PSIFF 2018 Souvenir Guide

PSFILMFEST.ORG 760.778.8979

THE 29TH PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL January 2-15, 2018

Focus On Argentina.......................................................... 75 New Voices New Visions................................................... 85 Modern Masters.............................................................. 101 Awards Buzz..................................................................... 109 World Cinema Now......................................................... 133 True Stories...................................................................... 173

WELCOME

Board of Directors �������������������������������������������������������������� 4 Chairman ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5 Artistic Director ������������������������������������������������������������������� 6 Mayor ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7 Community �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8 Agua Caliente ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 9

FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE

Map ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 11 Ticket & Festival Info �������������������������������������������������������� 12 Outreach Programs ���������������������������������������������������������� 14 Student Screening Day ���������������������������������������������������� 15 Sponsors ���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17

GALAS & SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch ���������������������������������������� 35 Palm Springs International Film Awards ������������������������� 40 Opening Night ������������������������������������������������������������������ 47 Closing Night �������������������������������������������������������������������� 49 Gay!La ������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 50 Special Presentations ������������������������������������������������������� 52 Secret Screening ��������������������������������������������������������������� 57 Dinner and a Movie ���������������������������������������������������������� 58 Local Spotlight ������������������������������������������������������������������ 60 Free Screening ������������������������������������������������������������������ 61 Talking Pictures ����������������������������������������������������������������� 62 Talking Pictures: Book to Screen ������������������������������������� 64

INDEXES

2018 Staff List and Acknowledgments �������������������������� 194 Films by Genre ���������������������������������������������������������������� 196 Films by Country ������������������������������������������������������������� 198 Film Index ������������������������������������������������������������������������ 200 Ad Index �������������������������������������������������������������������������� 202

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2018

DAVID L. BARON ESQ. Vice Chairman, Treasurer

HELENE GALEN

JACK GRUNDHOFER

JAMES R. HOUSTON

JOANN McGRATH

KEVIN McGUIRE

JOHN WESSMAN

MARSHALL GELFAND

ED MONARCH

SIDNEY CRAIG

PATRICK MUNDT

MARY ANN LABAHN

DONNA MACMILLAN

RICHARD RAMHOFF

DAVID H. READY, ESQ., PH.D Executive Board Member

Vice Chairman

Vice Chairman

Vice Chairman

JOHN PINKNEY Assistant Secretary

Vice Chairman

Assistant Treasurer

Parliamentarian

Chair of Education Committee

Vice Chairman

Vice Chairman

Secretary

Executive Board Member

Executive Board Member

Assistant Secretary

BOARD MEMBERS

JACI FITZSIMONDS

JUDY ALLEN AND JIM HUMMER

LEE MORCUS

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MURIEL MYERSON

STEPHEN BREIMER

JIM BRUNER

MICHAEL CHILDERS

BOB DEVILLE

ROBERT DICKEY

JOHN FOWLER

FRITZ FRAUCHIGER

ERIC GARNER

GARY D. HALL

WENDY HECKMANN

CAROL KAPLAN

TERRI KETOVER

GARRY KIEF

MICHELLE KRANS

PETER MAHLER

ELLEN SNEIDER

JUDY VOSSLER

JAN SALTA

LINDA SHIRVANIAN DOMINIQUE SHWE

LETTER FROM THE FESTIVAL CHAIRMAN

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Palm Springs International Film Society, welcome to the cinematic journey that is the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival and Awards Gala.

For the next two weeks, we’ll be your tour guide sharing insights and images from around the world, spotlighting diverse cultures from Africa to New Zealand.

We’ll begin our journey with an exploration of the finest Hollywood has to offer at our January 2 black-tie Film Awards Gala. More than two dozen contenders for Academy Awards® nominations, including dazzling stars, hot directors and up-and-coming actors, will be receiving or presenting awards in our beautifully decorated Palm Springs Convention Center. This year’s honorees include Jessica Chastain, Holly Hunter, Saoirse Ronan, Gary Oldman, Sam Rockwell, Allison Janney, Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Guillermo del Toro and Gal Gadot—Wonder Woman—to name some.

I’m so grateful to the gala’s championship team of individual underwriters. Our venerable captain is James Houston and the fabulous six is rounded out by Helene Galen, Donna MacMillan, JoAnn McGrath, Arlene and Jordan Schnitzer, and myself.

The Gala will score about $2.5 million, which will be used for film society operations and education programs.

But this event is about much more than money. The exposure it will provide our title sponsor, the City of Palm Springs, and the films from more than 77 countries is truly invaluable. We attract every nationally and internationally syndicated entertainment television show in America and throughout the world. When our gala host, Mary Hart, isn’t introducing the stars from our stage, she’s conducting highly coveted interviews for Entertainment Tonight from backstage. Television networks and daily newspapers, along with all entertainment trade publications from throughout the United States, will be on our red carpet.

More than 2,400 dinner guests will watch the ceremonies between bites of salads and dessert. Fans will scream for autographs across the street. It’s a precursor to the Academy Awards in more ways than one.

American Express is the Presenting Sponsor and Proud Partner of the Film Awards Gala, reinforcing Palm Springs’ brand as the place to go for fun in the sun while the rest of the country, unfortunately, is left out in the cold.

Our cinematic cruise sails into international waters on Thursday, January 4, with our Opening Night Film and Party. Then we’ll present 433 screenings of more than 180 films through Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 15, when we’ll screen the Best of the Fest. Your seats really will have a window view of the world.

This film festival is not only one of the three largest film events in North America, with attendance of more than 130,000, it’s one of the most respected. We regularly screen all or nearly all of the 9 Oscar®-submitted films on the Best Foreign Language Film shortlist. International filmmakers know it’s almost impossible to get an Oscar nomination if you’re not involved in the Palm Springs International Film Festival. We help launch careers as host of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch brunch at the Parker Palm Springs. More networking opportunities are provided by parties sponsored by consulates from around the world.

The emphasis at this festival is on fun, but we also have a large educational component.

The multi-faceted event is made possible by the generous financial support of our host city, Palm Springs, and our many corporate sponsors and individual supporters. The Board of Directors of our nonprofit Palm Springs International Film Society annually gives more than $1 million to help fund year-round activities for its members, including sneak preview screenings of some of the best films on the market.

On behalf of our incredible Board of Directors, let me wish you smooth sailing at the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Sincerely,

Harold Matzner Chairman PSFILMFEST.ORG 5

LETTER FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

We’re finally here! Countless hours in dark screening rooms all over the world, dinners and emails packed with negotiations, nights hunched over laptops tinkering with program notes, days checking and rechecking nuances in the schedule and searching for typos, and we’ve finally made it to one little package of a festival encapsulated throughout the pages herein. I’m extremely excited to show you what we’ve been cooking up.

It’s been a chaotic year, both in our industry and our country (to say nothing of the rest of the planet) and, in a way, that’s reflected in the selection this year. We try to speak to the current perspective, what’s happening right now in Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv, in Paris and Tultepec, in Brussels and Auckland. As always, though, the most important thing for us is to generate a dialog. We want to be a place for discussion, a place of ideas and emotions surrounding film. The program is packed full of crowd pleasers and thought provokers.

The program is big. We know it’s big. It’s a lot to take in, but we like it that way. Some of you are avid film watchers who have spent all year clamoring for the newest product. Others of you are coming to a cinema for the first time since early 2016. We wanted to make a festival that represented the past year in every way possible —from the biggest Oscar® contenders (many of which can be found in the Talking Pictures and our newly revamped Talking Pictures: Book to Screen sections of the festival) to the hidden gems from burgeoning directors that have been making their way through the fall a few screenings at a time, only to find a stop in our New Voices New Visions program. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Awards Buzz section, where we highlight a plethora of the best cinema from around the world vying for that spot in the Foreign Language Oscar category.

As you break out your pens, highlighters and stickies to make notes throughout the guide, I want to just make sure we have in your mind the countless hardworking filmmakers that brought us to this point, that were willing to share their diverse stories and perspectives from all over the world with us. It is because of them that we are able to do this for you and I can’t thank them enough for that. With 77 countries represented this year, we have just about something for everyone and we hope it all connects with you as much as it has connected with us. If you aren’t finding what you are looking for, just grab one of us and ask for some recommendations. We’re here to help guide you through the festival process.

Speaking of us, before I go, I want to make sure I introduce you to our new programmers—Lili Rodriguez and Laura Henneman. Making their way up the ranks of PSIFF, both Lili and Laura are welcome new voices among a team that includes such talents as Lead Programmer David Ansen, Senior Programmer Alissa Simon, programmers Hebe Tabachnik and Therese Hayes, and Programming Associate Jessica Eskelin. Lili, our new Director of Programming, has been scouring Africa and the Middle East for the most exciting content. Laura has been doing likewise with the Pacific Rim and Canada and they’ve both delivered quite the product. I can’t wait to hear about it when you get to know their styles and check out their selections.

So here it is, and our work really pays off when we see you excited about the latest Russian masterpiece or hear your take on the meaning of the 2:00 pm screening before you rush off to the 5:00 pm one. I look forward to discussing and debating more with you. Remember to take risks, keep an open mind and see as much as possible and we promise you’ll be rewarded for it.

See you at the movies,

Michael Lerman Artistic Director

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LETTER FROM THE MAYOR OF PALM SPRINGS

City of Palm Springs 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way · Palm Springs, California 92262 Tel: 760.323.8299 · TDD: 760.864.9527 · Web : www.palmspringsca.gov

Welcome Fellow Film Lovers!

January 2018

As Mayor of Palm Springs, I want to welcome you to the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, one of the largest and most respected film festivals in North America.

Every 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 the late Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono. This year the festival will attract more than 130,000 moviegoers, just like you, who come to enjoy nearly 200 quality films created by filmmakers from more than 60 countries.

Not only will you be able to experience the very best in cinema, you will also be able to enjoy all the wonderful attractions that Palm Springs has to offer, including beautiful weather, breathtaking scenery, vibrant restaurants, iconic architecture, a wide array of comfortable hotels and inns, and an exciting night life.

A special thanks to the Film Festival’s board members, staff, management, 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, like me, are a real movie lover, you are ready to pick your favorite movies, settle back into your seat in one of our many comfortable film venues, and prepare to enjoy some of the finest films in the world. See you at the movies!

Sincerely,

Robert Moon, Mayor

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COMMUNITY WELCOME Like no place else.

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.

The city’s vibrant personality is being re-imagined to embrace a new energetic vibe.

We welcome visitors and residents with new stylish hotels, exquisite boutique inns, fashionable 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.

Mary Jo Ginther Director, Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce, I want to welcome all of the attendees to the Palm Springs International Film Festival. As the Chamber celebrates 80 years of advocacy and support for our business community, we are proud of our unique role in the history of Palm Springs. Our 1,000 members join us in our welcome to you and invite you to visit them to meet any needs you many have. Chamber businesses can be found on our website at www.pschamber.org. Enjoy the festival!

Nona Watson Chief Executive Officer Palm Springs Chamber of Commerce

Congratulations to the Palm Springs International Film Festival for its continued distinction as one of the most prestigious and well attended film festivals in the nation— attracting worldwide attention to Greater Palm Springs as it welcomes major celebrities, film industry greats and thousands of movie buffs and fans.

This year, Greater Palm Springs CVB’s “Film Oasis” is proud to announce exciting new filming incentives, rich resources and professional film experiences for all productions filming in our nine cities. Please enjoy the Festival and also make time to delight in our destination’s beautiful surroundings and unique experiences that have made Greater Palm Springs a premier film-ready and film-friendly destination.

On behalf of the hospitality and tourism community in our nine cities, we warmly welcome you to our star-studded oasis!

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

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LETTER FROM THE AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA INDIANS

Agua Caliente Band Of Cahuilla Indians 501 Dinah Shore Drive • Palm Springs, California 92264 Tel: 760.699.6800 · Fax: 760.699.6919 · Web : www.aguacaliente-nsn.gov

On behalf of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, it’s my pleasure to officially welcome you to the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

We are proud to sponsor this world-class film festival. Now, in its 29th year, the annual Palm Springs International Film Festival is one of largest film festivals in the country. This festival brings together some of the most talented, well-respected professionals in the film industry.

Hollywood has long been in love with Palm Springs, Coachella Valley and Tribal land. The Tribe’s history with Hollywood goes back 100-plus years when stars would visit Palm Springs and enjoy the Agua Caliente Hot Mineral Springs, for which the Tribe and the city were named.

Nearly 80 years ago, our beautiful Indian Canyons had a starring role in the Lost Horizon, Frank Capra’s 1937 film featuring Ronald Coleman and Jane Wyman. And the Indian Canyons, our ancestral home, has continued throughout the decades to be a unique source of scenery for the film industry. More recently, brands such as Louis Vuitton, Aston Martin, REI and GQ, to name a few, have enjoyed filming the unique beauty of the Indian Canyons, a lush oasis of palm trees, desert landscape, rock formations and natural mountain spring waters.

In addition to supporting the Palm Springs International Film Festival, the Tribe is a significant member of the Valley’s philanthropic community, donating millions of dollars over the years to support organizations that help children, people with illness and disabilities, and the elderly, among other causes. The Tribe is proud to be as instrumental in the Coachella Valley’s prosperity today as we have been for generations.

The Tribe looks forward to the Palm Springs International Film Festival every year. It’s an opportunity for the community to celebrate the industry that made Palm Springs famous. Whether you are visiting or call Palm Springs home, we invite you to come out and enjoy all the Coachella Valley has to offer. Now, sit back and enjoy the shows.

Sincerely, Jeff L. Grubbe Chairman of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians

PSFILMFEST.ORG 9

Proud Sponsor of the 29th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival

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FESTIVAL MAP

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ANNENBERG THEATER PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM 101 Museum Dr.

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PSIFF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES 1700 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Ste. 3 760.322.2930

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FESTIVAL TICKET & INFORMATION CENTER 777 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Unit 113 FESTIVAL STORE 777 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Unit 16

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PALM CANYON THEATRE 538 N. Palm Canyon Dr.

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MARY PICKFORD IS D’PLACE 36850 Pickfair St., Cathedral City

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REGAL CINEMAS PALM SPRINGS STADIUM 9 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way

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PARKING

GETTING AROUND • FREE PARKING is located near or at all venues, see map for details.

• FREE BUZZ TROLLEY Thursday–Sunday Only, 11am–1am, every 15 minutes. Buzz stops are convenient to Palm Canyon Theatre, Regal Cinemas and Annenberg Theater

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TICKETING AND FESTIVAL INFORMATION

ORDERING TICKETS TICKETS GO ON SALE:

DEC 19 - Palm Springs Film Society members with early bird access DEC 22 - General Public For Box Office hours, please see listing below.

Go to www.psfilmfest.org to order tickets online, or call 800-898-PALM to order by phone, Mon – Fri 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

FESTIVAL BOX OFFICE HOURS BEFORE THE FESTIVAL: Festival Ticket and Information Center 777 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Unit 113 December 19 – 21: Daily 9 am – 5 pm

Palm Springs Film Society members with early bird access

December 22 – 24: Daily 9 am – 5 pm December 26 – 31: Daily 10:00 am – 5:00 pm DURING THE FESTIVAL: Festival Ticket and Information Center 777 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Unit 113 January 2 – 14: Daily 9:00 am – 7:00 pm January 15: 9:00 am – Noon Camelot Theatres, Mary Pickford is D’Place, Richard Center for the Performing Arts at Palm Springs High School, Annenberg Theater, Palm Canyon Theatre, Regal Palm Springs Stadium 9, January 2 – 15: One hour before the first show is scheduled until one half hour after the last show is scheduled to start.

TICKET PRICING OPENING NIGHT GALA..............................................$75 CLOSING NIGHT GALA...............................................$60 SPECIAL PRESENTATION SCREENINGS.....................$15 SIX PACK......................................................................$69 REGULAR INDIVIDUAL SCREENING TICKETS............$13 TALKING PICTURES/BOOK TO SCREEN..........$15 – $25 DINNER & A MOVIE....................................................$75 FESTIVAL PARTIES.......................................................$25

FESTIVAL MERCHANDISE Merchandise is available online; at the Festival Store located in the Regal Cinemas complex at 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Suite 16; and at Destination PSP store located at 170 N. Palm Canyon Dr. 12 PSFILMFEST.ORG

PICKING UP TICKETS/PASSES Benefactor Pass, Concierge Pass, Platinum Pass, Silver A Pass and Silver B Pass orders may be picked up at the Ticket & Information Center located in The Courtyard Plaza, Unit 113, 777 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way during box office hours.

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Six Packs may be exchanged online at www.psfilmfest. org, in person at the Festival Ticket Information Center, Camelot Theatres, Palm Canyon Theatre, Mary Pickford is D’Place, Regal Palm Springs Stadium 9 or Annenberg Theater Box Office during operating hours.

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Individual advance ticket orders for films and/or events may be picked up at the Festival Ticket and Information Center, Camelot Theatres, Palm Canyon Theatre, Mary Pickford is D’Place, Regal Palm Springs Stadium 9 or Annenberg Theater Box Office during operating hours.

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FESTIVAL PASSES An allotment of seats is reserved at every screening for pass holders. Pass holders will be allowed preferred entrance into theaters up to 20 minutes prior to show time or until the pass holder allotment has been reached. Early arrival at all screenings is recommended, however lines will not be formed until one hour prior to showtime. Passes do not guarantee seating (except the Benefactor Pass) and pass holders may not always be able to attend the film program at their first choice of screening times or location. Please check the back of your pass for additional information and instructions concerning special events.

BENEFACTOR PASS................................................$3,000 CONCIERGE PASS..................................................$2,750 PLATINUM PASS........................................................$500 SILVER A PASS............................................................$375 SILVER B PASS............................................................$375

TICKETING AND FESTIVAL INFORMATION

FESTIVAL THEATERS Annenberg Theater Palm Springs Art Museum (downstairs) 101 Museum Dr., Palm Springs Camelot Theatres 2300 E. Baristo Rd., Palm Springs Mary Pickford is D’Place 36850 Pickfair St., Cathedral City Palm Canyon Theatre 538 N. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs Regal Cinemas Palm Springs Stadium 9 789 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way, Palm Springs Richards Center for the Performing Arts at Palm Springs High School 2401 E. Baristo Rd., Palm Springs

FESTIVAL ESSENTIALS 4 RE-ENTRY PASSES

Anyone (including pass holders) exiting an auditorium with plans to return to that particular screening must obtain a reentry pass. A festival pass or ticket stub and re-entry pass is required for re-entry.

4 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 that were held for pass holders are released for sale 10 minutes prior to a screening. The released seats will be sold on a first come, first served basis

4SCHEDULE 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 regularly.

4FESTIVAL POLICIES The PSIFF refund policy states that ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES will be permitted.

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 filmgoers.

at regular price. Standby lines form one hour prior to a screening. Cash or a voucher is accepted.

4 QUEUE CARDS

Pass Holder line forms one hour before show time (no early birds). Pass holders can obtain a queue card in the front of the passholder line while awaiting entry into the specified theater for the next performance until the pass holder allotment is reached. Once the pass holder has a queue card, the pass holder does not have to wait in line. This queue card guarantees entry into the next screening up to 20 minutes before show time. If you do not enter the auditorium before 15 minutes prior to show time, your seat is forfeited. Saving places in line or in the auditorium is not permitted.

FESTIVAL ETIQUETTE < Saving space in line, or saving seats, is not permitted. < If you need to leave the auditorium for any reason, please be sure to take your pass or ticket stub and pick up a

re-entry pass before you leave. No one will be re-admitted without their pass or ticket stub and the re-entry pass.

after your screening.

and cold in the evenings. Theaters may also get chilly.

< No recording equipment is permitted in the theater auditorium. < Please turn off all mobile devices during the film presentation. < For the pleasure of all guests there is no talking or texting permitted during the film presentation and no late seating. < 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 < All theater auditoriums are cleared between show times. Any items left in the auditoriums will be removed. < Many lines are outside of the theaters. Please dress appropriately for comfort, as it can get warm during the day

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BEYOND THE FESTIVAL

EDUCATIONAL AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAMS

While the festival puts 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, they are offered at no cost. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re pleased to highlight just a few of the programs that are presented throughout the year:

< Internships for college students and mentorships for high school students provide students with

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practical hands-on experience alongside our team of professionals ShortFest Youth Jury: middle school students learn how to analyze films and select an award winner from a family-friendly slate of short films Filmmakers in the Classroom is a hands-on workshop in 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 PS Cinematheque is a series of revival-style cinema programs offered exclusively to the Palm Springs Cultural Center Community Theater at the Camelot Theatres Collaborative Screening Series

4Sunnylands Films on the Great Lawn: Seasonal outdoor screenings to bring a blanket

and picnic with the whole family located at the beautiful Sunnylands Great Lawn 4Palm Springs Art Museum Annenberg Theater Summer Film Series: Getting people out of the heat and into the comfort of a cool cinema for great films during the summer 4UCR Palm Desert: Throughout the year UCR Palm Desert and the Palm Springs Film Society work hard to present film series such as Books to Film, Real to Reel and Criterion Screening Series These dynamic and evolving programs are made possible by the generous contributions of passionate filmgoers like you. For more information or to make a donation, please visit: www.psfilmfest.org/support-us/donate.

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BEYOND THE FESTIVAL

STUDENT SCREENING DAY

Since 2007, the Palm Springs International Film Society has been proud to bring our annual feature festival to all of the surrounding Coachella Valley high schools at Student Screening Day. Now in its 11th year, Student Screening Day has expanded to host 1,300 students from 10 different high schools over two days at Palm Springs High School and Indio High School. At Student Screening Day, we present films from the Palm Springs International Film Festival and give the students the opportunity to interact personally and learn firsthand from the director, cast and creators of the films they have just seen.

For these young people, this highly anticipated event is a unique opportunity to have a profound experience with contemporary cinema from around the world unlike available to them before. Nearly 10,000 high school alumni have described the impact that Student Screening Day had on their lives. We are told that their day was integral in inspiring them to go into the world to travel, create and reach out to those around them. Student Screening Day reminds us of the impact and the power that the shared interaction with cinema can have.

Ayla - The Daughter of War

Stumped

See page 108 for description.

See page 181 for description.

STUDENT SCREENING DAY IS SUPPORTED BY:

NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATION

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We love

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Bank of America recognizes the Palm Springs International Film Festival for investing in a healthy economy Some of our biggest assets are the businesses who call our community home. On their own, or as members of business organizations, they improve our lives with community service and economic initiatives for the future.

We’re proud to support the Palm Springs International Film Festival to help develop our local potential.

Together, we’re honoring a commitment to work toward an economy that’s growing stronger day by day.

Visit us at bankofamerica.com/local Life’s better when we’re connected®

©2017 Bank of America Corporation | SPN-124-AD | ARMWTPSR

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“We believe the arts are essential to building stronger connections in our community. Cinema as an artform has the power to inspire tolerance, enlighten audiences and bridge cultural distances. Since 2009, we have proudly supported the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

We applaud its work to educate, entertain, initiate cultural dialogue, and celebrate cinematic excellence.”

–Leslie and Dale Chihuly

CHIHULY 24 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Eisenhower Medical Center is proud to support the Palm Springs International Film Festival

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YOU HAD ME AT “HELLO.” – JERRY MAGUIRE, 1996

Every great film is filled with beauty, stories and moments that you hold in your memory forever.

So should your travels.

9 R E SO R T C I T I E S. O N E B E AU T I F U L O ASI S.

PROUD HOST TO:

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www.aguacaliente-nsn.gov PSFILMFEST.ORG 27

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Visit the NEW

Festival Store in the Regal Cinema Courtyard Plaza

FOR ALL FILM FESTIVAL MERCHANDISE

PLUS

PALM SPRINGS AND HOLLYWOOD A special exhibition of vintage movie posters and collectibles highlighting the movies and movie stars that made Palm Springs their home.

Official Film Festival Merchandise Partner 30 PSFILMFEST.ORG

PROGRAMING TEAM

MICHAEL LERMAN

LILI RODRIGUEZ

DAVID ANSEN

Artistic Director

Director of Programming

Lead Programmer

Michael Lerman is the Artistic Director for both PSIFF and the Philadelphia Film Festival, as well as the co-director of the Overlook Film Festival and a programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival. Lerman also co-runs Tiger Industry Films, a production company for which he produces, directs, writes and edits.

Lili Rodriguez is a proud Coachella Valley native and year-round local. She studied film studies and art history and worked as a film projectionist and in advertising before joining the PSIFF team. She’s been with the festival for four years now and also serves as the Festival Director for PSIFF’s sister short film festival, ShortFest, in June.

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.

ALISSA SIMON

HEBE TABACHNIK

THERESE HAYES

Senior Programmer

Programmer

Programmer

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 the Dubai Film Festival and has served on numerous international film festival juries.

Hebe Tabachnik is a programmer and festival producer who has participated as juror, project evaluator and panelist at film festivals all around the world. She is the Artistic Director of Cine Latino Minneapolis-Saint Paul, World Cinema Programmer for the Palm Springs and Seattle International Film festivals and Board Member of Dance Camera West.

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.

LAURA HENNEMAN

JESSICA ESKELIN

Programmer

Programming Associate

Laura Henneman has worked in the film festival world for more than a dozen years, on festival teams from Mill Valley, Calif. to Abu Dhabi, UAE. She has served on various festival juries including the Ashland Independent Film Festival and the SIGGRAPH conference, and also programs for the Palm Springs International ShortFest.

Coachella Valley native Jessica Eskelin first attended the Palm Springs International Film Festival last year as part of her College of the Desert film class. This summer she worked as the Programming Intern for the Palm Springs International ShortFest before joining the feature fest team this year.

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FESTIVAL AWARDS

FIPRESCI AWARD

THE JOHN SCHLESINGER AWARD

Selected by a special jury of international critics, the prestigious FIPRESCI Award will be presented to one of the official Academy Award® submissions for Best Foreign Language Film. In addition, the jury will award prizes for Best Actor and Best Actress from the Awards Buzz category.

Last year’s winners were Toni Erdmann (Best Film), Gael García Bernal from Neruda (Best Actor) and Isabelle Huppert from Elle (Best Actress).

The brilliant director, writer, producer, and longtime Palm Springs resident, John Schlesinger amassed an astonishing body of work including such films as Billy Liar, Midnight Cowboy and Sunday Bloody Sunday. As a longtime supporter of the Festival, Schlesinger often championed the work of talented new directors. In his honor, the award is given to one of the debut feature documentaries at this year’s festival. Last year’s winner was No Dress Code Required (Mexico).

THE NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS AWARD

CINE LATINO 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 10 films in competition represents the filmmakers debut or second feature. The winner is chosen by a special jury of U.S. distributors, critics and curators. NV NV is sponsored

by RED, the winner will receive a 30-day rental of the latest DSMC2 camera.

The Cine Latino Award is presented to the best IberoAmerican film screening at the Festival. This award aims to highlight the tremendous creativity we see in modern Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American films.

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FESTIVAL AWARDS HP BRIDGING THE BORDERS AWARD

AUDIENCE 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 HP Bridging the Borders Award to a film that is most successful in bringing the people of our world closer together.

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.

The winner of the 2018 HP Bridging the Borders Award, presented by Cinema Without Borders, is awarded an HP ZBook 17 Mobile Workstation, valued at approximately $4,000.

PSIFF is proud to recognize two special films with the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and Best Documentary Feature.

CHIHULY

THE ENTERTAINER

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&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

Sculptor John Kennedy (1931 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 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 the Spirit of Audrey, dedicated to Audrey Hepburn, and The Entertainer, the official statuette of the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Born in Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), Kennedy drew inspiration for his distinctive style of sculpture from the tall, elegantly thin Shan people. Throughout successful careers as a journalist, talent manager, nightclub owner and entrepreneur, Kennedy always held on to his greatest passion: the creation of art.

Kennedy created The Entertainer in 2005 and granted it exclusively to the Festival in perpetuity. We are honored by his generosity of spirit and proud to have this graceful symbol of artistic achievement representing the Festival.

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E Y ES ON T HE P R I Z E

Foreign Language Oscar® Directors in Discussion Moderated by Rebecca Ford

It’s another record-breaking year for the Academy®’s Best Film in a Foreign Language category: 92 distinct countries put forward a film with hopes of taking home that coveted golden statue. In December that impressive number will narrow to nine, with the final five nominees announced on January 23. Of those 92 national selections, 45 are on offer at the Palm Springs International Film Festival’s 2018 edition. Nowhere else can a festival audience see so many of these films on the same slate. And for the fourth year running, we’re proud to present a panel discussion with shortlisted directors, giving the Festival audience a unique understanding of these films and their makers. Rebecca Ford joins the panel as moderator, bringing to the table her expertise as Awards Editor for The Hollywood Reporter.

This year’s panel will be announced in January: see psfilmfest.org for details.

Monday, January 8 • 4:30 pm • ANN

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VARIETY’S 10 DIRECTORS TO WATCH ADIL EL ARBI AND BILALL FALLAH

CARLOS LÓPEZ ESTRADA

This Belgian duo, both of Moroccan heritage, bring energy and a certain streetwise authenticity to their work, capturing Hollywood’s attention with their edgy 2015 debut, Black, about a pair of young lovers from rival gangs.

Antwerp-set follow-up Gangsta is even more ambitious, a high-energy, Guy Ritchie-esque drug-deal caper that plays like Amelie on crack.

It stands to be a busy Sundance for the commercial and music-video helmer, who has a feature in competition (Blindspotting) as well as an independently produced TV series (High & Mighty) screening there. Co-written by and starring Hamilton Tony winner Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting combines politically awareness with vibrant local energy and a hip-hop score.

AUGUSTINE FRIZZELL

ANTHONY MARAS

Born in Texas, the actress-turned-helmer (who has appeared in all of husband David Lowery’s features) brings a unique Southern sensibility to her wildly original debut, Never Goin’ Back, which will premiere in Sundance’s midnight section later this month. Like Slacker meets Spring Breakers, the Texas-set film shows how far two girls will go to earn their rent money.

Maras won two Australian Academy Awards for his short film The Palace, and has since completed a feature film of the same name, centered on guests of the Taj Mahal Hotel hotel during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The gritty, Paul Greengrass-style thriller stars Dev Patel, Jason Isaacs and Armie Hammer, and is expected to premiere at a major festival in 2018.

GRETA GERWIG

SAMUEL MAOZ

Best known as the “mumblecore” muse who went on to star in such indies as Mistress America and Frances Ha, Gerwig collaborated with Joe Swanberg on several features, but made her solo directing debut with the semiautobiographical Lady Bird, which premiered at the prestigious Telluride festival and went on to win the New York Film Critics Circle’s best picture award.

The Israeli director caught the industry’s attention in 2009, when his debut feature Lebanon won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, his follow-up, the Oscar®-submitted Foxtrot could make him a household name.

The film focuses on a father who’s devastated by a family tragedy that grows increasingly profound as the story unfolds.

JOSEPH KAHN

CLAIRE McCARTHY

The Korean-American director’s energetic, high-attitude rap-battle opus Bodied opened Toronto’s midnight section and went on to win the AFI Film Fest audience award. Kahn previously directed two features, Torque and Detention, but is best known for his collaborations with pop superstar Taylor Swift, including her “Look What You Made Me Do” music video.

The British director’s starry, sumptuouslooking second feature, Ophelia, offers a female spin on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with Naomi Watts, Clive Owen and Daisy Ridley in the title role. It will world premiere at Sundance 2018. Prior to that, she made the India-set adoption drama The Waiting City with Joel Edgerton and Radha Mitchell.

XAVIER LEGRAND

CHLOE ZHAO

The French former child actor began his career in Au revoir les enfants, but has since turned his attention to directing and is fast emerging as Europe’s most exciting new art-house voice. In 2014, he was Oscar® nominated for his short film Just Before Losing Everything, which serves as the leaping-off point for his award-winning first feature, Custody.

Born in China but raised in the West, Zhao studied at NYU and made her first two features on a Lakota Indian reservation. Her debut, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, premiered at Sundance. While making it, she discovered the character who stars in The Rider, which won Directors Fortnight at Cannes and was named best film of 2017 by Peter Debruge.

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EXPERIENCE, E L EVATED Works shown by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Franz Gertsch and Frank Stella; three of over 20 artists represented at the Hess Art Museum

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we applaud you

harold

for an outstanding job in making the film awards gala and palm springs international film festival what it is today.

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FROM YOUR HNM, CBA & SPENCERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FRIENDS & FAMILY

MARY HART FILM AWARDS HOST

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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FILM AWARDS Gal Gadot

Timothée Chalamet

Mary J. Blige

Sam Rockwell

Allison Janney

Saoirse Ronan

Awards season kicks off in high style right here at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards. The world’s biggest stars and brightest filmmakers don their red-carpet finest for an unforgettable night of classic glitz and glamour celebrating the magic of the movies. It’s the hottest ticket of the year, and it’s all for a good cause, raising more than $1 million in funding for the Palm Springs International Film Society.

Films being honored highlight the wide range of movies making an impact on audiences this year, from dark comedy and historical drama to sci-fi fantasy and a superhero saga.

For her momentous turn as the immortal comic book heroine, delivering both crowd-pleasing thrills and a timely message of empowerment that has resonated around the world, Gal Gadot receives the Rising Star Award (Actress) for Wonder Woman. Rising Star Award (Actor) recipient Timothée Chalamet is the beating heart of one of the year’s most critically acclaimed dramas, Call Me by Your Name, an intimate tale of self-discovery and unexpected desire. The Breakthrough Performance Award goes to a musical dynamo, with eight multiplatinum albums to her name, who is now receiving raves for her understated but powerful portrayal of a mother supporting her Mississippi sharecropper family through hard times, Mudbound’s Mary J. Blige.

This year’s Spotlight Awards go to two actors already known for their scene-stealing takes on quirky characters, who are breaking new ground in a pair of pitch-black comedies: Sam Rockwell, as a hot-headed small-town cop seeking redemption in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Allison Janney, as the tyrannical mother behind infamous figure skater Tonya Harding in I, Tonya.

The actors receiving 2018's Desert Palm Achievement Awards also are pushing their proven talents in new directions: Saoirse Ronan embodies the remarkable depth and complexity of a high school senior struggling to forge a unique path

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Gary Oldman

Guillermo del Toro with Sally Hawkins Willem Dafoe and Octavia Spencer

Jessica Chastain

Holly Hunter

in the world in Lady Bird, and venerable shape-shifter Gary Oldman masterfully transforms into Winston Churchill to portray the embattled leader at the outbreak of war in Darkest Hour.

A visually dazzling, endlessly imaginative mash-up of fairy tale, monster movie, Cold War thriller and classic Hollywood love story, The Shape of Water is one of the most ambitious and original movies to hit theaters in years, earning its writer/director Guillermo del Toro, producer J. Miles Dale, along with stars Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer, this year’s Vanguard Award. Having acted in more than 100 films, Willem Dafoe is certainly an icon of the cinema. This year the actor most often associated with dark and eccentric characters receives the Icon Award for one of his most sympathetic, humanistic roles ever—the well meaning manager of a cheap motel outside Disney World who forges unlikely bonds with his tenants.

As the tough-as-nails maven of a high-stakes poker empire who runs afoul of the FBI, Jessica Chastain receives this year’s Chairman’s Award for the multi-layered crime drama Molly’s Game. From her star-making turn in Raising Arizona to her Academy Award®-winning role in The Piano, Career Achievement Award honoree Holly Hunter has been wowing audiences for decades with her wit, charm and effortlessly natural emotionality. She is in top form as a mother simultaneously coping with her daughter’s unexpected illness and her daughter's comedian ex-boyfriend’s attempts to be helpful in The Big Sick.

With A-list award presenters, unforgettable speeches and a relaxed desert atmosphere, the Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards has been the can’t-miss party of the season for nearly 30 years. Hosted by Mary Hart, presented

by American Express, and sponsored by Cadillac and Entertainment Tonight, this year’s Film Awards will be held January 2 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

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T H E A N N E N B E R G R E T R E AT AT

SUNNYL ANDS 46 PSFILMFEST.ORG

O PE NIN G N IG HT

The Post US, 2017 115 minutes Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Alison Brie, Sarah Paulson, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Carrie Coon Print Source: Twentieth Century Fox

Meryl Streep stars as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and Tom Hanks as editor Ben Bradlee, taking on the might of Nixon’s White House in Steven Spielberg’s rousing, knuckle-biting account of the drama behind the publication of the Pentagon Papers. The treasure trove that Daniel Ellsberg lifted from top secret files threatened to expose decades of government lies that led the U.S. into the morass of the Vietnam War, and the risk of publishing them couldn’t be higher. Streep and Hanks, the crown jewels in a sterling cast, display new facets of their extraordinary talent. You can feel Spielberg’s deep engagement with the ethical and political crises these men and women had to cope with. This is history whose resonance is unmistakable: journalism itself was in the crosshairs of an angry and vindictive president; to take that on meant risking their careers, the paper’s future, their own freedom.

