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Directors, producers and filmmakers have re-discovered Palm Springs. Blue skies, sunny weather and natural beauty combined with a modern style inspires the creative soul. Inspiration was here all along, right in your backyard. VisitPalmSprings.com to discover more.

WELCOME Board of Directors�� 4 Chairman�� 5 Artistic Director�� 7 Community Welcome�� 8 Mayor�� 9 Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians��11 FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE Map��13 Ticket & Festival Info��14 Beyond the Festival��19 Student Screening Day��22 Panels��25 Sponsors��27 Community Screening Day��35 Programing Team��37 Festival Awards��40 Festival Staff��191 PROGRAMS Opening Night��53 Closing Night��55 Talking Pictures��57 Focus On Italy................................................................................... 69 Local Spotlight��76 GayLa Presentations��79 Dinner and a Movie��80 Awards Buzz — Best International Feature Film................ 84 Modern Masters............................................................................113 Queer Cinema Today...................................................................120 New Voices New Visions............................................................128 True Stories......................................................................................137 World Cinema Now......................................................................153 INDEXES Film Schedule��198 Films by Title��202 Films by Region��204

january 2-13, 2020

Psfilmfest.org

the

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palm springs of

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David L. Baron Esq.

Helene Galen

Jack Grundhofer

JoAnn McGrath

Kevin McGuire

Sidney D. Craig

Vice Chairman, Treasurer

Vice Chairman

Secretary

Marshall Gelfand

Mary Ann LaBahn

Patrick Mundt

John Pinkney

David H. Ready, Esq., Ph.D

Jan Salta

Assistant Treasurer

Chair of Education Committee

Assistant Secretary

Executive Board Member

MEMBERS

Stephen Breimer

Jim Bruner

Michael Childers

Bob Deville

Robert Dickey

Michele Finney

Jaci Fitzsimonds

Board Member

Fritz Frauchiger

Eric Garner

Patti Grundhofer

Gary D. Hall

Terri Ketover

Board Member

Wendy HopeHeckmann

Carol Kaplan

Board Member

Garry Kief

Geoff Kors

Michelle Krans

Donna MacMillan

Peter Mahler

Tristan Milanovich

Lee Morcus

Board Member

Muriel Myerson

Marie E. Pinizzotto, M.D., MBA

Linda Shirvanian

Dominique Shwe

Ellen Sneider

Judy Vossler

Scott White

Board Member

Emeritus: Mark C. Adams Tim Hanlon James R. Houston, In Memoriam Cydney Osterman Madeline Redstone Lois Schlecht, In Memoriam

january 2-13, 2020

WELCOME

LETTER FROM THE FESTIVAL CHAIRMAN Welcome to the 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival. May I suggest you make a New Year’s resolution to sample the glamour of Hollywood, taste the exotic cultures of the world and dive deeply into issues addressed fleetingly in today’s digital news media? You can do all that without leaving the Coachella Valley. Just reserve seats for our 31st annual film festival, running Jan. 2-13 at six movie theaters in Palm Springs and Cathedral City.

Harold Matzner Chaiman of the Board

The glamour of Hollywood will be most prominently displayed at our annual Film Awards Gala, which attracts Academy Award®-contending A-list movie stars. Hollywood attends en masse. This year, our black-tie ceremony will again open the festival at the Palm Springs Convention Center with another sell-out crowd of 2,500 people. That will raise more than $2.5 million, making it the valley’s biggest fundraiser. But this gala is an event for everyone. Arrive early and grab a good spot behind the ropes to watch honorees Renée Zellweger, Jennifer Lopez, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron and Martin Scorsese parade down the red carpet into the elegantly decorated convention center to receive awards that will make them among the favorites to win Academy Awards. Past honorees who have gone on to win Oscars® include Olivia Colman, Rami Malek, Mahershala Ali and director Alfonso Cuarón – to name just some of the winners from last year’s Film Awards Gala. We also honored Bradley Cooper who received three Oscar nominations. You can experience the world’s rich cultural diversity by viewing some of the 180+ films and 500 screenings from more than 81 nations selected by our new artistic director, Lili Rodriguez, and her talented staff of programmers. The Palm Springs International Film Festival became known in its first five years as the festival that screens the Best International Feature Oscar nominees and we now screen all or nearly all of the 10 International Feature films on the nominations shortlist. I want to thank our presenting sponsor and proud partner, American Express; our title sponsor, City of Palm Springs; AT&T, and our host Mary Hart and “Entertainment Tonight” for helping to make our gala great. Mary will once again emcee the ceremony and interview stars for “Entertainment Tonight” to provide immediate national news coverage that no other festival can get. Our major sponsors are assisted by our wonderful team of individual underwriters, including Helene Galen, JoAnn McGrath, Sean McGrath, Jack and Patti Grundhofer, Arlene Schnitzer, Jordan Schnitzer, and myself. Our entire board of directors donates more than $1 million annually to this benefit for the Palm Springs International Film Society. It’s our pleasure to perpetuate the work done over the years by such late friends and supporters as our founder, Sonny Bono, our former chairman, Earl Greenburg, and our past major donors, James and Jackie Lee Houston. We hope you’ll enjoy our cultural smorgasbord and nightly parties to usher in a very happy new year. See you at the festival!

Harold Matzner Chaiman of the Board

Psfilmfest.org

january 2-13, 2020

PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM SOCIETY Membership in the film society brings you admission to sneak preview screening & special events, Early Bird box office access to the Palm Springs International Film Festival and Palm Springs ShortFest, as well as discounts on festival tickets, passes, merchandise, and more. Here are some of the highlights of a great year at the movies at the Palm Springs International Film Society. The Film Society extends our gratitude to all our members with an EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to the following: CHAIRMAN LEVEL MEMBERS: Michael Bakish and Peter M. Hirsch, Clement K. Chan M.D., Kevin Kilgore and Scott Nass, David Liggett and Mark Hawk, Athalie and Adnan LaPamuk, Donald Lorack, Donald S. Metzner, Leo Milmet, Fred and Holly Minniti, Mayor Rob Moon and Bob Hammack, Mark Prior and Luc Bernard, and John Wendell and Mark Okun, and Harold Matzner. PREMIERE LEVEL MEMBERS: Jack and Soheila Crane, Tom Carlock and Rich Schirrmacher, Jack and Patti Grundhofer, Liza Ivins and Rick Moran, Bobbi Lampros, Barbara and Daniel Oates, Joseph Palacios, Stanley Pape and Sven Wulf, Gail Pischak, Les Young and Michael Amaro. PRODUCER LEVEL MEMBERS: Sherri Auen and Catharine Reed, Cliff Campbell and Ken Gamet, Karen and Nate Cheney, Anita and George Cooks, Garret Demarest and Tim Murphy, Robert Dobier, Seth and Page Evans, Harlan Eyre and Jim Arellano, Susan and Barry Fisher, Glenn E. Flood, Joe Giarrusso, Sally Berg Goodman, Susan D. Goodman and Rodney Lubeznik, Robert and Jeanette Gray, Paul Hagle and Phong Nguyen, Mary Hanson, Jerry L. Hanson, Denise Haslam, Christopher Jara and Don Taffurelli, Kurt Kaltschmidt, Carol and Bill Kaplan, Don Kasper and Jim Bochinski, Gary and Pat Leach, Mary Ann and Charles LaBahn, Dr. Michael and Carol Lovy, Nancy Mynard, Tom Oâ€™Brien, Marsha and William Pachter, Mod Mansions Vacation Rentals, Marcella Ruble, Gloria and Michael Scoby, Marvin Salles, Glenn Saxby and Brian Frimeth, Gary and Nanci Smaby, Mary Kay Stolz, Jacquelyn Storm, Victoria Till, V. Ferris Todd, Mac and Sue Van Wielingen, Les Zendle M.D. and Jerry Hanson.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FILM SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP, PLEASE VISIT WWW.PSFILMFEST.ORG

WELCOME

LETTER FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Welcome to PSIFF 2020! The holidays have come and gone but the spirit of celebration hangs in the air, and even while PSIFF marks the end of 2019, saying goodbye to another amazing film festival year also means that we get to celebrate the best of it. And this year is no exception.

Lili Rodriguez Artistic Director

Our Programmers have explored the world to bring you a vibrant selection of festival favorites as well as some undiscovered gems. Critics say that the cinematic experience is dying, but we can confidently say that international cinema is very much alive. In this lineup of 190+ films, you will find and explore the ever-evolving world. I can’t help but think of beginnings as I write this letter. I’m honored beyond expression to be the next one to carry the torch, both as someone who has seen the festival grow professionally in the last seven years and as someone who grew up watching the festival happen in her own backyard. I am grateful and continually inspired by those who led the festival before me. I’d especially like to thank Harold Matzner and Rhea Woodson Lewis for their continued support, as well as Lauren Tutzauer who (speaking of beginnings) will be at home this edition looking after her newborn baby girl. The aspect of community is what makes the festival a celebration of movies and movie-watching. This festival is about so much more than “just watching movies” (although how wonderful are the movies?!). It’s about that feeling that you share with your festival buddy while you’re in line for the next showing or the conversations that happen after watching a moving film that brings us closer together. Our newly added local jury reminds us of the importance of community—your friends, your neighbors, your family and colleagues will be deliberating and selecting a film that best promotes the spirit of community and neighborliness. An important reminder in this day and age. The 2020 program transcends international borders and brings some of the best international cinema had to offer in 2019. In the “Awards Buzz - Best International Feature Film” section, you will find 51 films that were submitted to the Academy Awards®. This year, our Focus is on Italy! We have showcased seven Italian films that range from arthouse to comedy—followed by the Italian Celebration on Saturday, January 11. Join us in the celebration of cinema, community and new beginnings. Please visit our website for more details on our parties and special events! Thank you all for being a part of the 31st Palm Springs International Film Festival. See you in the theater!

Lili Rodriguez Artistic Director

Psfilmfest.org

january 2-13, 2020

WELCOME: COMMUNITY

Welcome to Palm Springs, home for 31 years to the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and an oasis for sun-filled days and languid evenings.

Mary Jo Ginther Director, Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism

Each year, those of us who live in Palm Springs get the opportunity to welcome not only the celebrities and stars to the shimmering Film Awards Gala, but to our City. Synonymous with Hollywood’s history, but offering a rich cultural heritage as well, Palm Springs is the playground, the relaxing inspiration, the “happy place” that visitors look forward to returning time and time again. With a vibrant new downtown, an artistic Uptown

Palm Springs is a playground with enduring beauty, a retro vibe and fun in the sun. A small-town scale combined with urban sophistication is being rediscovered by a new generation of the young and hip who have fallen in love with this enclave of cool. From midcentury modern-style architecture to a stylish and bold new downtown experience, Palm Springs has retained a mix of historic charm and trend-setting design. Nona Watson Chief Executive Officer, Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce

We are so delighted to have you join us, and hope that you’ll be back in Palm Springs soon…and often. Mary Jo Ginther Director, Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism

restaurants, chic shops and boutiques, and unique entertainment venues as well as welcoming public spaces for gathering, celebrating and relaxing. We invite you to stay and play with us here in Palm Springs. Nona Watson Chief Executive Officer, Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce

The city’s vibrant personality is being reimagined to embrace a new energetic vibe. We welcome visitors and residents with new stylish hotels, exquisite boutique inns, fashionable

Since the 1920s, Greater Palm Springs has been Hollywood’s playground. Today, this destination is not only an oasis for visitors from all over the world but also a burgeoning hot spot for creativity, the arts and entrepreneurship.

Scott White President and CEO, Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau

Design District, and burgeoning shopping, dining and arts districts throughout the City, the shine and the shimmer is back. Add in an exceptional collection of Mid-Century modern architecture, and a sophisticated yet leisurely lifestyle is the norm. With 50,000 residents, we welcome over five million visitors each year to bask in our sunshine, swim in our pools, dine on our patios, and discover treasures at our boutique shops.

Now in the third year of our Film Oasis program, we are pleased to be supporting the art of filmmaking in our destination. We host scouting trips, award incentives, and help secure amazing locations and production resources for filmmakers.

resort oasis felt by all who visit. We are excited you are here to experience it. On behalf of the hospitality and tourism community throughout our nine cities, we offer our warm welcome! Scott White President and CEO, Greater Palm Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau

Perhaps it’s our stunning mountain ranges and the undeveloped beauty that surrounds us, but there’s a deep connection to this Southern California

january 2-13, 2020

WECOME

LETTER FROM THE MAYOR OF PS Welcome film lovers! As Mayor of the City of Palm Springs, I am delighted to welcome you to the 31st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, one of the largest and most respected film festivals in North America.

Geoff Kors Mayor of Palm Springs

Each year we are honored to host many wonderful and exciting events in our beautiful city, but we are particularly proud to be the Title Sponsor and host city of the Palm Springs International Film Festival, founded by late Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono. This year, the Film Festival will attract nearly 150,000 film-goers, just like you, who come to enjoy more than 200 quality films created by filmmakers from over 60 countries. Not only will you be able to experience the very best in cinema, you will also be able to enjoy all of the “Uniquely Palm Springs” attractions that you can find nowhere else in the world, including beautiful weather, breathtaking scenery, vibrant shops, restaurants, iconic architecture, a wide array of comfortable and sophisticated hotels and inns – and an exciting night life! A special thanks to the Film Festival’s board members, staff, visionaries and the many businesses and volunteers who work so hard to make the Palm Springs International Film Festival such a resounding success every year. If you are like me, a real movie lover, you are ready to pick your favorite films, settle back into your seat in one of our many comfortable film venues, and prepare to enjoy some of the best cinema in the world. See you at the movies! Sincerely,

Geoff Kors Mayor of Palm Springs

Psfilmfest.org

january 2-13, 2020

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WELCOME

Psfilmfest.org

january 2-13, 2020

Proud Sponsor of the 31st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival

FESTIVAL MAP

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(ANN) Annenberg Theater at Palm Springs Art Museum (Downstairs) 101 Museum Dr., Palm Springs

Palm Springs International Film Festival Administrative Office 1700 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 3, Palm Springs

(CAM) Palm Springs Cultural Center at Camelot Theatres 2300 E. Baristo Rd., Palm Springs

Hilton Palm Springs (Official Host Hotel) 400 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs

(MP) Mary Pickford is Dâ€™Place 36850 Pickfair St., Cathedral City

Festival Store 777 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite G20, Palm Springs

(PC) Palm Canyon Theatre 538 N. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs

Festival Ticket and Information Center 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Unit 20, Palm Springs

(REG) Regal Cinemas Palm Springs Stadium 9 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs

(PSHS) Richards Center for the Arts at Palm Springs High School 2401 E. Baristo Rd., Palm Springs

Parking Free Parking is available near or at all venues. See map for details

Psfilmfest.org

january 2-13, 2020

TICKET & FESTIVAL INFORMATION

TICKET PURCHASES & VOUCHER EXCHANGE The box office will be open to the general public beginning on December 20. However, Early Bird Access for Palm Springs Film Society Members runs December 17–19 Go to www.psfilmfest.org to order tickets online, or call 800.898.PALM to order by phone M-F 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. In-person purchases and exchanges may be completed at box office locations during operating hours.

BOX OFFICE HOURS Festival Ticket and Information Center at the Regal Courtyard 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Unit G20

DURING THE FESTIVAL All theater locations are open on January 3 - 13 one hour before the first show is scheduled until one half hour after the last show is scheduled to start.

TICKETING AND EVENT PRICING General Admission...............................................................................................$13 Six Pack...................................................................................................................... $69 Opening Night Gala.............................................................................................$75 Closing Night Gala ..............................................................................................$60 Talking Pictures Programs ............................................................... $15 to $25 Dinner & A Movie.............................................$75 and up (sold separately) Festival Parties............................................$25 (screening sold separately)

PASS OPTIONS Benefactor Pass.............................................................................................. $3,500 Concierge Pass................................................................................................ $2,750 American Express Pass............................................................................... $2,500 Platinum Pass....................................................................................................... $500 5-Day A Pass........................................................................................................ $375 5-Day B Pass........................................................................................................ $375

Psfilmfest.org

TICKET & FESTIVAL INFORMATION

PICKING UP TICKETS

THEATER LOCATIONS

Tickets may be picked up at our Festival Ticket and Information Center or at any Box Office location during operating hours.

(ANN) Annenberg Theater Palm Springs Art Museum (Downstairs) 101 Museum Dr., Palm Springs

PRINT-AT-HOME TICKETS

(CAM) Camelot Theatres at Palm Springs Cultural Center 2300 E. Baristo Rd., Palm Springs

Avoid the box office and print your tickets at home. Tickets are attached to your order confirmation email in PDF form. Simply open the PDF, print, and present your tickets at the screening upon entry. Help the environment – you may also present the PDF on your mobile device. Tickets are individually bar-coded, allowing only one scan per use so any attempts to duplicate, alter or sell any copies of the print-at-home tickets will result in admittance being refused to the event. Tickets and/or Vouchers purchased through a third party will not be accepted.

PICKING UP PASSES

(MP) Mary Pickford is D’Place 36850 Pickfair St, Cathedral City (PC) Palm Canyon Theatre 538 N. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs (REG) Regal Cinemas Palm Springs Stadium 9 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs (PSHS) Richards Center for the Arts at Palm Springs High School 2401 E Baristo Road, Palm Springs

Benefactor Passes may be picked up at the Film Society Office. Palm Springs International Film Festival Administrative Office 1700 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 3 December 29 & 30 | 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. December 31 | 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. January 1 | 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. Benefactor passes not picked up by January 1 may be picked up at the Credentials Office beginning January 2 at the address below.

American Express, Concierge, Platinum, 5-Day A, and 5-Day B Passes must be picked up at the Festival Credentials Office.

FESTIVAL POLICIES TERMS AND CONDITIONS: By attending the festival, you agree to abide by the Terms and Conditions, which can be found at at www. psfilmfest.org/about/terms-and-conditions SCHEDULE CHANGES: Sometimes, for reasons beyond our control, programs must be changed, rescheduled or cancelled. A daily update on schedule changes may be obtained online at www.psfilmfest.org or in the Festival Ticket & Information Center. Changes will also be posted at each venue. Please check for updates periodically. REFUND POLICY: All sales are final.

Festival Credentials Office at the Regal Courtyard 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Unit G15, Palm Springs December 16 - 20 & 23 | 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. December 26 - 30 | 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. January 2 - 8 | 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. January 9 - 13 | 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Credentials office is closed December 24, 25, 31 and January 1

Psfilmfest.org

REFUSAL OF SERVICE: The PSIFF reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. We enforce this policy to ensure a secure, professional, and convenient environment for all of our customers. SCANNING: All tickets and passes will be scanned upon entering each screening. Tickets and passes are individually bar-coded, allowing only one scan per use so any attempts to duplicate, alter or sell any copies of the print-at-home tickets or passes will result in admittance being refused to the event.

january 2-13, 2020

TICKET & FESTIVAL INFORMATION

FESTIVAL MERCHANDISE

FESTIVAL ETIQUETTE

Merchandise is available online, at the Ticket & Information Center located in the Regal Cinemas complex at 789 E Tahquitz Canyon Way, Unit G20, and at Destination PSP store located at 170 N. Palm Canyon Dr.

• Saving space in line, or seats for other guests is not permitted.

FESTIVAL LINGO

• If you need to leave the auditorium for any reason, take your pass or ticket stub and pick up a Re-Entry Card before you leave. No one will be re-admitted without their pass or ticket stub and the re-entry pass.

RE-ENTRY PASSES: Anyone (including pass holders) exiting an auditorium with plans to return to that particular screening MUST obtain a Re-Entry Pass in order to be re-admitted to a screening. A festival pass or ticket stub and re-entry pass is required for re-entry. STANDBY TICKETS: When a film screening or event is deemed to be on Standby, it means that the ticket allotment has been reached. Any empty seats are released for sale 10 minutes prior to a screening. Patrons can join the standby line for a chance to purchase these seats. Standby tickets are sold on a first-come, first-serve basis and may or may not be sold for some programs. Cash, credit, and vouchers accepted for payment. QUEUE CARDS: Pass Holder line forms one hour before showtime (no early birds) Queue Cards will be distributed to passholders in line while awaiting entry until the pass holder allotment is reached. One Queue Card per person. This Queue Card guarantees entry into the screening up to 20 minutes before showtime. Once the pass holder has a Queue Card, the pass holder does not have to wait in line, but if they leave, they must rejoin at the back of the line. If you do not enter the auditorium 15 minutes prior to showtime, your seat is forfeited.

Psfilmfest.org

• Late seating is not permitted. Festival will not sell tickets or seat once the program has begun. Any exception to the late seating policy is at the discretion of the Festival Venue Manager.

• No recording equipment is permitted in the theater auditorium. • No large bags are permitted inside venues; all bags are subject to search. • Please turn off all mobile devices during the film presentation, no talking or texting permitted during the film presentation. • Smoking is strictly prohibited at all Festival locations, including e-cigarettes & vapor products. • Please complete and return your ballot immediately following each screening. • To expedite theater cleaning and seating please discard your waste in the appropriate containers and exit promptly after your screening. • All theater auditoriums are cleared between showtimes. Any items left in the auditoriums will be removed and placed in lost and found. • Many lines are outside of the theaters. Please dress appropriately for comfort, as it can get warm during the day and cold in the evenings. Theaters may also get chilly.

january 2-13, 2020

Thereâ€™s no greater place to let the stars shine. Itâ€™s our privilege to welcome you to the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Because of you, our destination shines greater year after year.

visitgreaterpalmsprings.com

Eisenhower Health is proud to support the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

BEYOND THE FESTIVAL

EDUCATIONAL AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAMS While the festival places us on the global stage, we are proudly anchored in the Coachella Valley by our Educational and Community Outreach Programs, created for adults and students of diverse backgrounds, means and cultures. Weâ€™re pleased to highlight just a few of the programs that are presented throughout the year.

Psfilmfest.org

INTERNSHIPS & MENTORSHIPS College and high school students are provided practical hands-on experience alongside our team of professionals for school credit.

STUDENT FILM SOCIETY AND SHORTFEST YOUTH JURY Students ages 8-17 from across the Coachella Valley comprise the Student Film Society. They facilitate a Youth Jury during ShortFest, receive access to the Palm Springs International Film Society and our festivals throughout the year to meet filmmakers, collaborate with their peers, watch an array of films, and volunteer their time to being a vital part of our organization.

january 2-13, 2020

BEYOND THE FESTIVAL

FILMMAKER IN THE CLASSROOM Hands-on workshops on various aspects of filmmaking that pairs filmmakers with visual arts students, bringing professional alumni filmmakers from both ShortFest and local high school graduates now working in film to schools through the Coachella Valley.

UCR SHORTFEST PUBLIC FORUM In collaboration with UCR Palm Desert, Camp ShortFest in June offers a taste of the ShortFest Forum that we offer to filmmakers to the general public for a free day of Panels and Workshops led by professional filmmakers and industry insiders.

COLLABORATIVE SCREENING SERIES • Sunnylands Films on the Great Lawn: Seasonal outdoor screenings for the whole family. Bring a picnic. • Palm Springs Art Museum Annenberg Theater Summer Film Series: Getting people out of the heat and into the comfort of a cool theater for great films. • UCR Palm Desert: Throughout the year UCR Palm Desert and the Palm Springs Film Society bring various film series and events, including the infamous Oscar® Panel in February.

These dynamic and evolving programs are made possible by the generous contributions of passionate filmgoers like yourself. For more information or to make a donation, please visit: www.psfilmfest.org/support-us/donate

Psfilmfest.org

Thanks for putting art in the heart of the community Bank of America recognizes The Palm Springs International Film Festival for its success in bringing the arts to performers and audiences throughout the community. We commend you on creating an opportunity for all to enjoy and share a cultural experience. Visit us at bankofamerica.com/local.

ÂŠ2019 Bank of America Corporation | AR64WX5V | ENT-211-AD 21

STUDENT SCREENING DAY

STUDENT SCREENING DAY Since 2007, the Palm Springs International Film Society has been proud to bring our annual festival to all of the surrounding Coachella Valley high schools at Student Screening Day. Now in its 13th year, Student Screening Day brings 1,300 students from 15 different high schools over two days to the Richards Center of the Performing Arts to present films from the Palm Springs International Film Festival to local students and give them the opportunity to interact and learn firsthand from the director, cast and creators of the films after the screening. Sponsored by Bank of America, the Andersonâ€™s Childrenâ€™s Foundation and Aspen Mills, Student Screening Day is more than a field trip; it is an opportunity to inspire and be inspired. The screenings expose students to the ideas, cultures and people from around the globe. The films this year take a look at the past, present and future of Americana and flip it all on its head. Sponsored by:

STUDENT SCREENING DAY

FILMS

Changing the Game See page 121 for description.

january 2-13, 2020

The Vast of Night See page 179 for description.

Psfilmfest.org

Welcome to a place so magical â€” you may never want to leave

As the Coachella Valley real estate leader, we are proud to sponsor the Palm Springs International Film Festival, a leading event that enriches this magical place you could call home. B D H O M E S .C O M â€˘ 7 6 0 . 3 4 1 . 4 1 4 1 24

Psfilmfest.org

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PANELS

SHORTLISTED: BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM PANEL Ninety-one countries submitted to the 92nd Academy Awards® Best International Feature Film category, formerly known as the Best Foreign Language Film category. In mid-December, the list was narrowed to 10 shortlisted films, with the final five nominees to be announced on January 13, the final day of PSIFF 2020. We’re excited to share 51 of these submitted films with you this year, and to once again present a panel discussion with shortlisted directors. For list of participants, visit psfilmfest.org

A CONVERSATION WITH WETA DIGITAL: A WORLD’S PREMIER VISUAL EFFECTS COMPANY Weta Digital is known for its culture of creativity and innovation. The studio has created some of the most memorable characters and worlds of the last 25 years. Come hear their creative leaders talk about some of this year’s most talked about digital characters from Alita: Battle Angel, Gemini Man, and Avengers: Endgame. Speakers: Mike Cozens, Animation Supervisor (Gemini Man) Paul Story, Animation Supervisor (Alita: Battle Angel) Matt Aitken, VFX Supervisor (Avengers: Endgame)

Monday, January 6 • 4:45 pm • ANN FREE ADMISSION

Psfilmfest.org

Sunday, January 5 • 3:45 pm • REG FREE ADMISSION

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SPONSORS

TITLE SPONSOR

PRESENTING SPONSORS

PRODUCING SPONSORS

Psfilmfest.org

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SPONSORS

FILM AWARDS PRESENTING SPONSOR & PROUD PARTNER

MAJOR SPONSOR OF FILM AWARDS & FESTIVAL

PLATINUM SPONSORS

SUPPORTING FOUNDATIONS

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SPONSORS

OFFICIAL PURVEYORS

OFFICIAL WINE

OFFICIAL HOST HOTEL & MEDIA CENTER

OFFICIAL SPIRITS

Official Spirits of The Festival

Official Spirits of The Festival Diageo V2_ 12/11/18

OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE PARTNER

OFFICIAL WORLDWIDE PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO PARTNERS Diageo V2_ 12/11/18

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

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SPONSORS

INTERNATIONAL SPONSORS

Consulate General of India

SUPPORTING SPONSORS

PARTY RENTALS

MEDIA SPONSORS

Psfilmfest.org

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SPONSORS

PLATINUM HOTEL SPONSORS

PREMIER HOTEL SPONSORS

HOSPITALITY SPONSORS

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COMMUNITY SCREENING DAY

THE CHAMPION Il campione ITALY, 2019 106 minutes Director: Leonardo D’Agostini Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Andrea Carpenzano, Mario Sgueglia, Ludovica Martino, Gabriel Montesi Print Source: True Colours

Idolized by fans across Europe, Christian Ferro (Andrea Carpenzano) is the youngest and hottest star in professional soccer, but his continual reckless tabloid behavior has turned him into a liability for his team. In a last ditch effort to instill some discipline in the hotheaded striker before he destroys his career, the team’s club president hires mild-mannered history teacher Valerio (Stefano Accorsi) to tutor Christian, ensuring he’ll earn his high school diploma. With this classic odd-couple setup, first-time director Leonardo D’Agostini impressively juggles humor with a poignant tale of growing up, effectively reimagining Good Will Hunting within the over-the-top world of obscene wealth and celebrity. But where The Champion finds its greatest success is through the impeccable pairing of Accorsi (The Young Pope), one of Italy’s most seasoned vets, with Carpenzano (Boys Cry), one of the country’s most charismatic newcomers.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 11 Saturday, January 11 • 4:00 pm • ANN FREE ADMISSION Presented by:

North American Premiere | In Italian with English subtitles.

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january 2-13, 2020

PROGRAMMING TEAM

David Ansen Lead Programmer

Alissa Simon Senior Programmer

Therese Hayes Programmer

David Ansen was Newsweek’s movie critic from 1977 through 2008 and continued to write for the magazine until its last print edition in 2012. He was the Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival for five years, and previously served for eight years on the selection committee for the New York Film Festival.

A film curator for more than 25 years, Alissa Simon was named a 1999 Chicagoan of the year for her innovative work at the Art Institute’s Film Center. She also writes for the trade paper Variety, consults for a number of foreign festivals, and has served on numerous international film festival juries.

A student of Far Eastern Civilization at the University of Washington in Seattle, as well as Indian art and cinema, Therese serves as a consultant on Indian films to several film festivals and institutions. She is on the board of Film Trust India in Duabi, and is co-curator for the Stuttgart Indian Film Festival.

Céline Roustan Programmer

Jane Schoettle Programmer

Hebe Tabachnik Programmer

Originally from Cannes, Céline Roustan has grown up familiar with the film festival scene from the very beginning. She was in the financial industry before joining the film festival world in 2017 and has cemented herself in the short film sphere, programming for ShortFest, the everpopular website Short of the Week, and contributing to the curation of festivals like SXSW and TIFF. Part of the team last year in a different capacity, this is Céline’s first year as a programmer for the festival.

Jane Schoettle is involved in programming films from Australia, New Zealand, Israel, as well as American Independents as an International Programmer at TIFF as well as in Miami and Aspen. She also serves on numerous international juries in Europe, the U.S., South America and South Asia including her most recent involvement on the 2019 International Jury for Hot Docs, the SIFF Works-In-Progress Industry Panel, and the Documentary Jury for the Philadelphia Film Festival. She avidly participates in filmmaker labs as a producer, mentor, speaker and juror having produced TIFF’s International Filmmaker Lab as well as sessions in TIFF’s Writers’ Studio. She frequently speaks on the subject of “Film Strategies for Independent Film” and divides her time between Toronto and California.

Hebe Tabachnik has been a film programmer, festival consultant and producer for 20 years and has participated as juror, project evaluator and panelist at film festivals and markets in the U.S., Latin America, Europe, Israel and China. She is the Senior Programmer for Seattle (SIFF) and Cartagena (FICCI) international film festivals, as well as the Artistic Director of Cine Latino Minneapolis St. Paul. She worked for Sundance and LA Film Festivals and was the Director & Producer of the Guadalajara Film Festival in LA (FICGinLA). She gives workshops about festivals, film distribution and project pitching all around the world. Hebe is based in Los Angeles.

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january 2-13, 2020

PROGRAMMING TEAM

Linton Melita Program Manager

Jessica Eskelin Programming Coordinator

Phillip Segal Programming Intern

This is Lintonâ€™s first year as program manager at the festival, having served as a coordinator for the editions in 2016 and 2017. He works concurrently as a programmer for ShortFest, previously having held positions at Cunningham Dance Foundation, Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance and Laguna Art Museum.

Jessica Eskelin, a Coachella Valley native, worked as Programming Intern and then Programming Assistant before assuming her current role as the year-round Programming Coordinator for both PSIFF and ShortFest. Jessica still loves watching Jeopardy! with her dad.

Phil Segal is currently a film student at College of the Desert. He plans to transfer and pursue a career in the film industry assuming society hasnâ€™t collapsed before he graduates.

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january 2-13, 2020

FESTIVAL AWARDS

FIPRESCI Prizes Selected by a special jury of international critics, the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize will be presented to one of the official Academy AwardÂŽ submissions for Best International Feature Film. In addition, the jury will award prizes for Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay from the Awards Buzz category.

New Voices New Visions Award New Voices New Visions focuses on films that our programmers feel represent the most distinctive new directors to have emerged in the last year. Each of the films in competition represents the filmmakers debut or second feature.

CHIHULY This year, the Palm Springs International Film Festival award winners will receive a Gilded Emerald Piccolo Venetian with Sunburst Coils created by American artist Dale Chihuly. In 1988, inspired by Italian Art Deco, Chihuly started the Venetians series with Italian glassblower Lino Tagliapietra. The series developed further into smaller Piccolo Venetians in 1993. Chihuly continues to develop the series, most recently creating vessels in black and exploring the effects of silvering. Dale Chihulyâ€™s creative vision utilizes light, space and form. For more than a half century Chihuly has employed a variety of media including glass, paint, charcoal, graphite, neon, ice and Polyvitro to explore possibilities and realize his vision. Acclaimed for his iconic glass sculptures, Chihuly is also known for ambitious and immersive site-specific public installations and exhibitions in museums and gardens around the world. To learn more about Chihuly and his artwork, please visit www. chihuly.com.

Documentary Award The Documentary Award will be presented to the film that best opens our eyes to the world around us and the people that inhabit it.

Ibero-American Award Presented to the best Ibero-American film screening at the Festival. This award aims to highlight the tremendous creativity we see in modern Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American films.

FESTIVAL AWARDS

Young Cineastes Award The Young Cineastes jury is composed of local 14-17-year-old students interested in cinema and the arts.

Local Jury Award Awarded by the Local Jury to a film that, in the spirit of neighborliness, promotes understanding and acceptance among people.

Audience Awards Audiences play an important role in the life of a film. Filmmakers create their movies with an audience in mind and, in this day and age, content is being driven more and more by audiences themselves, rather than the critics and industry executives. It is only natural that audience awards from festivals play a major role in the marketing and distribution of a film. PSIFF is proud to recognize two special films with the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature.

GoE Bridging the Borders Award At a time when physical, religious, racial, cultural and economic borders divide the population of our planet, efforts to bridge those borders are more important than ever. In that spirit, Cinema Without Borders presents the Bridging the Borders Award to a film that is most successful in bringing the people of our world closer together. The winner of the 2020 Bridging the Borders Award, presented by Cinema Without Borders, is awarded $2,500 by GoEnergetics.

