karsten Stöter, Liz Watts, Paul Welsh Screenwriters Cate Shortland, Robin Mukherjee Cinematographer Adam Arkapaw Editor Veronika Jenet Print Source Music Box Films
In Japanese with English subtitles. Trading in the pastoral Tuscan countryside for the neon lights of Tokyo, Iranian auteur Abbas Kiarostami (Taste of Cherry) continues to explore the blurred line between reality and fiction in his quietly hypnotic follow-up to Certified Copy. While possessing an uncanny ability to assimilate outside his native Iran and command an all-Japanese cast, the Palme d’Or laureate still feels like the quintessential outside observer, maintaining a fly-on-thewall perspective throughout. His latest centers on Akiko (Rin Takanashi), a beautiful yet disenchanted young student doubling as an escort, who is whisked off to rendezvous with Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), a sweetly befuddled, retired professor. After he drops her off for class, he encounters her volatile boyfriend (who mistakes him for her grandfather), initiating a deceptive dance that escalates in the end. Recalling Japanese greats like Yasujirô Ozu, Kiarostami delivers an austere yet evocative story addressing the dangers of mistaken and assumed identities, the perils of disengagement and the importance of breaking free from the existential malaise of daily life. —Laura Swanbeck MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 8:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 3:00 PM R AFAEL 2
After 30 years in prison, Mumia Abu-Jamal still has the ability to provoke, educate and inspire, for those willing to listen. Attempts to silence Abu-Jamal—and the powers that be are nothing if not persistent—have failed. Through inter views and readings from his books (written in longhand, without benefit of online resources), his voice comes through clear as a bell in this inspiring portrait that throws a powerful punch for freedom of expression and democracy. Obscured in the long-standing controversy over his conviction for the shooting death of a Philadelphia police officer in 1981, and his adoption as a bumper-sticker symbol of injustice and racism, has been the fact that Abu-Jamal was and is a gifted journalist and brilliant writer. A potent chorus of prominent voices (comprised of Cornel West, Alice Walker, Dick Gregory, Angela Davis, Amy Goodman and others) lends fine support, but it’s the words and insights of the man himself that stick with you. WORLD PREMIERE —Michael Fox SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 12:00 PM R AFAEL 1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 4:45 PM SEQUOIA 1
In German with English subtitles. Australian director Cate Shortland’s long-awaited follow-up to her acclaimed debut, Somersault (2004), is the story of the eponymous German teenager who, immediately following the fall of the Third Reich and the arrest of her Naziloyalist parents, must lead her four younger siblings to safety over hundreds of miles of war-ravaged countryside. In the title role, newcomer Saskia Rosendahl carries the film with remarkable range and depth. When a Jewish refugee (Kai Malina) joins the family of war refugees, intent on guiding them all to safety, Rosendahl achingly manifests Lore’s internal struggle between deeply ingrained prejudice and a burgeoning love. The result is a lushly filmed, poignantly dramatized exploration of the emotional and physical fallout experienced by children caught in the crossfire of war and history. US PREMIERE —Michael J. LoPresti THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 4:00 PM R AFAEL 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2:00 PM R AFAEL 2
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H N AT ION A L L AW Y ER S GUIL D
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H IR A NI A N F IL M F E S T I VA L
SPONSORED BY
SOL FOOD
SPONSORED BY
CRUMPLER
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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F I L M S LOTTE AND THE MOONSTONE SECRET
MAELSTROM
MARS ET AVRIL
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
US CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
ESTONIA 2011 • 76 MINS
US • 85 MINS
C ANADA 2012 • 90 MINS
Directors Janno Põldma, Heiki Ernits Producers Vilnis Kalnaellis, Rinna Sildos, Kalev Tamm Screenwriters Janno Põldma, Heiki Ernits, Andrus Kiviränk Editor Janno Põldma Cast Evelin Pang, Margus Tabor, Mait Malmsten Print Source Sola Media GmbH
Director/Screenwriter Rob Nilsson Producers Rob Nilsson, Marshall Spight, Michelle Anton Allen Cinematographer Adam Wilt Editors Deniz Demirer, Alan Reitsch Cast Samantha Vandersteen, Ed Ferry, Deniz Demirer, Dan da Silva Print Source Citizen Cinema
Director/Screenwriter Martin Villeneuve Producers Martin Villeneuve, Anne-Marie Gélinas, Benoit Beaulieu Cinematographer Benoit Beaulieu Editor Mathieu Demers Cast Caroline Dhavernas, Robert Lepage, Paul Ahmarani, Jacques Languirand Print Source EMAfilms
Three cheers for the return of Lotte! Following the international success of Lotte from Gadgetville (MVFF 2008), the irrepressible canine heroine and her invention-loving relatives are back in a new animated adventure that features as much visual delight, charm and good fun as the original. Two cloaked strangers slip into Gadgetville one night seeking a perfect fi t for a worn old shoe, a mission that grows much more complicated when the shoe leads them to Uncle Klaus and the mysterious purloined stone he has been hiding. Leave it to Lotte to set events even further in motion along a wonderful journey that takes viewers through a universe of lunar rabbits, ballroom-dancing cats, fitness-mad cows and singing penguins in pants. In English. Ages 4+ —Deanna Quinones
“Beware a poisoned heart bent on revenge— witness its red slit of a wound.” Such is the warning that begins the latest film from Rob Nilsson (Sand, MVFF 2010, What Happened Here?, MVFF 2011). A young international couple, Alex (French) and Manuel (Portuguese), arrive at a luxurious Marin bed and breakfast run by an erstwhile athlete turned roué and his strange and poetic son. Alternating between the poles of this amorous triangle, Alex prepares a feast one drunken night and her true motives appear. A modern and mythical tale of la dolce vita set in Marin, Nilsson’s film offers a contemporary reworking of the Greek myth of Electra and Orestes, with sultry seduction, incipient incest and slow-boiling drama in abundance. As a jazz-inspired work of Direct Action cinema, Maelstrom’s characters are placed in their environment, provided with threads of a backstory and from there the story unfolds in ever-unpredictable ways. WORLD PREMIERE —Karen Davis
In French with English subtitles. Fantasy, science fiction and romance combine in a visually astounding debut by artist and former Cirque du Soleil artistic director Martin Villeneuve, who has converted his eponymous graphic novel to the big screen and created an incredibly unique work. A millennium in the future, the lines between energy, music, dreams, time and reality are blurred—at least for renowned, aging musician Jacob Obus (Jacques Languirand), who enthralls audiences with unparalleled talent and quiet mystique. Jacob finds joy not in the women who adore him but in the instruments designed by Arthur Spaak (Paul Ahmarani) and built by Arthur’s philosophical father, Eugene (Robert Lepage), a recluse who straddles life and death as part man, part hologram. The confluence of the first human convoy from the moon to Mars and the arrival of irresistible photographer April (Caroline Dhavernas) leads to an unlikely love triangle in this sepia-toned world where cosmology, music and love intertwine—and reality may be what you make it. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE —Alexis Whitham
(LOTTE JA KUUKIVI SALADU)
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
PRECEDED BY
SVIJET AND STAKLENOJ (SVIJET U STAKLENOJ KUGLI)
2006 • 3 MINS
CLAUSTROPHOBIA (KLAUSTRAFOBIJA) CROATIA 2007 • 2 MINS
These animated shor ts were made by young artists in the SAF Cakovec animation workshop. T O TA L P R O G R A M 8 1 M I N S
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1:15 PM SEQUOIA 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 11:45 AM R AFAEL 3 SPONSORED BY
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BELLAM SELF STORAGE & BOXES
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 4:30 PM R AFAEL 2
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 6:00 PM R AFAEL 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 3:15 PM SEQUOIA 1 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H T HE C ON SUL AT E GENER A L OF C A N A DA S A N F R A NCI S C O
SPONSORED BY
KQED
CAFILM.ORG
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F I L M S
THE MOST FUN I’VE EVER HAD WITH MY PANTS ON
NOR’EASTER
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
US CINEMA
US CINEMA
US 2012 • 86 MINS
US 2012 • 95 MINS
US 2011 • 86 MINS
Director Joe Medeiros Producer Justine Medeiros Cinematographers Joe Medeiros, Fabio Pasini Editors Joe Medeiros, Leonard Feinstein Print Source Midair Rose Productions, Inc.
Director/Screenwriter Drew Denny Producers Clay Jeter, Jason Berman Cinematographer Will Basanta Editor Isaac Hagy Cast Drew Denny, Sarah Hagan Print Source Dendry, LLC
Director/Screenwriter Andrew Brotzman Producer Veronica Nickel Cinematographer Ian Bloom Editor David Lowery Cast David Call, Liam Aiken, Richard Bekins, Haviland Morris, Rachel Brosnahan, Danny Burstein Print Source Nor’easter Productions, LLC
How did an unassuming housepainter from Italy pull off “the greatest art heist in modern times”? Was his motivation more than money? Writer-director Joe Medeiros traces the path of Vincenzo Peruggia, charged with the 1911 theft from the Louvre of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, and finds the story of a daughter mourning the father she never knew and a country recovering from old wounds. Combining historical photographs, animation and interviews with Peruggia’s descendants, Medeiros answers why and how the man called “Macaroni” by his French coworkers absconded with and kept the legendary painting for two years. This riveting, often humorous documentary portrays a man struggling to find his way in the world and make his family proud. Most touching are the scenes with Peruggia’s 84-year-old daughter, Celestina, who grew up on stories about her father and longs for the truth. US PREMIERE —Daniela Province
Bound for Austin to scatter her father’s ashes, Andy (writer-director-actress Drew Denny) hits the road with uptight actress friend Liv (Sarah Hagan) along for the ride. Revisiting old haunts and playacting along the way, the girls navigate the Mojave, scale mountains, climb Texas oil rigs, take Austin by storm and explore their identities—with and without the help of the men they find— all while honoring the complicated man who was Andy’s father. In her illuminating debut feature, Denny delves into personal history, using the rugged canyons and panoramic vistas of the American Southwest as a canvas for Andy’s evolving mental and emotional landscape. Culminating in a stirring tribute against the backdrop of White Sands National Monument, the film’s breathtaking cinematography, tender lead performances and hauntingly beautiful soundtrack contribute to a moody, sensual, darkly comic testament to family, friendship, reconciliation and resilience. —Lily Buchanan
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 8:30 PM R AFAEL 3 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 11:00 AM SEQUOIA 1 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H M A RIN MUSEUM OF C ON T EMP OR A RY A R T
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 8:00 PM* 142 THROCKMORTON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 3:00 PM R AFAEL 3
The reception is as icy as the winter temperature for Erick, a novice priest in a small Maine town haunted by both the dubious legacy of his religious predecessor and the memory of Josh, a local boy missing for fi ve years. Hoping to be an agent of healing for the community, Erick soon becomes embroiled in a mystery when the boy, presumed dead, reappears. Where had Josh gone, and why? There are many questions but few answers, and in the ensuing drama, clerical vows are strained, family ties challenged and startling secrets revealed. Writer-director Andrew Brotzman presents his story in a style as austere as it is visually striking, capturing the bleakness of the emotional and physical landscape in short, delicate brushstrokes in this exquisitely cinematic and masterfully directed debut feature. —Sterling Hedgpeth SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 5:45 PM R AFAEL 3 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 5:00 PM R AFAEL 3
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
THE MISSING PIECE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MAN WHO STOLE THE MONA LISA
*After the Oct. 12 screening: Special solo performance by musician/director/actor Drew Denny. See page 23 for info. P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H W OMEN ’S F IL M IN S T I T U T E
SPONSORED BY
HOTE L MILL VA LLE YNORTH SAN FRANCISCO
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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F I L M S
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
NORMAL!
NOT FADE AWAY
ON THE ROAD
WORLD CINEMA
US CINEMA
US CINEMA
FR ANCE/ALGERIA 2011 • 111 MINS
US 2012 • 110 MINS
US/FR ANCE/UK /BR A ZIL 2012 • 125 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Merzak Allouache Producers Véronique Zerdoun, Yacine Djadi Cinematographer Hocine Hadjali Editors Nadia Ben Rachid, Lucile Sautarel Cast Adila Bendimerad, Nouha Mathlouti, Nadjib Oulebsir, Nabil Asli, Samir El Hakim, Ahmed Bebaissa Print Source Les Films des Deux Rives
Director/Screenwriter David Chase Producers David Chase, Mark Johnson Cinematographer Eigil Bryld Editor Sidney Wolinsky Cast James Gandolfini, Jack Juston, Brad Garrett, Christopher McDonald, Bella Heathcote Print Source Paramount Vantage
Director Walter Salles Producers Charles Gillibert, Nathanaël Karmitz, Rebecca Yaldham Screenwriter Jose Rivera Cinematographer Eric Gautier Editor François Gédigier Cast Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Kirsten Dunst, Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Viggo Mortensen Print Source IFC Films
In Arabic and French with English subtitles. A young Algerian filmmaker and his screenwriter wife invite his collaborators over to review footage from an unfinished work they shot two years before, in Merzak Allouache’s potent and resonant new film. With demonstrations unfolding right outside their door in the wake of the Arab Spring, the filmmaker hopes to gather the opinions of his colleagues on how to make their past efforts congruous with the present situation. What ensues is a heady mix of spirited discussion, reminiscences from the film shoot and the compelling footage itself. Presenting a wide range of psychological angles and emotional insights, award-winning director Allouache (Bab El-Oued City) brilliantly interrogates censorship, the relationship between the personal and political, and the proper path of revolution under a stifling regime. When what is “normal” is deemed subversive, determining exactly what and whom to protest becomes increasingly fraught. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE —Rod Armstrong WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 9:30 PM R AFAEL 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2:00 PM SEQUOIA 2
FOCUS: ROCK‘N’SOUL • Sopranos creator David Chase’s debut feature is the nostalgic coming-of-age tale of a young man in 1964 New Jersey who forms a rock band with his friends. Featuring an ensemble of talented young performers (Jack Huston, Will Brill, Bella Heathcote and newcomer John Magaro in the lead), the band dissolves and regroups, changing with the shifting musical culture of the ‘60s and ‘70s, navigating love, sex and betrayals with all the fragility of evolving teen egos. In a story framed by music—everything from early Stones to the Sex Pistols in a kicking soundtrack produced by eminent musician Steven Van Zandt—rock music is fully a character of its own here. With supporting turns by Brad Garrett and Sopranos star James Gandolfini, Not Fade Away vividly evokes a hugely influential era and its roiling culture. Chase’s debut is a great riff on times that were constantly a-changin’. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 6:30 PM R AFAEL 1 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 9:15 PM SEQUOIA 1
It’s hard to believe it took 55 years to bring Jack Kerouac’s generation-defining, quintessentially American novel, On the Road, to the big screen—with a Brazilian director (Walter Salles) at the helm, no less. Kerouac alter ego Sal Paradise (Sam Riley) shambles after the manic, ecstatic Dean Moriarty (Garrett Hedlund) as they crisscross the country from New York to Denver to San Francisco and back again, fueled by Benzedrine-laced tea, hot barroom jazz and a desire for sensory kicks. In a breakout role, Hedlund blazes onscreen as Moriarty, the “holy con-man with the shining mind” who seduces women (Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart) and men alike with his mad, bad need to burn like Kerouac’s proverbial roman candle. Rather than romanticizing the iconic Beat Generation, Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) masterfully captures both its restless dissatisfaction and underlying selfish futility; Dean may burn brightly, but his fiery unpredictability ends up consuming even himself. Featuring excellent supporting performances from Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge and Viggo Mortensen, On the Road is a cinematic road trip well worth taking, however long it took to hitch here. —Michelle Devereaux THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 6:30 PM* R AFAEL 1 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 6:45 PM* R AFAEL 2
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H A R A B CULT UR A L CEN T ER
*See page 6 for Opening Night Gala information and pricing. SPONSORED BY
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SPONSORED BY
L U C A S F I L M LT D .