Selected Filmography: Bridge of Spies (2015), Lincoln (2012), Catch Me if You Can (2002), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Schindler’s List (1993), Jurassic Park (1993), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jaws (1975)

Thursday, January 4 • 6:30 pm

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Desert Regional Medical Center is proud to sponsor the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Desert Regional provides healthcare services to the Coachella Valley and is home to: • Comprehensive Cancer Center

For physician referral, call (800) 491-4990 or go to www.desertregional.com.

• Comprehensive Stroke Center • Institute of Clinical Orthopedics & Neurosciences • Intensive Care Unit for Newborns (NICU) • Designated Trauma Center 48 PSFILMFEST.ORG

1150 N. Indian Canyon Drive Palm Springs, CA 92262

CLO SIN G N IG HT

The Last Movie Star US, 2017 94 minutes Director: Adam Rifkin Cast: Burt Reynolds, Ariel Winter, Chevy Chase, Clark Duke, Ellar Coltrane

“Fact or fiction?” moments abound as an octogenarian movie star (Burt Reynolds) travels to Nashville to accept a film festival lifetime achievement award. Like the man who plays him, Vic Edwards was a college football star and sexy 1970s action hero. The echoes of that reality add a layer of emotional weight as Edwards revisits old haunts with his reluctant driver Lil (Ariel Winter). The trip down memory lane stirs Edwards’ long-dormant heart while affording Lil a fresh perspective on this grumpy old man. Reynolds and Winter develop into an irresistible odd couple in this poignant, often funny evocation of fame’s fleeting nature and the challenges of aging that doubles as a hilarious ode to DIY film festivals.

With plenty of clips from Reynolds’ storied career, including digitally enhanced scenes where the elderly actor shares the screen with his young self, The Last Movie Star is also a valentine to its leading man, who responds with a graceful, resonant performance.

Selected Filmography: Giuseppe Makes a Movie (2014), Look (2007), Night at the Golden Eagle (2001)

Sunday, January 14 • 5:30 pm • PSHS

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My Days of Mercy US/UK, 2017 107 minutes Director: Tali Shalom-Ezer Cast: Ellen Page, Kate Mara Print Source: United Talent Agency (UTA)

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Palm Springs celebrates diversity.

GAY!LA

US PREMIERE Israeli director Tali Shalom-Ezer netted the Best Israeli Film award at the Jerusalem Film Festival in 2014 for her debut, Princess. Her intelligent and disarming sophomore drama— her first American feature—offers stellar performances from Ellen Page and Kate Mara as friends-turned-lovers trying to negotiate some common ground despite standing on opposite sides of the US death-penalty debate. With her father on death row for the murder of her mother (he says he’s innocent), Lucy (Page) and her siblings have made a habit of traveling the Midwest to protest the death penalty at execution vigils. At one such event, Lucy tentatively befriends pro-death-penalty advocate Mercy (Mara) and a torrid sexual relationship is soon underway, putting both at risk of familial ostracism. Shalom-Ezer’s subtle guidance is evident throughout, elevating the human story at the heart of her tale and never stooping to preach about the complex issue surrounding it.

Selected Filmography: Princess (2014), Surrogate (2008)

Thursday, January 11 • 5:45 pm • ANN Friday, January 12 • 10:30 am • REG (Reprise Screening)

The Gospel According to André

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

US, 2017 94 minutes Director: Kate Novack Cast: André Leon Talley, Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Whoopi Goldberg, Tom Ford, Diane von Furstenberg, Manolo Blahnik Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

US, 2017 98 minutes Director: Matt Tyrnauer

US PREMIERE Draped in capes and caftans, the glorious giant André Leon Talley is an icon of the fashion world, recognizable on runways from Paris to New York. A flamboyant 6’6” black man, dispensing bon mots of fashion wisdom with exuberant flair, Talley, as an editor and contributor to Vogue, has reigned for decades as an unimpeachable arbiter of style. Kate Novack’s fond, delicious documentary revels in Talley’s larger than life, stereotype-shattering persona while revealing the complex man behind the myth.

Raised by a loving grandmother in Durham, North Carolina, educated at Brown, and mentored by his surrogate mother Diana Vreeland, Talley turned his life into a triumph of selfinvention, but Novack’s gaze allows glimpses of the price this gay, black, boundary-bursting prodigy had to pay.

With testimonies from such fans and friends as Anna Wintour, Tom Ford, Fran Liebowitz, Manolo Blahnik and Valentino, this rousing documentary delivers both the plumage and the poignancy.

Selected Filmography: Eat This New York (2004)

Thursday, January 11 • 4:00 pm • PSHS Friday, January 12 • 10:00 am • ANN (Reprise Screening) Saturday, January 13 • 5:30 pm • REG (Reprise Screening)

After serving as a Marine in World War II, handsome young Midwesterner Scotty Bowers settled in Los Angeles, where he stumbled into a career satisfying the sexual desires of some of the most famous people in Hollywood, both male and female. As documented in his controversial, tell-all 2012 book Full Service, Scotty employed a stable of young men to cater to such closeted luminaries as Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Cole Porter, Rock Hudson, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. As the now 94-yearold legend insists, he just wanted to make people happy.

Matt Tyrnauer’s engaging, dishy documentary doesn’t simply rehash the book’s eye-popping revelations. It’s both a portrait of Hollywood then and now, and an investigation into the elusive inner life of this affable hedonist, who now lives in a scarily cluttered home in the Hollywood Hills with his wife Lois, who chooses not to know about her husband’s colorful past life.

Selected Filmography: Citizen Jane: Battle for the City (2016), Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008)

Thursday, January 11 • 7:00 pm • PSHS Friday, January 12 • 3:00 pm • PSHS (Reprise Screening)

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S P EC IAL P RESENTAT I O N

Nostalgia US, 2018 114 minutes Director: Mark Pellington Cast: John Hamm, Catherine Keener, Ellen Burstyn, Bruce Dern, Amber Tamblyn, Nick Offerman, Patton Oswalt Print Source: Bleecker Street WORLD PREMIERE

Emotional performances from a stellar cast led by Jon Hamm, Ellen Burstyn and Catherine Keener come together to stirring effect in co-writer/director Mark Pellington’s bittersweet reflection on the complicated nature of family, loss and the things we leave behind. Intricately structured as a chain of individual narratives linked by characters and themes, Nostalgia’s throughline is a considerate insurance man who patiently witnesses his clients’ stories as he assesses the physical artifacts of their lives. What is the value of a piece of jewelry if it once belonged to Grandma, a baseball if it was signed by one of the greats? How is the value of an object changed by the hands that once held it?

Long takes and thoughtful framing highlight the nuanced script, which explores the changing attitudes of generations through both monologue and conversation. Woven throughout is the film’s unifying principle, urging us to live—and love—in the here and now.

Selected Filmography: The Last Word (2017), The Mothman Prophecies (2002), Arlington Road (1999)

Saturday, January 6 • 6:00 pm • PSHS Wednesday, January 10 • 1:30 pm • MP (Reprise Screening)

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SPE CI AL PR E S EN TATION

The Polka King US, 2017 95 minutes Director: Maya Forbes Cast: Jack Black, Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver, J.B. Smoove Print Source: Netflix

There is no business like show business, yet when a potential Ponzi scheme is involved, it becomes federal business.

Performing weekly at VFW halls with his wife Marla (Jenny Slate), a former Miss Junior Pennsylvania, and “musical genius” band mate Mickey (Jason Schwartzman), Polish immigrant Jan Lewan (Jack Black) appears to have achieved the American dream. Yet the born showman can’t seem to muster enough money to even move out of the home of his nagging motherin-law (the uproarious Jacki Weaver). Lewan begins to solicit investments from his elderly fans, with good intentions to pay them back once he’s built his empire. (A record label! Eponymous vodka! Tours of the Vatican!). But as the cash begins to flow and interest to accrue, Lewan finds he’s unable to keep himself afloat—or out of jail. Lead by Black’s energetic performance, the film’s hysterical ensemble creates what would be a fantastical farce, if it wasn’t a true story.

Selected Filmography: Infinitely Polar Bear (2014)

Wednesday, January 3 • 7:00 pm • CAM

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S P EC IAL P RESENTAT I O N

Phantom Thread US, 2017 130 minutes Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Richard Graham, Vicky Krieps Print Source: Focus Features

Daniel Day-Lewis is chillingly adept at playing men with all-consuming obsessions. In Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, Day-Lewis’s character was obsessed with money and power; in their latest collaboration the central obsession is beauty. Here he portrays Reynolds Woodcock, a perfectionist couturier in 1950s London who creates dresses for movie stars, socialites and royalty. A confirmed bachelor, his life has room for nothing but his work. But then he meets the formidable Alma (the dazzling Vicky Krieps), who becomes his muse, his model, his lover… and turns his life upsidedown.

An extraordinary love story that unfolds as a thriller, with a delicious touch of the gothic, Anderson’s film is unpredictable and impeccably tailored. Day-Lewis, in what he has said will be his last role, bores as deep as only he can go into the psyche of a control freak who, for the first time, finds himself losing control.

Selected Filmography: Inherent Vice (2014), The Master (2012), There Will Be Blood (2007), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Magnolia (1999), Boogie Nights (1997)

Friday, January 5 • 8:00 pm • CAM

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SPE CI AL PR E S EN TATION

In the Fade Aus dem Nichts

Germany/France, 2017 105 minutes Director: Fatih Akin Cast: Diane Kruger, Denis Moschitto, Johannes Krisch, Samia Chancrin, Numan Acar Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Cannes’ Best Actress award-winner Diane Kruger stars as Katia, a grief-stricken mother confronting the horrors of mankind when her husband and son are brutally murdered in a targeted, hate-fueled bombing on the streets of Germany. The once strong, loving mother is bombarded with baseless, bigoted accusations from the media—and her own parents—about her Kurdish husband’s assumed terrorist associations. Retreating into a self-medicated haze, Katia is numb to those around her, only coming up for air when the white supremacists responsible for the murder are apprehended. Although she astutely navigates the impassive German judicial system, Katia must take matters into her own hands if she is to achieve justice for her loved ones. This taut thriller delivers heart-pounding scene after scene as co-writer/director Fatih Akin (Head-On) masterfully confronts a disconcerting growing sentiment of nationalism in European countries and exposes the results of such dangerous thinking.

Winner: Best Actress, Cannes Selected Filmography: Soul Kitchen (2009), The Edge of Heaven (2007), Head-On (2004) This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Monday, January 8 • 6:00 pm • PSHS Tuesday, January 9 • 1:00 pm • CAM (Reprise Screening)

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Thank You! TO THE WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS OF THE PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

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SECRET SCREENING SE CR E T SC REEN IN G

The Post US, 2017 Director: Steven Spielberg Cast: Alison Brie, Sarah Paulson, Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Carrie Coon Print Source: Twentieth Century Fox

The Palm Springs International Film Festival tradition of the Secret Screening continues, sharing a brand-new, yet-topremiere film with only the most discreet of our discerning filmgoers. You won’t know the title of the film until you see it on the screen, and once you’re in on the secret you can’t spill the beans. No talking, texting or tweeting before, during or after. While we can’t disclose specifics, we can tell you that this classified title features one of this year's Film Awards honorees alongside one from 2017. It’s a story that may be familiar, but we promise you’ve never seen it like this before.

Can you keep a secret?

See psfilmfest.org for screening information.

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D I N N ER AN D A M O V I E

The Cakemaker ISRAEL/GERMANY, 2017 104 minutes Director: Ofir Raul Graizer Cast: Tim Kalkhof, Sarah Adler, Roy Miller, Zohar Strauss, Sandra Sade Print Source: Strand Releasing

Wednesday’s screening will be followed by dinner at Palm Springs’ chic and swanky Eight4Nine Restaurant and Lounge, the Uptown Design District’s hot spot. Eight4Nine’s very own pastry chef Albert Gonzalez has created an eclectic and colorful menu incorporating cooking techniques and ingredients borrowed from around the world. Chef Israel Jimenez, Albert and the Eight4Nine team will be cooking with passion and love using seasonal, fresh ingredients and preparing everything from scratch. Of course there will be CAKE. Wednesday, January 10 • 4:30 pm • CAM

Also screening on:

Sunday, January 14 • 1:00 pm • CAM

This tender, delicate drama about a closeted love affair unfolds through the eyes of Thomas, a Berlin baker, who belatedly learns that Oren, his commuting Israeli lover, has died in a Jerusalem car accident. Unmoored by his loss, Thomas decides to visit the place where his lover lived and explore his uncloseted life, which included a wife, Anat, and a young son. Without revealing much about his past except for his baking credentials, Thomas takes a job in Anat’s café. But his almost silent, melancholy presence catalyzes unexpected consequences.

Blessed with strong, sensitive performances from his leading actors, writer/director Ofir Raul Graizer crafts an indelible film about loneliness and yearning, filled with sensuous textures and mouthwatering pastries. As Anat reveals details about her married life to Thomas, Graizer complements the micro level with a picture of the larger tensions roiling Jerusalem and Israeli society’s insular nature.

Debut Feature

IN GERMAN, ENGLISH, HEBREW WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

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D I NNE R AND A MOVIE

Constructing Albert SPAIN/ESTONIA, 2017 85 minutes Directors: Laura Collado, Jim Loomis Print Source: Juno Films

A fusion of flavors, our Argentine heritage is evident in the variety of Spanish, Latin, German and Italian dishes that pay homage to Argentina's diverse culture. From our celebrated Argentinian steak that features our classic chimmichurri to our pastas or schniztels, the seasoning and flavors will take you from Buenos Aires to Vienna. We have delightful tapas, cocktail specials and provide a relaxed, casual ambiance perfect for your evening plans.

Monday, January 8 • 4:00 pm • MP

Also screening on:

Friday, January 5 • 11:30 am • REG Saturday, January 6 • 8:00 pm • REG

Chef Albert Adrià, wants his restaurants to surprise, stir emotions and, of course, entertain, just like any great film.

He views each of his dramatically different eateries—an experimental cocktail bar, a taqueria, a vermouth bar, a tapas bar, a Japanese-Peruvian restaurant—as if he is a film auteur experimenting in disparate genres.

Yet in 2014, despite being awarded an impressive number of Michelin stars, the extremely modest chef felt that he still had not created his Citizen Kane. That is because for over two decades he labored as the pastry chef under the leadership of his older brother, Head Chef Ferran Adrià, at elBulli, considered the greatest restaurant in history. Now with his newest creative endeavor, Enigma, on the horizon, Chef Albert hopes to finally step out of his brother’s shadow and reimagine the entire dining experience from the ground up.

Featuring mouthwatering dishes and heightened kitchen drama, Constructing Albert is an intimate journey through the world of a true culinary visionary.

IN COMPETITION:

IN COMPETITION:

Debut Feature

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

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LOCAL SP O T L IG H T

Cover Versions US, 2017 84 minutes Director: Todd Berger Cast: Katie Cassidy, Drake Bell, Austin Swift, Jerry Trainor, Debby Ryan Print Source: Off The Dock WORLD PREMIERE

Sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll are all par for the course at synth-rock band Starfoxy’s house party, but when murder is added to the set list, the differing bandmates must give the greatest performance of their lives if they want to stay out of jail.

Cleverly infusing Kurosawa’s Rashomon into the world of indie rock, filmmaker Todd Berger’s Cover Versions is a hilarious romp following the hazy, contradictory accounts of Starfoxy’s members. Frontwoman and de facto bandleader Jackie is adamant that no partying should occur on the eve of their biggest festival gig ever, but she faces opposition from the young, arrogant member-for-hire Kirk. When one of Kirk’s invited “groupies” winds up dead in the pool, Jackie immediately places the blame on the drunken Lothario. Yet Berger wisely keeps the truth close to his chest as he reveals the alternative perspectives and wildly different personalities of each band member, building up to an applause-worthy encore.

Selected Filmography: It’s a Disaster (2012), The Scenesters (2009)

Wednesday, January 3 • 4:30 pm • CAM

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FR E E SCREEN IN G

The Workers Cup UK, 2017 92 minutes Director: Adam Sobel Print Source: Autlook Filmsales

The World Cup is coming to Qatar in 2022, and construction is in full swing. In the shadows of the gleaming high rises towering over this wealthy desert nation, 1.6 million migrant workers labor long hours for meager pay to build the infrastructure for the world’s biggest sporting event. And in their off hours, a talented few will also get chance to play in those same stadiums, in a football tournament of their own called The Workers Cup. In this highenergy, inspirational documentary, director Adam Sobel shares the stories of a select group of footballer-laborers who’ve come from a host of developing countries such as Ghana, Kenya, India and Nepal in search of opportunity— only to find the reality to be harshly out of sync with the dream. Both on and off the pitch, they strive to find their places in a world that often treats them as second-class citizens, even as they compete for goals and glory.

Debut Feature IN ENGLISH, NEPALI, MALAYALAM, TWI, GA, HINDI, ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 13 • 3:30 pm • ANN FREE SCREENING SPONSORED BY:

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TALKING PICTURES In-depth discussions with the creators of the year’s top titles.

BPM (Beats Per Minute) FRANCE, 2017, 144 minutes Director: Robin Campillo Cast: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Adèle Haenel, In Attendance: Robin Campillo

Darkest Hour UK, 2017, 125 minutes Director: Joe Wright Cast: Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James In Attendance: Gary Oldman

Garnering not only massive critical praise, but also the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, this moving portrait details the actions (and relationships) of advocacy group ACT UP Paris during the early '90s.

Gary Oldman delivers another transformative performance as Winston Churchill in his early days as Prime Minister, facing the daunting task of choosing whether to battle Hitler or negotiate with him.

This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Monday, January 8 • 4:00 pm • CAM

Wednesday, January 3 • 1:45 am • ANN

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power US, 2017, 98 minutes Directors: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk In Attendance: Al Gore

The Square SWEDEN, 2017, 151 minutes Director: Ruben Östlund Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Claes Bang, Dominic West In Attendance: Ruben Östlund

An Inconvenient Sequel – Marking the 10th anniversary of the eye-opening climate change documentary, Former Vice President Al Gore returns in a poignant followup that illuminates the modern revolution for sustainable energy.

Following his masterpiece Force Majeure (PSIFF 2015), Ruben Östlund returns with this hilarious and provocative story of a respected museum curator who finds it difficult to live up to his own purported ideals. Winner of the 2017 Palme d’Or.

Co-Sponsored by:

Monday, January 8 • 10:00 am • ANN 62 PSFILMFEST.ORG

This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Monday, January 8 • 6:30 pm • REG

Stronger US, 2017, 119 minutes Director: David Gordon Green Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tatiana Maslany In Attendance: Tatiana Maslany Tour de force performances from Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany are on display in this true story of an ordinary man who unwittingly becames a public icon of hope for the city of Boston after he survives the 2013 marathon bombing.

Thelma NORWAY, 2017, 116 minutes Director: Joachim Trier Cast: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Ellen Dorrit Petersen In Attendance: Joachim Trier Shy Thelma leaves her religious family in a small town on the west coast of Norway to attend university. Thelma’s attraction to an female student develops simultaneously with mysterious seizures—symptoms of an inexplicable, supernatural ability.

This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Tuesday, January 9 • 4:30 pm • ANN

Tuesday, January 9 • 8:00 pm • CAM

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri US, 2017, 115 minutes Director: Martin McDonagh Cast: Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell In Attendance: Sam Rockwell Featuring airtight performances from some of the best actors working today (including Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell), Martin McDonagh’s black comedy tells the story of a clever and courageous mother who turns on the local law enforcement when they fail to solve her daughter’s murder.

Wednesday, January 3 • 1:00 pm • CAM PSFILMFEST.ORG 63

TALKING PICTURES: BOOK TO SCREEN

Writers discuss adapting the written word for the silver screen.

Call Me By Your Name Italy, 2017, 131 minutes Director: Luca Guadagnino Cast: Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, Amira Casar

The Disaster Artist US, 2017, 105 minutes Director: James Franco Cast: Dave Franco, James Franco, Seth Rogen, Ari Graynor, Alison Brie

The legendary James Ivory adapts André Aciman’s comingof-age novel about a steamy love affair between a 17-year-old boy and his father’s older, male research assistant during one hot, '80s, Italian summer in Luca Guadagnino’s masterpiece.

Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber discuss how they adapted the true story about the genesis of the one of the worst films in history into one of the most poignant and hilarious comedies of 2017.

Friday, January 12 • 3:30 pm • ANN

Friday, January 5 • 3:45 pm • ANN

Last Flag Flying US, 2017, 124 minutes Director: Richard Linklater Cast: Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Carell

The Lost City of Z US, 2016, 141 minutes Director: James Gray Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Ian McDiarmid

Richard Linklater and Darryl Ponicsan adapt Ponicsan’s follow up to his novel The Last Detail. Checking in with old characters for a whole new adventure, the hilarious new film follows three ex-Navy buddies as they reunite to bury one of their sons, who was killed in Iraq.

The true story of Col. Percival Fawcett’s adventurous search through the Amazon for a mysterious city is deftly depicted in James Gray’s version of David Grann’s award-winning novel.

Tuesday, January 9 • 12:45 pm • ANN

Saturday, January 6 • 3:30 pm • ANN

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FOCUS ON ARGENTINA

Stories of family, history and politics from the Land of Silver.

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F OCUS ON ARG E NT I NA

The Desert Bride

The Future Ahead

ARGENTINA/CHILE, 2017 78 minutes Directors: Cecilia Atán, Valeria Pivato Cast: Paulina García, Claudio Rissi Print Source: Strand Releasing

ARGENTINA, 2017 84 minutes Director: Constanza Novick Cast: Dolores Fonzi, Pilar Gamboa Print Source: Loco Films

La Novia del Desierto

El Futuro que Viene

US PREMIERE As a young woman, Teresa moved from her native Chile to Buenos Aires to work as a maid and help raise another family’s son. Now in her 50s, Teresa (masterfully portrayed

by Paulina Garcia, much-lauded for her titular role in Gloria, PSIFF 2014) finds herself facing a most unexpected change in life: no longer able to afford her help, Teresa’s “family” has arranged for a new job for her on the other side of the country. Teresa is reluctant to undertake the journey across Argentina’s arid plains, her anxiety made worse when her bus breaks down in a small desert community dedicated to the mythical saint La Difunta Correa, protector of travelers. A chance encounter with lively traveling salesman El Gringo— and a forgotten bag—leads Teresa on a surprising detour across the desert landscape, and closer to the heart of who she really is, in this touching and acclaimed debut feature from writer/directors Cecilia Atán and Valeria Pivato.

A coming-of-age tale that challenges the assumption that we stop growing after the tumultuous teenage years, Argentinian filmmaker Constanza Novick’s The Future Ahead uncovers the complexity of a lifelong relationship between two very different women.

Debut Feature

As pre-teens, Flor and Romina are inseparable, until their mutual adoration of a schoolboy leaves Romina without a best friend. Over a decade later, Romina (Dolores Fonzi, Paulina, PSIFF 2016) is in a healthy, contented relationship and has a newborn baby girl, but the unexpected arrival of the nomadic, carefree Flor causes the new mother to doubt her life choices. What begins as a friendly reunion unravels into a brutally honest critique of the way each lives her life and if either woman is truly happy. When Flor disappears one afternoon, her reckless abandonment of Romina may destroy the remaining roots of the friendship that they so dearly wish to preserve.

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Debut Feature IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 6 • 10:30 am • MP Tuesday, January 9 • 12:30 pm • REG

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IN COMPETITION:

Friday, January 5 • 4:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 6 • 1:00 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 10:30 am • CAM

IN COMPETITION:

FO CUS O N A RG EN TIN A

Hunting Season

Rey’s Education

ARGENTINA/US/GERMANY/FRANCE/QATAR, 2017 105 minutes Director: Natalia Garagiola Cast: Lautaro Bettoni, Germán Palacios, Boy Olmi, Rita Pauis Print Source: Alpha Violet

ARGENTINA/SPAIN, 2017 96 minutes Director: Santiago Esteves Cast: Matías Encinas, Germán de Silva, Jorge Prado, Mario Jara, Martín Arrojo Print Source: Urban Distribution

Temporada de Caza

La Educación del Rey

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE A ball of unfocused anger following the sudden death of his mother, teenaged Nahuel (newcomer Lautaro Bettoni in a riveting performance) is quickly spiraling out of control.

Kicked out of his posh Buenos Aires prep school for a violent attack on a schoolmate, Nahuel is sent by his stepfather Bautista to the snow-capped mountains of Patagonia to live with his biological father Ernesto, a hunting guide whom he barely knows. A man of few words, Ernesto, alongside new wife Clara and three small daughters, soon finds his home turned upside down by the confrontational teen, forcing him to use his finely honed hunting skills as a means to connect with his troubled son. But an uneasy truce between father and son is quickly threatened by a group of local teens and a surprise appearance by Bautista in this beautiful new film from first-time writer/director Natalia Garagiola.

Hungry to prove his self-worth after being kicked out of his mother’s home, troubled 14-year-old Reynaldo Galindez falls in with a gang of local young hoods, agreeing to use his slight build to slip into a local business in the dead of night and rob it of a substantial load of cash. But the robbery quickly goes awry, sending Rey scrambling to escape, bounding off rooftops and tumbling down onto the patio of grizzled retiree Carlos (Germán de Silva, Wild Tales, Las Acacias). Captor and captive agree not to involve the police on the condition that the teen repairs the damage he caused, leading to an unlikely friendship and unexpected growth for Rey. But soon cops and thugs alike come looking for Rey—and the stash—leading to a tense showdown in this exciting and insightful debut feature from co-writer and director Santiago Esteves, winner of two Films in Progress Awards at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

Winner: Venice Critics’ Week Award

Debut Feature

Debut Feature

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 4:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 6 • 1:00 pm • MP Thursday, January 11 • 1:00 pm • PC

IN COMPETITION:

Saturday, January 6 • 8:30 pm • CAM Sunday, January 7 • 1:30 pm • MP

IN COMPETITION:

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F OCUS ON ARG E NT I NA

A Sort of Family

The Summit

ARGENTINA/BRAZIL/FRANCE/POLAND, 2017 95 minutes Director: Diego Lerman Cast: Bárbara Lennie, Daniel Araoz, Claudio Tolcachir, Yanina Avila Print Source: Film Factory

ARGENTINA/SPAIN/FRANCE, 2017 114 minutes Director: Santiago Mitre Cast: Ricardo Darín, Dolores Fonzi, Érica Rivas, Elena Anaya, Christian Slater Print Source: Film Factory

Una Especie de Familia

La Cordillera

US PREMIERE Her rain-soaked face evincing both fear and hope, physician Malena (Bárbara Lennie, The Skin I Live In) makes her way through the streets of Buenos Aires en route to Argentina’s Misiones province. There, in a remote rural hospital, impoverished surrogate mother Marcela (Yanina Avila in an astounding debut) is about to give birth to the child Malena has arranged to adopt. But Malena’s moment of joy quickly becomes a nightmare when Marcela’s tragedy-stricken family breaks from their prearranged agreement with the successful doctor and demands a substantial additional payment to release the child. Shock, confusion and rage soon turn to panic as Malena realizes the seriousness of the demands, scrambling to come up with the funds and sending her deep into the hard realities of class, motherhood and an uncaring legal system in this unforgettable new film from Diego Lerman, one of the brightest lights of New Argentinian Cinema.

Selected Filmography: Refugiado (2014), The Invisible Eye (2010), Meanwhile (2006), The War of the Gyms (2004), Suddenly (2002)

A gripping new political thriller from Santiago Mitre, director of Paulina (PSIFF 2016).

Having run on a platform of humility and man-of-thepeople charm, newly elected Argentine President Hernán Blanco (Ricardo Darín, Truman; The Secret In Their Eyes) quickly finds that there’s a fine line between personal kindness and perceived weakness as a leader. Bruised by recent public opinion, Blanco seizes the opportunity to burnish his image as a tough, effective president while attending a gathering of Latin American leaders in the stunning, snow-capped mountains of the Chilean Andes.

Yet in the midst of tense backroom deals, a dogged pursuit by journalist Claudia Klein and an unexpected visit from slick U.S. State Department official Dereck McKinley (Christian Slater), Blanco is blindsided by the appearance of his troubled daughter Marina (Dolores Fonzi, Paulina), whose ex-husband threatens to expose shady personal and financial dealings from the resident’s past.

Selected Filmography: Paulina (2015), Los Posibles (2013), The Student (2011)

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES IN SPANISH, ENGLISH, PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 8:30 pm • CAM Sunday, January 7 • 7:00 pm • REG

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IN COMPETITION:

Friday, January 5 • 10:30 am • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 2:00 pm • CAM

IN COMPETITION:

Zama ARGENTINA/SPAIN/FRANCE, 2017 115 minutes Director: Lucrecia Martel Cast: Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lola Dueñas, Juan Minujín, Rafael Spregelburd, Matheus Nachtergaele Print Source: Strand Releasing

In the late 18th century, at the far reaches of the Spanish Empire, Don Diego de Zama serves as magistrate at a small colonial outpost. A haggard and forlorn figure, Zama knows the only way to escape his miserable frontier existence is to secure a transfer from the crown. As the years pass and his letters go unanswered, he begins to sink deeper into the nightmare of a New World ripped apart by violence and exploitation.

A dreamlike adaptation of Antonio di Benedetto’s masterpiece of Argentinean literature, Zama marks the great Lucrecia Martel’s (La Ciénega; The Headless Woman) return to filmmaking for the first time in nearly a decade.

With its elliptical narrative and sensuous use of sound, the film is an absurdist and occasionally hallucinatory descent into the mind of a man who will stop at nothing to improve his rank, whatever the cost.

Selected Filmography: The Headless Woman (2008), The Holy Girl (2004), La Ciénaga (2001) IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Sunday, January 7 • 2:00 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 8:00 pm • REG

IN COMPETITION:

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NEW VOICES NEW VISIONS Films in this section are eligible for:

Unique viewpoints from first- and second-time directors.

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NE W VO IC ES N E W V I S I O NS

Angels Wear White

Ava

CHINA/FRANCE, 2017 107 minutes Director: Vivian Qu Cast: Wen Qi, Zhou Meijun, Shi Ke, Le Geng Print Source: KIMSTIM

FRANCE, 2017 105 minutes Director: Léa Mysius Cast: Noée Abita, Laure Calamy, Juan Cano, Tamara Cano Print Source: BAC Films

US PREMIERE On Hainan Island, where the giant “Forever Marilyn” sculpture provocatively watches over beachgoers, everyone is on the make.

In this moody, modern film noir, an older man assaults two schoolgirls after luring them into the Warmness Hotel. The only witness to the incident is a teenager herself, Mia, who was working at the front desk that night. Being without papers, she is too vulnerable to speak up when questioned by the police, deciding to say nothing for fear of losing her job. But she soon becomes embroiled in shady negotiations over that night’s security camera footage, giving her a certain measure of power in a culture where women’s roles are so frequently defined and controlled by men.

Placing young women at center of a story that harkens back to the intrigue of hard-boiled detective fiction is only one of the innovations writer/director Vivian Hu brings to the screen in her compelling and tension-filled film.

Selected Filmography: Trap Street (2013)

IN MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Wednesday, January 10 • 7:30 pm • MP Friday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 11:00 am • REG

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Navigating girlhood can be difficult, but for 13-year-old Ava it’s about to get whole lot trickier. While lazing away her summer vacation on the Atlantic coast with her mother and baby sister, Ava learns she is rapidly going blind.

Facing a world of creeping blackness, Ava urgently claims as much of her own light as she can. She rebels against her inattentive mother, steals a dog, and becomes romantically entangled with a mysterious beach rat, sending her on an unpredictable and perilous journey of self-realization.

Acclaimed short filmmaker Léa Mysius’s debut feature is a glittering, audacious coming-of-age story that reframes adolescence in urgent and intoxicating ways. Fans of Mysius’s compatriot director Catherine Breillat will recognize the sensually liberated firebrand of a lead character, who also retains a young teen’s playful mischief. Shot on gorgeous 35mm film, Ava features a fearless, sun-drenched lead performance by newcomer Noée Abita, and heralds Mysius as an uncompromising new cinematic voice.

Winner: Palm Dog Jury Prize, SADC Award Best Feature, Cannes

Debut Feature

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Tuesday, January 9 • 10:30 am • CAM Friday, January 12 • 4:30 pm • CAM Saturday, January 13 • 7:00 pm • REG

NE W V O I CE S NE W VISION S

The Charmer

The Gold Seekers

DENMARK, 2017 100 minutes Director: Milad Alami Cast: Ardalan Esmaili, Soho Rezanejad, Lars Brygmann, Susan Taslimi Print Source: Alma Cinema

PARAGUAY, 2017 102 minutes Directors: Juan Carlos Maneglia, Tana Schémbori Cast: Tomás Arredondo, Cecilia Torres, Christian Ferreira, Mario Toñanez, Sandra Sanabria

A searing and topical exploration of the immigrant experience shot through with elements of psychological thriller and erotic drama, Milad Alami’s striking debut feature is a complex tale of isolation, identity and the desperate search for one’s place in the world.

Fast-paced, funny and full of piquant observations about Paraguayan society, Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori’s clever heist movie is old-fashioned entertainment in the best sense of the phrase: its focus on story and character keep the plot humming along.

Nearly every night, handsome Esmail dons the same suit and heads to the same upscale wine bar, looking to meet and hook up with lonely women. But Esmail isn’t your typical pickup artist. An Iranian immigrant living in Denmark, he needs to find a Danish partner soon or face deportation. As the clock winds down and pressure mounts, a captivating young woman enters Esmail’s life, threatening to upend his carefully calibrated existence.

The Charmer offers an intense, probing portrait of a man struggling to secure a better life, even if it means hurting others and losing himself in the process.

Good-natured and clever to a fault, newspaper delivery boy Manu dreams of a life of opulence and wealth, one far beyond his shantytown outside Asunción. Given a book on his nation’s history by his once-thrill-seeking grandfather, Manu discovers a weathered treasure map hidden within, and visions of untold wealth begin to float before his eyes.

Enlisting the help of his manic best friend Fito and the cautious local café owner Elio, Manu sets out to uncover a hidden fortune. But they quickly discover that Paraguay— as well as a colorful cast of locals just as desperate to escape poverty—does not give up its secrets easily.

Debut Feature

Selected Filmography: 7 Boxes (2012)

IN DANISH, ENGLISH, FARSI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN SPANISH, GUARANI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Charmøren

Los Buscadores

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Thursday, January 11 • 7:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 4:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 10:30 am • REG

Tuesday, January 9 • 10:00 am • CAM Friday, January 12 • 7:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 2:00 pm • REG

IN COMPETITION:

PSFILMFEST.ORG 87

NE W VO IC ES N E W V I S I O NS

Killing Jesús

Mobile Homes

COLOMBIA/ARGENTINA, 2017 100 minutes Director: Laura Mora Cast: Natasha Jaramillo, Giovanny Rodríguez, Camilo Escobar, Carmenza Cossio, Juan Pablo Trujillo Print Source: Latido Films

CANADA/FRANCE, 2017 105 minutes Director: Vladimir de Fontenay Cast: Imogen Poots, Callum Turner, Callum Keith Rennie, Frank Oulton Print Source: Mongrel International

Inspired by her social activist father Jose Maria, tomboyish university student Paula balances her days between studying photography and organizing against Colombia’s deeply corrupt legal system. But when she witnesses Jose Maria’s assassination in broad daylight, Paula is thrown into a state of shock and the nightmare of dealing with an inept and uncaring police force. Lost in a daze of sadness and rage, she unexpectedly catches a glimpse of her father’s killer, brooding young thug Jesús, in a nearby club, setting the young student on a path of revenge. Intent on exacting any form of justice she can, Paula finds herself immersed in Jesús’s aimless, poverty-stricken world and quickly discovers that they might both be victims of the same broken system.

