Smith Rafael Film Center Quarterly | Jan - March 2017

j a n u a r y — m a r c h

2 0 1 7

birdman live p.10

CFI B OARD of dir ector s Executive Director / Founder

Mark Fishkin

(Vice President)

CFI BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kenneth Broad (Vice President)

Jim Davis Lynne Hale Richard J. Idell (Secretary)

Amy Keroes

Caroline Labe Jennifer Coslett MacCready Cathy Nourafshan Jonathan Parker (President)

Susan Schwartz Dr. Joel Sklar

(Vice President)

Emeritus Board

Founding Board

Ann Brebner Rita Cahill Sid Ganis Bruce Katz Gary Meyer Gordon Radley Christopher B. Smith Henry Timnick

Rita Cahill Mark Fishkin Lois Kohl Shore

Jann Stanley Zach Zeisler (Treasurer)

Advisory Board

The Honorable Barbara Boxer Stewart Boxer Drusie Davis Jeff Fisher Peter Flaxman Robert Greber

Linda Gruber Peggy Haas Jessica Igoe Michael Klein Roxanne Klein KC Lauck Andrew McGuire Mary Poland Eric Schwartz Michael Schwartz Skip Whitney

R afae l quarterly staff R i c h a r d P e t e r son Director of Programming | Editor D a n Z a s t r ow Rafael General Manager t i m f r o ss Rafael Assistant Manager

Shel l ey Spicer Director of Marketing & Publicity John Morrison CFI Education

Jan Kl ingel h o f er Program Consultant l eah LoSchiav o Marketing Coordinator Brian lehman Graphics | Layout

Smith Rafael Film Center is owned and operated by the California Film Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that also produces the annual Mill Valley Film Festival and CFI Education programs throughout the year. Š Copyright 2017. All rights reserved. No portion of the Rafael Quarterly may be duplicated in any form without written consent from the Smith Rafael Film Center and/or the California Film Institute.

kedi p 12

j an u ar y –

marc h

|

2 0 1 7

Vol. 19 Issue 1

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: World Oscar Submissions january 6–12

From the

Director of Programming It’s a new year, and for the first two months of 2017, it’s another awards season, which will culminate with the Academy Awards on February 26. Many of this year’s contenders debuted at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October, and we’re happy that some are receiving theatrical runs at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center.

If you closely follow the movies (or the movie business), it’s difficult to avoid talking or thinking about the Oscars and other awards competitions this time of year. In fact, the Academy Awards have struggled over time with the issue of whether they are competitive or not. In 1989 the standard announcement “And the winner is…” was officially changed to “And the Oscar goes to…” However, the original phrase managed to resurface a few years ago.

Are they competitive? Of course they are, given the fact that the films studios perceive as “awards contenders” are released late in the year and often have substantial budgets for that precise area of promotion. But are the winners truly the best? You and I can argue about any single award until doomsday and not arrive at consensus.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made admirable strides in the past year regarding diversity questions around its membership, and it consistently tries to tweak and improve the nomination process around some of its more complex categories, such as documentary and foreign language films.

But as we all know, rules, regulations and voting timetables can produce surprising results. In this case, at least, we’re lucky that the end results are the province of critics, rather than an area of real critical importance.

After all, there are the Golden Globes, Independent Spirit Awards, regional Critics Circles, film festivals and other entities in the mix that can help “spread the awards wealth” around a little.

at-a-glance

I love the Academy Awards, and even if I wince at a few of the nominees, I always wish the broadcast well, since it is in reality the annual fundraiser for an organization that sets out to preserve and protect our film heritage.

Under its banner are the Academy Film Archive, the Margaret Herrick Library, the future Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and many Academy-sponsored programs that have graced the Rafael stage for years.

Still, I never expect any selection of “best picture” to be my personal favorite. I always hope it’s a movie that I like, but even when the rules are strictly defined, as are the Academy’s, the results can sometimes seem like a crapshoot. In my fantasy awards ceremony, Hunt for the Wilderpeople would be nominated for best picture. I love that film, and I also think the presence of filmmaker Taika Waititi would enliven any telecast. However, that is unlikely to happen, because the movie was released early in the year and, if it does have a budget for awards promotion, it’s probably not big enough to raise its visibility. But we can always cross our fingers.

In the midst of this kooky season, we hope you will enjoy the current offerings at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center.

We present the 14th year of For Your Consideration, a selection of films that were submitted to the Academy for the Foreign Language award. We also have theatrical runs of movies that have already made Golden Globe and critics’ lists, as well as ones that could be in the running for next year. Competitions aside, we always try to keep up-to-the-minute with the best films and filmmakers passing through our doors.