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THE ENTERTAINER Sculptor John Kennedy (1931â€“2004) is renowned by art lovers and collectors for his graceful bronze figures, which adorn parks, campuses and public buildings around the world. Two of his most famous sculptures are Spirit of Audrey, dedicated to Audrey Hepburn and located at the UNICEF Headquarters in New York City, and The Entertainer, the official award statuette of the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Inspired by a magazine article about court jesters, Kennedy created a life-size sculpture of a ball-juggling jester titled The Entertainer standing 7 feet 3 inches in 1995. In 1997, Palm Springs International Film Festival began presenting festival winners with a scaled-down version of the life-size, and it has been the official award ever since. For more information on John Kennedyâ€™s sculpture, please visit CODA Gallery, codagallery.com.

january 2-13, 2020

EX P E R I E NC E , E L E VATE D

High atop Mount Veeder, The Hess Collection Winery welcomes you to the Napa Valley. Whether you wish to enjoy beautifully crafted wine and food pairings from our culinary team, learn to blend wine, stroll through the Hess Family’s awe-inspiring private art collection or take in the stunning panoramic mountain vineyard views aboard our high performance ATV — we have an experience tailored for you.

For reservations, please visit HESSCOLLECTION.COM 4411 REDWOOD ROAD | NAPA, CA | 707.255.1144 | HESSCOLLECTION.COM | @HESSCOLLECTION

C A T H E D R A L

C I T Y

D O W N T O W N

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT

VARIETY’S 10 DIRECTORS TO WATCH IN 2020

Variety’s 10 to Watch series spotlights emerging writers, actors, producers, directors, comics and cinematographers. Each of these lists is curated by a team of Variety editors, critics and reporters. Other filmmakers chosen for this honor in the past include Alfonso Cuarón, Olivia Wilde and Bradley Cooper. The directors selected for this year’s list will be honored in person at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, where Variety will host a brunch in their honor on Friday, January 3. Profiles of the filmmakers will run in the January 1 print edition. 2020 will be the tenth year that the list has been presented in Palm Springs.

ESTEBAN ARANGO Blast Beat NICOLAS BEDOS La Belle Époque RADHA BLANK The 40-Year-Old Version JANICZA BRAVO Zola MATI DIOP Atlantics RUPERT GOOLD Judy LADJ LY Les Misérables SHANNON MURPHY Babyteeth CHASE PALMER Naked Singularity NICOLE RIEGEL Holler

MATI DIOP

SHANNON MURPHY

LADJ LY

All our best to you

Harold

for a new decade of the Palm Springs International Film Festival and Film Awards Gala

From your CBA, HNM and Spencerâ€™s Family

FILM AWARDS HOST

MARY HART Mary Hart’s extraordinary and unprecedented run as co-host of Entertainment Tonight for 30 years made her as recognizable as many of the big stars she has interviewed. Today, media historians give credit to Hart for her role not only in building the show into a powerhouse, but for also helping to pioneer the genre as a whole. Hart earned the trust not only of the audience at home but the celebrities she interviewed as well. Personalities would tell her, “Now, I have arrived: Mary Hart has interviewed me.” Her list of subjects includes nearly every major film, television and music star: figures such as George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, Matthew McConaughey, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, the surviving Beatles members, Michael Jackson, Lady Diana and two presidents named Bush and Obama. Hart was inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame in 1999 and has been honored by numerous organizations including the American Women in Radio and Television and the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation. She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest serving entertainment news host. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and is an ambassador for Childhelp USA, an organization that combats child abuse across America. She is also on the Board of Trustees for the Museum of Tolerance, Simon Wiesenthal Center as well as The Israel Project based in Washington, D.C. Hart and her husband, businessman Burt Sugarman, live in Los Angeles and have a son, A.J.

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Since the 1920s, Palm Springs has been Hollywood’s desert playground for celebrites looking to escape the watchful eyes of the studio heads and paparazzi. The legendary “Two-Hour Rule” required contract actors to travel no further than 100 miles from the studio gates, just in case they were needed for last minute reshoots. By the t 1950s, weekend and seasonal getaways were all the rage for the celebrities and millionaires who ﬂocked to Palm Springs to relax under the radar. Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Cary Grant, William Holden, Liberace and all the Gabor sisters had estates here. Even hot dog king Oscar Meyer owned a place in Palm Springs.

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LET YOURSELF GO

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#ExperienceIHG Proud Sponsor of Palm Springs International Film Festival

OPENING NIGHT

AN ALMOST ORDINARY SUMMER Croce e delizia ITALY, 2019 100 minutes Director: Simone Godano Cast: Alessandro Gassmann, Jasmine Trinca, Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Filippo Scicchitano Print Source: Wolfe Releasing

Two vastly different Italian families are summering side by side on the beautiful seaside estate of the Castellvecchios’, an aristocratic, bohemian tribe lorded over by suave grandpa Tony. Their temporary neighbors are the working class Patagnas, the head of whom is the rugged but sensitive fisherman Carlo, there with his extended and very conservative family. They have been summoned for a wedding announcement: widower Carlo is getting married again. To the silver fox Tony. This startling announcement sets this delightful Italian farce into manic overdrive, as a summer vacation erupts into class and sexual warfare. Carlo’s homophobic son explodes. Tony’s resentful daughter seethes. The two join forces, hatching a sneaky plot to disrupt the nuptials. Can the love these two men feel for each other survive the storm? Can these two proud families overcome their prejudices?

FRIDAY, JANUARY 3 Friday, January 3 • 6:30 pm • PSHS In attendance: Simone Godano, Director

Selected Filmography: Moglie e marito (2017) In Italian with English subtitles. Presented by:

january 2-13, 2020

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CLOSING NIGHT

MILITARY WIVES UNITED KINGDOM/USA, 2019 112 minutes Director: Peter Cattaneo Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Jason Flemyng Print Source: Obscured Pictures

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12 Friday, January 3 • 6:30 pm • PSHS

From director Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty), Military Wives is a cathartic and delightful 1980s-pop-filled soufflé that shines a spotlight on the resilient wives of the deployed, and their attempts to make the best out of a tumultuous situation. Emotions run high on the eve of a six-month deployment to Afghanistan for the soldiers and their spouses, including “highest-ranking” wife and social committee chair Kate (Kristin Scott Thomas). Her regimented type-A personality poises her to be a perfect fit to lead the disparate wives of the camp in scheduled activities aimed to distract. Her place as social dictator is challenged by the crass and beloved Lisa (Sharon Horgan) who generally finds a night of knocking back pints as therapeutic as any knitting club ever could be. When the two combine forces to create the base’s first choir, their difference in song selection is only the beginning of the choir’s journey through happiness and heartbreak in this charming ensemble comedy-drama based on a true story.

In attendance: Peter Cattaneo, Director

Selected Filmography: The Rocker (2008), The Full Monty (1997) U.S. Premiere | In English.

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SLOVAK BARON EMPEY MURPHY & PINKNEY LLP Palm Springs

Indian Wells

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(760) 322-2275 www.sbemp.com

Congratulations to this yearâ€™s filmmakers & award recipients 56

TALKING PICTURES

HUSTLERS

JOJO RABBIT

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN

Presented by:

In-depth discussions with the creators of the yearâ€™s top titles Check our website for more information regarding Talking Pictures

PAIN AND GLORY

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TALKING PICTURES

HUSTLERS USA, 2019 110 minutes Director: Lorene Scafaria Cast: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles, Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart Print Source: STXfilms

FRIDAY, JANUARY 3 In conversation with:

Inspired by a true story, this glittering crowd-pleaser about a squad of former strippers flipping the script on their Wall Street clients boasts an all-star cast, including PSIFF 2020 honoree Jennifer Lopez in a showstopping, career-crowning performance that’s drumming up Oscar® buzz. Selected Filmography: The Meddler (2015), Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012) In English.

Friday, January 3 • 9:45 am • CAM Followed by a 45-minute Q&A

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Lorene Scafaria Writer/Director

Jessica Pressler Journalist, writer of “The Hustlers at Scores”

Presented by:

january 2-13, 2020

TALKING PICTURES

JOJO RABBIT BOOK TO SCREEN

USA, 2019 109 minutes Director: Taika Waititi Cast: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell Print Source: Fox Searchlight

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4 In conversation with:

Based on Christine Leunens’ novel Caging Skies, writer/director Taika Waititi’s audacious World War II satire follows a lonesome German boy shocked to find out his mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl in the attic and, as always, turns to his goofy imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Waititi). Selected Filmography: Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016), What We Do in the Shadows (2014) In English and German with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 12:45 pm • CAM Followed by a 45-minute Q&A

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Christine Leunens Author of Caging Skies

Presented by:

january 2-13, 2020

TALKING PICTURES

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN BOOK TO SCREEN

USA, 2019 144 minutes Director: Edward Norton Cast: Edward Norton, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bobby Cannavale Print Source: Warner Bros.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4 In conversation with:

Edward Norton wrote, produced, directed and stars in this retooled adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s novel, an off-kilter 1950s-set detective yarn about a New York private eye living with Tourette Syndrome (Norton) determined to solve the murder of his mentor (Bruce Willis). Selected Filmography: Keeping the Faith (2000) In English.

Saturday, January 4 • 9:00 am • PSHS Followed by a 45-minute Q&A

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Edward Norton Writer/Director/Producer/ Actor

Jonathan Lethem Author of Motherless Brooklyn

Presented by:

january 2-13, 2020

TALKING PICTURES

PAIN AND GLORY Dolor y gloria Spain, 2019 113 minutes Director: Pedro Almodóvar Cast: Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas, Penélope Cruz Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

FRIDAY, JANUARY 3 In conversation with:

Director Pedro Almodóvar and star Antonio Banderas are both at the peak of their powers in this rich autumnal masterpiece about a weary film director searching for a spark to reignite his creativity in the storied Spanish auteur’s most personal and moving work to date. Selected Filmography: The Skin I Live In (2011), Volver (2006), Talk To Her (2002), All About My Mother (1999), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

Antonio Banderas Actor

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 10:00 am • ANN Followed by a 45-minute Q&A

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Presented by:

january 2-13, 2020

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FOCUS ON ITALY

Take a trip to south-central Europe and explore Italy's invigorating culture, extravagant history, and jaw-dropping scenery as highlighted through the lenses of these 8 distinctive films

Friday, January 3 • 6:30 pm • PSHS (Opening Night Film) Sunday, January 5 • 4:00 pm • ANN

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FOCUS ON ITALY

THE CHAMPION

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY MOTHER

Il campione

La scomparsa di mia madre

ITALY, 2019 106 minutes Director: Leonardo D’Agostini Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Andrea Carpenzano, Mario Sgueglia, Ludovica Martino, Gabriel Montesi Print Source: True Colours

ITALY, 2019 94 minutes Director: Beniamino Barrese Print Source: Kino Lorber

Once a dark-eyed muse to artists such as Andy Warhol, Richard Avedon and Salvador Dalí, Benedetta Barzini quickly evolved from 1960s-era Italian supermodel into an incisive, outspoken critic of the fashion industry’s inherent misogyny. Now in her 70s and as lively, sharp and cheeky as ever, she announces her desire to retreat from public life forever. This inspires her son, director Beniamino Barrse, to begin a dogged pursuit to preserve her legacy on camera, his instrument of choice and the very object she wishes to escape. Alternately railing against her son’s invasive techniques and acquiescing to his wish to capture and celebrate her life, Barrese’s debut feature illustrates their tumultuous relationship. In his endeavor to bottle his mother’s essence despite her reluctance to comply, Barrese has fashioned a combative, combustible and compassionate portrait of a remarkable woman who ruptured stereotypes and now seeks total freedom.

North American Premiere | In Italian with English subtitles.

In Italian with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 11 • 4:00 pm • ANN (Free Admission) Sunday, January 12 • 11:15 am • REG

Friday, January 3 • 12:00 pm • PC Thursday, January 9 • 5:00 pm • PC Saturday, January 11 • 10:30 am • REG

FOCUS ON ITALY

MARTIN EDEN

SIMPLE WOMEN

ITALY/FRANCE/GERMANY, 2019 127 minutes Director: Pietro Marcello Cast: Luca Marinelli, Carlo Cecchi, Jessica Cressy, Vicenzo Nemolato, Marco Leonardi Print Source: Kino Lorber

ITALY/ROMANIA, 2019 85 minutes Director: Chiara Malta Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Elina Löwensohn Print Source: The Match Factory

After rescuing an aristocrat’s son from an unsavory dockyard altercation, an uncouth yet earnest mariner finds himself suddenly acquainted with a more genteel side of society. Espousing a code of self-reliance, the strapping Martin Eden (Luca Marinelli) resolves to escape his working-class doldrums and seek out success as an aspiring writer. Inspired by his love for the high-cultured Elena (Jessica Cressy), he devotes the nights to his implacable self-education. Further spurred on by his curmudgeonly mentor, Eden ultimately attains hard-won literary celebrity, but at great cost to his moral principles and personal relationships. Transposing Jack London’s great novel of artistic maturation and social mobility from Oakland to Naples, Italian filmmaker Pietro Marcello sets his film in an ambiguous, ideologically fraught period in the early to mid-20th century. A politically resonant work, the protagonist’s dogged individualism and staunch opposition to collectivist ideals lead him ever more sharply toward a life of narcissism and ambivalence.

Midway through director Hal Hartley’s 1992 comedy Simple Men, the ultra-hip, raven-haired epileptic character played by Romanian actress Elina Löwensohn leads the cast in a choreographed dance to the crunchy guitar groove of Sonic Youth’s Kool Thing. It’s a formative moment for young Federica (Jasmine Trinca), an epileptic herself, being able to associate her destabilizing fits with this bewitching on-screen enigma. Now an adult and a film director, Federica runs into her childhood role model (Löwensohn, juicily playing herself) on the street and gushes, convincing the 1990s indie film darling to star in a film about her life. As their creative and personal relationship evolves, it also devolves, and the film’s production becomes plagued by disaster and ego, leaving Federica to confront certain truths about her art, her hero and herself. Director Chiara Malta’s darkly funny narrative debut mischievously blurs the line between fiction and reality, and takes the idiom “Never meet your heroes” to amusing and unsettling extremes.

Winner: Best Actor, Venice Selected Filmography: Lost and Beautiful (2015)

U.S. Premiere | In Italian, English and Romanian with English subtitles.

In Italian and French with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 3:00 pm • PC Friday, January 10 • 12:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 9:00 am • CAM

Friday, January 10 • 3:45 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 3:15 pm • REG

FOCUS ON ITALY

SOLE

A SOUL JOURNEY

ITALY, 2019 102 minutes Director: Carlo Sironi Cast: Sandra Drzymalska, Claudio Segaluscio, Bruno Buzzi, Barbara Ronchi Print Source: 1844 Entertainment

UNITED KINGDOM/ITALY, 2019 75 minutes Director: Marco Della Fonte With: Rick Hutton, Graziano Uliani, Otis Clay, Otis Redding, Solomon Burke

One of the most assured debuts of 2019, Carlo Sironi’s drama traces the intimate moments of two previously unacquainted teenagers who find themselves playing major roles in an adoption scheme. Set in a lethargic city on the central Italian coast, young Ermanno (Claudio Segaluscio) is a local gambling addict who spends his days committing petty larceny when he isn’t parked in front of a slot machine. His cheerless routine is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Polish pregnant teen Lena (Sandra Drzymalska), enlisted by Ermanno’s uncle to provide him and his wife with a child. Ermanno’s role in the enterprise is to pose as Lena’s romantic partner, accompanying her to doctor’s visits and cohabiting a sparse apartment. At first ambivalent, the languid pair grows ever closer with the impending arrival of the baby, and the discovery of a mutual and newfound sense of purpose.

For one magical week every summer in the Italian hillside town of Porretta, audiences from all over the world flock to the Soul Music Festival, the foremost showcase of soul and R&B in Europe. A Soul Journey lets us share the musical marvels that have been emanating from Porretta for the last 25 years. Featuring such legends as Solomon Burke, Rufus Thomas, Sam Moore, Toni Green, Chick Rodgers, the Neville Brothers and brilliant old-timers like the down and dirty Sugar Pie Desanto and the lime-suited Harvey Scales, this foot-stomping celebration will make you want to book an immediate flight to Italy. The brainchild of Graziano Uliani, who as a teenager fell under the spell of Otis Redding, Porretta proves a haven for these amazing talents who bask in the good vibes and regale us with stories of the good — and bad — old days in the South, where their art was forged.

Winner: FEDIC Award — Best Film, Lanterna Magica Award, Best New Young Actor, Venice

In English and Italian with English subtitles.

In Italian with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 9:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 4:30 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 12:00 pm • CAM

Thursday, January 9 • 7:00 pm • ANN Friday, January 10 • 4:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 12:00 pm • REG

The hottest ticket out of town. Tons of legroom. Free wi-fi and entertainment. Award-winning service. And, the only airline with nonstop service between Palm Springs and New York (JFK) all winter long.

THE TRAITOR Il traditore ITALY, 2019 145 minutes Director: Marco Bellocchio Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Maria Fernanda Candido, Fabrizio Ferracane, Luigi Lo Cascio, Fausto Russo Alesi Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

In the early 1980s, when a battle for control of the lucrative heroin trade breaks out among the Mafia families, high-ranking Cosa Nostra soldier Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino) attempts to leave Italy and settle down in Brazil. Before long, Buscetta is captured by Brazilian authorities and extradited back to Italy where he faces a hefty prison sentence and a brutal Mafia war claiming the lives of his friends and family. To protect himself and what’s left of his family, Buscetta decides to testify, becoming the first major Mafioso to do so, resulting in a sensational series of trials that shook the nation of Italy. In this fact-based Mafia epic about the man who broke the Sicilian code of silence, legendary Italian filmmaker Marco Bellocchio (Fists in the Pocket) brings history to vivid, bloody life, aided by an astonishing performance by Favino as the equally captivating and enigmatic Buscetta. Selected Filmography: Vincere (2009), My Mother’s Smile (2002), Fists in the Pocket (1965) In Italian and English with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 9:45 am • ANN Saturday, January 11 • 7:00 pm • CAM

Palm Mountain Resort & Spa proudly supports the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Visit palmmountainresort.com for more information on planning your next Palm Springs getaway. From relaxing and revitalizing spa treatments to our climate-controlled pool and misters, you’ll never want to leave!

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Movies help us learn about the past, envision the future, and gain a deeper understanding of the world around us. We salute the artists who create films with the power to move us. Let’s join together in celebrating the 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival and tonight’s honorees. wellsfargo.com/donations

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LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

THE 11TH GREEN USA, 2019 109 minutes Director: Christopher Munch Cast: Campbell Scott, Agnes Bruckner, George Gerdes, Leith Burke, Tom Stokes

After the death of his Air Force general father, muckraking Washington journalist Jeremy Rudd (Campbell Scott) returns to the Palm Desert house, once inhabited in winters by President Eisenhower, where his father had lived. Working on an explosive story involving breakthrough aerospace technology, his investigations take an otherworldly turn when his father’s protégé shows him astonishing, long-buried footage purporting to document Ike’s encounters with extraterrestrials. So begins the wild, unclassifiable new film by maverick independent writer/director Christopher Munch, which is part love story, part historical excavation, part speculative fiction, part political thriller, and whose cast of characters includes not just Ike, but Obama, the nation’s first Secretary of Defense James Forrestal who died under mysterious circumstances in a naval hospital, and an unearthly “visitor” named Lars. Leaping from present to past, from reality to fantasy, The 11th Green is a mind- and genre-stretching adventure that boldly challenges our notions of the real. Selected Filmography: Letter from the Big Man (2011), The Sleepy Time Gal (2002), The Hours and Times (1992) World Premiere | In English. Wednesday, January 8 • 5:00 pm • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 12:00 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 9:00 pm • REG

LOCAL SPORTLIGHT

HOUSE OF CARDIN

ICONICITY

USA/France, 2019 97 minutes Directors: P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes With: Pierre Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Philippe Starck, Sharon Stone, Naomi Campbell

USA, 2019 89 minutes Director: Leo Zahn Print Source: Mirage Films

It would be hard to overstate the impact Pierre Cardin has had on the world of fashion. This Italian-born French icon who began his career in 1945 making costumes for Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast later made his name at Dior, and started his own house in 1950. And at 97 he’s still going strong. Cardin was a trailblazer, his futuristic designs liberating women’s bodies from confinement. What everyone does now, he did first: He was the first to move from haute couture to ready-to-wear (which created a scandal), the first to use women of color as his models, the first to start a menswear line and the first to branch out globally into sunglasses, ties, furniture and hundreds of other products branded with his name. Filled with interviews with admirers from Sharon Stone and Naomi Campbell to Alice Cooper and designer Philippe Starck, and with surprising revelations about his love life, House of Cardin is a five-course feast for fashion lovers.

Who knew that the Southern California desert was a hotbed (pun intended) of artistic creativity on par with the art scene in any metropolis? Director Leo Zahn’s fascinating documentary takes us from Slab City to the Salton Sea’s Bombay Beach via Borrego Springs, Joshua Tree and other locales, introducing us to a multitude of artists and their works. The late pioneer of “environmental sculpture” Noah Purifoy, Joshua Tree legend Bobby Furst, and animal sculptor Ricardo Breceda are just three of the dozens of artists we encounter, all of whom use the freedom afforded to them by living off the grid to produce their inspired work. This potpourri of retinal delights — the desert’s pastel colors really pop off the screen — culminates at the annual Bombay Beach Biennale, capping a most captivating and dazzling tour. Selected Filmography: Sinatra in Palm Springs (2018), Desert Maverick (2016)

Selected Filmography: Mansfield 66/67 (2017), Hit So Hard (2011) In English, French, Mandarin, Japanese and Italian with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 7:30 pm • PSHS Monday, January 6 • 1:15 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 7:00 pm • ANN

World Premiere | In English.

Monday, January 6 • 6:00 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 9:00 am • CAM

THE H O L LY W O O D R E P O R T E R

i s a proud s upporte r of

PALM SPRINGS International Film Festival

May 8, 2019

March 27, 2019

February 13, 2019

APPLE’S BITE OF HOLLYWOOD

A M A Z ON EX P OSE D

Writers at War

A starry launch and the great ‘rebundling’ of TV

Bezos, Pecker, Woody Allen and legal battles ahead

As agent battle rages, is a strike next?

RE A DY FOR A DA NE C OOK C OM E BAC K ?

Disney Shake-Up

DISnEY-FOX: THE aFTErmaTH

HOL LYWO OD H IGH A RT

Executive power-sharing and a studio succession plan

AGEnTS VS. WrITErS

Worlds collide as L.A. ups its culture cachet

A long-shot plan to end the feud

BY GAVIN POLONE

25 Indie Film

POWEr LaWYErS 2019

Players With Money to Spend

Rocket to

C A N N ES

Captain Marvel ’s Larson fronts the Disney studio’s first female franchise as the star and fierce gender-equality activist shows superhero fans ‘what strength looks like’

BR I E

Taron Egerton takes on Elton John in Rocketman, the must-see musical of the festival PLUS Hot market movies, Tarantino’s Bruce Lee, Tilda Swinton’s style and the dark side of the Croisette

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aVEngE D Marvel’s politically active Captain America is ready to retire his shield for directing gigs, an Apple series and the fight against Donald Trump (and Tom Brady?): ‘I’d be disappointed in myself if I didn’t speak up’

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PRINT | DIGITAL | MOBILE | SOCIAL | EVENTS

3/26/19 12:27 PM

GAYLA PRESENTATIONS

GAY CHORUS DEEP SOUTH

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE Portrait de la jeune fille en feu

USA, 2019 92 minutes Director: David Charles Rodrigues Print Source: The Film Collaborative

FRANCE, 2019 120 minutes Director: Céline Sciamma Cast: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami, Valeria Golino Print Source: Neon

Responding to a wave of anti-LGBT legislation, the members of The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus decide to embark on a concert tour of the South to spread a message of tolerance where it may not be welcome. For many members, it is a deeply personal journey. Artistic Director Dr. Tim Seelig had been a Baptist minister in Texas, and a married man with two children. When he came out at 35, the church did everything they could to destroy his life. In Mississippi, Jimmy White wonders if the homophobic father he hasn’t seen in years will show up at their concert, leading to one of many surprises in this poignant and inspiring documentary. But it’s not just the locals who are asked to look into their hearts: the journey challenges the chorus members to examine their own preconceptions and stereotypes about the South. This stirring, eye-opening musical odyssey is a balm in a troubled, divisive time.

At the end of the 18th century, Marianne (Noémie Merlant) is commissioned to paint — without her subject’s knowledge — a wedding portrait of the tempestuous and mysterious Héloïse (Adèle Haenel). Confined to the gender roles of the time, Héloïse confides in Marianne about the limitations set upon her, and an unspoken infatuation grows between them as Marianne secretly struggles to capture Héloïse’s essence on canvas. Their budding forbidden romance makes for a passionate liberation and self-actualization despite the confines of the era, leading to an unforgettable and euphoric climax. A meditation on love and muses told from a feminine point of view, Sciamma evocatively presents her story of two women falling in love firmly outside of the eyes of men, and delivers one of the most rapturous romances of the modern era.

In English.

Winner: Best Screenplay, Queer Palm, Cannes Selected Filmography: Girlhood (2014), Tomboy (2011) In French with English subtitles.

Thursday, January 9 • 6:30 pm • PSHS Following the screening there will be a special performance by the Palm Springs Gay Men’s Chorus.

Thursday, January 9 • 3:15 pm • PSHS

DINNER AND A MOVIE

LA DOLCE VITA ITALY, 1960 174 minutes Director: Federico Fellini Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée Print Source: Paramount Pictures

In commemoration of Federico Fellini’s 100th birthday! The most famous Italian filmmaker of all time broke into the mainstream with this 1960 landmark, a visually opulent and incisive satire about a suave gossip columnist (Marcello Mastroianni) chronicling Rome’s rich and glamorous in all their hedonistic decadence. Selected Filmography: Amarcord (1973), Fellini - Satyricon (1969), 8½ (1963), Nights of Cabiria (1957), La Strada (1954) In Italian with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 Film 4:30 pm • MP | Dinner 7:30 pm • Piazza Trilussa

Psfilmfest.org

Monday, January 6

Following the screening of La Dolce Vita on Monday, January 6, guests will enjoy an authentic traditional Italian dinner curated by the Piazza Trilussa Ristorante chef. The restaurant is conveniently located next to the Mary Pickford Theater. Purchasing a ticket to this event will grant entry into the film screening and dinner. Entry to the restaurant is by name only. Voted Best of the Best by Palm Springs Life in 2017, Trilussa offers great Italian cuisine, with traditional and signature dishes. Trilussa is a family atmosphere restaurant with private, comfortable booths, and tables that can be arranged to fit any group, large or small. They strive for their food and service to be at top quality. Menu – Piazza Trilussa is providing a special pre-set Italian dinner curated by the restaurant’s chef to complement the film. Specialty cocktail on arrival and select wine included, additional cash bar for all other drinks. Piazza Trilussa: 68718 E. Palm Canyon, Cathedral City

january 2-13, 2020

DINNER AND A MOVIE

DIANA KENNEDY: NOTHING FANCY US/MEXICO, 2019 73 minutes Director: Elizabeth Carroll Print Source: Greenwich Entertainment

“With eight amazing books on Mexican cooking and culture,” Martha Stewart once said on her television show, “it can be said that the author Diana Kennedy’s knowledge and passion for Mexican cooking is unsurpassed.” In director Elizabeth Carroll’s documentary, the award-winning cookbook scribe, fervent environmentalist and fiery nonagenarian reflects on her life, her career and the six decades she spent criss-crossing Mexico researching the country’s deliciously “down-toearth” recipes. But given the urgency of climate change, the film is also food for thought: Kennedy is also known for her passionate environmentalism, living sustainably and speaking, rather frankly, on the importance of keeping the planet healthy. Featuring sumptuous cinematography of Mexico and mouthwatering close-ups of delicious-looking food, Carroll simultaneously defies her film’s title while insisting every audience member leaves hungry. This is one film you’ll want to taco ‘bout.

Wednesday, January 8

The film Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy is followed by a family style Mexican dinner at the family-owned and local favorite Las Casuelas Terraza. Purchasing a ticket to this event will grant entry into the film screening and dinner. Entry to restaurant is by name only. Las Casuelas Terraza is proud to serve four generations of Delgado family recipes. Their great food, friendly hospitality and excellent service have made it a Palm Springs institution loved by locals and visitors alike.

In English and Spanish with English subtitles. Wednesday, January 8 Film 4:00 pm • ANN | Dinner 6:00 pm • Las Casuelas Terraza

january 2-13, 2020

Las Casuelas Terraza: 222 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

DINNER AND A MOVIE

STAGE: THE CULINARY INTERNSHIP CANADA, 2019 78 minutes Director: Abigail Ainsworth

They come from all over the world: a mere 30 plucked from a field of 1,500 applicants, for the honor and privilege of spending nine grueling months as unpaid kitchen interns, or stagiaires. Yet for this batch of young, fresh-faced hopefuls, the chance to learn their craft under the watchful eye of Andoni Luis Aduriz, owner and executive chef of Spain’s legendary Michelinstarred Mugaritz restaurant, means more than simply learning a profession. In one of the most acclaimed and adventurous kitchens on the planet, where challenging, provocative dishes are created from the molecular level up, nerves are frayed, friendships are born and budding careers are established — and only 10 will be chosen to continue and develop the following year’s menu. From a nerve-shredding seasonal dress rehearsal to a breakneck opening day, writer/director Abby Ainsworth crafts a lively look at camaraderie, self-discovery, and above all, perseverance, with this engaging documentary. In English and Spanish with English subtitles.

Tuesday, January 7 Film 4:30 pm • REG | Dinner 6:00 pm • EIGHT4NINE

Tuesday, January 7

On the menu for Tuesday, January 7, EIGHT4NINE gives us a fourth delicious helping of their fabulous fare, reprising their role as a featured Dinner and a Movie restaurant. This year they match up with the film, Stage: The Culinary Internship. Purchasing a ticket to this event will grant entry into the film screening and dinner. Entry to restaurant is by name only. Located in the fashionable Uptown Design District of Palm Springs, EIGHT4NINE Restaurant and Lounge offers a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Their singular goal is to provide you the best dining experience possible, whether looking for an intimate dinner for two or if you want to celebrate life’s special moments with hundreds of friends. EIGHT4NINE is providing a special pre-set three-course dinner curated by the restaurant’s chef to complement the film. Specialty cocktail on arrival and select wine included, additional cash bar for all other drinks EIGHT4NINE: 849 N. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs

Psfilmfest.org

january 2-13, 2020

AWARDS BUZZ

1982 LEBANON, 2019 100 minutes Director: Oualid Mouaness Cast: Nadine Labaki, Mohamad Dalli, Rodrigue Sleiman, Aliya Khalidi, Ghassan Maalouf Print Source: WaZabi Films

Set over the course of a single day — June 6, 1982 — and inspired by his own perception of the conflict as a child, writer/ director Oualid Mouaness’s feature debut depicts the beginning of the Lebanon War from the perspective of the teachers and pupils of a private school outside Beirut. Jumping back and forth between the points of view of Wissam, a sensitive young boy unable to grasp the magnitude of the situation who only cares about finding the perfect opportunity to tell his classmate he loves her, and two teachers, Yasmine (Nadine Labaki, Oscar®nominated director of Capernaum, PSIFF 2019) and Joseph, who are at odds in their relationship because of different political leanings, trying to protect the children by concealing their understanding of the enormity of the events. Winner: NETPAC Award, Toronto; FIPRESCI Prize, El Gouna In Arabic and English with English subtitles.

Step into the Oscar® season with this selection of Best International Feature Film contenders

Thursday, January 9 • 7:45 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 1:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 9:45 am • MP

AWARDS BUZZ

ADAM

ÁGA

MOROCCO, 2019 101 minutes Director: Maryam Touzani Cast: Lubna Azabal, Nisrin Erradi, Douae Belkhaouda, Aziz Hattab, Hasnaa Tamtaoui Print Source: Strand Releasing

BULGARIA, 2017 97 minutes Director: Milko Lazarov Cast: Mikhail Aprosimov, Feodosia Ivanova, Galina Tikhonova, Sergey Egorov Print Source: Big World Pictures

Emotionally numb since she lost her husband, Abla (Lubna Azabal, also at the Festival in Tel Aviv on Fire) has a chance meeting with pregnant, unmarried Samia who’s been living on the street. Reluctant at first to help, Abla agrees to hire Samia at her small bakery, but it doesn’t take long before Samia’s presence becomes essential. In her debut feature, writer/ director Maryam Touzani captures the raw emotions of her two lead characters by diving below the surface and exposing their inner struggles, emphasized by the deeply compelling and layered performances. With its intimate cinematography and economical dialogue, Adam explores with powerful subtlety two women scarred by different traumas who support each other, and the positive impact they have on each other’s lives.

Set in the far north of Russia’s Sakha Republic in a stark landscape of blinding white snow, Ága offers an evocative visualization of a way of life that may soon no longer exist. This magnificently shot film focuses on a long-married Yakut couple, Nanook and Sedna, and their subsistence lifestyle, in a yurt far from the nearest city. While they continue the traditional practices of their ancestors, the encroachment of globalization elsewhere has made their life harder. Spring seems to come earlier every year, reindeer are no longer in abundance and hunting brings only slim pickings. There are no nearby neighbors, only a kind soul who visits occasionally to bring news. Most young people, including their own daughter, Ága, chose a different way of life. When Sedna falls ill, Nanook departs to honor her wish and find their daughter.

Winner: Roger Ebert Award, New Directors Competition, Chicago; Best First Feature, Philadelphia; Best Actress, Durban; Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Carthage

Winner: Best Director, Valladolid; Best Feature, Fajr; Best Feature, Sarajevo; Best Feature, Cairo Selected Filmography: Alienation (2013)

In Arabic with English subtitles. In Yakut with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 11:15 am • REG Saturday, January 4 • 8:30 pm • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 5:15 pm • REG

Friday, January 3 • 9:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 8:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 9:00 am • MP

AWARDS BUZZ

AND THEN WE DANCED

ANTIGONE

SWEDEN, 2019 113 minutes Director: Levan Akin Cast: Levan Gelbakhiani, Bachi Valishvili, Ana Javakishvili Print Source: Music Box Films

CANADA, 2019 109 minutes Director: Sophie Deraspe Cast: Nahéma Ricci, Rachida Oussaada, Nour Belkhiria, Rawad El-Zein, Hakim Brahimi Print Source: WaZabi Films

A coming-out story rooted in an ancient society and a striking cultural practice, the Tbilisi-set And Then We Danced is both a love letter to traditional Georgian dance and a story about someone who wants to break the norm. Merab is a gifted young performer struggling with the expectations of his dance master and family while increasingly giddy with desire for Irakli, a dashing new talent from Batumi who may imperil his chance of joining the national company. The rivalry between the dancers turns into a close friendship, and then something more. But with same-sex desire unacceptable within the oppressively conservative confines of Georgian society, can Merab be true to himself and remain in his homeland? Acclaimed filmmaker Levan Akin’s first Georgian-language feature is an exquisite, sensitive and emotionally robust experience boasting unforgettable dance sequences set to the music of ABBA and Robyn.