The unexpected sight of a home being towed down a highway was the jumping off point for Vladimir de Fontenay’s strikingly visual and emotionally charged story of a young mother and child.

This thrilling and powerful autobiographical first feature from co-writer/director Laura Mora took home multiple awards at the 2017 San Sebastian Film Festival.

Selected Filmography: Código Origen (Documentary, 2016), Antes del fuego (2015)

Set against the icy backdrop of winter on the border of the US and Canada, de Fontenay’s gritty first feature observes characters on society’s margins, and how a life without roots can affect these vulnerable yet resilient individuals.

Selected Filmography: Memoria (2015)

Matar a Jesús

Ali, her son Bone, and her boyfriend Evan lead an itinerant life, skipping out on diner bills, crashing in cheap motels and empty trailers, selling birds for cockfights and hustling to get by. But while Evan has grand ideas about building a life together, the reality he’s capable of is a far cry from their dreams, and his questionable parenting worries Ali. When the uneasy family unit is unexpectedly separated, it opens the door to a different life for Ali and Bone.

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Thursday, January 11 • 8:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 4:30 pm • CAM Sunday, January 14 • 1:00 pm • MP

88 PSFILMFEST.ORG

IN COMPETITION:

Tuesday, January 9 • 12:00 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 7:30 pm • REG

NE W V O I CE S NE W VISION S

No Date, No Signature

On Borrowed Time

IRAN, 2017 104 minutes Director: Vahid Jalilvand Cast: Navid Mohammadzadeh, Amir Agha’ee, Hediyeh Tehrani, Zakiyeh Behbahani, Sa’eed Dakh Print Source: Noori Pictures

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 2018 93 minutes Director: Yasir Al Yasiri Cast: Salloum Haddad, Saad Alfaraj, Fouad Ali, Mansour Alfeeli, Marie Alhalyan Print Source: Cinetic/ ImageNation WORLD PREMIERE

It’s nighttime in Iran and Dr. Nariman, a respected and established forensic pathologist, is driving home from work. At the same time Moosa, along with his wife, their infant daughter and 8-year-old son, are headed home on a motorcycle. In a moment of sheer misfortune, Dr. Nariman’s car is forced to veer, causing Moosa to lose control. Though the family is mostly unharmed, the seemingly minor collision will tragically alter everyone’s lives and Dr. Nariman’s life will become irretrievably tied up with Moosa’s.

No Date, No Signature is an exploration of obsession and responsibility, a film that asks the viewer to consider a predicament that has no clear or favorable answers. Iranian director Vahid Jalilvand brings a grounded complexity to his story, drawing out strong performances from his leads, Amir Agha’ee (Dr. Nariman) and Navid Mohammadzadeh (Moosa), who took home Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.

Selected Filmography: Wednesday, May 9 (2015)

Even with Dubai’s towering Burj Khalifa dominating the skyline outside their windows, life in a retirement home isn’t very exciting for the “Four Musketeers”: ex-soldier Fares, upbeat astrologer Hasan, retired pharmacist Abdullah, and wheelchair-bound Hamad. This quartet of variously afflicted grumpy old men spend their days grumbling about uncaring children, swapping medications, acting as matchmakers for the local staff, and watching movies they’ve seen before (because they can’t remember the endings). What they don’t do is adhere to Hasan’s carpe diem philosophy urging them to squeeze the best out of their dwindling time on earth. Until, that is, Fares receives a 50 million dirham (nearly $14 million) windfall, courtesy of a deceased nephew.

Director Yasir Al Yasiri’s gentle comedy is dotted with tender moments tackling aging and its accompanying indignities, but it moves along with a sprightly energy and an optimistic tone that can’t help but make you smile.

IN ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN PERSIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 4:30 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 1:30 pm • CAM Sunday, January 14 • 1:00 pm • REG

Friday, January 5 • 10:00 am • REG Friday, January 12 • 5:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 4:00 pm • MP

PSFILMFEST.ORG 89

NE W VO IC ES N E W V I S I O NS

One Thousand Ropes

Suleiman Mountain

NEW ZEALAND, 2017 98 minutes Director: Tusi Tamasese Cast: Frankie Adams, Uelese Petaia, Sima Urale, Beulah Koale, Ene Petaia Print Source: Mongrel International

KYRGYZSTAN/RUSSIA, 2017 101 minutes Director: Elizaveta Stishova Cast: Asset Imangaliev, Perizat Ermanbetova,Turgunai Erkinbekova, Daniel Daiyrbekov Print Source: See-Through Films US PREMIERE

The past and present, the real and the imagined occupy the same space in this quietly dignified, intimate film about a solitary man striving to heal his past transgressions by assisting in bringing new lives into the world.

Offering a singular look at life in contemporary Central Asia, this moving family drama follows the entertaining exploits of a scheming ex-con, his two wives and the young son he thought he’d lost as they make their way across Kyrgyzstan.

A middle-aged Samoan man living in New Zealand, Maea’s human interactions are limited to his fellow bakery employees and the pregnant women who come to him for traditional massage and midwifery. His strong hands, which once destroyed opponents in the boxing ring, now knead dough and soothe mothers-to-be, but his guilt and remorse over his own family’s fate haunt him daily.

The arrival of Maea’s pregnant daughter offers a chance at atonement, and illuminates the clash between the old ways and the new, through both language and sensibilities.

Hoping to win back the affections of her ne’er-do-well husband Karabas, Zhipara tracks down the son who had disappeared years before. Karabas reluctantly agrees to take in Zhipara and the boy, much to the chagrin of his moody, younger second wife. Crammed together in a clunky, Soviet-era truck, this dysfunctional family unit makes its way across Kyrgyzstan, clinging to one another even as hardscrabble circumstances, and their own foibles, threaten to tear them apart.

Tusi Tamasese’s bewitching, atmospheric film is a story of generations and modernization, of a father striving to redeem himself with each insightful massage, each perfect batch of dough.

Selected Filmography: The Orator (2011)

IN SAMOAN, ENGLISH, MAORI, CAMBODIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

With her feature debut, director Elizaveta Stishova laces humor into an atypical roadtrip story, highlights the rugged landscape of Kyrgyzstan, and shows a clear-eyed affection for each of her flawed but deeply human characters.

Debut Feature

IN RUSSIAN, KYRGYZ WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Sunday, January 7 • 5:00 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 1:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 12:00 pm • REG

90 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Sunday, January 7 • 12:00 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 1:00 pm • PC Saturday, January 13 • 1:00 pm • REG

NE W V O I CE S NE W VISION S

Thoroughbreds

Three Peaks

US, 2017 90 minutes Director: Cory Finley Cast: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Paul Sparks, Francie Swift Print Source: Focus Features

GERMANY/ITALY, 2017 94 minutes Director: Jan Zabeil Cast: Alexander Fehling, Bérénice Bejo, Arian Montgomery Print Source: Greenwich Entertainment

Drei Zinnen

US PREMIERE A sensation at Sundance, Cory Finley’s darkly dazzling debut tells a modern story with echoes of macabre Hitchcockian plotting.

Amanda and Lily get together for study sessions in the huge Connecticut mansion where Lily lives with her mother and despised step-dad. Lily is both unnerved and drawn to the odd, affectless Amanda, a girl who freely admits she has no feelings but who has developed a technique to cry on demand. Lily is a bit strange herself, which may be why her parents plan to send her to a college for emotionally disturbed girls. Feeding off each other’s darkest instincts, the two sociopaths devise a deadly crime, and then rope a pathetic, scheming ex-con—played by Anton Yelchin in his final role—into their plot.

Acclaimed playwright Finley adapts his own stage play into an immensely satisfying cinematic experience, his twisted tale conjuring up a privileged world where empathy is an alien concept.

Debut Feature

What was meant to be a restful vacation in the mountains becomes a struggle for survival in this white-knuckle exploration of fatherhood and family dynamics. Eager to strengthen his bond with his girlfriend Lea’s eight-yearold son Tristan, Aaron invites the two on a camping trip in the Three Peaks region of the Italian Dolomites. Amid the beautiful but bleak surroundings, the three attempt to navigate their roles within the new familial unit. When Aaron’s efforts to get closer to Tristan appear increasingly in vain, he takes the boy on a hiking trip where constantly shifting allegiances and power dynamics reach a breaking point.

Director Jan Zabeil’s taut family drama cleverly juxtaposes its breathtaking locations—thick fog rolling through the desolate, snow-capped mountains that resemble gargantuan teeth—with the stark emotional landscapes of its characters. Featuring Academy Award®-nominee Bérénice Bejo in yet another fiercely complex performance.

Winner: Piazza Grande, Locarno Selected Filmography: The River Used to Be a Man (2011)

IN GERMAN, ENGLISH, FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Thursday, January 11 • 6:00 pm • CAM Saturday, January 13 • 6:00 pm • ANN

Friday, January 5 • 2:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 7:00 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 6:30 pm • CAM

PSFILMFEST.ORG 91

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M O D ERN MAST E R S

The Brawler

Happy End

INDIA, 2017 153 minutes Director: Anurag Kashyap Cast: Vineet Kumar Singh, Zoya Hussain, Ravi Kissan, Jimmy Shergill, Sadhana Singh Print Source: Stray Dogs

AUSTRIA/FRANCE/GERMANY, 2017 107 minutes Director: Michael Haneke Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Mathieu Kassovitz, Fantine Harduin, Franz Rogowski Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

In this enthralling and inspiring narrative, one of India’s most successful and outspoken directors, Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur), takes us on an action-packed, romantic ride based on true events.

Michael Haneke, the master who brought us Caché, The White Ribbon and Amour, wields his camera like a surgeon with a scalpel. In his latest autopsy of the modern European soul, he focuses on a wealthy, wildly dysfunctional family in Calais. The dementia-afflicted patriarch (Jean-Louis Trintignant) is on a mission to kill himself, and having a hard time finding the right accomplice. His steely daughter Anne (Isabelle Huppert) now runs the family’s construction business, which is facing lawsuits for a lethal onsite accident, a crisis her hapless, self-loathing grown son Pierre is incapable of handling. Complicating matters is the arrival of 13-year-old Eve, the daughter of Anne’s philandering son from his first marriage, who has come to live with the family because her mother is in a coma from a drug overdose.

Mukkabaaz

A lower-class boxer who calls himself the Mike Tyson of India, Shravan is determined to win the world title and make his mark on the boxing world. He knocks around a gym where his Brahmin boss Bhagwan Das calls all the shots. A ruthless gangster-politician, Das uses mob violence as a political tool, treats his boxers as his servants and even tyrannizes his own family. When Shravan and Das’s niece fall in love, all hell breaks loose. As the head of the boxing federation, Das will see to it that Shravan’s life and future are very much in doubt. It will take all of Shravan’s ingenuity and grit to rise above the injustices that keep underdogs like him down.

Selected Filmography: Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), Bombay Velvet (2015), Ugly (2013), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Dev. D (2009)

IN HINDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Haneke’s mordant satire of this spectacularly joyless French family is served up with a diamond-cutter’s precision and a wicked jolt of black humor.

Selected Filmography: Amour (2012), The White Ribbon (2009), Funny Games U.S. (2007), Caché (2005), Time of The Wolf (2003), The Piano Teacher (2001), The Casttle (1997), Funny Games (1997) IN FRENCH, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Thursday, January 11 • 7:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 10:00 am • REG

102 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Saturday, January 6 • 1:30 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 6:00 pm • REG

M O D E R N MA STERS

Let the Sunshine In

Spoor

FRANCE, 2017 94 minutes Director: Claire Denis Cast: Juliette Binoche, Gérard Depardieu, Xavier Beauvois, Philippe Katerine, Josiane Balasko Print Source: Sundance Selects

POLAND/GERMANY/CZECH REPUBLIC/SWEDEN/ SLOVAK REPUBLIC, 2017 128 minutes Director: Agnieszka Holland Cast: Agnieszka Mandat, Wiktor Zborowski, Miroslav Krobot, Jakub Giersza, Patricia Volny Print Source: Beta Cinema

A delightful and surprising change of pace for the revered filmmaker Claire Denis, Let the Sunshine In is a romantic comedy of a very special, very unformulaic, kind. The radiant Juliette Binoche gives a complex performance as a divorced painter who sets off in mid-life in search of love. Starting with an affair with a particularly obnoxious banker (she’s turned on by his boorishness), her erotic encounters include an actor, a fellow artist, her ex-husband, another artist, and even a strange fortune teller, played to enigmatic perfection by Gerard Depardieu. Wry, wise and thought provoking, Denis’s very personal work explores a woman’s search for love in all its foolishness and glory.

The exuberant and crafty Janina Duszejko leads a pack of eccentric characters in Agnieszka Holland’s (Europa Europa) celebrated return to cinema.

Un beau soleil intérieur

Though the subject is ostensibly lighter than most of Denis’s ouevre, the considered formalism and arresting sensuality of her filmmaking style brings a satisfying gravity to a story of feeling star-crossed in love in the city of light.

Selected Filmography: White Material (2009), 35 Shots of Rum (2008), Trouble Every Day (2001), Beau Travail (1999), Chocolat (1988) IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Pokot

Spoor centers around the mysterious deaths of poachers in a small Polish village near the border of the Czech Republic.

Janina, a stalwart animal rights activist and amateur astrologist, seeks answers when she discovers that trigger-happy hunters have murdered her two beloved dogs, but her cries for justice falls on deaf ears. Although her impassioned search for the culprits comes up short, she captures the interest of cranky entomologist Boros and boyish tech wizard Dyzio, among others. Yet when members of the local hunting club begin to turn up dead with suspicious deer hooves at each murder scene, Janina believes it is Mother Nature herself seeking revenge.

Spoor is an outrageously unique eco-thriller, a whodunit that plays with genre and perspective while leaving the audience guessing until the very end.

Selected Filmography: In Darkness (2011), Total Eclipse (1995), The Secret Garden (1993), Olivier, Olivier (1992), Europa Europa (1990) IN POLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

This film is also eligible for the FIPRESCI Prize.

Thursday, January 4 • 10:00 am • ANN Friday, January 5 • 5:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 3:30 pm • CAM

Sunday, January 7 • 12:30 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 7:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 10:30 am • CAM

PSFILMFEST.ORG 103

M O D ERN MAST E R S

The Third Murder

The Workshop

JAPAN, 2017 124 minutes Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Koji Yakusho, Suzu Hirose Print Source: Film Movement

FRANCE, 2017 113 minutes Director: Laurent Cantet Cast: Marina Foïs, Matthieu Lucci, Warda Rammach, Issam Talbi, Florian Beaujean Print Source: Strand Releasing

Sandome no Satsujin

US PREMIERE

L’atelier

A complex, cerebral and captivating courtroom drama from Hirokazu Kore-eda (Still Walking; Like Father, Like Son). Misumi has a criminal history, having killed two loan sharks 30 years ago. He now finds himself in the spotlight again, accused of murdering his employer. While it looks like an open and shut case since Misumi has confessed to the charges, his prominent lawyer, Shigemori, harbors new ideas that could mean the difference between life and death for his client.

Once Shigemori starts digging, however, the evidence is no longer obvious. Misumi not only refuses to reveal what happened but keeps changing his story. And Sakie, the daughter of the murdered man, may hold the secret to the case. Driven to find out the truth, Shigemori can’t help but wonder if Misumi is guilty after all.

With The Third Murder, Kore-eda departs from his usual family dramas, taking on new challenges while posing serious questions about whether anyone should have control over another person’s life.

Selected Filmography: After The Storm (2016), Our Little Sister (2015), Like Father, Like Son (2013), I Wish (2011), Air Doll (2009), Still Walking (2008), Hana (2006)

In the latest film from Laurent Cantet (The Class, PSIFF 2009), celebrated author Olivia Dejazet (Marina Foïs; Polisse) arrives in La Ciotat on the Mediterranean coast and is astonished to find the disparate students of her writing workshop bursting with inspired ideas and opinions about the state of the world. Lines are quickly drawn between the most vocal students of this once-thriving port town, including Muslim Malika and the hostile, conservativeleaning Antoine. A first-time teacher, Olivia envisions an ideal workshop that encourages ultimate freedom in subject matter, no matter the potential emotional toll.

With Olivia’s blessing, Antoine shares his controversial short story about a fictionalized mass shooting, and the rest of the group predictably reacts in horror. An unsettling admiration, possibly even an attraction, begins to emerge between the thriller novelist and her volatile student as the reins of the class dangerously slip from her grasp.

Thursday, January 4 • 10:30 am • CAM Friday, January 12 • 1:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 8:00 pm • REG

Sunday, January 7 • 6:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 10:00 am • ANN

Selected Filmography: Return to Ithaca (2014), Foxfire (2012), 7 Days in Havana (2012), The Class (2008)

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

104 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Youth

Fāng Huá CHINA, 2017 136 minutes Director: Feng Xiaogang Cast: Xuan Huang, Miao Miao, Chuxi Zhong, Caiyu Yang, Xiaofeng Li Print Source: China Lion

Chinese box-office king Feng Xiaogang’s latest is a thoroughly engrossing, coming-of-age melodrama.

It’s the mid-1970s and, while Mao’s Cultural Revolution may be on its last legs, the People’s Liberation Army dance troupe continues to recruit new performers and stage balletic odes to the communist way. Young dancer Xiaoping (Miao Miao) finds herself bullied by her peers because of her reactionary father’s banishment to a re-education camp. Fellow outcast in the troupe, Liu Feng, though kind and selfless, faces his own problems. But for both of them, the challenges of the dance troupe are nothing compared to the horrors of war, which they experience firsthand after leaving the troupe.

Feng’s historical drama traverses its story’s 20-year timespan with sweeping camerawork and the entertaining grace of a master dancer, painting an epic portrait of change that is equal parts heartbreak and nostalgia.

Selected Filmography: I Am Not Madame Bovary (2016), Personal Tailor (2013), Aftershock (2010), Assembly (2007), A World Without Thieves (2004), Cell Phone (2003), Sorry Baby (1999), Be There or Be Square (1998), The Dream Factory (1997)

IN MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 6 • 4:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 10:00 am • CAM Thursday, January 11 • 1:00 pm • MP

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PALM SPRINGS 2018

CANADA, A WORLD OF TALENT!

Canada’s Foreign Language Film submission for the 90th Academy Awards®

Hochelaga, Land of Souls Hochelaga, Terre des Âmes François Girard

Les Affamés (Ravenous)

Allure

Eye on Juliet

Mobile Homes

Never Steady, Never Still

RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World

Robin Aubert

Vladimir de Fontenay (Canada/France)

SEE BIG.

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Carlos Sanchez Jason Sanchez

Kathleen Hepburn

Kim Nguyen

Catherine Bainbridge Co-directed by Alfonso Maiorana

AWARDS BUZZ Films in this section are eligible for:

Step into the OscarsÂŽ season with this selection of Foreign-Language contenders.

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AWARD S BUZZ

Amerika Square

Ayla - The Daughter of War

GREECE/UK/GERMANY, 2017 86 minutes Director: Yannis Sakardis Cast: Yannis Stankoglou, Makis Papadimitriou, Vassilis Koukalani, Ksenia Dania, Alexandros Logothetis Print Source: Cornith Films

TURKEY, 2017 124 minutes Director: Can Ulkay Cast: İsmail Hacıoğlu, Kim Seol, Çetin Tekindor, Ali Atay, Murat Yıldırım, Eric Roberts Print Source: Warner Bros Turkey Theatrical

With a story and setting drawn from the front lines of Europe’s refugee crisis, Amerika Square, is an eye-opening and enthralling drama that explores the business of borders and the causes and repercussions of nationalist resentment.

It’s the 1950s and Turkey has sent a brigade to support the United Nations Command for military aid in the Korean War. Sargeant Suleyman, a young Turkish soldier, and his band of friends are among those selected to fight.

Though the bigotry-spewing Nakos (Makis Papadimitriou, Chevalier, PSIFF 2016; Suntan, PSIFF 2017) longs for the days when his neighborhood square was not crowded with immigrants and refugees, his left-leaning friend Billy still humors him. Maybe Billy feels sorry for his lifelong friend, the perpetually single, jobless, 38-year-old who still lives with his parents, or maybe the tattoo artist has nothing better to do in their low-income neighborhood of Athens. In the same neighborhood, but practically another universe, Syrian refugee Tarek will sacrifice everything to secure safe passage out of Nakos’ beloved city for himself and his daughter. And when Nakos takes his obsession with "making Athens Greek again" to an extreme, Billy must confront his own silent complicity.

One night on the battlefield, Suleyman stumbles across a stranded five-year-old and, moved by the child’s helplessness, he brings her back to the army base. He nicknames her Ayla, meaning “halo of light around the moon” to commemorate the night he found her. The adorable Ayla (played by scene-stealing Kim Seol) brings much needed laughter and life to the Turkish brigade as she and Suleyman form an intimate bond that is put to the test as the war comes to an end.

Selected Filmography: Wild Duck (2013)

Based on the amazing true story of Süleyman Dilbirliği and Kim Eun-ja, this charming and heartwarming debut film by Turkish director Can Ulkay is an emotional and beautiful drama, a polished exploration of family, sacrifice and love.

Debut Feature

IN GREEK, ENGLISH, ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN TURKISH, ENGLISH, KOREAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 6:30 pm • PC Tuesday, January 9 • 11:00 am • REG

Monday, January 8 • 3:45 pm • PC Tuesday, January 9 • 7:00 pm • MP Thursday, January 11 • 10:30 am • REG

110 PSFILMFEST.ORG

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Barrage

Birdshot

LUXEMBOURG/BELGIUM/FRANCE, 2017 112 minutes Director: Laura Schroeder Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Lolita Chammah, Themis Pauwels, Charles Müller Print Source: Luxbox Films

PHILIPPINES/QATAR, 2017 116 minutes Director: Mikhail Red Cast: Mary Joy Apostol, Arnold Reyes, Ku Aquino, John Arcilla Print Source: TBA Studios

Some things are forgivable, some are irrevocable. Between daughters and mothers, they are often both. In co-writer/ director Laura Schroeder’s second feature film, three generations of women navigate the commitments and challenges of maternal love. Grandmother Elisabeth (the impeccable Isabelle Huppert) hasn’t seen her daughter in 10 years. Catherine (Lolita Chammah, Huppert’s own daughter) abandoned not only her mother, but her daughter, Alba, whom Elisabeth is raising exactly as she raised Catherine, right down to her strict training as a competitive tennis player.

A dramatic thriller with hints of American Westerns, Mikhail Red’s impressive film tells the story of a Filipina farm girl who mistakenly shoots an endangered eagle, and the larger questions that her actions provoke.

After many years of treatment for depression and substance abuse, Catherine shows up out of the blue at tennis practice, desperate to renew her relationship with her daughter. She convinces Elisabeth—and Alba— to give them a few hours alone. A few hours stretches into several unauthorized days at a long-unvisited family chalet in the woods, where all three women must eventually face the ghosts of then and now.

Selected Filmography: Schatzritter (2012)

Maya’s father recently has begun teaching her to hunt, hoping to secure additional food for their family; having failed her first lesson Maya is eager to show her prowess.

Wandering within the boundaries of a government sanctuary, she kills a bird, later identified by her horrified father as the endangered “Monkey Eating Eagle.” He knows the gravity of the situation. The often-corrupt local police, in a country where human life can seem expendable, seize on this event as an easy target to distract from their unsuccessful investigation into the disappearance of a busload of farm activists.

With striking atmospheric visuals and strong performances, this slow burning tale questions whether the killing of an endangered animal is equal to the killing of human beings.

Selected Filmography: Rekorder (2013)

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN TAGALOG WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 12:30 pm • CAM Monday, January 8 • 2:30 pm • REG

Monday, January 8 • 7:30 pm • MP Tuesday, January 9 • 3:00 pm • REG

PSFILMFEST.ORG 111

AWARD S BUZZ

BPM (Beats Per Minute)

A Ciambra

FRANCE, 2017 144 minutes Director: Robin Campillo Cast: Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois, Adèle Haenel, Antoine Reinartz, Félix Maritaud Print Source: The Orchard

ITALY, 2017 117 minutes Director: Jonas Carpignano Cast: Pio Amato, Koudous Seihon, Damiano Amato, Francesco Pio Amato, Iolanda Amat Print Source: Sundance Selects

Co-writer/director Robin Campillo’s (writer of Laurent Cantet’s Oscar®-nominated The Class) engrossing and very moving drama immerses us in the lives of a volatile group of ACT UP activists in Paris at the cusp of the 1990s, when AIDS was ravaging the gay community and authorities were turning a blind eye to the disease’s devastating effects.

Acclaimed Italian filmmaker Jonas Carpignano returns us to the world of refugees previously explored in his breakout debut Mediterranea.

120 battements par minute

True to the title (“120 beats per minute” in the original French), Campillo maintains a heady pace as he guides us from the shocking opening scene through the group’s meetings and actions, all the while creating a poignant portrait of a community coming together in the face of tragedy. At the center of the whirlwind is the deeply affecting romance between young militant Sean (Nahuel Pérez Biscayart), whose health is rapidly declining, and the older Nathan (Arnaud Valois), a stand-in for the director himself, whose first-hand knowledge of the scene translates into powerful cinema.

Amid the array of characters that make up the large, loving and loud Amato family is the stubborn 14-year-old Pio. Living in an impoverished Romani community in the southwest of Italy, the habitually smoking Pio is the youngest of his siblings and idolizes older brother Cosimo. But when his father and brother are incarcerated, Pio takes it upon himself to continue the family business of petty theft, often working with buddy Ayiva (Mediterranea’s Koudous Seihon) who lives in a nearby African refugee camp. The teen becomes enamored of the high risk, high reward lifestyle, despite warnings from his mother and his own conscience, especially when it jeopardizes his friendship with Ayiva.

Winner: Grand Prix, FIPRESCI Award, Cannes

Within this intimate docudrama, executive produced by Martin Scorsese, Carpignano’s Pio offers an empathetic window into a rarely seen life led by thousands of Europeans.

Selected Filmography: Eastern Boys (2013), They Came Back (2004)

Selected Filmography: Mediterranea (2015)

IN ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 4:00 pm • CAM

112 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Saturday, January 6 • 1:00 pm • CAM Monday, January 8 • 4:30 pm • CAM Friday, January 12 • 1:00 pm • MP

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The Divine Order

A Fantastic Woman

SWITZERLAND, 2017 96 minutes Director: Petra Volpe Cast: Marie Leuenberger, Max Simonischek, Rachel Braunschweig, Sibylle Brunner, Marta Zoffoli Print Source: Zeitgeist Films

CHILE, 2017 103 minutes Director: Sebastián Lelio Cast: Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco, Aline Kuppenheim, Nicolas Saavedra Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

Did you know that women were denied the right to vote in Switzerland until 1971? In this fact-based comic drama, Nora (Marie Leuenberger of 2010 PSIFF audience favorite Will You Marry Us?) is a demure and conscientious housewife in a quiet Alpine village, raising two young boys and waiting hand and foot on her grumpy father-in-law. She’d love to take a job outside the home, but her handsome hubby won’t hear of it. Stymied by the men in her life, she finds fulfillment and confidence in the gathering movement for women’s suffrage and equality. Nora’s liberated comrades open her up to new worlds and new experiences (both mental and physical), but questioning the norms in one’s town or one’s marriage will inevitably be met with resistance. Still, Nora finds the courage to stand up to outdated sexist attitudes and ultimately convinces her fellow villagers to do so too in this inspirational crowd-pleaser.

Making a living waiting tables in downtown Santiago while pursuing her dream of becoming an nightclub singer, young transgender woman Marina (Daniela Vega in a stunning debut) finds safety and solace from an often cruel world in her relationship with older divorcee Orlando (Francisco Reyes, Neruda). But when Orlando suffers a violent fall and massive injuries in the last moments of a fatal aneurysm, suspicion falls on Marina, causing her to flee the hospital and the eye of a judgmental city.

Die göttliche Ordnung

Winner: Best Feature, Best Actress, Tribeca; Audience Award, Traverse City

Selected Filmography: Dreamland (2013)

IN SWISS GERMAN, ENGLISH, ITALIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Tuesday, January 9 • 10:00 am • ANN Wednesday, January 10 • 5:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 11 • 3:00 pm • CAM

Una Mujer Fantástica

Despite the strength of her relationship with Orlando, without his presence Marina finds herself shut out of the life they once shared, unfairly mistrusted by his family and the authorities. Yet through it all Marina quietly refuses to be boxed in, standing up for her right to mourn a lost love and live life on her own terms in this deeply compassionate and unforgettable new film from Sebastián Lelio, the director of Gloria (PSIFF 2014).

Selected Filmography: Disobedience (2017), Gloria (2013), The Year of the Tiger (2011), Christmas (2009), The Sacred Family (2005)

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 12:30 pm • ANN Saturday, January 13 • 1:15 pm • ANN

IN COMPETITION:

PSFILMFEST.ORG 113

AWARD S BUZZ

Félicité

First They Killed My Father

SENEGAL, 2017 123 minutes Director: Alain Gomis Cast: Véro Tshanda Beya, Papi Mpaka, Gaetan Claudia Print Source: Strand Releasing

CAMBODIA, 2017 136 minutes Director: Angelina Jolie Cast: Sreymoch Sareum, Kompheak Phoeung, Socheata Sveng Print Source: Netflix

Bursting at the seams with energy, Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Alain Gomis’s Berlin festival prizewinner immerses us in the sights and sounds of Kinshasa while loosely chronicling the day-to-day travails of the eponymous single-mom and nightclub-chanteuse (Congolese singer Véro Tshanda Beya, in an unforgettable performance) at the heart of the film.

The devastation wrought by Pol Pot’s murderous Khmer Rouge regime in late 1970s Cambodia—a reign of terror during which more than two million people were killed— serves as the backdrop for co-writer/director Angelina Jolie’s dramatic and moving film that is as visually rich as it is emotionally and intellectually satisfying.

When Félicité is not scraping together a living by singing (Beya’s whiskey-soaked vocals are one of the film’s marvels) she is suffering the slights and quotidian indignities faced by a single mom on the city’s mean streets. Things come to a crisis point when her 14-year-old son is badly injured, and Félicité finds herself short of the cash needed to ensure her son’s survival. Cinematographer Céline Bozon’s prowling camera and Gomis’s rambunctious direction make this vibrant milieu come alive, while Beya’s performance and the near-constant use of music (in addition to Beya, the film features the Kasai Allstars and the Kinshasa Symphonic Orchestra) make for an indelible journey.

Co-writer Loung Ung, on whose memoir the movie is based, was the five-year-old daughter of a well-connected police captain when the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975, and it is through her eyes that we witness the family’s ensuing flight from Phnom Penh and the young girl’s indoctrination into the ways of the regime. The expressive Sareum Srey Moch, riveting in the role of the young Loung, is able to convey moments of wonder and terror with equal aplomb, while cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle’s stunning visuals and Jolie’s eloquent direction make for an unforgettable journey into the heart of darkness.

Winner: Grand Prize (Silver Bear), Berlin Selected Filmography: Today (2012), Andalucia (2007), As A Man (2001)

Selected Filmography: By The Sea (2015), Unbroken (2014), In The Land of Blood and Honey (2011)

IN KHMER, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN LINGALA, FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Monday, January 8 • 1:00 pm • MP Tuesday, January 9 • 7:00 pm • REG

114 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Monday, January 8 • 1:00 pm • REG

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Foxtrot

Guilty Men

ISRAEL, 2017 114 minutes Director: Samuel Maoz Cast: Lior Ashkenazi, Sarah Adler, Yonatan Shiray Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

COLOMBIA, 2016 115 minutes Director: Iván D. Gaona Cast: Willington Gordillo, Heriberto Palacio, René Díaz Calderón, Alfonso López, Leidy Herrera Print Source: Films Boutique

Pariente

US PREMIERE The daring, intelligently devised drama sets the story of one family’s loss into the larger mosaic of Israeli history and culture.

Both specific and universal—and marbled with humor—it boldly uses a family drama told in three sequences to tackle fate and coincidence, guilt and forgiveness, happiness and grieving, the Holocaust and the Israel Defense Forces.

When something goes terribly wrong at their soldier son’s desolate army outpost, married couple Michael and Dafna struggle to cope with the news. Using the structure of a Greek tragedy, writer/director Samuel Maoz explores the gap between the things we control and those we don’t. And as in his previous film, Lebanon, he continues to investigate— in an intensive manner that combines criticism and compassion—the human dynamic created in a closed unit.

Considered cinematography mirrors and comments on the characters and their struggles, bringing new visual style and insight to each piece of this three-part drama.

Winner: Silver Lion, 2017, Venice; eight Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor

Though he’s not one to seek out trouble, Willington, like so many of his parientes in the small Colombian town of Güepsa, struggles to keep his hands clean in an impoverished land reeling from a long history of violence. The quiet and reserved truck driver and part-time DJ is still in love with his beautiful ex, Mariana, who’s now engaged to be married to Willington’s hotheaded cousin René. While he endeavors to win back his true love, Willington finds himself in the crosshairs of both cops and criminals after witnessing the murder of a paramilitary thug by elderly local Alfonso. Soon a community eager to move on after decades of bloodshed is unwittingly pulled back into a deadly game of cat and mouse—where no one is safe and everyone’s a suspect.

A thrilling debut feature with an earthy Western feel, from writer/director Iván Gaona and frequent collaborator producer Diana Pérez Mejía.

Debut Feature

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Selected Filmography: Lebanon (2009)

IN HEBREW, ARABIC, GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Friday, January 5 • 4:00 pm • CAM Monday, January 8 • 12:45 pm • CAM

Monday, January 8 • 4:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 6:30 pm • REG

IN COMPETITION:

PSFILMFEST.ORG 115

AWARD S BUZZ

Her Love Boils Bathwater

Hochelaga, Land of Souls

JAPAN, 2016 125 minutes Director: Ryôta Nakano Cast: Rie Miyazawa, Hana Sugisaki, Joe Odagiri Print Source: Hakuhodo Dy Music & Pictures Inc.

CANADA, 2017 100 minutes Director: François Girard Cast: Samian, Vincent Perez, Raoul Trujillo, Wahiakeron Gilbert, Emmanuel Schwartz, Tanaya Beatty Print Source: Seville Pictures

In this gentle, emotionally charged feature from Ryôta Nakano, Futaba, a strict but caring mother, has an awakening when she is told that she has terminal cancer. With a few months to live, Futaba lays out a plan that will allow her family to rally and carry on after she is gone.

With echoes of his acclaimed 1998 feature The Red Violin, writer/director François Girard spins a centuries-spanning yarn, drawing parallels thematically and visually between wildly disparate characters who quite literally share common ground.

Yu wo wakasuhodo no atsui ai

Her to-do list includes tracking down the husband who deserted her and her daughter for another woman, and persuading him to come back now that his girlfriend has left him. Together, Futaba hopes they can restart the formerly popular bathhouse business they used to run. At the same time she’ll also need to rebuild her daughter’s confidence so she can stand on her own two feet and deal with school bullies.

With riveting, award-winning performances and a buoyant sense of humor, this Oscar® submission from Japan reminds us of the power of family.

Selected Filmography: Capturing Dad (2012)

Hochelaga, Terre des âmes

When a sinkhole swallows a large portion of a Canadian college stadium’s football field, it opens a window into the history of this specific place, revealing generations of cultural and religious divides, of violent conflict and shared ancestry. Bookending the eras are a modern-day Mohawk archaeologist and an ancient-times warrior, who share the name Asigny and the mission of keeping the stories of the land alive. Glimpses of the intervening centuries include a 1600s French settler passionately in love with an Algonquin woman, French rebels on the run from English redcoats, and the contemporary battle of sporting events.

Expansive, ambitious and beautifully shot, Hochelaga collapses hundreds of years of history into an immersive, interconnected series of episodes strung together by the unifying thread of North America’s Native peoples.

IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Selected Filmography: Boychoir (2014), Silk (2007), The Red Violin (1998)

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Saturday, January 6 • 1:00 pm • PC Monday, January 8 • 10:00 am • CAM Thursday, January 11 • 2:30 pm • REG

116 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Friday, January 5 • 2:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 7 • 7:00 pm • ANN

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Ice Mother

The Insult

CZECH REPUBLIC, 2017 106 minutes Director: Bohdan Sláma Cast: Zuzana Kronerová, Pavel Nový, Daniel Vízek, Václav Neužil, Tatiana Vilhelmová Print Source: FilmRise

LEBANON, 2017 113 minutes Director: Ziad Doueiri Cast: Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha, Camille Salameh, Diamand Abou Abboud, Rita Hayek Print Source: Cohen Media

When a selfless widow finds late-life romance, it changes her relationship with her selfish sons and her belief in the “musts” she imposes on her life. Bohdan Sláma, the Czech Republic’s leading humanist writer/director, crafts plum roles for a pair of beloved older stars in this bittersweet dramedy.