SPONSORED BY
WELL S FARGO
CAFILM.ORG
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F I L M S
REALITY
WORLD CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
UK 2012 • 95 MINS
ITALY/FR ANCE 2012 • 115 MINS
US 2012 • 74 MINS
Director Dustin Hoffman Producers Finola Dwyer, Stewart Mackinnon Screenwriter Ronald Harwood Cinematographer John de Borman Editor Barney Pilling Cast Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, Sheridan Smith, Tom Courtenay Print Source The Weinstein Company
Director Matteo Garrone Producers Matteo Garrone, Domenico Procacci Screenwriters Matteo Garrone, Massimo Guadioso, Ugo Chiti, Maurizio Braucci Cinematographer Marco Onorato Editor Marco Spoletini Cast Aniello Arena, Loredana Simioli, Nando Paone, Nello Iorio Print Source Oscilloscope Laboratories
Director/Screenwriter Nancy Kelly Producers Nancy Kelly, Kenji Yamamoto Cinematographers Lou Weinert, Marsha Kahm, Robin Mortarotti, Emiko Omori, Tomas Tucker Editor Kenji Yamamoto Print Source Kelly+Yamamoto Productions
FOCUS: ACTORS TURNED DIRECTORS • Revered actor Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut takes place in the heart of the English countryside at the Beecham House, a home for retired, genteel musicians. Among the celebrity residents are opera singers and lifelong friends Wilf (Billy Connolly), Reggie (Tom Courtenay) and Cissy (Pauline Collins), who still showcase their talents at an annual fundraiser. However, preparations for this year’s fall fl at with the arrival of one of the all-time great divas, Jean—played with pitch-perfect aplomb by the inimitable Maggie Smith (every bit the legend in her own right with a career ranging from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie to Downton Abbey). Obviously, the grande dame must perform at the fundraiser. But Jean also happens to be Reggie’s ex-wife, and a youthful indiscretion on her part is still a sore spot between them, scuttling the works. With his incredible cast, maestro Hoffman explores the underlying harmonies of friendship, love and music with gusto, humor and charm. —Zoë Elton
In Italian with English subtitles. In Matteo Garrone’s crowd-pleasing follow-up to Gomorrah, fishmonger Luciano hopes to emulate fellow Napolitano Enzo and achieve fame throughout Italy by being on Grande Fratello, his country’s version of Big Brother. Luciano enjoys la dolce vita in Naples with a large, loving family and a respectable business (aided by a little repo-scam sideline) that keeps them comfortable even in tough times. A hero to his wife and children, wannabe big fish Luciano nevertheless yearns for recognition outside of his small pond, so what else to do but become a reality TV star? Unexpectedly passing the program’s local audition, he takes his family to Rome in order to compete in the national round against a garish array of contestants at the legendary Cinecittá studios. Confident he’ll be chosen, Luciano awaits the call back in Naples, but doubt and paranoia set in as our hapless hero fears he’s not “real” enough for reality TV. Garrone’s film, a big hit at Cannes, pokes fun at Italian culture and the modern-day hunger for fame with humor and pathos.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 7:00 PM* R AFAEL 1
*See page 15 for Tribute information and pricing.
REBELS WITH A CAUSE
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 12:45 PM R AFAEL 1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2:15 PM SEQUOIA 2 W I T H S UP P OR T F R OM T HE I TA L I A N CULT UR A L IN S T I T U T E OF S A N F R A NCI S C O
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
FOCUS: THE ENVIRONMENT • With California’s rapid population rise in the 1950s, many saw massive development of the state’s coastal wilderness as inevitable. Facing off against the federal government, private developers, corporations and county supervisors, passionate Bay Area activists launched a grassroots movement to preserve these natural wonders and curtail the destructive forces of development. Recognizing the need for policy changes at the federal level, local Congressman Clem Miller proposed the Point Reyes Bill to Congress in 1962. Although conservationists found an avid supporter in John F. Kennedy, under Nixon they confronted the upswing of land prices and challenges brought on by competitive property acquisition. Far from downtrodden, they seized this opportunity to rally support and expand their campaign nationwide, managing to save not only Point Reyes but 13 other parks in the same vulnerable position. This gorgeously shot, inspiring film–narrated by Frances McDormand–arrives just in time to commemorate Point Reyes’ 50 th anniversary, truly embodying the activist spirit as it celebrates conservation and community. WORLD PREMIERE —Laura Swanbeck
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QUARTET
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 6:15 PM SEQUOIA 2 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 4:00 PM R AFAEL 1 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H C A L HUM A NI T IE S
CO-SPONSORED BY
CHRISTOPHER B. AND JEANNIE MEG SMITH AND FRANTOIO R E S TAU R A NT & O LI V E O IL C O.
SPONSORED BY
PIZZA ANTICA
SPONSORED BY
OSKA
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F I L M S RENOIR
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
RENT-A-CAT
RICHNESS OF INTERNAL SPACE
(RENTANEKO)
(ESPACIO INTERIOR)
WORLD CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
FR ANCE 2012 • 111 MINS
JAPAN 2012 • 110 MINS
MEXIC O 2012 • 89 MINS
Director Gilles Bourdos Producers Olivier Delbosc, Marc Missonnier Screenwriters Gilles Bourdos, Michel Spinosa, Jérôme Tonnerre Cinematographer Mark Ping Bing Lee Editors Valérie Deloof, Cyril Holtz, Yannick Kergoat Cast Michel Bouquet, Christa Theret, Vincent Rottiers Print Source Samuel Goldwyn Films
Director/Screenwriter Naoko Ogigami Producers Akira Kubota, Shuichi Komuro, Kumi Kobata Cinematographer Kazutaka Abe Editor Shinichi Fushima Cast Mikako Ichikawa, Reiko Kusamura, Ken Mitsuishi, Maho Yamada, Kei Tanaka, Katsuya Kobayashi Print Source Nikkatsu Corporation
Director Kai Parlange Producers Carlos Corral, Alejandra Cárdenas, Rafael Cuervo Screenwriters Kai Parlange, Pierre Favreau Cinematographer Juan José Saravia Editors Kai Parlange, Alex Rodríguez, Jorge García Cast Kuno Becker, Ana Serradilla, Hernán Mendoza, Gerardo Taracena, Rocío Verdejo, Marina de Tavira Print Source Glorieta Films
In French with English subtitles. The twilight of one genius and the dawn of another are honored in this rich and sensual drama set on the French Riviera in the summer of 1915. Despite declining health, celebrated painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir finds fresh inspiration in Andrée, his fiery-haired new model. His son Jean, wounded in World War I, returns home to convalesce and becomes similarly fascinated with this free-spirited young woman. Veteran actor Michel Bouquet delivers an immensely moving performance as Renoir père, whose frailty and arthritic hands belie his undiminished talents. Vincent Rottiers ably embodies Jean Renoir as an unformed young man with little inkling of his destiny as one of the icons of the 20th centur y’s own ar t, the cinema. Christa Theret, caressed by the Mediterranean light in sun-drenched images that recall Impressionist paintings, is luminous as the selfpossessed teenager who becomes the older artist’s final muse and the nascent filmmaker’s first. —Richard Peterson
In Japanese with English subtitles. Naoko Ogigami’s funny, oddball paean to the lovesick embraces Japanese kawaii (cute) culture without sacrificing emotional depth as it follows the day-to-day travails of a quirky young woman named Sayoko (Mikako Ichikawa), who rents out her large brood of felines to the similarly solitary and heartbroken. Sayoko, explaining that cats have been inexplicably drawn to her since she was a child, takes pains to match each of her beloved felines with the right client (an aging widow, an officious car rental agent, a genufl ecting businessman) in order to fill the specific emotional holes in their lives. As Sayoko, the charmingly goofy Ichikawa possesses a winning combination of spunk and vulnerability—something true of Ogigami’s film itself, which lampoons Japanese conformity and class-consciousness through the eyes of a consummate fringe-dwelling slacker. Bittersweet and tender rather than simply twee, Rent-a-Cat is a touching, ramshackle delight that will leave you feeling the satisfying warmth of a good cuddle session with a furry friend. —Michelle Devereaux
FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA • In Spanish with English subtitles. Based on the 1990 kidnapping of an architect in the provincial Mexican city of Puebla, Kai Parlange’s beautifully composed and completely engrossing debut feature chronicles the extraordinary reserves one man draws upon after finding himself cast into captivity. After his abduction, Lazaro (Kuno Becker) has his world contract to a small white room with a toilet and one window, where he is held for ransom. Initially collapsing under the shock, Lazaro soon finds the inner resources—hence the title’s double entendre—to become a match for his captors. With the stamina of a marathon runner and the creative insight of an artist, Lazaro maintains an interior freedom despite his physical confinement. Becker’s nuanced, powerful performance is key to the mesmerizing stor ytelling as the film builds to a surprising finale of Hitchcockian dimensions. Throughout, Parlange shows himself an original new talent as surely as Richness of Internal Space proves one of the year’s real finds. —Zoë Elton
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 6:00 PM R AFAEL 2 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 12:00 PM SEQUOIA 2
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 6:45 PM SEQUOIA 2 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 5:45 PM R AFAEL 3
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H A NIM A L S A NC T UA RY A ND C A RE S O CIE T Y A ND CEN T ER FOR A SI A N A MERIC A N MEDI A
W I T H S UP P OR T F R OM T HE C ON SUL AT E GENER A L OF ME X IC O IN S A N F R A NCI S C O
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 6:30 PM SEQUOIA 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 8:00 PM R AFAEL 2 W I T H S UP P OR T F R OM F RENCH A MERIC A N CULT UR A L S O CIE T Y
SPONSORED BY
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K AT Z FA M I LY F O U N D AT I O N
SPONSORED BY
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RICKY ON LEACOCK
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS
F I L M S
ROAD NORTH (TIE POHJOISEEN)
US CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
FR ANCE, US 2012 • 90 MINS
US 2012 • 89 MINS
FINL AND 2012 • 109 MINS
Director/Producer/Screenwriter Jane Weiner Cinematographers Jane Weiner, Jeff Kreines, Boris Carreté Editors Jane Weiner, Sebastián Eyherabide Print Source AS’Image
Director Peter Ramsey Producers Nancy Bernstein, Christina Steinberg Screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire C ast Chris Pine, Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, Dakota Goyo Print Source Paramount Pictures
Director Mika Kaurismäki Producers Mika Kaurismäki, Pete Eklund Screenwriters Mika Kaurismäki, Sami Keski-Vähälä Cinematographer Jari Mutikainen Editor Jukka Nykänen Cast Vesa-Matti Loiri, Samuli Edelmann, Peter Franzén Print Source The Finnish Film Foundation
In French and English with English subtitles. Attention film lovers! If you’ve ever pondered the objectivity of the camera’s eye, considered the benefits of natural light or used the term cinema verité in a sentence, this is a movie you can’t afford to miss! Filmmaker Jane Weiner focuses on the fascinating career of director-cinematographer Richard Leacock, a pioneer in the Direct Cinema movement and one of the godfathers of modern documentar y filmmaking. Leacock’s unbridled passion led to his design of lightweight cameras with synch-sound recording. Weiner started shooting Leacock in 1972 and maintained her relationship with her mentor until his death in 2011. Combining intimate personal interviews with fascinating footage featuring luminaries like Jean-Luc Godard, D.A. Pennebaker and JFK, Weiner’s film paints a vivid por trait of a man with a singular vision: make movie cameras an accessible tool for capturing real life. This captivating, hugely entertaining doc gives film fans a rare chance to bask in the glor y of an unher alded hero of cinema. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE —Brendan Peterson SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 7:00 PM R AFAEL 2 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 9:15 PM 142 THROCKMORTON
DreamWorks Animation takes us on an epic adventure that tells the story of a group of heroes with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit known as Pitch tries to take over the world, the immortal Guardians— Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost and the Sandman—must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world. They aren’t fl uffy, bloated and sanitized seasonal visitors who drop in and out of children’s lives. They vigilantly guard children and childhood itself from the darkness that encroaches all too soon when children grow up, stop believing and accept what’s called reality. But when the Boogeyman—always looking for the opportunity to escape from the closet or from under the bed—starts his assault on childhood, only united do the Guardians stand a chance to combat his evil. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 7:00 PM* CINEMA CORTE MADER A
*See page 17 for Centerpiece information and pricing.
In Finnish with English subtitles. Thirty years after abandoning his family, overgrown and undersocialized patriarch Leo pays a surprise visit to his concert-pianist son, Timo, in this exquisitely understated familial buddy film. Bound only by their heredity and shared domestic failures, Timo and Leo embark (by stolen car) on a road trip through the lush Finnish countryside, dropping in on a surprising collection of strange and estranged family members along the way. The duo finds common emotional ground as their petty criminal acts pile up; Leo defiantly lights up in smoke-free hotel rooms while Timo punches out his newly discovered brother-in-law (played brilliantly by Peter Franzén). But the damage caused by Leo’s felonious past requires more than a father-son road trip to repair. Director Mika Kaurismäki’s (Sonic Mirror, MVFF 2008, Three Wise Men, MVFF 2009) uniquely humane tragicomedy sets a perfect tone for a bittersweet tale of betrayal, reconciliation and hope. US PREMIERE —Aaron Lazenby
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VALLEY OF THE DOCS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 9:00 PM R AFAEL 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 6:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 W I T H S UP P OR T F R OM T HE B A RBR O O SHER P RO SUCEI A FOUNDAT ION
SPONSORED BY
SPONSORED BY
SAN R AFAEL JOE’S
D OLBY L A BOR AT OR IE S A ND TECHNICOLOR
SPONSORED BY
MARIN TV
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F I L M S ROOM TO BREATHE
A ROYAL AFFAIR
THE SAPPHIRES
(EN KONGELIG AFFÆRE)
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
US 2012 • 76 MINS
DENMARK /SWEDEN/C ZECH REPUBLIC 2012 • 137 MINS
AUSTR ALIA 2012 • 103 MINS
Director Russell Long Producers Russell Long, Gail Mallimson Screenwriter Gail Mallimson Cinematographer Hervé Cohen Print Source Russell Long
An overwhelmed teacher, an administrator and a counselor at a San Francisco middle school all turn to mindfulness training to help troubled students find the focus, self-reflection and inner calm they need to study and learn. Will they be saved by the meditation bell? Marina Middle School suffers from a systemic divide: While its honor students soar, its general education students—mostly poor African American, Latino and Asian youth—are mired in chaotic, overcrowded classrooms with a severe lack of self-discipline and mutual respect. Indeed, the school holds the record for behavioral problems. Determined to turn things around, Marina brings in Mindful Schools, a meditation-training program. A young meditation teacher introduces ancient tools of conscious breathing and reflection to create a space fit for learning. Over time, mindfulness takes root with surprising results. WORLD PREMIERE —Carol Harada PRECEDED BY
RIGHT THERE US 2012 • 17 MINS Directors Florence Buchanan, Arthur Bijur
On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, a group of teenagers returns to their old elementary school, three blocks from the World Trade Center. What do they remember of that day? How has 9/11 affected their lives? Most importantly, how do they see the future?