Inspired by the Greek tragedy of the same name, award-winning writer/director Sophie Deraspe has created one of the most thematically textured films of the year. Antigone (Nahéma Ricci) is a quiet, scholarship-winning Lebanese teenage girl, one of four siblings who emigrated to Montreal with their grandmother a decade earlier. When her older brother is killed by police, and her surviving brother is imprisoned for assaulting the officer responsible, Antigone finds the courage and grit to fight against society, the police and the penal system, finding emotional support and love in unexpected quarters. Even when a swell of positive public opinion centers on the family’s circumstances, Antigone must ultimately live by her own code. Director Deraspe draws remarkable performances from her young cast (particularly Ricci) and tackles issues of immigration, poverty and social justice with a ferocity matched only by her title character.

Winner: Best Actor, Best Film, Odessa Selected Filmography: The Circle (2015), Certain People (2011) In Georgian with English subtitles.

Winner: Best Canadian Feature Film, Toronto Selected Filmography: Les loups (2014), Vital Signs (2009), Missing Victor Pellerin (2006) In French and Kabyle with English subtitles.

Tuesday, January 7 • 7:30 pm • CAM Wednesday, January 8 • 1:45 pm • REG Thursday, January 9 • 12:45 pm • MP

Friday, January 3 • 6:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 4 • 12:00 pm • PC Sunday, January 5 • 9:45 am • REG

AWARDS BUZZ

ATLANTICS

THE AWAKENING OF THE ANTS

Atlantique

El despertar de las hormigas

SENEGAL, 2019 105 minutes Director: Mati Diop Cast: Mama Sané, Amadou Mbow, Ibrahima Traoré, Nicole Sougou, Amina Kane Print Source: Netflix

COSTA RICA, 2019 94 minutes Director: Antonella Sudasassi Furnis Cast: Daniela Valenciano, Leynar Gómez, Isabella Moscoso, Avril Alpízar Print Source: FiGa Films

In this impressive career-propelling feature debut, Mati Diop skillfully traverses disparate themes and genres – including politics, horror and romance – to construct a hypnotic fever dream. In the suburbs of Dakar, Ada and Souleiman are in love, but their relationship is doomed. Ada is promised to another man. As the impending marriage fast approaches, Souleiman, along with other fellow construction workers yet to be paid for work on a futuristic tower, decide to leave Senegal by boat overnight. The young women left behind are heartbroken, but soon, strange, inexplicable events begin to occur around Ada, and she becomes increasingly haunted by fantasies that Souleiman is still present. Named one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch for 2020,” Mati Diop premiered Atlantics at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival where it was awarded the Grand Prix, and is the Senegalese entry for the Best International Feature Oscar®.

For demure young housewife Isa (Daniela Valenciano), life in a lush, postcard-perfect Costa Rican seaside village is far from anyone’s idea of a dream. Pressured by her intrusive and loudly opinionated in-laws to have another baby even as she struggles to keep her already cramped household in order, Isa finds her own desires ignored, suffocated by rigid gender roles and the cloistered thinking that comes with small-town life. Desperately imagining some other way of living as she grows increasingly tense and angry towards those closest to her, Isa finds herself becoming more attuned to the natural world, and its strangeness, as increasingly vivid and surreal visions take over, blurring the line between what is and what can be. Soon the young mother finds herself at a breaking point, awakening to her own long-suppressed sexuality and the possibilities of a life lived on her own terms in this engrossing and intimate feature debut from writer/director Antonella Sudassasi Furnis.

Winner: Grand Prix, Cannes

In Spanish with English subtitles.

In Wolof with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 4:45 pm • ANN Monday, January 6 • 7:30 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 10:00 am • PSHS

Saturday, January 4 • 4:45 pm • MP Tuesday, January 7 • 3:00 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 10:30 am • CAM

AWARDS BUZZ

BEANPOLE

THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND

Dylda RUSSIA, 2019 137 minutes Director: Kantemir Balagov Cast: Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Vasilisa Perelygina, Konstantin Balakirev, Andrey Bykov Print Source: Kino Lorber

UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 113 minutes Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maxwell Simba, Lily Banda, Noma Dumezweni, Aïssa Maïga Print Source: Netflix

The devastating aftershocks of war have rarely been conveyed so viscerally as they are in this haunting Russian elegy. In a dank Leningrad hospital in 1945, after the war has been won but the damage — physical, psychological, emotional — is still palpable, two women who have survived the war must now learn to survive the peace. The “Beanpole” of the title is the tall, unearthly pale Iya, a nurse who suffers from seizures that freeze her in an unreachable trance. Masha, her best friend, has returned from the front to learn that her young son, who was entrusted to Iya’s care, has died. His shocking death inspires in Masha a fierce determination to bring another child into the world even though her doctors have told her this is physically impossible. Somber, harrowing and aglow with a hypnotic beauty, Beanpole won multiple awards in Cannes for its prodigiously talented 28-year-old director Kantemir Balagov (Closeness) whose visionary images possess an unshakable quality.

Barely in his teens and already widely known for his cleverness, precocious schoolboy William (Maxwell Simba) has big plans that he hopes will one day take him far beyond his remote Malawian village. Always tinkering with radios and skillfully turning scrap from the local landfill into working electronics, William thrives under the gentle guidance of his farmer father Trywell (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and mother Agnes (Aïssa Maïga). When a devastating drought hits in the summer of 2001, William and his community find themselves hounded by big timber interests, seizing on the locals’ desperation while their corrupt government turns a blind eye, all as the sun beats down and the drought worsens. Pushed to the edge of survival, William must work quickly against the bonds of tradition and his own increasingly desperate family, and use his gifts to turn his community’s fortunes around in this unforgettable true story and directorial debut from Ejiofor. In Nyanja and English with English subtitles.

Winner: FIPRESCI Prize, Best Director, Un Certain Regard, Cannes Selected Filmography: Closeness (2017) In Russian with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 6:00 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 11:15 am • REG Sunday, January 12 • 4:45 pm • CAM

Saturday, January 4 • 11:15 am • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 4:30 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 1:15 pm • PSHS

AWARDS BUZZ

BUOYANCY

THE CHAMBERMAID La camarista

AUSTRALIA, 2019 93 minutes Director: Rodd Rathjen Cast: Sarm Heng Chakra, Mony Ros Kea, Thanawut Kasro Rom Ran Print Source: Charades

MEXICO, 2018 102 minutes Director: Lila Avilés Cast: Gabriela Cartol, Teresa Sánchez Print Source: Kino Lorber

In his outstanding feature film debut, writer/director Rodd Rathjen has used real — and ongoing —events to create a sparsely elegant, unsentimental and gripping social thriller. Chakra is an intelligent, restless 14-year-old boy living in a Cambodian village who chafes under the thumb of his tough father. Eager to be paid for his labor, Chakra runs away, but trades one oppressor for another when he, through false promises, falls into the clutches of human traffickers and is forced into slavery on a fishing boat. From the moment he steps onto the hellish boat until the satisfying final scene, the unexpected thriller narrative twists of Buoyancy show us a world we can’t imagine, but can’t afford to ignore. Winner: Ecumenical Jury Prize (Panorama), Berlin; Best Youth Feature Film, Asia Pacific Screen Awards

For unassuming maid Eve (Gabriela Cartol), daily existence is little more than cleaning up messes left behind by the wealthy and tending to the small emergencies that make up life at a high-end Mexico City hotel. Born on the wrong side of the class divide, the shy 24-year-old tries to savor whatever victory she can manage — acquiring a glamorous red dress from the lost and found, the promise of a coveted spot cleaning the exclusive 42nd floor, and all-too-brief phone conversations with the son she barely has time to see. Yet in the grind of tending to the needs of the well-heeled, Eve finds herself open to a new way of living, a world of books, relationships, and perhaps finally earning her GED equivalent through a hotel program. Yet she quickly finds that coming into her own isn’t easy in a world of limited possibilities in this sly, powerful feature debut from writer/director Lila Avilés.

In Thai and Khmer with English subtitles.

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 12:00 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 3:45 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 11:45 am • PC

Monday, January 6 • 7:45 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 12:45 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 6:00 pm • MP

AWARDS BUZZ

COMMITMENT

CORPUS CHRISTI

Baglılık Aslı

Boze Cialo

TURKEY, 2019 135 minutes Director: Semih Kaplanoglu Cast: Kübra Kip, Ece Yüksel, Umut Kurt, Almina Kavcı, Merve Seyma Zengin Print Source: ATV

POLAND, 2019 115 minutes Director: Jan Komasa Cast: Bartosz Bielenia, Eliza Rycembel, Aleksandra Konieczna, Tomasz Zietek, Ukasz Simlat Print Source: New Europe Film Sales

Director Semih Kaplanoglu (Honey, PSIFF 2011) returns with this tense family drama centered on two different perspectives on motherhood. Exploring the dynamics between two women with very little in common — the wealthy, career-driven Aslı and her babysitter Gülnihal, herself a young mother — Kaplanoglu tells his story from the judgment-free point of view of the one person that connects them: Aslı’s newborn, Zeynep. As Aslı attempts to reconcile her work and ambitions with her role as a mother, the undeniable deepening of Gülnihal and Zeynep’s bond triggers Aslı’s jealousy. Slowly and subtly, with very little dialogue, the pressure in Aslı’s bright modern apartment mounts, forcing her to face her own insecurities before the unexpected climax. Commitment is Turkey’s arresting entry for the Best International Feature Oscar®.

In a world where forgiveness doesn’t come easy, God’s peace works in mysterious ways. While incarcerated in a youth detention center, 20-year-old Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) experiences a spiritual awakening. He wants to study for the priesthood, but his criminal record deems it impossible. When he is temporarily released to work at a sawmill, Daniel decides to change his fate and begins impersonating a clergyman. Soon, unexpected circumstances lead him to fill in at a small parish and to help the community heal after a terrible tragedy. Despite the fact that “Father Tom” gives some unusual sermons and occasionally uses his smartphone to brush up on his ecclesiastical knowledge, his charisma and passion provide balm to those in mourning. After the intimate drama Suicide Room and the WWII epic Warsaw ‘44, director Jan Komasa takes on a contemporary tale inspired by a true story. Talented young lead Bielenia impresses with an intense and physical performance.

Winner: Best Director, Bosphorus Selected Filmography: Honey (2010), Milk (2008), Egg (2007) North American Premiere | In Turkish with English subtitles.

Winner: Best Actor, Chicago; Best Actor, Stockholm; Label Europa Cinemas — Best Film, Venice Selected Filmography: Warsaw ‘44 (2014), Suicide Room (2011) In Polish with English subtitles.

Tuesday, January 7 • 8:15 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 9:00 am • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 12:00 pm • REG

Tuesday, January 7 • 5:15 pm • PC Wednesday, January 8 • 3:15 pm • REG Thursday, January 9 • 6:45 pm • MP

AWARDS BUZZ

THE DELEGATION

FINDING FARIDEH

Delegacioni ALBANIA, 2018 76 minutes Director: Bujar Alimani Cast: Ndricim Xhepa, Xhevdet Feri, Viktor Zhusti, Kasem Hoxha, Rovena Lule, Richard Sammel

IRAN, 2018 88 minutes Directors: Azadeh Moussavi, Kourosh Ataee Print Source: Eli Image

It’s October, 1990, and the communist regime in Albania is trying to hang onto power. A European delegation is coming to Tirana to monitor the government’s implementation of reforms. Meanwhile, long-time political prisoner Leo (Viktor Zhusti), formerly a professor, is secretly taken from his remote prison to the capital. As he is shaved and provided with civilian clothing, the grizzled dissident wonders what could possibly be happening. He soon realizes that after 15 years in captivity, he has become extremely valuable to the government, because the leader of the European delegation, his former graduate school classmate, has asked to meet with him. But nothing, of course, goes according to plan. This compact, ironic drama from Bujar Alimani, one of the most important filmmakers of the New Albanian cinema, perfectly encapsulates the situations and contradictions of a Stalinist society in the throes of change.

In this deeply moving documentary, Eline Farideh Koning gives filmmakers Kourosh Ataee and Azadeh Moussavi full access to the emotional journey she embarked upon in search of her identity. Currently residing in Amsterdam, Koning’s friends and adoptive family have always had concerns for her safety whenever she would express the desire to visit her birth country of Iran. Now 40, Koning feels ready to travel back to her place of origin, allowing the camera to tag along for the voyage, from the preparation to her time spent there. Koning doesn’t shy away from revealing her feelings in front of the camera, making her anticipation and emotions palpable. Through Koning’s curious eyes, a different side of Iran appears on screen. After co-directing a documentary about the impact of Iran winning the Foreign Language Oscar® in 2012, directing duo Ataee and Moussavi comes full circle with Finding Farideh, Iran’s entry for this year’s Oscars®’ Best International Feature Film, the first non-fiction submission for the country.

Winner: Grand Prix, Warsaw; Best Feature Film, Trieste Selected Filmography: Chromium (2015), Amnesty (2011)

In Dutch, English and Persian with English subtitles.

In Albanian and French with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 9:00 am • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 8:45 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 3:00 pm • MP

Thursday, January 9 • 12:45 pm • CAM Friday, January 10 • 3:45 pm • REG

AWARDS BUZZ

GAZA

GULLY BOY

IRELAND, 2019 89 minutes Directors: Garry Keane, Andrew McConnell Print Source: Filmoption International

INDIA, 2018 154 minutes Director: Zoya Akhtar Cast: Ranver Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Raaz Print Source: Amazon Studios

Gaza is a film about ordinary people: a taxi driver, a boy who dreams of being a fisherman, a paramedic, an aspiring rapper, and a number of others. Their stories, however, are extraordinary because they are among the almost two million Palestinians living in the 141-square-mile territory known as the Gaza Strip. Despite the often harrowing and tragic circumstances in which they find themselves, the people profiled here remain resilient, capable of hope and able to adapt. They share their feelings, their histories and their dreams in order to inspire others to act against injustice. Through its portraits of Palestinians from all walks of life, this beautifully photographed documentary takes viewers beyond stereotypes and preconceptions, providing a sense of what daily life is actually like in the Gaza Strip. It’s an eye-opening experience that shows that the conflicts reported by the news are far from the full story.

Based on real-life Mumbai hip-hop artists Naezy and Divine, whose poetry cleverly deconstructs corruption, colonization, poverty and police brutality with a striking realism, Gully Boy is an engaging look at the Indian rap scene. Murad “Gully Boy” Ahmed (Ranveer Singh) works a mindless and low-paying job at his uncle’s factory despite having a hard-earned education. When his father brings home a second bride and leaves his wife displaced, Murad reaches a breaking point. Murad discovers and decides to pursue hip-hop, which becomes not only an escape, but a chance to one day make it big and flee the slums of Dharavi with Safeena (Alia Bhatt), the woman he loves. Exuberant and explosive, this musical romantic comedy poetically conveys the anger of the urban dispossessed and is sure to leave you entertained, inspired and even dancing in the aisles. Selected Filmography: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Luck By Chance (2009)

In Arabic and English with English subtitles. In Hindi with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 12:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 1:30 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 4:00 pm • REG

Saturday, January 4 • 6:45 pm • MP Sunday, January 5 • 3:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 1:00 pm • REG

AWARDS BUZZ

HEROIC LOSERS

HONEYLAND

La odisea de los giles ARGENTINA, 2019 115 minutes Director: Sebastián Borensztein Cast: Ricardo Darín, Chino Darín, Luis Brandoni Print Source: Film Factory Entertainment

NORTH MACEDONIA, 2019 85 minutes Directors: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska Print Source: NEON

All that former soccer star Fermín (Ricardo Darín) and his wife wanted was to live a quiet life, send their son to a good university, and revive the long-shuttered local granary in hopes of bringing jobs and prosperity back to their small Argentinian town. Graciously accepting hard-earned investments from a colorful band of locals including cantankerous tire shop owner Antonio (Luis Brandoni) and shipping magnate Carmen, Antonio stashes the money in a safe deposit box. When an unscrupulous bank manager convinces Antonio to deposit the fortune on the eve of Argentina’s 2001 economic collapse, the community sees its entire wealth disappear into the pockets of the rich and powerful. After Antonio is tipped off that his politically connected lawyer has hidden their fortune on his estate, the community bands together to take what’s theirs, leading to a breathless, pulse-pounding heist in this feel-good action comedy from director Sebastián Borensztein.

The last in a line of beekeepers, Hatidze Muratova has embraced a life of simplicity and devotion, working on her isolated farm in a Macedonian village. She walks four hours to the nearest town to sell her honey and four hours back, where she cares for her bedridden mother. But her tranquil life and ecologically conscious methods are disrupted when a nomadic family — with their seven children and a herd of cattle — parks their camper on the next-door plot. Ever courteous, Muratova welcomes them, even assisting the father when he decides to encroach on her honey enterprise. Soon, his greed threatens to destroy a way of life that’s lasted for centuries. Shot over three years, directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov’s stirring meditation on nature and humanity is jaw-droppingly gorgeous from the first scene to the last.

(2005)

Winner: Grand Jury Prize, Special Jury Award for Cinematography, Special Jury Award for Impact for Change — World Cinema Documentary, Sundance; Best Documentary — New Directors, Best International Film, São Paulo

U�S� Premiere | In Spanish with English subtitles.

In Turkish with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 4:15 pm • PSHS Wednesday, January 8 • 1:00 pm • ANN Sunday, January 12 • 8:30 pm • REG

Monday, January 6 • 10:30 am • MP Tuesday, January 7 • 7:30 pm • REG

Selected Filmography: Chinese Take-Out (2011), The Die Is Cast

AWARDS BUZZ

INCITEMENT

INSTINCT

ISRAEL, 2019 123 minutes Director: Yaron Zilberman Cast: Yehuda Nahari Halevi, Amitay Yaish Ben Ousilio, Anat Ravnizky, Yoav Levi, Dolev Ohana Print Source: Greenwich Entertainment

NETHERLANDS, 2019 98 minutes Director: Halina Reijn Cast: Carice van Houten, Marwan Kenzari Print Source: Films Boutique

A salutary warning about how easily democracies are endangered, this psychological profile of a political assassin provides provocative drama as it looks at what inspired the devoutly Orthodox law student Yigal Amir (Yehuda Nahari Halevi) to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995. At the time, Rabin was attempting to orchestrate a comprehensive peace settlement between Israelis and Palestinians that involved giving up territory controlled by Israel since the Six-Day War, but his death effectively derailed the prospect of peace. Unraveling like a thriller with compelling archival footage neatly woven in, Incitement is sure to elicit debate, not least for its portrayal of Amir (the son of Yemeni immigrants) as attractive and charismatic, and for re-airing his views which are still shared by many in the country, even in the Knesset.

In this provocative erotic thriller, experienced psychologist Nicoline (Game of Thrones’ Carice van Houten) begins a challenging new position in a prison, where she is paired with serial sex offender Idris (Marwan Kenzari). After five years of treatment, Idris is about to be granted his first unaccompanied probation. While his team of therapists are enthusiastic about his progress, newcomer Nicoline’s instincts tell her not to trust him. When she attempts to block his probation, the charismatic Idris tries to convince Nicoline of his good intentions, but slowly and surely he demonstrates the frightening, manipulative behavior she saw in him from the beginning. A power play emerges between the two and, in spite of her knowledge and experience, Nicoline finds herself trapped. This steamy feature debut from acclaimed actress Halina Reijn features enthralling, committed performances from her two leads that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Selected Filmography: A Late Quartet (2012), Watermarks (2004, doc feature)

Winner: Variety Piazza Grande Award, Locarno

U�S� Premiere | In Hebrew with English subtitles.

In Dutch with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 9:00 am • REG Monday, January 6 • 8:15 pm • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 9:45 am • CAM

Friday, January 3 • 1:30 pm • CAM Saturday, January 4 • 9:45 am • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 6:45 pm • REG

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INVISIBLE LIFE

IT MUST BE HEAVEN

A Vida Invisível GERMANY, 2019 139 minutes Director: Karim Aïnouz Cast: Carol Duarte, Julia Stockler, Gregorio Duvivier, Fernanda Montenegro, Bárbara Santos Print Source: Amazon Studios

PALESTINE, 2019 97 minutes Director: Elia Suleiman Cast: Elia Suleiman Print Source: Wild Bunch

In the stifling, oppressive heat of a deeply patriarchal 1950s Brazil, shy, thoughtful Eurídice (Carol Duarte), and her lively, daring sister Guida Gusmão (Julia Stockler) have only each others’ arms in which to find comfort and solace. Prepped for early marriage by their stern working-class father, Guida rebels by running off with her secret lover, leaving Eurídice to fulfill the family’s marital expectations and forego her own dreams of becoming a professional pianist. But as Eurídice settles into unhappy upper-middle-class existence alongside her hapless husband, news of her sister’s surprise return — and violent banishment at the hands of their parents — is kept from her, setting in motion a decades-long search for one another, leading to a powerful late-in-life revelation. This epic, intimate and unforgettable film from writer/director Karim Aïnouz (Madame Satã) also features luminous Brazilian film legend Fernanda Montenegro in an integral supporting role.

The acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman has often been compared to Buster Keaton and Jacques Tati. Like them, he stars in his own movie, playing a droll version of “himself,” a Palestinian filmmaker who travels to Paris and New York in search of funding for his new movie, which doesn’t measure up to the financiers’ stereotypes of what a Palestinian movie is supposed to be. With his straw hat and sad eyes, he’s a silent observer who views with melancholy bemusement the absurdities of a high-security world. Shoppers in a New York supermarket come heavily armed with assault rifles and pistols, and Parisian ambulance drivers serve the homeless elegant two-course meals as if they were dining at Maxim’s. From the hilarious opening when an Orthodox priest can’t get the doors to his church open, It Must Be Heaven unfolds in a series of pointed, poignant comic vignettes.

Winner: Prix Un Certain Regard, Cannes Selected Filmography: Futuro Beach (2014), Love For Sale (2006), Madame Satã (2002)

Winner: FIPRESCI Prize, Cannes Selected Filmography: The Time That Remains (2009), Divine Intervention (2002), Chronicle of a Disappearance (1996) In Arabic, French and English with English subtitles.

In Portuguese with English subtitles.

Tuesday, January 7 • 5:00 pm • CAM Wednesday, January 8 • 9:00 am • REG

Sunday, January 5 • 8:15 pm • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 12:00 pm • MP

AWARDS BUZZ

LES MISÉRABLES

LET THERE BE LIGHT Nech je svetlo

FRANCE, 2019 105 minutes Director: Ladj Ly Cast: Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti, Djibril Zonga, Issa Perica, Al-Hassan Ly Print Source: Amazon Studios

SLOVAKIA, 2019 93 minutes Director: Marko Skop Cast: Milan Ondrík, Frantisek Beles, Zuzana Konecná, Lubomír Paulovic, Katarína Kormanáková Print Source: LOCO FILMS

On his first day on the job, Street Crime Unit officer Stéphane (Damien Bonnard) is taken on a tour of Les Bosquets, the neglected neighborhood in Paris’s Montfermeil suburb torn apart by riots in 2005, and given a crash course in police tactics by his new colleagues. When a drone camera records an arrest gone violently wrong, Ruiz must choose between his conscience and covering for his fellow officers as the race against local community leaders to intercept the footage ensues, and tensions in Les Bosquets threaten to explode once more. Filmmaker Ladj Ly has crafted both a gritty thriller and a complex, detailed portrait of the region of Montfermeil of which Ly is a native, and where Victor Hugo’s classic novel is partially set. Explosive and urgent, Ly’s gripping debut narrative feature won a Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Cheerful Milan (Milan Ondrík) grew up in the remote village where his family still lives. He was raised by a brutal, critical father and made to work from a young age. He’s just an ordinary guy who, despite his own status as an economic migrant, thinks that foreigners take Slovak jobs. He hopes the wages that he brings from abroad will provide more opportunities for his three children, but he hasn’t fully considered what his absence from home means for them and his wife. When the middleaged carpenter returns from his construction job in Germany to celebrate the Christmas holidays at home, he finds his community — and his sons — in thrall to a controlling Catholic priest and mysterious far-right paramilitary youth group. Acclaimed director Marko Skop’s latest is a cautionary, state-ofthe-nation drama highlighting xenophobia, religious hypocrisy and the rise of the extreme right in a small Slovak village.

Winner: Jury Prize, Cannes In French with English subtitles.

Winner: Best Actor, Karlovy Vary; Best Film, Batumi, Almaty Selected Filmography: Eva Nová (2015), Osadne (2009, doc feature), Ine svety (2006, doc feature) In Slovakian and German with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 2:00 pm • PSHS Monday, January 6 • 7:15 pm • ANN Sunday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • CAM

Sunday, January 5 • 5:00 pm • REG Monday, January 6 • 3:00 pm • PC Sunday, January 12 • 9:45 am • MP

AWARDS BUZZ

M FOR MALAYSIA

MONOS

MALAYSIA, 2019 92 minutes Directors: Ineza Roussille, Dian Lee

COLOMBIA, 2019 102 minutes Director: Alejandro Landes Cast: Julianne Nicholson, Moisés Arias, Sofia Buenaventura, Deibi Rueda, Karen Quintero Print Source: Participant Media, Neon

At 92, instead of enjoying his retirement, former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad decided to save Malaysia from a corrupt regime that had lasted 60 years, and went on to become the oldest democratically elected prime minister in the world. Sickened by the ever-growing greed, corruption and excesses of his former protégé Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was implicated in what the U.S. Justice Department called “the largest kleptocracy in history,” Mohamad started a campaign for change. He was able to rally former enemies and unite supporters from all backgrounds, both young and old. Co-directed by Mohamad’s granddaughter Ineza Roussille, this enthralling documentary provides unprecedented access to his family, revealing candid details behind the scenes, as well as amazing footage of the huge rallies that took place all over Malaysia during these historic 2018 elections.

On a stunning, windswept mountain top in an unnamed South American country, a small group of teen guerilla fighters form a tightly cloistered ad hoc family living in an abandoned bunker on behalf of a shadowy outfit known as The Organization. With no real purpose or goal other than to receive combat training from ferocious Mensajero (former guerrilla fighter Wilson Salazar), to take care of a dairy cow named Shakira, and to keep an American hostage (Julianne Nicholson) alive, the teens revel in increasingly unbridled hedonism. But when Shakira is killed and the group is suddenly attacked by a rival force, the teens are forced down the mountain and into the jungle where petty rivalries devolve into life-or-death battles, and the child fighters descend into their own increasingly brutal hearts of darkness in this unsettling and unforgettable third feature from ColombianEcuadorian writer/director Alejandro Landes.

In English, Malay and Mandarin with English subtitles.

Winner: Special Jury Award — World Cinema Dramatic Competition, Sundance Film Festival; Best Film, BFI London Film Festival Selected Filmography: Porfirio (2011) In Spanish with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 6:00 pm • CAM Monday, January 6 • 9:00 am • MP

Sunday, January 5 • 3:00 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 12:45 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 8:00 pm • REG

AWARDS BUZZ

THE MOVER Tevs Nakts LATVIA, 2018 87 minutes Director: Davis Simanis Cast: Arturs Skrastins, Matiss Kipluks, Ilze Blauberga Print Source: Menemsha Films

Nuestras Madres BELGIUM, 2019 77 minutes Director: César Díaz Cast: Armando Espitia, Emma Dib, Aurelia Caal, Julio Serrano Echevarría, Victor Moreira Print Source: Outsider Pictures

Living in Soviet-occupied Latvia, Zanis (Arturs Skrastins) adheres to a strict code of ethics despite an illegal moonshine operation. When Germany invades in June 1941, Zanis is approached by a Jewish friend with desperate pleas to hide his daughter from the Nazis. Fearful of the consequences to his own family, he refuses, but soon after finds himself harboring Jewish families in a German-owned movie theater, then eventually in a bunker he builds in his own basement. Consumed with a profound guilt over the child he could have saved, he becomes determined to redeem himself by providing refuge for as many as possible, refusing no one. Elegantly helmed with escalating tension by documentarian Davis Simanis, The Mover explores the harrowing circumstances of a family in crisis and their transformative struggle to resistance. This powerful adaptation of a true story is the Latvian submission for the Academy Awards®.

In a troubled country where a person needs to be either “drunk or crazy” to live, forensic anthropologist Ernesto (Armando Espitia) has been given an assignment that takes him directly to the heart of a nation’s madness. Tasked with exhuming and identifying the remains of the forgotten victims of Guatemala’s devastating, decades-long civil war just as the officers accused of genocide are brought to trial, Ernesto is approached by Nicolasa (Aurelia Caal), an elderly Mayan woman in desperate need of help finding the remains of her husband. After traveling to her mountain village, Ernesto soon discovers that his long-lost father, known simply as “The Boss,” might have been involved in Mateo’s death. Despite warnings to let the dead rest, Ernesto digs deeper, driven by a fervor to uncover the truth, leading to a devastating revelation in this powerful first narrative feature from acclaimed editor and documentarian César Díaz.

Selected Filmography: Exiled (2016)

Winner: Caméra d’Or, Critics’ Week Society of Authors and Dramatic Composers (SACD), Cannes

In Latvian, German, Russian and Yiddish with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 9:45 am • MP Monday, January 6 • 4:45 pm • CAM Friday, January 10 • 4:15 pm • PSHS

OUR MOTHERS

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 10:30 am • CAM Monday, January 6 • 3:45 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 3:15 pm • REG

AWARDS BUZZ

OUT STEALING HORSES

PAIN AND GLORY

Ut og stjæle hester

Dolor y gloria

NORWAY, 2019 122 minutes Director: Hans Petter Moland Cast: Stellan Skarsgård, Bjørn Floberg, Tobias Santelmann, Jon Ranes, Danica Curcic Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

SPAIN, 2019 113 minutes Director: Pedro Almodóvar Cast: Antonio Banderas, Asier Etxeandia, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Nora Navas, Penélope Cruz Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

Selected as Norway’s official Oscar® submission, this moving and long-awaited adaptation of Per Petterson’s bestseller, Out Stealing Horses re-teams Stellan Skarsgård with director Hans Petter Moland (In Order of Disappearance, PSIFF 2015; A Somewhat Gentle Man, PSIFF 2011). Set in 1999, just before the dawn of the new millennium, recent widower Trond Sander (Skarsgård) has returned home to Norway after 40 years living in Sweden, only to find himself haunted by memories of a pivotal summer he spent with his father (Tobias Santelmann) as a teenager. Expertly weaving between past and present, Moland and cinematographer Rasmus Videbæk vividly contrast the idyllic, lush colors of the wilderness in Trond’s memories against the cold, stark grays of his present, culminating in a sensational and resonant portrait of guilt and reconciliation. Out Stealing Horses swept the Amanda Awards (Norway’s Oscar® equivalent) taking home prizes for Best Film, Director, and Cinematography.

Pedro Almodóvar has always made personal films, but none have cut so close to the bone, or been so moving, as this autumnal masterpiece. Antonio Banderas, much-deserved winner of the Best Actor award in Cannes, shows a side of himself we’ve never seen before. Banderas is playing Almodóvar’s pain-ridden alter ego, a weary film director named Salvador Mallo, who’s hit a creative and spiritual impasse. Can he find the spark to make another film? The answer lies deep in his childhood memories of his beloved mother (Penélope Cruz) who raised him in a small stone village; of the sweet, illiterate laborer whose physical beauty revealed to the boy his true desire; and in life-changing present-day reunions with a dissolute, heroin-snorting actor and his former lover. Seamlessly flowing back and forth in time, its autumnal mood spiced with bursts of humor, Pain and Glory shows the director working at the height of his powers.

Selected Filmography: Cold Pursuit (2019), In Order of Disappearance (2014), A Somewhat Gentle Man (2010), Aberdeen

Selected Filmography: The Skin I Live In (2011), Volver (2006), Talk To Her (2002), All About My Mother (1999), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)

(2000)

In Norwegian with English subtitles. Saturday, January 4 • 2:15 pm • REG Monday, January 6 • 1:15 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 1:30 pm • CAM

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 10:00 am • ANN Monday, January 6 • 1:45 pm • ANN Tuesday, January 7 • 4:15 pm • CAM

AWARDS BUZZ

THE PAINTED BIRD

PAPICHA

Nabarvené ptáce CZECH REPUBLIC, 2019 169 minutes Director: Václav Marhoul Cast: Petr Kotlar, Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands, Udo Kier Print Source: IFC Films

ALGERIA, 2019 105 minutes Director: Mounia Meddour Cast: Lyna Khoudri, Shirine Boutella, Amira Hilda Douaouda, Zahra Doumandji, Yasin Houicha Print Source: Jour2Fête

This harrowing adaptation of Jerzy Kosinski’s controversial 1965 novel follows a young Polish Jewish boy forced to fend for himself as he wanders through Eastern Europe during the brutal years of World War II, finding and ultimately fleeing those that victimize him. The film marks a decade-long labor of love for director Václav Marhoul who balances physical and psychological horror with haunting wide-screen black-andwhite visuals. Like the book, the film unfolds in surreal episodes that examine the relationship between terror and cruelty, innocence and love. Palm Springs’s own Udo Kier appears at his most savage as Miller, although Julian Sands as the pedophile Garbos is perhaps even more indelible. The contemporary migration crisis and spread of xenophobic prejudices and hatred makes the message of this powerful film all the more urgent.

Nedjma (Lyna Khoudri) and her friends are “papichas”: young, trendy, independent women in 1990s Algiers. Set during the most violent year of the decade-long Algerian Civil War, as the rise of religious fundamentalism gradually strips Nedjma of her freedom and her right to attend university, and an imposition to wear the hijab is in effect, she refuses to submit. Nedjma resists in her own way by organizing a fashion show, creating designs using the traditional Algerian haik, or veil. Through the determination of her characters, led by Khoudry’s moving performance, writer/director Mounia Meddour brings hope, light and energy to these chaotic and somber times, proving that Muslim and feminist are not opposite ideals. Censored upon its release by the Algerian government, Meddour’s debut narrative feature inspired by her own memories is now the Algerian entry for the Best International Feature Oscar®.

Winner: Best Cinematography, Chicago Selected Filmography: Tobruk (2008), Smart Philip (2003)

In Arabic and French with English subtitles.