Will we see you at the Rafael on February 26? ~ Richard Peterson

Neruda Opens january 13 2016 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SHORT FILM TOUR january 14–16 toni erdmann Opens january 27 20th CENTURY WOMEN Opens in january THE SALESMAN Opens february 3 I am not your negro Opens february 3

—Science on Screen—

MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE BRAIN: The Life and Science of Dr. Marian Diamond Thursday, February 9 OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORTS Opens february 10 SEMBENE! sunday, February 12 BiRDMAN LIVE saturday, February 18 WRESTLING JERUSALEM sunday, February 19

—Science on Screen—

SMALL, BEAUTIFULLY MOVING PARTS Thursday, February 23 YOU’RE KILLING ME SUSANA Opens february 24 academy awards® party sunday, February 26 A UNITED KINGDOM Opens march 3

—Science on Screen—

JONATHAN BIRD’S BLUE WORLD monday, march 6

—Science on Screen— ponyo Tuesday, march 28 AFTER THE STORM opens in march FRANTZ opens in march Kedi opens in march

On the cover: a united kingdom - Opens Mar 3 - See page 12 Programs subject to change, including opening dates. Other programs open that do not appear here. For up-to-date info: rafaelfilm.org Sign up for weekly email at rafaelfilm.org Check daily newspaper Call 415 454 1222

Programs with in-person guests

FOR YOUR

CONSIDERATION FIFTEEN OSCAR® SUBMISSIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

JANUARY 6-12

Each year the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences invites countries to submit a single film for consideration in the competitive category of Foreign Language Film. This year 85 films have been accepted for competition and for the 14th consecutive year, the Smith Rafael Film Center offers a choice sampling. This is a rare opportunity to view some of the most distinguished works in international cinema, many of which are film festival prizewinners. Series Programmed by Karen Davis and Janis Plotkin

The distinguished citizen

fire at sea

julieta

the distinguished citizen

fire at sea (fuocoammare)

julieta

Gianfranco Rosi’s stunning documentary focuses on the tiny Sicilian island of Lampedusa, a key entry point for refugees fleeing war and persecution in Africa. Brilliantly juxtaposing the lives of local residents like young Samuele, a slingshot aficionado and his doting grandmother, with heart-wrenching portraits of the refugees, Fire at Sea reveals the subtle connections between the micro and macro realities of our globalized world. In Italian with English subtitles. 114 min.

Young classics professor Julieta has a passionate life-changing encounter with a beautiful fisherman. Decades later, another chance encounter brings startling news that shakes up her life once again. This is classic Pedro Almodóvar, filled with powerhouse performances and tender melodramatics. In perhaps his strongest film to date, Spain’s premier auteur adapts three Alice Munro short stories into one gorgeous tale of passion, grief and longing. In Spanish with English subtitles. 99 min.

(EL CIUDADANO ILUSTRE) argentina Friday, January 6, 5:30

A Nobel Prize-winning writer accepts an invitation to visit his hometown in Argentina. The tiny hamlet of Salas and its residents have been the inspiration for all of his books. After a hero’s welcome, he soon learns to expect the unexpected from the real people whose lives he used to create the characters in his novels.

Featuring Oscar Martinez, who won Best Actor at the 2016 Venice Festival for his nuanced portrayal. In Spanish with English subtitles. Directors: Gastón Duprat, Mariano Cohn. 117 min.

paradise (rai)

russia Friday, January 6, 8:00

This striking period drama by Andrei Konchalovsky (Runaway Train) reveals the price of loyalty to one’s convictions. Russian noblewoman Olga is arrested and imprisoned in occupied France for sheltering Jewish children. She ends up in a concentration camp where she rekindles a romance with Helmut, now a Nazi SS officer. Seeing that the tide of war is quickly turning against the Nazis, they plot their escape. In French, German & Russian with English subtitles. 131 min.

afterimage

—4—

italy Saturday, January 7, 3:00

the happiest day in the life of olli mäki (Hymyilevä mies)

Finland Saturday, January 7, 5:30

Winner of a top award at Cannes, Juho Kuosmanen’s debut feature recounts the tale of legendary Finnish boxer Olli Mäki and his bid for the 1962 World Featherweight title. Smalltown hero Olli trains to win, but there’s just one problem: he’s fallen in love. Suffused with quirky Nordic humor, this is no ordinary fight flick. A real knockout! In Finnish with English subtitles. 92 min.