Director Nikolaj Arcel Producers Meta Louise Foldager, Sisse Graum Jørgensen, Louise Vesth Screenwriters Nikolaj Arcel, Rasmus Heisterberg Cinematographer Rasmus Videbaek Editors Kasper Leick, Mikkel E.G. Nielsen Cast Mads Mikkelsen, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Alicia Vikander, David Dencik Print Source Magnolia Pictures
In Danish with English subtitles. Denmark’s history was transformed forever by an 18thcentury power triangle: Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), the oafish king; Caroline (Alicia Vikander, Anna Karenina), his English bride; and Johann Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen, Casino Royale), the German doctor whose presence managed to both humanize and compromise the royal couple. A child of the Enlightenment, the royal physician finds a kindred spirit (and lover) in the progressively minded queen. In showing empathy for the king’s social difficulties, Johann ascends to a position of trusted advisor and an instrument for major social and scientific change in the country. With meticulous period trappings in place, Nikolaj Arcel’s gorgeous and provocative film explores the sensual and intellectual underpinnings of the adulterous couple—a union that had dire repercussions for the nation, but also yielded its greatest hope. A sweeping combination of political maneuvering, lush romanticism and rich characterization make this an affair to remember. —Sterling Hedgpeth FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 8:00 PM SEQUOIA 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 8:00 PM SEQUOIA 2
Director Wayne Blair Producers Rosemary Blight, Kylie Du Fresne Screenwriters Tony Briggs, Keith Thompson Cinematographer Warwick Thornton Editor Dany Cooper Cast Chris O’Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Mirando Tapsell Print Source The Weinstein Company
FOCUS: ROCK‘N’SOUL • Based on a true story, The Sapphires follows a 1960s Aboriginal Australian girl group as it seeks stardom, love and acceptance—almost like Dreamgirls Down Under, but with an Aussie accent and sensibility. Fresh from his stellar turn as Rhodes in Bridesmaids, Chris O’Dowd brings his considerable, scruffy Irish charm to the part of Dave, the group’s lazy, occasionally sober manager. Dave must transform the vocally stunning but hopelessly nerdy “Cummeragunja Songbirds” (sweetly crooning Merle Haggard) into the Sapphires, a Supremes-like quartet belting out Motown R&B while shimmying full-throttle in flowerprint dresses and white go-go boots. But instead of making for the Apollo Theater, they get their big break entertaining US troops in Saigon. In fact, for these young ladies, racism, social justice and the Vietnam War form more than a backdrop; just taking the stage is an act of defiance. Ultimately, the transformative power of soul offers the redemption and healing everyone needs. —Jeff Campbell SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 9:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 4:00 PM R AFAEL 1
T O TA L P R O G R A M 9 3 M I N S
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 9:45 PM R AFAEL 3 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 4:15 PM SEQUOIA 2
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THE SESSIONS
F I L M S
SHADOW DANCER
US CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
US 2012 • 94 MINS
US/UK 2012 • 109 MINS
UK 2012 • 100 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Ben Lewin Producers Ben Lewin, Judi Levine, Stephen Nemeth Cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson Editor Lisa Bromwell Cast John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy Print Source Fox Searchlight Pictures
Director/Screenwriter Martin McDonagh Producers Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin Cinematographer Ben Davis Editor Lisa Gunning Cast Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Tom Waits Print Source CBS Films
Director James Marsh Producers Chris Coen, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe Screenwriter Tom Bradby Cinematographer Rob Hardy Editor Jinx Godfrey Cast Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Aidan Gillen, Gillian Anderson, Brid Brennan Print Source ATO Pictures
US CINEMA
The compulsively watchable John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene, MVFF 2011) has a knack for creating deeply visceral characters. Even at his most contained, his sinewy frame seems to vibrate with impending explosion. In Ben Lewin’s award-winning drama, he gives his most physical performance yet by barely moving at all. Portraying Berkeley-based poet-journalist Mark O’Brien, confined to an iron lung by childhood polio, Hawkes crackles with wit, frustration and anticipation as he attempts to lose his virginity to a professional sex surrogate (Helen Hunt). The sex scenes, while fairly explicit, offer something more subversive than titillation: sex as a means to spiritual salvation. Hunt’s revelatory performance channels a refreshing earthiness that exposes Mark’s deep-seated fear and religious guilt—regularly confessed to his priest, played with wisdom and humor by William H. Macy (MVFF 2001 Tributee). Often funny and exceptionally moving, The Sessions asserts that even if the body is a cage, with its embrace, the mind and heart can still soar. —Michelle Devereaux SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 7:00 PM* R AFAEL 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 12:00 PM SEQUOIA 2
Famed Anglo-Irish play wright and filmmaker Mar tin McDonagh marks his first foray into the Hollywood action film with a knowing and uproariously funny send-up of our cultural fascination with big, dumb violence. It’s so self-aware, in fact, that it’s almost a parody of the meta-action film—think Quentin Tarantino eating his own tail with juicy sides of The Player and Get Shorty. Colin Farrell (star of McDonagh’s 2008 cult classic, In Bruges) plays Marty, a struggling LA screenwriter working on the titular script, aided by his seriously off-kilter buddy Billy (Sam Rockwell). Billy and partner-in-crime Hans (Christopher Walken), meanwhile, steal the beloved Shih Tzu of a decidedly deranged gangster (Woody Harrelson), now bent on revenge. Throw in Tom Waits as a bunny-cuddling serial killer and Harry Dean Stanton as an Amish sociopath, and Seven Psychopaths becomes a delirious, quotationfilled exercise in absurd, macho Hollywood tropes that nevertheless keeps its audience in on the very amusing joke. —Michelle Devereaux SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 6:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 9:45 PM SEQUOIA 2
Growing up in 1970s Belfast, young Collette McVeigh witnesses violence and discord firsthand when she sends her younger brother on an errand only to see his limp, lifeless body carried home after he gets caught in the crossfire. After 20 years, Collette (brilliantly played by Andrea Riseborough) is a young mother and an active IRA member in a family of radical nationalists. Following an attempted bombing in the London subway, MI5 agent Mac (Clive Owen) gives Collette an ultimatum: work undercover or go to prison hundreds of miles from her son. While Collette struggles with her decision to turn informant, Mac feels protective of her and apprehensive toward his handler (Gillian Anderson) who seems to have her own suspect agenda. Director James Marsh (of the Academy Award®–winner Man on Wire) crafts a fresh, slow-burning thriller in which Riseborough proves a revelation as a woman navigating a labyrinth of betrayals and allegiances. —Laura Swanbeck THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 9:15 PM SEQUOIA 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 4:30 PM R AFAEL 1
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS
*See page 11 for Spotlight information and in-person guests for October 6 screening.
SPONSORED BY
JENNIFER COSLETT MACCREADY
SPONSORED BY
POST STREET SURGERY CENTER
SPONSORED BY
A PART Y CENTER
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F I L M S
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
SHANGHAI CALLING
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
THE SINNERS
US CINEMA
US CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
US/CHINA 2012 • 100 MINS
US 2012 • 120 MINS
IR AN 2012 • 98 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Daniel Hsia Producers Janet Yang, Han Sanping, Qi Ziyi, Xia Zheng, Zhao Yuting Cinematographer Armando Salas Editor Pamela March Cast Daniel Henney, Eliza Coupe, Geng Le, Zhu Zhu, Alan Ruck, Bill Paxton Print Source Aldamisa International
Director/Screenwriter David O. Russell Producers Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon Cinematographer Masanobu Takayanagi Editor Jay Cassidy Cast Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles, Chris Tucker, Jacki Weaver Print Source The Weinstein Company
Director Faramarz Gharibian Producers Faramarz Gharibian, Sam Gharibian Screenwriter Sam Gharibian Cinematographers Hooman Behmanesh, Davood Amiri Editor Bahram Dehghani Cast Faramarz Gharibian, Homayoun Ershadi, Rambod Javan, Shaghayegh Farahani, Bahareh Kian Afshar Print Source CMC
David O. Russell’s joyously bent follow-up to his Oscar ®-winning drama The Fighter finds him returning to the rich territory of his oddball roots (Spanking the Monkey, I Heart Huckabees, MVFF 2004). Bradley Cooper is Pat Solitano, a bipolar Philadelphian who moves back in with his parents (Robert DeNiro and Jacki Weaver) after spending time in an institution for a violent assault. It’s not exactly the dream premise for a comedy, but Russell is a master at infusing dark subject matter with an organic levity—much like his main character, who despite serious anger issues makes a concerted effort to look on the bright side of life. Pat’s situation gets more complicated, though, when he meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a seriously troubled woman and obviously kindred spirit. With a pitch-perfect blend of humor and pathos, and featuring a slew of inspired performances, Silver Linings Playbook deals with issues of mental illness, family dysfunction and loss with the deft touch only a true filmmaking virtuoso can provide. US PREMIERE —Michelle Devereaux
In Farsi with English subtitles. A tightly plotted Iranian film noir, The Sinners opens on the streets of Tehran, where a beautiful woman who developed an independent streak during seven years in the United States meets a violent end. Many people wished her dead— the young lover she spurned, the married boss she blackmailed, the human trafficker she knew too much about, her angry father who felt disrespected—but who could be sinner enough to kill this woman, whose sense of freedom made her a “sinner” in her own land? Two quirky police detectives interview the suspects, revealing past events and motivations through classic noir fl ashbacks. The mismatched investigators are themselves sinners who use less-than-legal tactics. First-time screenwriter Sam Gharibian (son of veteran Iranian actor-director Faramarz Gharibian) shrewdly channels Hitchcock here, whose philosophy that there’s little difference between thinking about and committing a crime gets an Iranian twist. US PREMIERE —S. Handsher
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 7:00 PM* SEQUOIA 1 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 7:15 PM* SEQUOIA 2
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 9:30 PM R AFAEL 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 12:15 PM R AFAEL 2
*See page 7 for Opening Night information and pricing.
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H IR A NI A N F IL M F E S T I VA L
Successful New York law yer Sam Chau (hunky Korean American superstar Daniel Henney) reluctantly accepts a transfer to Shanghai, where he stumbles into a quirky expat community that includes the owner of a fried chicken empire (Bill Paxton), a billionaire entrepreneur (Alan Ruck) and a savvy single mom (Eliza Coupe of sitcom Happy Endings). Full of American arrogance, Sam quickly finds that all his usual strategies backfire in the “new land of opportunity.” A cellphone licensing deal gone awry launches Sam into a hilarious misadventure of corporate espionage, romance and lighting-fast manufacturing. As much a portrait of the new booming Shanghai as a winning romantic comedy, writer-director Daniel Hsia’s contemporary tale is wry, sophisticated fun. Shanghai Calling features excellent performances by Henney as well as some of China’s brightest young stars. Produced by Hollywood veteran Janet Yang (The People vs. Larry Flynt). —Laurie Koh SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 7:15 PM SEQUOIA 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1:45 PM R AFAEL 1 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H M A RIN S TA NFORD CLUB
SPONSORED BY
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SPONSORED BY
WELL S FARGO
CAFILM.ORG
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THE SLUT
SOMEONE LIKE ME
F I L M S
STAND UP GUYS
(EINE WEN IIG, DR DÄLLEBACH KARI)
WORLD CINEMA
US CINEMA
ISR AEL 2011 • 86 MINS
SWITZERL AND 2012 • 111 MINS
US 2013 • 94 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Hagar Ben Asher Producers Marek Rozenbaum, Benny Drechsel Cinematographer Amit Yasour Editor Asaf Korman Cast Hagar Ben Asher, Ishay Golan, Stav Yanai, Daria Forman Print Source Strand Releasing
Director/Screenwriter Xavier Koller Producer Alfi Sinniger Cinematographer Felix von Murait Editors Rosa Albrecht, Gion-Reto Killias Cast Hanspeter Müller, Nils Althaus, Iréna Flury, C arla Juri Print Source Catpics Ltd.
