Mill Valley Film Festival 2011

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Saturday, 01 October 2011 05:00

Written by Lynne Shannon

The 34th annual Mill Valley Film Festival 2011 (MVFF) is taking place October 6 - 16, 2011 at 142 Throckmorton Theatre, CinéArts@Sequoia and Mill Valley Community Center in Mill Valley, as well as venues in Corte Madera, Larkspur and San Rafael, California.

The Mill Valley Film Festival was founded in 1978 by California Film Institute director Mark Fishkin, and is well known for the quality of its programming. The Festival has an "impressive track record for launching new films and new filmmakers, and has earned a reputation as a filmmakers' festival by offering a high-profile, prestigious, noncompetitive environment for celebrating the best in independent and world cinema."

This year MVFF pays tribute to Glenn Close, the Academy Award-nominated and multi-award-winning actress. Clips from some of her films will be screened along with an onstage interview. Her new film, Albert Nobbs, is based on a George Moore short story by way of an Off-Broadway play in which Close starred and won an Obie award for her performance as Nobbs.

Other Tributes are:

• Michelle Yeoh, The Lady
• Gaston Kaboré, veteran director from Burkina Faso
• Ezra Miller, We Need to Talk About Kevin
• Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene

The Opening Night film is Jeff Who Lives at Home, directed by Jay and Mark Duplass and starring Susan Sarandon, Ed Helms and Jason Segel as Jeff.

Unemployed Jeff lives with his mother -- a poet-philosopher disguised as a do-nothing 30-year-old slacker. Jeff knows that he has a place in the universe, and today he's ready to go out and find it. "In our achievement-obsessed world, it's all too easy to dismiss a person like Jeff. But what a pity that would be."  

The Centerpiece Film is My Week With Marilyn, directed Simon Curtis, who will be present. Based on the memoir by Colin Clark, the film chronicles the week Clark spent showing Marilyn Monroe the sights of England while she was there to film The Prince and the Showgirl. Michelle Williams portrays Marilyn Monroe, with Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier, and Eddie Redmayne as production assistant Clark.

The Special Premiere film is A Few Best Men, directed by Stephan Elliott, starring Xavier Samuel and Olivia Newton-John. When David travels to the Australian outback for his wedding, he is aided and (mostly) abetted by his "best men".

The Closing Night film is The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius. "Cannes Best Actor Jean Dujardin is a silent-film star resisting the transition to sound in this French production co-starring Bérénice Bejo, set in 1927 Hollywood."

The Festival is offering a chance for viewers to see three 2011 Foreign Language Academy Award submissions:

Forgiveness of Blood (Albania)
dir. Joshua Marston
A family in Albania goes about their business, passing daily through land they used to own. But the current owners are finally fed up, a fight ensues and one of the opponents is killed. The family‛s pleasant life is gone as they cope with the repercussions.

Miss Bala (Mexico)
dir. Gerardo Naranjo
A young woman in Mexico clings to her dream of winning a beauty contest despite the pervasive influence of organized crime.

Pina (Germany)
dir. Wim Wenders
Wenders utilizes the magical toolbox that is 3-D technology to show us the brilliant work of choreographer Pina Bausch. "One of the finest uses of 3-D technology to date, Pina brings to life what Bausch has left to us following her sudden death in 2009: "Dance. Dance or otherwise we are lost."

Other documentaries are:

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel 
dir. Lisa Immordino Vreeland with Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt, Frédéric Tcheng
How does one become Diana Vreeland? The late fashion editor and cult figure, then 80 years old, answered: "The first thing to do, my love, is arrange to be born in Paris. After that, everything flows quite naturally." The life and times of the "High Priestess of Fashion" is followed through archival footage, family photos and recorded conversations with George Plympton -- but the most prevalent voice is her own.

Thumbs
dir. Bill Couturié
A portrait of six teens in their quest for the US National Texting Championship. That‛s right, Texting -- the newest bee where, with two thumbs and a cell phone, the contestants compete in New York City for a $50,000 prize.

Voices from the Shadows
dir. Natalie Boulton, Josh Biggs (UK)
Psychiatric prejudice and medical ignorance hamper the solution to one of the most prevalent illnesses of the 21st century: myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), aka chronic fatigue syndrome. "A call to action for anyone who cares about the health and well-being of their community, this powerful film is equally a tribute to those whose voices must be heard."

Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?
dir. Donald Goldmacher, Frances Causey
"Everything in this country is about money. Everything." Thus begins yet another outrage-stirring documentary about our financial disaster. "There's no denying the American economy has gone from bad to worse to apocalyptic.... Fortunately, the film offers strategies for the non-billionaires among us, including voting crook-enabling politicians out of office. Getting mad as hell can't hurt, either."

What Happened Here
dir. Rob Nilsson
Inspired by the autobiography of Leon Trotsky, co-leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, Nilsson launched a quest to find the roots of Trotsky's hidden Jewish ancestry. The quest led him to Ukraine, and to the making of this cinematic essay, including WW II footage with Trotsky's personal reflections, accounts of Stalin’s enforced famines, the Nazi invasion and genocide.