What should have been a trivial altercation, quickly settled and forgotten, instead propels two men to the center of a politically charged scandal in Lebanon—one that reopens historical and political wounds on both sides.

Bába z ledu

Hana is a 67-year-old widow who each week prepares an elaborate Sunday dinner for her two adult sons and their families, even though every get-together is marred by petty behavior on the part of one or both of the siblings.

While minding her grandson at the park one day, Hana meets the charismatic Broňa, who is part of a group of wild-water swimmers. He is a bit mysterious and quite a character. But when the newly confident Hana starts to make changes and incorporate her new-found love into her life, secrets from Broňa’s past threaten her plans.

Selected Filmography: The Blue Tiger (2012), Four Suns (2012), The Country Teacher (2008), Something Like Happiness (2005), Wild Bees (2001)

IN CZECH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

L’Insulte

When Yasser, a Palestinian refugee and building foreman, and Tony, a Christian nationalist and auto mechanic, go head to head after a misunderstanding involving a drainpipe on Tony’s balcony, Yasser utters an insult Tony cannot forgive.

The events immediately following result in the two stubborn men facing off in court where, fueled by the media and a famous right-wing Christian lawyer, old wounds and unresolved tension threaten to divide a nation.

With superb performances by Adel Karam and Kamel El Basha, director Ziad Doueiri’s newest offering is a fastpaced, timely and smart film that interjects humor into a very real debate that, though set in Beirut, will be all too recognizable to American audiences.

Selected Filmography: The Attack (2012), Lila Says (2004), West Beirut (1998) IN ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 1:00 pm • PC Thursday, January 11 • 1:00 pm • REG

Sunday, January 7 • 1:00 pm • CAM Monday, January 8 • 8:00 pm • CAM

PSFILMFEST.ORG 117

AWARD S BUZZ

A Letter to the President

The Line

AFGHANISTAN, 2017 83 minutes Director: Roya Sadat Cast: Leena Alam, Asad-Ullah Tajzai, Aziz Dildar, Mamnoon Maqsoudy, Farzana Nawaby Print Source: Asian Shadows

SLOVAK REPUBLIC, 2017 112 minutes Director: Peter Bebjak Cast: Tomáš Maštalír, Emília Vášáryová, Andy Hryc, Zuzana Fialová, Eugen Libezňuk Print Source: Film Republic

Namai Ba Rahis Gomhor

Čiara

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE An Afghani film directed by a woman is a rare thing, but Roya Sadat’s taut drama is rarer still: it’s an overtly feminist work featuring a strong female protagonist who, despite occupying a position of power, is ensnared in a patriarchal culture that threatens her very life.

Redolent of The Godfather and The Sopranos with a soupçon of Animal Kingdom and a welcome dose of black humor, this entertaining, fast-paced crime thriller is set on the lawless border of the Slovak Republic and Ukraine, prior to Slovakia’s 2007 accession to the European Union.

Married and the mother of two kids, Soraya (Leena Alam, excellent) finds that her job as head of the Kabul Crime Division is too much for her ineffectual and abusive husband, Karim. When her work leads her to investigate her father-in-law, Karim attacks her and she accidentally kills him. In short order, she is imprisoned and sentenced to death. Will a reasoned recounting of her story in the titular letter change the course of future events?

As the head of an organized crime family, Adam is busy balancing his business dealing contraband in the borderlands with personal concerns, like his daughter’s upcoming wedding. The film’s title refers not only to changing physical boundaries that threaten his livelihood, but also to the moral lines that Adam feels he must not cross in his efforts to keep his two worlds separate.

Sadat frames her superbly acted drama as a thriller, keeping the fast-paced unfolding of Soraya’s story firmly focused on her lead; the result is a top notch work that is both eye-opening and brimming with passion.

Selected Filmography: Three Dots (2003) IN DARI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Impressive performances abound, in particular, an extremely physical turn from Slovak theater and TV star Tomáš Maštalír as lead character Adam. Hang on for a wild ride as the smart, twisty screenplay continually brings more characters and complications into the mix.

Winner: Best Director, Karlovy Vary Selected Filmography: The Cleaner (2015), Zlo (2012)

IN SLOVAK, UKRAINIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 5:00 pm • REG Tuesday, January 9 • 4:00 pm • MP

118 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Monday, January 8 • 7:00 pm • PC Saturday, January 13 • 1:00 pm • PC Thursday, January 11 • 2 pm • REG

AWA RDS B U ZZ

Loveless

Men Don’t Cry

RUSSIA, 2017 127 minutes Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev Cast: Maryana Spivak, Alexey Rozin, Matvey Novikov, Marina Vasilyeva, Andris Keishs Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, 2017 98 minutes Director: Alen Drljevic Cast: Boris Isaković, Leon Lučev, Emir Hadžihafizbegović, Sebastian Cavazza, Ermin Bravo Print Source: Picture Tree International

Russian master Andrei Zvyagintsev, who made the powerful, Oscar®-nominated Leviathan (PSIFF 2015), takes another devastating look at the soul of contemporary Russia.

Some 20 years after the armed conflict in former Yugoslavia, a diverse group of veterans—Bosnians, Croats and Serbs— gathers at a remote mountain hotel for a multi-day therapy session. The Slovenian psychiatrist wants the participants to let go of the myth of macho masculinity that has been bred into them, and by extension, overcome their prejudices, so as to expose the inhumanity of the war atrocities perpetrated—by themselves or by others. The experience of the war revealed uncomfortable inner truths for these men, truths each one would prefer to hide from himself and the world. Bridging their many differences is a profound, shared shame. Despite his good intentions, the doctor isn’t prepared for the volatility of the situation, which starts to flame out of control when alcohol is added to the mix.

Nelyubov

It begins at the tail end of a failed marriage. Boris and Zhenya still share a Moscow apartment as they await their divorce, but they have both taken up with new partners: he with a young and already pregnant lover, she with a wealthy middle-aged man. They are so absorbed in their own enmity that they at first fail to notice that their unhappy 12-year-old son has gone missing. Has he run away, or been kidnapped?

Loveless may take the form of a police procedural, but its scope expands to paint a lacerating portrait of a wealth- and status-obsessed society, mired in cynicism and divorced from empathy. Infused with suspense and dread, the movie, as critic Peter Bradshaw wrote in The Guardian, “has a hypnotic intensity, which is maintained until the very end.”

Winner: Jury Prize, Cannes; Best International Film, Munich Selected Filmography: Leviathan (2014), Elena (2011), The Banishment (2007), The Return (2003)

Muškarci ne plaču

Some of the region’s finest actors play against type in this compelling drama, which illustrates that catharsis is not so simple.

Winner: Best Film, Zagreb; Special Jury Prize, Karlovy Vary

Debut Feature

IN BOSNIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN RUSSIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 7:00 pm • ANN Tuesday, January 9 • 4:30 pm • CAM

Monday, January 8 • 11:00 am • REG Thursday, January 11 • 7:30 pm • CAM

PSFILMFEST.ORG 119

AWARD S BUZZ

The Miner

Newton

SLOVENIA, 2017 98 minutes Director: Hanna Slak Cast: Leon Lučev, Marina Redžepović, Zala Djurić, Tin Marn, Boris Cavazza Print Source: Slovenian Film Center

INDIA, 2017 104 minutes Director: Amit V Masurkar Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Anjali Patil, Raghubir Yadav Print Source: Celluloid Dreams/Drishyam

Based on real events, The Miner tells the poignant story of a man refusing to let the dark deeds of the past remain buried.

India takes its status as the world’s largest democracy seriously, but Amit V Masurkar’s thoughtful comedy uncovers the absurdities lurking in a voting process that is never simple or straightforward, and is sometimes so nonsensical it’s referred to as “The Great Indian Electoral Circus.”

Rudar

Alija (Leon Lučev) left Bosnia when he was just a boy, but his family members remaining in Srebrenica were massacred and their bodies never found. Like many Bosnians, Alija found work in Slovenia’s Zasavje coal region. Years later, mining is a failing industry and with the financial crisis of 2008-09, mines are shutting down and layoffs are widespread. When Alija is called to the manager’s office he fears the worst, but instead he receives a special assignment: reopen a long-sealed mine and confirm that it is empty. Instead, his project reveals hidden proof of postWWII war crimes, shocking Slovenian society and raising fundamental questions about truth and delayed justice.

Lučev (also featured in this year’s Men Don’t Cry) proves once again that he is one of the region’s finest actors.

Selected Filmography: Teah (2007), Desperado Tonic (2004), Blind Spot (2002)

Newton, a young idealist election officer, is sent into the beautiful jungles of Chhattisgar to collect a measly 76 votes. The area, impoverished by greedy mining corporations and lazy government officials, is overrun by communist guerillas and security forces. Regardless of the local distress and threats of ambush, and with the help of a veteran polling officer and the local schoolteacher, Newton is naively determined to uphold the election process and to collect every single one of those votes.

This gentle farce addresses this seldom-seen side of Indian politics with humor and cynicism and highlights the importance of the electoral system in a rural society governed by traditions and apathy.

IN SLOVENIAN, BOSNIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Selected Filmography: Sulemani Keeda (2014)

IN HINDI, GONDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 8:30 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 6:30 pm • PC

120 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Saturday, January 6 • 2:00 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 12:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 11 • 5:30 pm • REG

AWA RDS B U ZZ

On Body and Soul

Pop Aye

HUNGARY, 2017 116 minutes Director: Ildikó Enyedi Cast: Alexandra Borbély, Géza Morcsányi, Réka Tenki, Zoltán Schneider, Ervin Nagy Print Source: Netflix

SINGAPORE, 2017 104 minutes Director: Kirsten Tan Cast: Penpak Sirikul, Thaneth Warakulnukroh Print Source: Kino Lorber

Romances rarely seem more eccentric than the one between Endre, the kind, older and partially maimed manager of an industrial slaughterhouse, and Maria, the abattoir’s new quality and hygiene inspector, a shy, awkward woman with Asperger’s Syndrome. When a special Viagra-like potion for the cattle goes missing, the police suggest that Endre consult a psychologist (Reka Tenki, also in this year’s Budapest Noir) to develop a profile of the possible thief.

Under her questioning, Endre and Maria discover that their nightly dreams share the exact same imagery: a doe and a buck wandering in a primeval, snow-covered forest. As we chart what these two misfits do with that information, director/writer Ildikó Enyedi plays with dualities in a tone that is both exhilarating and disturbing.

The heartwarming journey of a man and his elephant is the center of this unconventional and charming buddy picture.

Teströl és lélekröl

On Body and Soul is both surreal and sensual, an engrossing, provocative dream of a film.

Winner: Golden Bear (Best Film), Berlin; Best Film, Sydney

Selected Filmography: Simon, the Magician (1999), My Twentieth Century (1989)

Thana, once a renowned architect, finds himself squeezed out by younger, more ambitious colleagues; his marriage on the rocks; and he is spiraling into a late-midlife crisis.

While wandering the streets of Bangkok, he happens upon an old friend: Pop Aye, the elephant who was his childhood companion in rural Thailand. Leaving behind his thankless home life, Thana sets out to return Pop Aye to his natural habitat at Uncle Peak’s farm in the village where they both grew up. It is not easy to hitch a ride with an elephant in tow, but Pop Aye has a charisma to charm all, and trudging along dusty roads, the pair run into bumbling cops, drifters, a shaggy haired hippie and a transgender woman, all full of character and kindness, reminding Thana of the importance of small pleasures.

Selected Filmography: Debut Feature

IN THAI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN HUNGARIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 1:30 pm • CAM Monday, January 8 • 3:30 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 6:00 pm • ANN

Wednesday, January 10 • 12:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 11 • 11:00 am • CAM

PSFILMFEST.ORG 121

AWARD S BUZZ

Racer and the Jailbird

The Space Between

BELGIUM, 2017 130 minutes Director: Michaël R. Roskam Cast: Matthias Schoenaerts, Adèle Exarchopoulos Print Source: Neon

AUSTRALIA, 2017 100 minutes Director: Ruth Borgobello Cast: Flavio Parenti, Maeve Dermody, Lino Guanciale Print Source: Fandango Italy

Le Fidèle

US PREMIERE Cowriter/director Michaël R. Roskam (Bullhead; The Drop) infuses his propensity for gritty crime tales with steamy romance in this dramatic arthouse thriller following two star-crossed lovers on the fast track to heartbreak.

When the dashing Gigi (Matthias Schoenaerts, Rust and Bone) first meets the racecar-driver Bibi (Adèle Exarchopoulos, Blue is the Warmest Color), he is immediately enamored and forthright about his intentions to woo her. Yet the charming suitor wisely opts to not divulge his career choice as an international high-end thief, because though Bibi would likely overlook that red flag, her business-minded family would hit the brakes. Their irresistible chemistry turns to talk of wedding bells, but Gigi has committed to one last job with his brothers-incrime, and the future holds unforeseen obstacles to a life together.

Roskam’s romantic caper reveals itself to be an intriguing and heartbreaking study of how far these two thrill-seekers will go for true love.

Selected Filmography: The Drop (2014), Bullhead (2011)

A bittersweet story of letting go, starting over, and seizing the opportunities that arise only when you’re miles out of your comfort zone. Australia’s entry into this year’s Oscar® race is the country’s first official co-production with Italy, and each unique culture brings something different to the cinematic table.

Thirty-five-year-old Marco is a talented chef who’s wasting away at a factory job in Northern Italy, only cooking on the side when his best friend Claudio instigates fabulous backyard gatherings. Tragedy throws Marco into a tailspin, and into the path of Olivia, an Australian just arrived in Udine to sell her late grandparents apartment. Olivia has her own cautious career hopes, and as romance slowly kindles between them they also fan the flames of their longdenied dreams.

Set against the breathtaking beauty of Italy (affectionately shot by Katie Milwright, the Australian cinematographer of Looking for Grace, PSIFF 2016), Ruth Borgobello’s polished first feature is loosely based on her own romantic story.

Debut Feature

IN FRENCH, DUTCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN ITALIAN, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 6 • 10:00 am • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 4:00 pm • MP

Friday, January 5 • 1:00 pm • PC Monday, January 8 • 10:00 am • REG

122 PSFILMFEST.ORG

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The Square

Summer 1993

SWEDEN, 2017 151 minutes Director: Ruben Östlund Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Claes Bang, Dominic West, Terry Notary, Christopher Læssø Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

SPAIN, 2017 96 minutes Director: Carla Simón Cast: Laia Artigas, Paula Robles, Bruna Cusí, David Veraguer, Fermi Reixacha Print Source: Oscilloscope

After his elegant masterpiece Force Majeure (PSIFF 2015) skewered the social dynamics of family behavior to the delight of arthouse patrons everywhere, Swedish director Ruben Östlund is back with an even more ambitious comedy of manners.

Sent to live with her uncle and his family following her mother’s untimely death, six-year-old Frida acts out her unspoken pain in unfamiliar surroundings in this astonishing autobiographical debut feature from writer/director Carla Simón.

The story centers on Christian, the respected chief curator of a modern art museum. He’s a divorced but devoted father of two who drives an electric car and supports good causes. His upcoming show is “The Square,” an installation that invites passersby to altruism, reminding them of their responsibilities towards their fellow human beings. But Christian finds it difficult to live up to his own ideals, falling into some shameful situations. Meanwhile, the museum’s PR agency creates a campaign of questionable taste for “The Square” that goes viral. The public response is immediate and mostly angry, and sends Christian into an existential crisis in this provocative Cannes Film Festival winner.

Lonely and afraid, and struggling not to let it show, Frida (Laia Artigas in an impressive debut) moves to the country home of her Uncle Esteve, his wife Marga, and their three-year-old daughter Anna. Unsure of her place in a family she barely knows, Frida uneasily feels her way around this strange new place, acting out, telling lies and inflicting small cruelties on her new sister. Yet slowly she may rediscover what it is to be loved again. Winner of the Best First Feature and the Generation Kplus International Jury awards at the 2017 Berlinale, Summer 1993 is an unforgettable film of disarming authenticity, free of sentimentality and beautifully crafted in every way.

Winner: Palme d’Or, Cannes

Debut Feature

Selected Filmography: Force Majeure (2014), Play (2011), Involuntary (2008)

Estiu 1993

IN CATALAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN SWEDISH, ENGLISH, DANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 6:30 pm • REG

Sunday, January 7 • 11:30 am • REG Monday, January 8 • 1:30 pm • MP

IN COMPETITION:

PSFILMFEST.ORG 123

AWARD S BUZZ

A Taxi Driver

Tempestad

SOUTH KOREA, 2017 137 minutes Director: Jang Hoon Cast: Song Kang-ho, Thomas Kretschmann, Yoo Hae-jin, Ryu Jun-yeol Print Source: Well Go USA

MEXICO, 2016 105 minutes Director: Tatiana Huezo Print Source: Cinephil

A massive box office success in South Korea, A Taxi Driver is based on the true story of German journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter and the driver who helped him document a dark chapter of Korean history. After the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in 1979, government forces killed hundreds of students and locals protesting General Chun Doo-hwan’s takeover. Hearing of the turmoil, Hinzpeter decides to go and investigate.

A powerful indictment of institutional corruption and a testament to the resilience of the Mexican character, Tatiana Huezo’s chilling documentaryis filled with exquisite, haunting visuals that serve to punctuate and emphasize the nightmares on display.

Taeksi Woonjunsa

Bringing appealing, everyman levity to the tale is wellknown Korean actor Song Kang-ho as a widowed taxi driver for whom the demonstrations are a headache.

All he cares about is supporting himself and his young daughter, so he jumps at the chance to earn a hefty fare by driving the foreigner from Seoul to Gwangju. He soon realizes that they are in for far more than he expected, taking enormous risks to enable Hinzpeter’s reporting, contributing to one of the few visual testimonies of the Gwangju massacre, and leaving his own beliefs shaken.

Selected Filmography: The Front Line (2011), Secret Reunion (2010), Rough Cut (2008)

IN KOREAN, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Miriam Carbajal was a young mother working at the Cancun airport when, out of the blue and without any evidence, the Mexican authorities arrested her and charged her with human trafficking. So began her ordeal as one of the country’s many pagadores, innocent people scapegoated by the authorities in order to give the impression that everything is under control.

Adela’s 20-year-old daughter disappeared a decade ago.

Kidnapped by the sons of police officials, her daughter was held for ransom against a family that could not pay, and hasn’t been seen since.

Huezo expertly weaves together these two devastating narratives, painting a powerful narrative of a nation crippled by human trafficking, the devaluation of women’s lives and the ongoing exploitation of the poor by the wealthy.

Selected Filmography: El lugar más pequeño (2011)

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 3:30 pm • REG Tuesday, January 9 • 1:00 pm • MP

124 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Sunday, January 7 • 10:00 am • MP Tuesday, January 9 • 4:30 pm • REG

IN COMPETITION:

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Thelma

Tom of Finland

NORWAY, 2017 116 minutes Director: Joachim Trier Cast: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen Print Source: The Orchard

FINLAND, 2017 114 minutes Director: Dome Karukoski Cast: Pekka Strang, Lauri Tilkanen, Jessica Grabowsky, Werner Daehn Print Source: Kino Lorber

Following his English-language drama Louder Than Bombs, director Joachim Trier returns to his homeland and moves in a new direction with this eerie love story. Shy loner Thelma moves away from her controlling, religious family in west Norway to attend university in Oslo. One night in the library, she is struck by a powerful seizure, an incident she keeps from her parents. At the same time, she meets Anja, a fellow student, and they are increasingly drawn to each other. As Thelma’s passion becomes all-consuming and her behavior increasingly reckless, her seizures—a manifestation of some inexplicable paranormal abilities—intensify. Soon, Thelma must confront the terrifying implications of her powers.

Director Dome Karukoski’s rousing biopic traces the transformation of shy Helsinki ad-man Touko Laaksonen into an international gay celebrity known as Tom of Finland, whose proudly homoerotic drawings shaped the fantasies of a generation of gay men. His carefully detailed drawings of muscular, often leather-clad or uniformed men with eye-popping sexual attributes also influenced the art and fashion of the late 1960s and ’70s.

Trier and his longtime cinematographer Jakob Ihre make Thelma a film of sensuous, visceral and disturbing beauty.

From the disconcerting prologue, to the vivid hallucinations of her student days, to the flames and storms she conjures, the film is haunting cinema viewers won’t soon forget.

Winner: Norwegian Film Critics award, Norwegian International

Selected Filmography: Louder Than Bombs (2015), Oslo, August 31st (2011), Reprise (2006)

Touko

Born in 1920 on the south coast of Finland to schoolteacher parents, Touko grew up in a household friendly to art, literature and music. During WWII, he served as a closeted lieutenant in the Finnish forces, wartime blackouts facilitating quick sexual encounters in the bushes. There was no place for his art in the repressive Finnish society of the 1950s, but the American muscle magazine Physique Pictorial ultimately put it on their spring 1957 cover under the moniker Tom of Finland and an LGBTQ celebrity was born.

Selected Filmography: The Grump (2014), Heart of the Lion (2013), Lapland Odyssey (2010), The Home of the Dark Butterflies (2008), Beauty and the Bastard (2005) IN FINNISH, GERMAN, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN NORWEGIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Tuesday, January 9 • 8:00 pm • CAM

Saturday, January 6 • 7:30 pm • CAM Monday, January 8 • 9:30 am • CAM Tuesday, January 9 • 2:30 pm • REG

PSFILMFEST.ORG 125

AWARD S BUZZ

The Train of Salt and Sugar

Under the Tree

MOZAMBIQUE, 2016 93 minutes Director: Licínio Azevedo Cast: Matamba Joaquim, Melanie de Vales Rafael, Thiago Justino, António Nipita, Sabina Fonseca Print Source: Juno Films

ICELAND, 2017 89 minutes Director: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson Cast: Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

Comboio de Sal e Açucar

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE The train ride from northern Mozambique to Malawi was a necessary and treacherous trail that many ordinary citizens were forced to take during the brutal civil war of the 1980s.

Travelers, some only looking to trade salt for precious sugar, had to face the uncertainties of a 500-mile journey that could take months to complete. Through war-torn villages and at the risk of guerilla attacks (not to mention the dangers presented by some of the military on board), Mozambicans faced the dangers in the hope of a better life.

In Mozambique’s first ever entry to the Academy Awards®, Brazilian-born Licínio Azevedo brings us an epic tale of two of those passengers: Rosa, a young and hopeful nurse, and Taiar, an idealistic soldier. A beautifully told story, the film explores the capacity for love and the lengths to which people will go to better their lives, within the framework of one of the darker moments in Mozambique’s history.

Selected Filmography: Virgin Margarida (2012), Desobediência (2003)

IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Undir trénu

The director of Paris of the North joins forces with the producer of Rams (PSIFF 2016) and returns with a family drama spiced with darkly comic components.

The absorbing story follows two neighboring households who become involved in a bitter dispute over a tree, which the owners find incredibly beautiful, but that blocks the sun in the garden of the ultra-sporty couple next door.

As the tree dispute escalates, property is damaged, pets mysteriously disappear, security cameras are installed and the complaining neighbor acquires a chainsaw.

As writer/director Hafsteinn Sigurðsson notes, “Trees are quite rare. If you have a big and beautiful tree you don’t want to cut it down. However, sunshine in your garden can also be quite rare, so it can be an impossible conflict.” Sigurðsson’s treatment of that impossible conflict incorporates unconventional thriller elements into this supremely watchable, distinctive new film.

Selected Filmography: Paris of the North (2014), Either Way (2011)

IN ICELANDIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 2:00 pm • MP Sunday, January 7 • 1:00 pm • PC

126 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Saturday, January 6 • 7:00 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 10:30 am • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 7:30 pm • REG

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Wajib

Woodpeckers

PALESTINE, 2017 96 minutes Director: Annemarie Jacir Cast: Mohammad Bakri, Saleh Bakri, Maria Zreik, Rana Alamuddin Print Source: Pyramide Distribution

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 2017 108 minutes Director: José María Cabral Cast: Jean Jean, Ramón Emilio Candelario, Judith Rodriguez Perez Print Source: Outsider Pictures

Palestinian architect Shadi is back home in Nazareth to fulfill his wajib—his duty—in the preparations for his younger sister’s upcoming wedding. Shadi makes Italy his full time home now, and his stylish red pants and pink shirt (not to mention the fact that he’s unmarried with a live-in girlfriend) are just a tad out of place to his dad, Abu Shadi, a beloved local teacher. As the father-son duo drive around in Abu Shadi’s old car delivering wedding invitations, the differences between Shadi’s idealistic viewpoints and his father’s pragmatic beliefs surface.

Equal parts tender love story and gritty realist drama, with hints of the surreal, Woodpeckers is the unforgettable breakout film from one of the Dominican Republic’s most exciting young filmmakers.

Wajib is a charming and intimate road movie starring reallife father and son Mohammad and Saleh Bakri. Funny neighbors and family members, lusty ex-girlfriends, favorite uncles and cousins and a few too many cups of coffee round out this story of community, Palestinian identity and the trappings—and people—that connect us with home.

Selected Filmography: When I Saw You (2012), Salt of This Sea (2008)

IN ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Carpinteros

Sent to Santo Domingo’s notorious Najayo prison for theft, wily and intelligent Julian quickly acclimates to his brutal new surroundings, using the prison’s hidden economies to his advantage while desperately trying to hold on to his humanity.

When psychotic Manaury is sent to solitary, he enlists Julian to take over “woodpecking” (an intricate sign language used to communicate with nearby female inmates) with his girlfriend, the beautiful, tough as nails Yanelly. As Julian and Yanelly’s communication grows into something deeper, Manaury’s suspicions drive him over the edge, propelling the trio into an unexpected life or death confrontation.

This stunning new film, the fifth feature from writer/director Jose Maria Cabral, heralds a major voice in a burgeoning Dominican film industry.

Winner: Special Jury Award, Guadalajara Selected Filmography: Detective Willy (2015), Despertar (2014), Arrobá (2013), Check Mate (2012) IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 11:00 am • REG Tuesday, January 9 • 1:30 pm • REG

Saturday, January 6 • 7:30 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 7:30 pm • REG

IN COMPETITION:

PSFILMFEST.ORG 127

AWARD S BUZZ

The Wound

Yeva

SOUTH AFRICA, 2016 88 minutes Director: John Trengove Cast: Nakhane Touré, Bongile Mantsai, Niza Jay Ncoyini Print Source: Kino Lorber

ARMENIA, 2017 94 minutes Director: Anahid Abad Cast: Narina Grigorian, Shant Hovhanisian, Sergay Tovmasian, Vrejh Kasoni, Marjan Avadisyan Print Source: Farabi Cinema Foundation

South African co-writer/director John Trengove’s balanced docudrama explores a clandestine relationship between two Xhosa men set against the backdrop of a traditional coming-of-age ceremony.

In this intimate drama, a woman suspected of murder flees to an Armenian village with her young daughter in tow. Yeva has chosen to return to the place she briefly worked as a doctor during the Nagorno-Karabakh war with Azerbaijan, hoping she won’t be recognized. With mines still dotting the hillsides, the conflict remains part of the fabric of this society and people still remember “Crazy Yeva” of the frontline hospital, though they don’t immediately connect her to the stranger in their midst. As she integrates into the rhythm of village life, Yeva’s memories of the war come flooding back, and a past tied directly to her current predicament.

Inxeba

Lonely factory worker Xolani seizes the opportunity when asked to be the personal caregiver of young initiate Kwanda (standout Niza Jay) for two weeks in the wilderness. The boy’s father hopes the experience and Xolani will toughen the soft “city boy,” yet Xolani has ulterior motives as he seeks to reignite an affair with fellow caregiver Vija.

Although the macho Vija is romantically responsive, both men struggle with accepting their taboo sexuality in the face of a ceremony reinforcing stereotypical gender roles.

When Kwanda begins to show signs of suspicion, Xolani must confront the boy, and himself, to prevent his secret from coming out.

This expertly crafted coming-of-age story is as beautifully shot as it is harrowing in its depiction of how the controversial tradition of circumcision affects the men of this community.

Debut Feature

Narina Grigorian’s haunting lead performance sets the uneasy tone for writer/director Anahit Abad’s stunning first feature that is at once the tense story of Yeva’s struggle to break free from an untenable situation, and an unforgettable immersion into a small, forgotten corner of the world.

Debut Feature IN ARMENIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN XHOSA, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 6 • 11:30 am • REG Monday, January 8 • 2:00 pm • REG

128 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Sunday, January 7 • 5:30 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 4:30 pm • MP

BECOME You Disappear Du Forsvinder

DENMARK, 2017 118 minutes Director: Peter Schønau Fog Cast: Trine Dyrholm, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Michael Nyqvist, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Lars Knutzon Print Source: Danish Film Institute

In this psychological drama, Mia is a teacher and her husband, Frederik, is the charismatic headmaster of a local private school. During a vacation they discover that a brain tumor has started to change Frederik’s personality. When millions of kroner go missing at the private school, Frederik is the obvious culprit. Frederik’s new indifference and lack of inhibition rupture long-standing friendships, isolating Mia and making her question who her husband really is. Was the tumor already affecting him during the years they had been so happy together? And does it excuse Frederik from fraud? Mia enlists the help of Bernhard (the late Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist in one of his last roles), a lawyer she meets in a support group. As they prepare Frederik’s defense, Mia and Bernhard wrestle with the latest brain research, the age-old question of free will—and their growing attraction to each other. Based on Christian Jungersen’s bestselling novel.

Selected Filmography: The Art of Crying (2006)

IN DANISH, SWEDISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

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AND MERCHANDISE Monday, January 8 • 1:15 am • CAM Wednesday, January 10 • 3:30 pm • REG

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Palm Mountain Resort & Spa proudly supports the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

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1945

Alaska is a Drag

Hungary, 2017 91 minutes Director: Ferenc Török Cast: Péter Rudolf, Bence Tasnádi, Tamás Szabó Kimmel, Dóra Sztarenki, Ági Szirtes Print Source: Menemsha Films

US, 2017 89 minutes Director: Shaz Bennett Cast: Martin L. Washington Jr., Maya Washington, Matt Dallas, Christopher O’Shea, Margaret Cho Print Source: 4248 Productions

When two Orthodox Jews appear in a remote Hungarian village with some mysterious cargo, their presence catalyzes an unwelcome reckoning with the recent past for the local inhabitants. Featuring striking black-and-white cinematography that imbues potent compositions with foreboding, this finely performed period drama takes on a transitional time in Hungarian history with subtlety and nuance.

If you are young, black and an aspiring drag queen with dreams of superstardom, working all day in an Alaskan fish cannery may not seem the ideal starting point. But Leo, the protagonist of Shaz Bennett’s gritty and magical drama, is not about to take his eye off the prize. Leo lives in a trailer with his beloved twin sister who’s battling cancer, and, since he’s the subject of vicious attacks by his macho co-worker, he knows how to throw a punch. With the encouragement of his boss, he takes up boxing lessons, and as luck would have it, a handsome newcomer to town elects to be his sparring partner.

The sober-looking strangers arrive on a day already filled with tensions. They interrupt the wedding preparations of Arpad, the son of domineering village notary István, who is to marry Kisrózsi, a pretty peasant girl. Soviet soldiers lurk on the sidelines, wondering how they can further enrich themselves through the daily business of the Occupation. The film concentrates on the point of view of the locals, almost all of whom, including the priest, share guilty secrets about ill-gotten gains. 1945 offers a fresh cinematic approach to a difficult topic.

With a fish-gutting diva in boxing gloves as its hero, Bennett’s spirited and surprising film explores extremes of masculine and feminine bravado. Starring newcomer Martin L. Washington Jr., it’s a tale of hope and survival against improbable odds.

Debut Feature

Selected Filmography: No Man’s Island (2014), Overnight (2007), Eastern Sugar (2004), Moscow Square (2001)

IN HUNGARIAN, RUSSIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Thursday, January 11 • 12:45 pm • ANN Saturday, January 13 • 11:30 am • REG

134 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Tuesday, January 9 • 8:00 pm • CAM Thursday, January 11 • 11:30 am • REG Friday, January 12 • 8:30 pm • REG

W O R LD CI NEMA N OW

Allure

April’s Daughter

CANADA, 2017 105 minutes Directors: Carlos Sanchez, Jason Sanchez Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Julia Sarah Stone, Denis O’Hare, Maxim Roy Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

MEXICO, 2017 103 minutes Director: Michel Franco Cast: Emma Suárez, Ana Valeria Becerril, Enrique Arrizon, Joanna Larequi, Hernán Mendoza Print Source: Lucia Films

Las hijas de Abril

US PREMIERE An unusual and compelling mix of character drama and psychological thriller, Allure questions dynamics of age and maturity, dominance and submission, codependence and freedom.

Thirty-something Laura lives in the shadow of a past that she just can’t shake. She works a day job cleaning houses for her father’s business, and her off-duty attempts at intimacy put her into unsatisfying, unsettling situations. Until, that is, she meets teenage Eva whose individuality is suppressed by her controlling mother. Both isolated in their normal worlds, Laura offers Eva an escape, and the two forge a precarious and increasingly volatile space of their own.

Allure marks the confident feature debut of fine art photographers Carlos and Jason Sanchez, who bring their collective aesthetic sensibility to the film’s visual style by using camera placement and lighting to make internal states visible. Two powerful performances, in turns forceful and vulnerable, anchor this tense story of manipulation and how the past can haunt us.

Debut Feature

Seventeen-year-old Valeria is about to have a baby with her teenaged boyfriend when, against her wishes, her half-sister invites their mother, April (played by Emma Suárez of Julieta fame), into their home. Valeria’s reasons for keeping her mother away are quickly made clear, as April’s erratic and provocative behavior begins to reopen old wounds and threaten the family’s future together.

Writer/director Michel Franco immersed his cast in their roles by giving them a week together, alone in the home that would be their central location. He also shot the film chronologically, a quite uncommon practice in the world of cinema today.

With camera work that is observational and unobtrusive, Franco keeps his audience far enough back to allow them to make their own judgments regarding the drama on screen.

This unsettling story is sure to draw you to the edge of your seat. And when it does, this Cannes Un Certain Regard winner will have all of your attention.

Selected Filmography: Chronic (2015), After Lucia (2012), Daniel and Ana (2009)

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 6 • 5:30 pm • CAM Sunday, January 7 • 4:00 pm • PC

Friday, January 12 • 7:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 1:30 pm • CAM

IN COMPETITION:

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Aquarians

The Art of Loving

US, 2017 101 minutes Director: Michael M. McGuire Cast: Chandler Massey, Shane Coffey, Tracey Fairaway, Richard Riehle Print Source: Organically Grown Productions

POLAND, 2017 117 minutes Director: Maria Sadowska Cast: Magdalena Boczarska, Piotr Adamczyk, Karolina Gruszka, Eryk Lubos, Justyna Wasilewska Print Source: Be For Films

With sharp and introspective acting, penetrating dialogue, and deftly escalating drama, Aquarians shows that although your life may evolve and expand in many directions, no one can ever know you quite as well as your own brother.

This sprightly biopic follows the life of Michalina Wisłocka, a Polish doctor and sexologist who did the impossible. By breaking down the barriers of ignorance and oppressive stereotypes she revolutionized the sexual life of her country in the middle of the Communist regime. And she did it with a book called The Art of Loving, which ultimately sold over seven million copies.

Something is not quite right when young seminary student Danny Sullivan returns to his small hometown in icy Wisconsin to assist a terminally ill priest. Although he hasn’t spoken to his reclusive brother Jake in years, Danny’s friends convince him to seek Jake out. Danny finds him in the woods on the edge of town, living in an old trailer and dealing pot to locals. After wild parties, deep and confrontational talks about spirituality, and ice fishing in extreme weather, the brothers’ reunion reveals a great rift between them: each brother has chosen his own tortured path to process the grief and guilt of a past family tragedy, and now they must find a way forward.