Director Fisher Stevens Producers Sidney Kimmel, Gary Lucchesi, Tom Rosenberg, Jim Tauber Screenwriter Noah Haidle Cinematographer Michael Grady C ast Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, Christopher Walken, Julianna Margulies Print Source Lionsgate
In Hebrew with English subtitles. Quiet surfaces belie chaotic passions below in this subtle, absorbing drama about a single mother with a delicate network of lovers in her quiet rural community. When not selling eggs or looking after her two girls, free spirit Tamar (played with an understated intensity by director-screenwriter Hagar Ben Asher) eagerly serves the carnal needs of several local men, her efforts rendered in frank scenes free of the usual airbrushed treatment of sex on screen. A gentle and smitten veterinarian (Ishai Golan) threatens this tacitly harmonious arrangement when he convinces Tamar to form a household with him. But even as her daughters compete for their surrogate father’s attention, Tamar grows increasingly remote. Populating the screen with as many animals as people, and injecting an ambient soundtrack that lends visceral tension to the sultry air, Ben Asher’s mature directorial feature debut probes the collective dimensions of private sexuality while limning the fraught, porous border separating a tenuous social order from nature’s unruly passions. —Robert Avila
In German with English subtitles. A popular barber and great raconteur recalls the love of his life in a drama that blends a celebration of youthful romance with a darker tale of prejudice and classism. In the waning decades of the 19th century, Kari is born with a cleft palate, the doctor attending the birth suggesting that the kind thing to do would be to drown him “like a kitten.” Instead, he grows up to be a well-liked coiffeur whose kindness and charm win him the heart of a powerful merchant’s beautiful daughter. But the older man’s disdain for Kari’s lowly status and birth defect leads him to oppose their union. Academy Award®-winning writer-director Xavier Koller tacks back and forth through time, so that even as the past springs vividly to life in Kari’s memory, his present life as a loved and respected community elder remains always near—making his nostalgia for a path that eluded him all the more poignant. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE —Pam Grady
FOCUS: ACTORS TURNED DIRECTORS • A trio of old-time gangsters—played by none other than Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin—gets back together for one last night of hijinks and mayhem, during which their loyalties to each other are put to the test. “Honorable” mobster Val (Pacino) refused to snitch on his buddies 28 years ago and has just completed his prison term. Reuniting with his ex-partner and best buddy Doc (Walken), the two set out in search of excitement, trouble and their former sidekick Hirsch (Arkin). Unbeknownst to Val, there’s a price on his head, and his first night of freedom might be his last. Meanwhile, Doc must make a fateful choice between the bonds of friendship and self-preservation. With vibrant performances by the three Oscar ® -winners, Stand Up Guys revels in wonderful acting, bang-up action, tickingclock tension, the virtues of vice and nostalgia for bygone glory days.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 9:15 PM R AFAEL 1 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 9:30 PM R AFAEL 2 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H I SR A EL CEN T ER OF T HE JE W I SH C OMMUNI T Y FEDER AT ION OF S A N F R A NCI S C O / W I T H SUP P OR T F ROM T HE C ON SUL AT E GENER A L OF I SR A EL IN S A N F R A NCI S C O
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 9:00 PM SEQUOIA 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 5:15 PM R AFAEL 2
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 7:30 PM R AFAEL 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 8:30 PM SEQUOIA 2
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H A L L I A NCE FOR SMIL E S / W I T H SUP P OR T F ROM T HE C ON SUL AT E GENER A L OF S W I T ZERL A ND
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WORLD CINEMA
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F I L M S STANLEY’S TIFFIN BOX
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
STAR WARS, EPISODE IV: A NEW HOPE
STARLET
(STANLEY KA DABBA)
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
US CINEMA
US CINEMA
INDIA 2011 • 95 MINS
US 1977 • 125 MINS
US 2012 • 103 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Amole Gupte Producers Amole Gupte, Deepa Bhatia Editor Deepa Bhatia Cinematographer Amol Gole Cast Partho A. Gupte, Numaan Sheikh, Abhishek Reddy Print Source Fox Star India
Director/Screenwriter George Lucas Producers Gary Kurtz, Rick McCallum Cinematographer Gilbert Taylor Editors Richard Chew, T.M. Christopher, Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas Cast Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing Print Source Lucasfilm, Ltd.
Director/Editor Sean Baker Producers Sean Baker, Blake Ashman, Kevin Chinoy, Chris Maybach, Francesca Silvestri Screenwriters Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch Cinematographers Sean Baker, Radium Cheung Cast Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, James Ransone Print Source Music Box Films
In Hindi with English subtitles. School lunches take on new significance when Stanley comes to school without his tiffin box packed with a midday meal. Something has changed for Stanley, a bright boy popular with his classmates and teachers. He’s got bruises on his face, his school uniform needs mending and now he has no dabba (lunch box). Stanley charmingly explains away the bruises with stories of elaborate adventures on his way to school, and tells his teacher that his parents have gone to Delhi. His classmates ask no questions and happily share their lunches with him. Everything would be fine if gluttonous Hindi teacher Mr. Verma didn’t expect to sample every boy’s lunch. Called Khadoos (Miser) by the boys, Mr. Verma believes Stanley is denying him his rightful repast. Things reach a crisis for everyone when Khadoos declares, “No lunchbox, no school!” Ages 7+ —R. McNair PRECEDED BY
BLACK SHEEP (CRNA OVCA) CROATIA 2011 • 3 MINS
This animated short was made by young artists in the SAF Cakovec animation workshop. T O TA L P R O G R A M 9 8 M I N S
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 11:00 AM R AFAEL 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 11:00 AM R AFAEL 1
When it hit screens 35 years ago, Star Wars burned like the twin suns over Tatooine, searing a new mythology into America’s cultural retina. As part of its own 35th anniversary, MVFF is celebrating this revolutionary cinematic touchstone with a special screening of the Star Wars Special Edition. Come reexperience the indelible magic of George Lucas’ heroic clash of good and evil—unfolding across an ocean of stars—in all its bigscreen, THX-thunder glor y. Set to John Williams’ legendar y score, ever y scene bubbles with new wonders and fantastical worlds seemingly undreamt until that moment: light sabers and storm troopers, Chewbacca and Darth Vader, the Force and the Death Star, bickering droids and those hair buns! Most of all, from the opening title card to the final brassy, triumphant crescendo, Star Wars is unalloyed fun, a hyperdrive jump to its own inspired and inspiring galaxy. —Jeff Campbell
The worlds of bingo and porn form an unlikely backdrop to writer-director Sean Baker’s deft film, which heads in surprising directions with emotionality laid as bare as its explicit sex. Gamine newcomer Dree Hemingway (daughter of actress Mariel) is Jane, a newbie to the San Fernando Valley porn industry who spends most of her plentiful free time shiftlessly getting high and partying. It’s not until she meets Sadie (Besedka Johnson), a taciturn, lonely old woman who just wants to be left in peace, that Jane’s life takes a deeper, unexpected turn. Baker lends the unadorned, naturalistic sensitivity of a Cassavetes to a story that could have felt like exploitation in the hands of a lesser filmmaker. In her first film role, octogenarian Johnson channels Sadie’s sense of herself as used up and irrelevant—precisely what we worry Jane will become—with an impressive, memorable dexterity. She’s heartbreaking to watch, as is Starlet, for all the right reasons. —Michelle Devereaux
MONDAY, OCTOBER 8 PRE-SHOW 5:00 PM SCREENING 6:00 PM* CINEMA CORTE MADER A
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 9:45 PM SEQUOIA 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 10:00 PM R AFAEL 1
*See page 31 for Special Event details and pricing.
SPONSORED BY
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PACIFIC GA S & ELEC TRIC COMPANY
CAFILM.ORG
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STRUTTER
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
US 2012 • 87 MINS
US 2012 • 89 MINS
Directors/Producers/Screenwriters Allison Anders, Kurt Voss Cinematographer Kurt Voss Editors Chris Figler, Aaron Rottinghaus Cast Flannery Lunsford, Dante White-Aliano, Craig Stark, Terry Graham, Luanna Anders, Sara Ashley Print Source French Fan Club
Directors/Producers/Editors Rob Fruchtman, Lisa Fruchtman Cinematographers Rob Fruchtman, Lex Fletcher Print Source LIRO Films
FOCUS: ROCK‘N’SOUL • Despite its title, there’s nary a lick of KISS in Strutter, though the film—the final entry in a loose trilogy by indie veterans Allison Anders and Kurt Voss (Border Radio, Sugar Town)—relies plenty on music for both plot and theme. This black-and-white tale of heartbreak and redemption follows scruffy, freshly dumped Los Angeles punk rocker Brett (likeable newcomer Flannery Lunsford), whose sadness spirals into agony when he finds out his ex-girlfriend is dating his man-crush, uber-cool record store owner and fellow musician Damon (Dante Ailano White). Pain begets strip-club fistfights, philosophical conversations at the guitar store, emotional moments behind the mic and a budding new romance. More a series of connected vignettes than a straightforward narrative (with a long pause to enfold a Gram Parsons–inspired Joshua Tree road trip), Strutter has charisma to burn, helped along by J Mascis’s (Dinosaur Jr.) standout score, funded—like the film itself—via Kickstarter. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE —Cheryl Eddy FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 9:15 PM SEQUOIA 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 8:45 PM SEQUOIA 2
“If ever there’s a place you can find peace, that place is Ingoma Nshya,” says Regine. “That’s where I was reborn.” Ingoma Nshya, the site of Regine’s rebirth, means “new drum” and “new kingdom,” and lends its name to Rwanda’s first all-women drum troupe. Its founder, Kiki Katese, sees no reason why women, forbidden even to touch the drum in ancient times, cannot learn to live together again through this joyous art. At the same time, in an equally bold move toward economic security, she and the troupe join forces with an American woman and entrepreneur to open an ice cream store–and hopefully introduce a brand new product to Rwandans. Challenges arise along the way in this suspenseful, often humorous quest in which scenes of drumming women draped in brilliant colors ultimately mingle with equally striking images of the locals trying out a new dessert. —Frako Loden SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 3:30 PM R AFAEL 1 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 7:30 PM R AFAEL 3 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H MUSEUM OF T HE A F RIC A N DI A SP OR A
F I L M S
TABU
WORLD CINEMA PORTUGAL /GERMANY/BR A ZIL 2012 • 118 MINS
Director Miguel Gomes Producers Sandro Aguilar, Luís Urbano Screenwriters Miguel Gomes, Mariana Ricardo Cinematographer Rui Poças Editors Telmo Churro, Miguel Gomes Cast Teresa Madrug, Laura Soveral, Ana Moreira, Henrique Espírito Santo, Carloto Cotta Print Source Adopt Films
In Portugese with English subtitles. Paying playful homage to several cinematic traditions, Tabu is a bold and exquisitely visual tale about love, aging and memory. Set in two different eras and shot in glorious black-and-white, the film opens with the lives of Aurora and Pilar, older women living a somewhat lonely existence in Lisbon. Pilar is waiting for a houseguest who never arrives, while Aurora berates her African servant and tells of baroque dreams involving monkeys and a lost crocodile. The narrative and the film’s entire style then shift dramatically to encompass Aurora’s life and loves as a young woman in Mozambique, as narrated by her former lover. Within its chameleonic structure, Tabu offers fascinatingly layered commentary on everything from nostalgia to colonialist naiveté and silent film traditions, culminating in an artistic triumph for rising Portuguese director Miguel Gomes. —Rod Armstrong
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
US CINEMA
SWEET DREAMS
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 4:30 PM SEQUOIA 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 8:30 PM R AFAEL 3
SPONSORED BY
SPONSORED BY
MARIN FRENCH CHEE SE COMPANY
ZAENTZ MEDIA CENTER, A WAREHAM DEVELOPMENT
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F I L M S
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
TAINÁ 3—AN AMAZON LEGEND
TALES OF THE NIGHT
TEY
(TAINÁ 3--A ORIGEM)
(LES CONTES DE LA NUIT)
(AUJOURD’HUI)
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
WORLD CINEMA
BR A ZIL 2012 • 93 MINS
FR ANCE 2011 • 84 MINS
FR ANCE/SENEGAL 2012 • 88 MINS
Director Rosane Svartman Producers Pedro Rovai, Virgínia Limberger Screenwriter Cláudia Levay Cinematographer Dudu Miranda Editors Aruanã Cavalleiro, Natara Ney, Welligton Dutra Cast Wiranu Tembé, Beatriz Noskoski, Igor Ozzy Print Source Sincrocine Produções Cinematográficas
Director/Screenwriter Michel Ocelot Producers Philippe Boeffard, Christophe Rossignon Editor Patrick Ducruet Print Source GKIDS
Director Alain Gomis Producer Gilles Sandoz Screenwriters Alain Gomis, Djolof Mbengue, Marc Wels Cinematographer Crystel Fournier Editors Fabrice Rouaud, Vincent Guillon Cast Saul Williams, Djolof Mbengue, Anisia Uzeyman, Aïssa Maïga, Thierno Ndiaye Doss Print Source Wide
In Portuguese with English subtitles. Baby Tainá was found beneath the Great Tree that Tigê, the Mayan shaman who became her guardian, taught her is the source of the rainforest’s life. Five years ago, a demonic man killed Tainá’s mother as she protected Tainá and the Great Tree. He has returned to fell the Great Tree with his glowing axe, completing his evil quest. But this time he will be facing fi ve-year-old Tainá—magically connected to every creature in the rainforest—and her bow. Only she can draw on nature’s power to face down the demon and save the Great Tree—and nature itself. This third film in the beautiful Brazilian Tainá series (all have premiered at MVFF since 2001) features Amazon Indian actors. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE —R. McNair PRECEDED BY
As night falls on an anonymous city, an old man, a girl and a boy sit at desks inside a building, their expressive silhouettes in stark contrast to the bursts of color and pattern in the background. The three brainstorm ideas for stories based on old themes, legends and tales. A story chosen, the boy and girl become lead characters, suddenly dressed up like cutout dolls by a blinking machine. A theater stage appears, and with a “Ready?” from the old man and a “Yes!” from behind the curtain, each play begins. Six tales unfold in real or fantastical lands in times past or only imagined, with scenery as strikingly distinct as each story. Riches and power tempt the characters, while sorcerers and beasts threaten them. But as only happens in the most satisfying fairy tales, kindness, generosity, bravery and love prove the stronger. In 3D! Ages 7+ —R. McNair PRECEDED BY
HOW TO DRAW A CAT
PLANET (SARENI PLANET)
US 2012 • 7 MINS
CROATIA 2007 • 4 MINS
Director Robert Bloomberg
VODA CROATIA 2005 • 2 MINS
These animated shor ts were made by young artists in the SAF Cakovec animation workshop. T O TA L P R O G R A M 9 9 M I N S
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 11:00 AM SEQUOIA 1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 12:30 PM R AFAEL 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 11:00 AM R AFAEL 2
This animated shor t was made by young artists in the SAF Cakovec animation workshop. T O TA L P R O G R A M 9 1 M I N S
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1:00 PM R AFAEL 3 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 11:30 AM SEQUOIA 2 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 11:00 AM SEQUOIA 1
In French and Wolof with English subtitles. Acclaimed poet, musician and actor Saul Williams (brought to international attention with his indelible performance in 1998’s award-winning Slam) is Satche, a Senegalese man who wakes up one morning knowing, somehow, that this is the last day of his life. In Alain Gomis’ searching, joyously idiosyncratic and affirming film (whose title is taken from the Wolof word for “today”), Satche’s final outing becomes at once a communal, familial experience and a deeply private, inward journey. But as someone who spent years abroad, Satche’s inward turn has an inherent connection to place— the native country to which he chose to return. Captured in an adventurously cinematic style balancing the quotidian with the surreal, Satche’s time of farewell and reconciliation comes suffused with wonder and, at times, elation (carried aloft on some outstanding musical passages). Even amid the bustling activity of Dakar, Williams’ supremely charismatic Satche lights up the screen as a man brimming over with the full measure of a life. —Pam Grady SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 3:30 PM R AFAEL 3 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 6:45 PM 142 THROCKMORTON P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H MUSEUM OF T HE A F RIC A N DI A SP OR A / W I TH SUPP OR T FROM FRENCH A MERICA N CULT UR A L S O CIE T Y
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THURSDAY TILL SUNDAY
F I L M S
TO KILL A BEAVER
(DE JUEVES A DOMINGO)
TO CHRIS MARKER, AN UNSENT LETTER
WORLD CINEMA
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA
CHILE/NETHERL ANDS 2012 • 94 MINS
US 2012 • 78 MINS
POL AND 2012 • 100 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Dominga Sotomayor Castillo Producers Gregorio Gonzalez, Benjamin Domenech, Stienette Bosklopper Cinematographer Barbara Alvarez Editors Danielle Fillios, Catalina Marin Cast Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini, Jorge Becker, Axel Dupré Print Source FiGa Films
Director/Producer/Cinematographer/ Editor Emiko Omori Print Source Emiko Omori
Director/Screenwriter Jan Jakub Kolski Producer Wieslaw Lysakowski Cinematographer Michael Pakulski Editor Piotr Kolski Cast Eryk Lubos, Agnieszka Pawelkiewicz, Aleksandra Michael, Mariusz Bonaszewski Print Source Tramway Film Studio
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2:30 PM R AFAEL 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 4:45 PM 142 THROCKMORTON
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2:45 PM* SEQUOIA 2 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 9:00 PM R AFAEL 2
*Screens with Chris Marker’s classic, La Jetée.