A few new narrative features are also screening, including:

The Butcher's Wife / Wangliang's Ideal
dir. Gao Xiongjie (China)
A butcher and his wife have not yet consummated their marriage, pending the wife‛s passing her college entrance exams (her fourth try). "This domestic tragedy asks if a principled man and woman have a right to the life of their choice, or does marriage spell the end of all dreams?"

The Soul of Flies / El alma de las moscas
dir. Jonathan Cenzual Burley (Spain)
The journey through the Spanish countryside with two long-lost half-brothers -- the uptight and unimpressionable Miguel and the affectionate and sentimental Nero -- as they make their way to their estranged father's funeral. When Miguel agrees to meet Nero "at a remote Spanish train station, it's for one reason: to find closure. But after the two realize the train station is abandoned, their personal lives inconveniently open up and intertwine as they hitchhike, steal a motorbike and argue the entire way to paying final respects to the father they've never met. Soon they realize they have more in common than they thought."

ELIMINATE: Archie Cookson
dir. Rob Holder (UK)
British agent Archie Cookson is no James Bond -- hell, he‛s not even George Smiley. So why is he, a mere drone whose task is translating Russian recordings, suddenly targeted by the higher-ups in MI6 for elimination? Gradually, Archie begins to remember what it means to be a man of action. This first feature by Holder is a "darkly comic indie homage to the classic British spy movies of the '60s."

The Prize / El premio
dir. Paula Markovitch (Mexico/Germany/France/Poland)
Ceci, a seven year old girl, has to keep a huge secret, but she doesn't completely understand what is the secret about. The life of her family depends on her silence, as Ceci and her mom must stay hidden from the military in 1970's Argentina.

Other events include:

• Children's Filmfest
• 5@5 Short Films
• Active Cinema – films that explore the world and its issues, engage audiences and transform society
• Educational Screenings

For more information, go to www.mvff.com.

Mill Valley Film Festival 2011
October 6 - 16, 2011

142 Throckmorton Theatre
142 Throckmorton Avenue
Mill Valley, CA

Century Cinema
41 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center
1118 Fourth Street
San Rafael, CA

CinéArts@Sequoia
25 Throckmorton Avenue
Mill Valley, CA

Cinemark Larkspur Landing
500 Larkspur Landing Circle
Larskpur, CA

Mill Valley Community Center
180 Camino Alto
Mill Valley, CA

Albert Park/San Rafael Community Center
618 B Street
San Rafael, CA

Chicago Film Fest: Film Lover's Kind of Town

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Saturday, 01 October 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The 46th annual Chicago International Film Festival takes place October 6 - 20, 2011 at the AMC River East 21 Theatres in Chicago, Illinois.

This is North America's oldest competitive international film festival. Founded in 1964 by award winning filmmaker and graphic designer Michael Kutza, the first Festival opened in 1965. Since then, the Festival has grown to become a world-renowned annual event.

This year more than 180 films from 50 countries are on view, including over 45 films by first-time directors. "The languages may be different," says Kutza, "but the emotions are the same. Film unites us like no other art form can."

The Festival's goals have always been to discover and present new filmmakers to Chicago, and to acknowledge and award these filmmakers for their artistry.

The Festival Spotlight is on a diverse group of actors and filmmakers with Illinois and Chicago connections.

The Opening Night Presentation is the Festival‛s celebration of two giant Chicago institutions -- longtime actor Dennis Farina and the Steppenwolf Theater Company -- with the screening of The Last Rites of Joe May, directed by Joe Maggio and starring Dennis Farina with members of the Steppenwolf ensemble.

Other Chicago-connected films are:

Andrew Bird: Fever Year
dir. Xan Aranda
A profile of the classically trained yet utterly unconventional musician Andrew Bird, the film follows Bird in the final months of the artist’s last tour.

Joint Body
dir. Brian Jun
starring Mark Pellegrino, Alicia Witt
A recent parolee comes to the aid of an exotic dancer living in a mysterious self-imposed exile in downstate Illinois. "When they’re forced to team up and go on the lam, the two wonder whether they can even trust each other."

Patang (India)
dir. Prashant Bhargava
"Can you ever really go home again? In Chicago-born Bhargava’s feature debut, a successful Delhi businessman returns to his familial home, urban-bred daughter in tow, for a surprise visit during India’s largest kite festival."

The Return of Joe Rich
dir. Sam Auster
starring Sam Witwer, Armand Assante, Talia Shire
"When Joe returns to Chicago he looks up his aging but still dangerous Uncle Dom in the hopes of getting "connected" and living the life of a made man. When Uncle Dom resists, Joe makes him an offer he can’t refuse."

Sadermania: From Fanship to Friendship
dir. Adam Gacka
Chris Sader has been a lifelong Hulkamaniac. "Chris and Hulk Hoganrelate how they met and developed a bond through mutual struggles and personal loss that each would have faced alone if not for the unlikely bond that develops between them." World Premiere.