tanna

spain Saturday, January 7, 7:30

letters from war (cartas da guerra) portugal Sunday, January 8, 2:30 Angola,1971. Antonio, a young medic, is conscripted into the army during Portugal’s colonial war. Amid the certainty of suffering and the uncertainty of outcome, only the desire-filled love letters he writes to his wife at home can save him. Director Ivo Ferreira’s gorgeous black and white imagery turns the brutality of war into a poetic cry for peace. In Portuguese with English subtitles. 105 min.

letters from war

the black hen

land of mine

a flickering truth

the black hen (kalo pothi) nepal Sunday, January 8, 5:00

land of mine (under sandet) denmark Monday, January 9, 8:15

a flickering truth

Mixing humor, tragedy and beautiful fantasy, first time writer/director Min Bahadur Bham borrows from his own experience growing up in a segregated village in Northern Nepal during the Maoist insurgency. The story centers on two boys, inseparable friends divided by caste, who concoct a plan to sell the eggs of a prized and pampered black hen. In Nepali with English subtitles. 90 min.

As the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany ends its bitter five-year occupation of Denmark, in a conflation of justice and revenge, some 2,000 German POWs are given the treacherous task of removing more than a million live landmines. On a barren sandy beach on the remote west coast, writer-director Martin Zandvliet skillfully addresses sensitive issues of postwar culpability, while shifting our perceptions of perpetrators and victims. In German and Danish with English subtitles. 100 min.

In Person: Pietra Brettkelly

tanna

afterimage

apprentice

singapore Sunday, January 8, 7:00 Aiman, an ambitious young correctional officer, will do anything it takes to be transferred to Singapore’s highest-security prison. His drive to become apprentice to the chief executioner Rahim is born of a desire to reconnect with a past that haunts him. Award winning Director Boo Jenfeng’s stylized tale dazzled audiences at Cannes last May. In Malay with English Subtitles. 97 min.

sparrows (Þrestir)

iceland Monday, January 9, 6:00 16-year-old Ari is sent from Reykjavik to live with his estranged father in a remote fishing village in northern Iceland’s stunning Westfjords. The gifted and sensitive choirboy soon encounters bullying from the locals and gruff scorn from his father. In this cold, barren landscape, how will he survive? Writer/director Rúnar Rúnarsson’s extraordinary coming of age drama has won over 20 top festival awards. In Icelandic with English subtitles. 99 min.

apprentice

australia Tuesday, January 10, 6:00 Venice Film Festival winner Tanna is the tale of young lovers caught between the traditions and taboos of their tribe and following the desires of their hearts. Co-directors Bentley Dean and Martin Butler spent 7 months with the Yakel people of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu, developing a collaborative script based on actual events. The results are sensuous, magical and unforgettable. In Nauvhal with English subtitles. 104 min.

i am nojoom, age 10 and divorced yemen Tuesday, January 10, 8:15

new zealand Wednesday, January 11, 6:00

Pietra Brettkelly will present and discuss her extraordinary documentary that literally blows the dust off of 100 years of conflict, revealing cinematic gems of the Afghani film archives that were ravaged, burned and banned by Taliban interdiction. As brave archivists thread projectors with film from unmarked reels, the country’s rich history comes alive with images of former leaders, beloved actresses and landmarks now gone. In Dari with English subtitles. 93 min.

poland Wednesday, January 11, 8:30 In a finale to an illustrious moviemaking career, director Andrzej Wajda (who passed away in October) charts the life of the passionate artist Wladyslaw Strzeminski, who battled Stalinist orthodoxy and his own physical impairments to advance his progressive ideas about art.

Strzeminski was considered a peer of Kandinsky and a pioneer of the Polish Constructivist avant-garde of the 1920s and 30s. In Polish with English subtitles. 98 min.

toni erdmann

germany Thursday, January 12, 6:30

Amid strikingly beautiful and stark landscapes, this true story of underage marriage reflects the painful reality of Yemeni tribal culture and the vulnerability of girls. Forced by her father to marry a man three times her age, Nojoom escapes her family and files for divorce in court.

Wiser than her years, she has unshakeable resolve. In Arabic with English subtitles. Writer/ Director: Khadija Al-Salami. 99 min.

This gutsy, unpredictable comedy-drama from acclaimed German writer-director Maren Ade examines the complexities of father-daughter relationships with candor, heart, and one of the nerviest mid-movie twists in a long time. This Cannes sensation, winner of the festival’s critics prize, goes down surreal, outrageous paths, but at its core, illustrates how children struggle to break free of their parents, only to learn that those emotional bonds aren’t so easy to sever.

In German and Romanian with English subtitles. 162 min. Golden Globe nominee.