In Polish with English subtitles. An unusual, kinetic thriller that delicately addresses post-traumatic stress syndrome, To Kill a Beaver finds Eryk, a middle-aged man with a murky past, holing up in his rural childhood home. On edge and paranoid, he sets up surveillance cameras to monitor the comings and goings of his surroundings. One day, he is surprised by the arrival of Bezi, a teenage girl who comes floating up to him on a handmade raft as he’s busy breaking up a pesky beaver dam in the creek abutting his property. Bezi throws herself at Eryk with abandon, attracted by the divergent elements of danger and shelter that he embodies. Though he warns her, “I have my various secrets” (including mysterious phone calls, emails with photos of scantily clad women and fl ashbacks involving a pretty Chechnyan woman), she clings to him, seeking to escape a dark situation of her own. Resolving the various mysteries in a shattering climax, Jan Jakub Kolski’s film is a magnetic portrait of two desperate people who fancy themselves predators but just might be prey. —Rod Armstrong
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FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA • In Spanish with English subtitles. In Dominga Sotomayor’s international prize–winning directorial debut, ten-year-old Lucia embarks on a road trip up the west coast of South America with her family, experiencing the wonderment and sad awakenings of young adulthood in equal measure. As Lucia and her younger brother play in the back seat, a front-seat drama quietly plays out around the impending dissolution of their parents’ marriage, even as mom and dad try their best to connect with their offspring on what will clearly be a final family outing. Highlighted by the ruggedly exquisite Chilean landscape and unfolding with understated poetry that recalls the quietly powerful films of both Michelangelo Antonioni and Abbas Kiarostami (see Like Someone In Love, page 45), Thursday Till Sunday offers near-documentary intimacy in its sensitive depiction of the familial ties that bind, its story and characters ringing true at every twist and turn of the road. —Delfin Vigil
Bay Area filmmaker Emiko Omori discovered the work of famously elusive filmmaker Chris Marker in the mid-1960s and was instantly enthralled. Later, meeting the master himself, she was tongue-tied and awestruck. Still later, she was one of the cinematographers on Marker’s miniseries The Owl’s Legacy. Through a collage of clips, reminiscences and interviews with critics, filmmakers, friends and fans, Omori paints a surprisingly detailed and intimate yet tantalizingly incomplete portrait, from Marker’s obsession with Hitchcock’s Vertigo and devotion to cat Guillaume to the mystery of his birthplace and his adamant refusal to be photographed. With ravishing images, often unrelated to the narrative in a style echoing Marker’s own in films such as Sans Soleil, To Chris Marker is a fitting tribute to the visionar y filmmaker who died in July at 91, and whose astonishingly modern oeuvre makes a case for him being a man from the future like the protagonist of his masterpiece, La Jetée. —Margarita Landazuri
(ZABIC BOBRA)
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 6:30 PM R AFAEL 2 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 9:30 PM SEQUOIA 2 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H P OLONI A SF.ORG
SPONSORED BY
COMCAST
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F I L M S UNA NOCHE
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
VILLAGE MUSIC: LAST OF THE GREAT RECORD STORES
VIOLETA WENT TO HEAVEN
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA
US/UK /C UBA 2012 • 90 MINS
US 2012 • 110 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Lucy Mulloy Producers Lucy Mulloy, Maite Artieda, Daniel Mulloy, Sandy Pérez Águila, Yunior Santiago Cinematographers Trevor Forrest, Shlomo Godder Editor Cindy Lee Cast Dariel Arrechaga, Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre, Javier Núñez Florián Print Source IFC Films
Director Gillian Grisman Producers Monroe Grisman, Gillian Grisman, John Goddard Cinematographer Robin McLoud Editor Gillian Grisman Print Source Hi De Ho Films Print Source Hi De Ho Films
CHILE/ARGENTINA /BR A ZIL 2011 • 110 MINS
US CINEMA
In Spanish with English subtitles. Among Havana residents, it’s a fairly well-known fact that nearly everyone wants to cross “that 90-mile river to Miami.” The hazards of such a journey are often not thoroughly considered, however, as this searing and sex y drama makes clear. Lila is a young girl unaware that her brother Elio is planning a seaborne escape with his charismatic but troubled friend Raul. As the two boys gather materials in an increasing frenzy to depart, Lil a star t s to suspec t w hat’s up. Luc y Mulloy’s intense drama crisscrosses among the trio’s day-long travails on the busy city streets, following them all on a harrowing journey. Having spent years in Cuba researching her film, Mulloy is well-equipped to depict not only the country’s economic difficulties but also its boisterous culture. From secret pharmaceutical stashes and apartments full of sundries for sale to a widespread sexual expressiveness that is both irrepressible and problematic, Una Noche makes clear why its intrepid protagonists choose to risk their lives on the merciless sea. —Rod Armstrong WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 9:15 PM SEQUOIA 1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2:15 PM SEQUOIA 1
FOCUS: ROCK’N’SOUL • Mill Valley’s legendary Village Music—for many, the world’s greatest record store—is the center of this cinematic celebration by filmmakers Gillian Grisman (Grateful Dawg, MVFF 2000) and brother Monroe, who lovingly capture the extraordinary story of a unique store, its genius of an owner and their place in the annals of popular music culture. Calling Village Music a record store is like calling Mount Everest a hill; it was a University of American Music, the go-to shop for discoveries, rarities and inspiration for famous and not-so-famous patrons alike, with owner John Goddard its dean and ringmaster. The film chronicles Village Music’s final six months while interweaving its vibrant past, and includes more than 30 artists— from B.B. King to Bonnie Raitt, the Collins Kids to DJ Shadow—across candid interviews, rare archival performances, exclusive in-store appearances and all-star tribute concerts. It’s an apt, openhearted and goose-bump–inducing way to mark the end of a rousing era. WORLD PREMIERE —Lily Buchanan FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5, 6:30 PM SEQUOIA 1 MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 9:30 PM R AFAEL 1
SEE ALSO: The Hi De Ho Show (page 40), Friday, October 12. Join us at the Sweetwater Music Hall & Café for a special live show celebrating John Goddard and Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores. Separate ticket needed; purchase tickets at sweetwatermusichall.com
SPONSORED BY
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Director Andrés Wood Producers Patricio Pereira, Pablo Rovito, Fernando Sokolowicz, Denise Gomes, Paula Cosenza Screenwriter Eliseo Altunaga Cinematographer Miguel Ioann Littin Editor Andrea Chignoli Cast Francisca Gavilán, Thomas Durand, Luis Machín, Gabriela Aguilera, Roberto Farías Print Source Kino Lorber
FOCUS: LATIN AMERICA • In Spanish with English subtitles. Considered by many to be the Chilean Edith Piaf or Bob Dylan, folk singer Violeta Parra rose to stardom in her native Chile as musical legend and political activist in the late 1950s and ‘60s. Based on Violeta’s biography written by her son Ángel Parra, Violeta Went to Heaven draws a nonlinear retrospective of the musician’s life, from her humble childhood to her increasingly isolated final days, weaving through her ascent as pop-culture icon, her international recognition as visual artist and her tumultuous relationships as both wife and mother. Brought to the screen in a magnetic performance by Francisca Gavilán, Violeta’s amazing trajectory is guided in the film by touches of magical realism and her own music—including the celebrated “Gracias a la Vida,” unofficial anthem of the Latin American Left. Each song bares the soul of a woman with many passions and contradictions who fought against social norms to protect her national culture and who, above all, couldn’t bear to be silenced. —Julia Barbosa MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2:15 PM R AFAEL 3 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 12:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H L A P EN A CULT UR A L CEN T ER
SPONSORED BY
S F W E E K LY
CAFILM.ORG
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THE WALL
WAR WITCH
(DIE WANDE)
(REBELLE)
WORLD CINEMA
WORLD CINEMA
AUSTRIA /GERMANY 2012 • 108 MINS
C ANADA 2012 • 90 MINS
UK /US 2011 • 89 MINS
Director/Screenwriter Julian Roman Pölsler Producers Rainer Kölmel, Antonin Svoboda Cinematographers Markus Fraunholz, Martin Gschlacht, Bernhard Keller, Helmut Pirnat, Hans Selikovsky, Richard Wagner Editors Thomas Kohler, Bettina Mazakarini Cast Martina Gedeck, Karl Heinz Hackl, Ulrike Beimpold Print Source Music Box Films
Director/Screenwriter Kim Nguyen Producers Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin Cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc Editor Richard Comeau Cast Rachel Mwanza, Alain Bastien, Serge Kanyianda, Ralph Prosper, Mizinga Mwinga Print Source Tribeca Film
Director/Producer Terry George Screenwriters Terry George, Thomas Gallagher Cinematographer Des Whelan Editor Nick Emerson Cast Brendan Fraser, Colm Meaney, David O’Hara, Yaya DaCosta Print Source ARC Entertainment
In German with English subtitles. In this existential drama adapted from Marlen Haushofer’s 1963 novel, a woman must learn to survive on her own, except for the company of animals, when a transparent wall completely surrounds the remote Alpine region where she is vacationing. The catastrophe inexplicably happens overnight and all clues point to her being the last living human being. This fascinating drama provides a showcase for star Martina Gedick (The Lives of Others), who relates in voiceover a tale that unfolds over several seasons in a location at once paradisiacal and forbidding. The sci-fi angle cleverly underlines a story about the human need for companionship, as carrying for the animals—and especially bonding with a dog—gives the woman the incentive to thrive. But it is also a testament to the human spirit, as a modern woman quickly adapts to her new pioneer life, the instinct to carry on overcoming her growing despair. NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE —Pam Grady MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1:45 PM SEQUOIA 1 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 9:30 PM SEQUOIA 1
In French and Lingala with English subtitles. A wholly unexpected coming-of-age story, this vibrant saga of a child soldier locates the humanity and hope in a brutal world. Fourteen-year-old Komona (played by the extraordinary Rachel Mwanza, discovered on the streets of Kinshasa) has an extra sense, and detects the rebels’ boats approaching her tiny village. But resistance proves futile, and she finds her childhood abruptly, horrifically interrupted as soldiers take her away with other adolescents for training in guerilla warfare. Montrealbased writer-director Kim Nguyen, eschewing dogma, never names the African country or any political or revolutionary philosophy but keeps our focus resolutely on Komona, whose eerie sixth sense elevates her standing with both the rebel leader and an already infatuated albino boy called Magicien. Visually transporting, especially in surreal dream sequences, the film grounds its humane core in a deep appreciation of African myth and culture. Mwanza’s unforgettable, life-affirming performance rightly took Best Actress honors at the Berlin and Tribeca film festivals. —Michael Fox MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 6:15 PM R AFAEL 2 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 3:00 PM SEQUOIA 1
Deep in the heart of Ireland, a rookie crook collides with a mysterious foreigner in this lively caper-comedy from multi-award–winning filmmaker Terry George (MVFF 2007 Tributee). Known for more intense subject matter (In the Name of the Father, Hotel Rwanda, Some Mother’s Son), writer-director George gets downright giddy in this quickwitted romp starring Brendan Fraser as Joe McGuire, an affable American “refugee” in Belfast working at his cousin’s antique store. Martin McCann is Jimbo, a down-on-hisluck young father who owes a sleazy local crime boss big money. After desperate Jimbo takes confused Joe hostage, the stakes rise to startling levels as the chaotic criminal activity at a local fish market catches the attention of the nation’s top leaders. With fast-paced repartee and a cadre of colorful characters, including Colm Meaney as the flustered head detective, this sly comedy expertly mixes biting social commentary with subtle slapstick to create a smart, droll good time with a bit of a brogue. —Brendan Peterson
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WORLD CINEMA
F I L M S
WHOLE LOTTA SOLE
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 7:00 PM SEQUOIA 1 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 5:00 PM SEQUOIA 2
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H MUSEUM OF T HE A F RIC A N DI A SP OR A / T HE C ON SUL AT E GENER A L OF C A N A DA S A N F R A NCI S C O SPONSORED BY
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F I L M S WITHOUT A NET
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VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WONDER WOMEN! THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICAN SUPERHEROINES
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
XINGU
WORLD CINEMA
US 2012 • 60 MINS
US 2012 • 62 MINS
BR A ZIL 2012 • 102 MINS
Director/Screenwriter/Cinematographer Kelly J Richardson Producers Kelly J Richardson, John Antonelli Editors Kelly J Richardson, Quinn Costello Print Source Kelly J Richardson
Director/Screenwriter Kristy GuevaraFlanagan Producer Kelcey Edwards Cinematographer Gabriel Miller Editors Carla Guttierez, Melanie Levy Print Source Vaquera Films
In Portuguese and English with English subtitles. In an abandoned parking lot in a Rio de Janeiro ghetto sits a circus tent—an incongruous sight, but no more unusual than its motley crew of young performers, searching for a life apart from the drug-related violence around them. As chronicled by firsttime feature filmmaker Kelly J Richardson, putting on a show takes rigor and resourcefulness in their impoverished community, and even this modest production of acrobats and contortionists isn’t free of injuries and ego clashes. But the big top is their oasis, and the human drama of hope and ambition the greatest show on earth. —Sterling Hedgpeth
Crash! Boom! Pow! It’s no punches pulled in local director Kristy Guevara-Flanagan’s exhilarating documentary featuring interviews with Gloria Steinem, ‘70s TV star Lynda Carter and a slew of real-life wonder women. Sure, Wonder Woman is an Amazon princess with superhuman strength, but in many ways hers is the tale of the 20th-century American woman: valued for her strength during World War II, shackled by patriarchy in the ‘50s, reborn through the Feminist movement and an inspiration to generations of women to follow. Ultimately, she paved the way for Charlie’s Angels, Buffy and many more. As Spider-man and Batman dominate the box office, Guevara-Flanagan reminds viewers that the legacy of Wonder Woman and her sisters is as relevant now as ever. —Alexis Whitham
Director Cao Hamburger Producers Andrea Barata Ribeiro, Bel Berlinck, Fernando Meirelles Screenwriters Cao Hamburger, Elena Soarez, Anna Muylaert Cinematographer Adriano Goldman Editor Gustavo Giani Cast João Miguel, Felipe Camargo, Caio Blat Print Source Rezo Films
PRECEDED BY
STILL MOVING: PILOBOLUS AT FORTY US 2012 • 38 MINS Director Jeffrey Ruoff
Groundbreaking dance company Pilobolus, celebrating its 40th anniversary, surveys its history and looks to its future, with dancers inheriting its legacy of innovative collaboration. Director Jeffrey Ruoff records this moment of dynamic tension, as the troupe works with cartoonist Art Spiegelman on a vivid new show. T O TA L P R O G R A M 9 8 M I N S