Debut Feature

Sztuka Kochania

In a story spanning 30 years, director Maria Sadowska details the life of a brave, independent and unconventional woman who wanted to teach people that the most important aspect of a relationship is understanding and exploring each other’s needs—and not only in the bedroom. The film looks back at Wisłocka’s private life (her failed marriage, the love triangle she was involved in, and her complicated relationship with a married lover), but mainly focuses on her struggle to publish her book, which was condemned by the communist party, the Catholic Church and the censors.

Selected Filmography: Women’s Day (2012)

IN POLISH, GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Thursday, January 11 • 8:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 11:00 am • REG

136 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Sunday, January 7 • 10:00 am • CAM Friday, January 12 • 7:30 pm • ANN Sunday, January 14 • 2:00 pm • REG

W O R LD CI NEMA N OW

Barefoot

Beauty and the Dogs

CZECH REPUBLIC/SLOVAK REPUBLIC/DENMARK, 2017 111 minutes Director: Jan Svěrák Cast: Tereza Voříšková, Ondřej Vetchý, Oldřich Kaiser, Jan Tříska, Petra Špalková

TUNISIA/FRANCE/SWEDEN/NORWAY/LEBANON/ QATAR/SWITZERLAND, 2017 100 minutes Director: Kaouther Ben Hania Cast: Mariam Al Ferjani, Ghanem Zrelli, Noomane Hamda, Mohamed Akkari, Chedly Arfaoui Print Source: Oscilloscope

Po strni ti bos

US PREMIERE The Oscar®-winning Czech director Jan Svěrák (Kolya) once again collaborates with his scriptwriter/actor father Zdeněk for a tale of historic events seen through the eyes of a child.

Based on his father’s memoir Barefoot in a Stubble (a coming-of-age story set during the waning years of WWII), the film follows eight-year-old Eda who relocates with his family from Prague to the small village of Slavonice. There he meets a host of idiosyncratic paternal relatives, including his father’s estranged elder brother, as well as a gang of rowdy local kids who allow him to join their club. Despite the constant evidence of war, Eda’s days are defined by the innocence of childhood. Though German soldiers maintain a presence in the village and Americans are flying overhead, Eda and his friends persist in their boyhood adventures.

Superb acting, evocative cinematography and fine music choices make this the Svěráks’ best film since Kolya.

Selected Filmography: Three Brothers (2014), Kooky (2010), Empties (2007), Kolya (1996)

Aala Kaf Ifrit

Mariam, a young Tunisian student with a bright future ahead of her, meets tall, dark and handsome Youssef at a college party. But Mariam’s night takes a terrible turn when she’s assaulted by a group of men—all members of the local police force—and her flirtation with Youssef becomes instead a desperate search for help and justice as they face the seemingly impossible task of reporting the assault to a bureaucracy that refuses to listen.

Inspired by a true story and based on Meriem Ben Mohamed’s 2013 book Coupable d’avoir été violée (translates as "guilty of having been raped"), director Kaouther Ben Hania’s second feature handles a delicate and topical subject with a balance of restraint and urgency and shines a light on the bureaucratic negligence rampant in many parts of the world. Fluidly shot in long takes and led by a powerful performance by newcomer Mariam Al Ferjani, Beauty and the Dogs is not to be to missed.

Selected Filmography: Zaineb Hates the Snow (2016), Challat of Tunis (2013), Imams Go to School (2010)

IN ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN CZECH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Wednesday, January 10 • 4:00 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 11:00 am • REG

Sunday, January 7 • 6:00 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 11:30 am • REG

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Beyond the Clouds

Bitter Flowers

INDIA, 2017 120 minutes Director: Majid Majidi Cast: Ishaan Khattar, Malavika Mohanan Print Source: Namah Pictures and Zee

BELGIUM/CHINA, 2017 95 minutes Director: Olivier Meys Cast: Qi Xi, Wang Xi, Geng Le, Zeng Meihuizi Print Source: Loco Films

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi (Children of Heaven; The Color of Paradise), an admirer of master Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray, brings a powerful, outsider’s perspective to a story about the lives of common people in Mumbai.

Teenager Amir is constantly dodging trouble while dealing drugs in the underbelly of Mumbai. Following a drug bust, he evades the cops and ends up on the doorstep of his estranged sister Tara. Complications from concealing Amir land Tara in jail, but she still sees her brother as her only hope of living in the outside world again. While their lives have been darkened by despair, hope may shine from beyond the clouds.

In a film that is not only visually stunning but captures the depth of emotions, Majidi emphasizes the values of love and family bonds, and explores “the undying spirit of people and their hope for life, in spite of all hardships.”

Selected Filmography: Muhammad: The Messenger of God (2015), The Song of Sparrows (2008), The Willow Tree (2005)

Thirty-something, Chinese-born Lina has a loving husband and 10-year-old son in Dong Bei province. But this formerly prosperous industrial area is fading in the face of the New China, and Lina dreams of a better future for her family.

In pursuit of that dream, she temporarily relocates to France on the promise of a lucrative job as a nanny. But once in Europe, nothing goes as planned. Like the women who left Dong Bei before her, she finds herself in a line of work that she would never have imagined. Though she finds camaraderie among the other expatriate workers, her shame compels her to hide her situation from her family back home. But she can’t keep reality a secret forever.

Belgian director Olivier Meys’ compassionate first feature film explores this often hidden phenomenon of immigration and hardship for Chinese women in Europe, brought to life through the beautiful and restrained central performance

by Qi Xi.

Selected Filmography: A Disappearance Foretold (Documentary, 2008)

IN MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN HINDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 5:00 pm • CAM Saturday, January 13 • 1:30 pm • REG

138 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Friday, January 5 • 3:45 pm • PC Tuesday, January 9 • 10:30 am • REG

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Bloody Milk

Bodied

FRANCE, 2017 90 minutes Director: Hubert Charuel Cast: Swann Arlaud, Sara Giraudeau, Bouli Lanners, Isabelle Candelier, Jean-Paul Charuel Print Source: Pyramide Distribution

US, 2016 121 minutes Director: Joseph Kahn Cast: Calum Worthy, Jackie Long, Anthony Michael Hall, Dumbfoundead, Shoniqua Shandai Print Source: ICM Partners

In this psychodrama thriller from writer/director Hubert Charuel, reserved French dairy farmer Pierre only has bovines on his mind (and in his ominous dreams), but that doesn’t prevent his overbearing mother from attempting to set him up with local baker, Angélique. Yet when one of Pierre’s cows begins to display symptoms of a highly contagious disease, he must handle the situation with aplomb lest his entire herd, and livelihood, be slaughtered.

In one of the most provocative and daring films of 2017, director Joseph Kahn depicts the tale of Adam, a white grad student obsessed with the world of underground battle rap, where competitors go head-to-head in a combat where wits and put downs are weapons. Enamored with the wordplay of the events, Adam is determined to write his thesis on the nuances of racially charged colloquial terms used in the most impressive insults. When a chance encounter puts him front and center as an unexpected participant in the battles he embraces it, only to discover that being mean for sport might push him toward his darker tendencies.

Petit Paysan

The desperate Pierre toes the line of madness as he goes to extreme lengths to avoid detection from his parents, colleagues, Angélique, and his suspicious, and unknowingly abetting, veterinarian sister Pascale. A fellow farmer’s frenzied YouTube channel suggesting a government conspiracy is at fault only reinforces Pierre’s growing instability. Inspired by his own upbringing, Charuel assuredly balances a naturalistic depiction of farm life with a gripping, near-surreal study of a man at his wit’s end.

Debut Feature

Attacking the material with a ferocious energy, Kahn’s direction is as kinetic as it is thoughtful. A daring satire with a musical twist, Bodied confronts the complexities of modern race relations head-on while paying tribute the power of language.

Selected Filmography: Detention (2011), Torque (2004)

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Tuesday, January 9 • 8:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 11 • 10:00 am • CAM Saturday, January 13 • 2:30 pm • REG

Friday, January 5 • 7:30 pm • MP

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Borg vs. McEnroe

Budapest Noir

SWEDEN/DENMARK/FINLAND, 2017 100 minutes Director: Janus Metz Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Stellan Skarsgård, Sverrir Gudnason Print Source: Neon

HUNGARY, 2017 94 minutes Director: Éva Gárdos Cast: Krisztián Kolovratnik, Réka Tenki, Tamás Fodor, János Kulka, Adél Kováts Print Source: Hungarian National Film Fund

Cementing its rightful place in the sports film canon, Borg vs. McEnroe grippingly explores the legendary athletes behind one of the greatest tennis matches of all time.

Set in the politically fraught autumn of 1936, Budapest Noir follows Zsigmond Gordon, a cynical reporter, or as he would say, “a professional snoop,” as he probes the seemingly unimportant murder of a young prostitute found beaten to death and dumped in a courtyard.

Gordon follows clues that take him into the city’s dark underbelly—a shadowy world of pornographers, fixers, boxing rings, high class brothels, powerful crime syndicates and secret communist cells. His investigations lead all the way to the highest echelons of power, where one of Hungary’s most influential business figures plans to make a fortune through his political ties to Germany’s leadership.

With a steely demeanor and fierce training regime, Swedish four-time Wimbledon champ Björn Borg (breakout star Sverrir Gudnason) is an international sensation and seemingly the polar opposite to his explosive American rival, the expletive-spouting John McEnroe (Shia LeBeouf).

But behind the calculated, robot-like persona Borg presents to the camera is a conflicted man with his own history of fiery outbursts on the court. Only his coach and closest confidant Lennart Bergelin (Stellan Skarsgård) can tame Borg’s combustible temper. While Borg may have mastered his public image, McEnroe continually struggles to gain respect and is hindered by his public blow-ups.

Director Janus Metz cleverly uses revealing flashbacks that only heighten the drama when the pros meet on the court for a final, hair-raising showdown.

Selected Filmography: Armadillo (Documentary, 2010)

Director Éva Gárdos found the perfect leading man in the charismatic Krisztián Kolovratnik, whose trench coat, smart aleck remarks and world-weariness recall vintage Humphrey Bogart. Award-winning cinematographer Elemér Ragalyi (who also shot this year’s World Cinema Now selection 1945) captures the atmospheric look of 1936 Budapest while filming at authentic locations throughout the historic city.

Selected Filmography: Magic Boys (2012), Too Young to Be Bad (2002), An American Rhapsody (2001)

IN ENGLISH, SWEDISH, FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES IN HUNGARIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Wednesday, January 10 • 10:00 am • ANN Saturday, January 13 • 6:00 pm • PSHS

140 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Tuesday, January 9 • 6:30 pm • PC Thursday, January 11 • 4:00 pm • REG

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Bye Bye Germany

Close-Knit

GERMANY/LUXEMBURG/BELGIUM, 2017 102 minutes Director: Sam Garbarski Cast: Moritz Bleibtreu, Antje Traue, Tim Sey, Mark Ivanir, Anatole Taubman Print Source: Film Movement

JAPAN, 2017 127 minutes Director: Naoko Ogigami Cast: Toma Ikuta, Rinka Kakihara, Kenta Kiritani Print Source: Nikkatsu

“Hitler is dead, but we’re still alive,” Holocaust survivor, and revered jokester, David Bermann (Moritz Bleibtreu, Run Lola Run) emphasizes to his newly assembled rag tag group of businessmen in the wonderful war dramedy Bye Bye Germany. Inspired largely by screenwriter Michel Bergmann’s own family history, the end of WWII finds mustachioed entrepreneur Bermann enlisting fellow survivors to shrewdly sell overpriced “luxury” linens to guilt-ridden Germans. For Bermann, business partner Holzmann (Mark Ivanir), and the rest of the motley crew, the goal is to raise enough money to travel to America, land of the free. Easier said than done when even an old standard on the radio triggers memories of the unequivocal horrors of the concentration camps. Yet when Bermann is mysteriously summoned by the occupying American forces and interrogated about his own past by sharp special agent Sara Simon (Antje Traue, Woman in Gold), the humor that got him through the war may prove to be his demise.

Selected Filmography: Vijay and I (2013), A Distant Neighborhood (2010), Irina Palm (2007), Rashevski’s Tango (2003)

Eleven-year-old Tomo, abandoned once again by her negligent mother, seeks refuge at the home of her adored uncle. But Uncle has a new and very tall girlfriend, the sweet transgendered Rinko, who is more than happy to be the young girl’s surrogate mom. So begins Naoko Ogigami’s lovely, gently radical celebration of an alternative family structure. The first Japanese movie to deal with transgender issues, Close-Knit is an astutely observed crowd-pleaser that explores this complex situation with humor and poignancy.

Es war einmal in Deutschland

IN GERMAN, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Having spent time in the US, where LGBTQ people were a part of her everyday life, Ogigami felt a marked difference in the visibility of different sexual orientations and gender identities upon her return to Japan, and set out to write what would become this emotional, groundbreaking film.

To play the warm but reticent Rinko, who finds solace in knitting, writer/director Ogigami cast one of Japan’s leading heartthrobs, Tomo Ikuta.

Winner: Audience Award, Queer Lisboa; Tel Aviv LGBT; Teddy Jury Award, Berlin Selected Filmography: Rent-A-Cat (2012), Toilet (2010), Glasses (2007), Kamome Diner (2006), Yoshino’s Barber Shop (2004) IN JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 10:00 am • ANN Wednesday, January 10 • 2:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 11 • 12:30 pm • CAM

Tuesday, January 9 • 5:30 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 6:30 pm • REG

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The Confession

Control

GEORGIA/ESTONIA/US, 2017 88 minutes Director: Zaza Urushadze Cast: Dimitri Tatishvili, Joseph Khvedelidze, Sophia Sebiskveradze Print Source: Picture Tree International

BELGIUM/NETHERLANDS, 2017 122 minutes Director: Jan Verheyen Cast: Koen De Bouw, Werner De Smedt, Greg Timmermans, Marcel Hensema, Sofie Hoflack Print Source: Eyeworks Film & TV Drama

The director and producer behind the Academy Award® and Golden Globe-nominated arthouse hit Tangerines (PSIFF 2015) team up again for this Georgian-village-set dramedy. An unexplained tragedy has propelled former film director Giorgi into a new life as an Orthodox priest. His first assignment takes him to a small parish in a mountain hamlet. Helped by a chatty assistant, Father Giorgi decides to bring the locals closer to the church by launching a film screening series. After the showing of Some Like It Hot, the villagers remark that the music teacher, Lili, looks a lot like Marilyn Monroe. When Father Giorgi finally meets the burg’s resident femme fatale, even he is not immune to temptation.

Jan Verheyen, the director behind The Verdict (PSIFF 2014), returns Flemish detectives Vincke and Verstuyft to the big screen with another tale adapted from books by crime novelist extraordinaire Jef Geeraerts.

Beri

Director Zaza Urushadze and cinematographer Giorgi Shvelidze capitalize on their scenic mountain locations with some spectacular shots. Playing older than his real age, handsome theater, film and TV actor Dimitri Tatishvili deftly embodies the tension between the ecclesiastical and the carnal.

Selected Filmography: Tangerines (2013), Bolo gaseirneba (2012), Darchi Chemtan (2011), Three Houses (2008)

Het Tweede Gelaat

This new adventure tasks them with investigating a series of gruesome murders. But what was once an unconditional friendship comes into question when Verstuyft falls for an attractive New Age healer—an apparent survivor of the killer—and goes rogue. Annoyed by the rebelliousness of his former partner, Vincke, now a departmental commander, brings in a Dutch profiler of serial killers and tries to keep Verstuyft on a short leash.

Meanwhile, the serial killer has a new victim in his sights.

This gripping film benefits from gorgeously moody visuals, propulsive editing, and a spooky score. Verheyen expertly ratchets up the tension and unpredictability as both suspects and red herrings accumulate until the very last moment.

Selected Filmography: The Verdict (2013), Zot van A. (2010), Dossier K. (2009)

IN DUTCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN GEORGIAN, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 1:30 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 9 • 10:00 am • REG

142 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Friday, January 5 • 7:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 6 • 11:00 am • CAM

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The Cousin

Custody

ISRAEL, 2017 92 minutes Director: Tzahi Grad Cast: Ala Dakka, Osnat Fishman, Tzahi Grad Print Source: Bleiberg Entertainment

FRANCE, 2017 93 minutes Director: Xavier Legrand Cast: Denis Ménochet, Léa Drucker, Thomas Gioria, Mathilde Auneveux Print Source: Kino Lorber

Writer/director/actor Tzahi Grad crafts a plum role for himself in this dark comedy set against the political and class divides of modern day Israel. Grad plays Naftali, a popular filmmaker, whose family lives in a village in the center of Israel. When Naftali needs some renovations completed he looks for an experienced Palestinian handyman, figuring not only will the guy be cheaper, but the hire will satisfy Naftali’s left-wing principles. Although Naftali’s gardener recommends Said, Naftali ends up with the 20-something Fahed, who claims to be Said’s brother and equally experienced. While the first claim may be true, the latter is not, and the repairs do not proceed as planned.

In this shockingly confident debut, filmmaker Xavier Legrand weaves a thrilling tale of a mother seeking protection for herself and her children from her allegedly abusive ex-husband. Despite his ex-wife Miriam’s claims and his intimidating build and eerily silent demeanor at the custody hearing, Antoine (Denis Ménochet, Inglorious Basterds) is revered as a gentle and kind man in testimonials from his colleagues and friends. Yet a disturbing letter attributed to their 11-year-old son, Julien, paints a far different picture: that of a rage-fueled monster of a man. At an impasse due to lack of evidence, and much to the horror of Miriam (Léa Drucker, The Blue Room), the judge grants weekend visits to Antoine.

Grad says, “The dispute of our region has never been shown this way before, and at the same time, it’s a very real angle that can be understood by everyone, in every place.” The film’s provocative examination of inherent prejudice and racism have led critics to compare it to Jordan Peele’s Get Out. Winner: Best Actor, FEDEORA critics’ prize, Haifa Film Festival

Selected Filmography: Foul Gesture (2006), Giraffes (2001)

IN ARABIC, HEBREW WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Legrand expertly stages increasingly intense encounters between father and son, playing with the audience’s emotions and expectations of Antoine’s true nature. This breathtaking film boasts phenomenal performances, including from young Thomas Gioria who is a revelation as Julien.

Winner: Silver Lion Best Director, Lion of the Future, Venice

Debut Feature

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 12:45 pm • ANN Wednesday, January 10 • 11:00 am • REG Friday, January 12 • 5:30 pm • REG

Thursday, January 4 • 1:30 pm • CAM Saturday, January 6 • 6:00 pm • REG

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Directions

Django

BULGARIA/GERMANY/MACEDONIA, 2017 103 minutes Director: Stephan Komandarev Cast: Vasil Vasilev-Zueka, Ivan Barnev, Assen Blatechki, Irini Zhambonas, Vasil Banov Print Source: Arri Media

FRANCE, 2017 115 minutes Director: Étienne Comar Cast: Reda Kateb, Cécile De France, Beata Palya, BimBam Merstein, Gabriel Mirété Print Source: Under the Milky Way

Posoki

US PREMIERE A wry Bulgarian joke posits that all Bulgarians are optimists because the pessimists have long since left the country.

Stephan Komandarev, director of the Festival hit The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (PSIFF 2010), explores the current state of the nation in his latest drama.

Unfolding over the course of 24 hours, it follows a group of taxi drivers and their clients as they discuss the woes of contemporary Bulgaria and the desire to find a more promising way forward. We see that each decision has a ripple effect on others. We learn that one person’s death could give another person the chance at a new life. And we realize that just one simple act of kindness will indeed make a difference. The stories are connected by a radio show that poses questions but gives no answers.

Unusual and insightful, this is a film about a society’s need— and hope—for a new direction.

Selected Filmography: The Judgement (2014), The Town of Badante Women (2009), The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner (2008)

Facing a packed theater of stiff soldiers of the Third Reich, it is readily apparent that renowned guitarist Django (Reda Kateb, A Prophet) is a long way from entertaining audiences in the famous clubs of Paris’s Quartier Pigalle. Yet the poised maestro doesn’t see anything morally wrong with his choice of gigs, despite overt warnings of punishment if anyone is to stomp, dance or even clap. The reappearance of a past lover, Louise de Klerk (Cécile De France, High Tension), now a member of the Resistance, spurs Django to acknowledge the despair millions across Europe are facing. With Louise’s help, Django is transported with his family to the French-Swiss border to avoid a propagandainfused musical tour of Germany. But his time on the border proves to be a true test to his evolving character and a turning point not only his own life, but in history.

Debut Feature

IN FRENCH, GERMAN, ENGLISH, ROMANI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN BULGARIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 7:30 pm • REG Tuesday, January 9 • 4:00 pm • REG

144 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Wednesday, January 10 • 3:15 pm • ANN Thursday, January 11 • 4:30 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 11:30 am • REG

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The Endless

Eye on Juliet

US, 2017 112 minutes Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead Cast: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Callie Hernandez, Emily Montague, Lew Temple Print Source: Well Go USA

CANADA/FRANCE/MOROCCO, 2017 90 minutes Director: Kim Nguyen Cast: Lina El Arabi, Joe Cole Print Source: Item 7

Facing the harsh realities of the real world, protective older brother Justin (writer/co-director Justin Benson) must continually convince his younger sibling Aaron (co-director Aaron Moorhead)—and himself—that fleeing a mysterious “UFO death cult” 10 years ago was the right thing to do.

When Aaron becomes convinced he has discovered a cryptic message on a local TV station, Justin reluctantly returns with his brother to the cult’s compound to seek closure. Although the community warmly welcomes the brothers, Justin is skeptical of their intentions—and of the fact that no one seems to have aged a day. Despite Aaron drinking the figurative Kool-Aid, Justin remains stalwart in discovering the mysterious forces at play.

An American security professional and a young Moroccan woman forge an unusual connection across time zones in the latest from War Witch (PSIFF 2013) director Kim Nguyen.

Filmmakers Benson and Moorhead (Spring, PSIFF 2015; V/H/S Viral) continue their tradition of creating inventive and mind-twisting stories that will leave genre fans guessing until the very end.

Selected Filmography: Spring (2014), V/H/S Viral (2014), Resolution (2012) Aaron Moorhead: A Glaring Emission (2010)

US PREMIERE

Gordon works the night shift at a global security company, monitoring an oil pipeline in Northern Africa via remotecontrolled, spider-like hexapod robots. During a typical shift he observes camels, goat herders and the occasional threat from local thieves arriving to siphon oil. But when Gordon witnesses the clandestine meetings between Ayusha and the man she loves, Gordon’s involvement in his work and the people on the other side of his drone’s cameras begins to change. Excellent performances from Joe Cole and Lina El Arabi convey how each character is trapped in their own life, paradoxically limited and liberated by the modern world.

Eye on Juliet offers a story of fundamental human connection and an understated commentary on technology’s influence on our lives, quietly compelling viewers to make their own decisions.

Selected Filmography: Two Lovers and a Bear (2016), War Witch (2012), City of Shadows (2010), Truffe (2008), The Marsh (2002)

IN ENGLISH, ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Thursday, January 11 • 5:00 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 8:00 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 11:30 am • MP

Sunday, January 7 • 8:00 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 4:00 pm • REG

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Finding Your Feet

Five Fingers For Marseilles

UK, 2017 111 minutes Director: Richard Loncraine Cast: Imelda Staunton, Timothy Spall, Celia Imrie, Joanna Lumley, David Hayman Print Source: Roadside Attractions

SOUTH AFRICA, 2017 120 minutes Director: Michael Matthews Cast: Vuyo Dabula, Zethu Dlomo, Hamilton Dhlamini, Kenneth Nkosi, Mduduzi Mabaso Print Source: XYZ Films

Menoana e Mehlano ea Marseilles

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE When snooty “Lady” Sandra Abbott discovers that her husband of 40 years has been having an affair with her best friend, she packs her designer bags and flees to the shabby council flat of her estranged older sister Bif. A confirmed bohemian, Bif’s loose and lively lifestyle couldn’t be more different from her genteel sister’s. Sandra eventually lets Bif drag her, protesting, to a community dance class, where she will take her first cautious steps toward a new lease on life.

Underscoring a story of once-close sisters healing the divides of time is a motley lineup of Bif’s friends and neighbors who, each in their own way, help to bring Sandra out of her shell.

Michael Matthews delivers an impressive debut in the vein of beloved Westerns, a David and Goliath allegory about colonialism, coming home and living out your fate, set in the striking South African landscape.

A sterling British cast including Imelda Staunton, Timothy Spall, Celia Emrie and Joanna Lumley give their all in Richard Loncraine’s heartwarming romantic comedy, which demonstrates that it’s never too late to change partners and dance.

Selected Filmography: 5 Flights Up (2014), Firewall (2006), Wimbledon (2004), Richard III (1995), Brimstone & Treacle (1982)

Twenty years later, Tau (played by popular South African actor Vuyo Dabula) is back, intending to make peace with himself and to reconnect with what is left of his childhood gang. But Tau has returned to a different Marseilles, this time held captive by the new regime, and he and the Fingers must once again face off with the forces that threaten their home.

Debut Feature

In apartheid South Africa, young Tau is a member of the “Five Finger” posse: a group of rebellious kids with slingshots and a deep-seated desire to protect their rural town of Marseilles from its white oppressors. After the police forcefully remove Tau’s girlfriend, he strikes back, and his reaction leaves him no choice but to flee.

IN SOTHO, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 6 • 4:30 pm • CAM Saturday, January 13 • 10:00 am • CAM

146 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Sunday, January 7 • 7:00 pm • MP Friday, January 12 • 7:00 pm • REG

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Good Manners

The Great Buddha+

BRAZIL/FRANCE, 2017 135 minutes Directors: Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra Cast: Isabél Zuaa, Marjorie Estiano, Miguel Lobo Print Source: Urban Distribution

TAIWAN, 2017 104 minutes Director: Huang Hsin-Yao Cast: Cres Chuang, Bamboo Chen, Leon Dai Print Source: Mandarin Vision

In this fresh, provocative film, Clara lives a solitary life in a São Paulo favela, struggling for stability in a society where black women aren’t often given their due. Answering an ad for a livein nanny, she soon finds herself in a chic, high-rise apartment being interviewed by bored, beautiful mother-to-be Ana. What begins as an inauspicious interrogation unexpectedly becomes a full-time job for Clara, and a deepening personal connection between the struggling nanny and the wealthy heiress. Yet Clara realizes something is horribly amiss with her new employer, particularly during full moons, so when Ana’s baby suddenly forces himself into the world—in spectacularly bloody fashion—the beleaguered nanny takes the monstrous newborn as her own, beginning a new life as a mother and leading to an unforgettable reckoning.

Nothing is more sacred than one’s social status and reputation in filmmaker Huang Hsin-Yao’s The Great Buddha+, a unique and darkly comedic study of present day Taiwan and the lower-class inhabitants that are subservient to the elite.

As Boas Maneiras

Writers/directors Juliana Rojas and Marco Dutra have crafted a dark fairy tale with undercurrents that scrutinize personal and social divides.

Winner: Special Jury Award, Locarno Film Festival; Best Film, Rio de Janiero Selected Filmography: Necropolis Symphony (2014), Hard Labor (2011) IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 4:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 4:30 pm • MP

The middle-aged and meek Pickle has been a low-level security guard for the esteemed Chairman Kevin’s factory for a decade, yet the only upward mobility he seeks is during the nightly visits from his nomadic buddy Belly Button and his salacious magazines. But when the pushy Belly Button convinces Pickle to steal Chairman Kevin’s dash cam footage so they can listen in on the boss’s varied affairs, their new form of nightly entertainment becomes not only titillating, but potentially deadly.

Employing bold, meta-drenched narration from the director himself, The Great Buddha+ lampoons the hypocritical, and often hysterical, social norms and practices of Taiwan’s upper class while finding compassion for the citizens so often overlooked.

Selected Filmography: Taivalu (2010)

IN MANDARIN, TAIWANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN COMPETITION:

Saturday, January 6 • 4:00 pm • PC Saturday, January 13 • 3:00 pm • REG

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Gutland

Happy Birthday

LUXEMBOURG/GERMANY/BELGIUM, 2017 107 minutes Director: Govinda Van Maele Cast: Frederick Lau, Vicky Krieps, Marco Lorenzini Print Source: Dark Star Pictures

GREECE/FRANCE/CYPRUS/GERMANY, 2017 88 minutes Director: Christos Georgiou Cast: Nefeli Kouri, Dimitris Imellos, Mirto Alikaki Print Source: Greek Film Centre NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Joining the likes of classics like The Wicker Man and this year’s Get Out, filmmaker Govinda Van Maele’s striking Gutland is a haunting mystery about an outsider discovering the startling secrets behind a seemingly idyllic community.

Refused work upon his arrival in a picturesque village in Luxembourg, stoic German Jens (Frederick Lau, Victoria) resorts to spending his evening drinking at a town party.

But his unemployment doesn’t last long when, after a night spent with the enchanting Lucy (Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread), he is offered a surprisingly generous farmhand position. Seduced by the small town’s charms and harboring his own secretive past, Jens is slow to realize the disturbing habits of even the village’s most chummy inhabitants.

Brimming with thrilling and often uncomfortably comedic scenes, including a terrifying homage to North by Northwest’s cornfield chase, Gutland is a remarkably confident and captivating debut that admiringly holds its cards close until the very end.

Selected Filmography: We Might As Well Fail (2011)

Through the lens of one family’s struggles, writer/director Christos Georgiou perceptively examines the generational and ideological divisions facing Greece as a whole, crafting a moving film that manages to feel at once universal and deeply intimate in scope.

When Athenian riot police officer Yiorgos spots his teenager daughter Margarita protesting at a violent anti-government demonstration, it creates a rift between the two that seems nearly impossible to bridge. Yiorgos’s concerned wife suggests that the two take a trip to the family’s country home, giving the estranged father and daughter the chance to salvage what’s left of their bond. But hardheaded Margarita is less than enthusiastic about spending time with her dad, whom she views with flat-out disdain. While Yiorgos’s initial attempts to win his daughter’s sympathy have little effect, a dramatic series of events forces the seeming polar opposites to reexamine what it is that’s been tearing them apart and what unites them.

Selected Filmography: Children of the Riots (2012), Small Crime (2008), Under the Stars (2001)

IN LUXEMBOURGISH, GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN GREEK WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 4:00 pm • MP Thursday, January 11 • 11:00 am • REG

Thursday, January 4 • 10:00 am • PC Wednesday, January 10 • 3:30 pm • PC Saturday, January 13 • 4:30 pm • REG

148 PSFILMFEST.ORG

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Holy Air

Holy Camp

ISRAEL, 2017 81 minutes Director: Shady Srour Cast: Shady Srour, Laetitia Eido, Shmulik Calderon, Tarik Copti, Dalia Okal Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

SPAIN, 2017 108 minutes Directors: Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo Cast: Macarena García, Anna Castillo, Belén Cuesta, Gracia Olayo, Richard Collins-Moore Print Source: Film Factory

Avir Kadosh

La Llamada

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Adam and Lamia are a Christian Arab couple from Nazareth, part of a rapidly shrinking minority in the Holy Land.

He’s a failed entrepreneur (among his many harebrained inventions is novelty toilet paper, a product that never took off, so he is forced to use it at home) and she’s an empowered woman who makes men wince and cross their legs when she talks feminism on television. When Lamia becomes pregnant and Adam’s endearing father falls ill, Adam decides to provide for his family by entering the biggest local business—religion. He begins to sell specially bottled Holy Air from the peak of Mount Precipice to tourists congregating for the Pope’s visit.

Director, screenwriter and lead actor Shady Srour (star of Palm Springs International ShortFest prize-winner Ave Maria) takes a page from compatriot director Elia Suleiman’s Divine Intervention absurdist playbook in this likeable, lowkey, poker-faced comedy boasting a distinct visual style.

Selected Filmography: Sense of Need (2005)

IN ARABIC, HEBREW, ENGLISH, ITALIAN, FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Tuesday, January 9 • 3:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 8:00 pm • CAM Friday, January 12 • 10:00 am • CAM

For best friends Maria (Macarena Garcia, Snow White) and Susana (Anna Castillo, The Olive Tree), the freedom that comes with being an adult can’t come soon enough.

Stuck in a Catholic summer camp overseen by stern new Mother Superior Bernarda (Gracia Olayo, The Last Circus), the teens rebel against their strict surroundings, sneaking out to clubs and practicing for the big time with their singing group, Suma Latina. When God, wearing a glittery suit, starts visiting Maria to question her faith via a string of Whitney Houston classics, the young singer must weigh her religious faith against more earthly desires—and her friendship with Susana, who has her own budding desires to contend with.

Directed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo and based on their smash hit stage musical, Holy Camp is a joyous reminder that while music makes miracles, the greatest miracle is simply being who you are.

Debut Feature

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Tuesday, January 9 • 4:30 pm • MP Friday, January 12 • 6:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 10:30 am • CAM

IN COMPETITION:

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The House by the Sea

I Am Not a Witch

FRANCE, 2017 107 minutes Director: Robert Guédiguian Cast: Ariane Ascaride, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Gérard Meylan, Jacques Boudet, Anaïs DeMoustier Print Source: MK2 International

UK/FRANCE, 2017 92 minutes Director: Rungano Nyoni Cast: Margaret Mulubwa, Henry B.J. Phiri, Nancy Mulilo, Margaret Sipaneia, Gloria Huwiler Print Source: Kinology

La Villa

US PREMIERE Three adult children gather at the family home on the seacoast near Marseille when their father is immobilized by a stroke. For Angele, a successful stage and screen actress, the place is haunted by a past tragedy. Her brother Joseph, a bitter, disillusioned Communist who has been retired from his executive job, arrives with his much younger fiancée, who has a wandering eye for the neighbors’ handsome son. Armand has never left, staying in the cove to run the family restaurant. But the village where they grew up is changing: soldiers now patrol for migrants landing on the shores, and rich young speculators are out to grab what they can from the old timers.

Veteran director Robert Guédiguian’s wise and moving family drama is a masterly meditation on mortality, reconciliation, politics and the mutability of all things.

Filled with warmth, wit and amorous surprises, it’s a film that quietly lodges in your heart.

Selected Filmography: Don’t Tell Me the Boy Was Mad (2015), The Snows of Kilimanjaro (2011), The Town is Quiet (2000), Where the Heart Is (1998), Marius and Jeannette (1997), Till Death Do Us Part (1995)

At times surreal and magical, and always beautifully shot, Rungano Nyoni’s sharp, satirical fable balances humor and sorrow in its exploration of patriarchy and power.

Cases of children accused of witchcraft in parts of Africa are a real and unfortunate truth. The accused may face torture and abuse, abandoned by a society that fears them. Nineyear-old Shula is exiled to a witch camp where the accused live out the rest of their dismal existences together. When she arrives, she is promptly tethered to the camp by a ribbon that is meant to keep her from flying off, and told that if she cuts herself free she will transform into a goat.

As Shula asserts her innocence, she’s taken in by the elders of the community as a reminder of a young life they, too, were denied.

Nyoni’s debut film is the thundering arrival of an exciting and fresh new voice in cinema.

Debut Feature

IN ENGLISH, ZAMBIAN DIALECTS WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Wednesday, January 10 • 1:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 11 • 4:30 am • CAM

150 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Thursday, January 11 • 6:00 pm • PC Saturday, January 13 • 8:30 pm • REG

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In Syria

The Journey

LEBANON/BELGIUM/FRANCE, 2017 85 minutes Director: Philippe Van Leeuw Cast: Hiam Abbass, Diamand Abou Abboud, Juliette Navis Print Source: Film Movement

IRAQ/UK/FRANCE/QATAR/NETHERLANDS, 2017 82 minutes Director: Mohamed Al-Daradji Cast: Zahraa Ghandour, Ameer Ali Jabarah Print Source: Picture Tree International

Al Rahal

US PREMIERE A determined matriarch must protect her home from threatening outside forces in Damascus, Syria, a city under constant siege.

Played by Hiam Abbass (The Visitor; Paradise Now), Oum Yazan is a strong willed and resolute mother who witnesses a terrible act while in the company of her housemaid. Oum’s husband is out getting help, and falling bombs and bullets confine the family and a few neighbors to the crowded apartment. While barricaded, Oum must do what it takes to keep her loved ones safe, awaiting help that may or may not arrive.

Razor-sharp tension underscores every scene of writer/ director Philippe Van Leeuw’s powerful and absorbing drama. Spectacular performances by both Abbas and Diamand Abou Abboud (also seen in this year’s The Insult), as Oum’s neighbor Halima, propel this intense and topical film about the struggle of everyday people in modern Syria, where privates homes can be both strongholds and prisons.