I am nojoom

toni erdmann

—5—

Sundance Film Festival 2016 Short Film Tour

Saturday through Monday, January 14-16, 1:00 On the eve of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, we present a program of eight shorts, including some award winners, from last year’s event. In Bridey Elliott’s Affections, a lonely young woman seeks intimacy in the most unlikely places. In Sol Friedman’s Bacon & God’s Wrath (Short Film Jury Award: Non-fiction), a 90-year-old Jewish woman prepares to taste bacon for the first time. Edmond (Short Film Jury Award: Animation)

by Nina Grantz depicts a man questioning his impulse to love, and in Ben Petrie’s Her Friend Adam (Short Film Special Jury Award), a boyfriend’s jealousy spells romantic doom. In Asantewaa Prempeh’s Jungle, two Senegalese vendors navigate the streets of New York, and in Michelle Derosier’s The Grandfather Drum, an elder of the Anishinabek people builds a healing drum. Calvin Lee Reeder’s The Procedure (Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction) depicts a strange experiment. Writer-director-star Jim Cummings filmed Thunder Road, the Short Film Grand Jury Prize winner, in a single take.

Some films include adult content. Program 95 min.

The Orchard

neruda

Opens Friday, january 13 Chile’s official entry for Oscar® consideration, as well as the film featured at the 39th Mill Valley Film Festival’s Spotlight on Gael García Bernal, this absorbing cat-and-mouse tale from filmmaker Pablo Larraín (whose Jackie is also in current release) combines historical fact with fanciful invention. In 1948 the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (Luis Gnecco) and his wife Delia (Mercedes Morán) go underground when the country’s president outlaws communism, instantly turning the celebrated artist into a fugitive. An ambitious police inspector (Gael García Bernal) hopes to create a name for himself by capturing this prestigious prey, and Neruda uses the occasion to toy with his pursuer.

Rated R. In Spanish and French with English subtitles. Writer: Guillermo Calderón. Director: Pablo Larraín. (Chile 2016) 108 min. Golden Globe nominee

Komplizen Film / Sony Pictures Classics

Toni Erdmann

Opens Friday, january 27 Germany’s official submission for Oscar® consideration, this long, sprawling comedy (and Cannes sensation) recently swept the European Film Awards in all major categories. The character Toni Erdmann appears well into the picture, because he is a pseudonym adopted by Winfried (Peter Simonischek), a retired music teacher and inveterate prankster who flies to Bucharest to surprise his daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller), an uptight businesswoman, and to shake up her life a bit. Initially the bearlike Winfried/Toni comes off as an embarrassment, but his games and crazy-like-a-fox tricks eventually get to Ines, in a hilarious and ultimately moving exploration of the relationship between a father and his daughter. In German with English subtitles. Writer/Director: Maren Ade. (Germany/Austria 2016) 162 min. Golden Globe nominee

A24

20th century women

—6—

Opens in january Centerpiece Ensemble Spotlight at the 39th Mill Valley Film Festival, this comedy-drama from filmmaker Mike Mills (Beginners) assembles a terrific cast in a poignant love letter to the people who raise us, as well as the times that form us. Annette Bening stars as Dorothea, a determined single mother raising adolescent son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann) in Santa Barbara during the summer of 1979, with help from two other generations: Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a free-spirited artist boarding at their house, and Julie (Elle Fanning), a provocative older teen on whom Jamie harbors a crush. It’s a rich, funny and heart-stirring celebration of the complexities of women, family and the connections we seek our entire lives. Rated R. With Billy Crudup. Writer/Director: Mike Mills. (US 2016) 118 min. Golden Globe nominee

Amazon Studios / Cohen Media Group

The Salesman (Forushande)

Opens Friday, february 3 Winner of the prizes for both Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival, and Iran’s official entry for the upcoming Academy Awards®, the latest drama from Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) stars Shahab Hosseini and Taraneh Alidoosti as Emad and Rana, a young acting couple in Tehran performing in a production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. After their old flat becomes damaged, they are forced to move into a new apartment. One night when Rana is home while Emad is rehearsing, an incident occurs that is linked to the previous tenant, one that transforms the couple’s lives, as the filmmaker expertly builds tension to a dramatic climax. In Persian with English subtitles. Writer/Director: Asghar Farhadi. (Iran/France 2016) 125 min. Golden Globe nominee

Dan Budnik / Magnolia Pictures

i am not your negro

Opens Friday, february 3 Named Best Documentary by the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, this extraordinary film envisions a book that James Baldwin never finished. In 1979 the author undertook a personal account of the lives and subsequent assassinations of three of his close friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. However, when he died in 1987, Baldwin left an incomplete manuscript. Incorporating a flood of rich archival material with Baldwin’s own words (spoken by Samuel L. Jackson), filmmaker Raoul Peck creates a vivid journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of Black Lives Matter and underlines the continuing relevance of Baldwin’s eloquent words. Writer: James Baldwin. Director: Raoul Peck. (US/France 2016) 93 min.