In Slavic Esperanto, Czech, German and Russian with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 12:45 pm • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 6:45 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 8:00 pm • REG

100

Friday, January 3 • 3:45 pm • MP Saturday, January 4 • 1:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 2:30 pm • REG

AWARDS BUZZ

PARASITE

THE PERFECT CANDIDATE

Gisaengchung SOUTH KOREA, 2019 132 minutes Director: Bong Joon-Ho Cast: Song Kang-Ho, Lee Sun-Kyun, Cho Yeo-Jeong, Choi Woo-Shik, Park So-Dam, Lee Jung-Eun, Chang Hyae-Jin Print Source: Neon

SAUDI ARABIA, 2019 104 minutes Director: Haifaa Al-Mansour Cast: Mila Al Zahrani, Khalid Abdulrahim, Dhay, Nourah Al Awad, Tarek Ahmed Al Khaldi Print Source: Razor Film

This brilliantly layered black comedy from director Bong Joon-ho (Okja; Mother, PSIFF 2010) is a searing commentary on the social and economic alienation that comes with class inequality. When a friend offers Kim Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) a job as an English tutor for the daughter of affluent parents, he jumps at the chance, and soon cunningly and systematically maneuvers the other members of his family into the household as employees. Life becomes infinitely more comfortable for the Kim family, who had been surviving on menial jobs while living in a dingy basement apartment. As they become increasingly intertwined with their employers, they not only begin living in their spacious home, but start to inhabit it. Magnificently performed, mind-blowingly twisty and with an assured directorial sleight of hand, master filmmaker Bong’s latest won him the coveted Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The first woman director from Saudi Arabia, Haifaa Al-Mansour (Wadjda, PSIFF 2013), returns to her home country with this empowering tale of a strong, bold and endearing female character living in a society where gender equality is still taboo. When young, resolute Saudi doctor Maryam (Mila Al Zahrani) is barred from flying to a medical conference because of an expired travel permit and discovers she’s unable to renew without her father’s signature, she reaches a breaking point. All of Maryam’s daily frustrations and feelings of powerlessness push her to go up against the system and run for a seat in the local city election. The fact that she can’t show her face in promotional materials and ad campaigns, or even meet directly with male voters at rallies, won’t stop Maryam’s determination to make a change in her community.

Winner: Palme d’Or, Cannes Selected Filmography: Okja (2017), Snowpiercer (2013), Mother (2009), The Host (2006), Memories of Murder (2003)

Selected Filmography: Nappily Ever After (2018). Mary Shelley (2017), Wadjda (2012) In Arabic with English subtitles.

In Korean with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 9:45 am • CAM Wednesday, January 8 • 5:15 pm • REG

Tuesday, January 7 • 2:15 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 10:00 am • ANN Sunday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • PC

101

AWARDS BUZZ

QUEEN OF HEARTS

THE RED PIGEON

Dronningen

Laal Kabootar

DENMARK, 2019 128 minutes Director: May el-Toukhy Cast: Trine Dyrholm, Gustav Lindh, Magnus Krepper Print Source: Breaking Glass Pictures

PAKISTAN, 2019 98 minutes Director: Kamal Khan Cast: Ahmed Ali Akbar, Mansha Pasha, Rashid Farooqi Print Source: Nehr Gahr Films

It would seem that Anne (the remarkable Trine Dyrholm) already has it all: a challenging career as an advocate for abused children, a loving marriage to a successful physician, wellbehaved twin daughters, and a gorgeous modernist home. But when 17-year-old Gustav, Anne’s husband’s sullen, rebellious son from an earlier marriage comes from Sweden to stay with her family, it sparks something transgressive within her. In an attempt to win his loyalty, she crosses the line from friendship to something more reckless: she seduces the lad. This provocative yet elegantly made melodrama shows what happens when a confident, judgmental woman convinced of her own superiority really does try to have it all. “This is Dyrholm’s show and she gives it her all, emotionally and physically, delivering a full account of a woman who does whatever she wants because she believes she can get away with it.” – Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter

After her husband is gunned down in front of her eyes, Aliya (Mansha Pasha) sets off on a mission of revenge. Without much information to go on aside from a red hood and motorcycle, and with her pleas from police falling on deaf ears, Aliya launches her own investigation. She soon becomes embroiled with Adeel, a cab driver and conman itching to leave the seedy and violent city of Karachi for Dubai. Using his connections and knowledge of the underground, he agrees to help Aliya track down her husband’s killer, but only if she bankrolls his escape to the larger city. Aliya complies, launching the two on a nonstop edge-ofyour-seat thrill ride through the sordid streets of Karachi. Director Kamal Khan makes his debut with this conventionbusting action crime thriller, a first of its kind for Pakistani (or “Lollywood”) cinema, embracing a more realistic and gritty filmmaking style in the vein of Scorsese. In Urdu with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Long Story Short (2015) In Danish with English subtitles.

Tuesday, January 7 • 3:30 pm • CAM Wednesday, January 8 • 2:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 12:45 pm • CAM

102

Wednesday, January 8 • 6:45 pm • MP Thursday, January 9 • 1:30 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 9:00 am • REG

AWARDS BUZZ

RETABLO

SPIDER Araña

PERU, 2017 101 minutes Director: Alvaro Delgado Aparicio Cast: Magaly Solier, Amiel Cayo, Junior Béjar Roca Print Source: Wolfe Video

CHILE, 2019 105 minutes Director: Andrés Wood Cast: Mercedes Morán, María Valverde, Marcelo Alonso, Pedro Fontaine, Gabriel Urzúa Print Source: Fox International Productions

Blessed with a photographic memory and an artist’s soul, 14-year-old Segundo is set to follow in the footsteps of his renowned father Noe (Amiel Cayo), a master craftsman whose richly detailed story-boxes, or retablos, fetch high prices at the local marketplace in their small isolated Quechua village. But when Segundo discovers his anguished father’s long-hidden secret, the young artist’s world is quickly turned inside out, transforming him into a simmering storm of anger, confusion and growing disillusionment with his village’s provincial way of thinking, where brutality isn’t far behind. When a misstep puts the family’s secret out in the open, it forces a reckoning between Segundo and his beleaguered mother Anatolia (Magaly Solier, also in the Festival in Lina From Lima) in this powerful, deeply absorbing feature debut from writer/director Alvaro DelgadoAparicio.

Dirty, disheveled and simmering with anti-immigrant rage, Gerardo (Marcelo Alonso) patrols his Buenos Aires neighborhood ready to take action against any of his perceived enemies of society. When he is arrested after a violent act of vigilantism, police quickly realize the troubled loner may be connected to an unsolved 1973 political assassination attributed to the far-right, CIA-backed terrorist group Fatherland and Liberty. Soon Gerardo’s shadowy four-decadeold connections to former upper-middle-class reactionaries Justo (Gabriel Urzúa) and beauty queen Inés (María Valverde) come under fresh scrutiny. The now wealthy and powerful Inés and a still-troubled Justo (played in later years by Mercedes Morán and Felipe Armas, respectively) are forced to silence their former associate by any means necessary, putting past and present on a violent collision course in this breathless and timely political thriller from director Andrés Wood (Machuca) and cowriter Guillermo Calderón (The Club).

In Quechua and Spanish with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Violeta Went to Heaven (2011), The Good Life (2008), Machuca (2004), Loco Fever (2001) In Spanish with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 3:45 pm • MP Tuesday, January 7 • 10:30 am • REG

Saturday, January 4 • 3:00 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 6:00 pm • MP Wednesday, January 8 • 9:45 pm • REG

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AWARDS BUZZ

THE STEED

SYSTEM CRASHER

Khiimori

Systemsprenger

MONGOLIA, 2019 98 minutes Director: Erdenebileg Ganbold Cast: Ariunbold Erdenebayar Print Source: Media Luna New Films

GERMANY, 2019 118 minutes Director: Nora Fingscheidt Cast: Helena Zengel, Albrecht Schuch, Gabriela Maria Schmeide, Lisa Hagmeister Print Source: Netflix

At the beginning of the 20th century, during the Russian Revolution, a mother raises a young nomad boy to rely on himself, and presents him with the only gift she can afford: a brown horse that becomes his best friend. When the revolution reaches the vast lands of Mongolia, he finds himself separated from everything that matters to him, and sets off on an epic journey to reunite with the steed that was ruthlessly taken by Russian soldiers. Based on the award-winning poem Brown Horse by Mongolian laureate Ch. Lkhamsuren, this emotional story of resilience illustrates not only the extraordinary connection that can exist between a boy and his horse, but devotion to family and kinship with one’s homeland, even when up against insurmountable odds.

Lacking in stature but mighty in her roar, 9-year-old human cyclone Benni (Helena Zengel) has been deemed a “system crasher” by child protection services. Prone to volatile outbursts and feral behavior, Benni has been jerked around within the child care system so long, soon there won’t be a school that hasn’t expelled her, or a professional she hasn’t stumped. Even her remorseful but loving mother — to whom Benni desperately wants to return — is afraid of her. Hope arrives in the form of Micha (Albrecht Schuch), an anger management trainer who may be the key to extinguishing Benni’s blazing ire. Writer/ director Nora Fingscheidt’s wild and complex depiction of youth in revolt features an electrifying and unshakable central performance from Zengel, and is Germany’s gutsy entry for the Best International Feature Oscar®.

Selected Filmography: Reparation (2018), Urgeeleg 2 (2016), Father: MGL (2015) In Mongolian with English subtitles.

Winner: Alfred Bauer Prize, Berliner Morgenpost Readers’ Jury Award, Berlin; Best Film — New Directors, São Paulo; Audience Award, Transilvania; Best Film, Zurich In German with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 9:00 am • REG Thursday, January 9 • 3:45 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 8:15 pm • REG

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Friday, January 3 • 3:45 pm • REG Saturday, January 4 • 9:00 am • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 6:00 pm • MP

AWARDS BUZZ

TEL AVIV ON FIRE

THOSE WHO REMAINED Akik maradtak

LUXEMBOURG, 2018 97 minutes Director: Sameh Zoabi Cast: Kais Nashif, Lubna Azabal, Yaniv Biton, Nadim Sawalha Print Source: Cohen Media Group

HUNGARY, 2019 83 minutes Director: Barnabás Tóth Cast: Károly Hajduk, Abigél Szõke, Mari Nagy, Katalin Simkó, Barnabás Horkay Print Source: Menemsha Films

A Palestinian soap opera writer finds his voice in this ingenious satire that comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the lightest of touches. Salam (Kais Nashif) is a thirtysomething slacker who must travel through Israeli checkpoints every day on his commute to Ramallah to work on the popular soap opera “Tel Aviv On Fire”, produced by his uncle. Set in the time period leading up to the Six-Day War in 1967, the central romance of the soap, between an Israeli general and an Egyptian spy, has transfixed Jewish and Muslim fans alike. Among the former group is the wife of checkpoint commander Assi. To impress her, Assi corners Salam and pressures him to manipulate certain plot points. Meanwhile, Palestinian sponsors have their own demands, as does its diva-like star. Pulled in different directions and attempting to please all sides, Salam only wants to kickstart his career and rekindle a romance with former flame Mariam.

In post-World War II Budapest, 16-year-old Holocaust survivor Klára still clings to the belief, against all evidence, that her parents will return. When she meets Aladár, a 42-year-old doctor who lost his wife and children in the death camps, she finds someone to live for, and, in turn, brings newfound meaning to his life. But as the Communist Party and the Soviets take power in Hungary and a new kind of terror takes over, will they be able to continue their pure and loving father-daughter relationship? Commenting after the film’s world premiere, The Wall Street Journal critic Joe Morgenstern noted, “I do love it when, to cite the modest yet magical case of Those Who Remained, whole lives, including ours, can be changed in less than an hour and a half.” Based on the novel by Zsuzsa F. Várkonyi, director Barnabás Tóth has crafted a tender, delicate story of unconventional love in the midst of unimaginable conflict.

Winner: Best Actor — Orizzonti, Venice; Best Film, Haifa; Ophir Award for Best Script Selected Filmography: Man Without a Cell Phone (2010)

Selected Filmography: The Shark in Me (2009) In Hungarian with English subtitles.

In Arabic and Hebrew with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 6:00 pm • PC Tuesday, January 7 • 10:30 am • CAM

Saturday, January 4 • 12:00 pm • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 6:45 pm • CAM Friday, January 10 • 10:00 am • PSHS

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AWARDS BUZZ

TRUTH AND JUSTICE

TU ME MANQUES

Tõde ja õigus ESTONIA, 2019 150 minutes Director: Tanel Toom Cast: Priit Loog, Priit Võigemast, Maiken Schmidt, Simeoni Sundja, Ester Kuntu Print Source: Allfilm

BOLIVIA, 2019 110 minutes Director: Rodrigo Bellott Cast: Oscar Martinez, Rossy de Palma, Fernando Barbosa Print Source: Obscured Pictures

Estonia, 1870. Here’s an epic story about two rival, neighboring landholders: the upright Andres and the spiteful trickster Pearu. The film is an adaptation of Anton Hansen Tammsaare’s 1926 novel, often cited as Estonia’s most important literary work, that went on to become the most watched film in Estonia, breaking every box office record in the country. Andres and his wife Krõõt take out a loan to buy Robber’s Rise, a desolate and neglected farm. They must break the resistance of the barren land, make the neighbor Pearu cooperate, and raise an heir to his father’s life’s work. But when nature refuses to bend, Pearu remains wickedly contrary, and Krõõt keeps giving birth to daughters, Andres struggles to find the right way. In his desperate search for truth and justice — from the court, the tavern and the Bible — he risks sacrificing his family, his friends and eventually himself.

Grieving over his son Gabriel’s suicide, Jorge (Oscar Martínez), a conservative, homophobic Bolivian businessman, accidentally encounters his son’s gay lover Sebastian on Skype. It’s an angry, ugly confrontation, full of blame and rage. Yet not long after, it leads Jorge to New York, where the playwright Sebastian lives. Realising he never knew who his son really was, Jorge begins a journey that will open his mind and heart. Writer/director Rodrigo Bellott based this bold, heartbreaking film on his own play, which was such a sensation in Bolivia it helped changed their restrictive anti-LGBT laws. His movie unfolds on multiple time planes: in the present with Jorge and Sebastian; to the past when the two young Bolivians fall in love in Manhattan; to the future, when Sebastian is interviewed about the play he’s written in honor of Gabriel; and to the making of the play itself, a surreal and sensual fantasia of gay life.

North American Premiere | In Estonian with English subtitles.

Winner: Grand Jury Award — Best Screenplay, Outfest Selected Filmography: Perfidy (2009), Who Killed The White Llama? (2007), Sexual Dependency (2003) In Spanish and English with English subtitles.

Thursday, January 9 • 7:30 pm • CAM Friday, January 10 • 6:45 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 2:30 pm • PC

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Saturday, January 4 • 6:00 pm • PC Sunday, January 5 • 12:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 6:45 pm • MP

AWARDS BUZZ

VERDICT

WEATHERING WITH YOU Tenki no Ko

PHILIPPINES, 2019 126 minutes Director: Raymund Ribay Gutierrez Cast: Max Eigenmann, Kristoffer King, Jorden Suan Print Source: Films Boutique

JAPAN, 2019 112 minutes Director: Makoto Shinkai Cast: Kotaro Daigo, Nana Mori, Tsubasa Honda, Sakura Kiryu, Sei Hiraizmi Print Source: Gkids

In this captivating courtroom drama, Verdict explores how countless women and children in the Philippines hoping to find justice for domestic abuse are up against a patriarchal system that still pushes women to accept an “easy” solution and return to their abusers. After being brutally beaten by her drunken husband, Joy (Max Eigenmann) seeks help from authorities, hoping to have him arrested. But those claiming to be dedicated to protecting and supporting victims of domestic violence dismiss Joy, citing piles of paperwork and, although they appear well meaning, are powerless to help her. Determined to protect herself and her 6-year-old daughter, Joy decides to take her husband to court and fight through a bureaucratic nightmare that will take all of her might to obtain justice in a system that offers little protection to those who need it most.

Following up his gargantuan 2016 box-office anime hit Your Name., visionary animator Makoto Shinkai returns with this visually stunning fantasy romance about two teenagers teaming up to combat climate change in the most unorthodox of ways. When 16-year-old runaway Hodaka arrives destitute in a relentlessly rainy Tokyo, he’s taken under the wing of Mr. Suga, a slippery detective who spearheads a magazine specializing in urban legends. Hodaka’s first assignment is to investigate the mythic hare-onna (or “sunshine girl”) rumored to possess mystical powers that can manipulate the weather. His snooping leads him to Hina, who, in the midst of caring for her dying mother, discovers she can part the clouds and summon rays of sunlight through praying. Set against the backdrop of the impending threat of climate change, this beautifully painted trip across frenzied skies is at its heart a love story about two people attempting to restore harmony to a chaotic world.

Winner: Special Jury Prize, Venice In Filipino and English with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Your Name. (2016), Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011), The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004) In Japanese with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 7:45 pm • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 4:30 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 2:15 pm • REG

Friday, January 3 • 6:15 pm • MP Monday, January 6 • 12:00 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 12:45 pm • MP

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AWARDS BUZZ

WHEN TOMATOES MET WAGNER

THE WHISTLERS

Otan o Wagner Sinantise tis Ntomates

La Gomera

GREECE, 2019 72 minutes Director: Marianna Economou Print Source: Rise and Shine World Sales

ROMANIA, 2019 97 minutes Director: Corneliu Porumboiu Cast: Vlad Ivanov, Catrinel Marlon, Rodica Lazar, Antonio Buil, Agustí Villaronga, Sabin Tambrea Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

In this funny and touching observational documentary, a homegrown collective in a small Greek farming village exports honey and tomato products all over the world. Run mostly by older women, everything is done by hand: tilling fields, picking tomatoes, canning and even affixing labels. One of their littleknown secrets? Play classical music for the tomatoes to help them grow. When Alexander takes his 80-year-old aunt and two of the other women to Belgium to offer their products to high-end natural food stores, the grocers unexpectedly confront them: Can they use quinoa in their stuffed tomatoes instead of rice? What varietal of tomatoes do they grow? Why aren’t there pictures on the label? They return to Greece determined to devise products trendy enough to compete in the modern world of commercialized organics.

The phrase “whistle while you work” takes on new meaning for a corrupt Bucharest cop as the double- and triple-crosses mount in this tense, witty neo-noir from Romanian New Wave director Corneliu Porumboiu. The obscure whistling language at the heart of the film is the preferred communication method of the Canary Islands gangsters who are Cristi’s (Vlad Ivanov) accomplices. Mastering that code promises the detective rich rewards — in theory, anyway, one that doesn’t account for backstabbing associates, suspicious bosses, a femme fatale with that noirest of names, Gilda (Catrinel Marlon), and Cristi’s well-meaning but interfering mother. Porumboiu hops the globe from La Gomera in the Canary Islands back home to Romania and eventually to Singapore, setting the tone with Iggy Pop’s The Passenger blaring over the opening frames. And that, ultimately, is what Cristi is: a passenger aboard a fizzy, deadpan thrill ride in this breezy genre exercise and clever lampooning of official corruption and criminal conspiracy.

Selected Filmography: The Longest Run (2015), Food For Love (2013)

In Greek, French and English with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Infinite Football (2018), The Treasure (2015), Police, Adjective (2009), 12:08 East of Bucharest (2006) In Romanian, French and German with English subtitles.

Tuesday, January 7 • 9:00 am • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 11:15 am • REG Sunday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • ANN

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Monday, January 6 • 1:30 pm • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 6:45 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 1:00 pm • ANN

AWARDS BUZZ

A WHITE, WHITE DAY

ZANA

Hvítur, hvítur dagur ICELAND, 2019 109 minutes Director: Hlynur Pálmason Cast: Ingvar Sigurdsson, Ida Mekkin Hlynsdóttir, Hilmir Snær Gudnason, Björn Ingi Hilmarsson, Elma Stefanía Ágústsdóttir Print Source: Film Movement

KOSOVO, 2019 97 minutes Director: Antoneta Kastrati Cast: Adriana Matoshi, Astrit Kabashi, Fatmire Sahiti Print Source: ALIEF

Iceland’s official submission for Academy Awards®, A White, White Day is a hypnotic and feverish tale of obsession and grief, told with cinematic bravado and anchored by a shattering lead performance by Ingvar Sigurdsson (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald). Occupying his time with seemingly endless home renovations and spending time with his spirited granddaughter, Ingimundur (Sigurdsson) has taken his wife’s sudden death in an automobile accident especially hard. On bereavement leave from the police force, he starts uncovering clues pointing toward a possible affair his late wife was having with their neighbor (Hilmir Snær Gudnason, Woman at War, PSIFF 2019). As his suspicions and grieving mount, Ingimundur risks endangering himself and those around him. Following his sensational debut Winter Brothers, writer/director Hlynur Pálmason has cemented himself as one of Europe’s most promising new filmmakers.

Living in the countryside with her husband and mother-in-law, Lume (a staggering Adriana Matoshi) still struggles to adjust to a sense of normalcy 10 years after the end of the Kosovo war. Tormented by chilling hallucinations and night terrors while under constant pressure to conceive a child, Lume is dragged by her husband to various psychics, faith healers and exorcists to cure her fertility issues, which unlocks traumatic memories that become indistinguishable from the present. In her first narrative feature, documentarian Antoneta Kastrati courageously draws from personal experience to tell this rich and emotionally potent story of a woman’s unimaginable grief and painful reconciliation with the past. Mixing the elliptical and dreamlike with stark and unflinching visions of atrocity, Kastrati strikes an impressive dramatic balance, catapulted by Matoshi’s simmering and multishaded performance, until the gut-punching, heart-rending finale.

Winner: Rising Star Award, Cannes, Semaine de la critique; Best Actor, Transilvania International; Best Film, Hamptons International Selected Filmography: Winter Brothers (2017)

U.S. Premiere | In Albanian with English subtitles.

In Icelandic with English subtitles. Sunday, January 5 • 12:45 pm • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 9:45 am • REG Sunday, January 12 • 7:00 pm • PC

Saturday, January 4 • 3:45 pm • MP Sunday, January 5 • 12:45 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 2:30 pm • REG

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MODERN MASTERS

ABOUT ENDLESSNESS Om det oändliga SWEDEN/GERMANY/NORWAY, 2019 76 minutes Director: Roy Andersson Cast: Martin Serner, Jessica Louthander, Tatiana Delaunay, Anders Hellström, Jan-Eje Ferling Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

No one makes movies like Roy Andersson. His painterly tableaux — with their muted Scandinavian colors; their air of quiet, often hilarious desperation; his sad-clown characters enduring the joys and indignities of daily life; his camera never moving — could only be the work of this singular Swedish visionary. About Endlessness follows such Andersson masterworks as You, the Living and A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence in distilling the awful comedy of human existence into priceless vignettes. This droll panorama is narrated by an unseen young woman who “remembers” each scene that unfolds before us, whether it be a desperate priest who’s lost his faith, Hitler stumbling into his bunker as his empire collapses, a distracted old waiter pouring wine until it spills all over his customers’ table, or lovers who fly through the air in a Chagall-like embrace over the ruins of Cologne. Winner: Best Director, Venice Selected Filmography: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014), You, the Living (2007), Songs from the Second Floor (2000) U�S� Premiere | In Swedish with English subtitles.

New films, classic auteurs

Friday, January 3 • 2:15 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 3:00 pm • MP Thursday, January 9 • 9:00 am • REG

Psfilmfest.org

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MODERN MASTERS

DESERT ONE

FIRST LOVE Hatsukoi

USA, 2019 107 minutes Director: Barbara Kopple With: Jimmy Carter, Ted Koppel, Walter Mondale Print Source: Cabin Creek Films

JAPAN, 2019 108 minutes Director: Takashi Miike Cast: Masataka Kubota, Nao Omori, Shota Sometani, Sakurako Konishi, Becky Print Source: Well Go USA Entertainment

Two-time Academy Award®-winning director Barbara Kopple brings her superb storytelling gifts to tell the full, fraught tale of the covert mission to rescue the 52 American hostages held in the embassy in Tehran in 1980. Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Revolution had just seized power and they were demanding the return of the Shah, who had fled to the U.S. when his dictatorship was overthrown, to stand trial. Instead, President Carter approved a high-risk mission to send a small team of highly skilled warriors to Iran to extricate the prisoners. Kopple gets remarkably candid interviews with all the participants: Carter himself, the men on the mission, the hostages themselves, the widows of the fallen, as well as Iranian guards and witnesses. We even eavesdrop on the phone conversations between the president and the men on the ground as their mission encounters unexpected hazards. Desert One is emotionally devastating, historically illuminating and as thrilling as a Hollywood action movie.

Takashi Miike (Audition), one of the most prolific, inventive and outrageous action filmmakers from Japan, once again brings us a wildly entertaining mix of mayhem, romance and comedy in a mad visual romp that pushes to extremes. Leo, an aspiring boxer, feels he has nothing to lose after finding out he has an inoperable brain tumor. Monica’s abusive father has just sold her to the yakuza for sex slavery to pay off his drug debt. She desperately needs Leo’s help to escape before a full-range gang war erupts. Gunfights, swordplay, car chases, double-crosses, airborne severed heads, Miike’s latest delirious head rush about two young people taking destiny into their own hands is one hell of a ride. Selected Filmography: 13 Assassins (2010), Gozu (2003), Audition (2001), Dead or Alive (1999)

In Japanese with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Miss Sharon Jones! (2015), Wild Man Blues (1997), American Dream (1990), Harlan County U.S.A. (1976) In English and Persian with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 12:45 pm • MP Tuesday, January 7 • 9:15 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 9:00 am • REG

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Sunday, January 5 • 7:30 pm • MP Tuesday, January 7 • 4:00 pm • PSHS

MODERN MASTERS

MR. JONES

NOMAD: IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF BRUCE CHATWIN

POLAND/UNITED KINGDOM/UKRAINE, 2019 118 minutes Director: Agnieszka Holland Cast: James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard, Joseph Mawle Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 89 minutes Director: Werner Herzog Print Source: Music Box Films

Master filmmaker Agnieszka Holland returns with this riveting biopic of steadfast Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (marvelously played by Little Women’s James Norton), who first blew the whistle on Holodomor, Stalin’s man-made genocidal famine in Soviet Ukraine that took nearly seven million lives. After making a name for himself following a chance interview with Adolf Hitler, the ambitious young Jones heads to the Soviet Union to investigate suspiciously pro-Stalin articles from famed Pulitzer Prize winner and The New York Times writer Walter Duranty (Peter Sarsgaard). With equal parts cleverness and luck — not to mention help from fellow journalist Ada Brooks (The Queen’s Vanessa Kirby) — Jones evades authorities to enter Ukraine where he uncovers an atrocity so shocking that many refuse to believe him. Holland blends her large-scale historical epic with a powerful, introspective look at a lesser-known 20th-century hero whose courageous battle to expose the truth still rings alarmingly familiar.

Werner Herzog, in an unusually personal mode, pays tribute to the late, great travel writer Bruce Chatwin as he journeys to the distant locales that inspired Chatwin’s work. Herzog and Chatwin were kindred spirits and close friends: the writer left Herzog his rucksack after his death in 1986, and it saved Herzog’s life when he was trapped in a snow storm filming Scream of Stone. Following in Chatwin’s footsteps, Herzog takes us to Patagonia; to Australia, where he tries to decode the mysteries of the Aboriginal songlines; to the Neolithic structures in Wiltshire; and to Ghana, where Chatwin visited Herzog when he adapted Chatwin’s novel The Viceroy of Ouidah into the film Cobra Verde. He gets candid interviews with Chatwin’s biographer and with his widow, who frankly discusses her husband’s bisexuality. The result is a uniquely moving tribute to a man who, like the filmmaker, pursued big ideas, wild characters and ecstatic experiences.

Selected Filmography: Spoor (2017), Burning Bush (2013), In Darkness (2011), Julie Walking Home (2002), Europa Europa (1990)

Selected Filmography: Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), Encounters at the End of the World (2007), Grizzly Man (2005), Fitzcarraldo (1982), Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)

In English, Ukrainian, Russian and Welsh with English subtitles.

In English, German and Arrernte with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 1:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 10:00 am • PSHS

Saturday, January 4 • 9:00 pm • PC Sunday, January 5 • 11:15 am • REG Sunday, January 12 • 3:45 pm • MP

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MODERN MASTERS

SO LONG, MY SON

THE TRUTH

Di jiu tian chang

La vérité

CHINA, 2019 185 minutes Director: Wang Xiaoshuai Cast: Wang Jingchun, Yong Mei, Xi Qi, Jiang Du, Wang Yuan Print Source: The Match Factory

FRANCE, 2019 106 minutes Director: Hirokazu Koreeda Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke Print Source: IFC Films

Renowned Sixth Generation master filmmaker Wang Xiaoshuai (Red Amnesia, PSIFF 2015), a champion of urban realism, brings to light the trauma that ordinary people go through when confronted with situations out of their control. In this family saga spanning three decades, once-happy couple Yaojun (Wang Jingchun) and Liyun (Yong Mei) lose their son in a drowning accident. Years later, their adopted teenage son runs away from home, reopening old wounds. Set against the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution, Wang’s powerful, wrenching epic illustrates how married couples had to adjust to the grand economic and social changes that took place in China in the 1980s, when forced abortions and prison terms for those who defied the onechild policy were the norm.

Two goddesses of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve and Juliette Binoche, join forces with Ethan Hawke in The Truth, the first European film by Japanese master Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters, PSIFF 2019). Deneuve plays legendary stage and screen actress Fabienne, a self-absorbed diva who lives for her art, often at the expense of those closest to her. Binoche is her resentful daughter Lumir, a screenwriter who returns to Paris from the U.S. with her daughter and newly sober actor husband (Hawke) to celebrate the publication of her mother’s memoir, whose contents are rife with omissions and fabrications. Meanwhile, Fabienne is shooting a new movie, a sci-fi fable called Memories of My Mother, whose story uncannily echoes the fraught mother-daughter relationship in her own life. Koreeda, a warm and wise observer, playfully scrambles the boundaries between art and life in his delightful, seriocomic examination of the push and pull of family affections.

Winner: Best Actress, Best Actor, Berlin Selected Filmography: Red Amnesia (2014), Shanghai Dreams (2005), Beijing Bicycle (2001) In Chinese with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Shoplifters (2018), Like Father, Like Son (2013), Still Walking (2008), Nobody Knows (2004), After Life (1998) In French and English with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 6:45 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 8:30 pm • REG

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Wednesday, January 8 • 1:00 pm • PSHS Friday, January 10 • 10:00 am • ANN Sunday, January 12 • 7:30 pm • MP

VARDA BY AGNÈS Varda par Agnès FRANCE/GERMANY, 2019 126 minutes Director: Agnès Varda Print Source: Janus Films

As a final gift to her fans, Agnès Varda has left us this buoyant last testament, a two-hour self portrait in which the spritely 90-year-old godmother of the French New Wave looks back on her life and work. Seated before an audience in a Paris opera house, she charms us with stories about her inspirations, her technique, her politics and her late husband Jacques Demy. We are treated to generous clips that range from her early breakthrough, Cleo from 5 to 7, to fascinating stories about the making of Vagabond with Sandrine Bonnaire, to her sojourns in 1960s L.A., to the great personal documentaries The Gleaners and I and Faces Places and her late work as a visual artist. If you don’t know Varda’s work, this playful, inventive film is a perfect introduction. To those who love and revere her, it’s the fondest of farewells. Selected Filmography: Faces Places (2017), The Beaches of Agnes (2008), The Gleaners and I (2000), Vagabond (1985), Cleo from 5 to 7 (1962) In French and German with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 9:00 am • PC Tuesday, January 7 • 12:00 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 6:15 pm • REG

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QUEER CINEMA TODAY Poignant, heartfelt and insightful stories from the LGBTQ+ community

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BORN TO BE USA, 2019 92 minutes Director: Tania Cypriano

The pioneering Dr. Jess Ting is the head surgeon at Mt. Sinai’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery. Sensitive, soft-spoken and with a sly sense of humor, this former Julliard music student and single dad is at the compassionate heart of Born to Be, Tania Cypriano’s moving documentary about the transgender experience. We follow in Dr. Ting’s footsteps as he works with his patients: the troubled 21-year-old beauty Devin, en route to becoming Garnet; the former male model Mahoney, who’s reshaped her forehead the way she’s always wanted; and Jordan, delighted with the results of Dr. Ting’s revolutionary phalloplasty. Intimate without ever feeling intrusive, Born To Be is honest in its acknowledgement that surgery cannot solve all of the psychological issues confronting these patients. Like the remarkable Dr. Ting, this film takes a close, deeply humane look. Selected Filmography: Grandma Has a Video Camera (2007) In English.

Saturday, January 4 • 10:30 am • REG Monday, January 6 • 3:00 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 10:00 am • ANN

QUEER CINEMA TODAY

CHANGING THE GAME

GAY CHORUS DEEP SOUTH

USA, 2019 95 minutes Director: Michael Barnett Print Source: The Film Collaborative

USA, 2019 92 minutes Director: David Charles Rodrigues Print Source: The Film Collaborative

The struggles and triumphs of three courageous transgender high school athletes are at the heart of this stirring and thoughtprovoking documentary. There’s 17-year-old Mack, born Mackenzie, a state championship wrestler forced to compete, by Texas rules, against girls, though his wish is to compete against boys. His victories are accompanied by jeers and hate mail. In Connecticut, where she is free to compete in the gender of her choice, track star Andraya runs for a school that’s warmly supportive, but it doesn’t stop the vitriol of angry parents. In New Hampshire, where we meet skier/activist Sarah, a black athlete adopted by white parents, the rules insist that surgery must be complete before she can compete as a girl. Changing the Game pays tribute to the grit and guts of these remarkable kids, while forcing us to ponder the complex issues that it artfully raises.

Winner: Audience Award, Outfest; Audience Award, Frameline Selected Filmography: The Mars Generation (2017), Superheroes

In English.

(2011)

In English.

Friday, January 10 • 4:00 pm • ANN Saturday, January 11 • 9:45 am • CAM

Thursday, January 9 • 6:30 pm • PSHS (Gayla Presentation) Friday, January 10 • 1:00 pm • ANN Saturday, January 11 • 9:00 am • PC

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QUEER CINEMA TODAY

LINGUA FRANCA

MOFFIE

USA/PHILIPPINES, 2019 95 minutes Director: Isabel Sandoval Cast: Isabel Sandoval, Eamon Farren, Ivory Aquino, PJ Boudousque, Lev Gorn Print Source: Luxbox

SOUTH AFRICA, 2019 104 minutes Director: Oliver Hermanus Cast: Kai Luke Brummer, Ryan de Villiers, Matthew Vey, Stefan Vermaak, Hilton Pelser Print Source: Greenwich Entertainment

With her third feature, filmmaker Isabel Sandoval delivers impressive turns both behind and in front of the camera in this heartfelt and semi-autobiographical docudrama. Olivia (Sandoval), an undocumented trans woman from the Philippines, works as a caretaker for an elderly Russian Jewish woman named Olga (Sex and the City’s Lynn Cohen) in Brooklyn, financially supporting both herself and her family back home. When the man she’s paying to marry her for a green card begins showing cold feet, Olivia’s all-consuming fear of deportation escalates dramatically. But her life takes an unexpected turn when a romantic connection starts to blossom with Olga’s black sheep grandson Alex (Twin Peaks: The Return’s Eamon Farren). With ICE raids perpetually hovering in the background, Lingua Franca takes a sobering, timely look at the anxieties and fears that plague both immigrants and transgender people in the U.S. today.