Selected Filmography: The Day God Walked Away (2009)

IN ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

The 2006 reopening of Baghdad’s central train station, teeming with representatives from all walks of life (including the US military and other security forces) is the beguiling setting for Mohamed Al-Daradji’s precisely handled slowburn thriller about a female would-be suicide bomber.

When we first encounter the steely Sara (Zahraa Ghandour, chillingly effective), she is wrapped in explosives and passing for pregnant among the station’s crowds.

Accosted by huckster Salam, who sees only a pretty girl to hit on, she reveals what’s beneath her coat and takes him hostage. Will he persuade her to forego her plans?

Al-Daradji ratchets up the tension by weaving the various dramas of the waiting passengers into the main story, building suspense with expert control and slowly revealing Sara’s motives for wanting to take such extreme action. The director’s humanist point of view—kneejerk judgments are nowhere to be found—makes The Journey a rarity: an intelligent thriller with a soul.

Selected Filmography: In the Sands of Babylon (2013), In My Mother’s Arms (2010), Son of Babylon (2009), War, Love, God & Madness (2008), Dreams (2006) IN ARABIC, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Thursday, January 11 • 3:45 pm • PC Saturday, January 13 • 6:00 pm • REG

Saturday, January 6 • 2:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 7 • 4:30 pm • MP Monday, January 8 • 12:00 pm • REG

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Jupiter’s Moon

Just to Be Sure

HUNGARY/GERMANY, 2017 123 minutes Director: Kornél Mundruczó Cast: Zsombor Jéger, Merab Ninidze, György Cserhalmi, Móni Balsai Print Source: The Match Factory

FRANCE/BELGIUM, 2017 100 minutes Director: Carine Tardieu Cast: François Damiens, Cécile de France, Alice de Lencquesaing, Guy Marchand Print Source: The Festival Agency

Jupiter holdja

Ôtez-moi d’un doute

US PREMIERE Thoroughly cinematic and replete with images that will take your breath away, iconoclastic Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó’s parable-like drama offers up the tale of young Syrian refugee Aryan who, after being shot while attempting to cross the border into Hungary, discovers he is possessed of a magical power: he can fly. Aryan wants to use his befuddling new gift to find his missing father. Before he can do that, though, he comes under the influence of unscrupulous refugee-camp doctor Gabor, who sees nothing but dollar signs when considering Aryan’s power.

Mundruczó uses the men’s burgeoning relationship and a thriller-like plot to skewer the narrow-minded socio-political attitudes of his fellow citizens, while Aryan’s flights provide the director—and his gifted cinematographer, Marcell Rév— with ample opportunity to create some of the most lyrical and, frankly, astonishing visuals to grace cinema screens this year.

Selected Filmography: White God (2014), Tender Son: The Frankenstein Project (2010), Delta (2008), Johanna (2005) IN HUNGARIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

A delightful blend of coincidence and destiny, Just to Be Sure explores the virtues and vagaries of DNA in warm, funny, and unpredictable ways that leave you rooting for nurture over nature with all your heart.

Erwin, a wistful widower of 45, makes a living clearing buried mines left over from WWII. While undergoing genetic testing with his single, pregnant daughter, Erwin discovers he has no genetic connection to his own father, also a widower. A private detective helps him track down his biological father, Joseph, who is ailing as he ages. As Erwin and Joseph embark on a tentative and endearing relationship, Erwin also begins what might be a romantic affair with Anna, a local doctor in Joseph’s seaside town. But questions of identity and lineage bring endless twists and turns in this perceptive French comedy.

Just to Be Sure traverses minefields—literal and figurative— in search of what actually makes us who we are: biology or something else.

Selected Filmography: The Dandelions (2012), In Mom’s Head (2007)

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 7:00 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 9 • 1:30 pm • CAM

152 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Thursday, January 4 • 1:00 pm • CAM Saturday, January 13 • 10:00 am • ANN

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Lean on Pete

The Leisure Seeker

US/UK, 2017 119 minutes Director: Andrew Haigh Cast: Charlie Plummer, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, Travis Fimmel Print Source: A24

ITALY/FRANCE, 2017 112 minutes Director: Paolo Virzì Cast: Helen Mirren, Donald Sutherland, Christian McKay, Janel Moloney, Dana Ivey Print Source: Sony Pictures Classics

Director Andrew Haigh (Weekend; 45 Years, PSIFF 2016) has an exquisite eye for life on the margins and an unfailing instinct for emotional honesty. His latest drama, adapted from Willy Vlautin’s novel, sustains his beautiful naturalistic style and emotional depth.

Despite John’s (Donald Sutherland) deteriorating memory and bouts of confusion from developing Alzheimer’s, the retired English professor’s eyes light up whenever he looks at Ella (Helen Mirren), his devoted, firecracker of a wife. Ella wants her husband’s last memories to be something special, so the rebellious Southerner hatches a plan to take the family RV (aptly named “The Leisure Seeker”) down to Key West, the home of John’s literary idol, Ernest Hemingway.

Though the two are flooded with worried phone calls from their grown children, the impulsive trip ignites a spark in John’s memory. But when Ella’s own health starts to wane and buried memories resurface, their unbreakable bond begins to show cracks.

Teenage Charley's (Charlie Plummer) mom left when he was little; his feckless, womanizing dad has no talent for parenting. Essentially orphaned, he finds what passes for a temporary family at the local Portland racetrack, where Del (Steve Buscemi), a shady trainer, offers him a job. And that’s where he falls in love with the aging quarter-horse Lean on Pete. The horse’s jockey (Chloë Sevigny) warns him not to get too attached: Del’s horses end up at the glue factory when they’ve passed their prime. Desperate to save Pete— and himself—Charley concocts a reckless scheme, and sets off with his horse on a perilous journey across the West.

Selected Filmography: 45 Years (2015), Weekend (2011), Greek Pete (2009)

Wednesday, January 10 • 11:30 am • REG Sunday, January 14 • 12:45 pm • ANN

With his first English-language film, Italian co-writer/director Paolo Virzi shares a story of the mysterious healing powers of the road, and continues his exploration of characters confronting mental illness, a theme begun in his previous feature Like Crazy (PSIFF 2017).

Selected Filmography: Like Crazy (2016), Human Capital (2013), The First Beautiful Thing (2010), Hardboiled Egg (1997)

Monday, January 8 • 3:00 pm • PSHS

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Longing

Love After Love

ISRAEL, 2017 100 minutes Director: Savi Gabizon Cast: Shai Avivi, Asi Levy, Neta Riskin,Yoram Tolledano, Shimon Mimran Print Source: Breaking Glass Pictures

US, 2017 91 minutes Director: Russell Harbaugh Cast: Andie MacDowell, Chris O'Dowd, Juliet Rylance, Dree Hemingway, James Adomian Print Source: IFC Films

Ga’agua

US PREMIERE Writer/director Savi Gagizon’s heart-wrenching dramedy finds successful, single Ariel (Shai Avivi) re-examining his life when an ex-girlfriend reveals that she secretly gave birth to a son, Adam, 20 years earlier. Abandoning his cushy existence in Tel Aviv, Ariel treks to the town where the boy grew up and begins a somewhat obsessive quest to piece together an understanding of the son he never knew he had. Ariel tracks down and confronts Adam’s old friends and flames, including a beautiful teacher with whom the boy was infatuated. Ariel’s belated attempts to take on fatherly responsibility often frustrate those around him, leading to some darkly comedic scenarios.

Avivi endows Longing’s protagonist with a dogged singlemindedness that’s intensely moving, even as Ariel’s behavior confounds those around him. As the newfound father slowly comes to terms with the 20 years he’ll never regain with his son, Ariel discovers the bittersweet meaning of parenthood, with all its sorrows and joys.

After a long-suffering patriarch succumbs to illness, quietly fracturing his family, his wife Suzanne (Andie McDowell) and two sons Nicholas (Chris O'Dowd) and Chris (James Adomian) struggle to pick up the pieces of their lives. Through fleeting glimpses and simple moments, Love After Love catches up with each figure, often at family gatherings, as everyone attempts to move on in their own way, stumbling and triumphing little by little while time hurtles forever forward.

A beautifully realized portrait by writer/director Russell Harbaugh, the film gracefully and unsentimentally captures the everyday emotional weight contained within the individuals that up a family. The standout ensemble performances, especially from stars McDowell and O'Dowd, bring this family to life with blistering complexity and real nuance. With rare authenticity, Harbaugh demonstrates a gift for tonal control and subtle characterization, his camera gliding from moment to moment with true precision.

Winner: Audience Favorite, Jerusalem; Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Israeli Film Academy Selected Filmography: Nina’s Tragedies (2003), Lovesick on Nana Street (1995), Shuroo (1990) IN HEBREW WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Sunday, January 7 • 4:00 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 9 • 5:30 pm • CAM Thursday, January 11 • 10:00 am • ANN

154 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Wednesday, January 10 • 6:00 pm • PSHS

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Love and Shukla

Maktub

INDIA, 2017 107 minutes Director: Siddartha Jatla Cast: Saharsh Kumar Shukla, Taneea Rajawat, Hima Singh, Aparna Upadhyay, Loknath Tiwari Print Source: Momo Films

ISRAEL, 2017 100 minutes Director: Oded Raz Cast: Hanan Savyon, Guy Amir, Itzik Cohen, Igal Naor

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Shukla, a rickshaw driver from a ruined Brahmin family, is getting married according to his mother’s wishes. He tells his friends that he will do everything in his power to make his wife happy but soon finds out that he has many obstacles to overcome, including his own family.

Guy Amir and Hanan Savyon, the acclaimed writers and stars behind Israeli TV mega-hits including Scarred, Asfur and Ma Bakarish, play Chuma and Steve, partners in crime in this hilarious, politically incorrect caper comedy that they also penned.

Much to Shukla’s chagrin, when his wife joins the family she is immediately treated as a servant by her in-laws. And what are they to do on their wedding night when the family lives in a one-room shack with only a line of suitcases to separate their sleeping areas? As if things weren’t bad enough, Shukla’s sister moves back in after a tiff with her husband, bringing more crowding and complications.

“Maktub” means fate or destiny, and the destiny of these two small-time enforcers for a Jerusalem mob protection racket certainly changes when they survive a suicide bombing.

They decide to take their future into their own hands, attempting to redeem themselves by fulfilling peoples’ prayers. But, in keeping with their delinquent ways, the prayers have been stolen from the Holy City’s Wailing Wall.

It will take all of this newlywed’s creativity and determination to keep his word and bring a smile to the lovely face of his shy bride.

Debut Feature

While carrying out their dubious plans, they find themselves dealing with their own secrets and wishes, be they in the shape of comely women, adorable little boys, or elements of Israeli cuisine. Amir and Savyon prove their considerable charm transfers to the big screen.

Selected Filmography: Galis: The Journey to Astra (2014), Seven Days (2013)

IN HINDI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN HEBREW WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 6 • 10:00 am • MP Saturday, January 13 • 10:00 am • REG

Saturday, January 6 • 10:30 am • REG Sunday, January 7 • 1:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 6:00 pm • CAM

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Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts

Maze

INDONESIA/FRANCE/MALAYSIA/THAILAND, 2017 93 minutes Director: Mouly Surya Cast: Marsha Timothy, Dea Panendra, Yoda Pratama, Egi Fedly Print Source: KIMSTIM

IRELAND/UK/SWEDEN/GERMANY, 2017 93 minutes Director: Stephen Burke Cast: Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Barry Ward, Martin McCann Print Source: Visit Films

In the desert hills of the Indonesian island of Sumba, newly widowed Marlina sits in her isolated farm with the embalmed body of her dead husband. Without his protection, entitled men swarm over the farm, stealing the cattle. One of the thieves, struts into Marlina’s cottage and explains his gang’s intentions to help themselves to Marlina’s belongings, money, and body. He orders Marlina to make soup for the men, but little does he know that she has a secret recipe— and she knows her way around a machete.

In the early 1980s, the Maze maximum-security prison in Northern Ireland housed dozens of IRA prisoners and was a flashpoint of the region’s violent Troubles. A massive hunger strike led to the death of 10 of those prisoners and, not long after, 38 more undertook a politically charged and astonishingly successful prison break. Based on these real-life events, writer/director Stephen Burke’s smart and suspenseful thriller tracks the motivations and manipulations of the escape plan’s chief architect, Larry Marley, a republican prisoner carrying a heavy load of survivor’s guilt. He develops a relationship with Gordon Close, the prison warder who could prove to be his greatest asset—or his undoing.

Marlina Si Pembunuh Dalam Empat Babak

Marlina hits the road seeking justice, encountering several splendid female characters including talkative Novi whose baby refuses to be born in a world where women are so devalued.

Hailed as “a thoroughly enjoyable, visually ravishing feminist Western” by Screen International, Mouly Surya’s latest rocked the house at its Cannes premiere with audiences rooting for Marlina.

Selected Filmography: What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love (2013), Fiksi. (2008)

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Burke’s tight script delivers a gripping multilayered conflict between—and sometimes among—the loyalists and republicans on both sides of the supposedly impenetrable prison walls. But it’s the interpersonal dynamics and inner conflicts of Marley and Close that deliver the true heat of this highly charged historical moment.

Selected Filmography: Happy Ever Afters (2009)

IN INDONESIAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 1:00 pm • MP Tuesday, January 9 • 6:30 pm • REG

156 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Wednesday, January 10 • 1:00 pm • REG Thursday, January 11 • 5:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 10:30 am • REG

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Montana

Montparnasse Bienvenüe

ISRAEL, 2017 74 minutes Director: Limor Shmila Cast: Noa Biron, Netta Shpigelman, Avi Malka Print Source: See-Through Films

FRANCE/BELGIUM, 2017 97 minutes Director: Léonor Serraille Cast: Laetitia Dosch, Grégoire Monsaingeon, Souleymane Seye Ndiaye, Léonie Simaga, Nathalie Richard Print Source: Be For Films

For some people, going home again can be like reentering the lion’s den of their youth. Such is the case for Efi who, in the wake of her grandfather’s death, returns to her tightly-knit Israeli hometown after 15 years away. During her visit, Efi’s quiet confidence attracts Karen, a married schoolteacher whose shy nine-year-old daughter Maya happens to be close to Efi’s family. As Efi begins to recognize glimpses of herself in Maya, sordid family secrets are uncovered, past traumas confronted, and difficult decisions must be made.

Writer/director Léonor Serraille bursts onto the scene with her character-driven debut feature film that paints a portrait of a sometimes frustrating, yet inexplicably charming young woman. Paula, whose loneliness is clearly affecting her mental health, mistakenly assumes she can move back in with her ex after abruptly returning to Paris from an extended stay in Mexico. She instead drifts around Paris, relying on a bit of luck and her innate resourcefulness to get herself through each day. A chance encounter on a train leads to a job as a nanny for a young girl, spurring Paula to begin to face responsibility and setting her on a journey of inner growth.

Shooting in her own hometown with a mostly female crew, award-winning casting director Limor Shmila drew from personal experience to bring her powerful debut feature to life. Part erotic romance, part searing revenge drama, Montana is a gripping, clear-eyed portrait of a woman’s resilience in the face of the oppressive power structures that have been in place for generations.

Debut Feature

IN HEBREW WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Jeune femme

Serraille and her predominantly female crew bring a cinematic naturalism to their freewheeling lead character, and Laetitia Dosch is utterly unforgettable as Paula, vividly embodying the difficult but necessary (and sometimes humorous) process of claiming one’s own identity.

Debut Feature

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Wednesday, January 10 • 7:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 6:45 pm • PC

Sunday, January 7 • 10:00 am • REG Thursday, January 11 • 1:30 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • CAM

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The Motive

Never Steady, Never Still

SPAIN/MEXICO, 2017 112 minutes Director: Manuel Martín Cuenca Cast: Javier Gutiérrez, María León, Adelfa Calvo, Adriana Paz, Tenoch Huerta Print Source: Filmax International

CANADA, 2017 110 minutes Director: Kathleen Hepburn Cast: Shirley Henderson, Théodore Pellerin, Mary Galloway, Nicholas Campbell, Lorne Cardinal Print Source: Level Film

El Autor

US PREMIERE In this sharp, darkly funny new film from acclaimed director Manuel Martín Cuenca, aspiring novelist Álvaro (Javier Gutiérrez, The Olive Tree) leads a daily existence that seems to offer precious little in the way of inspiration. Working as a notary while the writing career of his beautiful wife, Amanda (María León), takes off, Álvaro keeps a cool distance from the rich messiness of life—not to mention his dreams of one day being an acclaimed author of high literature. But when he catches Amanda with another man, Álvaro quickly finds himself in a bachelor’s flat in downtown Seville, surrounded by a rich tapestry of complicated characters. From Irene and Enrique, an immigrant couple facing serious financial challenges, to Lola, the lonely superintendent whom he seduces in order to gain information, Álvaro begins to coolly manipulate his neighbors’ fates in service of his novel—with surprising results.

Winner: FIPRESCI Jury Award – Special Presentations, Toronto Selected Filmography: Cannibal (2013), Half of Oscar (2010), Malas Temporadas (2005)

This remarkable story of love and resilience introduces us to Judy and Eddie, both from hard-working, self-reliant Canadian stock, whose 23 years of marriage have been defined by adoring companionship and quiet humor.

Eighteen of those years have also involved managing Judy’s early-onset Parkinson’s disease, and the raising of their now teenage son, Jamie. Directionless Jamie reluctantly trades the routine of his hometown for the hypermasculine bootcamp of life on an oil rig, only to retreat home when his mother needs him most. As Judy, Shirley Henderson’s remarkable physicality is just one element of her moving performance, an embodiment of a woman determined to remain independent, and allow her boy to become a man in his own time.

A profoundly empathetic story of a family facing hardship with grace and dignity, Kathleen Hepburn’s debut feature grew out of her own family’s experience, and first took the form of a short film screened at the Palm Springs International ShortFest in 2016.

Debut Feature

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Wednesday, January 10 • 10:30 am • CAM Friday, January 12 • 2:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 7:00 pm • MP

158 PSFILMFEST.ORG

IN COMPETITION:

Sunday, January 7 • 10:30 am • CAM Monday, January 8 • 1:30 pm • REG

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Oh Lucy!

On the Seventh Day

JAPAN/US, 2017 96 minutes Director: Atsuko Hirayanagi Cast: Shinobu Terajima, Josh Hartnett Print Source: Film Movement

US, 2017 92 minutes Director: Jim McKay Cast: Fernando Cardona, Gilberto Jiménez, Alfonso Velazquez, Abel Perez, Genoel Ramírez Print Source: Cinetic

This gentle comedy tells the story of Setsuko, an unfulfilled, chain-smoking office worker who has all but given up on life.

Like so many in an age of decreasing human interaction, her days are spent alone, her time split between a bland office and her suffocating apartment.

José works as a delivery man for a Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn, saving money to bring his pregnant girlfriend to the U.S. from Mexico. But his true passion is for the soccer games he plays on the weekends, where he is the star player. When his boss asks him to work on the day of the championship game, he faces a terrible choice between his personal and professional obligations. He can’t afford to lose his job, but is it worse to let his friends down?

When her niece Mika pushes her to take an immersive English class, Setsuko discovers an unexpected enthusiasm for the challenge. She discovers a new identity in the alter ego given to her by American teacher John (Josh Hartnett) who does his best to liberate his traditional, stiff students with hugs, high fives, wigs and western names. With her blond wig and her new name “Lucy,” Setsuko shakes off her funk, falling for her handsome teacher along the way.

But when both John and Mika suddenly disappear, Setsuko gets the chance to test her new character in the wild, wild west of California.

Debut Feature

En el Séptimo Día

A gentle crowd-pleaser filmed in a neo-realist style, Jim McKay’s deceptively simple comedy never needs to raise its voice or get polemical, but it speaks volumes about the immigrant experience in America. Using a largely nonprofessional cast (sourced from open auditions and from the streets and playing fields of Brooklyn), McKay opens our eyes and our hearts to a world that’s rarely captured so authentically on film.

Selected Filmography: Everyday People (2004), Our Song (2000), Girls Town (1996)

IN ENGLISH, JAPANESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES IN SPANISH, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 7:30 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 5:00 pm • CAM Thursday, January 11 • 10:00 am • REG

Friday, January 5 • 5:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 7 • 10:30 am • MP Tuesday, January 9 • 7:30 pm • MP

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The Party

The Prime Minister

UK, 2017 71 minutes Director: Sally Potter Cast: Patricia Clarkson, Bruno Ganz, Cherry Jones, Emily Mortimer, Cillian Murphy, Kristin Scott Thomas, Timothy Spall Print Source: Roadside Attractions

BELGIUM, 2016 115 minutes Director: Erik Van Looy Cast: Koen De Bouw, Saskia Reeves, Adam Godley, Charlotte Vandermeersch Print Source: The Works

Sally Potter’s (Orlando) deliciously nasty new film, described

by Variety as a “caviar-black comedy,” takes place at the elegant London abode of Janet (Kristen Scott Thomas), who’s just been elected Minister of Health. A gaggle of her friends drop by for the champagne-popping celebration, but what is meant to be a night of triumph tumbles quickly into catastrophe when Janet’s strangely spaced-out husband (Timothy Spall) bursts the bubble with a bombshell announcement. And there will be many more unwanted revelations before this party ends.

Director Erik Van Looy and actor Koen De Bouw, the talent behind film fest favorite The Alzheimer’s Case, collaborate again on a tense and stylish new thriller replete with blackly humorous touches. De Bouw stars as the seemingly happily married Belgian prime minister, who lives in a suburban paradise with his wife and two young children. One day, as he makes his way to an international summit meeting in Brussels, his car is hijacked, his driver killed and he is kidnapped along with his closest aide. Soon, the PM learns that his wife and children are being held hostage. They will survive only if he kills the person he is due to meet at 3:00 pm: the president of the United States. The film intertwines love and professional life in a manner unusual for a thriller, an approach that raises the stakes for both the characters and the audience.

Selected Filmography: The Loft (2014), The Alzheimer Case (2003), Shades (1999), Ad Fundum (1993)

Potter’s brisk, savagely witty screenplay gleefully skewers the pretensions of her upscale characters. She’s aided and abetted by a dream cast: Patricia Clarkson as Janet’s corrosively cynical best friend, who treats her New Age-y boyfriend (Bruno Ganz) with withering contempt; Cherry Jones and Emily Mortimer as a doctrinaire feminist academic and her pregnant wife; and a wild-eyed Cillian Murphy, who shows up in a coke-snorting lather and happens to be packing a gun.

De Premier

US PREMIERE

IN DUTCH, FLEMISH, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Winner: Guild Film Prize, Berlin Selected Filmography: Ginger and Rosa (2012), Rage (2009), Yes (2004), The Man Who Cried (2000), The Tango Lesson (1997), Orlando (1992) Saturday, January 6 • 10:00 am • ANN Thursday, January 11 • 3:30 pm • ANN

160 PSFILMFEST.ORG

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The Quartette

Ravenous

CZECH REPUBLIC, 2017 93 minutes Director: Miroslav Krobot Cast: Barbora Poláková, Jaroslav Plesl, Lukáš Melník, Zdeněk Julina, Pavlína Štorková

CANADA, 2017 96 minutes Director: Robin Aubert Cast: Marc-André Grondin, Monia Chokri, Micheline Lanctôt, Brigitte Poupart, Charlotte St-Martin Print Source: Alma Cinema

This charming comic-drama set in a small Czech town follows a quartet of string players that meets frequently to rehearse contemporary music. Composer and first violin Robert is something of a mama’s boy. Robert lives with the attractive but flighty cello player Simona. Sexy womanizer Tomáš, who also fronts a punk band, plays second violin and observes the ups and downs of Robert and Simona’s relationship, waiting for his chance. Rounding out the group is the extremely reserved history expert Funés, who refuses to go out with the opposite sex because he believes he will either be disappointed or disappointing.

Something isn’t right in rural Quebec. The formerly selfreliant locals have developed a 1,000-yard stare and a taste for human flesh. The cause remains a mystery and it’s every man for himself for the survivors, scattered among abandoned neighborhoods, farms and woodlands.

Capable and adaptable Bonin (Marc-André Grondin) and his buddy Vezina crack off-color jokes while patrolling the endless forests for the afflicted. Independent Celine, still clad in pearls and a silk blouse, lures individual zombies to the wrath of her machete, while Tania inexplicably totes her accordion where others sling their rifles. Limited resources cause the survivors’ paths to cross, forming an uneasy alliance born of desperation as the zombies’ behavior becomes increasingly unpredictable.

Kvarteto

Co-writer/director Miroslav Krobot slyly observes his characters with rueful melancholy and brilliant understatement. Like his compatriot directors Miloš Forman and Jiří Menzel, he also displays a wise and humorous attitude towards sex: “This is a film about the search for happiness and the doubts and uncertainties that go with it.”

Selected Filmography: Nowhere in Moravia (2014) IN CZECH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Les Affamés

A completely absorbing film whose roots run far deeper than the average story of the undead, Ravenous sneaks in sly moments of humor alongside classically creepy imagery, enhanced by an unsettling score and eerie sound design.

Winner: Audience Best Canadian Feature, Toronto Selected Filmography: Tuktuq (2016), Crying Out (2010), Train To Nowhere (2009), Saint Martyrs of the Damned (2005) IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Tuesday, January 9 • 1:30 pm • PC Sunday, January 14 • 10:30 am • MP

Saturday, January 6 • 7:00 pm • MP Sunday, January 7 • 7:30 pm • MP

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The Ring Thing

The Royal Hibiscus Hotel

US, 2017 105 minutes Director: William C. Sullivan Cast: Nicole Pursell, Sarah Wharton, Matt Connolly, Cheryl Pickett

NIGERIA, 2017 90 minutes Director: Ishaya Bako Cast: Zainab Balogun, Kenneth Okolie, Jide Kosoko, Rachel Oniga, Deyemi Okanlawon Print Source: Ebony Life TV/FilmOne Distribution US PREMIERE

An awkward misunderstanding sets The Ring Thing off on an ambitious exploration of the nature of relationships, and how the prospect of marriage can turn a loving relationship into a minefield. On the beach in Provincetown, Sarah produces a wedding ring that belonged to her divorced parents and shows it to her girlfriend Kristen. While Sarah thinks she’s simply exhibiting a family heirloom, Kristen thinks she’s proposing marriage.

Anchored by the palpable chemistry between its two stars, Sarah Wharton and Nicole Pursell, this smart, spirited drama jumps forward and back in time to artfully interweave fiction and documentary. Sarah, a nonfiction filmmaker, sets out to interview same-sex couples hoping to understand her own ambivalence about marriage. Anyone who’s ever been in a partnership is sure to identify with the knotty questions about commitment, career and marriage posed by this wise and sexy movie.

Selected Filmography: Jane Wants a Boyfriend (2015), That’s Not Us (2015), Percival’s Big Night (2012)

Sunday, January 7 • 3:30 pm • REG Tuesday, January 9 • 9:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 1:00 pm • MP

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In this crowd-pleasing romantic comedy, Ope, a talented and aspiring chef living abroad in London, decides to quit her job and return home to Lagos, where her parents run the Royal Hibiscus Hotel. There, Ope hopes to refine her distinctive cuisine (a delicious fusion of Nigerian and foreign flavors) while helping her family.

Ope’s plans are complicated when an ensemble of lively characters including a jealous sous-chef and the gossipy staff get in the way. What Ope doesn’t know is that her parents (played by the charming Jide Kosoko and Rachel Oniga) have plans they’re not quite ready to share with her, and to complicate matters further, she keeps running into the handsome and wealthy investor, Deji, who’s staying in the hotel.

A blend of romance and sweetness, director Ishaya Bako’s second feature is a lighthearted offering, a prime example of what the Nigerian film industry (aka Nollywood) does best.

Selected Filmography: Road to Yesterday (2015)

Sunday, January 7 • 3:00 pm • REG Tuesday, January 9 • 1:30 pm • MP

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Scaffolding

Sex, Pity and Loneliness

ISRAEL/POLAND, 2017 90 minutes Director: Matan Yair Cast: Asher Lax, Ami Smolartchik, Yaacov Cohen, Keren Berger Print Source: New Europe Film Sales

GERMANY, 2017 119 minutes Director: Lars Montag Cast: Bernhard Schütz, Jan Henrik Strahlberg, Friederike Kempter, Rainer Bock, Maria Hofstätter

Asher, a remedial high school student, struggles with his matriculation exams, anger management issues and his father’s expectations, even as Rami, Asher’s literature teacher, broadens his narrow worldview. This gripping, realist drama stands out among current Israeli cinema, focusing on Israel’s underclass—kids from blue-collar, Sephardic families.

The title may sound forbidding, but this wicked satire about... well, sex, pity and loneliness among contemporary German urbanites, is a spirited, darkly funny view of the way we live now.

The belligerent and inappropriate Asher has trouble reading as well as with impulse control. His tough, shrewd father employs him in the family scaffolding business, understanding that physical labor helps to channel his son’s energy and aggression and manage his short temper.

At school, Asher overhears Rami assigning homework to another group of students, asking them to devise questions for their parents. The assignment inspires him, especially given his fraught relationship with his stern father. But when a sudden tragedy occurs, Asher spirals out of control in his search for a truth he can understand. Scaffolding is based in part on writer/director Matan Yair’s own teaching experience.

Selected Filmography: Unseen (2016), It is Written In Your I.D. That I am Your Father (Documentary, 2008)

Director Lars Montag interweaves the stories of 13 characters. Among them are an angry, disgraced teacher who goes ballistic because his supermarket doesn’t carry his favorite flavor of Kettle Chips; a preening racist cop and his equally racist sort-of girlfriend; an unhappily married beekeeper who discovers his long dormant desire for men; the beekeeper’s runaway teenage daughter, who’s pursued by a randy young Arab immigrant and a self-flagellating Christian lad; a sex-for-hire couple who insist on dressing in white; and a newly divorced woman whose encounter with a young hustler does not go according to her very specific set of erotic instructions.

A cheerfully bleak exploration of frustrated desire, rage, solipsism and misdirected love, Montag’s ambitious fresco will elicit laughs, gasps and, perhaps, self-reflection.

Debut Feature

IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN HEBREW WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Friday, January 5 • 10:30 am • CAM Wednesday, January 10 • 6:00 pm • PC

Friday, January 5 • 11:00 am • REG Sunday, January 14 • 1:30 pm • REG

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Shelter

Silk Road

ISRAEL/GERMANY/FRANCE, 2017 93 minutes Director: Eran Riklis Cast: Golshifteh Farahani, Neta Riskin, Lior Ashkenazi Print Source: Menemsha Films

NETHERLANDS, 2017 89 minutes Director: Mark de Cloe Cast: Olivia Lonsdale, Gijs Blom, Jonas Smulders, Phi Nguyen, Marcel Henseman Print Source: Rinkel Film NORTH AMERICA PREMIERE

This tense, complex thriller is the latest film from Eran Riklis, director of Festival favorites The Syrian Bride (PSIFF 2005) and Lemon Tree (PSIFF 2004). Mossad agent Naomi (Neta Riskin, Norman) is called back from sick leave and assigned to a “babysitting” job. Under a new identity, she heads to Germany to protect Mona (Golshifteh Farahani, Paterson) a beautiful Lebanese informant, whom special agents have pulled from her country and hidden in a Hamburg safe house while she recovers from plastic surgery. Naomi soon learns that Mona is very close to a top Hamas leader, a man she betrayed and who is dead-set on exacting revenge.

During the two weeks they spend together, an unexpected bond forms between the two women, forged from shared risks and a deep understanding of loss.

But in this high-stakes game of deception, questions of fate may be out of their control.

Selected Filmography: Zaytoun (2012), Playoff (2011), The Human Resource Manager (2010), Lemon Tree (2008), The Syrian Bride (2004), Cup Final (1991)

The Internet can be a breeding ground for chatty flirtations or right-swiping hopefuls, but rarely does an admirer intend to show romantic interest by hacking into another’s computer. Yet that is exactly what the Dutch twentysomething Daphne seeks to do when she invades the home computer of her mysterious neighbor Raymond. Enamored of her skills and possibly her beauty, the usually reserved Raymond introduces Daphne to his best friend and partner Sem and their fledgling drug business on the dark web’s Silk Road. Surrounded by multicolored pills and inundated with orders from all over the world, Daphne quickly takes to the luxurious lifestyle her new income brings, not to mention the doting attention of both men. But when Raymond begins to trade the online currency bitcoin for murder and catches the attention of the government, Daphne must find a way out before she ends up in jail or, worse, dead.

Selected Filmography: Mannenharten 2 (2015), Mannenharten (2013), Shocking Blue (2010), Het Leven uit een dag (2009) IN DUTCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN ENGLISH, HEBREW, ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Monday, January 8 • 8:30 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 9 • 11:30 am • REG

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Saturday, January 6 • 6:30 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 5:00 pm • REG

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Streaker

Sweet Country

SWITZERLAND, 2017 93 minutes Director: Peter Luisi Cast: Beat Schlatter, Bendrit Bajra, Doro Müggler, Luna Wedler, Una Rusca Print Source: M-Appeal

AUSTRALIA, 2017 112 minutes Director: Warwick Thornton Cast: Sam Neill, Bryan Brown, Hamilton Morris, Thomas M. Wright, Ewen Leslie Print Source: Samuel Goldwyn Films

A new type of sports hero is born in this warm-hearted, fast-paced comedy from the writer/director of 2012 PSIFF audience favorite The Sandman.

Required big-screen viewing, with elements of classic Westerns and courtroom drama, this compelling period tale is a layered story of prejudice, the imbalance of power, and the particular, troubled history of a place.

Flitzer

After losing a large sum of money belonging to his employer on what should have been a sure bet, sad-sack high school German teacher Balz Naef needs to replace the funds pronto. Taking inspiration from the streaker who distracted his heavily favored soccer team, he starts recruiting and training exhibitionists for illegal sports betting. His enterprising hairdresser lays out odds for punters to wager on the length of time a naked runner can stay on the field and shares the proceeds with Naef. Although streaking becomes a trendy new sport in Switzerland, the soccer club owners are furious and Police Commissioner Sandra Strebel takes on the case.

This witty and humorous romp offers excellent scripting and direction and, er, revealing performances from a seasoned cast.

Best of Show, Accolade Global Film competition

Selected Filmography: Schweizer Helden (2014), Boys Are Us (2012), The Sandman (2011)

Sam, an Indigenous Australian man, lives peacefully with his wife and Fred Smith (Sam Neill), a white preacher in Alice Springs, an outpost in the Northern Territory. Fred believes “all are equal in the eyes of the Lord,” a stark contrast to new arrival Harry March, a veteran of the Western Front who’s steered by his inner demons. A violent confrontation requires Sam to act in self-defense, and as no white men witness the justness of Sam’s actions the truth only comes out with Sam’s own life on the line.

Superb cinematography contrasts the darkness of the human psyche to the stark beauty of the land, allowing no doubt that nature is still the ultimate master here—despite the misguided claims of men.

Selected Filmography: We Don’t Need a Map (2017), The Darkside (2013), Samson and Delilah (2009)

IN ENGLISH, ARRERNTE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN GERMAN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Wednesday, January 10 • 8:30 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 1:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 10:00 am • CAM

Wednesday, January 10 • 1:30 pm • CAM Friday, January 12 • 4:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 1:30 pm • CAM

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The Testament

Two Irenes

ISRAEL/AUSTRIA, 2017 88 minutes Director: Amichai Greenberg Cast: Ori Pfeffer, Rivka Gur, Hagit Dasberg, Orna Rotenberg, Ori Yaniv Print Source: Menemsha Films

BRAZIL, 2016 89 minutes Director: Fabio Meira Cast: Priscila Bittencourt, Isabela Torres, Marco Ricca, Susana Ribeiro, Ines Peixoto Print Source: True Colors

A historian with an unshakeable commitment to the truth risks ruining his personal and professional life in this compelling, intelligent drama about secrets and identity.

A shy, withdrawn, slip of a girl, 13-year-old Irene (newcomer Priscila Bittencourt in an assured performance) finds herself invisible to the world around her. Ignored by boys and glossed over by her family in favor of her beautiful older sister Solange, the introverted teen’s only comfort is the stories told by the family’s earthy housekeeper Madalena.