Oscar Nominated Short Films 2017

Opens Friday, february 10 The Rafael again participates in the national release of short films nominated for the upcoming Academy Awards®. Audiences will have the opportunity to see the nominated Live Action and Animated shorts prior to the 89th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, February 26, 2017. We will also have select screenings of the nominees for Documentary Short Subject. While we have no indication of the nominated titles at press time, it‘s likely that several of the films will have already won awards at international film festivals. Each category will be screened in an individual program, each requiring separate admission.

Sembene!

Sunday, February 12, 4:15

Ousmane Sembene Estate

In Person: Filmmaker Samba Gadjigo Filmmaker Samba Gadjigo will present and discuss a special screening of the acclaimed documentary about the “father of African cinema,” Ousmane Sembene (1923-2007).

As Sembene’s biographer and friend, Gadjigo literally takes part in the history of the manual laborer who set out to be the storyteller for a new, independent Africa and produced, starting in the 1960s, such rich and controversial masterworks as Black Girl, Xala, Ceddo and Mooladé. Admirer Danny Glover has declared: “Sembene! is an invaluable tribute to a true hero, and an essential chapter in the history of Africa, of the world and of storytelling.” In English and in French and Wolof with English subtitles. Directors: Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman. (US/Senegal 2015) 86 min. plus discussion.

—7—

science We are excited to announce our new season of Science on Screen®, an annual series matching the art of film with experts in scientific fields who address topics that affect our everyday lives. This round of entertaining programs ranges in theme from the natural world and environment issues, to neuroscience and our relationship to technology. The program with Ponyo on March 28 will be part of the National Evening of Science on Screen, enlisting the participation of nonprofit movie theaters across the country.

Topic: matters of the brain

My Love Affair with the Brain:

The Life and Science of Dr. Marian Diamond Thursday, February 9, 7:00

In Person: Filmmaker Catherine Ryan & Dr. Che Prasad

Luna Productions

An Audience Favorite at the Mill Valley Film Festival, this charming and enlightening documentary acquaints us with Dr. Marian Diamond, one of the founders of modern neuroscience and a dedicated educator who carries a preserved human brain in a hatbox. Today we accept that the brain is capable of plasticity and enrichment, even in adulthood, but it is in large part thanks to Dr. Diamond, who challenged medical orthodoxy in an era when few women entered science at all. In this film, she describes her 60-year career researching the human brain as “pure joy,” and we meet many of her colleagues and students, including tonight’s special guest, Dr. Che Prasad. Producers/Directors: Catherine Ryan, Gary Weimberg. (US 2016) 61 min. plus discussion.

Filmmaker Catherine Ryan will be joined on stage by Dr. Che Prasad. Dr. Prasad is a pathologist with Marin Medical Laboratories and Laboratory Medical Director at Marin General Hospital. At UC Berkeley, he studied human integrative biology and did research on the relationship between the brain and the immune system with Dr. Marian Diamond.

Topic: Our Relationship with Technology

small, beautifully moving parts Thursday, February 23, 7:00

In Person: Evan Atherton

Charles Swanson

Screened at the 2011 Mill Valley Film Festival, the funny and poignant film Small, Beautifully Moving Parts stars Anna Margaret Hollyman as Sarah Sparks, a New Yorkbased technophile who feels she relates better to machines than to people. When Sarah becomes pregnant, her uncertainties about motherhood trigger an impulsive road trip to the source of her anxiety: her long-estranged mother, who now lives completely off the grid. In this comic coming-of-parenthood tale for the Internet age, what can a committed “freelance technologist” do when she’s in the middle of nowhere?

With Sarah Rafferty, Mary Beth Peil. Writers/Director: Annie J. Howell, Lisa Robinson.

(US 2011) 73 min. plus discussion.

—8—

Trained as a mechanical engineer at UC Berkeley, Evan Atherton currently works as a designer for the office of the Chief Technology Officer at Autodesk, exploring the possibilities of the company’s software as it relates to robotics, digital fabrication and storytelling. A personal project is a partially functional R2-D2, which he created with Grant Williams. Atherton will bring the robot to the Rafael and also screen his comical short film, Artoo in Love.

on screen An initiative of the Coolidge Corner Theatre With major support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Topic: under the sea

Jonathan Bird’s Blue World Monday, March 6, 7:00

In Person: Jonathan Bird

Jonathan Bird

In conjunction with CFI Education’s Environmental Youth Forum, March 6 to 8, we are pleased to welcome explorer and filmmaker Jonathan Bird to the Rafael stage to share an evening of discovery, humor and incredible underwater footage.