From the very beginning it’s obvious that Nicholas (Kai Luke Brummer) is a sensitive young man who wants nothing to do with what South Africa’s white minority government stands for. Based on the autobiographical novel by Andre Carl van der Merwe, director Oliver Hermanus takes us back to 1981 Apartheid, when all the young white men over 16 were required to serve in the military to protect their country against the “black danger.” Nicholas, portrayed with touching nuance and layers by Brummer, is in a constant state of anxiety; he refuses to conform to the racist, toxic masculinity of his boot camp, and also has to hide that he is a “moffie” (an Afrikaans gay slur) in order to survive this deeply homophobic environment. Hermanus paints a dark and poignant portrait of a somber era of South Africa’s history. Selected Filmography: The Endless River, (2015), Beauty (2011), Shirley Adams (2009)

Selected Filmography: Apparition (2012), Señorita (2011)

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In English, Russian and Tagalog with English subtitles.

North America Premiere | In Afrikaans and English with English subtitles.

Wednesday, January 8 • 7:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 9 • 10:30 am • CAM Friday, January 10 • 6:00 pm • MP

Wednesday, January 8 • 6:00 pm • REG Thursday, January 9 • 1:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 1:45 pm • CAM

QUEER CINEMA TODAY

OLIVER SACKS: HIS OWN LIFE

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE Portrait de la jeune fille en feu

USA/UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 114 minutes Director: Ric Burns Print Source: Zeitgeist Films

FRANCE, 2019 120 minutes Director: Céline Sciamma Cast: Noémie Merlant, Adèle Haenel, Luàna Bajrami, Valeria Golino Print Source: Neon

Most people know neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks as the bestselling author who made the science of the brain fascinating for the masses. But Sacks’ life was so much richer — and more challenging — than that short bio suggests, as director Ric Burns masterfully uncovers in this insightful and moving documentary. Spun from 80 hours of interviews with Sacks conducted after a cancer diagnosis left him with only months to live, and supplemented by archival footage and commentary from his friends, colleagues and patients, the film gets at the heart of Sacks’ extraordinary time on earth. Amiable, warm and engaging, Sacks is his own best witness to a life beset by struggle with his sexuality and in gaining the respect of a skeptical medical establishment, but also one of breakthroughs and triumphs, personal as well as professional. Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is a rich, engaging testament to a giant of our age who reveals himself as achingly, vulnerably human.

Selected Filmography: Enquiring Minds: The Untold Story of the Man Behind the National Enquirer (2014), Andy Warhol: A Documentary (2006)

Winner: Best Screenplay, Queer Palm, Cannes Selected Filmography: Girlhood (2014), Tomboy (2011) In French with English subtitles.

In English.

Sunday, January 5 • 10:00 am • PSHS Thursday, January 9 • 10:00 am • ANN Saturday, January 11 • 6:15 pm • PC

Thursday, January 9 • 3:15 pm • PSHS (Gayla Presentation) Friday, January 10 • 9:00 am • MP

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QUEER CINEMA TODAY

SECOND STAR ON THE RIGHT

SEQUIN IN A BLUE ROOM

Segunda estrella a la derecha COLOMBIA, 2019 82 minutes Director: Ruth Caudeli Cast: Silvia Varón, Ximena Rodríguez, Alejandra Lara, Tatiana Rentería, Diana Wiswell Print Source: The Open Reel

Bisexual Emilia, an aspiring actress in her mid-thirties who recently moved back home to save money, has hit something of a quarter-life crisis a few years later than most. Or maybe she’s only just now realizing that most of her girlfriends from college have started settling down with kids, spouses and careers. As the judgmental asides and glances from her maturing friends start to combine with her new girlfriend’s frustration with her inability to settle down, Emilia starts to take stock of her life before she loses the people who care about her most. Shot in a mixture of black-and-white and color, and playing like a cross between Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha and Phoebe WallerBridge’s Fleabag, this winning sophomore feature from Ruth Caudeli (Eva + Candela, PSIFF 2019), which she co-wrote with her dynamic lead actor Silvia Varón, is a sexy existential comedy about a magnetic young woman at a crossroads in life.

An up-to-the-minute queer coming-of-age story and stylish erotic thriller, Samuel Van Grinsven’s remarkable first film follows 16-year-old Sequin (Conor Leach) as he explores the world of anonymous sex. Addicted to a Grindr-like app called Anon, the striking, red-headed Sydney high schooler pursues older men. But after sex, he immediately blocks them. Emotions don’t enter the equation. But at a sex club where he runs into a married man who’s begun to stalk him, he becomes obsessed with one of his partners whose identity he’s desperate to uncover. Sexy but never exploitative, Van Grinsven’s drama paints an honest but never judgmental portrait of the hookup culture, and of the ways a younger and older generation of gay men deal with it. Leach is a sensation as the horny but increasingly bewildered Sequin, who gets his name from the glittery halter top he wears to his assignations.

Selected Filmography: Eva + Candela (2018)

Selected Filmography: The Endless River (2015), Beauty (2011), Shirley Adams (2009)

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Thursday, January 9 • 4:30 pm • CAM Friday, January 10 • 1:30 pm • MP

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AUSTRALIA, 2019 80 minutes Director: Samuel Van Grinsven Cast: Conor Leach, Anthony Brandon Wong, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor, Ed Wightman, Simon Croker

In English.

Saturday, January 4 • 4:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 6:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 4:00 pm • CAM

QUEER CINEMA TODAY

STAGE MOTHER

STRAIGHT UP

USA, 2019 93 minutes Director: Thom Fitzgerald Cast: Jacki Weaver, Lucy Liu, Adrian Grenier Print Source: Film Mode Entertainment

USA, 2019 96 minutes Director: James Sweeney Cast: Katie Findlay, James Sweeney, Randall Park Print Source: Strand Releasing

Sometimes it takes a tragic event to lead a person to happiness. That’s what happens to Maybelline (Jacki Weaver), a conservative Texas church choir director who has been estranged from her son Rickey since he came out a decade earlier. When Rickey dies unexpectedly, Maybelline finds herself the unlikely inheritor of his San Francisco drag club, and the new boss to an eclectic — and anarchic — group of performers. Even Rickey’s best friend Sienna (Lucy Liu, at her very best) thinks his mother should just go home. Despite pressure from her husband, Maybelline decides to stay in the Bay Area and turn her musical talents toward saving her son’s club from bankruptcy, and possibly alleviate the crushing guilt she feels for rejecting him years earlier. Funny and touching, director Thom Fitzgerald’s lyrical comedy-drama boasts a fiery supporting cast, including Mya Taylor (Tangerine, PSIFF 2015) and drag superstar Jackie Beat.

Everybody thinks skinny, obsessive-compulsive Todd is gay (his favorite film is Legally Blonde), and he might be but for his aversion to bodily fluids and physical contact. When he first meets aspiring actress Rory (Kate Findlay) at the library, the motor-mouth, socially inappropriate Todd asks her if she thinks he’s gay. But as soon as these two smart, neurotic twentysomethings start to banter, it’s clear they’re intellectual soulmates (both had applied to Yale due to an obsession with Gilmore Girls). It’s love at first quip. But are they meant to be lovers? Straight Up marks the astonishing debut of triple-threat talent James Sweeney, who wrote the witty mile-a-minute dialogue, directed with a perfect balance between artifice and real feeling, and stars as the unforgettably confused Todd. Finley as Rory partners him flawlessly, a millennial Hepburn to his nonbinary Tracy. It’s a deliciously different rom-com, in which sex is off the table — but never out of mind.

Selected Filmography: Cloudburst (2011), 3 Needles (2005), The Event (2003), The Hanging Garden (1997)

In English.

World Premiere | In English.

Saturday, January 4 • 7:00 pm • ANN Sunday, January 5 • 7:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 12:45 pm • MP

Saturday, January 4 • 12:45 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 6:45 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 1:00 pm • ANN

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TWO OF US Deux FRANCE/LUXEMBOURG/BELGIUM, 2019 95 minutes Director: Filippo Meneghetti Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Martine Chevallier, Léa Drucker, Muriel Benazeraf, Jérôme Varanfrain Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

To their families and neighbors, the two older women who live across the hall from each other are just good friends. But Nina (Barbara Sukowa) and Mado (Martine Chevallier) have been secret and devoted lovers for a lifetime. The free-spirited Nina is fed up with the deception while the more cautious, widowed Mado fears the reaction of her two adult children. They dream of selling their apartments in small-town France and moving to Rome to live openly as lovers, but Mado’s concerns — and a cruel twist of fate — imperil everything. Powered by these two remarkable actors, director Filippo Meneghetti’s deeply moving and beautifully crafted first film is a stirring depiction of the cost of living a lie, and of two women whose passion is put to a severe test. Selected Filmography: Maistrac: Lavorare in Cantiere (2009, doc feature)

U.S. Premiere | In French with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 10:30 am • MP Wednesday, January 8 • 1:15 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 7:30 pm • REG

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Psfilmfest.org

january 2-13, 2020

LET’S BRING MUSIC

Back to the Classroom Studies show that sudents who are exposed to lessons on a musical instrument score higher on tests, have higher grade point averages, develop organizational and self-discipline skills, and learn about teamwork and collaboration. The child who is skilled at a musical instrument tends to excel at problem-solving, pattern-recognition, fine-tuned auditory skills, and memorization—not to mention the self-confidence and self-esteem that come with musical performance. Exposure of all PSUSD students to music lessons, either private or group, is a District and Foundation priority. We believe every student deserves the opportunity to be prepared and to succeed.

Musical instruments enable self-expression and creativity. Your donation can make a difference in a student’s life!

$300 $20 $50 buys a 5th buys a 3rd buys a 4th grader a recorder

grader a ukulele

grader a keyboard

Visit psusdfoundation.net/donate today to make your donation, or call 760-416-8455!

Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, The Foundation for the Palm Springs Unified School District can improve lives and strengthen our children through public education. Our task is bridging gaps, and providing the resources to improve student academic preparedness across the education continuum.

The Foundation for the Palm Springs Unified School District is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, Federal Tax I.D. #26-1265520. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law.

psusdfoundation.net | Ellen Goodman, Executive Director

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11/25/19 6:15 AM

NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS Unique viewpoints from first- and secondtime directors

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ARAB BLUES Un divan à Tunis FRANCE/TUNISIA, 2019 88 minutes Director: Manele Labidi Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Majd Mastoura, Aïcha Ben Miled, Feriel Chamari Print Source: mk2 films

When Selma (Golshifteh Farhani) decides to return home to Tunisia after years in France, she is far from realizing all the roadblocks she will encounter, making the beginning of this new chapter quite hectic. Yet Selma puts out one fire after the next with boldness and aplomb, determined to relocate her psychotherapy practice to a country where mental health is still taboo. Perhaps best known for her dramatic performances, Farhani surprises in a more comedic role, bringing energy, vitality and wit. Drawing the perfect parallel between a country trying to redefine itself after a revolution and a woman seeking a fresh start, writer/director Manele Labidi’s debut feature delivers a fun and humorous take on the difficulties of starting over while capturing Tunisia in an honest yet lighthearted way. In French and Arabic with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 9:45 am • REG Friday, January 10 • 7:00 pm • PSHS Saturday, January 11 • 1:00 pm • CAM

january 2-13, 2020

NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS

BLOW THE MAN DOWN USA, 2019 92 minutes Directors: Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy Cast: Morgan Saylor, Sophie Lowe, Margo Martindale, Will Brittain, Gayle Rankin Print Source: Amazon Studios

Mary Beth (Morgan Saylor) and Priscilla (Sophie Lowe) are sisters living in a small New England fishing town who find themselves in too deep after the death of their mother forces them to sell the family home. After her hopes of attending college are also lost, Mary Beth stumbles into a crime that requires Priscilla’s help in covering up. Soon their mother’s cohorts begin to encroach upon them, revealing a quietly hidden criminal underbelly led by the cunning matron Enid Nora Devlin (the spectacular Margo Martindale). Bursting at the seams with an ensemble of stellar character actresses including Gayle Rankin (GLOW) and Oscar® nominee June Squibb (Nebraska), directors Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy’s rich examination of women operating outside of the law in smalltown America is an evocative blend of subtle humor and tension that unabashedly celebrates female community.

THE GOOD INTENTIONS Las buenas intenciones ARGENTINA, 2019 86 minutes Director: Ana García Blaya Cast: Javier Drolas, Amanda Minujin, Ezequiel Fontenla, Carmela Minujin, Sebastián ArzenoPrint Source: Film Factory Entertainment

For 10-year-old Amanda (Amanda Minujin) the experience of growing up in Buenos Aires in the early 1990s is anything but typical. Juggling the usual concerns of being a fifth-grader with caring for her three younger siblings in the wake of her parents’ divorce, she finds herself also having to parent her sweet but clueless slacker of a dad. But when Amanda’s mom decides to move the family to Paraguay to give her children a better life, Amanda is suddenly torn between the appeal of having a safe, predictable upbringing and saying goodbye to the freewheeling father she loves so dearly. Quickly cooking up a scheme to stay, the precocious preteen slowly awakens to the bittersweet realization that we must accept the ones we love, faults and all, in this scrappy, intimate and deeply touching autobiographical first feature from writer/director Ana García Blaya. U.S. Premiere | In Spanish with English subtitles.

Winner: Best Screenplay — U.S. Narrative, Tribeca In English.

Monday, January 6 • 6:45 pm • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 9:45 am • MP Sunday, January 12 • 1:30 pm • CAM

Saturday, January 4 • 6:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 3:00 pm • MP Monday, January 6 • 10:30 am • CAM

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NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS

HEARTS AND BONES AUSTRALIA, 2019 111 minutes Director: Ben Lawrence Cast: Hugo Weaving, Andrew Luri, Hayley McElhinney, Bolude Watson Print Source: Visit Films

Hugo Weaving plays Dan, a war photographer who, on a rare trip home to Sydney, encounters a South Sudanese refugee named Sebastian (Andrew Luri, in an outstanding acting debut). The men become unlikely friends over tangentially shared experiences, and share a guarded hope for the future despite each man carrying the psychological burden of what he has seen and experienced. While Sebastian’s home life is centered on the imminent birth of his first child, the photographer grapples with a more uneasy domestic life. When a photograph for Dan’s upcoming gallery show appears that might mean more than it seems, Dan and Sebastian face urgent questions of trust, with no positive outcome in sight. Director Ben Lawrence’s compelling and accomplished narrative feature debut has earned deserved plaudits globally for its unforgettable performances and a morally complex and timely story. Selected Filmography: Ghosthunter (2016, doc feature)

LARA GERMANY, 2019 98 minutes Director: Jan-Ole Gerster Cast: Corinna Harfouch, Tom Schilling, Rainer Bock, Volkmar Kleinert Print Source: Beta Cinema

When we first meet Lara (Corinna Harfouch) it’s her 60th birthday and she’s at her window, ready to jump. But it’s not her age she’s dreading: Tonight, her gifted pianist son Viktor (Tom Schilling) is performing a concert, yet their troubled relationship has Lara questioning whether she is welcome to attend. Over the course of the frantic afternoon, Lara purchases as many concert tickets as she can, handing them out to everyone she comes across. Here, director Jan-Ole Gerster (A Coffee in Berlin) flirts with layers of intrigue: Why is Lara so hard on Viktor? And why is she so conflicted about his career as a virtuoso? A major psychological character study rendered in a beautifully minor key, Lara is sure to strike a chord with anyone who has grappled with the pressures of tough love criticism, or the intense desire to earn approval from those who teach us. Selected Filmography: A Coffee in Berlin (2012) In German with English subtitles.

In English.

Monday, January 6 • 6:30 pm • MP Thursday, January 9 • 3:45 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 7:00 pm • PSHS

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Monday, January 6 • 10:00 am • PSHS Wednesday, January 8 • 3:30 pm • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 11:30 am • REG

NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS

LINA FROM LIMA

LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM

Lina de Lima CHILE/PERU/ARGENTINA, 2019 83 minutes Director: Maria Paz González Cast: Magaly Solier, Emilia Ossandón Print Source: Latido Films

BHUTAN, 2019 109 minutes Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji Cast: Sherab Dorji, Ugyen Norbu Lhendup, Kelden Lhamo Gurung, Pem Zam Print Source: Films Boutique

It’s Christmastime in Chile, but for Peruvian migrant worker Lina (Magaly Solier), merriment and good cheer are harder and harder to come by. Unable to make it home to Lima for the holidays, the Quechua immigrant finds herself stuck housesitting for her wealthy boss, overseeing renovations on the type of home she could only attain in dreams. Harried by her teenage son’s insistence on an overpriced soccer jersey for Christmas despite money being too tight to mention, and the revelation that her ex-husband is happy with a new wife and baby, Lina copes in increasingly inventive and resourceful ways. By forming an ad hoc family with her boss’s young daughter, finding release at the touch of new lovers, and losing herself in a series of rich, colorful and fantastic musical daydreams, Lina fends off loneliness and reclaims her identity in this fresh, sparkling and unconventional musical from writer/director María Paz González.

Bhutan, a Buddhist kingdom on the edge of the Himalayas, may be considered the “Happiest Place on Earth,” but Ugyen wants more. A young teacher with aspirations of being a singer, Ugyen dreams of moving to Australia. While waiting for his visa, he is sent to Lunana, one of the most remote villages on Earth. Accessible by a long bus ride followed by an arduous week-long hike on foot, Ugyen arrives to find the conditions more primitive than expected. The school is a bare room, devoid of supplies, textbooks, even a blackboard. But the locals are so relieved to have a teacher that they pitch in to provide him with necessities, both tangible and intangible. Little by little, the displaced educator in turn learns the importance of simplicity. Shot on location at above 16,000 feet, writer/director Pawo Choyning Dorji’s uplifting and visually awe-inspiring tale was filmed using solar-powered batteries to account for the area’s remoteness and lack of practical filmmaking resources.

U.S. Premiere | In Spanish with English subtitles.

U.S. Premiere | In Bhutanese with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 3:45 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 12:45 pm • MP Monday, January 6 • 10:30 am • REG

Friday, January 10 • 4:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 12:15 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 10:30 am • MP

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NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS

MURMUR

PATRICK De Patrick

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CANADA, 2019 86 minutes Director: Heather Young Cast: Shan MacDonald, Andria Edwards

BELGIUM, 2019 100 minutes Director: Tim Mielants Cast: Kevin Janssens, Pierre Bokma, Katelijne Damen, Hannah Hoekstra, Jemaine Clement Print Source: Beta Cinema

Winner of numerous awards and filmed on a shoestring budget, Murmur’s use of non-professional actors and real locations result in an emotional and situational authenticity hard to match outside of a documentary. Donna (Shan MacDonald) has been convicted of Driving While Impaired, a judgment that, coupled with her history of alcoholism, has severed her relationship with her family and friends. Sentenced to perform community service in an animal shelter, Donna discovers that her care, particularly of the elderly and “unadoptable” pets, starts to fill her deep wells of loneliness. The metaphor of rescue is clear, but soon Donna finds herself in over her head, and steps must be taken. Writer/ director Heather Young’s intimate and totally compelling Murmur is a film that doesn’t turn away from uncomfortable truths about how difficult life can be for those who have fallen by the wayside.

In this endearing, oddball comedy, socially awkward Patrick (Kevin Janssens) works as the handyman on his parent’s naturalist campsite. His father is unwell and his mother is blind. Between taking care of them and responding to the demands of the camp’s very vocal, long-term clients, Patrick can barely wait to retreat to his rigidly ordered workshop to pursue his hobby of designing and creating furniture. Soon, two major blows strike: his father dies and his favorite hammer goes missing. How, in a place where everyone lets literally everything hang out, can something disappear? For his bold and surprisingly affecting feature debut, writer/director Tim Mielants took inspiration from a trip to a nudist camp with his parents in the 1980s. Amazingly, he has no problem convincing his desired actors, including Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), to appear in their birthday suits.

Winner: FIPRESCI Prize — Discovery, Toronto

Winner: Best Director, Karlovy Vary

U.S. Premiere | In English.

In Dutch, French and English with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 5:15 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 12:15 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 3:00 pm • CAM

Wednesday, January 8 • 7:15 pm • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 12:15 pm • PSHS Sunday, January 12 • 7:00 pm • ANN

NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS

A SON

SONG WITHOUT A NAME

Bik Eneich: Un Fils

Canción sin nombre

FRANCE/TUNISIA/LEBANON/QATAR, 2019 96 minutes Director: Mehdi M. Barsaoui Cast: Sami Bouajila, Najla Ben Abdallah, Youssef Khemiri Print Source: Jour2Fête

PERU/SPAIN/USA/CHILE, 2019 97 minutes Director: Melina León Cast: Pamela Mendoza Arpi, Tommy Párraga, Lucio Rojas, Maykol Hernández, Lidia Quispe Print Source: Film Movement

Fares (Sami Bouajila) and Meriam (Najla Ben Abdallah) seem to have it all: a strong marriage, a delightful 10-year-old son, fruitful careers and a fun group of friends. But while on the road to a family weekend getaway, their car is caught in an ambush and their son, Aziz, is struck by a bullet. In his feature debut, Mehdi Barsaoui depicts a tragic event that uncovers even more complex and knotty issues. His camera captures the growing fracture of his two main characters by isolating them within the frame, and his deft screenplay never dwells on superficial narrative elements. As Fares and Meriam see their life exploding, they are forced to expose their true sides, and in their time of desperation resort to making rash decisions. Bouajila and Ben Abdallah portray the central couple, whose two pillars — their son and their marriage — are in mortal danger, with a devastating and heartbreaking authenticity. Winner: Best Actor — Horizons, Venice

Eager to create a better life for themselves and their soonto-be first child, young indigenous couple Leo (Lucio Rojas) and Georgina (Pamela Mendoza Arpi) leave their Quechua community for the bustle of 1980s Lima at a time of intense social upheaval. When Georgina hears an ad for a pregnancy clinic offering free care, she gladly accepts what little help is made available. But when her newborn daughter is kidnapped from the delivery room, the “clinic” quickly becomes an empty storefront. After local authorities turn a blind eye, Georgina’s only chance at recovering her child is enlisting the help of local journalist (Tommy Párraga). Soon the pair uncovers a terrifying child abduction ring and a web of corruption that goes straight to the upper echelons of power. This visually stunning and assured debut from writer/director Melina León is inspired by and dedicated to her journalist father whose fearless reporting helped uncover a massive child smuggling operation in the early 1980s.

U.S. Premiere | In Arabic and French with English subtitles.

In Spanish and Quechua with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 6:45 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 3:00 pm • MP

Friday, January 3 • 9:00 am • MP Friday, January 10 • 6:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 3:15 pm • CAM

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NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS

A THIEF’S DAUGHTER La hija de un ladron SPAIN, 2019 83 minutes Director: Belén Funes Cast: Greta Fernández, Eduard Fernández, Àlex Monner, Tomás Martín Print Source: Latido Films

Born into Barcelona’s working poor and surviving through a series of low-wage, low-skilled, dead-end jobs, 22-year-old Sara (Greta Fernández) wants nothing more than to raise her infant son Joel, get her kid brother Martin out of foster care, and to never again be alone in a world that expects her to fail. When she finally lands a steady job in an industrial kitchen, and her case to gain custody of Martin moves forward, Sara discovers her troubled father Manuel (Eduard Fernández) has been released from prison and is seeking a reunion with his estranged children. Soon Sara’s new and fragile sense of normalcy is tested by Manuel’s toxic presence, a tentative connection to her flesh and blood quickly broken by his inevitable unreliability. Backed into a corner by a world that has never given her the benefit of the doubt, Sara must make a stand for the promise of a better future in this raw and riveting debut feature from director Belén Funes. Winner: Best Actress, Thessaloniki

WORKFORCE Mano de obra MEXICO, 2019 82 minutes Director: David Zonana Cast: Luis Alberti, Hugo Mendoza, Jonathan Sanchez, Horacio Celestino Print Source: Wild Bunch

When his brother Claudio accidentally falls to his death while working on a luxury mansion, fellow laborer Francisco’s already bare-bones existence among Mexico City’s struggling working class takes an unexpected and devastating hit. With little time to process his brother’s passing before having to return to work, and now with a pregnant sister-in-law to look after, the construction worker seeks out what little recompense is available through his employer’s insurance. But the greedy and uncaring operation refuses to pay out, blaming Claudio for his own death, backing an already weary Francisco into a desperate and dangerous corner. With the money gone and nowhere left to turn, Francisco seizes an opportunity to live the kind of life long denied him. Soon, the sweet taste of how the other half lives proves to be an intoxicating mix for the worker, blurring the lines between exploiters and the exploited, and building to a devastating climax in this stunning, slow-burn debut feature from writer/director David Zonana. U.S. Premiere | In Spanish and English with English subtitles.

In Spanish and Catalan with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 9:00 am • CAM Friday, January 10 • 3:15 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 12:45 pm • MP

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Friday, January 3 • 7:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 9 • 6:00 pm • CAM

JULY 24 - AUG 9

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Holiday Checklist

Perfect Gifts, Gorgeous Watches, Dior Cruise Essentials & More

Giving Back

A Portfolio of O.C.’s Most Prolific Philanthropists

Plus

Marché Moderne Dazzles in Newport Beach

Tracee Ellis Ross Fabulous & Fearless

M O D E R N L U X U R Y. C O M

ACROSS CALIFORNIA, WE MAKE LIVING WELL AN ART FORM. C U LT U R E

FA S H I O N

DINING

JEWELRY

NIGHTLIFE

WAT C H E S

DESIGN

TO S U B S C R I B E V I S I T

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INTERVIEWS

T R AV E L

TRUE STORIES

ADVOCATE ISRAEL/CANADA/SWITZERLAND, 2019 108 minutes Directors: Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaiche Print Source: Film Movement

“I always see the person behind the case,” pronounces Israeli human rights lawyer Lea Tsemel, as she again fights for due process in the cases of Palestinians accused of terrorism. This intimate, unflinching portrait follows Tsemel as she defends a 13-year-old boy who participated in a knife attack, and a disturbed woman whose failed suicide bombing may have been more about suicide than politics. Decades of mostly losing cases has not deterred her, and led to her 1999 win of a landmark case in which the Supreme Court ruled that interrogations cannot involve torture. Tsemel’s family escaped the Holocaust by moving to Israel, and her compassionate empathy for those without a homeland is the force that empowers her uphill struggle for a system that is fair to all. As this moving and illuminating film reveals, war is what happens when two opposing sides are unable to hear each other. Peace begins when you listen. Selected Filmography: Gypsy Davy (2011) In Hebrew, Arabic and English with English subtitles.

Nonfiction filmmaking at its most urgent and illuminating

Sunday, January 5 • 6:00 pm • PC Monday, January 6 • 11:15 am • REG Saturday, January 11 • 1:30 pm • MP

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ARA MALIKIAN. A LIFE AMONG STRINGS

THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM

Ara Malikian. Una vida entre cuerdas SPAIN, 2019 89 minutes Director: Nata Moreno Print Source: FREAK Independent Film Agency

AUSTRALIA, 2019 105 minutes Director: Daniel Gordon Print Source: Lorton Entertainment

With his unruly mane of curly, coal-black hair, mascara-caked eyes, stylishly ragged clothes and thick beard, musician Ara Malikian looks every inch the raging punk rocker instead of the classically trained violinist he is. From his birth, into an Armenian family in Lebanon, to his formative years as a teen prodigy studying at Germany’s prestigious Hanover University, where he performed in bars and busked on the streets for change, Malikian’s salvation was and remains the violin. Now credited with more than 25 albums, sold-out world tours that combine the spectacle of symphony with the intensity of the most impassioned rock show, Malikian is a genre-melding iconoclast who manages to find joy and renewal in his beloved instrument, and in the messiness that is being human, in this lively and kinetic debut from director Nata Moreno.

Good things can come from difficult situations. Just ask Adam Goodes. The Aboriginal Goodes, an elite and accomplished Australian rules football player, endured shocking racism while he played, and his experiences — including his pointed and powerful pushback towards racists — changed the course of his life and sparked a long overdue national conversation in Australia. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Daniel Gordon, and written by Stan Grant (an Aboriginal journalist, most recognizable to Americans as the former Beijing correspondent for CNN), the film balances Goodes’ profound personal experiences with the larger social and political context. Cogent, compelling and deeply moving, The Australian Dream is universal in its themes and reach. Goodes emerges as a thoughtful, intelligent man who loved his game but whose life changed course, and who sees a future path of reconciliation and change.

U.S. Premiere | In Spanish and English with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: George Best: All By Himself (2016), Crossing the Line (2006), The Game of Their Lives (2002) In English.

Tuesday, January 7 • 7:45 pm • MP Wednesday, January 8 • 10:30 am • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 9:00 pm • REG

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Monday, January 6 • 3:45 pm • PSHS Tuesday, January 7 • 1:00 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 10:00 am • ANN

january 2-13, 2020

TRUE STORIES

BILLIE

THE CAPOTE TAPES

UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 96 minutes Director: James Erskine Print Source: The Festival Agency

UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 91 minutes Director: Ebs Burnough Print Source: Greenwich Entertainment

To make this film about the incomparable Billie Holiday, director James Erskine (The Ice King, PSIFF 2019) had access to a treasure trove of previously unheard material. In the 1970s, Holiday biographer Linda Lipnack Kuehl recorded hundreds of hours of interviews with the jazz singer’s friends, lovers, musicians, relatives, even the fed who busted her for drugs in 1947 and the oddly jolly pimp who had her turning tricks at 13. Her life was rough, and Billie doesn’t shy away from the wreckage. But out of that pain and a voracious lust for life arose the greatest jazz singer of the century. Featuring generous clips of her performances — her wrenching London rendition of Strange Fruit will chill your bones — and unfiltered insights from Sylvia Syms, Tony Bennett, Count Basie, John Hammond and many others, Billie is essential viewing for anyone who’s fallen under the spell of the great Lady Day.

No American writer flew so high, or crashed so publicly, as Truman Capote. Abandoned by his mother in rural Alabama, he rose to the heights of New York society as the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood. He hosted the legendary “Black and White Ball” at the Plaza Hotel and became the trusted confidante of such social aristocrats as Babe Paley, Lee Radziwill and C.Z. Guest, who dropped him with a vengeance when Capote published excerpts from the unfinished Answered Prayers, exposing their deepest secrets in barely fictionalized form. Director Ebs Burnough’s comprehensive and revelatory film has access to newly discovered taped interviews that George Plimpton conducted with Capote’s friends and enemies. It adds insightful interviews with Dick Cavett, writers Colm Tóibín and Jay McInerney, and with his assistant Kate Harrington, whose father was one of Capote’s lovers. The Capote Tapes does full justice to the brilliance, courage and demons of this singular literary icon.

Selected Filmography: The Ice King (2018), The Battle of the Sexes (2013)

In English. In English.

Sunday, January 5 • 4:15 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 12:30 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 10:00 am • ANN

Thursday, January 9 • 1:00 pm • ANN Friday, January 10 • 12:00 pm • CAM

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COUP 53

DAVID FOSTER: OFF THE RECORD

UNITED KINGDOM/USA/IRAN, 2019 119 minutes Director: Taghi Amirani Cast: Ralph Fiennes

CANADA, 2019 98 minutes Director: Barry Avrich With: Barbra Streisand, Lionel Richie, Céline Dion, Michael Bublé, Quincy Jones Print Source: Melbar Entertainment Group

The Middle East today might be a far different place were it not for a coup sponsored in 1963 by Eisenhower and Churchill. Under the code name Operation Ajax, the CIA and MI6 secretly plotted the overthrow of the democratically elected president of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, who had nationalized the oil industry, dealing a devastating blow to the English economy. Filmmaker Taghi Amirani had to dig deep to uncover the wild twists and turns of this epochal event, which led to the restoration of the Shah, which led to the Islamic Republic that is now our sworn enemy. Coup 53 unfolds not just as a great history lesson but as a thriller, as the obsessive Amirani uncovers the identity of the mysterious British secret agent Norman Darbyshire, who ran Operation Ajax on the ground. To read his unearthed testimony, Amirana recruited actor Ralph Fiennes, who delivers with mesmerizing results.

The new documentary from director Barry Avrich (Prosecuting Evil) celebrates David Foster, one of the most successful composers and music producers of all time. Beginning his career as a performer, Foster rapidly evolved into a session player, arranger and ultimately a record producer of extraordinary talent and vision. A 16-time Grammy award winner credited with over half a billion records sold, Foster is responsible for some of the most iconic music of the last four decades, creating remarkable work with artists Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Josh Groban, Michael Buble and Celine Dion. The film goes beyond the wall of trophies to examine a man of ambition, extraordinary talent and brittle temperament, an artist who himself questions what he may have sacrificed in pursuit of that perfect and euphoric sound.

In English, Persian, Italian and French with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Prosecuting Evil (2018), The Reckoning: Hollywood’s Worst Kept Secret (2018), Blurred Lines: Inside the Art World (2017) U.S. Premiere | In English.

Tuesday, January 7 • 2:00 pm • PC Wednesday, January 8 • 9:00 am • MP Thursday, January 9 • 1:15 pm • REG

140

Saturday, January 4 • 8:00 pm • PSHS Sunday, January 5 • 10:00 am • ANN Monday, January 6 • 7:00 pm • CAM

TRUE STORIES

THE DOG DOC

THE DONUT DOLLIES

USA, 2019 101 minutes Director: Cindy Meehl Print Source: Submarine Entertainment

USA/VIETNAM, 2019 87 minutes Director: Norman Anderson

A little white dog named Waffles will pull at your heartstrings in this involving and poignant documentary about unconventional veterinarian Marty Goldstein, whose embrace of alternative therapies puts him at odds with the veterinary establishment, even as he saves lives. Director Cindy Meehl blends interviews with a fly-on-the-wall approach as she follows Goldstein and his associates as they attempt to perform miracles in upstate New York. The dogs and cats they treat are in dire straits; so ill that other veterinarians have given up. But by employing treatments rejected by the veterinary establishment, such as acupuncture and Vitamin C infusions, Goldstein gets results. Meehl concentrates on several “hopeless” canine cases, deep-diving into their treatments and tracking the progress of some, especially Waffles, at home. Not every pet can be saved, but Goldstein’s passion for making animals’ lives better infuses every frame. The Dog Doc is an often moving, emotional rollercoaster. Bring tissues.

After returning to Vietnam for the first time in 47 years, two women experience an upwelling of emotions as they trace their early experiences as Red Cross Donut Dollie volunteers in 1968, moving via helicopter from one battle zone to the next to provide beaten-down troops with a fresh and smiling face. The Dollies are treated with immense compassion and hospitality by the Vietnamese, but it is their encounters with traveling U.S. veterans that bring up feelings so strong and complex that no one can dam their tears. The Dollies recount their profound journey from admittedly naïve young women to emergency therapists for grieving and traumatized soldiers. Though their mission was to project wholesome motherly and sisterly love, there were a few instances of wild nights and secret affairs. This moving film honors their sacrifice and serves as a reminder that not all Dollies made it back from the war, either. In English and Vietnamese with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Buck (2011) In English.