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1:00 PM 142 THROCKMORTON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 6:00 PM R AFAEL 3
PRECEDED BY
THE BRONZER US 2012 • 11 MINS Director Peyton Wilson
The self-proclaimed last traveling salesman is anything but your average pitchman. T O TA L P R O G R A M 7 3 M I N S
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 9:15PM R AFAEL 2 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 3:00PM 142 THROCKMORTON P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H C A R T O ON A R T MUSEUM A ND MEND O CINO F IL M F E S T I VA L
FOCUS: L ATIN AMERICA • In Portuguese and Tupi with English subtitles. All the VillasBoas brothers wanted was to get out of their small Brazilian town. So the trio—charismatic Claudio, devil-may-care Leonardo and levelheaded Orlando—signs up for the country’s 1943 “march west” into the jungles surrounding the Xingu River, ready to pave the way for urban expansion. What they find are indigenous tribes who will be displaced once their homeland is bulldozed away. Over the ensuing decades, the brothers will be the natives’ only protection from extinction, a process culminating in the creation of South America’s largest national park. Portuguese director Cao Hamburger, turning 180 degrees from his 2007 comingof-age drama The Year My Parents Went on Vacation, delivers an epic biopic on Brazil’s environmental heroes, complete with an expansive scope and lush landscapes that would make David Lean envious. At the same time, he’s retained his previous feature’s sense of intimacy and humanism, and the result is a history lesson that appeals equally to the eye and the heart. —Dave Fear FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12, 6:15 PM SEQUOIA 1 SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 3:45 PM R AFAEL 2 P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H A M A ZON WAT CH / W I T H SUP P OR T F ROM C ON SUL AT E GENER A L OF BR A ZIL IN S A N F R A NCI S C O
P RE SEN T ED IN A S S O CI AT ION W I T H CIRCUS CEN T ER OF S A N F R A NCI S C O SPONSORED BY
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MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL
SPONSORED BY
E X T E N D E D S TAY A M E R I C A
CAFILM.ORG
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F I L M S
YOYO
THE ZEN OF BENNETT
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
WORLD CINEMA
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
2011 • 90 MINS
FR ANCE 1965 • 96 MINS
US 2012 • 87 MINS
Director Pierre Étaix Producer Paul Claudon Screenwriters Pierre Étaix, JeanClaude Carriére Cinematographer Jean Boffety Editor Henri Lanoë Cast Pierre Étaix, Claudine Auger, Luce Klein, Philippe Dionnet Print Source Janus Films
Director Unjoo Moon Producers Danny Bennett, Jennifer Lebeau Screenwriter Danny Bennett Cinematographer Dion Beebe Editors Wyatt Smith, Katie McQuerrey Print Source Benedetto Films
Every year, a peer jury working with the California Film Institute’s Education department programs the MVFF youth reel. The six jurors are chosen from a group of 20 teens who attend the Young Critics Jury three-day workshop in July. They choose films from more than 100 youth entries for a 90 minute program. This year’s jury selected films from all over California as well as Singapore and Kewanee, Illinois. It’s a rich experience, with drama and comedy, personal and bigscreen ambitions. From the sublimely titled Ancient Alien Ice Road Trucker Axe Wars, Episode 1 to the simple plea of Need Gas, these films can stand alongside anything the professionals make—and they’re often a lot more fun. Many of the filmmakers and jury members will be onstage after the screening to answer audience questions. —John Morrison T O TA L P R O G R A M 9 5 M I N S
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13, 11:00 AM R AFAEL 1
In French with English subtitles. It is high time we discover Pierre Étaix, the winsome French comic who created a handful of charmers in the 1960s in collaboration with legendary screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière. Inspired by Chaplin and Keaton (and personally adopting Buster’s deadpan demeanor), Étaix, a creative associate of the similarly wry Jacques Tati, starred in and directed his own original comedies brimming with visual wit and physical humor. His 1965 film, Yoyo, features Étaix in two roles: a jaded millionaire who reunites with the love of his life, a circus bareback rider; and their son Yoyo, who grows up to be a famous television clown. Beginning in the 1920s, with a deft homage to silent cinema that anticipates The Artist, the story starts “talking” and spans to the 1960s. Long lost, the films of Pierre Étaix have been lovingly restored, and Yoyo will screen in a beautiful new 35mm print. —Richard Peterson SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1:30 PM R AFAEL 2
Tony Bennett became the oldest artist to crack the US pop charts with last year’s Duets II album, which debuted at number one (his first) on the singer’s 85th birthday. Some of the secrets to his decades-long career and recent mainstream success are shared in The Zen of Bennett, Unjoo Moon’s behind-the-scenes look at the making of the milestone album. Sessions with Andrea Bocelli, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Aretha Franklin and the late Amy Winehouse, as well as cameos by the likes of Gay Talese, are interspersed with Bennett’s musings on art, music and the importance of family. Bennett is a fount of firsthand stories concerning the likes of Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne, and he shares anecdotes to pass on the wisdom of his elders. But the real gems in the film are moments in the studio with his recording partners, offering a rare, intimate glimpse of how the music is made and friendships are forged. —Shari Kizirian WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 6:30 PM 142 THROCKMORTON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 11:15 AM R AFAEL 2
M I L L VA L L E Y F I L M F E S T I VA L 3 5
YOUNG CRITICS PICKS: THE 2012 YOUTH REEL
SPONSORED BY
A L A I N P I N E L R E A LT O R S
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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A C T I V E
C I N E M A
QUESTIONENGAGE TRANSFORMQUESTIONENGAGETRANSFORMQUESTIONENGAGETRANSFORM
MVFF’s Active Cinema films are united in their commitment to explore the world and its issues, engage audiences and transform society. After the credits role and the lights come up, onscreen images continue to have significant impact. Transforming ideas into action is what Active Cinema is all about!
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
ACTIVE CINEMA HIKE
CINEMASPORTS
ACTIVE CINEMA ON FACEBOOK
Join Festival filmmakers and guests for a nature hike through beautiful Mill Valley on Saturday, October 13, 10:15 am–12:30 pm.
Cinemasports turns global, with participants from Mill Valley screening alongside filmmakers from Taiwan, South Africa and Azerbaijan. Bring your crew and make a film in one day on Sunday, October 7.
Join Active Cinema filmmakers and supporters on Facebook and stay connected year-round.
Meet at the Tennessee Valley trailhead at 10:15 am. Bring water and good hiking shoes. Get some fresh air and connect with filmmakers, friends and cinephiles during an hour-long hike through beautiful terrain.
Films screen that same evening at 142 Throckmorton. (See New Movie Labs, page 65)
ACTIVE CINEMA SPONSORED BY
Break for refreshments following our excursion to discuss how film can be a catalyst for change. (See New Movie Labs, page 65)
GET ACTIVE! Discover a world of inspiration in Active Cinema. Join us for Active Cinema screenings throughout the
Festival, support the grassroots activism of filmmakers and engage with admirable work by special guests, co-presenters and Active Cinema partners.
MVFF35 ACTIVE CINEMA FILMS BIDDER 70
Directed by Beth Gage and George Gage Presented in association with Bioneers
THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE Directed by Ken Burns
ELEMENTAL
Directed by Gayatri Roshan and Emmanuel Vaughn-Lee
HEART OF SKY, HEART OF EARTH Directed by Frauke Sandig and Eric Black Presented in association with Marin Interfaith Council
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HERE AND THERE
Directed by Antonio Méndez Esparza Presented in association with Canal Alliance
NEW ENVIRONMENTALISTS
Directed by Will Parrinello, John Antonelli and Tom Dusenbery Presented in association with Bioneers
REBELS WITH A CAUSE
Directed by Nancy Kelly Presented in association with Cal Humanities
THE SESSIONS Directed by Ben Lewin SWEET DREAMS
Directed by Lisa Fruchtman and Rob Fruchtman
Presented in association with Museum of the African Diaspora
UNA NOCHE
Directed by Lucy Mulloy
WAR WITCH
Directed by Kim Nguyen Presented in association with Museum of the African Diaspora
WONDER WOMEN!
Directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan Presented in association with Cartoon Art Museum and Mendocino Film Festival
XINGU
Directed by Cao Hamburger Presented in association with Amazon Watch
CAFILM.ORG
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N E W I N D E P E N D E N T FI L M I N T H E 21S T C E N T U RY: O P P O R T U N I T Y O R C H A L L E N G E?
M O V I E S
L A B
WORKSHOPS AND PANELS ON THE ART, TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS OF FILMMAKING WITH TOP FILMMAKERS AND INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
Sunday, October 7, 1:00 PM Rafael Panel and Reception $20
What do these changes mean for independent filmmakers, distributors and theaters? What previously untapped forms of revenue will evolve to sustain a sector that is increasingly being squeezed by their much bigger studio cousins? For a better understanding of these complex issues, join theatrical distribution veterans and new-tech and -platform entrepreneurs in a spirited discussion on the thrills and hazards of releasing indie films and creating new forms of intellectual property in this decentralized moment.
INVITED GUESTS: TIFFANY SHLAIN (moderator) Tiffany Shlain is an award-winning filmmaker, founder of the Webby Awards and co-founder of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. Honored by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” Shlain’s most recent four films all premiered at Sundance, including her acclaimed 2011 documentary Connected: An Autobiography about Love, Death & Technology. ED ARENTZ Ed Arentz is managing director of distribution at Music Box Films, which has quickly become one of the top independent distributors focusing on foreign-language films and serving the US art-house market. The company’s releases include Tell No One and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels.
JOHN CORPUS John Corpus is the CEO of Milyoni, which assists entertainment companies in leveraging the power of social networking on Facebook. Milyoni has powered some of the biggest social entertainment campaigns on the site, including its first pay-per-view offering, The Dark Knight.
IN SIGHT: K E N B U R N S A M A S T E R C L A S S C O N V E R S AT I O N Saturday, October 6, 11:00 AM $20 Rafael Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns’s groundbreaking works on some of the great topics of our times—The Civil War (1990), The National Parks (2009) and Prohibition (2011)—have set the standard for American documentary filmmaking. Join Burns for an in-depth master-class conversation about his work with writer–film critic Michael Fox.
C INE M A SP OR T S Sunday, October 7, 9:00 AM • Intro Meeting, Old Mill Park, Mill Valley FREE Sign-up required on a first-come, first-served basis. Sunday, October 7, Public Screening 8:00 PM $10 142 Throckmorton MVFF’s popular collaboration with Cinemasports’ Jin Joo returns with an international tournament. Arrive with your crew equipped to create, shoot and edit your masterpiece by the same-day deadline. Teams will vie to finish a short film or music video before sundown with three mandatory Active Cinema–inspired “ingredients.” These might include a water bottle, an elephant or Wonder Woman! Films made by teams in Azerbaijan, South Africa and Taiwan on the same weekend with the same ingredients will screen alongside local productions. Sign up online: www.cinemasports.com
AC TI V E CINEM A : HIK E A ND IDE A S E XCH A N GE NE T WOR K IN G IN N AT U R E Saturday, October 13, 10:15 AM–12:30 PM Free Hike: Meet at 10:15 am at Tennessee Valley trailhead parking lot/picnic area. Hike followed by informal group discussions and refreshments back at the picnic area. Bay Area filmmakers host a hike and skills exchange. Meet, hike and exchange ideas and wisdom on filmmaking, filmmaker resources, activism and strategies for environmental preservation. Some of the best information is garnered in peer-to-peer conversations. Bring water; wear good hiking shoes. All are welcome! Filmmaker hike hosts: John Antonelli, Tom Dusenbery, Nancy Kelly, Will Parinello, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Kenji Yamamoto and more
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
Industry pundits have predicted that thousands of independent art houses will be forced out of business in the next few years due to the cost of digital-projection installation (upwards of $70,000). Couple that with the narrowing of the gap between theatrical and home-market release dates, and most importantly with rapidly evolving technologies and platforms for on-demand streaming at home, on the road and through smart phones and every conceivable mobile device, and indie exhibitors truly are facing an unparalleled crisis.
Tennessee Valley information: www.nps.gov/goga/planyourvisit/tennessee_valley.htm
All New Movies Lab participants subject to change; updates at mvff.com
ERIC LACHTER is Director of Marketing at Roku, which is the little box that lets you stream Netfl ix, Pandora, Hulu Plus and 600 other channels to your TV. Reception with the panelists, catered by Il Davide restaurant, follows the panel. BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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Apps as unique as your event
C R E AT E D BY
CA L I FO R N I A F I L M I N S T I T U T E E D U C AT I O N CFI Education provides children and young people of diverse backgrounds with the oppor tunity to learn about themselves and the world through film.
A PLACE IN THE WORLD
A six-film, seven-month curriculum for 100 students from diverse schools in Richmond, Oakland, San Francisco and Marin. Students examine international films addressing universal coming-of-age issues.
Q&A AFTER FOOD STAMPED SCREENING
YOUNG CRITICS JURY
ENVIRONMENTAL YOUTH FORUM
Two days of films, filmmakers, speakers and panels offers current thinking about environmental issues, with films on all three screens of the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center.
EDUCATION SCREENINGS AT THE MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL (MVFF)
CFI Education hosts free screenings of eight to ten films followed by Q&A sessions featuring guest filmmakers. CFI also invites local and international filmmakers into Bay Area classrooms.
COMMUNITY CINEMA
These multigenerational monthly screenings feature hard-hitting, topical documentaries followed by discussions with special guests. Attendees include school groups as well as the community at large. Presented in partnership with ITVS and PBS’s Independent Lens series.
MY PLACE
A five-day intensive workshop for at-risk youth using film as a storytelling technique. Youth are recruited through community social service agency referrals. Each student writes and films his or her own personal story, fostering a sense of empowerment. Programs take place in San Rafael, San Francisco and the East Bay.
An annual three-day intensive workshop held in July for youth ages 13-to-18 to learn critical thinking and film curating skills and an understanding of moviemaking techniques. Film industry professionals, many of them Emmy- and Academy Award®– winning filmmakers, teach seminars. Selected students critique a selection of youth-produced films to be screened during the MVFF.
TEACHER WORKSHOPS
Twice-yearly workshops designed by a working committee of Bay Area teachers to help incorporate film into the classroom. The annual September workshop highlights the films that will be offered during free education screenings at the MVFF. A latewinter workshop focuses on emerging, relevant themes.