Jonathan Bird’s Blue World, his underwater science adventure series, is in its fifth season, and it has won Emmys and Cine Golden Eagles. The show and accompanying webisodes have aired worldwide on networks such as PBS, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, ABC and Syfy. His easy humor and amazing underwater photography make ocean science accessible to everyone from 6 to 60 (but why stop there). Bird trained as an electrical engineer, but when he started diving in 1988, he fell in love with the underwater world. He will screen and discuss several of his short films and share his current obsession with underwater caves. Program approximately 90 minutes.

Topic: The Rising Sea Level

ponyo Tuesday, March 28, 7:00

In Person: Will Travis

GKids

Legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki is an acknowledged master in the field whose beautifully designed films have often included environmental themes. In one of his best, the 2008 anime Ponyo, a five-year-old boy finds a beautiful goldfish trapped in a bottle and releases it, calling her Ponyo. In reality a magical princess, Ponyo uses sorcery to become human but in the process sets the entire world off its axis, causing the moon to generate enormous tides. The two children embark on an adventure to save the world. In Japanese with English subtitles. Writer/Director: Hayao Miyazaki.

(Japan 2008) 101 min. plus discussion.

Will Travis is a consultant, writer and speaker on climate change, and particularly on adaptation to sea level rise. For 16 years, he served as executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission. In 2011, under his leadership, BCDC became the nation’s first state coastal management agency to adopt regulations for addressing sea level rise. Travis is a very entertaining speaker who comments about speaking with Ponyo: “Storytelling is a far more effective way to make us aware of profound changes than are data, charts and graphs.”

—9—

birdmanlive Screening & Live Drum Score by

CAMI Music

antoniosanchez

Saturday, feb. 18 | 2:00 & 8:00

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) garnered Academy Awards® for Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and Cinematography, but its heartbeat was its unique and brilliant percussive music score.

Now experience Birdman in an entirely new way–accompanied live, in a one-of-a-kind presentation that features composer-drummer Antonio Sanchez performing his Grammy-winning score on the Rafael stage while the movie unfolds.

Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (both of whom would win additional Oscars® for The Revenant) forged an innovative visual experience in which the camera tells the story in what appears to be a single shot, with Sanchez’s energetic drum score propelling this kinetic film experience.

Starring Michael Keaton as a washed-up movie star trying to reinvent his career as an actor-director on Broadway, this dramatic comedy also stars Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis and Emma Stone. Released in 2014, the film runs 119 minutes.

Considered by critics and musicians alike as one of the most prominent drummers, bandleaders and composers of his generation, four-time Grammy winner Antonio Sanchez has performed with such jazz greats as Gary Burton and Chick Corea, and he is the drummer of choice for Pat Metheny. Sanchez has released four albums as a bandleader, including the new recording (with his band Migration) The Meridian Suite. $60 (CFI Members $50)

“Audiences, meet Antonio Sanchez, the other star of Birdman” Vanity Fair

— 10 —

“The score is as stunning as the film itself...”

Downbeat Magazine

“Antonio Sanchez is undoubtedly one of the world’s best drummers.”

Huffington Post

Wrestling Jerusalem Sunday, February 19, 4:15

Srolik Productions

In Person: Filmmaker Aaron Davidman Writer-actor Aaron Davidman will present and discuss a screening of his powerful performance film that premiered at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. Embodying 17 different characters in and around the sacred city of Jerusalem, solo performer Davidman takes us on an eye-opening journey into the heart of the Israel-Palestine debate.

Davidman based his text on interviews he conducted in the region, and his characters include an Israeli commander, a Palestinian farmer, a British academic, a Palestinian UN worker and a Jewish psychologist, among others. Cumulatively their stories generate multiple (and often competing) cultural, historic and religious narratives, which the film empathetically documents. Writer: Aaron Davidman. Director: Dylan Kussman. (US 2016) 93 min. plus discussion.

Hola Mexico Film Festival

You’re Killing Me Susana

Opens Friday, february 24 This Mill Valley Film Festival highlight stars Gael García Bernal as Eligio, a charismatic (and philandering) Mexican actor who wakes up one morning to find that his wife Susana (Verónica Echegui) has left him without word or warning. Eventually he discovers that she is at a writers’ workshop in Iowa and boards a plane from Mexico City to pursue her.

A fish out of water in a Midwestern winter, Eligio is shocked to find Susana in another relationship and is determined to win her back, even though the new surroundings provide him with an unneeded romantic distraction. Based on the book Ciudades Desiertas

by José Agustin. In English and in Spanish with English subtitles. Also starring Ashley Grace, née Hinshaw. Writer/Director: Roberto Sneider. (Mexico 2016) 102 min.