Sunday, January 5 • 10:30 am • REG Friday, January 10 • 12:45 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 9:45 am • CAM

Monday, January 6 • 4:00 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 12:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 1:30 pm • MP

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FORMAN VS. FORMAN

FREE COLOR

CZECH REPUBLIC/FRANCE, 2019 78 minutes Directors: Helena Trestíková, Jakub Hejna Print Source: Negativ Film Productions

USA/VENEZUELA/FRANCE, 2019 67 minutes Director: Alberto Arvelo Print Source: See-Through

This illuminating documentary about the charismatic two-time Oscar® winner (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus) Milos Forman (1932–2018) shows how he overcame the oppressive systems — from Nazism and Communism to Hollywood — that shaped his life and cinema of resistance. His experience with totalitarian regimes endowed him with the theme of an individual in conflict with institutions, a subject he continued to successfully develop in his American films. Orphaned at an early age after his parents were accused of working for the resistance during the German Occupation and sent to death camps, Forman fell in love with cinema, particularly Italian Neorealism, an influence reflected in his early films Black Peter (1964), Loves of a Blonde (1965) and The Firemen’s Ball (1967). With access to a treasure trove of archival materials and interviews, filmmakers Jakub Hejna and Helena Trestíková pay tribute to an artist constantly in the throes of creative and political struggle.

The rich, color-drenched work of legendary Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez opens doors to a playful and intriguing universe of ideas and emotions. Primary colors come alive in vivid chromo-saturated spaces both grand and intimate, in a style that creates the illusion of movement and questions the very definition of color itself. After a groundbreaking sevendecade career, at age 94, Cruz-Diez embarked upon his most ambitious and ultimately final project: to free color from form, to liberate it from light, narrative and matter. Using a treasure trove of home movies, candid interviews and fly-on-the-wall perspectives, director Alberto Arvelo (The Liberator, PSIFF 2015) has crafted a lively and touching portrait of a unique and restless artist as gentleman; a generous and devoted father and grandfather whose practice was always a true family affair, and whose brilliance of mind was equal only to his openness of heart.

Selected Filmography: Jakub Hejna: Divadlo Svoboda (2011) Helena Trestíková: Mallory (2015), Katka (2010), René (2008), The Sweet Century (1998)

Selected Filmography: The Liberator (2013), A House with a View of the Sea (2001) World Premiere | In Spanish, English and French with English subtitles.

In Czech, English and French with English subtitles. Monday, January 6 • 12:30 pm • CAM Wednesday, January 8 • 3:45 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 9:45 am • REG

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I AM NOT ALONE

THE KINGMAKER

ARMENIA, 2019 93 minutes Director: Garin Hovannisian Print Source: Submarine Entertainment

USA, 2019 102 minutes Director: Lauren Greenfield Print Source: Showtime

Can one uncompromising idealist inspire his countrymen to overthrow a tyrant? When the corrupt Republican Party of Armenia bestowed near-dictatorial powers on Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, former journalist and member of Parliament Nikol Pashinyan, who had served time in prison for his resistance to the leader, began a two-week march through Armenia, picking up fellow resistors on his way to the capital, with the dream of stopping the election. The turnout was a disappointment, but Pashinyan was undeterred, and as his acts of resistance turned bolder — storming the national broadcasting network, putting his body on the line against brutal police repression — the tide took an amazing turn. American filmmaker Garin Hovannisian, with access to the key players on both sides of the struggle, captures the rousing, epochal events with first-hand immediacy, producing one of the most inspirational and timely political documentaries of the year.

Lauren Greenfleld’s documentary about the legendarily extravagant Imelda Marcos (who at 84 granted the filmmaker remarkable access) starts with the obvious: the shoes! The Picassos and Old Masters! The closets overflowing with dresses! The swarm of servants at her beck and call! All this you would expect from the razor-sharp eye of the director of The Queen of Versailles. Greenfield lets the former first lady of the Philippines benignly brush aside any suggestions of corruption in her husband’s long and brutal reign, and then she builds a movie around her that puts the lie to her dulcet disclaimers. The Kingmaker show us the dynastic ambitions of the Marcos clan, and gives us the political context that allowed Imelda to rise to a position of enormous power. It’s all here, from the glamor to the cutthroat, in this remarkable portrait of a woman whose ambition is still in overdrive.

Winner: Audience Award — Best Feature, AFI Film Festival Selected Filmography: 1915 (2015)

Selected Filmography: Generation Wealth (2018), The Queen of Versailles (2012) In English

In Armenian with English subtitles. . Saturday, January 4 • 7:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 4:30 pm • CAM Monday, January 6 • 9:45 am • REG

Wednesday, January 8 • 4:00 pm • PSHS Thursday, January 9 • 10:30 am • MP Sunday, January 12 • 10:30 am • CAM

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LEFTOVER WOMEN

MAXIMA

ISRAEL, 2019 84 minutes Directors: Shosh Shlam, Hilla Medalia Print Source: metfilm

USA/PERU, 2019 88 minutes Director: Claudia Sparrow

With 30 million more men than women — a result of the one child policy in China — it should seem difficult to find an unmarried woman past the age of 20. Yet, so many women remain unmarried that the government once again tries to run a policy to offset what they consider to be a shameful situation. Labeled sheng nu (“leftover women”) by the All-China Women’s Federation, unmarried women are pushed into governmentorganized Valentine’s Day dating parties, and mix-and-match events in public parks. Qiu Hua Mei is a successful 34-year-old lawyer facing an uphill battle to find an educated mate from a rural background who doesn’t insist on being the dominant partner. Xu Min is a 28-year-old radio talk show host whose mother believes her daughter’s suitors are never good enough. This affecting documentary spotlights how being single past 27 shows a lack of respect for one’s parents and is a source of shame in China.

When she purchased a pristine lakeside plot in 1994, indigenous farmer Máxima Acuña wanted little more than to live in peace, raise her family with her husband and make a living farming potatoes deep in the Andes. But further west, the Yanacocha gold and copper mine owned by U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corporation was tearing through the earth and poisoning regional water supplies. Soon Yanacocha would unveil plans to develop an even more massive project that would lay claim to Máxima’s humble farm. Through ongoing violent intimidation and harassment at the hands of a powerful U.S. company with influence at all levels of the Peruvian government, Máxima’s ferocious determination persists, elevating her into a potent and powerful global symbol of the fight against corporate greed in this rousing and emotional documentary from director Claudia Sparrow and executive producer Lesley Chilcott (An Inconvenient Truth).

Selected Filmography: Shosh Shlam: Web Junkie (2014), Good Garbage (2008), Last Journey into Silence (2003) Hilla Medalia: Web Junkie (2014), Dancing in Jaffa (2013)

Selected Filmography: I Remember You (2015) In Spanish and English with English subtitles.

In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 12:00 pm • MP Tuesday, January 7 • 8:45 pm • REG Thursday, January 9 • 10:15 am • REG

144

Saturday, January 4 • 8:15 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 12:00 pm • PC Wednesday, January 8 • 4:45 pm • REG

TRUE STORIES

THE NEW BAUHAUS USA, 2019 89 minutes Director: Alysa Nahmias

ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND CANADA, 2019 100 minutes Director: Daniel Roher With: Robbie Robertson, Martin Scorsese, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Taj Mahal Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

The Hungarian artist László Moholy-Nagy may not be as famous as Picasso or Klee, or his Bauhaus school contemporaries Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, but his influence on art and design in modern culture is indelible. A visionary teacher and artist who worked in a myriad of forms — photography, painting, film, graphic arts, collage, sculpture — he fled the Nazis and in 1939 formed The New Bauhaus in Chicago. There he broke down the barriers between art and design, encouraged his students to use the latest technology to wed artistic ends to social progress and confronted the tensions between art and commerce. His pioneering multimedia ideas were decades ahead of his time. As Forbes magazine wrote about director Alysa Nahmais’ deep, inspirational chronicle of his life and work: “By the end of the movie, you won’t just admire Maholy-Nagy, you’ll want to be just like him.”

Martin Scorsese’s landmark concert documentary The Last Waltz was released more than 40 years ago, but time has not dimmed the musical and cultural impact of The Band, a group many claim was one of the greatest ever. Based on The Band frontman Robbie Robertson’s 2016 autobiography Testimony: A Memoir, director Daniel Roher has crafted a smooth and fulsome account of the rise and fall of the group from Robertson’s point of view. Roher includes compelling and insightful interviews with artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Ronnie Hawkins and others, many of whom created their seminal work alongside The Band. Appropriately, the film culminates with the shooting of The Last Waltz, considered by many to be one of the greatest rockumentaries of all time, and the final public performance of a group whose impact on modern music is still felt.

Selected Filmography: Unfinished Spaces (2012)

Selected Filmography: Ghosts of Our Forest (2017)

In English.

Saturday, January 4 • 1:00 pm • ANN Sunday, January 5 • 3:00 pm • PC Sunday, January 12 • 10:00 am • PC

Thursday, January 9 • 4:00 pm • ANN Friday, January 10 • 6:45 pm • REG

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OUR TIME MACHINE

PARIS STALINGRAD

CHINA/USA, 2019 81 minutes Directors: Yang Sun, S. Leo Chiang Print Source: The Film Collaborative

FRANCE, 2019 86 minutes Directors: Hind Meddeb, Thim Naccache

Upon learning that his father Ma Ke, former director at the Peking Opera, is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, famed conceptual artist and puppeteer Ma Liang (a.k.a. Maleonn) embarks upon his most challenging and emotional work yet: a large-scale biographical performance on time and memory, using life-size mechanical puppets, about his father’s life. Not only does Maleonn intend to honor and explore his father within the content of the piece — titled “Papa’s Time Machine” — but asks him to collaborate on the project as well. While crafting this elaborate and breathtaking performance together, the two men are forced to confront their pasts, their regrets, and their future, when Maleonn’s father’s memories will be lost forever. This profoundly emotional documentary by directors S. Leo Chiang and Yang Sun is also an impressive technical marvel that’s gorgeous to behold.

Shot in Paris in 2016, Hind Meddeb’s urgent and intimate documentary immerses us in the Paris Stalingrad neighborhood where floods of immigrants who have fled wars and persecution in Africa and the Middle East sleep on the streets where they are continually subject to police raids. We see a French bureaucracy overwhelmed and undermanned; we see sympathetic activists and volunteers trying to help in the face of increasingly brutal repression. This empathetic on-the-ground report puts us in the shoes of these abandoned refugees. At the center of this story is 17-year-old Souleymane, whose family was lost in the war in Darfur. Souleymane, who has been homeless and adrift since he was 13 and is praying that he can find a legal home in France, recites poetry to keep his spirits alive. The filmmaker becomes an active participant in her own movie, developing deep connections with her subjects, further emphasizing the level of empathy generated by these stories.

Winner: Best Cinematography — Documentary, Tribeca Selected Filmography: S. Leo Chiang: Mr. Cao Goes to Washington (2012), A Village Called Versailles (2009) Yang Sun: Feature debut

Selected Filmography: Hind Meddeb: Tunisia Clash (2015) Electro Chaabi (2013) Thim Naccache: Feature debut

In Chinese with English subtitles.

In Arabic and French with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 6:45 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 2:30 pm • PC Saturday, January 11 • 10:30 am • CAM

Friday, January 3 • 4:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 4 • 1:30 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 9:45 am • REG

TRUE STORIES

RED PENGUINS

REWIND

USA/RUSSIA, 2019 80 minutes Director: Gabe Polsky Print Source: Cinetic Media

USA, 2019 87 minutes Director: Sasha Joseph Neulinger Print Source: Submarine Entertainment

Documentarian Abe Polsky, who made the acclaimed Red Army about the great Soviet hockey team, returns to Russia just after the fall of communism, to tell a very different true tale: a wild culture-clash dark comedy where voracious American capitalism meets lawless Russian corruption, with results as lucrative as they are lethal. With the Red Army team in disarray after its stars depart for the NHL, the owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins smell potential profits and go 50/50 with the Russians to revive the sport. With aggressive New York marketing whiz Steven Warshaw as their point man, the Americans bring American razzle-dazzle to the sport — stripper cheerleaders, free beer, champagne-serving bears — and the money starts pouring in. The big bucks pique the interest of companies like Disney and Nike, that is until the Russian Mafia elbow into the picture and dead bodies start to pile up. Chillingly entertaining, Red Penguins must be seen to be believed.

In Sasha Joseph Neulinger’s Rewind, the power of hindsight is in revealing warning signs we missed. With the help of family videos, the film shows Sasha’s childhood shift from tender to volatile over a period of a few years. But as the film tries to make sense of his psychology, we learn Sasha’s painful secret: the ongoing sexual abuse he was subjected to at the hands of several family members. What follows is a series of revelations about the family’s history of abuse, and unjust legal proceedings in caring for child victims. Recalling the intimacy and frankness of other family relationship documentaries such as Tarnation and Capturing the Friedmans, Rewind gives brave voice to a survival story told by Sasha and his family. What starts as a cautionary tale about the capacity for those closest to us to cause grave harm, the film is ultimately about personal resilience and a demand for a better justice system. In English.

Selected Filmography: In Search of Greatness (2018), Red Army (2014)

In English and Russian with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 1:00 pm • PSHS Thursday, January 9 • 9:45 am • MP Sunday, January 12 • 6:45 pm • CAM

Tuesday, January 7 • 3:45 pm • MP Wednesday, January 8 • 12:45 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 5:30 pm • REG

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ROMANTIC COMEDY

SEARCHING FOR MR. RUGOFF

UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 79 minutes Director: Elizabeth Sankey

USA, 2019 94 minutes Director: Ira Deutchman

In this entrancing personal essay, debut filmmaker Elizabeth Sankey presents a profoundly conflicted case for the romantic comedy. Also invited is a cadre of pop culture writers and film critics who reflect with a paradoxical near fondness on the rom-coms that permanently imprinted a distorted ideology onto their brains. More than 160 film clips present a nonstop barrage of horrors, where examples of how to behave in a relationship range from unrealistic to outright psychopathic. Even a light analysis of popular, memorable and classic romantic comedies is liable to cause outrage, and while Sankey is quick to point out that the genre has historically provided a space for women to see themselves – with so much of cinema lacking female characters – she suggests there might be alternatives. Thorough, complex, hilarious, even disturbing, Sankey’s film is a near-biblical assessment of the euphoric highs and festering lows of the rom-com.

You may not know the name Don Rugoff, but if you’re a movie lover of a certain age chances are the films he distributed and exhibited made an impact on your life. A forgotten giant of art cinema, a master showman and a wild, slovenly personality both loved and hated, Rugoff was the man who made an Oscar®-winning hit, who made Lina Wertmüller a household name, who brought us Elvira Madigan, Putney Swope, Scenes from a Marriage, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and many more. And then his empire came crashing down. He would die penniless and friendless. What happened? Producer and distributor Ira Deutchman, who worked for Rugoff, sets off on a quest to unravel the mystery behind his momentous rise and ignominious fall. The result is this fascinating, illuminating portrait of the golden age of cinema, and the eccentric tycoon who made it happen. In English.

In English.

Wednesday, January 8 • 12:15 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 7:45 pm • CAM

148

Friday, January 3 • 10:30 am • CAM Wednesday, January 8 • 6:45 pm • REG Thursday, January 9 • 2:00 pm • PC

TRUE STORIES

THE SEER AND THE UNSEEN

STEVENSON - LOST AND FOUND

ICELAND/USA, 2019 89 minutes Director: Sara Dosa Print Source: Submarine Entertainment

USA/FRANCE/GERMANY/NEW ZEALAND, 2019 76 minutes Director: Sally Williams

Since she was a child in Iceland, Ragnhildur “Ragga” Jonsdottir has been able to see and converse with elves, trolls and sprites, though she waited until she was a grandmother before she told anyone. Now a known seer, she’s often consulted for her knowledge. For example, a man who wants to buy land to build a home checks with Ragga to make sure the elves won’t be bothered. The subject of director Sara Dosa’s beguiling, multi-level documentary, the warm and thoughtful Ragga is also an environmental activist: to protect “the hidden people” is to protect nature. She’s at the heart of a mass protest against the government’s plan to build a highway that will cut through a lava field and destroy the “Elf Chapel” (just a large mossy boulder to our eyes). You don’t have to believe in fairies to be seduced by Dosa’s artful movie, which finds a global resonance in this gentle seer’s story.

James Stevenson, beloved cartoonist for The New Yorker — he created more than 80 covers for the magazine — and the prolific author of over 100 children’s books, is the fascinating subject of Sally Williams’ documentary. Now 84 and still drawing very day, the tireless Stevenson has led a life both charmed and plagued by demons. He rebelled against his patrician New England upbringing, and though he never trained as an artist, he possessed a gift that appeared effortless. An illuminating examination of the creative process, this tribute to a very rare bird is filled with sharp commentary from his colleagues at The New Yorker, interviews with the nine children he struggled to support, and marvelous animated sequences that bring his inimitable drawings to life. As his colleague Kennedy Fraser puts it: “He writes like a visual artist and draws like a poet.”

Selected Filmography: The Last Season (2014)

Selected Filmography: Ken Dewey: This Is A Test (2016)

In Icelandic and English with English subtitles.

In English.

Friday, January 3 • 2:15 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 9:45 am • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 4:45 pm • REG

Friday, January 3 • 9:45 am • MP Saturday, January 4 • 6:00 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 11:15 am • REG

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TALKING ABOUT TREES

THIS IS NOT A MOVIE

FRANCE/SUDAN/GERMANY/CHAD/QATAR, 2019 93 minutes Director: Suhaib Gasmelbari Print Source: Wide House

CANADA/GERMANY, 2019 106 minutes Director: Yung Chang Print Source: National Film Board of Canada

A love letter to cinema as a collective experience, director Suhaib Gasmelbari’s poetic documentary centers on four friends, and filmmakers, who have taken it upon themselves to revive their local film culture by reopening a historic outdoor theater. After years of political turmoil have weakened the Sudanese film industry, seeing films on the big screen, let alone making them, has become a distant memory to these filmmakers. Now prepared to challenge government censorship and drudge through seemingly never-ending and nonsensical bureaucracy, the dedication of these movie lovers to share their passion with the community is nothing short of empowering, and the simple pleasure of sitting down in a theater surrounded by other movie lovers takes on a new and powerful significance.

Over the course of almost five decades, British war correspondent Robert Fisk has reported on numerous global conflicts, most notably in the Middle East since his move to Beirut in 1976. In this new portrait from award-winning filmmaker Yung Chang (Up The Yangtze) we see the man behind the reputation and the occasionally controversial points of view. Interspersed with fascinating archival footage showcasing his youthful reporting, Chang follows Fisk primarily to Syria and Israeli settlements, capturing a man almost perpetually in motion. Equally loathed and lauded around the world for his detailed reporting on the human cost of war, Fisk is a proponent of speaking plainly and recording what one personally witnesses, even if it doesn’t fit the popular narrative. Incisive, intimate, compelling and comprehensive, This Is Not a Movie is essential viewing in an era of threats to journalists and “fake news.”

Winner: Panorama Audience Award Best Documentary, Glasshütte Original Documentary Award, Berlin In Arabic with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: China Heavyweight (2012), Up the Yangtze (2007) In English and Arabic with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 7:00 pm • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 2:45 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 9:45 am • MP

150

Monday, January 6 • 7:00 pm • MP Tuesday, January 7 • 5:15 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 4:00 pm • PSHS

TRUE STORIES

WE ARE THE RADICAL MONARCHS

ZERO IMPUNITY

USA, 2019 97 minutes Director: Linda Goldstein Knowlton Print Source: Ladylike Films

LUXEMBOURG/FRANCE, 2019 95 minutes Directors: Nicolas Blies, Stéphane Hueber-Blies Print Source: Indie Sales

In late 2016, in the midst of perhaps the most contentious presidential campaign in history, and with gentrification increasingly displacing longtime residents, and recent shootings bringing police brutality into the national dialogue, Oaklandbased community organizers Anayvette Martinez and Marilyn Hollinquest set out to create lasting and necessary change in their community. The two women formed the Radical Monarchs, a Girl Scouts alternative that teaches young girls of color their self-worth, the importance of supporting one another and the tenets of a progressive society. Martinez and Hollinquest balance intense logistical demands, perpetual funding struggles and their personal lives while defending themselves against right-wing media attacks. From director Linda Goldstein Knowlton, We Are the Radical Monarchs is a heartwarming look at the first three years of an indispensable collective devoted to radical self-empowerment.

Syria. Ukraine. The United States. “Historically, it happens everywhere.” Documenting the devastating realities of wartime rape, sexual torture, and prisoner abuse, this extraordinary animated transmedia film by directors Nicolas Blies and Stephane Hueber-Blies sheds light on a number of crimes against humanity that have occurred around the world — crimes that have, sadly, been committed with relative impunity. Enter the #ZeroImpunity project, both a documentary and a social movement, which seeks to raise awareness of these crimes, give voice to the voiceless, and become a force for change at an international level. The film’s scathing critique of the United Nations — just one of many organizations held accountable here — underlines just how large Zero Impunity is, both in scope and in stakes. Ambitious, eye-opening and utterly vital, this is a collection of stories that must be told. U.S. Premiere | In English and Syrian with English subtitles.

Winner: Audience Award — Best Documentary, Seattle Selected Filmography: Somewhere Between (2011), The World According to Sesame Street (2006) In English.

Friday, January 3 • 7:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 7:30 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 9:00 am • CAM

Sunday, January 5 • 5:45 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 9:45 am • REG

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Travel the world without leaving your seat

14 DAYS, 12 NIGHTS 14 jours, 12 nuits CANADA, 2019 99 minutes Director: Jean-Philippe Duval Cast: Anne Dorval, Léanna Chea, François Papineau, Laurence Barrette Print Source: WaZabi Films

After losing her adopted daughter in a tragic accident, Isabelle (Anne Dorval) makes a pilgrimage to Vietnam to immerse herself in her daughter’s birthplace. There, Isabelle unexpectedly discovers her daughter’s biological mother (Leanna Chea). But the relationship that grows between them is not built on truth, and secrets threaten the very foundation of each woman’s life. What unfolds is a film of remarkable beauty and deeply charged emotional power, exploring loss, identity, colonialism, the true nature of motherhood and the aftermath of war. Notable for pitch-perfect performances by its leads (Dorval is best known outside of Quebec for the numerous films she’s made with director Xavier Dolan) and stunningly beautiful cinematography, 14 Days, 12 Nights proposes that the loss of a child has a profound ripple effect, and we cannot always predict where those ripples will lead. Selected Filmography: Chasse-Galerie (2016), Through the Mist (2009)

U�S� Premiere | In French and Vietnamese with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 3:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 9:00 am • CAM Friday, January 10 • 12:00 pm • MP

Psfilmfest.org

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37 SECONDS

ADVENTURES OF A MATHEMATICIAN

JAPAN, 2019 115 minutes Director: HIKARI Cast: Mei Kayama, Misuzu Kanno, Shunsuke Daitoh, Makiko Watanabe Print Source: Netflix

GERMANY/POLAND, 2019 102 minutes Director: Thor Klein Cast: Philippe Tlokinski, Joel Basman, Sam Keeley, Esther Garrel Print Source: Indie Sales

Yuma (Mei Kayama) is a talented 23-year-old artist with cerebral palsy who has always lived under the watch of her overprotective mother. When her YouTube star friend begins taking credit for all her work, Yuma decides to break free and make a name for herself. She brings her portfolio to the editor of an erotic manga magazine who tells Yuma that although her work is technically excellent it lacks worldly experience, and to return after she’s explored her sexuality. This she does in increasingly surprising ways. In the hallway of a love hotel she meets Mai (Makiki Watanabe), an empathic sex worker who takes Yuma under her wing to expand her horizons and grow her confidence. Writer/director HIKARI’s debut feature is a charming, frank and sensitive coming-of-age story that celebrates individuality from an underrepresented point of view.

In the autumn of 1943, Stanislaw Ulam (Philippe Tlokinski), a brilliant Polish mathematician, is invited to join a team of elite scientists in New Mexico for a top secret assignment: The Manhattan Project. In Thor Klein’s handsome biopic, titled after Ulam’s 1976 autobiography, we see Ulam as a conflicted genius. On the one hand, his research proves to have practical purposes: smaller nuclear explosions could, he posits, aid in outer space travel. On the other, his contributions to the development of the atomic bomb has Ulam and his wife (Esther Garrel) grappling with the ethical fallout of thermonuclear warfare. With a deftly calculated script that recalls Greek theater, and gorgeous, period-perfect production design, Adventures of a Mathematician gives audiences a unique look at the private life of an incredible mind and a truly explosive time in world history.

Winner: Panorama Audience Award — Fiction Film, Berlin; Audience Award — Mind the Gap World Cinema, Mill Valley

Selected Filmography: Lost Place (2013)

In Japanese with English subtitles.

World Premiere | In English and Polish with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 9:00 am • PC Thursday, January 9 • 5:45 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 4:45 pm • CAM

Sunday, January 5 • 6:45 pm • MP Monday, January 6 • 4:45 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 10:00 am • PSHS

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AND THE BIRDS RAINED DOWN

THE ARTIST’S WIFE

Il pleuvait des oiseaux CANADA, 2019 127 minutes Director: Louise Archambault Cast: Rémy Girard, Andrée Lachapelle, Gilbert Sicotte, Ève Landry, Kenneth Welsh Print Source: Indie Sales

USA, 2019 94 minutes Director: Tom Dolby Cast: Lena Olin, Bruce Dern, Juliet Rylance Print Source: Strand Releasing

In this gracious and textured new film from director Louise Archambault, we are introduced to the bucolic life of three elderly hermits living deep in the woods of Quebec. Charlie (Gilbert Sicotte), Tom (Rémy Girard) and Ted (Kenneth Welsh) live apart from others by choice and have for some time, supported through supply runs by a sympathetic and circumspect local innkeeper. But the trio’s wilderness idyll is fractured when a series of seemingly random events bring two women into their midst, the presence of whom means the past and the present must meet. With its luscious photography and measured pace, Archambault has created a slow burn of a story about aging, love, regret, nature and memory, with a measure of carpe diem. Starring the crème de la crème of Canadian actors, And The Birds Rained Down explores vital and meaningful themes in a gentle and powerful way.

The artist is Richard Smythson (Bruce Dern), a revered abstract expressionist. His wife Claire (Lena Olin), who gave up her painting career to support him, is troubled by his increasingly erratic behavior. He has a major show coming up in New York, but hasn’t been able to finish a painting. His students are stunned by his abusive, inappropriate conduct in class. What soon becomes clear is that Richard is succumbing to Alzheimer’s, which throws their marriage into crisis. For help, Claire turns to her stepdaughter (Juliet Rylance), who bitterly resents her father, staying far away from his Connecticut country home. Director Tom Dolby’s complex and heartbreaking film showcases two actors at the peak of their powers. Dern is having a late career renaissance; this is his best work since Nebraska, and Olin is astonishing as a woman challenged to reassess her life in the face of her husband’s disintegration.

Selected Filmography: Gabrielle (2013), Familia (2005)

Selected Filmography: Last Weekend (2014)

U.S. Premiere | In French with English subtitles.

In English.

Saturday, January 4 • 6:45 pm • REG Sunday, January 5 • 9:00 am • MP Saturday, January 11 • 7:45 pm • CAM

Saturday, January 4 • 3:00 pm • PC Sunday, January 5 • 10:30 am • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 9:00 am • MP

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BABYTEETH

BACURAU

AUSTRALIA/USA, 2019 120 minutes Director: Shannon Murphy Cast: Eliza Scanlen, Essie Davis, Toby Wallace, Ben Mendelsohn Print Source: IFC Films

BRAZIL/FRANCE, 2019 132 minutes Directors: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles Cast: Sônia Braga, Udo Kier, Bárbara Colen, Thomas Aquino Print Source: Kino Lorber

Somewhere between the niggling baby tooth her body won’t release and the fever dreams of finding true love lives brighteyed 16-year-old Milla (Sharp Objects’ Eliza Scanlen in an astonishing feature debut). Balancing the realities of a grim cancer prognosis and the fervent, flawed love of her pill-popping mother Anna (Essie Davis) and desperately lonely father Henry (Ben Mendelsohn), Milla wants little more than to forego routine and dive headlong into the unpredictable messiness of life. But when wiry 23-year-old addict Moses (Toby Wallace) literally tumbles into her world and Milla’s wildest dreams come true, she quickly finds that the sweetness of first love can have a bitter aftertaste. With Anna and Henry each inches away from their own abyss yet trying to hold it together for a child whose body is fighting her will to live, the pair must resort to drastic measures in this wry and fresh debut feature from director Shannon Murphy.

The radical mind behind the internationally celebrated Aquarius (PSIFF 2017), Kleber Mendonça Filho teams with Juliano Dornelles for the thrilling and enigmatic tale of a proud community and the dangerous game that threatens their livelihood. Returning to her village home of Bacurau to deliver medical supplies and honor her late grandmother, Teresa (Bárbara Colen) is unfazed by the drunken mourning of resident doctor Domingas (scene-stealing Sônia Braga). When a horrific tragedy is discovered at a neighboring farm, the citizens of Bacurau begin to discover the nefarious plans of an unknown force led by Michael (a deliciously reptilian Udo Kier). Filho once again masterfully captures the political unrest and turmoil of a not-so-distant-future Brazil through bizarre means that combust with suspense, humor and vitriol.

Winner: Marcello Mastroianni Award, Venice

Winner: Jury Prize, Cannes Selected Filmography: Kleber Mendonça Filho: Aquarius (2016), Neighboring Sounds (2012) Juliano Dornelles: Feature debut

In English. In Portuguese and English with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 4:15 pm • REG Saturday, January 4 • 9:00 am • MP Sunday, January 12 • 6:00 pm • CAM

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Friday, January 3 • 3:00 pm • MP Monday, January 6 • 9:00 am • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 9:15 pm • PC

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BAGHDAD IN MY SHADOW

BALLOON Qi Qiu

SWITZERLAND/GERMANY/UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 108 minutes Director: Samir Cast: Haitham Ali, Zahraa Ghandour, Shervin Alenabi, Waseem Abbas, Kae Bahar Print Source: Global Screen

CHINA, 2019 102 minutes Director: Pema Tseden Cast: Sonam Wangmo, Jinpa, Yangshik Tso Print Source: Rediance

Among the regulars at the Abu Nawas café — a hangout for the Iraqi expat community in London — are Taufik (Haitham Ali), an aging poet haunted by his past; Muhannad (Waseem Abbas), a young gay IT specialist, who is trying but failing to keep his relationship with a German man a secret; and, working behind the counter, the mysterious, early-morning jogger Amal (Zahraa Ghandour), a once promising architect in hiding while on the run from a controlling husband who worked for Saddam Hussein’s secret service. But the arrival of a new Iraqi cultural attaché and the incitements spouted by a radical Islamist preacher soon threaten the safe haven for this diverse group of friends in this suspenseful, multi-layered ensemble thriller from Swiss-Iraqi director Samir (Iraqi Odyssey, PSIFF 2015).

In this seemingly simple story, writer/director Pema Tseden richly illuminates the life of ordinary Tibetans dealing with population control. In the film’s beguiling opening moments, we see two young brothers skipping happily across a field flying two white balloons. Only these aren’t real balloons, but government-supplied condoms they found under their parents’ pillows. Their father, Dargye, finds it difficult to explain to his boys the problems that will arise if his wife Drolkar becomes pregnant again. Under Chinese rule it would mean crippling fines, while forced abortions are a major issue for Tibetans who believe that, according to Buddhism, when a child is born it is the reincarnation of a dead ancestor. In modern times faith and traditions collide with what the government dictates, but for Dargye a choice has to be made.

Selected Filmography: Snow White (2005), Filou (1986) In Arabic and English with English subtitles.

Winner: Best Screenplay, Chicago; Special Mention: Sfera 1932 Award, Venice Selected Filmography: Jinpa (2018), Tharlo (2015), Old Dog (2011) In Tibetan with English subtitles.

Wednesday, January 8 • 12:15 pm • REG Thursday, January 9 • 8:00 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 10:30 am • MP

Saturday, January 4 • 12:45 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 10:30 am • REG

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THE BAREFOOT EMPEROR

BELLBIRD

BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS/CROATIA/BULGARIA, 2019 98 minutes Directors: Jessica Woodworth, Peter Brosens Cast: Peter Van den Begin, Lucy Debay, Udo Kier, Geraldine Chaplin, Bruno Georis Print Source: Be for Films

NEW ZEALAND, 2019 95 minutes Director: Hamish Bennett Cast: Cohen Holloway, Rachel House, Marshall Napier, Annie Whittle Print Source: LevelK

A clever, comic sequel to King of the Belgians (PSIFF 2017), The Barefoot Emperor continues the homeward-bound odyssey of Nicolas III and his entourage — a by-the-book chief of protocol, anxious press attaché and personal valet — who were stranded in Turkey when news came that Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium, had declared independence. After an unfortunate incident in Sarajevo, Nicolas wakes up in a sanatorium on the Croatian island of Brijuni, where the King’s entourage tries in vain to protect him from the news that the recent implosion of their kingdom has sparked the collapse of the European Union. Nicolas demands that they continue their journey, but the authoritarian sanatorium director, Dr. Kroll (Udo Kier) insists that he submit to a strict regime of rest and rehabilitation. Meanwhile, a delegation from Vienna arrives bearing the news that the last King of the Belgians will become the first Emperor of Nova Europa.

One of the most emotionally elegant films of the year, Bellbird is set over four seasons on a small New Zealand dairy farm. Ross (Marshall Napier) is a farmer struggling to cope with the sudden death of his beloved wife, Beth. Out of necessity, he realizes he must forge a bond with his gentle, introverted son Bruce (Cohen Holloway). But seeing how his father is struggling, physically as well as emotionally, Bruce is reluctant to derail his own life to help take over duties on the farm, and without Beth as a buffer, both men are left adrift. The presence of locals proves useful, no matter how unsolicited their help and support might be. Young Marley (Kahukura Retimana); Connie (a wisecracking Rachel House), Bruce’s boss at the dump; and the upbeat local vet, Clem (Stephen Tamarapa), all happily intrude in their lives. Writer/director Hamish Bennett’s feature debut is filled with a love of nature, sharp unexpected humor and penetrating emotional insight.

Selected Filmography: Peter Brosens: King of the Belgians (2016), The Fifth Season (2012) Jessica Woodworth: King of the Belgians (2016)

In English.