The 15-year anniversary of the Black Perspectives Program is celebrated with a special presentation of the groundbreaking 1960s Chicago-set classic from 1975, Cooley High, directed by Michael Schultz, and starring Glynn Turman, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs and Garrett Morris.

The film revisits a crucial period in the history of local black cinema and captures the mood, tone and music of the era preceding hip-hop. "Best friends Leroy "Preach" Jackson and Richard "Cochise" Morris are high school seniors at Cooley Vocational School on Chicago’s Near North Side. As they begin to consider their future, the two contend with girl trouble, difficult teachers, an ordeal with a couple of thugs, and the police."

Shorts 1: City & State
A mixture of narrative, documentary and animated short films shining the light on talented local filmmakers.

Chicago Connection: A series of Conversations with Chicago notables:

• John C. Reilly – From Chicago’s  Steppenwolf Theatre Company and the Organic Theatre to Hollywood’s A-list, the Oscar® and Tony® nominated actor talks about his life and work.
• Haskell Wexler – One of the most influential cinematographers the cinema has ever known, Chicago-born Academy Award®-winning Wexler’s expertise behind the camera has given the world such classics as Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, In the Heat of the Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and The Thomas Crown Affair. In addition he’s directed some extremely important films such as Medium Cool and Latino.
• Joe Swanberg – Whether it‛s called DIY, Mumblecore, Slackavettes, Chicago’s Swanberg defines the movement with his independent films: Kissing on the Mouth, LOL and Hannah Takes the Stairs.
• Ken Nordine – Voice-over and radio legend Nordine has recorded hundreds of radio and TV spots and movie trailers over the past seven decades. Ken is currently developing a series of multimedia projects called Image Jazz that will combine words with computer-generated [graphics].
• Braden King – Filmmaker, photographer and visual artist, King‛s most recent feature film, Here, is "a love story within a road movie".

Some of the films shown in competition are:

Chronicle of my Mother / Waga haha no ki
dir. Masato Harada (Japan)
A successful novelist has made a career out of basing his work on his family. Then his mother is diagnosed with dementia and he must reassess his feelings and his relationship to his family.

Goodbye / Bé omid é didar
dir. Mohammad Rasoulof (Iran)
"In this gripping film shot semi-clandestinely, a young disbarred female lawyer with an exiled husband and an unwanted pregnancy tries to secure a visa to leave the country.... This powerful portrait of one woman's struggle against the system in modern-day Iran won a best director award at this year's Cannes Film Festival."

Return Ticket / Dao Fu Yang Liu Bai Li
dir. Teng Yung-Shing (China/Taiwan)
Migrant worker Cao Li returns to Shanghai after two years of working at a clothing enterprise that failed. She gets drawn into a scheme, illegally chartering a bus to take fellow Fuyang natives home for the New Year holiday.

Love Always, Carolyn
dir. Malin Korkeasalo, Maria Ramström (Sweden)
This portrait of an overlooked Muse, Carolyn Cassady, reveals the great woman of "wit, beauty, grace, and normalcy" behind two of the Beat Generation's greatest men: Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac.

The Jewel / Il gioiellino
dir. Andrea Molaioli (Italy)
"When multi-nationals threaten the existence of a family-owned dairy business, the company patriarch and his loyal financial advisor must find a way, any way, to keep the company going."

The Good Doctor
dir. Lance Daly
starring Orlando Bloom
First-year resident Dr. Martin Blake strives to be a "good doctor", willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. When a young beautiful patient is assigned to his care, the doctor finds himself so attracted that he must choose between hypocrisy and the Hippocratic Oath.

The Three Musketeers
dir. Paul W.S. Anderson
starring Logan Lerman, Matthew Macfadyen, Ray Stevenson, Luke Evans, Christoph Waltz
The Musketeers stride again as they embark on a dangerous mission to foil the plot that not only threatens the Crown, but the future of Europe itself. This latest version is for the 21st century: it‛s in state-of-the-art 3D.

Panels presented are:

• Black Perspectives: Building a Community
• Art as Activism
• Spotlight South Asia: Beyond Bollywood
• New Directors: Camera Ready?
• Animation: Blurring the Lines
• Documentary Currents
• New Models of Distribution
• Social Media: Spreading the Word

These are only a few titles out of the exhaustive supply of quality films being presented at this Festival. Between them and the panels, it‛s a safe bet that no attendee will be disappointed.

For more information, go to www.chicagofilmfestival.com.

Chicago International Film Festival
October 6 - 20, 2011

AMC River East 21
322 E Illinois St.
Chicago, IL 60610

Palo Alto Gets Into the Act With New Film Fest

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Sunday, 25 September 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The Inaugural Palo Alto International Film Festival (PAIFF) is taking place September 29 - October 2, 2011 at the Aquarius, Palo Alto Square and the Palo Alto Children's Theatre in Palo Alto, California.

The Palo Alto International Film Festival is a program of the Palo Alto Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit creativity lab, dedicated to the pursuit and promotion of unconventional truths through research, education and entertainment.

This new Festival is intended to build a local and international community that focuses as much on behind-the-scenes professionals as it does on stars of the film world.  

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