ITZ L G E H T NONE OF NONE OF THE GLAM

ALL OF THE FUN!

A CASUAL COME-AS-YOU-ARE EVENING CELEBRATING THE 89 TH ACADEMY AWARDS ® A FREE CHAMPAGNE & POPCORN | GAMES & PRIZES BEER, WINE & MEALS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26 | SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER | RAFAELFILM.ORG/AWARDS2017

— 11 —

Fox Searchlight Pictures

a united kingdom

Opens Friday, march 3 David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike star in this drama based on true events. In 1947, Seretse Khama, the King of Botswana, met Ruth Williams, a London office worker. In the wake of World War II, he sensed the opportunity for change within a weakening Empire, and she saw the possibilities for women’s equality. But their proposed marriage was challenged, not only by their families, but also by the British and South African governments. South Africa had recently introduced apartheid and, to avoid having a neighboring country ruled by a biracial couple, it threatened to deny Britain access to its valuable uranium and gold. Seretse and Ruth fought for their right to love, changing their nations and inspiring the world. Writer: Guy Hibbert. Director: Amma Asante. (UK 2016) 105 min.

Film Movement

after the storm

Opens in march In master filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s elegant and sensitive exploration of family ties, Hiroshi Abe stars as Ryota, a once-acclaimed novelist who hasn’t produced in years. A divorced father, he works at a detective agency, but due to his gambling habit, he can’t seem to pay his child support. After the death of his father, his aging mother Yoshiko (Kirin Kiki of Sweet Bean) and his beautiful ex-wife Kyoko (Yoko Maki) appear to be moving on with their lives, but Ryota struggles to find a place in the life of his young son Shingo (Taiyo Yoshizawa). One night a typhoon forces them to spend the night together, in this funny and touching tale. In Japanese with English subtitles. Writer/ Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda. (Japan 2016) 117 min.

Music Box Films

Frantz

Opens in march In a small German town shortly after World War I, emotions are still raw and animosity toward former enemies still strong. Anna (Paula Beer) mourns daily at the grave of her fiancé Frantz, killed in battle in France. One day she spies a mysterious young Frenchman laying flowers at the grave, and she sets out to learn about Adrien (Pierre Niney) and his pre-war friendship with Frantz. Her quest will bring her both love and pain and ultimately take her to Paris. Inspired by Ernst Lubitsch’s 1932 antiwar drama Broken Lullaby, French filmmaker François Ozon creates a visually exquisite portrait of a period and the bonds of humanity that transcend borders and language. In French and German with English subtitles. Writer/Director: François Ozon. (France/Germany 2016) 113 min.

Oscilloscope Laboratories

kedi

— 12 —

Opens in march Hundreds of thousands of cats roam freely through the metropolis of Istanbul. For thousands of years, they’ve wandered in and out of people’s lives, becoming an essential part of the communities that enrich the city. Claiming no owners, these cats live between two worlds, neither wild nor tame, and they bring joy and purpose to those people they choose to adopt. Called by Variety a “splendidly graceful and quietly magical documentary,” this delightful film eschews narration to focus on observing the felines and listening to the comments of their human allies. In Istanbul, cats are mirrors to the people, allowing them to reflect on their lives in countless ways. In Turkish with English subtitles. Director: Ceyda Torun. (Turkey/US 2016) 80 min.

free Community Screenings

presented by cfi education

A project of CFI Education, Community Screenings are once-a-month free admission events. We feature Indie Lens Pop-up screenings, as well as our own programming. Intergenerational audiences make for lively discussions with filmmakers and subject experts. ____ Advance sign-up required ____

Sign up at cfieducation.cafilm.org/community. all screenings at 12 noon

a bitter legacy

Monday, jan 30 This documentary uncovers the story of Citizen Isolation Centers, secret prisons within Japanese-American incarceration camps for “troublemakers” amongst the inmates, punished for questioning authority during a turbulent time in history. (This

screening is not an Indie Lens Pop-Up.)

the bad kids Monday, feb 13 Extraordinary educators believe that, more than academics, it is love, empathy and life skills that give at-risk students command of their own futures. Black Rock Continuation High School provides an alternative opportunity for “the bad kids”. newtown Monday, march 20 Newtown documents a traumatized community fractured by grief and driven toward a sense of purpose, discovering a cast of characters who interconnect to weave an intimate story of community resilience. national bird Monday, april 3 National Bird follows the dramatic journey of three whistleblowers determined to break the silence around one of the most controversial current affairs issues of our time: The secret U. S. drone war.

with support from

Nancy and Rich Robbins

— 13 —

Photo @ Tommy Lau

YOU LOVE MOVIES. WE LOVE MOVIES. LET’S TALK.