U.S. Premiere | In English, Dutch, French and German with English subtitles. Sunday, January 5 • 9:00 am • PC Wednesday, January 8 • 6:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 12:30 pm • REG

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THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY

CERTIFIED MAIL Bi ‘Elem El Wossoul

UNITED KINGDOM/ITALY, 2019 98 minutes Director: Giuseppe Capotondi Cast: Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, Donald Sutherland Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

EGYPT, 2019 95 minutes Director: Hisham Saqr Cast: Basma, Passant Shawky, Mohamed Sarhan, Lobna Asal, Rafal Khalil Print Source: Media Luna New Films

This seductive tale of art world treachery and murderous motives transports us to the glamorous shores of Lake Como where a charming, ambitious and amoral art critic (The Square’s Claes Bang) and his mysterious, newly acquired American girlfriend (Elizabeth Debicki) are summoned to the estate of a wealthy art collector Joseph Cassidy (Mick Jagger). The nefarious Cassidy blackmails the critic into a scheme to steal a painting by the legendary, reclusive artist Jerome Debney (Donald Sutherland), who hasn’t shown his work or granted an interview in decades. So begins this twist-filled neo-noir based on Charles Willeford’s classic novel (transposing its Florida setting to Italy). Bang and Debicki, exuding sizzling erotic chemistry, are wonderful together in a tale whose wittily sophisticated surface cracks open to reveal its darker underbelly. Adding to the decadent pleasures are Sutherland’s sly turn as the courtly Debney, and Jagger vamping it up as the avaricious tycoon.

In busy Cairo, Hala (Basma) has isolated herself inside her apartment, yet she is never truly alone. Constantly battling mental illness and suicidal thoughts, Hala is unable to fulfill the traditional duties of a wife and a mother to her newborn baby. Her sweet husband is nothing but supportive, but an innocent mistake at work blows out of proportion and requires him to serve time. All her familial responsibilities are now on her shoulders, including the legal battle to get him out of jail. In his feature debut, Hisham Saqr captures with empathy the journey of a deeply complex and emotionally fragile woman who has no choice but to find the inner strength to stand up for herself in a society uncaring of her struggles. As she becomes reacquainted with herself, Hala’s transformation makes for an empowering tale. U.S. Premiere | In Arabic with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: The Double Hour (2009) U.S. Premiere | In English.

Tuesday, January 7 • 4:00 pm • ANN Wednesday, January 8 • 4:15 pm • CAM

Thursday, January 9 • 8:45 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 3:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 9:00 am • REG

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CLEMENCY

THE COUNTY Héradid

USA, 2019 113 minutes Director: Chinonye Chukwu Cast: Alfre Woodard, Richard Schiff, Aldis Hodge, Wendell Pierce, Richard Gunn Print Source: Neon

ICELAND/DENMARK/GERMANY/FRANCE, 2019 92 minutes Director: Grímur Hákonarson Cast: Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir, Sigurdur Sigurjónsson Print Source: New Europe Film Sales

For no-nonsense prison warden Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard in a towering performance), the fight to hold onto the last threads of her humanity in a job where issues of life and death are a daily matter is an often losing battle. With her marriage to literature professor Jonathan (Wendell Pierce) stressed to its limit, and the bottle providing her only measure of solace, Bernadine reaches a breaking point after witnessing a botched execution. With the pending capital punishment of a possibly innocent death-row inmate (Aldis Hodge) next on her docket, the warden finds herself haunted by her position in a system where basic humanity is in short supply. With the clock ticking and only a call from the governor to decide the inmate’s fate, Bernadine feels the full weight of her role, leading to a devastating personal reckoning in this powerful drama from writer/director Chinonye Chukwu.

From the director of the audience favorite Rams (PSIFF 2016) comes this unconventional small-town David vs. Goliath tale. After the death of her dairy farmer husband, middleaged widow Inga takes on the corrupt local co-op whose unfair policies hold the residents of her community hostage. Launching a social media campaign to bring attention to the co-op’s exploitive practices, Inga finds new inner resolve, but her quest also makes her the target of a ruthless adversary. Writer/director Grímur Hákonarson continues to probe a deeply rooted rural culture closely connected to his country’s national spirit while also championing traditional values over the exploitive underside of global capitalism. The yin to maledominated Rams’s yang, The County is full of feisty female energy and imagery, and sprinkled with rousing “You go, girl!” comic moments. Ace Estonian cameraman Mart Taniel (November) lovingly captures the unique landscape, the compliant cows, and some very charismatic Icelandic sheep dogs.

Winner: U.S. Grand Jury Prize — Dramatic, Sundance Selected Filmography: alaskaLand (2012)

Selected Filmography: Rams (2015), Summerland (2010) In English. In Icelandic with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 4:45 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 12:00 pm • REG

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Friday, January 3 • 3:30 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 10:30 am • MP Friday, January 10 • 5:30 pm • REG

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DISCLOSURE

DOGS DON’T WEAR PANTS Koirat eivät kätyä housuja

AUSTRALIA/UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 85 minutes Director: Michael Bentham Cast: Mark Leonard Winter, Geraldine Hakewill, Matilda Ridgway, Tom Wren, Greg Stone

FINLAND/LATVIA, 2019 105 minutes Director: J-P Valkeapää Cast: Pekka Strang, Krista Kosonen, Ester Geislerovà, Ilona Huhta, Jani Volanen Print Source: The Yellow Affair

In his assured and provocative feature film debut, writer/ director Michael Bentham accomplishes a very difficult thing: he creates an intense adult drama that takes place in one location. Unlike predecessors such as 12 Angry Men or Rear Window, this story takes place in a tropical garden by a pool. The peaceful setting is in great contrast to the ferocious and complex circumstances playing out there. Two couples, friends by way of their young children, meet to work through the allegation of one couple’s 4-year-old daughter against the son of the other. A conversation that begins with civility and carefully chosen language soon takes unexpected twists and unsafe turns. Marked by notable performances from its four leads and sharp, rhythmic dialogue that doesn’t swerve from uncomfortable themes, Disclosure is sure to be one of the most talked about films this season.

A darkly humorous, bittersweet drama about loss, love and the pain of being, Dogs Don’t Wear Pants centers on depressed surgeon Juha (Pekka Strang, star of Tom of Finland, PSIFF 2018), a grieving widower and single father who develops an unexpected but powerful connection with dominatrix Mona (Krista Kosonen). Mona is the only one able to help him tap into his feelings after a tragic event leaves him emotionally paralyzed. Juha’s dangerous addiction to suffocation is nurtured by Mona, leading them both down a wild path towards emotional enlightenment. While striking a perfect balance between delicate emotions and graphic images, director J-P Valkeapää steers clear of sensationalism and creates a space for those who abandon the restraints and expectations of mainstream society.

World Premiere | In English.

Winner: Best Picture, Fantastic Fest; Crossovers Prize, Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival; Best Picture — New Vision, Sitges Selected Filmography: They Have Escaped (2014), The Visitor (2008)

In Finnish with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 3:00 pm • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 8:15 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 12:00 pm • MP

Saturday, January 4 • 7:30 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 5:30 pm • PC Saturday, January 11 • 1:45 pm • REG

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DOUZE POINTS

EASY LAND

ISRAEL/FRANCE, 2019 90 minutes Director: Daniel Syrkin Cast: Zach Fakiel, Adel Djemai, Roi Miller, Yoav Levi, Itzik Cohen Print Source: Firma Films

CANADA, 2019 91 minutes Director: Sanja Zivkovic Cast: Nina Kiri, Mirjana Jokovic Print Source: The Film Sales Company

“Douze points” refers to the highest score available in the Eurovision song competition, the backdrop to this silly, colorful satire complete with endearingly kitsch musical numbers. As French chanteur TJ, a gay Muslim, prepares to represent his country in Israel, he encounters a homophobic terrorist, sensational tabloids and obsessive Mossad agents who threaten to derail his path to fulfillment. Meanwhile, the Mossad, Israel’s famed intelligence agency, gets a goofy sendup here as they disguise themselves as trained stylists, hairdressers and choreographers, all to guarantee the safety of Eurovision. As producer Adar Shafran (Maktub, PSIFF 2018) and his team were preparing their film and miniseries to air in tandem with the actual Eurovision event in Spring 2019, they had no idea how much their fictional vision would resemble reality. The actual French entry turned out to be the gay French-Moroccan singer Bilal Hassani, whose dazzling array of wigs and makeup rivaled the fictional TJ’s sequins, and whose persona infuriated orthodox Muslims.

In this accomplished feature debut from writer/director Sanja Zivkovic, Easy Land follows two Serbian refugees, mother Jasna (Mirjana Jokovic) and daughter Nina (Nina Kiri), as they navigate the challenges of adapting to their new home in Toronto. Though Jasna feels defeated when her architecture credentials aren’t recognized in Canada, a design project presents an opportunity that may land her a new job. While she obsesses over this possibility, Nina unenthusiastically attends high school, where she sells illegal cellphones on the sly in the hopes of earning enough money to return to her boyfriend in Serbia. It isn’t long before all promise of stability dissipates, and past obstacles return to haunt them. Compelled by an examination of minor moments, Easy Land’s tension builds carefully and precisely, aided by the considerable skill and innate chemistry of its two lead actors. International Premiere | In English and Serbian with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Out of Sight (2006) International Premiere | In French and Hebrew with English subtitles. Tuesday, January 7 • 7:00 pm • PSHS Wednesday, January 8 • 7:30 pm • MP Thursday, January 9 • 3:45 pm • REG

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Sunday, January 5 • 7:00 pm • ANN Monday, January 6 • 9:00 am • REG Sunday, January 12 • 4:30 pm • MP

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ECHO

THE ELDER ONE

Bergmál

Moothon

ICELAND/FRANCE/SWITZERLAND, 2019 79 minutes Director: Rúnar Rúnarsson Print Source: Jour2Fête

INDIA, 2019 110 minutes Director: Geetu Mohandas Cast: Nivin Pauly, Sanjana Dipu, Shashank Arora, Roshan Mathew, Sobhita Dulipala

In Icelandic director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s (Sparrow, PSIFF 2016; Volcano, PSIFF 2012) surprising and sublime third feature, the main character is nothing less than all of contemporary Icelandic society. As the country prepares for Christmas, a peculiar atmosphere descends on the country, revealing both excitement and concern. In the country, an abandoned farm burns. In a school, a children’s choir sings carols. In a slaughterhouse, chickens squawk along a beam. In a museum, a mother argues with her ex-husband over the phone. In a living room, a young girl encourages her grandmother to try on her new virtual reality headset. Through 56 short scenes, Echo draws a portrait, both harsh and compassionate, of modern Iceland. Winner: Youth Jury Award, Locarno; Best Director, Valladolid Selected Filmography: Sparrows (2015), Volcano (2011)

What appears to be an idyllic childhood for 14-year-old Mulla on the picturesque, serene Lakshadweep Island is in actuality the tumultuous life of a mistreated orphan. Fed up and with only a telephone number to depend on, Mulla sets off in search of his elder brother — or moothon — Akbar, who left for Mumbai years earlier under mysterious circumstances. Upon leaving his beautiful island, Mulla finds himself immediately thrown into the seedy, chaotic and ruthless underbelly of Mumbai amid a world of gangsters, sex workers and child traffickers. Undeterred by obstacles, Mulla’s love and longing for his brother propel him forward. Actor-turned-writer/director Geetu Mohandas’s daring and emotional second feature is an unpredictable, unconventional adventure story, one that confronts questions about sexual identity and orientation often met with intolerance and violence in ways both sensitive and authentic.

U.S. Premiere | In Icelandic and English with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Liar’s Dice (2013) U.S. Premiere |In Malayalam and Hindi with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 5:15 pm • REG Tuesday, January 7 • 9:00 am • CAM Wednesday, January 8 • 1:30 pm • MP

Wednesday, January 8 • 7:00 pm • ANN Thursday, January 9 • 9:00 am • CAM Friday, January 10 • 11:15 am • REG

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EXTRACURRICULAR

FORGIVENESS

Dopunska Nastava

Mehila

CROATIA, 2019 103 minutes Director: Ivan-Goran Vitez Cast: Milivoj Beader, Zeljko Konigsknecht, Anita Matic Delic, Marko Cindric, Darko Janes Print Source: Inter Film

ISRAEL, 2019 104 minutes Directors: Guy Amir, Hanan Savyon Cast: Guy Amir, Hanan Savyon, Alon Aboutbul, Noa Koler, Tsahi Halevi

This tautly paced, precisely executed, darkly comic thriller plays with the genre tropes of a hostage drama while offering important social commentary. When a bitter, frustrated, recently divorced dad takes his daughter’s grade school classroom hostage on her birthday, the burg’s unscrupulous mayor attempts to use the situation to his political advantage in advance of the upcoming elections. Meanwhile, an ambitious, cynical web journalist also spies a route to fame. As anxious parents wait outside the school — including a local cop and the mother of the birthday girl who just happens to be the sister of the mayor’s rival — secrets and lies come to light, and heroes and cowards are born. Writer/director Ivan-Goran Vitez keeps a number of hot-button issues within his purview, including Croatia’s endemic corruption, the remnants of the paramilitary from the Balkan war and the return of right-wing rhetoric. With its top-notch cast and tension-inducing score, Extracurricular is gripping, provocative and shockingly funny.

The popular writer-performers Guy Amir and Hanan Savyon (Maktub, PSIFF 2018) can now add feature film directing to their credits with this zany buddy crime caper comedy. Set in the south of Israel near the Gaza border, in a place where the beleaguered citizens live with incoming rocket fire, longtime pals Shaul (Amir) and Nissan (Savyon) attempt to rob a postal bank. But the mismanaged job results in Shaul being collared and sent to prison. Years later, upon his release, Shaul is less than pleased to be greeted by the newly religious Nissan seeking his forgiveness. Even though Shaul has served his sentence, his skill set hasn’t expanded in any way that will enable him to support his family, so he needs Nissan to remember where he buried their loot. Like Maktub, the fun here comes from the rapport between the guys despite their love-hate relationship, in this uproarious modern take on traditional bourekas comedies. In Hebrew with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Shooting Stars (2016), Forest Creatures (2010)

In Croatian with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 12:15 pm • MP Sunday, January 5 • 7:30 pm • CAM Friday, January 10 • 12:45 pm • REG

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Wednesday, January 8 • 10:30 am • REG Thursday, January 9 • 3:00 pm • MP

WORLD CINEMA NOW

A GIRL MISSING

GREED

Yokogao JAPAN/FRANCE, 2019 111 minutes Director: Kôji Fukada Cast: Mariko Tsutsui, Mikako Ichikawa, Sosuke Ikematsu, Mitsuru Fukikoshi, Hisako Okata Print Source: Film Movement

UNITED KINGDOM, 2019 104 minutes Director: Michael Winterbottom Cast: Steve Coogan, David Mitchell, Isla Fisher, Shirley Henderson, Asa Butterfield Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

Dedicated, hard-working Ichiko (Mariko Tsutsui) has been a homecare nurse to the elderly Tôko Oishi (Hisako Ohkata) long enough to be considered part of the family. She is especially close to Motoko (Mikako Ichikawa), one of Oishi’s granddaughters, who is studying to one day follow in Ichiko’s footsteps. As close friends, Ichiko playfully and thoughtlessly reveals a secret from her past that could come back to haunt her. After Mokoto’s sister disappears and the abductor turns out to be Ichiko’s nephew, Mokoto, in a fit of jealousy, reveals Ichiko’s secret to the press, prompting her downfall. Accused of complicity by all around her, including friends and co-workers, the safe, happy life that Ichiko knew crumbles. Is revenge worth pursuing? This taut, slow-burning mystery from writer/director Kôji Fukada (Harmonium), reaffirms his status as one of the most thrilling voices in contemporary world cinema.

The obscenely extravagant world of the uber-rich is the target of this bitterly hilarious satire that re-teams director Michael Winterbottom (The Trip) with his actor muse Steve Coogan. To celebrate his 60th birthday, fast-fashion industry billionaire Richard McCreadie (Coogan) intends to go all out, planning a glitzy shindig at an exclusive hotel on a Greek island, where recreating the Colosseum scene from the movie Gladiator with a live lion is one of the more tasteful festivities. As the unrealistic demands reach Fyre Festival-rivaling peaks and the unrepentant tycoon’s past transgressions catch up to him, McCreadie’s circus of vanity and ostentation spirals out of control, trundling toward a long overdue comeuppance. With hysterically over-the-top supporting turns from Shirley Henderson, Isla Fisher and David Mitchell, and with additional written material by Sean Gray (Veep; The Thick of It), Winterbottom’s latest is as funny as it is socially and politically savvy.

Selected Filmography: The Man from the Sea (2018), Harmonium (2016), Sayonara (2015), Hospitalite (2010) In Japanese with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: The Wedding Guest (2018), The Trip (2010), A Mighty Heart (2007), Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005), 24 Hour Party People (2002) U.S. Premiere |In English.

Saturday, January 4 • 7:45 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 1:30 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 1:00 pm • REG

Saturday, January 4 • 9:45 am • MP Sunday, January 5 • 1:00 pm • ANN Thursday, January 9 • 7:45 pm • PC

165

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HOPE

THE HUMORIST

Håp

Yumorist

NORWAY/SWEDEN, 2019 126 minutes Director: Maria Sødahl Cast: Andrea Bræin Hovig, Stellan Skarsgård Print Source: Norwegian Film Institute

RUSSIA/LATVIA/CZECH REPUBLIC, 2019 102 minutes Director: Michael Idov Cast: Yuri Kolokolnikov, Alisa Khazanova, Polina Aug, Anatoliy Kotenyov Print Source: M-Appeal

What happens to love and family when life suddenly has an expiration date? In this riveting drama based on the director’s own experiences, in-demand choreographer Anja (Andrea Bræin Hovic) and prize-winning, workaholic theater director Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård) have been together for 20 years, albeit sans marriage. They juggle prestigious and demanding careers with their blended family of biological children and step-children. Everyone seems content enough, although Anja feels a bit sulky that she bears the brunt of running the busy Oslo household and preparing for the holidays. But just before Christmas Anja receives some bad news. In her decidedly unsentimental second feature, director Maria Sødahl shows, with the aid of two dynamic lead performances from Hovic and Skarsgård, that there is nothing like a terminal diagnosis to concentrate the mind and focus on what’s important in life.

In 1984, as the USSR heads toward collapse, Boris, a RussianJewish stand-up comedian favored by the regime and the public, feels tormented by censorship, external oppression and his own insecurities. Fame, combined with a lack of personal freedom, is driving him crazy. Sick with self-loathing and at odds with his running-out-of-patience family, Boris decides to challenge censorship in what turns out to be a dangerous game. Latvianborn, U.S.-raised writer/director Michael Idov (co-writer of Leto, PSIFF 2019) spent some formative years as the editor-inchief of GQ Russia, and this smart social satire proves he knows Russian society from the inside out. “His screenplay for The Humorist crackles with sharp-witted dialogue but also reveals the film’s darker elements and the insidiousness of a society moving into unchartered territory beyond mere corruption.” – Jay Weissberg, Variety

Selected Filmography: Limbo (2010)

Winner: Best Actor, Art Film Festival; Best Film, Baltic Debuts

U.S. Premiere |In Norwegian and Swedish with English subtitles.

In Russian with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 4:00 pm • CAM Sunday, January 5 • 10:30 am • MP Friday, January 10 • 1:00 pm • PSHS

Friday, January 3 • 10:30 am • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 9:15 pm • REG

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THE INNOCENCE

JUDY & PUNCH

La innocència SPAIN, 2019 92 minutes Director: Lucía Alemany Cast: Carmen Arrufat, Laia Marull, Sergi López, Joel Bosqued Print Source: Filmax

AUSTRALIA, 2019 105 minutes Director: Mirrah Foulkes Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman, Benedict Hardie, Tom Budge Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

It’s the summer of her 15th year, but for pretty and athletic Lis (newcomer Carmen Arrufat in a breakout performance), life in her small, postcard-perfect Spanish coastal town is anything but idyllic. Jaded by the provincial worldview of her small-time drug dealer boyfriend and less-than-supportive parents, the doeeyed teen harbors dreams of attending the Barcelona Circus Academy to become an acrobat, but finds herself suffocated by what her gossipy neighbors and mean-girl peers might say. With the gentle support of fellow free spirit Remedios (Sonia Almarcha), Lis’s life takes a stark and unexpected turn that could shut the door on her dreams and keep her trapped in her smallminded backwater forever in this raw, tender and achingly real debut feature from Lucía Alemany.

Setting: Seaside (nowhere near the sea), 17th-century England (sort of). A town on the verge of mob rule. Returning home to the burg after a mediocre tour are puppeteers Judy (Mia Wasikowska) and Punch (Damon Herriman), with the latter living up to his name whenever he gets a few pints under his belt. Judy already regrets her impromptu marriage to the untalented performer, but soon he gives her two urgent reasons to want retribution. Judy then aligns herself with a band of outcast heretics to enact revenge on Punch and the entire town. In her feature film debut as a director, noted Australian actor Mirrah Foulkes has created a story that is dark, inventive, violent and occasionally tonally downright bonkers. Well supported through terrific art direction, a solid soundtrack and spot-on performances, Foulkes has made a period romp with a pressing contemporary feel.

North American Premiere |In Catalan and Spanish with English subtitles.

In English.

Saturday, January 4 • 1:30 pm • MP Sunday, January 5 • 9:00 pm • PC Sunday, January 12 • 6:15 pm • REG

Saturday, January 4 • 3:00 pm • MP Thursday, January 9 • 12:45 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 7:45 pm • CAM

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LITIGANTE

LUCKY GRANDMA

FRANCE/COLOMBIA, 2019 93 minutes Director: Franco Lolli Cast: Carolina Sanin, Leticia Gomez, Antonio Martinez, Vladimir Duran Print Source: Kinology

USA, 2019 87 minutes Director: Sasie Sealy Cast: Tsai Chin, Corey Ha, Michael Tow, Woody Fu

High-powered, no-nonsense public sector attorney and doting single mother Silvia Paz (writer and academic Carolina Sanín in a stunning debut) lives an enviable life in her downtown Bogota high-rise. She’s well trained in the art of verbal sparring thanks to her cantankerous, combative and chain-smoking mother Leticia (Leticia Gómez), and a new, unexpected romance with radio journalist Abel (Vladimir Durán) shows promise. But after being accused of misappropriation of public funds at the same time her mother’s cancer returns, Silvia’s charmed life is suddenly hurled into chaos. With Leticia defiantly refusing further treatment, her corrupt supervisor quick to throw her under the bus, and Abel’s less-than-admirable qualities starting to emerge, Silvia finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads, stretched to her breaking point in writer/director Franco Lolli’s raw, tender and achingly honest second feature that opened 2019 Cannes Critics’ Week.

In this exuberant comedy-drama that balances dark humor, action and poignancy, a curmudgeonly chain-smoking senior citizen helps herself to a dead man’s cash, only to discover the money belongs to Chinatown gangsters. Grandma (Tsai Chin) has no plans of going gentle into that good night — she intends to protect her sudden windfall to ensure she can stay in her beloved Manhattan and not have to move to her son’s suburban home in Brooklyn. The petite Grandma even hires a 6’7” bodyguard Big Pong (former pro basketball player Hsiao-Yuan Ha) to protect her, which allows for some delicious physical humor. Grandma’s willingness to go so far as to challenge violent criminals to preserve her independence delivers some serious truth about the plight facing many elderly people. Director/cowriter Sasie Sealy’s debut is an indelible portrait of an irascible but delightfully iron-willed woman. In Mandarin, English and Cantonese with English subtitles.

Winner: Gold Hugo, Chicago Selected Filmography: Gente de bien (2014) In Spanish with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 6:30 pm • PC Monday, January 6 • 12:45 pm • MP Thursday, January 9 • 11:00 am • REG

168

Tuesday, January 7 • 1:00 pm • PSHS Wednesday, January 8 • 9:45 am • MP

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MADE IN BANGLADESH

MAFIA INC.

FRANCE/BANGLADESH/DENMARK/PORTUGAL, 2019 95 minutes Director: Rubaiyat Hossain Cast: Rikita Nandini Shimu, Novera Rahman, Deepanwita Martin, Parvin Paru, Mayabe Print Source: Artmattan

CANADA, 2019 135 minutes Director: Daniel Grou Cast: Marc-André Grondin, Sergio Castellitto, Gilbert Sicotte, Mylène Mackay Print Source: WaZabi Films

When retailers like Walmart push their manufacturers overseas for lower costs, the cuts keep the workers down to minimum wages, and the factories ignore safety regulations in order to keep the profits in check. When a fire kills more than 100 workers in a Dhaka garment factory, the owners escape accountability and return to business as usual. When Shimu (Rikita Nandini Shimu) discovers that one of her friends has died in the fire, she is inspired to fight for safety reforms and unionize, but it will take all of her tenacity and determination to win. In order to accomplish the impossible, Shimu will have to go up against her bosses, co-workers and even her husband in this modern-day Norma Rae from writer/director Rubaiyat Hossain.

For generations, the Gamache fathers and sons have been dutiful tailors to the Paternos, a criminal organization shaped by a carefully constructed morality that binds its members to uncompromising rules. But their connection to one another transcends clothes when Vincent “Vince” Gamache (MarcAndré Grondin) becomes a brutal enforcer for the Paternos. Taking grand leaps to impress the Paterno godfather, Vince winds up sparking the fuse that ignites an all-out war. After a horrific act of violence breaks the bonds of this organized crime union and their close-knit tailors, both clans are left at risk of being brought down by their internecine betrayals. Based on the unbelievable book inspired by true events, this riveting 1990s-set mobster epic from director Daniel Grou is a compelling examination of a Canadian crime empire — and two majorly dysfunctional families — built on three generations of avarice, violence and corruption.

Winner: Special Jury Prize — Feature Film, Audience Award, Amiens In English and Bengali with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: King Dave (2016), 10

(2010)

North American Premiere |In French, English and Italian with English subtitles.

Friday, January 10 • 7:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 9:00 am • MP Sunday, January 12 • 1:00 pm • PC

Friday, January 3 • 8:15 pm • REG Saturday, January 4 • 6:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 9:00 pm • CAM

169

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MISS FISHER AND THE CRYPT OF TEARS

OLEG

AUSTRALIA/MOROCCO, 2019 101 minutes Director: Tony Tilse Cast: Essie Davis, Nathan Page, Rupert Penry-Jones, Miriam Margolyes, Daniel Lapaine Print Source: Acorn TV

LATVIA/BELGIUM/LITHUANIA/FRANCE, 2019 108 minutes Director: Juris Kursietis Cast: Valentin Novopolskij, Dawid Ogrodnik, Anna Prochniak Print Source: Best Friend Forever

If James Bond was a Jazz Age flapper, he’d be Phryne Fisher, the glamorous detective from the hit Australian TV series and bestselling novels, now in her very first feature film. It’s British Palestine in the 1920s. After freeing a young Bedouin girl from unjust imprisonment, Miss Fisher (The Babadook’s Essie Davis) begins to unravel a wartime mystery involving a priceless jewel, ancient curses and the truth about the disappearance of the young woman’s village. The pleasure of Miss Fisher’s adventures in any medium is that while she sleuths in her striking trademark wardrobe (her forthright nature and wit being her best accessories), beneath the mystery and mayhem is always a pronounced thematic strand around resourcefulness, social issues and justice. Based on the book series by Kerry Greenwood, the delightful Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears has the widespread allure for fans of both Downton Abbey and Indiana Jones.

Saddled with debt, Oleg (the affecting Valentin Novopolskij), a noncitizen Latvian butcher, takes a job at an industrial abattoir in Belgium. Everything goes smoothly at first, and even though he’s sharing a flat with other Eastern Europeans, he’s able to send money back to his granny in Latvia. But a false accusation at the meat factory soon leads to his being fired. When a charismatic Polish conman (Dawid Ogrodnik) comes to his aid, the stage is set for Oleg’s gradual slide into grievous exploitation and modern-day slavery. A standout at this year’s Cannes Film Festival that benefits from strong performances and cinematic flair, this sensitive and gripping film offers a timely look at an insidious social problem. In a year in which the travails of immigrants marks a major cinematic theme, the naturalistic Oleg offers a ferocious critique of the systems that allow for these abhorrent labor practices.

World Premiere |In English and Arabic with English subtitles.

Winner: Grand Prix, Brussels; Best Director, Palíc; Best Feature, Valletta Selected Filmography: Modris (2014) In English, Russian, Polish, Latvian, French and Flemish with English subtitles.

Saturday, January 4 • 5:00 pm • PSHS Sunday, January 5 • 3:45 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 3:45 pm • MP

170

Tuesday, January 7 • 1:45 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 5:30 pm • REG

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ORDINARY LOVE

THE ORPHANAGE Parwareshgah

UNITED KINGDOM/IRELAND, 2019 92 minutes Directors: Lisa Barros D’Sa, Glenn Leyburn Cast: Lesley Manville, Liam Neeson Print Source: Obscured Pictures

DENMARK/GERMANY/FRANCE/LUXEMBOURG/AFGHANISTAN, 2019 90 minutes Director: Shahrbanoo Sadat Cast: Qodratollah Qadiri, Sediqa Rasuli, Masihullah Feraji, Hasibullah Rasooli, Ahmad Fayaz Omani Print Source: Luxbox

Despite their best efforts to stay healthy and fit, with morning power walks and rationed nightly beers, Joan (Lesley Manville) and her husband Tom (Liam Neeson) are devastated when cancerous cells are discovered in Joan’s body. In this achingly delicate and deeply felt drama, co-directors Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn beautifully capture the little moments that have fortified decades of the Belfast couple’s sturdy marriage. But like the cells in Joan’s body seeking destruction, the cancer treatment creates a crack in their union, revealing withheld resentments and past tragedies. Manville is astounding in her ability to convey her painful internal struggle with a forlorn look that no one, save for her fellow patients, can even begin to grasp. As the warmth of Joan and Tom’s couch cedes to the sterile confines of hospital beds, the couple must fight the temptation to surrender to the cancer, and remember that their love is anything but ordinary.

In the late 1980s, 15-year-old Qodrat survives on the streets of Kabul selling trinkets and black market cinema tickets. Bollywood is hugely popular in Kabul, and Qodrat dreams of one day seeing himself in one of his favorite movies. When the police nab him and admit him to a Soviet orphanage for boys, Qodrat learns to adapt to a more disciplined and happier life. But the political situation in Kabul is changing. As the Soviets withdraw from Afghanistan and the Mujahideen take over, the boys of the orphanage are determined to defend their home, giving Qodrat the opportunity to step forward and emerge as one of his on-screen heroes. Based on the unpublished memoirs of writer/director Shahrbanoo Sadat’s friend and muse Anwar Hashimi, this exuberant and touching story of boys who fall prey to sociopolitical forces mixes pure Bollywood fantasy with the harsh realities of an uncertain future. Selected Filmography: Wolf and Sheep (2016)

Selected Filmography: Good Vibrations (2012), Cherrybomb (2009)

In Dari, Russian and Urdu with English subtitles.

U.S. Premiere |In English.

Wednesday, January 8 • 7:00 pm • PSHS Thursday, January 9 • 12:00 pm • CAM

Sunday, January 5 • 1:15 pm • PSHS Thursday, January 9 • 3:00 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 10:30 am • REG

171

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OUR LADY OF THE NILE

OUT OF TUNE

Notre-Dame du Nil

De frivillige

FRANCE/BELGIUM, 2019 93 minutes Director: Atiq Rahimi Cast: Amanda Mugabekazi, Albina Kirenga, Pascal Greggory Print Source: Indi

DENMARK, 2019 93 minutes Director: Frederikke Aspöck Cast: Jacob Hauberg Lohmann, Anders Matthesen, Christopher Læssø, Søren Malling, Anders Brink Madsen Print Source: Danish Film Insitute

In Rwanda, 1973, on top of a hill near the Nile River, a select group of girls attends Notre-Dame du Nil, an elite Catholic boarding school run by Belgian nuns. Despite their uniforms, the hierarchy between the students is more pronounced than in typical high schools as tensions mount between the Hutus and Tutsis. Gloriosa, the daughter of a high government official, makes Tutsi students, friends Veronica and Virginia, her target. But when a European artist shows a special interest in the two minority girls, Gloriosa’s jealousy deepens, exacerbating her rage and anti-Tutsi sentiment. Writer/director Atiq Rahimi evocatively adapts Scholastique Mukasonga’s acclaimed semiautobiographical novel, bringing a boldly colorful aesthetic to this grim tale of the beginning of the rising ethnic tensions that led to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Selected Filmography: The Patience Stone (2012), Earth and Ashes (2004)

Comedy and tragedy go hand in hand in this story about an absurdist power struggle set in a remand penitentiary. While he awaits trial, manipulative celebrity entrepreneur Markus Føns enters custody after being accused of financial fraud. His imperious attitude, however, doesn’t go over well with either the prison staff or the general population. Before long, a bruised and shaken Markus requests voluntary isolation in the ward that houses the prison’s most vulnerable inmates, including pedophiles and rapists. As long as the detainees in the isolation ward obey the rules, they can fill their time in remand limbo with activities such as fitness or handicrafts, and receive financial and emotional rewards. But Markus, with his designer wardrobe and expensive lawyer, believes himself a breed apart and stirs up trouble by challenging the leadership of choir master Niels. Aided by a spot-on score and notable production and sound design, director Frederikke Aspöck achieves a tricky tonal balance and sets a snappy pace.

U.S. Premiere |In French and Kinyarwanda with English subtitles.

Selected Filmography: Rosita (2015), Labrador (2011) In Danish with English subtitles.

Tuesday, January 7 • 3:45 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 6:15 pm • CAM

172

Friday, January 3 • 5:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 4 • 10:00 am • ANN Saturday, January 11 • 6:45 pm • MP

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PELICAN BLOOD

THE PERFECT PATIENT

Pelikanblut

Quick

GERMANY, 2019 126 minutes Director: Katrin Gebbe Cast: Nina Hoss, Katerina Lipovska, Adelia-Constance Ocleppo, Murathan Muslu Print Source: Films Boutique

SWEDEN, 2019 126 minutes Director: Mikael Håfström Cast: David Dencik, Jonas Karlsson, Alba August Print Source: TrustNordisk

Poised, distinguished horse trainer Wiebke (Nina Hoss) lives a moored and picturesque existence on the secluded farm she shares with her responsible adopted daughter Nicolina (Adelia-Constance Ocleppo). After a lengthy bureaucratic process, Wiebke is finally able to grow her family with the addition of Raya (Katerina Lipovska). Initially blissful and content, it doesn’t take long before the rosy-cheeked, cherubic 5-year-old starts exhibiting increasingly savage behavior, putting Wiebke’s experience taming the wild to the ultimate test. Audacious filmmaker Katrin Gebbe’s bone-chilling vision of parenthood examines the piercing, often dangerous depths a desperate mother will plumb to protect, heal and understand her young. With its sinister underpinnings and painterly lens, Gebbe’s follow-up to her searing 2013 debut Nothing Bad Can Happen is part The Bad Seed at magic hour, part The Omen on a farm, resulting in a ferociously entertaining and unpredictable contribution to the ever-fruitful “evil child” genre.