THE FUTURE PROFESSIONALS
This program brings an extended Young Critics Jury model to Latino students in the Novato area this year. In partnership with Novato High School and Marin School of the Arts, we feature lectures, workshops and film-viewing opportunities at the Rafael Film Centerand during the MVFF for participants and their families.
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
For 35 years, the Mill Valley Film Festival and the California Film Institute have pioneered creative film programs for youth, providing year-round screenings, interactive sessions with film professionals and hands-on workshops to introduce students to film as a vibrant tool of communication and a rich cultural experience. CFI Education serves students as well as families, teachers and adults throughout the Bay Area.
PHONE: 415.383.5256 EXT 113 EMAIL: EDUCATION@CAFILM.ORG ONLINE: CAFILM.ORG
C F I E D U CAT I O N P R O G R A M S A R E M A D E P O SS I B L E W I T H S U P P O R T F R O M Fred M. Levin and Nancy Livingston, The Shenson Foundation Fenwick Foundation
Marin Charitable Jackie and Ken Broad
Jennifer Coslett MacCready Nancy and Rich Robbins
Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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SHUTTLE SERVICE MILL VA LLE Y FILM FE S TI VA L SHU T TLE GO GREEN AND LE AVE YOUR C AR AT HOME! Use the COMPLIMENTARY MVFF shuttle service for easy direct access to and from Festival venues. Shuttle service runs Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm with regular stops.
100% carbon-neutral shuttles generously provided by Extranomical Adventures
MILL VALLEY/ SAN RAFAEL LOOP MILL VALLEY Leaving regularly: Downtown Mill Valley at the MVFF Mill Valley Box Office. The MVFF Shuttle also stops at these hotels: .
S A N R A FA E L Leaving regularly: Directly in front of the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center and MVFF San Rafael Box Office. Shuttle space is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Allow plenty of time in case you have to wait for the next service. The MVFF Shuttle provides alternative and equal transportation for all individuals. For an ADA-accessible shuttle, please call 415.388.1234 between 11:00 am and 11:00 pm on Oct. 6–7 and Oct. 13–14, or ask a Festival staff member for assistance.
Now Playing Italian Organic Cuisine and Lifestyle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D OW N TOW N M I L L VA L L E Y 22 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA
Mo–Th 11:30am - 11:00pm • Fr 11:30am - 11:30pm Sa 10:30am - 11:30pm • Su 10:30am - 11:00pm
p: 415.388.2000
w: www.piazzadangelo.com
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VENUES / MAPS FE S T I VA L V ENUE S
SCREENING VENUES/BOX OFFICES
14 2 T H R O C K M O R T O N T H E AT R E 142 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley
S A N R A FA E L TICKETS
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FR ANTOIO RISTOR ANTE 152 Shoreline Hwy., Mill Valley
3rd St.
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Ave. Lincoln
A St.
32TEN STUDIOS 3210 Kerner Blvd., San Rafael
P
2nd St.
Lindaro
M I L L VA L L E Y P L A Z A Throckmorton at Miller Ave., Mill Valley
St.
Smith Rafael Film Center
H AW K ’ S TAV E R N 507 Miller Ave., Mill Valley
500 ft.
N O U R I S H AT H A R B O R P O I N T 475 East Strawberry Dr., Mill Valley
CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER From US 101, take the Central San Rafael exit. Go west to 1118 Fourth St.
S A N R A FA E L P L A Z A Court St., San Rafael S W E E T WAT E R M U S I C H A L L 19 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley
MILL VALLEY
SWEETWATER MUSIC HALL
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TICKETS
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Ride the free MVFF shuttle provided by Extranomical Tours. The weekend-only shuttle stops in downtown Mill Valley, San Rafael and at the Hotel Mill Valley North San Francisco and Extended Stay America. See page 69 for details. We also encourage taking Golden Gate Transit to our screenings and events.
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L E AV E YO U R C A R AT H O M E!
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MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
4th St.
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n Ave
Lootens Pl.
CINÉARTS@SEQUOIA 25 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley
B St.
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5th Ave.
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Laurel P
C St.
CHRISTOPHER B. SMITH R A FA E L F I L M C E N T E R 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael
Tama lpais Ave
C E N T U RY C I N E M A 41 Tamal Vista, Corte Madera
CINÉARTS@SEQUOIA 35TH MVFF OPENING NIGHT
Parking is limited and metered near Festival venues. Please note the parking time limits as cars will be ticketed and could be towed. 200 ft.
C ONNEC T WITH US! DOWNTOWN MILL VALLEY From US 101, take the Tiburon/East Blithedale exit and proceed west on East Blithedale toward downtown Mill Valley. Turn left onto Throckmorton Ave.
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T I C K E T S / I N FO R M AT I O N TICKET PRICES FOR REGULAR SHOWS* $13.50
General Admission
$11
California Film Institute (CFI) Members
$12
Seniors (65+)
$12
Students
$10
Children’s FilmFest (all ages)
$5.00
5@5 Programs
*unless otherwise indicated
For Opening Night, Closing Night, Centerpiece, Tribute, Spotlight, live music events and other special parties or programs, please see specific event information and pricing.
Director’s Circle, Premier Patron and Cinema Benefactor Members: September 11 at 4:00 pm
Tickets go on sale to CFI Members before the general public; on-sale dates are determined by membership level.
All CFI Members: September 14 at 4:00 pm
Gold Star and above Members: September 12 at 4:00 pm
General Public: September 16 at 10:00 am
Opening dates and hours for ticket sales are listed below. O N L I N E : M V F F.C O M
IN PERSON:
There is a $1.50 convenience fee added to each online ticket purchased. Your tickets will be available at Will Call (located at the box offices). Tickets delivered via mail (USPS) incur a $3.50 convenience fee.
SAN RAFAEL TICKET OUTLET
MILL VALLEY TICKET OUTLET
1104 Fourth St., San Rafael 94901
ROOM Art Gallery
September 11-15: 4:00–8:00 pm (CFI Members)
86 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley 94941
BY P H O N E : T O L L- F R E E 8 7 7. 8 74 . M V F F (6 8 3 3)
Rush tickets often become available even after advance tickets have sold out. The rush line forms outside each venue beginning one hour before showtime. Approximately 15 minutes prior to the screening, available rush tickets are sold on a first-come, firstserved basis. No discounts. Cash only. Last year, many of our guests had great success buying last-minute ticket via the rush line.
September 17-October 3: Weekdays: 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm Weekends: 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm
NOTE: If you have trouble purchasing online and cannot purchase tickets in-person, leave a message on box office voicemail: 877.874.6833 All orders placed over the phone are subject to a charge of $10.00 per transaction. Tickets delivered via mail (USPS) incur a $3.50 convenience fee.
SOLD OUT? TRY THE RUSH LINE
September 16: 10:00 am-7:00 pm
September 16: 10:00 am – 2:00 pm September 17-October 2: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce 85 Throckmorton Ave., Mill Valley 94941
Opening Night October 4: 2:00 pm – 11:00 pm Festival Hours, October 5–14: Weekdays 3:00–10:00 pm Weekends 10:30 am–10:00 pm Note: Monday (10/8) & Friday (10/12) are weekend hours
October 3: 11:00 am – 4:00 pm October 4: 2:00 pm – 11:00 pm October 5–14 Weekdays 3:00–10:00 pm Weekends 10:30 am–10:00 pm Note: Monday (10/8) & Friday (10/12) are weekend hours
THE FINE PRINT
PATRON C OURTE SIE S
ACCESSIBILITY
All orders are final. No refunds, exchanges, substitutions or reprints. MVFF is not responsible for lost, stolen, forgotten or damaged tickets, or tickets misdirected by the post office. To pick up tickets at Will Call, you must bring a valid photo ID that corresponds to the name on the credit card used to purchase the tickets. Processing fees are nonrefundable. The convenience fee for online sales is $1.50 per ticket. The convenience fee for phone sales is a fl at $10.00 per order. Ticket holders must arrive at the venue 15 minutes prior to showtime to be guaranteed a seat.
• All seats are general admission, and multiple-seat saving is not permitted.
MVFF is committed to accommodating audience members with disabilities, offering early seating as needed. To receive assistance, please make yourself known to the theater manager. All screening venues and their bathrooms are wheelchairaccessible. Assistedlistening devices are available at the Rafael Film Center and the Sequoia Theater.
• While waiting in line, please be considerate of our neighbors and local businesses. • Please refrain from wearing perfumes and other scented products so that attendees with environmental sensitivities can enjoy the films in comfort. Thank you. • The use of cameras or other recording equipment is strictly prohibited during any screening or program.
BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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T I T L E
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35 72
5@5: Crosseyed and Painless . . . . . . . . 32 5@5: I’m Not In Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5@5: Lifetime Piling Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5@5: Puzzlin’ Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 5@5: Slippery People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Abandoned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 After Winter, Spring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 All In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ancient Aliens Ice Road Trucker Axe Wars, Episode 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Apocryphal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Approximately Nels Cline . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Argo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Arthur and the Bunnies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 As Above, So Below . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Asad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 The Attack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Baseline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Bay of All Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Be Home Soon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Behind the Mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Between Land and Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Beyond the Hills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Bidder 70 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Black Sheep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Blue Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Body Complete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Bookstore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Break-Up Tour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The Bronzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Caesar Must Die . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Caldera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The Central Park Five. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Chillar Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Claustrophobia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Critical Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Dany’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 A Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Deep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Echoes of Exxon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Eileen Pratt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Elemental. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Fat Kid Rules the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Fathers and Sons, 10 True Stories . . . . 32 Fillin’ You in with Guitar Greg . . . . . . . . 63 Flicker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 A Girl Like Her . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Good Karma $1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Grandmothers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 A Happy Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth . . . . . . . . . 40 Here and There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 The Hi De Ho Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Highway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Holy Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The Homer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 How to Draw a Cat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
I N D E X The Human Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Hung Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 I Want to Be a Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Impossible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 In Another Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 In Search of Blind Joe Death: The Saga of John Fahey . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 In Your Dreams-Stevie Nicks . . . . . . . . . 42 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The Institute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 It’s a Disaster. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Italy: Love It or Leave It . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Jayne Mansfield’s Car . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 La Jetée . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Ladders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Last Man on Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Learn the Difference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Like Someone in Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Little Dad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal . . . 45 Lore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Lotte and the Moonstone Secret . . . . . . 46 Maelstrom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 The Man at the Counter . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Manufactured Fortunes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Mars et Avril . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Melt in the Shade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Mi Vida Loca de Mi Carnal . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Missing Piece: The Truth About the Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa . . . 47 Mondays at Racine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 The Most Fun I’ve Ever Had With My Pants On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Need Gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The New Environmentalists 2012 . . . . . 36 Nor’easter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Normal! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Not Fade Away . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 On the Fence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 On the Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Paradise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Planet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Quartet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Quinn Keeps On Drumming . . . . . . . . . . 63 Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Rebels with a Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Red Tulips, A Story About Forgetting . . 32 Renoir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Rent-a-Cat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Richness of Internal Space . . . . . . . . . . 50 Ricky on Leacock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Right There . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Rise of the Guardians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Road North. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Room to Breathe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 A Royal Affair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Sabbatical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 The Sapphires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
The Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Seven Psychopaths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Shadow Dancer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Shanghai Calling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Silver Linings Playbook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 The Sinners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Siren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Slut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Someone Like Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Stand Up Guys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Stanley’s Tiffin Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope . . . 56 Starlet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Still . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Still Moving: Pilobolus at Forty . . . . . . . 62 Strutter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Svijet and Staklenoj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Sweet Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Tabu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Tainá 3—An Amazon Legend . . . . . . . . . 58 Tales of the Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Tey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 The Things My Father Never Taught Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 This PSA Is Gay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Throat Song . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Thursday Till Sunday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 To Chris Marker, An Unsent Letter . . . . 59 To Kill a Beaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Una Noche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Unwieldy Beast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Violeta Went to Heaven. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Voda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 The Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 War Witch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Whole Lotta Sole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Why Are You Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Without a Net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines . . . . . . . . 62 The Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Xingu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Young Critics Picks: The 2012 Youth Reel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Yoyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Zen of Bennett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Interior contents printed on 40 percent recycled newsprint.