Become a member of the California Film Institute at cafilm.org/membership Please complete all the information: new member

Full NAME:

renewal

ADDRESS:

I would like to join / renew as: $75 associate

$125 film fan

$325 Director’s circle

$250 gold star

$650 premier Patron

CITY:

STATE:

zip:

PHONE: EMAIL:

$1,250 cinema Benefactor

fast pass $2,500 MVFF

$5,000 MVFF (Dual)

$5,000 CFI year-round

$10,000 CFI year-round (Dual)

Mail this completed form to: CFI Membership 1001 Lootens Place, Suite 220, San Rafael, CA 94901 Or drop off with Rafael box office

VISA

E X P D AT E

MASTERCARD

AMEX

Required to receive invitations.

We do not share your email.

cvv

Check enclosed payable to California Film Institute

D O W N T O W N

S A N

R A F A E L

California Film Institute 1001 Lootens Place, Suite 220 San Rafael, CA 94901

1118 4th St.

rafaelfilm.org

|

415.454.1222

NOVATO

CFI Media Partner SAN RAFAEL

RICHMOND BRIDGE I-580

SAN FRANCISCO

OAKLAND

california film institute INDI V I DUAL a nd FOUN DATION d on o r s LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

Christopher B. & Jeannie Meg Smith Jennifer Coslett MacCready INVESTOR CIRCLE

Ken and Jackie Broad Family Fund Drusie and Jim Davis, Drusie Davis Family Fund Gruber Family Foundation Daniel Kenyon and Michelle Marchetta Kenyon Michael and Susan Schwartz Fund Vickie Soulier PLATINUM CIRCLE

Jim Boyce Trust and Kris Otis Caroline Crawford Labe The Jay Pritzker Foundation Nancy and Rich Robbins Eric Schwartz, EAS Fund GOLD CIRCLE

Lorrie and Mark Fishkin The Gibbs Family Charitable Fund Griswold Family Fund, Bob and Alex Griswold

Margaret E. Haas Andree and John Jansheski Gertrud Parker Lois and Mel Tukman Saul Zaentz Trust SILVER CIRCLE

Mary and Bill Poland BRONZE CIRCLE

Liz Hume and Jay Jacobs Julie Erickson and Art Rothstein FAST PASS | CFI

Nancy Abodeely Anonymous Alice Corning Lynne Hale Julie Hauser Katz Family Foundation Karen and Gregg Lund Cynthia Maram Kenneth and Vera Meislin Stephen and Mary Mizroch Cathy and Robert Nourafshan Maggie O’Donnell Floum Jonathan and Deborah Parker Gordon Radley Mona Steinberg

Patricia Tanoury Henry O. Timnick Kate Wilson FAST PASS | MVFF

The Allen Family Fund Anonymous Anonymous Brian and Nina Arellanes Laurie Bautista Jane Bay Susan and William Beech Jill Benioff and Alex Petrov Andrew and Nina Berman Kamala Geroux-Berry and David Berry Susan Bolle Inez Brooks-Myers Marc and Robin Bussin Joe and Sue Carlomagno Joel and Justine Coopersmith Stephanie DiMarco Joanne Dunn Dennis P. Fisco and Pamela Polite Fisco Catherine and Peter Flaxman Janet Fox Frank Gaipa Lisa Graeber

Mera Granberg Michelle Griffin and Tom Parker Larry and Carie Haimovitch Tom and Barbara Harrison Ann-Eve Hazen Russell and Susan Holdstein Devorah Jacoby Elisabeth and Howard Jaffe Willa Jefferson-Stokes Vivian Kaufman Pat Kendall Roxanne Klein K.C. and Steve Lauck Cindy and John McCauley Kevin and Rosemary McNeely Catherine and Ted McKown Monahan Parker, Inc. Linda Morgan Suki and Russell Munsell Tucky and John Pogue Mark and Dorian Polite Sylvia Reynolds Carolyn Cavalier Rosenberg, Sanford Rosenberg and Media Research Associates Karen and Harry Rosenbluth Christine Schantz Glen Sherman

Jack and Judy Sherman Susan and Joel Sklar Jann Stanley and Soren Dalsager Barbara Streckfus Marjorie Swig Skip and Aew Whitney Steven Woo Paul Zaentz Zach and Marlies Zeisler major foundation support

The Bernard Osher Foundation Fenwick Foundation Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Marin Community Foundation government support

County of Marin National Endowment for the Arts