Based on true events, The Perfect Patient combines gripping Nordic noir with a human story about a relentless and resourceful search for the truth. Thomas Quick (David Dencik) is the most notorious serial killer ever convicted in Sweden. From the psychiatric prison where he serves a life sentence, he claims that he was also a cannibalistic rapist and confesses to an additional 25 murders. But years into his sentence, Quick’s life is changed by Hannes Råstam (Jonas Karlsson), a prize-winning investigative reporter and producer of several documentaries examining police and the Swedish justice system. Without much support from the authorities only too pleased to have these gruesome murders declared solved, Råstam dedicates himself to unmasking the legal chaos that resulted in Quick’s conviction. Returning to his native Sweden after 15 years in Hollywood, director Mikael Håfström (1408; Evil, PSIFF 2005) carefully lays out the pieces of the puzzle while emphasizing the phrase “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Selected Filmography: Nothing Bad Can Happen (2013)

Selected Filmography: Escape Plan (2013), The Rite (2011), 1408 (2007), Derailed (2005), Evil (2003)

In German with English subtitles. International Premiere |In Swedish with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 12:00 pm • CAM Thursday, January 9 • 6:30 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 8:30 pm • PC

Tuesday, January 7 • 7:00 pm • ANN Wednesday, January 8 • 2:00 pm • PC Thursday, January 9 • 2:00 pm • REG

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PROXIMA

THE REST OF US

FRANCE/GERMANY, 2019 107 minutes Director: Alice Winocour Cast: Eva Green, Matt Dillon Print Source: Vertical Entertainment

CANADA, 2019 80 minutes Director: Aisling Chin-Yee Cast: Heather Graham, Sophie Nélisse, Jodi Balfour, Abigail Pniowsky Print Source: Babe Nation Films

After dreaming her entire life to leave the confines of Earth’s — and life’s — gravitational pull, Sarah (Eva Green) suddenly struggles to accept her next mission as a year-long resident of the International Space Station. Now a single mother, Sarah is guilt-ridden about leaving her fragile 8-year-old daughter behind during a formative year in her life. It doesn’t help that NASA poster boy Mike (Matt Dillon) takes every opportunity to make a sexist barb in response to Sarah’s inability to handle the emotionally and physically draining training regime. As the countdown to liftoff approaches, the composed Sarah begins to make rash decisions that threaten her chance to ever make it out of this world. Co-writer of the internationally acclaimed Mustang (PSIFF 2016), director Alice Winocour’s gripping drama frighteningly captures the intensity of each individual test Sarah undergoes, while exploring the larger experience of an inspiring woman who must navigate two seemingly impossible duties.

Heather Graham stars as Cami, a successful children’s book author and (over-)doting mother to an introverted teenage girl. When her former husband dies, she is forced to face her long unresolved feelings about her marriage and, more urgently, her ex-spouse’s new wife and young daughter. In her feature film debut, director Aisling Chin-Yee guides her gifted cast through an intimate and often comically volatile exploration of grief, marriage, divorce and motherhood. The film’s modest scale allows for emotions to play as large as necessary, and for delightful moments of humor to thread between the dramatic peaks. At its core it’s the story of an unlikely bonding of four women who, despite the cheerless genesis of their relationship, somehow end up taking care of each other in a pragmatic fashion — the way that women do. U.S. Premiere |In English.

Selected Filmography: Disorder (2015), Augustine (2012) In French, English, Russian and German with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 12:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 8 • 3:00 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 9:45 am • REG

174

Saturday, January 4 • 7:00 pm • CAM Sunday, January 5 • 9:45 am • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 1:00 pm • PSHS

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ROUNDS

THE SONG OF NAMES

BULGARIA/SERBIA, 2019 106 minutes Director: Stephan Komandarev Cast: Ivan Barnev, Assen Blatechki, Stoyan Doychev, Vassil Vassilev–Zouek, Irini Jambonas Print Source: Beta Cinema

CANADA, 2019 113 minutes Director: François Girard Cast: Tim Roth, Clive Owen, Catherine McCormack, Jonah Hauer-King, Gerran Howell Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

A Bulgarian joke making the rounds posits that all Bulgarians are optimists because the pessimists have long since left the country. Stephan Komandarev, director of Directions (PSIFF 2018) and The World Is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (PSIFF 2010), continues his state-of-the-nation explorations with this smart, politically caustic drama. Unfolding over the course of 24 hours, Rounds follows three pairs of police officers through an eventful night’s patrol in central Sofia as they frequently break from protocol, taking us on a journey through a society still looking for its purpose and identity after three decades of transition. The stories are connected by the body of a junkie that keeps moving from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. As in Komandarev’s previous film, the decisions made by various protagonists have a ripple effect on others. One person’s death may give another person the chance at a new life.

Tim Roth and Clive Owen star in the latest sweeping epic from François Girard, director of The Red Violin. In London during World War II, young English Martin befriends Dovidl Rapaport, a Polish violin prodigy taken in by Martin’s family to protect him from the Nazis. By the time they are 20, the two men are as close as brothers. But on the night he is to make his heralded public debut in a packed concert hall, Dovidl vanishes, never to reappear. Decades later, the adult Martin (Roth), who has never gotten over the betrayal, sets out against the protestations of his wife (Catherine McCormack) on a quest to solve the riddle of Dovidl’s disappearance. The journey will take him to New York and Eastern Europe, where he must confront the shadow of the Holocaust that hangs over Dovidl’s life.

Winner: Best Actress, Sarajevo Selected Filmography: Directions (2017), The Judgement (2014), The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008)

Selected Filmography: Hochelaga, Land of Souls (2017), The Red Violin (1998), Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993) In English.

U.S. Premiere |In Bulgarian with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 1:30 pm • MP Wednesday, January 8 • 6:30 pm • CAM Sunday, January 12 • 4:45 pm • REG

Friday, January 3 • 1:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 4 • 9:45 am • CAM

175

WORLD CINEMA NOW

SOUTH MOUNTAIN

THE SPY Spionen

176

USA, 2019 85 minutes Director: Hilary Brougher Cast: Talia Balsam, Scott Cohen, Andrus Nichols, Michael Oberholtzer, Naian González Norvind

NORWAY, 2019 109 minutes Director: Jens Jonsson Cast: Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Rolf Lassgård, Alexander Scheer, Edvin Endre Print Source: Norwegian Film Institute

The heightened melodrama of the likes of Douglas Sirk is brought down to the fertile earth of the tranquil home of Lila (Talia Balsam) and Edgar (Scott Cohen) in this elegant yet thrilling drama from filmmaker Hilary Brougher. Tensions run high between the couple on the eve of the departure of their eldest daughter for a summer boating expedition. After taking a suspiciously long “business” call, Edgar reveals a shocking truth that dismantles the already fragile marriage of 20 years. The extraordinary Balsam channels a wide range of emotions with just a single glance as a woman now facing the uncertain future of her twilight years. As Lila’s grief begins to manifest itself in increasingly erratic and impulsive decisions, Brougher, with the aid of a unique score, never judges and instead revels in the quiet, intimate moments that hit harder than any dramatic outburst ever could.

During World War II, many movie stars played a real-life role in espionage. One of the most successful was Norwegian actress and singer Sonja Wigert. The Germans wanted to use film in their propaganda war and Sonja, who was living in neutral Stockholm at the start of WWII, was at the top of the list for Reichskommissar Terboven and the German film companies. When her father was imprisoned by the Germans, Sonja (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) enlisted as a spy for Swedish intelligence before going to Terboven in Oslo to flirt her father out of prison. She succeeded, but Terboven, the de facto Nazi viceroy of Norway, wanted Sonja as his private spy and mistress. As she infiltrated deeper into the German spy network, threats and rumors about her sympathies began to wear on her, and she faced a fateful decision to save her relationship with the Hungarian diplomat Andor Gellert.

Selected Filmography: Stephanie Daley (2007), The Sticky Fingers of Time (1997)

Selected Filmography: Easy Money III: Life Deluxe (2013), The King of Ping Pong (2008)

In English.

U.S. Premiere | In Norwegian and English with English subtitles.

Friday, January 3 • 10:30 am • MP Wednesday, January 8 • 5:30 pm • PC Thursday, January 9 • 4:30 pm • REG

Tuesday, January 7 • 10:00 am • PSHS Friday, January 10 • 7:00 pm • ANN Sunday, January 12 • 1:45 pm • REG

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STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN

A SUN Yang Guang Pu Zhao

USA, 2019 91 minutes Director: Matt Ratner Cast: Billy Crystal, Ben Schwartz, Eloise Mumford, Grace Gummer, Nate Corddry Print Source: Shout! Factory

TAIWAN, 2019 155 minutes Director: Chung Mong-Hong Cast: Chen Yi-wen, Samantha Ko, Wu Chien-Ho, Liu Kuan-Ting Print Source: MandarinVision

For some, accepting defeat is the first step in starting over. When fledgling stand-up comic Scott (Ben Schwartz) unceremoniously leaves Los Angeles for Long Island, his stalled career suddenly holds less of a sting than the act of returning home. But when he meets the delightful boozer Marty (Billy Crystal), a lonely dermatologist who harbors quite a few heartaches of his own, the two form a fortuitous bond en route to reclaiming their lives that’s equal doses healing and hilarity. Giving Crystal the kind of showcase role he hasn’t had in decades, the film examines life’s disappointments with as much wit as heartbreak. Balancing the gentle with the irreverent, director Matt Ratner and screenwriter Kevin Hoare have crafted a winning comedy filled with subtle observations about how we pick up the pieces in modern times, and what happens when we embrace our failures along with the unexpected.

When A-Ho, the rebellious young son in a family of four, is sent to a juvenile detention center for getting into a brawl, his parents are shocked and ashamed, prompting his father A-Wen to turn his back on him. A-Wen instead devotes his attention to the elder son, A-Hao, who wants to be a doctor and is, in his father’s eyes, more worthy of support. But all is not what it seems. To make matters worse, A-Ho’s pregnant girlfriend shows up on the family’s doorstep while he’s imprisoned and begs to be taken in. In this complex psychological family drama that doubles as a thriller, director Chung Mong-Hong deals with loss, healing, depression and redemption, and finds a resolution in an unforeseen, unexpected twist. When elucidating the meaning behind the film’s title, the award-winning director said, “The sun is warm but it can also be too hot, so in the end everyone tries to hide in the shadows.”

In English.

Winnner: Best Narrative Feature, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Editing, 2019 Golden Horse Awards Selected Filmography: Godspeed (2016), Parking (2008) U.S. Premiere | In Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 7:00 pm • PSHS Tuesday, January 7 • 1:00 pm • ANN Wednesday, January 8 • 9:45 am • CAM

Monday, January 6 • 3:00 pm • MP Wednesday, January 8 • 8:00 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 7:30 pm • REG

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WORLD CINEMA NOW

THE SWALLOWS OF KABUL

SYNCHRONIC

Les hirondelles de Kaboul FRANCE/SWITZERLAND, 2019 80 minutes Directors: Zabou Breitman, Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec Cast: Zita Hanrot, Hiam Abbass, Swann Arlaud, Simon Abkarian Print Source: The Festival Agency

USA, 2019 101 minutes Director: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead Cast: Anthony Mackie, Jamie Dornan Print Source: Well Go USA

Here is the story of two very different marriages: one observant of sharia law, and one that rejects it while living in a privately egalitarian union. Prison guard Atiq struggles to communicate with his wife Mussarat who grapples with a fatal diagnosis. Elsewhere in the city, Mohsen and his wife Zunaira live as equals behind closed doors, quietly opposing the Taliban regime. When Mohsen finds himself unexpectedly participating in the fundamentalist communal outrage, his ensuing actions set in motion a series of consequences that will bring both couples together in unexpected ways. Adapted from the French novel by Yasmina Khadra, Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec’s The Swallows of Kabul takes unconventional approaches to melodrama, not just in its animation, but also through the economy of its storytelling. Unfurling its human drama with visual ingenuity, The Swallows of Kabul is a reflective examination of the struggle between choosing a liberating escape or living in resistance against oppressive regimes.

Celebrated cerebral filmmaking duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead (The Endless, PSIFF 2018) continues their unique exploration of our reality and beyond with this head-spinner about two New Orleans emergency responders grappling with a string of shocking deaths linked to a new synthetic drug, Synchronic. Despite their increasingly disturbing discoveries, EMTs and longtime friends Steve (Anthony Mackie) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan) are able to make light of their grueling graveyard shifts with affectionate insults and jabs. The two may share a bond in snark, but serial bachelor Steve and begrudging family man Dennis harbor deep secrets while leading very different lives at home. When Dennis’ teenage daughter mysteriously disappears, Steve suspects a link to Synchronic and becomes obsessed with discovering the trippy truth behind the mystery pill. Benson and Moorehead saturate the screen with imaginative visuals and noir-inspired style, but the complex relationship of Steve and Dennis turns this buddy sci-fi drama into something truly out of this world.

Selected Filmography: Zabou Breitman: The Man of My Life (2006), Beautiful Memories (2001) Eléa Gobbé-Mévellec: Feature debut

Selected Filmography: The Endless (2017), Spring (2014) In English.

In French with English subtitles. Monday, January 6 • 1:45 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 7 • 6:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 12 • 12:30 pm • REG

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Friday, January 10 • 6:00 pm • CAM Saturday, January 11 • 8:30 pm • MP

WORLD CINEMA NOW

THREE SUMMERS

THE VAST OF NIGHT

Três Veões BRAZIL/FRANCE, 2019 94 minutes Director: Sandra Kogut Cast: Regina Casé, Rogério Fróes,Otavio Müller, Gisele Fróes, Carla Ribas Print Source: UDI - Urban Distribution International

USA, 2019 90 minutes Director: Andrew Patterson Cast: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz, Gail Cronauer, Bruce Davis Print Source: Amazon Studios

Loud, lively and unafraid to say what’s on her sharp mind, housekeeper Madá (Regina Casé) makes sure to keep the summer estate of her super-wealthy employers running smoothly, especially during the manic preparations for their massive annual Christmas soirée. When the couple and their cohorts are arrested as part of Operation Car Wash — Brazil’s infamous bribery crackdown that went on to become the largest corruption scandal in Latin American history — Madá’s hopes of getting a loan from them to realize her own small business dreams go up in smoke. Left alone in the lush enclave with dwindling cash reserves, the house falling into disrepair and the opulent Christmas parties a thing of the past, the everresourceful Madá and crew hustle to turn misfortune into an advantage and indulge in the rich-person perks long denied to them in this funny, razor-sharp look at the hard realities of life in modern Brazil from director Sandra Kogut.

Capturing the paranoia and optimism of small-town America during the Cold War, Andrew Patterson’s remarkable film is a technical and storytelling marvel that inspires a true sense of wonder about our place in the universe. With his pair of Buddy Holly specs, the fast-talking Everett (Jake Horowitz) takes pleasure in being the analog guru for all tech troubles on the night of his high school’s big basketball game. Before he can split for his gig at the local radio station, Everett agrees to walk the goody-goody Fay (Sierra McCormick) to her job at the town’s telephone switchboard. When a mysterious frequency interrupts Fay’s calls, the two begin to suspect something more ominous (maybe even Russian) is at play. Steeped in nostalgia, hair-raising sound design, fantastic direction and an infectious chemistry between Patterson’s leads, The Vast of Night is an utterly one-of-a-kind night at the movies. In English.

Selected Filmography: Campo Grande (2015), Mutum (2007) In Portuguese with English subtitles.

Sunday, January 5 • 12:00 pm • CAM Wednesday, January 8 • 10:30 am • MP Saturday, January 11 • 9:15 pm • REG

Thursday, January 9 • 6:00 pm • MP Friday, January 10 • 3:00 pm • CAM

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WORLD CINEMA NOW

WET SEASON

THE WILD GOOSE LAKE

Re Dai Yu

Nan Fang Che Zhan De Ju Hui

SINGAPORE/TAIWAN, 2019 103 minutes Director: Anthony Chen Cast: Yeo Yann Yann, Christopher Lee, Koh Jia Ler, Yang Shi Bin Print Source: Memento Films International

CHINA/FRANCE, 2019 113 minutes Director: Diao Yinan Cast: Hu Ge, Kwie Lun-Mei, Liao Fan, Regina Wan, Qi Liang Print Source: Film Movement

Writer/director Anthony Chen (Ilo Ilo, PSIFF 2014) casts a sensitive light on a woman who has tried for years to become a mother and now finds herself on the verge of a crisis. Ling (Yann Yann Yeo) longs for the tenderness she once shared with her husband who has recently become indifferent to her. While caring for her father-in-law, Ling treats him as a substitute for the child she desperately wants. Although a dedicated teacher, the Chinese language classes she teaches are undervalued, and it’s only Wei Lun, one of her remedial students, who shows interest. Similarly lonely and neglected at home, Wei finds in Ling an understanding, and soon he develops a crush, which Ling gradually reciprocates. While trying to navigate this growing intimacy, Ling must embark on a journey to rediscover herself and come to terms with the consequences of a forbidden romance between a high school teacher and her student.

Gangster Zhou Zenong is in hiding after accidentally killing a cop. There’s a price on his head and both the police and his fellow criminals are hunting him. A mysterious woman arrives, claiming she’s been sent to help him escape. Despite their inability to trust each other, an attraction develops between the two. Director Diao Yinan’s ultra-stylish noir follows their journey through the seedy underbelly of modern China: into hotel basements where gangland conferences occur, run-down apartment complexes where every nook and cranny conceals a potential threat and, in a slightly surreal turn, a zoo at night where the wildlife looks on as a gunfight ensues. While the plot of The Wild Goose Lake may sound familiar, the execution is anything but. It’s a brilliant showcase of technique, full of colorful and highly expressive lighting, surprising set pieces, inventively staged action and a creative chronology that ensures the film always feels fresh and exciting.

Winner: Best Actress, Golden Horse Film Festival Selected Filmography: Ilo Ilo (2013)

Selected Filmography: Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014), Night Train (2007)

U.S. Premiere | In Mandarin and English with English subtitles. In Chinese with English subtitles.

Monday, January 6 • 8:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 4:45 pm • CAM

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Friday, January 3 • 4:45 pm • CAM Sunday, January 5 • 4:30 pm • MP Sunday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • REG

WORLD CINEMA NOW

YOU TELL ME

YOU WILL DIE AT TWENTY

Sag Du Es Mir GERMANY, 2019 102 minutes Director: Michael Fetter Nathansky Cast: Christina Große, Gisa Flake, Marc Ben Puch, Patrick Heinrich, Walid AlAtiyat Print Source: Contando Films

SUDAN/FRANCE/EGYPT/GERMANY/NORWAY/QATAR, 2019 105 minutes Director: Amjad Abu Alala Cast: Mustafa Shehata, Islam Mubarak, Mahmoud Elsaraj Print Source: Pyramide International

After Silke is suddenly and inexplicably shoved off a bridge, her volatile sister Moni — returning to Germany from a largely unfulfilling stint in Spain — resolves to investigate the bewildering attack. After surviving the plunge into the river, Silke makes her own discoveries about the incident that enable her to spin the narrative to her advantage. Meanwhile, reeling from an overwhelming sense of guilt, the perpetrator seeks to come to grips with his impulsive and unaccountable act. A lively and relentlessly unpredictable reflection on victimhood, responsibility and the illogic that can inevitably take hold of human relationships, You Tell Me demonstrates that the truth very much depends on who is telling it. As the events are told and retold from different perspectives in three distinct chapters, the facts shift and distort continuously in this guileful and reliably comedic chamber play by director Michael Fetter Nathansky.

In a small Sudanese village, Sakina hopes to receive a blessing for her newborn son, Muzamil, from a traveling sheikh. Muzamil is instead given this ominous prediction: “You will die at 20.” His father, unable to cope with the curse leaves the infant alone with his mother, whose protective efforts mean sheltering him from the world. Growing up as an outcast, Muzamil constantly lives under the cloud of his impending end. He eventually turns to Souleiman, a morally questionable local man uncontrolled by superstitions, who becomes his father figure and opens his eyes to the rest of the world, finally allowing Muzamil — at age 19 — to confront his own fate. In his confident feature debut, director Amjad Abu Alala contrasts the darkness of the film’s central prophecy with an impressive visual flair. Winner: Lion of the Future Award, Best Debut, Venice; Best Narrative Feature, El Gouna; Grand Prix du Jury — Best Narrative Feature, Amiens

International Premiere | In German with English subtitles. U.S. Premiere | In Arabic with English subtitles.

Thursday, January 9 • 7:15 pm • REG Friday, January 10 • 7:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 11 • 1:00 pm • REG

Sunday, January 5 • 2:15 pm • REG Saturday, January 11 • 4:30 pm • MP

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2020 FESTIVAL STAFF

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ADMINISTRATION Lauren Tutzauer, Operations Manager Kim Date, Office Coordinator Felicia Alford, Accountant Rita Huber-Germscheid, Accounting Assistant Jim Gazan, Volunteer Coordinator Holly Copeland, Assistant Volunteer Coordinator

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Andrew Becerra, Joe Bowman, Chris Feil, Pam Grady, Jake Howell, Malin Kan, Jesse Knight, Gustavus Kundahl, Judy Plapinger, Phillip Segal, Cedar Sherbert, Trey Shields, Jack Vermee

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201

FILMS BY TITLE

The 11th Green................................................. 76 14 Days, 12 Nights........................................ 153 1982........................................................................ 84 37 Seconds........................................................ 154

The Capote Tapes.......................................... 139 Certified Mail................................................... 159 The Chambermaid............................................ 89 The Champion............................................ 35, 70 Changing the Game...................................... 121 Clemency........................................................... 160 Commitment....................................................... 90 Corpus Christi.................................................... 90 The County....................................................... 160 Coup 53.............................................................. 140

Hearts and Bones.......................................... 130 Heroic Losers...................................................... 93 Honeyland............................................................ 93 Hope..................................................................... 166 House of Cardin................................................ 77 The Humorist................................................... 166 Hustlers................................................................. 58

A About Endlessness........................................ 113 Adam....................................................................... 85 Adventures of a Mathematician............. 154 Advocate............................................................ 137 Ága........................................................................... 85 An Almost Ordinary Summer.............. 53, 69 And the Birds Rained Down..................... 155 And Then We Danced..................................... 86 Antigone................................................................ 86 Arab Blues......................................................... 128 Ara Malikian. A Life Among Strings....... 138 The Artist’s Wife............................................ 155 Atlantics................................................................. 87 The Australian Dream................................. 138 The Awakening of the Ants.......................... 87

B Babyteeth.......................................................... 156 Bacurau............................................................... 156 Baghdad in My Shadow.............................. 157 Balloon................................................................ 157 The Barefoot Emperor................................ 158 Beanpole............................................................... 88 Bellbird................................................................ 158 Billie...................................................................... 139 Blow the Man Down..................................... 129 Born to Be......................................................... 120 The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind......... 88 Buoyancy.............................................................. 89 The Burnt Orange Heresy......................... 159

D David Foster: Off the Record................... 140 The Delegation................................................... 91 Desert One....................................................... 114 Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy................. 81 The Disappearance of My Mother........... 70 Disclosure.......................................................... 161 The Dog Doc.................................................... 141 Dogs Don’t Wear Pants.............................. 161 The Donut Dollies......................................... 141 Douze Points.................................................... 162

I Am Not Alone................................................ 143 Iconicity................................................................. 77 Incitement............................................................ 94 The Innocence................................................. 167 Instinct................................................................... 94 Invisible Life......................................................... 95 It Must Be Heaven............................................ 95

J JoJo Rabbit.......................................................... 59 Judy & Punch................................................... 167

K The Kingmaker................................................ 143

Easy Land........................................................... 162 Echo...................................................................... 163 The Elder One................................................. 163 Extracurricular................................................ 164

F Finding Farideh.................................................. 91 First Love........................................................... 114 Forgiveness....................................................... 164 Forman vs. Forman........................................ 142 Free Color......................................................... 142

G Gay Chorus Deep South..................... 79, 121 Gaza........................................................................ 92 A Girl Missing.................................................. 165 The Good Intentions.................................... 129 Greed................................................................... 165 Gully Boy............................................................... 92

202

L La Dolce Vita....................................................... 80 Lara....................................................................... 130 Leftover Women............................................ 144 Les Misérables.................................................... 96 Let There Be Light............................................ 96 Lina from Lima................................................. 131 Lingua Franca................................................... 122 Litigante.............................................................. 168 Lucky Grandma............................................... 168 Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom.............. 131

FILMS BY TITLE

Made in Bangladesh..................................... 169 Mafia Inc............................................................. 169 Martin Eden......................................................... 71 Maxima............................................................... 144 M for Malaysia.................................................... 97 Military Wives.................................................... 55 Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears....... 170 Moffie.................................................................. 122 Monos..................................................................... 97 Motherless Brooklyn...................................... 60 The Mover............................................................ 98 Mr. Jones............................................................ 115 Murmur.............................................................. 132

Queen of Hearts............................................. 102

Red Penguins................................................... 147 The Red Pigeon............................................... 102 The Rest of Us................................................. 174 Retablo................................................................ 103 Rewind................................................................ 147 Romantic Comedy......................................... 148 Rounds................................................................ 175

Talking About Trees...................................... 150 Tel Aviv on Fire................................................ 105 A Thief’s Daughter........................................ 134 This Is Not a Movie....................................... 150 Those Who Remained................................. 105 Three Summers.............................................. 179 The Traitor............................................................ 73 The Truth........................................................... 116 Truth and Justice............................................ 106 Tu Me Manques.............................................. 106 Two of Us........................................................... 126

Searching for Mr. Rugoff............................ 148 Second Star on the Right............................ 124 The Seer and the Unseen........................... 149 Sequin in a Blue Room................................. 124 Simple Women................................................... 71 Sole.......................................................................... 72 So Long, My Son............................................. 116 A Son.................................................................... 133 The Song of Names....................................... 175 Song Without A Name................................. 133 A Soul Journey................................................... 72 South Mountain.............................................. 176 Spider................................................................... 103 The Spy............................................................... 176 Stage Mother................................................... 125 Stage: The Culinary Internship.................. 82 Standing Up, Falling Down........................ 177 The Steed........................................................... 104 Stevenson - Lost and Found...................... 149 Straight Up........................................................ 125 A Sun.................................................................... 177 The Swallows Of Kabul............................... 178 Synchronic......................................................... 178 System Crasher.............................................. 104

Varda By Agnès............................................... 117 The Vast of Night........................................... 179 Verdict................................................................. 107

N The New Bauhaus.......................................... 145 Nomad: In The Footsteps Of Bruce Chatwin.............................................................. 115

O Oleg...................................................................... 170 Oliver Sacks: His Own Life........................ 123 Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band................................................... 145 Ordinary Love.................................................. 171 The Orphanage............................................... 171 Our Lady of the Nile..................................... 172 Our Mothers....................................................... 98 Our Time Machine........................................ 146 Out of Tune....................................................... 172 Out Stealing Horses........................................ 99

P Pain and Glory............................................ 61, 99 The Painted Bird............................................. 100 Papicha................................................................ 100 Parasite............................................................... 101 Paris Stalingrad............................................... 146 Patrick................................................................. 132 Pelican Blood................................................... 173 The Perfect Candidate................................ 101 The Perfect Patient....................................... 173 Portrait of a Lady on Fire................... 79, 123 Proxima............................................................... 174

W We Are the Radical Monarchs................. 151 Weathering With You.................................. 107 Wet Season....................................................... 180 When Tomatoes Met Wagner................. 108 The Whistlers.................................................. 108 A White, White Day...................................... 109 The Wild Goose Lake................................... 180 Workforce......................................................... 134

Y You Tell Me........................................................ 181 You Will Die At Twenty............................... 181

Z Zana...................................................................... 109 Zero Impunity.................................................. 151

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FILMS BY REGION

AFRICA Adam (Morocco/France) Arab Blues (France/Tunisia) Atlantics (Senegal/France/Belgium) The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (United Kingdom/Malawi) Moffie (South Africa) Our Lady of the Nile (France/Belgium) Papicha (Algeria/France/Belgium/Qatar) A Son (France/Tunisia/Lebanon/Qatar) Talking About Trees (France/Sudan/Germany/Chad/Qatar) You Will Die At Twenty (Sudan/France/Egypt/Germany/Norway/Qatar)

ASIA 37 Seconds (Japan) Balloon (China) Buoyancy (Australia/Cambodia) The Elder One (India) First Love (Japan) A Girl Missing (Japan/France) Gully Boy (India) Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) Made in Bangladesh (France/Bangladesh/Denmark/Portugal) M for Malaysia (Malaysia) The Orphanage (Denmark/Germany/France/Luxembourg/Afghanistan) Our Time Machine (China/USA) Parasite (South Korea) The Red Pigeon (Pakistan) So Long, My Son (China) The Steed (Mongolia) A Sun (Taiwan) The Swallows Of Kabul (France/Switzerland) Verdict (Philippines/France) Weathering With You (Japan) Wet Season (Singapore/Taiwan) The Wild Goose Lake (China/France)

EUROPE About Endlessness (Sweden/Germany/Norway) Adventures of a Mathematician (Germany/Poland/United Kingdom) Ága (Bulgaria/Germany/France) An Almost Ordinary Summer (Italy) And Then We Danced (Sweden/Georgia/France) Ara Malikian. A Life Among Strings (Spain) Baghdad in My Shadow (Switzerland/Germany/United Kingdom) The Barefoot Emperor (Belgium/Netherlands/Croatia/Bulgaria) Beanpole (Russia) Billie (United Kingdom) The Burnt Orange Heresy (United Kingdom/Italy) The Champion (Italy)

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Corpus Christi (Poland/France) The County (Iceland/Denmark/Germany/France) Coup 53 (United Kingdom/USA/Iran) The Delegation (Albania/France/Greece/Kosovo) The Disappearance of My Mother (Italy) Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (Finland/Latvia) Echo (Iceland/France/Switzerland) Extracurricular (Croatia) Forman vs. Forman (Czech Republic/France) Greed (United Kingdom) Honeyland (North Macedonia) Hope (Norway/Sweden) The Humorist (Russia/Latvia/Czech Republic) I Am Not Alone (Armenia) The Innocence (Spain) Instinct (Netherlands) La Dolce Vita (Italy) Lara (Germany) Les Misérables (France) Let There Be Light (Slovakia/Czech Republic) Martin Eden (Italy/France/Germany) Military Wives (United Kingdom/USA) The Mover (Latvia) Mr. Jones (Poland/United Kingdom/Ukraine) Nomad: In The Footsteps Of Bruce Chatwin (United Kingdom) Oleg (Latvia/Belgium/Lithuania/France) Ordinary Love (United Kingdom/Ireland) Out of Tune (Denmark) Out Stealing Horses (Norway) Pain and Glory (Spain) The Painted Bird (Czech Republic) Paris Stalingrad (France) Patrick (Belgium) Pelican Blood (Germany) The Perfect Patient (Sweden) Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France) Proxima (France/Germany) Queen of Hearts (Denmark) Romantic Comedy (United Kingdom) Rounds (Bulgaria/Serbia) The Seer and the Unseen (Iceland/USA) Simple Women (Italy/Romania) Sole (Italy) A Soul Journey (United Kingdom/Italy) The Spy (Norway) System Crasher (Germany) A Thief’s Daughter (Spain) Those Who Remained (Hungary) The Traitor (Italy) The Truth (France) Truth and Justice (Estonia) Two of Us (France/Luxembourg/Belgium)

FILMS BY REGION

Varda By Agnès (France/Germany) When Tomatoes Met Wagner (Greece) The Whistlers (Romania/France/Germany) A White, White Day (Iceland/Denmark/Sweden) You Tell Me (Germany) Zana (Kosovo/Albania) Zero Impunity (Luxembourg/France)

LATIN AMERICA The Awakening of the Ants (Costa Rica/Spain) Bacurau (Brazil/France) The Chambermaid (Mexico) Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy (USA/Mexico) Free Color (USA/Venezuela/France) The Good Intentions (Argentina) Heroic Losers (Argentina/Spain) Invisible Life (Brazil/Germany) Lina from Lima (Chile/Peru/Argentina) Litigante (France/Colombia) Maxima (USA/Peru) Monos (Colombia/France/Germany/Netherlands/Uruguay/Argentina) Our Mothers (Belgium/Guatemala) Retablo (Peru) Second Star on the Right (Colombia) Song Without A Name (Peru/Spain/USA/Chile) Spider (Chile/Brazil/Argentina) Three Summers (Brazil/France) Tu Me Manques (Bolivia/USA) Workforce (Mexico)

MIDDLE EAST 1982 (Lebanon/USA/Norway/Qatar) Advocate (Israel/Canada/Switzerland) Certified Mail (Egypt) Commitment (Turkey) Douze Points (Israel/France) Finding Farideh (Iran) Forgiveness (Israel) Gaza (Ireland/Canada/Germany) Incitement (Israel) It Must Be Heaven (Palestine/France/Qatar/Germany/Canada/Turkey) Leftover Women (Israel) The Perfect Candidate (Saudi Arabia/Germany) Tel Aviv on Fire (Luxembourg/France/Israel/Belgium)

NORTH AMERICA The 11th Green (USA) 14 Days, 12 Nights (Canada) And the Birds Rained Down (Canada)

Antigone (Canada) The Artist’s Wife (USA) Blow the Man Down (USA) Born to Be (USA) The Capote Tapes (United Kingdom) Changing the Game (USA) Clemency (USA) David Foster: Off the Record (Canada) Desert One (USA) The Dog Doc (USA) The Donut Dollies (USA/Vietnam) Easy Land (Canada) Gay Chorus Deep South (USA) House of Cardin (USA/France) Hustlers (USA) Iconicity (USA) JoJo Rabbit (USA) The Kingmaker (USA) Lingua Franca (USA/Philippines) Lucky Grandma (USA) Mafia Inc. (Canada) Motherless Brooklyn (USA) Murmur (Canada) The New Bauhaus (USA) Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (USA/United Kingdom) Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band (Canada) Red Penguins (USA/Russia) The Rest of Us (Canada) Rewind (USA) Searching for Mr. Rugoff (USA) The Song of Names (Canada) South Mountain (USA) Stage Mother (USA) Stage: The Culinary Internship (Canada) Standing Up, Falling Down (USA) Stevenson - Lost and Found (USA/France/Germany/New Zealand) Straight Up (USA) Synchronic (USA) This Is Not a Movie (Canada/Germany) The Vast of Night (USA) We Are the Radical Monarchs (USA)

OCEANIA The Australian Dream (Australia) Babyteeth (Australia/USA) Bellbird (New Zealand) Disclosure (Australia/United Kingdom) Hearts and Bones (Australia) Judy & Punch (Australia) Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (Australia/Morocco) Sequin in a Blue Room (Australia)

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NOTES

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Longer isn’t always better. Get Ready June 16–22 300+ Short Films. Discussions. Panels. Parties. A good time.

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PS Film Festivals

Published on Dec 18, 2019

31st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Digital Souvenir Guide

The 31st Annual PSIFF Digital Souvenir Guide is an in-depth look at the Palm Springs International Film Festival that is taking place on Jan...

31st Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival Digital Souvenir Guide

Published on Dec 18, 2019

The 31st Annual PSIFF Digital Souvenir Guide is an in-depth look at the Palm Springs International Film Festival that is taking place on Jan...

psfilmfestivals

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