CAFILM.ORG
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F I L M
C A L E N D A R
MILL VALLEY
FILM FESTIVAL
FILM CALENDAR VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA 6 PM
7 PM
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST 8 PM
5@5 & MVFF SHORTS 9 PM
TRIBUTES/SPOTLIGHTS
SEMINARS/MUSIC/TBA
10 PM
11 PM
On the Road 6:30 PM
RAFAEL 1
T HU RS DAY O CTO B ER 4
RAFAEL 2
On the Road 6:45 PM
RAFAEL 3
Silver Linings Playbook 7:00 PM
SEQUOIA 1
Starlet 9:45 PM
Silver Linings Playbook 7:15 PM
SEQUOIA 2
6 PM
7 PM
8 PM
9 PM
10 PM
Argo 7:00 PM
RAFAEL 1
F R IDAY OCTO BER 5
RAFAEL 2
Mars et Avril 6:00 PM
RAFAEL 3
Highway 6:15 PM
SEQUOIA 1
SEQUOIA 2
Road North 9:00 PM
5@5: I’m Not In Love 8:45 PM
Village Music: Last of the Great Record Stores 6:30 PM
Strutter 9:15 PM
The Impossible 7:00 PM BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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11 PM
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
US CINEMA
1
9/4/12 3:30 AM
F I L M US CINEMA
NOON
1 PM
Chillar Party 11:15 AM
RAFAEL 3
NM Lab: Insight 11:00 AM
NOON
6 PM
Seven Psychopaths 6:00 PM
5 PM
6 PM
Maelstrom 4:30 PM
11 AM
NOON
Without a Net 6:00 PM
Lotte... 1:15 PM
Mars et Avril 3:15 PM
Road North 6:00 PM
2 PM
3 PM
MO NDAY O CTOBER 8
Missing Piece 11:00 AM Tales of the Night 11:30 AM
THROCK
CINEMA
6 PM
All In 9:15 PM
Wall 1:45 PM Reality 2:15 PM
Body Complete 9:15 PM
NM Lab: Cinema Sports 8:00 PM
7 PM
8 PM
9 PM
Caesar Must Die 6:30 PM
Flicker 3:15 PM Violeta Went to Heaven 2:15 PM
RAFAEL 3
5 PM
Central Park Five 3:15 PM
After Winter, Spring 12:15 PM
11 PM
TBA 9:00 PM
Thursday Till Sunday 4:45 PM
4 PM
10 PM
5@5: Slippery People 9:45 PM
Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth 6:15 PM
Taina 3 12:45 PM
RAFAEL 2
9 PM
Ricky on Leacock 7:00 PM
Here and There 3:15 PM
1 PM
RAFAEL 1
8 PM
NM Lab: Industry panel 1:00 PM
Girl/Mondays 1:30 PM
THROCK
7 PM
Spotlight: Billy Bob Thornton 6:30 PM
The Sessions 12:00 PM
SEQUOIA 2
Strutter 8:45 PM In Search of Blind Joe... 8:00 PM
Sweet Dreams 3:30 PM
Yoyo 1:30 PM
Starlet 10:00 PM
The Sapphires 9:00 PM
Rebels with a Cause 6:15 PM
4 PM
11 PM
Missing Piece... 8:30 PM
Highway 4:00 PM
3 PM
10 PM
Flicker 9:00 PM
Nor’easter 5:45 PM
Fat Kid Rules the World 3:00 PM
2 PM
9 PM
Here and There 6:00 PM
Tey 3:30 PM
Reality 12:45 PM
Taina 3 11:00 AM
8 PM
SEMINARS/MUSIC/TBA
Spotlight; John Hawkes 7:00 PM
To Chris Marker 2:45 PM
Stanley’s Tiffin Box 11:00 AM
TRIBUTES/SPOTLIGHTS
7 PM
Central Park Five 3:30 PM
Tales of the Night 1:00 PM
RAFAEL 3
SEQUOIA 2
5 PM
Thursday Till Sunday 2:30 PM
1 PM
RAFAEL 1
SEQUOIA 1
4 PM
Without a Net 1:00 PM
11 AM
SEQUOIA 1
3 PM
Bidder 70 11:30 AM
SEQUOIA 2
RAFAEL 2
2 PM
Beyond the Hills 11:45 AM
SEQUOIA 1
THROCK
SU NDAY O CTO BE R 7
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
S ATU RDAY OCTO BER 6
RAFAEL 2
5@5 & MVFF SHORTS
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
Long Distance Revolutionary 12:00 PM
RAFAEL 1
2
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA 11 AM
C A L E N D A R
11 PM
Village Music 9:30 PM
War Witch 6:15 PM
To Chris Marker 9:00 PM
Nor’easter 5:00 PM
Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth 8:00 PM
Long-Distance Revolutionary 4:45 PM 5@5: C+P 5:00 PM
10 PM
Like Someone in Love 8:00 PM
TBA 7:15 PM
Seven Psychopaths 9:45 PM
Tey 6:45 PM Star Wars IV: A New
PRE-SHOW Hope 6:30 PM
Ricky on Leacock 9:15 PM POST-SHOW
CAFILM.ORG
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F I L M US CINEMA
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA 4 PM
5 PM
Rebels with a Cause 4:00 PM
RAFAEL 2
TBA 4:00 PM
6 PM
5@5: Puzzlin’ Evidence 4:00 PM
SEQUOIA 2
In Another Country 4:15 PM
9 PM
5 PM
Whole Lotta Sole 7:00 PM
Wall 9:30 PM
Italy: Love It or Leave It 6:45 PM
6 PM
Last Man on Earth 9:30 PM TBA 9:00 PM
7 PM
8 PM
9 PM
10 PM
11 PM
Tribute: Mira Nair 7:00 PM To Kill A Beaver 6:30 PM
RAFAEL 2
WE DNE S DAY O CTO B ER 1 0
5@5: Puzzlin’ Evidence 5:00 PM
Normal! 9:30 PM
Girl/Mondays 7:00 PM
A Happy Event 4:00 PM
Room to Breathe 9:45 PM
The Attack 6:45 PM Caesar Must Die 5:00 PM
SEQUOIA 2
11 PM
Sweet Dreams 7:30 PM
The Sapphires 4:00 PM
RAFAEL 3
10 PM
After Winter, Spring 9:30 PM
The Deep 6:00 PM
4 PM
SEMINARS/MUSIC/TBA
Tribute: Dustin Hoffman 7:00 PM
CINEMA
Una Noche 9:15 PM
In Search of Blind Joe... 7:15 PM
5@5: Lifetime Piling Up 9:45 PM
The Zen Of Bennett 6:30 PM
THROCK
Bay of All Saints 9:15 PM
Centerpiece: DreamWorks Animation 7:00 PM
CINEMA
4 PM
5 PM
THUR SDAY OCTO BER 11
RAFAEL 1
Lore 4:00 PM
RAFAEL 2
The Deep 4:00 PM
6 PM
7 PM
Fat Kid Rules the World 7:00 PM
5@5: I’m Not In Love 4:00 PM
SEQUOIA 2
8 PM
Not Fade Away 6:30 PM
The Institute 4:30 PM
RAFAEL 3
SEQUOIA 1
8 PM
5@5: Slippery People 5:00 PM
SEQUOIA 1
SEQUOIA 1
7 PM
TRIBUTES/SPOTLIGHTS
The Elemental 6:45 PM
RAFAEL 3
RAFAEL 1
5@5 & MVFF SHORTS
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
Room to Breathe 4:15 PM
The Last Man on Earth 7:15 PM Holy Motors 6:00 PM
9 PM
10 PM The Slut 9:15 PM The Sinners 9:30 PM
5@5: Crosseyed and Painless 9:45 PM Shadow Dancer 9:15 PM
Richness of Internal Space 6:45 PM
To Kill A Beaver 9:30 PM BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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11 PM
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
TU ES DAY O CTO BE R 9
RAFAEL 1
C A L E N D A R
3
9/4/12 3:30 AM
F I L M US CINEMA
NOON
1 PM
2 PM
3 PM
4 PM
5 PM
8 PM
NOON
RAFAEL 1
2012 Youth Reel 11:00 AM
RAFAEL 2
Taina 3 11:00 AM
1 PM
2 PM
3 PM
11 PM
Argo 9:15 PM
Italy: Love It... 7:15 PM
In Another Country 9:45 PM
Xingu 6:15 PM
Not Fade Away 9:15 PM
Whole Lotta Sole 5:00 PM
A Royal Affair 8:00 PM
Bay of All Saints 5:00 PM
Most Fun I’ve Ever Had... 8:00 PM
Critical Mass 1:30 PM
Stanley’s Tiffin Box 11:00 AM
SUN DAY O CTOB ER 1 4
RAFAEL 2
Zen Of Bennett 11:15 AM
RAFAEL 3
Lotte... 11:45 AM
SEQUOIA 1
TBA 11:00 AM
SEQUOIA 2
Chillar Party 11:00 AM
THROCK
3 PM
9 PM
4 PM
Shanghai Calling 1:45 PM Lore 2:00 PM
Una Noche 2:15 PM The Institute 2:00 PM Wonder Women! 3:00 PM
11 PM
Wonder Women! 9:15 PM TBA 9:00 PM
Shanghai Calling 7:15 PM Renoir 6:30 PM
Someone Like Me 9:00 PM
Elemental 6:30 PM
5 PM
6 PM
7 PM
Jayne Mansfield’s Car 5:00 PM Someone Like Me 5:15 PM
Be Home Soon 2:30 PM
10 PM
Stand Up Guys 7:30 PM
Tabu 4:30 PM TBA 3:30 PM
2 PM
8 PM
Richness of Internal Space 5:45 PM
Children’s Party 2:30 PM
1 PM
7 PM
Be Home Soon 6:45 PM
Most Fun I’ve Ever Had... 3:00 PM
AC Hike (see p. 64) 10:30 AM
NOON
6 PM
Xingu 3:45 PM
Rent-a-Cat 12:00 PM
11 AM
5 PM
Shadow Dancer 4:30 PM
The Attack 1:15 PM
Tales of the Night 11:00 AM
SEQUOIA 2
4 PM
It’s a Disaster 1:45 PM
All In 12:00 PM
RAFAEL 3
RAFAEL 1
10 PM
Hi De Ho Show 8:00 PM
11 AM
THROCK
SEMINARS/MUSIC/TBA
The Slut 9:30 PM
SWEETWATER
SEQUOIA 1
9 PM
Rent-a-Cat 6:00 PM
War Witch 3:00 PM Normal! 2:00 PM
SEQUOIA 2
7 PM
5@5: Lifetime... 5:00 PM
THROCK
SAT UR DAY O CTO B ER 1 3
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
F RIDAY O CTO BER 1 2
Bidder 70 2:00 PM Violeta Went to Heaven 12:00 PM
TRIBUTES/SPOTLIGHTS
In Your DreamsStevie Nicks 6:30 PM
Like Someone in Love 3:00 PM
RAFAEL 3 SEQUOIA 1
6 PM
Holy Motors 3:15 PM
The Sinners 12:15 PM
RAFAEL 2
5@5 & MVFF SHORTS
CHILDREN’S FILMFEST
Beyond the Hills 12:00 PM
RAFAEL 1
4
VALLEY OF THE DOCS
WORLD CINEMA 11 AM
C A L E N D A R
A Happy Event 5:30 PM Life of Pi 5:00 PM Life of Pi 5:15 PM
8 PM
9 PM
10 PM
11 PM
It’s a Disaster 8:00 PM Renoir 8:00 PM Tabu 8:30 PM A Royal Affair 8:15 PM Stand Up Guys 8:30 PM
Critical Mass 5:45 PM
CAFILM.ORG
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M I LL VALLEY
D I NI N G PAG E
BA LBOA C A FE
PI AT TI
Classic American Bistro cuisine with an emphasis on fresh, seasonal produce. 415.381.7321 38 Miller Ave.
625 Redwood Hwy.
buckeyeroadhouse.com
Thin, crisp-crust, East Coast–style pizzas, baked in traditional brick ovens. 415.455.9777 1242 Fourth St.
PI A Z Z A D’A NGELO
A Marin County dining mainstay. Try the famous Oysters Bingo, housesmoked BBQ baby-back ribs and more! 415.331.2600 15 Shoreline Hwy.
A MIC I’S E A S T C OA S T PIZ ZERI A
Warm charm and welcoming atmosphere of a traditional Italian trattoria, featuring rustic yet fl avorful cuisine and family-friendly service. 415.380.2525 piatti.com
balboacafe.com
BUC K E Y E ROA DHOUSE
S A N R A FA E L
Authentic Italian cuisine in the heart of downtown, featuring a wood-burning pizza oven, full-service bar and views of the piazza. 415.388.2000 piazzadangelo.com
22 Miller Ave.
amicis.com
C REPE V INE Voted best brunch and best inexpensive dinner in Marin County. 415.257.8822 crepevine.com
908 Fourth St.
PIZ Z A A NTIC A BUNGA LOW 4 4 Featuring edgy California cuisine, fantastic cocktails, a gorgeous fireplace, big boy booths, live music every Wednesday night, right next to the MV Movie Theater. 415.381.2500 44 East Blithedale Ave. bungalow44.com
FR A NTOIO Contemporary familyowned Italian restaurant with an in-house olive press. All natural, all the time! Buon appetito! 415.289.5777 152 Shoreline Hwy. frantoio.com
IL DAV IDE Modern family dining offering the professionalism of a big-city eatery with the warmth of a local neighborhood joint—perfect for your first date or 50th with a couple of kids in tow. 415.383.0600 800 Redwood Hwy., Suite 705 Strawberry Village
Always delicious, beautifully prepared and served Northern Italian. 415.454.8080 901 A St.
ildavide.net
pizzaantica.com
SM A LL SHED FL ATBRE A DS
SA N R A FA EL JOE’S Extensive and varied selection of family favorites! 415.456.2425
Hang with the locals. Delicious wood-fi red pizzas, great organic salads, wine, beer and more. 415.383.4200
931 Fourth St.
sanrafaeljoes.com
smallshed.com
17 Madrona St.
SOL FOOD THE H AW K ’S TAV ERN
TOA S T
A friendly, neighborhood tavern featuring seasonallyinspired dishes, craft beers and fantastic wines. 415.388.3474 hawkstavern.com 507 Miller Ave.
L A GINE S TR A Southern Italian cuisine, familyowned and -operated since 1964. 415.388.0224
127 Throckmorton Ave.
PE A RL’S PH AT BURGER S Juicy, fat phat burgers, organic buffalo burgers, crispy fries, fresh salads and real milkshakes known as the best in Marin. 415.381.6010 pearlsdeluxe.com 8 East Blithedale Ave.
Puerto Rican cuisine. The food is incredible, the portions are huge and the atmosphere is a lot of fun. 415.451.4765
Come enjoy delectable American comfort food in a casual setting. 415.388.2500 901 Lincoln Ave.
solfoodrestaurant.com
toastmillvalley.com
31 Sunnyside Ave.
TON Y TU T TO PIZ Z A Creative artisan-style pizza using the best imported, regional and local organic ingredients. Soup, salad, lasagna, specialty beers and nice wines. 415.383.8646 246 E. Blithedale Ave.
V IN A NTIC O
Californian Italian, one block from Court Plaza! 415.454.4492 881 Fourth St. vinantico.com
tonytuttopizza.com
VA SC O
Y E T WA H
Casual dining, excellent food, great atmosphere and casual prices, all in downtown Mill Valley! 415.381.3343
Classic Chinese cuisine, featuring Hong Kong appetizers, crab puffs, noodle bowls and more! 415.460.9883
106 Throckmorton Ave.
vascomillvalley.com
1238 Fourth St.
yetwahsanrafael.com
9/4/12 6:44 AM
1001 Lootens Place, Suite 220 San Rafael, CA 94901
EXPERIENCE
THE MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL
AS A MEMBER! • Discounted Festival tickets • Advance ticket purchase prior to the general public (membership must be active through the Festival)
• Invitation to MVFF Sneak Preview, featuring programmers tips and picks! • Additional year-round benefits, including $6.00 tickets and free pre-release screenings at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT OF THE ARTS JOIN AT THE BOX OFFICE or ONLINE
CAFILM.ORG/MEMBERSHIP
MEMBERSHIP SPONSOR
2012MVFF-FS-CoverForm-PP.indd 1
C L O S I N G
N I G H T
The 35th Mill Valley Film Festival comes to a close with a screening of Life of Pi. After the film, join us at 32TEN Studios for our Closing Night Party.
LIFE OF PI
J H ' % & ' ™ & ' % B> C H
Director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) creates a groundbreaking movie event about a young man who sur vives a disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discover y. While cast away, he forms an amazing and unexpected connection with another sur vivor. . . a fearsome Bengal tiger.
6C< A::
As we celebrate our 35th anniversar y, we acknowledge MVFFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s deep connection with Ang Lee whose 1992 film Pushing Hands was introduced to American audiences at this Festival. Lee has the distinction of having had more of his films open MVFF than any other filmmaker and was the recipient of an MVFF Tribute in 2007. At our Closing Night, he will be recognized for his extraordinary body of work with the prestigious Variety International Filmmaker of the Year Award.
MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 35
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See page 44 for complete film information. CLOSING NIGHT CO-SPONSORS
TANYA DUERI
CLOSING NIGHT PARTY FOLLOWS THE CLOSING NIGHT SCREENINGS HJC96N! D8ID7:G &) Â&#x2122; ,/%% EB â&#x20AC;&#x201C; &%/%% EB Â&#x2122; ('I:C HIJ9>DH! ('&% @:GC:G! H6C G6;6:A Savor, indulge and relax with scrumptious Sol Food and many other featured caterers, as well as wine, beer and signature cocktails, live music and an always-memorable atmosphere. BUY TICKETS: MVFF.COM
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