But when Irene discovers her charismatic father’s secret life, she quietly steps into a new life herself, befriending another young Irene, discovering her sexuality and slowly coming into her own in this sly and engrossing coming-ofage drama.

Ha’Edut

Yoel, a senior Israeli Holocaust researcher, is in the midst of a legal battle with powerful forces in Austria, concerning a brutal WWII massacre of Jews in the village of Lensdorf. A major construction project is planned where the murders took place and Yoel suspects that the real aim is to bury the atrocity for good, though he has trouble finding conclusive evidence. To his shock and surprise, while examining classified testimonies of Holocaust survivors he finds a testimony given by his mother, a testimony he didn’t know existed. In it, she confesses a substantial secret from her past. Now, as Yoel conducts a double investigation, both personal and scientific, he is trapped between walls of silence: denial of the massacre on the part of the Austrians, and his mother’s silence regarding her past.

Debut Feature IN ENGLISH, GERMAN, HEBREW, YIDDISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Thursday, January 4 • 12:30 pm • ANN Friday, January 12 • 12:45 pm • ANN Sunday, January 14 • 11:30 am • REG

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As duas Irenes

Writer/director Fabio Meira has crafted an observant and beguiling debut feature, rich with detail and unexpected turns. At once a visually stunning paean to the struggles of growing up and an evocative study of the eternal dance between men and women, Two Irenes establishes Meira as a major new voice in international cinema.

Debut Feature

IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Wednesday, January 10 • 10:00 am • REG Sunday, January 14 • 3:00 pm • MP

IN COMPETITION:

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Vazante

Verónica

BRAZIL/PORTUGAL 2017 116 minutes Director: Daniela Thomas Cast: Adriano Carvalho, Luana Nastas, Sandra Corveloni, Juliana Carneiro de Cunha, Roberto Audio Print Source: Music Box Films

SPAIN, 2017 105 minutes Director: Paco Plaza Cast: Sandra Escacena, Bruna González, Claudia Placer, Iván Chavero, Consuelo Trujillo, Ana Torrent Print Source: Film Factory

After trudging through the dense, muddy heart of the Brazilian rainforest to a colonial estate on the verge of collapse, Portuguese slave-trader Antonio returns home to find that his beloved wife has died during childbirth. The discovery sends the troubled mine owner to the brink of madness and into self-imposed exile.

Life has not been easy for 15-year-old Catholic school student Verónica (Sandra Escacena in a terrific debut). The de facto mom to her three younger siblings while their mother Ana (Ana Torrent, Spirit Of The Beehive) pulls long hours tending bar in downtown Madrid, Verónica struggles to keep her family together—all the while haunted by the memory of her recently deceased father. But when she and best friends Rosa and Diana skip classes in order to conduct a séance, Verónica unwittingly opens the door to an unspeakable horror—one that will stop at nothing to destroy both her and her family. With evil quickly taking over and hope fading, Verónica finds help from the mysterious Sister Death (Consuelo Trujillo), leading to an unforgettable standoff against the forces of darkness in this terrifying new horror film from [REC] series writer/director Paco Plaza.

With the slaves’ righteous anger fomenting and the region being pushed to the edge of revolution, Antonio must attempt to salvage his fading grip on power. He takes 12-year-old Beatriz as his bride but repeatedly forces himself on slave Feliciana. When yet another expedition pulls him away from the estate, Beatriz finds her attentions swayed by Feliciana’s handsome son Virgílio, leading to a powerful climax and a devastating reckoning over the nature of power, sex and race in this visually stunning new film by writer/director Daniela Thomas.

Selected Filmography: Sunstroke (2009), Linha de Passe (2008), Midnight (1998), Foreign Land (1995)

IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 8:30 pm • REG Thursday, January 11 • 1:30 pm • MP

IN COMPETITION:

Selected Filmography: [REC] 3: Genesis (2012), [REC] 2 (2009), [REC] (2007), Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt (2004), Second Name (2002)

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 7:00 pm • MP Saturday, January 13 • 8:00 pm • MP

IN COMPETITION:

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Waru

Western

NEW ZEALAND, 2017 86 minutes Directors: Briar Grace-Smith, Ainsley Gardiner, Renae Maihi, Casey Kaa, Awanui Simich-Pene, Chelsea Cohen, Katie Wolfe, Paula Jones Cast: Miriama McDowell, Tanea Heke, Roimata Fox, Maria Walker, Acacia Hapi Print Source: New Zealand Film Commission

GERMANY/BULGARIA/AUSTRIA, 2017 119 minutes Director: Valeska Grisebach Cast: Meinhard Neumann, Reinhardt Wetrek, Syuleyman Alilov Letifov, Veneta Frangipova Print Source: The Cinema Guild

A striking, emotional, omnibus production, Waru is a groundbreaking collaboration among eight directors, all Maori women. Each filmmaker contributed a 10-minute piece set in the same New Zealand town, with the stories taking place simultaneously. The unifying event is the funeral of a young boy, whose untimely death signifies something different to everyone it affects. From the daycare teacher who must explain a student’s absence to the rest of her class, to the television reporter expected to represent the public face of the Maori community, each chapter takes on a new character’s point of view. Outstanding performances plunge the viewer into individual lives and experiences.

An intense, slow-burn thriller, Western follows a group of German construction workers installing a hydroelectric plant in remote rural Bulgaria. The foreign land and its breathtaking landscapes awaken the men’s macho sense of adventure, but tensions mount when Meinhard, the strong, silent type and a newcomer to the group, starts to mix with the locals. Meanwhile, his co-workers remain aloof from the villagers, maintaining an attitude of condescension.

Formally innovative to a larger purpose, Waru penetrates to the heart of the immediate situation and illuminates larger questions of responsibility, tradition, society and racism.

The jigsaw pieces open a dialogue on the universal nature of the issues raised, with all vignettes visually unified by Drew Sturge’s sweeping, immersive cinematography.

IN ENGLISH, MAORI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

In addition to detailing the culture clash drama, director Grisebach plays with the trappings of the Western genre: as Meinhard and the construction team’s loutish foreman Vincent jockey for the control of a white horse and for the affections of a feisty local lass, the stage is set for a showdown. The performances are so measured, authentic and psychologically acute that it is surprising to learn that the actors are all non-professionals.

Contemplative, provocative and perceptive, Western epitomizes contemporary European arthouse cinema.

Winner: Grand Prix, FIPRESCI Award, New Horizons Festival Selected Filmography: Longing (2006), Be My Star (2001) IN GERMAN, BULGARIAN, ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Thursday, January 11 • 8:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 1:30 pm • MP

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Sunday, January 7 • 2:30 pm • REG Tuesday, January 9 • 7:30 pm • REG

PALM SPRINGS INTERN AT I O NA L FIL M SO C I E T Y Membership in the film society brings you admission to sneak preview screenings & 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:

Fred and Holly Minniti, Nora Williams and Tim Wilson, James and Christine Scott, David Liggett and Mark Hawk, Donald and Judith Lorack, Clement Chan MD, and Donald S. Metzner

PREMIERE LEVEL MEMBERS:

The Wechsler Foundation, Clara DiFelice, Ms. Bobbi Lampros, Barbara Beyer, Ken Talmage and Jin Kim, Lisa Ivins, Paola and Peter Cohen, Marvin Salles, and Jack and Patti Grundhofer

PRODUCER LEVEL MEMBERS:

Terri Ketover, Dennis Reed, Hal Keasler and Jim Murphy, Don Kasper and Jim Bochinski, Mary Kay Stolz, Anita and George Cooks, Mary Ann LaBahn, Thomas Skok and Thomas-John Batok, Dr Michael and Carol Lovy, Victoria Till, Les Zendle, MD and Jerry Hanson, ModMansions Vacation Rentals, Harlan Eyre and Jim Arellano, Paul Hagle, Marsha Pachter, Pat and Gary, Seth and Page Evans, Tom Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien, and Phong Nguyen PSFILMFEST.ORG 169 FOR MORE INFORMATION ON FILM SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP, PLEASE VISIT WWW.PSFILMFEST.ORG

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TRUE STORIES

Nonfiction filmmaking at its most urgent and illuminating.

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Beyond the Opposite Sex

Brimstone & Glory

US, 2018 89 minutes Directors: Emily Abt, Bruce Hensel Print Source: Showtime

US/MEXICO, 2017 67 minutes Director: Viktor Jakovleski Print Source: Oscilloscope

WORLD PREMIERE

Frank, honest and illuminating, Beyond the Opposite Sex follows two love stories, one of a trans man and one of a trans woman. Formerly Jim, a macho man raising a 12-yearold daughter, Michigan-bred Jamie is now a sensitive singer/songwriter (and Trump supporter), living in Kentucky with her girlfriend, after having several affairs with men.

Since transitioning, woman-to-man Rene, a spirited, angry Texan, has left one girlfriend and started a new relationship.

Fifteen years ago, two acclaimed Showtime documentaries chronicled the experiences of these two people; this is the revelatory follow up film. It goes beyond the usual documentaries about the process of transitioning to focus on the challenges of building and maintaining relationships in hostile heartland America. How will Rene’s fiancée’s family react when they find out that her boyfriend was born a girl? How do Jamie and her female partner survive in a town where it is too dangerous for them to hold hands?

Selected Filmography: Emily Abt: Daddy Don’t Go (Documentary, 2016), Toe to Toe (2009), All of Us (Documentary 2008), Take It From Me (Documentary 2001)

Equal parts awe-inspiring and anxiety-inducing, Brimstone & Glory’s chronicle of an annual fireworks extravaganza in Tultepec, Mexico, is a visual, jaw-dropping spectacle like no other documentary before it.

In the days leading up to the explosive celebration of San Juan de Dios, director Viktor Jakovleski and his daring camera crew (including Beasts of the Southern Wild filmmaker Benh Zeitlin) record the dangerous lives of brave, some would say insane, fireworkmakers whose any false move or measurement could mean death. Though three-quarters of the residents of the small Mexican village work year-round in the pyrotechnic industry, the annual festival remains an immensely exciting, personal—if not spiritual—event for its citizens. When the sun goes down, setting the stage for the unveiling of the grand pyrotechnic finale, this immersive documentary delivers some of the most stunning and visceral footage captured on camera.

Backed by a soul-stirring soundtrack, Brimstone & Glory proves to be a transcendent experience for all.

Debut Feature

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Bruce Hensel: Debut Feature Tuesday, January 9 • 1:00 pm • REG Friday, January 12 • 7:30 pm • CAM Saturday, January 13 • 4:00 pm • PC

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Friday, January 5 • 10:00 am • CAM Saturday, January 6 • 4:00 pm • MP Thursday, January 11 • 7:30 pm • MP

IN COMPETITION:

TR UE STORIES

The Cage Fighter

The China Hustle

US, 2017 83 minutes Director: Jeff Unay Print Source: Sundance Selects

US, 2017 84 minutes Director: Jed Rothstein Print Source: Magnolia Pictures

This powerhouse documentary follows 40-year-old Joe Carman, a blue-collar Seattle family man whose life is guided by a single obsession: mixed martial arts. His wife, who’s battling a bone disease, begs him to stop. His four daughters hate to see him beat up in the ring by younger, stronger opponents. His alcoholic bully of a father belittles him. He’s promised over and over to quit, and then, training in secret, gone back to the cage, addicted to the violent confrontations. For fighting provides the only release in a life beset by woes—only in the ring does he feel proud of himself.

The real estate bust of 2008 wreaked financial devastation on bankers, hedgefund managers and ordinary Americans.

But instead of heeding the lesson that a deal that sounds too good to be true probably is, investors, like junkies seeking a fix, went hunting for the next opportunity for piein-the-sky returns. They found it in the wild, wild east of China.

Filmmaker Jeff Unay, who filmed over the course of three years, was given access to the most intimate moments in the Carman family drama, and his scenes pack a heavyweight emotional punch. The Cage Fighter is a fascinating, triumphant journey into the psyche of a man willing to risk everything he has for one more fight.

Debut Feature

Jed Rothstein’s riveting documentary, as scary in its implications as any horror movie, elucidates how defunct American businesses become shell company proxies for Chinese firms. These reverse mergers, as they are called, promise Americans big returns in the explosively growing Chinese market, but The China Hustle reveals that many of these Asian companies are empty shells themselves.

Illuminating interviews with whistleblowers, bankers and investors suggest another devastating bubble is about to burst. Rothstein has fashioned a gripping augury of a financial meltdown on the horizon. Time to get that investment portfolio in order.

Selected Filmography: Before the Spring: After the Fall (2013), Hidden Crisis: Women & AIDS (2002)

IN ENGLISH, MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 8:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 6 • 8:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 14 • 12:45 pm • PC

IN COMPETITION:

Saturday, January 6 • 2:30 pm • CAM Sunday, January 7 • 10:30 am • REG Friday, January 12 • 2:30 pm • REG

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Itzhak

Jane

US/ISRAEL, 2017 80 minutes Director: Alison Chernick Print Source: Voyeur Films

US, 2017 90 minutes Director: Brett Morgen Print Source: National Geographic

From Shubert to Strauss, Bach to Brahms, Mozart to…

Billy Joel, Itzhak Perlman’s violin playing transcends mere performance to evoke the celebrations and struggles of real life: “praying with the violin,” says renowned Tel Aviv violinmaker Amnon Weinstein. Alison Chernick’s enchanting documentary looks beyond the sublime musician, to see the polio survivor whose parents emigrated from Poland to Israel, the young man who struggled to be taken seriously as a music student when schools saw only his disability.

Itzhak himself is funny, irreverent and self-deprecating, and here his life story unspools in conversations with masterful musicians, family and friends, most endearingly his devoted wife of 50 years, Toby. Itzhak and Toby’s lives are dedicated to their large, loving, Jewish family in NYC and their continual support of young musicians in Israel.

You may think you know Jane Goodall’s story, but you have never seen the famed primatologist quite like this. This remarkable documentary came together when more than 100 hours of film were discovered in the National Geographic archives. Behind the lens of the decades-old footage was the late Hugo van Lawick, legendary wildlife photographer and filmmaker, and Jane’s first husband. In the hands of director Brett Morgen, and set to a powerful score by Philip Glass, Lawick’s raw material becomes an emotional, intimate portrait of a passionate, groundbreaking conservationist.

IN ENGLISH, HEBREW WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

While narrating her own story, Jane opens up about what it was like living in Tanzania’s Gombe National Park, actualizing her childhood dream of living with animals, while falling in love with the man who was capturing it all.

And it’s easy to fall in love with 26-year old Jane, as she sets off on a journey that would change the scientific world, and her own, forever.

Selected Filmography: Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015), Crossfire Hurricane (2012), Chicago 10 (2007), The Kid Stays In The Picture (2002), On the Ropes (1999)

Saturday, January 6 • 7:30 pm • ANN Sunday, January 7 • 4:30 pm • CAM Tuesday, January 9 • 8:15 pm • ANN

Friday, January 5 • 4:00 pm • PSHS Saturday, January 13 • 1:00 pm • CAM Sunday, January 14 • 2:30 pm • REG

As charming and entrancing as the famous violinist himself, Itzhak is a portrait of musical virtuosity seamlessly enclosed in warmth, humor, and above all, love.

Selected Filmography: Matthew Barney: No Restraint (2006)

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Liyana

Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle Muchos hijos, un mono y un castillo

SWAZILAND/US/QATAR, 2017 77 minutes Directors: Aaron Kopp, Amanda Kopp

SPAIN, 2017 90 minutes Director: Gustavo Salmerón Print Source: Dogwoof

A group of Swazi orphan children collaborates to tell a story drawn from their collective memories. From their imaginations comes Liyana, a fictional girl who embarks on a journey to rescue her younger twin brothers.

All she wanted out of life was to have lots of kids, a monkey and a castle. For 70-something Julita, the spirited mother of Spanish actor and first-time filmmaker Gustavo Salmerón, all those dreams came true, yet there’s always room for just a little bit more. In love with a world that didn’t always return the feeling, Julita’s cluttered, raucous life has been one filled with the adoration of her six children and often exasperated husband, yet a piercing sadness brought on by childhood experiences during the Spanish Civil War has never quite faded. Now spending her autumn years ensconced in a real castle outside Madrid—and obsessed with locating a pair of her beloved grandmother’s vertebrae—Julita discovers that her country’s broken economy is forcing her to give up her castle, bringing her colorfully dysfunctional family together for one last hurrah in this poignant, touching and often hysterical love letter to an unforgettable woman.

Through the character of Liyana, the children allow themselves to delve into the dark places in their own memories. Guided by anti-apartheid activist and renowned storyteller Gcina Mhlophe and brought to life through beautiful animation by artist Shofela Coker, Liyana refuses to give into bleakness, instead bringing forth a heartwarming tale of perseverance and inner strength from the minds of children.

The spirit of collaboration resonates through the film, from the talented and charming presence of the children onscreen to the people behind the camera. Executive produced by Thandie Newton and handled with sensitivity and care by directing duo, Aaron and Amanda Kopp, Liyana is a visually stunning and unforgettable account of the power of storytelling and the transformative nature of hope.

Debut Feature

Winner: Best Documentary, Karlovy Vary

Debut Feature

IN SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN COMPETITION:

Saturday, January 6 • 4:30 pm • REG Sunday, January 7 • 10:00 am • ANN Friday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • MP

IN COMPETITION:

IN ENGLISH, SWAZI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 6:15 pm • PC Saturday, January 6 • 4:30 pm • MP Thursday, January 11 • 2:00 pm • CAM

IN COMPETITION:

PSFILMFEST.ORG 177

TR UE ST ORIES

Love, Cecil

Love Means Zero

US, 2017 98 minutes Director: Lisa Immordino Vreeland With: Hamish Bowles, Leslie Caron, Rupert Everett, David Hockney, Isaac Mizrahi Print Source: Cinetic

US, 2017 89 minutes Director: Jason Kohn

Cecil Beaton was a man with an insatiable appetite for beauty. For six decades his eye for beauty made him one of the most influential photographers and designers of the 20th century, whether chronicling the decadent Bright Young Things in 1920s England; photographing Greta Garbo and Gary Cooper and other legends of stage and screen; taking fashion photography to fantastical new places in Vogue; designing the Oscar® winning sets and costumes for My Fair Lady and Gigi; scandalizing society with his tell-all diaries; or producing iconic images of Mick Jagger and Twiggy in the ’60s.

Fiercely competitive coach Nick Bollettieri, now 86, reminisces about the glory days of his Florida tennis academy, which produced a series of champions unlikely ever to be equaled, including Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and Monica Seles. His players acknowledge Bollettieri’s greatness as a teacher while also attesting to the character flaws that propelled him through eight marriages, financial turmoil and broken bonds with some of his athletes.

A world-class dandy who was also a great war photographer, Beaton’s remarkable, star-studded life, filled with unrequited love, is captured in all its glamour and complexity in Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s delicious documentary. The narration is in Beaton’s own words, read by Rupert Everett. Among the interview subjects are David Hockney, Leslie Caron and Isaac Mizrahi.

Selected Filmography: Peggy Guggenheim: Art of This Century (2015), Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011)

Friday, January 5 • 1:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 6 • 6:45 pm • PC

178 PSFILMFEST.ORG

IN COMPETITION:

No player meant more to Bollettieri than Andre Agassi, the kid from Las Vegas with astounding natural talent and an irrepressible rebel streak. Bollettieri molded Agassi into a champion, transforming him from a fearless teen with an ’80s mullet into the world’s number one player before their relationship fell apart. Love Means Zero traces that exhilarating and tumultuous arc with vintage highlights, frank critiques of Bollettieri’s obsessive will to win, and an emotional letter from Agassi to his mentor that achieves the minor miracle of melting the coach’s bluster and ego.

Selected Filmography: Manda Bala (Send a Bullet) (2007)

Friday, January 5 • 6:45 pm • ANN Saturday, January 6 • 12:15 pm • ANN Wednesday, January 10 • 10:30 am • REG

IN COMPETITION:

TR UE STORIES

Makala

Mankiller

FRANCE, 2017 96 minutes Director: Emmanuel Gras Print Source: Kino Lorber

US, 2017 73 minutes Director: Valerie Red-Horse Mohl

US PREMIERE

A work of great artistry and empathy, Emmanuel Gras’s documentary won the Grand Prize in Cannes’ Critics Week competition. The cinematic tone poem immerses the viewer in the life of a man in the Democratic Republic of the Congo whose day-to-day existence requires extreme hardship to ensure his family’s survival.

Every morning Kabwita Sasongo, a 28-year-old husband and father, sets out into the hills with two axes in hand.

We watch him single handedly fell a colossal tree, and then, in an earthen oven, turn the branches into charcoal. To earn the money he needs to buy a roof for his family’s house, he must take the coal, piled precariously atop his fragile bicycle in enormous bags, on the arduous 30 mile walk to town, where he hopes to sell it.

Under Gras’s exquisite eye, Kabwita’s odyssey takes on an almost mythic stature, his quest a testament to perseverance in the face of hardship.

Selected Filmography: Bovines (2011)

Wilma Mankiller should be as well known as Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, for she is one of the most inspiring freedom fighters our country has produced. The first woman to be named Chief of the Cherokee Nation, she is the subject of Valerie Red-Horse Mohl’s stirring, in-depth portrait, which recounts Mankiller’s remarkable journey from an impoverished Oklahoma childhood to being awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Clinton.

When Mankiller was 10 years old, the government forced her family to relocate to San Francisco. Coming of age in the Bay Area during the civil rights era, she was inspired by the activism of both the Black Power and Women’s movements, and when she returned to Oklahoma she began her against-all-odds rise to prominence in the male-dominated Cherokee Nation, fighting to bring unprecedented benefits and autonomy to her people.

This soft-spoken, iron-willed woman’s remarkable story comes to vivid life in this eye-opening documentary.

Debut Feature

IN FRENCH, SWAHILI WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Saturday, January 6 • 1:30 pm • MP Friday, January 12 • 4:00 pm • PC

Friday, January 5 • 8:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 6 • 5:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 11:00 am • MP

IN COMPETITION:

PSFILMFEST.ORG 179

TR UE ST ORIES

Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World

US, 2017 70 minutes Director: Pablo Bryant

CANADA, 2016 102 minutes Directors: Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana With: Robbie Robertson, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Martin Scorsese, Tony Bennett, Steven Tyler, Iggy Pop Print Source: Kino Lorber

A prodigiously gifted artist with a radically subversive bent, political cartoonist Mr. Fish has built a career out of pushing the boundaries of acceptability with his hilarious and frequently shocking cartoons lampooning American politics, religion and everything in between. But as Pablo Bryant’s incisive documentary shows, the shrinking field of print media is making things tough for professional cartoonists everywhere, and especially ones as gleefully provocative as Fish.

Fast-paced and fascinating, vibrating with the energy of a power chord strummed on a Gibson SG, Rumble fills in a piece of the history of 20th-century popular music that few people knew was missing: the Native American influence on rock ’n’ roll, blues and R&B.

Providing an intimate portrait of its subject as both an artist and a devoted family man, the film finds him at a crossroads: should he dull the sharp edges of his work in order to appeal to a wider audience and better support his family, or should he hold steadfast to his nonconformist ideals?

A welcome showcase for Fish’s irreverent but deadly serious images, this stirring documentary shines a spotlight on this artist at a moment when his activist spirit has never been more necessary.

Debut Feature

Wednesday, January 10 • 1:00 pm • PC Saturday, January 13 • 7:30 pm • CAM

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Taking its name from the iconic instrumental, Rumble begins with the song’s creator, guitarist Link Wray. Born in North Carolina to a Shawnee mother, he recalls hiding under the bed during nighttime KKK raids. Many influential blues musicians who were thought of as African American also had Native roots, and Rumble illuminates the traditional rhythms, singing and playing styles that can so clearly be heard in their work and in popular music today. The film posits that there might not have been bands like The Who or the Rolling Stones without these seminal musicians.

Featuring interviews with rock greats of all backgrounds, Rumble is an essential documentary for music fans.

Winner: Special Jury Award, Sundance Selected Filmography: Smoke Traders (2012), Reel Injun (2009)

Sunday, January 7 • 4:30 pm • REG Monday, January 8 • 6:30 pm •MP

TR UE STORIES

Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me

Skid Row Marathon

US, 2017 100 minutes Director: Sam Pollard Print Source: Menemsha Films

US, 2017 85 minutes Director: Mark Hayes Print Source: Owls Media

Equal parts heart wrenching and exhilarating, the compelling story of one of show business’ greatest entertainers comes to the screen in Peabody award-winning filmmaker Sam Pollard’s revelatory documentary. Whether it was his uncanny impression of Bogey or his mesmerizing tap skills, Sammy Davis, Jr. drew rapturous applause from audiences across the globe. Knowing the stardom he achieved, his meteoric rise may seem as if it was inevitable, but in reality his journey to achieve his own American dream faced opposition and contradictions from both sides of the civil rights debate.

Judge Craig Mitchell is a tough judge, but he believes in second chances. A dedicated jogger, he began a running club for the homeless at the Midnight Mission in the heart of L.A.’s notorious Skid Row, hoping that through the discipline of running these men and women who had lost everything could reclaim a sense of dignity.

Pollard illuminates the life of this complex individual through revealing footage, from Davis as a three-yearold tap dancing phenomenon through his time crooning with the Rat Pack. Featuring interviews with such greats as Quincy Jones, Jerry Lewis, Kim Novak, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me returns this consummate entertainer to the spotlight.

Following five of the runners over a period of three years, Mark Hayes’ inspiring documentary takes us from the mean streets of downtown L.A. to Rome, where this improbable band of former junkies, recovering alcoholics and a paroled murderer compete in a world-class marathon. Among them are a man the judge himself sentenced (and who spent 10 years living on the streets) and a 40-year-old single mom who lost everything through her addiction and now finds a new lease on life. This stirring, awardwinning film finds hope in the most hopeless of places.

Winner: Best Documentary, LA Muse Award, Los Angeles

Selected Filmography: ACORN and the Firestorm (2017), Two Trains Runnin’ (2016)

Selected Filmography: Soviet Jews in the City of Angels (2013), One Germany, the Other Side of the Wall (2011)

Friday, January 5 • 12:45 pm • ANN Saturday, January 6 • 10:00 am • CAM

Thursday, January 4 • 12:30 pm • PC Saturday, January 13 • 10:00 am • MP

PSFILMFEST.ORG 181

TR UE ST ORIES

So Help Me God

Stealing Rodin

BELGIUM/FRANCE, 2017 89 minutes Directors: Jean Libon, Yves Hinant Print Source: Le Bureau Films

CHILE/FRANCE, 2017 80 minutes Director: Cristóbal Valenzuela Berríos

US PREMIERE

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Style and subject matter are perfectly aligned in this provocative documentary with quick-witted Belgian judge Anne Gruwez taking viewers behind the scenes of real-life criminal investigations.

When Santiago’s Fine Arts Museum mounted a retrospective of the works of sculptor Auguste Rodin in the summer of 2005, no one could have anticipated that the exhibition would birth a scandal that would rock Chilean society and the international art world. But when one of the master’s most celebrated works, Torso of Adele, went missing, only to be quickly “found” in a nearby park by local art student Luis Emilio Onfray Fabres, what at first appeared to be nothing more than a prank quickly revealed itself to be a provocative statement on the nature of loss and memory.

The thoughtful, if troubled, young artist turned a quiet exhibition into a major must-see attraction—and made Santiago the center of a debate on the nature of art itself.

Robar a Rodin

An examining magistrate, Gruwez allowed the filmmakers to follow her for more than three years. This remarkable level of access lets us see her as she meets with perpetrators at her office (“It’s nice when satisfied customers come back,” she quips sarcastically when a previous culprit returns on another charge). We witness her quirky relationship with the police investigators working on a cold case (she asks them to turn on their siren when she wants to get somewhere quickly) and even glimpse her home life, playing with her pet white rat. A particular highlight involves Gruwez’s increasing fascination as she questions a dominatrix about the intimate details of her job.

Filmmakers Jean Libon and Yves Hinant renounced advance scripting, allowing reality to unfold naturally, and resulting in this riveting, stranger-than-fiction tale.

Selected Filmography: Jean Libon: Debut Feature; Yves Hinant: The Referees (2009)

With the participation of the thief himself, this fresh, lively and unexpectedly touching debut feature from co-writer/ director Cristóbal Valenzuela Berríos revisits the scene of the crime.

Debut Feature

IN FRENCH, SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

IN FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES Tuesday, January 9 • 6:00 pm • REG Wednesday, January 10 • 12:30 pm • ANN Friday, January 12 • 10:00 am • REG

182 PSFILMFEST.ORG

IN COMPETITION:

Friday, January 5 • 1:30 pm • MP Wednesday, January 10 • 5:00 pm • REG Saturday, January 13 • 1:30 pm • MP

IN COMPETITION:

TR UE STORIES

Stumped

This is Congo

US, 2017 72 minutes Director: Robin Berghaus Print Source: Berghaus Productions LLC

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO/US/CANADA/ QATAR, 2017 93 minutes Director: Daniel McCabe Print Source: Dogwoof

Filmmaker Will Lautzenheiser was just starting a dream job in Montana when his life took a shocking turn: stricken with a rare bacterial infection, both his arms and his legs had to be amputated to save his life. Hailed by The Boston Globe as “inspiring, heartbreaking and often hilarious,” Stumped traces Will’s response to this tragedy, as he becomes a stand-up comic (a very funny one!). Then, with his devoted partner Angel at his side, he takes another leap of faith by volunteering for a pioneering surgery: a double-arm transplant. If successful, he will be the third person ever to receive the surgery, but more important, he will be able to hold a camera in his transplanted hands, and reach out to feel raindrops falling.

Both a gripping account of the current state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a lesson in the country’s history, photojournalist-turned-director Daniel McCabe’s documentary combines unfiltered footage of conflict with the day-to-day activities of regular Congolese people surviving in an unforgiving and perpetual warzone.

Stumped is the story of Will’s creativity and courage, as well as a tribute to the devotion of his family and friends and the dedication of the doctors attempting a medical miracle.

Debut Feature

This immersive and raw investigation into life in the region presents the experiences of four very different people: a former rebel and present high-ranking National Army colonel and whistleblower; a young, patriotic, soft-spoken and inspiring soldier rising within the ranks; a resilient black market minerals dealer; and an older tailor living in a displaced persons camp.

Their realities are distinct from each other but they are all key to understanding the country’s little talked about cycle of war. In the end, as Colonel Kasongo, the whistleblower, says: it’s not enough to know what the Congo is… but why it is that way as well.

Debut Feature IN ENGLISH, FRENCH, SWAHILI, LINGALA WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Sunday, January 7 • 3:30 pm • ANN Tuesday, January 9 • 4:00 pm • PC

Thursday, January 11 • 4:30 pm • MP Sunday, January 14 • 10:00 am • PC

PSFILMFEST.ORG 183

BEST

TR UE ST ORIES

OF THE

The Workers Cup UK, 2017 92 minutes Director: Adam Sobel Print Source: Autlook Filmsales

The World Cup is coming to Qatar in 2022, and construction is in full swing. In the shadows of the gleaming high rises towering over this wealthy desert nation, 1.6 million migrant workers labor long hours for meager pay to build the infrastructure for the world’s biggest sporting event. In their off hours, a talented few will also get chance to play in those same stadiums, in a football tournament of their own called The Workers Cup. In this high-energy, inspirational documentary, director Adam Sobel shares the stories of a select group of footballer-laborers who’ve come from a host of developing countries such as Ghana, Kenya, India and Nepal in search of opportunity—only to find the reality to be harshly out of sync with the dream. Both on and off the pitch, they strive to find their places in a world that often treats them as second class-citizens, even as they compete for goals and glory.

Debut Feature IN ENGLISH, NEPALI, MALAYALAM, HINDI, ARABIC WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Friday, January 5 • 12:30 pm • REG Saturday, January 6 • 11:00 am • REG Saturday, January 13 • 3:30 pm • ANN

184 PSFILMFEST.ORG

IN COMPETITION:

(FREE)

FEST

15

J A N U A RY

P S F I L M F E S T. O R G

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OC/LA Location: 3100 S. Susan Street Santa Ana, CA 92704LA & (714) 545-6777 Palm Springs/Indio Location 82309 Market Street Indio, CA 92201 (760) 863-0671 www.SignatureParty.com

190 PSFILMFEST.ORG

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I Am Not a Witch Am Not Witch II Am aa Witch (92)Not 8:30 PM (92) 8:30 8:30 PM PM (92)

The Brawler

The Art of Loving The(117) Art 2:00 of Loving Loving The Art of PM (117) 2:00 2:00 PM PM (117)

The Charmer

Angels Wear White Angels Wear White Angels (107)Wear 11:00 White AM

The Charmer Charmer The (100) 10:30 AM (100) (100) 10:30 10:30 AM AM

Jane

Sex, Pity and Sex, Pity Sex, Pity and and Loneliness Loneliness Loneliness (119) 1:30 PM

(107) 11:00 11:00 AM AM (107)

Jane (90)Jane 2:30 PM (90) (90) 2:30 2:30 PM PM

(119) 1:30 1:30 PM PM (119)

(100) 8:00 PM

This is Congo (93) 4:30 PM

Brimstone & Glory

(71) 3:30 PM

My Days of Mercy (107) 5:45 PM

Hunting Season (105) 1:00 PM

In Syria

(85) 3:45 PM

The Gospel Acc ...

(94) 4:00 PM

I Am Not a Witch (92) 6:00 PM

Scotty and the ...

(98) 7:00 PM

(67) 7:30 PM

(84) 10:30 10:30 AM AM (84)

Montparnasse ...

Montparnasse ...

Montparnasse (97) 4:00 PM ...

(97) 4:00 4:00 PM PM (97)

Holy Camp

OneThousandRopes One(98) Thousand Ropes One Thousand Ropes 12:00 PM

(104) 3:00 3:00 PM PM (104)

Silk Road Silk5:00 Road Silk Road (89) PM (89) (89) 5:00 5:00 PM PM

Mobile Homes Mobile Homes Mobile Homes (105) 7:30 PM (105) 7:30 7:30 PM PM (105)

Beyond the Clouds Beyond the Clouds Beyond (120) the 1:30Clouds PM (120) 1:30 1:30 PM PM (120)

The Charmer The Charmer The (100)Charmer 4:00 PM (100) (100) 4:00 4:00 PM PM

In Syria In Syria In6:00 SyriaPM (85) (85) 6:00 6:00 PM PM (85)

The Third Murder The Third Murder The(124) Third Murder 8:00 PM (124) 8:00 8:00 PM PM (124)

Killing Jesús Killing Jesús Killing Jesús (100) 4:30 PM

Ava Ava (105)Ava 4:30 PM

Mobile Homes Mobile Homes Mobile Homes (105) 4:00 PM

Lots of Kids ...

Lots of4:00 Kids ...

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April's Daughter April's Daughter April's (103) Daughter 7:30 PM

Holy6:30 Camp Holy Camp (108) PM (108) 6:30 6:30 PM PM (108)

(105) 4:30 4:30 PM PM (105)

Finding Your Feet Finding YourAM Feet Finding Your Feet (111) 10:00 (111) (111) 10:00 10:00 AM AM

Let the Sunshine In Let Let the the Sunshine In (94)Sunshine 3:30 PM In (94) 3:30 3:30 PM PM (94)

Maktub Maktub Maktub (100) 6:00 PM (100) 6:00 6:00 PM PM (100)

Mr. Fish ...

Mr. Fish ...

(70) Mr. 7:30 FishPM ...

(70) 7:30 7:30 PM PM (70)

Spoor Spoor (128)Spoor 10:30 AM (128) 10:30 10:30 AM AM (128)

No Date, No Sig ...

No(104) Date,1:00 NoPM Sig ... ...

No Date, No Sig (104) 1:00 1:00 PM PM (104)

A SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE DESERT SUN AND DESERT POST WEEKLY A SPECIAL ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE DESERT SUN AND DESERT POST WEEKLY

(105) 4:00 4:00 PM PM (105)

(103) (103) 7:30 7:30 PM PM

Jane

(100) 4:30 4:30 PM PM (100)

OneThousandRopes One Thousand Ropes One(98) Thousand Ropes 1:00 PM

A Ciambra Ciambra A (117) 1:00 PM (117) 1:00 1:00 PM PM (117)

PSHS PSHS

(98) 1:00 1:00 PM PM (98)

(90) (90) 4:00 4:00 PM PM

Mankiller

Mankiller (73) 11:00 AM Mankiller (73) 11:00 11:00 AM AM (73)

Waru

Stealing Rodin Stealing Rodin (80) 1:30Rodin PM Stealing

Good Manners Good Manners Good (135)Manners 4:30 PM (135) 4:30 4:30 PM PM (135)

(80) 1:30 1:30 PM PM (80)

On Borrowed Time On Time On Borrowed Borrowed Time (93) 4:00 PM (93) 4:00 4:00 PM PM (93)

Call Me by Call Me Me by Call by Your Name Your3:30 Name Your Name (131) PM

Makala Makala Makala (96) 4:00 PM

(131) (131) 3:30 3:30 PM PM

(101) 1:00 1:00 PM PM (101)

Scotty and ...

Scotty and ...

Scotty and (98) 3:00 PM...

(98) (98) 3:00 3:00 PM PM

(96) 4:00 4:00 PM PM (96)

The Miner

The Art of Loving The(117) Art 7:30 of Loving Loving The Art of PM

The6:30 Miner The Miner (98) PM (98) (98) 6:30 6:30 PM PM

ANN ANN

PC PC

PSHS PSHS

Just to Be Sure Just to10:00 Be Sure Sure Just Be (100)to AM (100) (100) 10:00 10:00 AM AM

A Fantastic Woman A Fantastic Fantastic Woman A Woman (103) 12:30 PM (103) 12:30 12:30 PM PM (103)

The Workers Cup The Workers The(92) Workers Cup 3:30 PMCup (92) 3:30 3:30 PM PM (92)

Thoroughbreds Thoroughbreds Thoroughbreds (90) 6:00 PM

The Line

The1:00 LinePM The Line (112) (112) (112) 1:00 1:00 PM PM Beyond the Opp ...

Beyond the Opp Beyond the PM Opp ... ...

(89) 4:00 (89) 4:00 4:00 PM PM (89)

(90) 6:00 6:00 PM PM (90)

Montana (74) 6:45 PM Montana (74) 6:45 6:45 PM PM (74)

Montana

Borg vs. McEnroe Borg vs.6:00 McEnroe Borg vs.

McEnroe (100) PM

ANN ANN

PC PC

PSHS PSHS

The Quartette The Quartette The (93)Quartette 10:30 AM

The Workshop The Workshop The (113)Workshop 10:00 AM

This is Congo This Congo This is Congo (93) is 10:00 AM

Killing Jesús Killing Jesús Killing Jesús (100) 1:00 PM

Lean On Pete Lean On Lean On Pete Pete (119) 12:45 PM

The Cage Fighter The(83) Cage Fighter 12:45 PM The Cage Fighter

The Motive

Veronica Veronica Veronica (105) 8:00 PM

Suleiman ...

Suleiman ...

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(101) 1:00 PM

(117) 7:30 7:30 PM PM (117)

(85) 10:00 10:00 AM AM (85)

Waru (86)Waru 1:30 PM (86) (86) 1:30 1:30 PM PM

(88) 12:45 12:45 PM PM (88)

Holy Camp

MARY PICKFORD MARY PICKFORD Skid Row Marathon Skid(85) Row Marathon Skid Row Marathon 10:00 AM

The Testament The Testament The (88)Testament 12:45 PM

The Motive Motive The (112) 7:00 PM (112) (112) 7:00 7:00 PM PM

(100) 6:00 6:00 PM PM (100)

(105) 8:00 8:00 PM PM (105)

CAMELOT THEATRES CAMELOT THEATRES

The Testament The Testament The (88)Testament 11:30 AM (88) 11:30 11:30 AM AM (88)

(103) 1:30 1:30 PM PM (103)

A Ciambra

Minister Minister (115) 1:00 PM (115) (115) 1:00 1:00 PM PM

Jane (90)Jane 1:00 PM (90) 1:00 1:00 PM PM (90)

April's Daughter April's April's Daughter (103) Daughter 1:30 PM

PC PC

(94) (94) 10:00 10:00 AM AM

Beyond the Opp ...

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Beyond the Opp (89) 7:30

Holy10:30 Camp Holy Camp (108) AM (108) (108) 10:30 10:30 AM AM

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The Prime The Prime The Prime Minister

(104) 1:30 1:30 PM PM (104)

(107) 10:00 10:00 AM AM (107)

The Great Buddha+ The(104) Great3:00 Buddha+ The Great Buddha+ PM

Holy Air

No Date, No Sig ...

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Three Peaks Three Peaks Three Peaks (94) 6:30 PM

MARY PICKFORD MARY PICKFORD

Holy AirAM (81) 10:00 Holy Air (81) 10:00 10:00 AM AM (81)

CAMELOT THEATRES CAMELOT THEATRES

REGAL PALM SPRINGS 9 REGAL PALM SPRINGS 9

The The Brawler Brawler (153) 10:00 AM (153) 10:00 10:00 AM AM (153)

(93) 5:00 PM

Killing Jesús

(89) (89) 7:30 7:30 PM PM

SUNDAY, SUNDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 14 14 8:00 AM 8:00 AM AM 8:00 9:00 AM 9:00 9:00 AM AM 10:00 AM 10:00 AM AM 10:00 11:00 AM 11:00 AM AM 11:00 NOON NOON NOON 1:00 PM 1:00 1:00 PM PM 2:00 PM 2:00 PM PM 2:00 3:00 PM 3:00 PM PM 3:00 4:00 PM 4:00 4:00 PM PM 5:00 PM 5:00 PM PM 5:00 6:00 PM 6:00 PM PM 6:00 7:00 PM 7:00 7:00 PM PM 8:00 PM 8:00 PM PM 8:00 9:00 PM 9:00 PM PM 9:00 10:00 PM 10:00 PM PM 10:00

The Future Ahead The(84) Future Ahead The Future 10:30Ahead AM

Love and Shukla Love Shukla Love and Shukla (107)and 10:00 AM (98) 12:00 12:00 PM PM (98)

Bloody Milk Bloody Milk Bloody (90) 2:30Milk PM

Thoroughbreds (98) 7:30 PM

(102) (102) 7:30 7:30 PM PM

REGAL PALM SPRINGS 9 REGAL PALM SPRINGS 9

1945 1945 (91)1945 11:30 AM

Maze

Men Don't Cry

(94) 6:30 6:30 PM PM (94)

The Gold Seekers The Gold Seekers PM The(102) Gold7:30 Seekers

SATURDAY, SATURDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 13 13 8:00 AM 8:00 8:00 AM AM 9:00 AM 9:00 AM AM 9:00 10:00 AM 10:00 AM AM 10:00 11:00 AM 11:00 11:00 AM AM NOON NOON NOON 1:00 PM 1:00 PM PM 1:00 2:00 PM 2:00 PM PM 2:00 3:00 PM 3:00 3:00 PM PM 4:00 PM 4:00 PM PM 4:00 5:00 PM 5:00 PM PM 5:00 6:00 PM 6:00 6:00 PM PM 7:00 PM 7:00 PM PM 7:00 8:00 PM 8:00 PM PM 8:00 9:00 PM 9:00 9:00 PM PM 10:00 PM 10:00 PM PM 10:00

(96) 3:00 PM

CAMELOT THEATRES CAMELOT THEATRES So Help Me God So(89) Help MeAM God So Help Me God 10:00

(107) 10:30 10:30 AM AM (107)

The Motive The Motive Motive The (112) 2:00 PM

1945

(91) 12:45 PM

| 2018

My Days of Mercy My(107) Days10:30 of Mercy Mercy My Days of AM Streaker Streaker Streaker (93) 1:30 PM

Youth

(136) 1:00 PM

The Party

(90) 6:00 PM

REGAL PALM SPRINGS 9 REGAL PALM SPRINGS 9

Barefoot Barefoot Barefoot (111) 11:00 AM

Vazante

(116) 1:30 PM

The Divine Order

(107) 4:30 PM

(153) 7:30 PM

28 PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FRIDAY, FRIDAY, JANUARY JANUARY 12 12 8:00 AM 8:00 8:00 AM AM 9:00 AM 9:00 AM AM 9:00 10:00 AM 10:00 AM AM 10:00 11:00 AM 11:00 11:00 AM AM NOON NOON NOON 1:00 PM 1:00 PM PM 1:00 2:00 PM 2:00 2:00 PM PM 3:00 PM 3:00 PM PM 3:00 4:00 PM 4:00 PM PM 4:00 5:00 PM 5:00 5:00 PM PM 6:00 PM 6:00 PM PM 6:00 7:00 PM 7:00 PM PM 7:00 8:00 PM 8:00 8:00 PM PM 9:00 PM 9:00 PM PM 9:00 10:00 PM 10:00 PM PM 10:00

The House by the Sea

The Brawler

(101) 8:30 PM

10:00 PM

(94) 4:00 PM

(112) 5:00 PM

The Charmer

(86) 8:00 PM

(77) 2:00 PM

Budapest Noir

Django

(102) 12:30 PM

Liyana

(106) 1:00 PM

(97) 1:30 PM

(100) 7:00 PM

Bye Bye Germany

Ice Mother

(125) 2:30 PM

(104) 5:30 PM

(100) 10:00 AM

Pop Aye

(104) 11:00 AM

(107) 11:00 AM

(112) 2:00 PM

Newton

(90) 10:00 AM

(96) 10:00 AM

Gutland

Longing

Bloody Milk

Oh Lucy!

Alaska is a Drag

MARY PICKFORD MARY PICKFORD

Streaker

Streaker Streaker (93) 10:00 AM (93) 10:00 10:00 AM AM (93) The Cakemaker The Cakemaker The Cakemaker (104) 1:00 PM (104) 1:00 1:00 PM PM (104)

The Endless

Sweet Country Sweet Country Sweet Country (112) 1:30 PM (112) 1:30 1:30 PM PM (112)

The Endless Endless The (112) 11:30 AM (112) (112) 11:30 11:30 AM AM Two Irenes Two3:00 Irenes Two Irenes (89) PM

(93) 10:30 10:30 AM AM (93)

(100) 1:00 1:00 PM PM (100)

(113) (113) 10:00 10:00 AM AM

(119) 12:45 12:45 PM PM (119)

(93) 10:00 10:00 AM AM (93)

(83) 12:45 12:45 PM PM (83)

(89) (89) 3:00 3:00 PM PM

CLOSING NIGHT CLOSING NIGHT 5:30 PM CLOSING NIGHT 5:30 PM PM 5:30

PSFILMFEST.ORG 193 PSFILMFEST.ORG PSFILMFEST.ORG

29 29

2018 PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL STAFF EXECUTIVE STAFF

CREATIVE

Rhea A. Lewis-Woodson, Managing Director Michael Lerman, Artistic Director

Jodi Adams, Creative Services Manager Maya Kalabic, Designer Stampede, Festival Trailer LA, Poster Art Destination PSP, Merchandise

PROGRAMMING Lili Rodriguez, Director of Programming David Ansen, Lead Programmer Alissa Simon, Senior Programmer Therese Hayes, Programmer Hebe Tabachnik, Programmer Laura Henneman, Programmer Jessica Eskelin, Programming Assistant Amiel Morris, Print Traffic Clayton Martin, Print Traffic Nicole Hale, Programming Intern DEVELOPMENT Kristin Bloomer, Sponsorship & Development Manager Heather Bolton, Senior Development Associate Israel Wilder, Marketing Coordinator Zack Solomon, Membership & Education Manager Liz Marion, Development Associate Cynthia Hernandez, Film Society Coordinator Tiffany Carter, Social Media Coordinator Maria Lopez, Marketing Assistant Kenzie Butler, Marketing Intern Christopher Cross, Social Media Intern ADMINISTRATION Lauren Tutzauer, Operations Manager Shanna Ensley, Office Coordinator/Receptionist Felicia Alford, Accountant Rita Huber-Germscheid, Accounting Assistant Holly Copeland, Volunteer Coordinator Debbie Ray Scanlon, Assistant Volunteer Coordinator GUEST RELATIONS Sarah Poppitz, Senior Guest Relations Manager Alyssa Lopez, Guest Relations Manager Adrenia Kemp, Guest Relations Coordinator Nathan Collins, Ground Transportation Coordinator Terri Arnett, Ground Transportation Assistant Maurine Lenahan, Guest Suite Coordinator Katie Gilligan, Guest Relations Assistant Dominique Wulfekuhle, Hospitality Associate SPECIAL EVENTS Deena Murray, Special Events Manager Sophia Gracia, Special Events Assistant Elizabeth Grenier, Special Events Intern

194 PSFILMFEST.ORG

PUBLICATIONS Cassidy Dimon, Publications Coordinator Laura Henneman, Editor EsmĂŠ Ryan, Publications Assistant Joel Hoglund, Film Awards Program Writer CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jessica Eskelin Pam Grady Jesse Knight Gustavus Kundahl Linton Melita Joanne Parsont Judy Plapinger Trey Shields Travis Trew Jack Vermee Landon Zakheim PHOTOGRAPHY David A. Lee, Photography Nick Cox | Kendall Prodcutions, Videography PUBLICITY Steve Wilson, BWR, Publicist Ron Hoffman, BWR, Publicist Ashley Patterson, BWR Lauren Peteroy, BWR Nikki Croney, BWR Erica Markle, BWR FESTIVAL OPERATIONS Joseph Cole, Theatre Operations Manager Aaron Ridenour, Technical Manager Phil Del Costello, Theater Ops Assistant Edward Thayer, Festival Concierge Laurie Reese, Concierge Assistant Krystin Braverman, Production Coordinator Rhonda Teeny, Production Assistant Chris Wharton, Production Assistant Hill Hardy, Production Intern Cassidy Dimon, AMEX Festival Host BOX OFFICE

Deshun Leary, Box Office Co-Manager Nathaniel Porter, Box Office Co-Manager Peter East, Credentials Manager Nichole Alvarez, Box Office Supervisor

2018 PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL STAFF Veronica Aranda, Box Office Supervisor Sam Calderon, Box Office Supervisor Paul Kay, Box Office Supervisor Derek Nunn, Box Office Supervisor Alexander Paz, Box Office Supervisor David Willhoit, Box Office Supervisor VENUE MANAGERS Joe Adams George Barber Dylan Boom Sara Carrasco Steve Csutoras Liam Dacey Dan Doody Cola Engel Aglaia Gelpke Max Holm Natasha Hoover Ken Klump Alex Mills Kristin Nolan Josh Nye Jon Olsen Carly Rose Moser Kaitlyn Ryan Mijoe Sahiouni Emily Shurtz Betty Tweedy Alex Vazquez

PROJECTIONISTS Greg Babush Chris Bredenberg Alex Fountain Randall Harper Freedom Hopkins Sergio Lobo-Navia Billy Mac Donald Sara Meyers Brian Morataya Phillips Payson Isaac Sherman Ryan Smith Brandon Theige Alec Tisdale FILM AWARDS ADMINISTRATION Christina Sasse, Film Awards Manager Jordan Nannestad, Film Awards Administrator Scarlett Wilmsen, Film Awards Associate Jessica Jazayeri, Film Awards VIP Coordinator Natasha Hoover, Film Awards Production Coordinator Dawn Norton, Film Awards Coordinator Ben Carroll, Film Awards Transportation Assistant Lauren Selman, Film Awards Transportation Assistant Stephen Boyd, Film Awards Designer David Gray, Film Awards Volunteer Manager Hudson Alling, Film Awards Red Carpet Manager

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOR THEIR INDIVIDUAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT, WE THANK:

A24 Lison Hervé Abigail Martínez S. Louis Hughes Alma Cinema Lucie Meynial Alpha Violet Luke Brawley Anne-Sophie Lehec Lynne Toles Arnaud Bélangeon Magnolia Pictures Arnaud Godart Mami Furukawa Carroll Gelderman Manon Barat Chris Parman Maria Crespo Christian De Schutter Matthew Christensen Christina Zisa Maxwell Wolkin Christof Wehmeier Michael Barker Claire Battistoni Mika Kimoto Cosima Finkbeiner Mike Babb Damon Rubio Nancy Gertsman Dan Granger Natasha Avila Danish Film Institute Oscilloscope Danny Torres Pascale Ramonda Danny Torres & staff Paul Orth David Lee Peter Bouckaert DJ Babb Pia Pinar Ercan Ed Arentz Rebecca Fisher Elizabeth Sheldon RJ Millard Ellen Goodman Robbie Arrington Eric Franssen Ronit Vanderlinden Eric Smith Sabryna Phillips Ewa Bojanowska Sergi Steegmann The Festival Agency Stephanie Knight FilmRise Strand Releasing Finish Film Foundation Taylor Devorsky Gaetano Maiorino Ted Hane Gala Hernández Tom Prassis Gary Rubin Torsten Schulze Geraldine Bryant Vin Diesel Giedre Simanauskaite Well Go USA Harriet Baron XYZ Films IFC/Sundance Selects Team Ilaria Gomarasca Ines Skrbic FILM REVIEW COMMITEE Jack Wolfe and VER Jeb Bonner Dominique Wulfekuhle Jennifer Stott Donna Lawton Joe Yanick Edward Thayer Jon Newlander Fiona Foyston Josh Flareau Harlan Eyre Juliette Bechu Joan Matthias Kathleen McInnis John Wintemute Kimia Shahabi Jonny Roy Kino Lorber Laura Hein Kyle Westpha Lucien Agosta Larry Stotz Margo Handelsman Latido Films Michael Martin Leeya Mor Shelley Rodriguez

PSFILMFEST.ORG 195

FILMS BY GENRE ACTION/ADVENTURE Control The Gold Seekers The Line The Lost City of Z The Train of Salt and Sugar Vazante Western

Love Means Zero Makala Mankiller The Miner The Polka King The Post Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood A Taxi Driver Tom of Finland

AFRICAN INTEREST Beauty and the Dogs Félicté Five Fingers for Marseilles I Am Not A Witch Liyana Makala The Royal Hibiscus Hotel The Train of Salt and Sugar The Wound

BORDERS/MIGRATION Amerika Square Happy End The Motive On the Seventh Day

AGING/SENIORS Ice Mother The Last Movie Star The Leisure Seeker On Borrowed Time ASIAN Angels Wear White Beyond the Clouds Birdshot Bitter Flowers The Brawler Close-Knit The Great Buddha+ Her Love Boils Bathwater Love and Shukla Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts Newton Oh Lucy!

Pop Aye A Taxi Driver The Third Murder Youth BIOGRAPHY The Art of Loving Borg vs. McEnroe Darkest Hour The Disaster Artist Django Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool First They Killed My Father I, Tonya Itzhak Jane The Lost City of Z Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle Love, Cecil

196 PSFILMFEST.ORG

COMEDY Bye Bye Germany The Cousin The Disaster Artist Finding Your Feet The Great Buddha+ Her Love Boils Bathwater Holy Air Ice Mother Just to Be Sure Last Flag Flying Let the Sunshine In Maktub The Motive Newton Oh Lucy!

On Body and Soul On the Seventh Day The Party The Polka King The Quartette The Royal Hibiscus Hotel Sex, Pity and Loneliness Streaker Stumped Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Under the Tree Wajib COMING OF AGE Barefoot Call Me By Your Name A Ciambra The Desert Bride Lean on Pete Rey’s Education Summer 1993 Thelma Youth CRIME Beauty and the Dogs Budapest Noir

The China Hustle Control Cover Versions In The Fade Killing Jesús The Line Maktub Maze The Prime Minster Racer and The Jailbird Silk Road So Help Me God Spoor Stealing Rodin Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri DOCUMENTARY Beyond the Opposite Sex Brimstone & Glory The Cage Fighter The China Hustle Constructing Albert The Gospel According to André Itzhak Jane Liyana Lots of Kids, a Monkey, and a Castle Love, Cecil Love Means Zero Makala Mankiller Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Skid Row Marathon So Help Me God Stealing Rodin Stumped Tempestad This Is Congo The Workers Cup FAMILY RELATIONS Alaska is a Drag April’s Daughter Aquarians Barefoot Barrage Beyond the Clouds Bloody Milk The Divine Order Foxtrot Happy Birthday

Happy End Her Love Boils Bathwater The House by the Sea Hunting Season Ice Mother Longing Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle Loveless Love After Love Love and Shukla Mobile Homes Never Steady, Never Still Nostalgia One Thousand Ropes On the Seventh Day The Prime Minster Scaffolding A Sort of Family Suleiman Mountain Summer 1993 The Summit Tempestad Three Peaks Two Irenes Under the Tree Wajib Yeva FOOD The Cakemaker Constructing Albert The Royal Hibiscus Hotel The Space Between LGBTQ Alaska is a Drag Allure Beyond the Opposite Sex BPM (Beats Per Minute) The Cakemaker Call Me By Your Name Close-Knit A Fantastic Woman Holy Camp Love, Cecil Montana My Days of Mercy The Ring Thing Stumped Thelma Tom of Finland The Wound HISPANIC/LATINO April’s Daughter Constructing Albert The Desert Bride A Fantastic Woman The Future Ahead The Gold Seekers

FILMS BY GENRE Good Manners Guilty Men Holy Camp Hunting Season Killing Jesús Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle The Motive On the Seventh Day Rey’s Education Skid Row Marathon A Sort of Family Stealing Rodin Summer 1993 The Summit Tempestad Two Irenes Vazante Veronica Woodpeckers Zama HISTORY 1945 The Art of Loving Ayla- The Daughter of War Barefoot BPM (Beats Per Minute) Budapest Noir Darkest Hour The Divine Order First They Killed My Father Hochelaga, Land Of Souls The Lost City of Z Maze The Miner The Post Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World Stealing Rodin The Testament The Train of Salt and Sugar HORROR The Endless Good Manners Ravenous Veronica INDIGENOUS Hochelaga, Land of Souls Mankiller Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World Sweet Country Waru JEWISH INTEREST 1945 Budapest Noir Bye Bye Germany The Cakemaker

The Cousin Foxtrot Holy Air Itzhak Maktub Scaffolding Shelter The Testament MIDDLE EAST The Cakemaker The Cousin Foxtrot Holy Air The Insult In Syria The Journey A Letter to the President Longing Maktub Montana No Date, No Signature On Borrowed Time Scaffolding Shelter Wajib MUSIC Cover Verisons Django Félicité Holy Camp Itzhak The Quartette Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me MYSTERY Birdshot Budapest Noir Control Cover Versions Guilty Men Gutland Shelter Spoor The Summit The Third Murder POLITICS BPM (Beats Per Minute) The Divine Order The Insult The Journey A Letter to the President The Line Men Don’t Cry The Post The Prime Minster Shelter

The Summit Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End PSYCHOLOGICAL The Charmer Allure Control Men Don’t Cry On Body and Soul Shelter One Thousand Ropes Under the Tree You Disappear RELATIONSHIPS The Art of Loving Barefoot The Cakemaker The Confession The Divine Order Maktub Men Don’t Cry Mobile Homes Montparnasse Bienvenüe Nostalgia On Body and Soul Phantom Thread The Quartette The Ring Thing The Square Thoroughbreds Tom of Finland Western You Disappear RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY Aquarians The Cakemaker The Confession Foxtrot Thelma ROMANCE Alaska is a Drag Allure Ava Beyond the Opposite Sex Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool Finding Your Feet Gutland Ice Mother The Leisure Seeker Let the Sunshine In My Days of Mercy On Body and Soul Phantom Thread Racer and the Jailbird The Royal Hibiscus Hotel Silk Road

The Space Between Thelma Woodpeckers The Wound SCIENCE FICTION The Endless Jupiter’s Moon SOCIAL ISSUES Alaska is a Drag Amerika Square Beauty and the Dogs Cover Versions The Divine Order Happy Birthday Killing Jesús The Miner The Summit Tempestad Waru The Workshop THRILLER Allure Birdshot Budapest Noir The Charmer Control Directions The Endless Five Fingers for Marseilles Guilty Men Gutland In the Fade The Line Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts The Post The Prime Minster Shelter Silk Road The Summit Thelma Thoroughbreds WAR Ayla- The Daughter of War Bye Bye Germany Darkest Hour Django In Syria Last Flag Flying Men Don’t Cry This is Congo Tom of Finland The Train of Salt and Sugar WESTERN Five Fingers for Marseilles Guilty Men Sweet Country PSFILMFEST.ORG 197

FILMS BY COUNTRY

AFGHANISTAN A Letter to the President ARGENTINA The Desert Bride The Future Ahead Hunting Season Rey's Education A Sort of Family The Summit Zama ARMENIA Yeva Sweet Country AUSTRALIA The Space Between AUSTRIA Happy End BELGIUM Bitter Flowers Control The Prime Minister Racer and the Jailbird So Help Me God BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA Men Don't Cry BRAZIL Good Manners Two Irenes Vazante BULGARIA Directions CAMBODIA First They Killed My Father CANADA Allure Eye on Juliet Hochelaga, Land of Souls Mobile Homes Never Steady, Never Still Ravenous Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World

198 PSFILMFEST.ORG

CHILE A Fantastic Woman Stealing Rodin

GREECE Amerika Square Happy Birthday

CHINA Angels Wear White Youth

HUNGARY 1945 Budapest Noir Jupiter's Moon On Body and Soul

COLOMBIA Guilty Men Killing Jesús CZECH REPUBLIC Barefoot Ice Mother The Quartette DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO This is Congo DENMARK The Charmer You Disappear DOMINICAN REPUBLIC Woodpeckers FINLAND Tom of Finland FRANCE Ava Bloody Milk BPM (Beats Per Minute) Custody Django The House by the Sea Just to Be Sure Let the Sunshine In Makala Montparnasse Bienvenüe The Workshop GEORGIA The Confession GERMANY Bye Bye Germany In the Fade Sex, Pity and Loneliness Three Peaks Western

ICELAND Under the Tree INDIA Beyond the Clouds The Brawler Love and Shukla Newton INDONESIA Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts IRAN No Date, No Signature IRAQ The Journey IRELAND Maze ISRAEL The Cakemaker The Cousin Foxtrot Holy Air Longing Maktub Montana Scaffolding Shelter The Testament ITALY A Ciambra Call Me by Your Name The Leisure Seeker JAPAN Close-Knit Her Love Boils Bathwater

FILMS BY COUNTRY

Oh Lucy!

The Third Murder

SENEGAL Félicité

KYRGYZSTAN Suleiman Mountain

SINGAPORE Pop Aye

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool Finding Your Feet I Am Not a Witch The Party The Workers Cup

LEBANON The Insult In Syria

SLOVAK REPUBLIC The Line

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES On Borrowed Time

SLOVENIA The Miner

US Alaska is a Drag An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to

Power Aquarians Beyond the Opposite Sex Bodied Brimstone & Glory The Cage Fighter The China Hustle Cover Versions The Disaster Artist The Endless The Gospel According to André I, Tonya Itzhak Jane Last Flag Flying The Last Movie Star Lean On Pete The Lost City of Z Love After Love Love Means Zero Love, Cecil Mankiller Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End My Days of Mercy Nostalgia On the Seventh Day Phantom Thread The Polka King The Post The Ring Thing Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Skid Row Marathon Stumped Thoroughbreds Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

LUXEMBOURG Barrage Gutland MEXICO April's Daughter Tempestad MOZAMBIQUE The Train of Salt and Sugar NETHERLANDS Silk Road NEW ZEALAND One Thousand Ropes Waru NIGERIA The Royal Hibiscus Hotel NORWAY Thelma PALESTINE Wajib PARAGUAY The Gold Seekers PHILIPPINES Birdshot

SOUTH AFRICA Five Fingers for Marseilles The Wound SOUTH KOREA A Taxi Driver SPAIN Constructing Albert Holy Camp Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle The Motive Summer 1993 Veronica SWAZILAND Liyana SWEDEN Borg vs. McEnroe The Square SWITZERLAND The Divine Order Streaker TAIWAN The Great Buddha+ TUNISIA Beauty and the Dogs

POLAND The Art of Loving Spoor

TURKEY Ayla - The Daughter of War

RUSSIA Loveless

UK Darkest Hour

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FILM INDEX

1945.................................................................................132 Alaska is a Drag................................................................132 An Inconvenient Truth........................................................60 Allure................................................................................133 Amerika Square................................................................108 Angels Wear White............................................................84 April's Daughter...............................................................133 Aquarians.........................................................................134 The Art of Loving.............................................................134 Ava.....................................................................................84 Ayla - The Daughter of War.............................................108 Barefoot...........................................................................135 Barrage ............................................................................109 Beauty and the Dogs........................................................135 Beyond the Clouds...........................................................136 Beyond the Opposite Sex................................................172 Birdshot............................................................................109 Bitter Flowers...................................................................136 Bloody Milk......................................................................137 Bodied..............................................................................137 Borg vs. McEnroe.............................................................138 BPM (Beats Per Minute)..............................................60,110 The Brawler......................................................................100 Brimstone & Glory............................................................172 Budapest Noir..................................................................138 Bye Bye Germany.............................................................139 The Cage Fighter.............................................................173 The Cakemaker..................................................................56 Call Me by Your Name.......................................................62 The Charmer......................................................................85 The China Hustle..............................................................173 A Ciambra........................................................................110 Close-Knit.........................................................................139 The Confession.................................................................140 Constructing Albert............................................................57 Control.............................................................................140 The Cousin.......................................................................141 Cover Versions....................................................................58 Custody............................................................................141 Darkest Hour......................................................................60 The Desert Bride................................................................74 Directions.........................................................................142 The Disaster Artist..............................................................62 The Divine Order..............................................................111

200 PSFILMFEST.ORG

Django..............................................................................142 The Endless......................................................................143 Eye on Juliet.....................................................................143 A Fantastic Woman..........................................................111 Félicité..............................................................................112 Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool.......................................47 Finding Your Feet.............................................................144 First They Killed My Father..............................................112 Five Fingers for Marseilles...............................................144 Foxtrot..............................................................................113 The Future Ahead..............................................................74 The Gold Seekers...............................................................85 Good Manners.................................................................145 The Gospel According to André........................................49 The Great Buddha+.........................................................145 Guilty Men........................................................................113 Gutland.............................................................................146 Happy Birthday................................................................146 Happy End........................................................................100 Her Love Boils Bathwater.................................................114 Hochelaga, Land of Souls.................................................114 Holy Air.............................................................................147 Holy Camp........................................................................147 The House by the Sea......................................................148 Hunting Season..................................................................75 I Am Not a Witch..............................................................148 Ice Mother........................................................................115 The Insult..........................................................................115 In Syria..............................................................................149 In the Fade.........................................................................53 I, Tonya...............................................................................60 Itzhak................................................................................174 Jane..................................................................................174 The Journey......................................................................149 Jupiter's Moon.................................................................150 Just to Be Sure.................................................................150 Killing Jesus........................................................................86 Last Flag Flying..................................................................62 The Last Movie Star............................................................47 Lean On Pete...................................................................151 The Leisure Seeker...........................................................151 A Letter to the President..................................................116 Let the Sunshine In...........................................................101 The Line............................................................................116

FILM INDEX

Liyana...............................................................................175 Longing............................................................................152 The Lost City of Z ..............................................................62 Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle................................175 Love After Love................................................................152 Love and Shukla...............................................................153 Love, Cecil........................................................................176 Loveless............................................................................117 Love Means Zero..............................................................176 Makala..............................................................................177 Maktub.............................................................................153 Mankiller...........................................................................177 Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts...................................154 Maze.................................................................................154 Men Don't Cry..................................................................117 The Miner.........................................................................118 Mobile Homes....................................................................86 Montana...........................................................................155 Montparnasse Bienvenüe.................................................155 The Motive ......................................................................156 Mr. Fish: Cartooning from the Deep End.........................178 My Days of Mercy ..............................................................48 Never Steady, Never Still.................................................156 Newton.............................................................................118 No Date, No Signature......................................................87 Nostalgia............................................................................50 Oh Lucy!...........................................................................157 On Body and Soul............................................................119 On Borrowed Time.............................................................87 One Thousand Ropes ........................................................88 On the Seventh Day.........................................................157 The Party..........................................................................158 Phantom Thread.................................................................52 The Polka King...................................................................51 Pop Aye............................................................................119 The Post.............................................................................45 The Prime Minister...........................................................158 The Quartette...................................................................159 Racer and the Jailbird......................................................120 Ravenous..........................................................................159 Rey's Education..................................................................75 The Ring Thing.................................................................160 The Royal Hibiscus Hotel ................................................160 Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World.................178 Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me.................................179

Scaffolding.......................................................................161 Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood......................49 Sex, Pity and Loneliness...................................................161 Shelter..............................................................................162 Silk Road...........................................................................162 Skid Row Marathon..........................................................179 So Help Me God..............................................................180 A Sort of Family .................................................................76 The Space Between.........................................................120 Spoor................................................................................101 The Square..................................................................61,121 Stealing Rodin..................................................................180 Streaker............................................................................163 Stronger.............................................................................61 Stumped...........................................................................181 Suleiman Mountain............................................................88 Summer 1993 ..................................................................121 The Summit........................................................................76 Sweet Country..................................................................163 A Taxi Driver.....................................................................122 Tempestad........................................................................122 The Testament..................................................................164 Thelma.........................................................................61,123 The Third Murder.............................................................102 This is Congo....................................................................181 Thoroughbreds...................................................................89 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.......................61 Three Peaks........................................................................89 Tom of Finland..................................................................123 The Train of Salt and Sugar..............................................124 Two Irenes........................................................................164 Under the Tree.................................................................124 Vazante ............................................................................165 Veronica ...........................................................................165 Wajib ...............................................................................125 Waru.................................................................................166 Western............................................................................166 Woodpeckers...................................................................125 The Workers Cup.......................................................59, 182 The Workshop..................................................................102 The Wound.......................................................................126 Yeva..................................................................................126 You Disappear .................................................................127 Youth ...............................................................................103 Zama...................................................................................77

PSFILMFEST.ORG 201

AD INDEX Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians............................ 27

KESQ............................................................................... 187

Alpha Media.................................................................... 184

Kool................................................................................. 185

AMEX..................................................................Back Cover

Kuna................................................................................ 168

Angeleno Magazine.......................................................... 80

LA Associates.................................................................. 170

At HOM........................................................................... 105

Los Arboles Hotel............................................................ 186

Babe’s.............................................................................. 104

Lulu.................................................................................... 97

Bank of America................................................................ 23

Mary Hart Thank you......................................................... 41

Bennion DeVille Homes..................................................... 35

Ocean Properties.............................................................. 90

Bighorn.............................................................................. 66 Cadillac................................................................................ 3 CBA................................................................................... 36 CBS Local 2..................................................................... 129 Chihuly .............................................................................. 24 City of Cathedral City........................................................ 71 City of Palm Springs.................Inside Front and Back Cover CVB.................................................................................... 26 Desert Regional Medical Center....................................... 46 Desert Sun........................................................................ 22 Destination PSP................................................................. 28 Diageo............................................................................... 65 EDA (Riverside Film Commission)................................... 186 Eisenhower Medical Center.............................................. 25 Getty Images/Wire Image................................................. 58 Guthy Renker.................................................................... 82 Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs........................................ 183 The Hess Collection.......................................................... 34

Oranj Palm Vacation Homes.............................................. 95 P.S. Resorts........................................................................ 81 Palm Mountain................................................................ 130 Palm Springs Art Museum................................................. 67 Palm Springs Film Society............................................... 167 Palm Springs Life............................................................... 72 Parker Palm Springs.......................................................... 64 PSUSD............................................................................... 98 Regal................................................................................. 16 Renaissance Palm Springs................................................. 70 Riviera Palm Springs.......................................................... 79 SBEMP Attorneys.............................................................. 91 Signature Party Rentals................................................... 188 Smart Source................................................................... 188 Spa Resort Casino............................................................. 42 Spencers.............................................................................. 2 Stampede.......................................................................... 93

Hilton Palm Springs........................................................... 69

Sunnylands........................................................................ 44

The Hollywood Reporter................................................... 92

Telefilm Canada............................................................... 106

IndiGO............................................................................... 63

Toucans Tiki Lounge.......................................................... 78

Jake’s............................................................................... 169

Univision.......................................................................... 128

Jensen's........................................................................... 104

Variety................................................................................ 96

Jessup Auto Plaza............................................................. 43

Wells Fargo........................................................................ 94

John Kennedy Studios...................................................... 40

Wintec Energy, LTD........................................................... 10

202 PSFILMFEST.ORG

PSFILMFEST.ORG 203

204 PSFILMFEST.ORG