With films from Argentina to Kyrgyzstan to Zambia, the 61st San Francisco International Film Festival is up and running

Charlize Theron will be honored with a special tribute at the Castro Theater, Sunday, April 8, 7:30 pm, followed by a screening of her new film, Jason Reitman’s “Tully.”  Her performance as an exhausted mom who has just given birth to her third child and, day by day, feels the life drained out of her, has been called “fearless, emotionally raw, and physically intense.” Other prominent honorees to be presented with public tributes and awards at the 2018 SFFILM Festival include Wayne Wang, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, Annette Insdorf, and Nathaniel Dorsky. Image: courtesy SFFILM

The 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival), April 4–17, 2018, has something for everyone.  The festival, the longest running in North America, features the latest and most exciting in world cinema plus great docs, archival gems, live musical performances, big nights, special tributes and numerous awards.

This year, offerings include 186 films from 48 countries with 8 world premieres, 5 North American premieres, 6 U.S. premieres, and films from 67 women directors and co-directors.  Over 300 filmmakers and industry guests will be in attendance.

There’s even a film that will have the dogs lining up:  Don Hardy’s “Pick of the Litter,”  a delightful doc about San Rafael’s wonderful Guide Dogs for the Blind program that tracks 4 pups on their journey to become indispensable human helpers.  The screening (Saturday, April 7, Victoria Theatre)  is one of the festival’s free community screenings and it sold out almost immediately.  Dogs will have their own section in the theater and are asked to be on their best behavior.

It’s a fact: a film has an exponentially larger impact if you discuss it and meet its makers.   The best way to fest is to select films with filmmakers in attendance, so that you can take in the enlightening post-screening Q&A’s or to attend one of the many artists talks, live presentations or collaborative film and conversation events which feature filmmakers, actors or industry luminaries in more lengthy conversation or performance.

Through its Cinema by the Bay festival programming, SFFILM champions new work made in and about the Bay Area and honors Bay Area visionaries who helped establish the Bay Area as such a vital area for film production and exhibition.  This year, Cinema by the Bay offers 36 films and special programs celebrating the Bay Area.  Among these, the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award  (Friday April 6, 6pm, SFMOMA), honoring experimental filmmaker Nathaniel Dorsky is one of those events that will leave a lasting impression.  It’s a shame that Dorsky is largely unknown outside the small world of avant-garde cinema because his short films, with their bursts of light and shifting shadows, have a deep impact and encourage contemplation of both life and art.  The program will include a screening of four of Dorsky’s 16mm short films and an in depth conversation with Dorsky about his unique compositional technique.

Coinciding with its mission to promote exceptional new talent, SFFILM is also continuing its Launch Program, which it began last year to assist a select group of films starting their journey into the distribution world.  In Launch’s second year, five documentary features within the festival official lineup have been selected to have their world premieres—The Human Element (US), The Rescue List (US/Ghana), Tre Maison Dasan (US), Ulam: Main Dish (US) and Wrestle (US).  “We are delighted to shine the spotlight on our second year of Launch,” said SFFILM Executive Director Noah Cowan. “This is a tightly focused program of world premiere presentations that we feel represent the values of our city and region and that we want to see enter the global film distribution system to help promote those values…”

ARThound’s top picks:

These are all gems of world cinema that are unlikely to have a theatrical release in the Bay Area. Indulge!

A Man of Integrity, Mohammad Rasoulof, (Iran, 2017, 118 min)

Reza Akhalghirad as Reza in a scene from Mohammad Rasoulof’s “A Man of Integrity,” image: courtesy Cannes Film Festival

Winner Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s “A Man of Integrity,” examines economic corruption and religious intolerance in Iran through the story of Reza, a man who relocates his family from Tehran to a small town where he dreams of building goldfish farm and where his wife guides students as the principal of a girls’ school.  Soon after the move, Reza is approached by local goons and requested to pay bribes.  The story address how he and his wife use their minds and fight back against these corrupt forces to regain their lives.  In October, Rasoulof was charged with national security infringements and propaganda against the Iranian state and, once again, faces imprisonment.  Despite great restrictions, he has managed, for the past decade, to remain central in Iran’s complex social and political discourse and with his gripping, allegorical films.  Rasoulof’s previous films at SFFFILM include Iron Island (SFIFF 2006) and The White Meadows (SFIFF 2010), Goodbye SFIFF 2012.  YBCA (SF) April 6, 1:30 p.m.  Also, SFMOMA, April 7, 9:30 p.m. and BAMPFA, April 8, 3:15 p.m.

 

Scary Mother, Ana Urushadze, (Estonia, Georgia, 2017, 107 min)

Nata Murvanidze is Manana in Ana Urushadze’s “Scary Mother.” Image courtesy: SFFILM

This intense debut feature, Georgia’s 2018 Best Foreign Language Oscar entry, tracks Manana, a Georgian mother of three, who negotiates middle age by writing a novel that leaves no family member unscathed.  As the ramifications of her artistic endeavor unravel in compellingly bizarre fashion, Manana’s single-minded pursuit of her new calling leads the film into dark territory.  She begins to dream that she is a Manananggal, a mythical Filipino creature that’s torn into two pieces—one human and one a monstrous bird-creature that emits a clicking noise when on the hunt.  Winner of Best First Feature Prize, Sarajevo.  Golden Gate Award Competition.  Children’s Creativity Museum (SF), April 6, 8:45 p.m.  Also Roxie (SF), April 13, 4 p.m. and Children’s Creativity Museum (SF), April 14, 5:30 p.m.

 

The Other Side of Everything, Mila Turajlić, (Serbia, France, Qatar, 2017, 102 min)

A scene from Mila Turajlić’s “The Other Side of Everything.” Image: courtesy SFFILM

 

In this eye-opening doc, Belgrade-born Mila Turajlić examines Serbia’s political history in the Tito and Milošević eras through the eyes of her mother, the pro-democracy activist, Srbijanka Turajlić.  Under Tito, the family’s spacious Central Belgrade apartment was divided and redistributed by the state government. Srbijanka’s activism meant that they were spied on from the very rooms they used to own.  Now, she is free to talk about “the other side” and existence under Communism.  From the director of Cinema Kommunisto (Festival 2011) this film also employs archival footage and interviews brilliantly. Mila Turajlić and Srbijanka Turajlić in attendance for April 10-11 screenings.  Golden Gate Award Competition  Roxie (SF), April 10, 6:30 p.m. Also BAMPFA April 11, 8:40 p.m. and Children’s Creativity Museum (SF), April 12, 12:45 p.m.

 

Blonde Redhead performs to Yasijuro Ozu’s silent masterpiece I was Born, But…(Japan, 1932, 90 min)

A scene from Yasijuro Ozu’s “I Was Born, But…” image: courtesy SFFILM

Blonde Redhead. Image: courtesy of SFFILM.

Taking a clue from the SF Silent Film Festival’s tremendously popular on stage live accompaniments to silent goldies, SFFILM has invited the musicians of the alternative rock band Blonde Redhead (Kazu Makino, Amedeo Pace and Simone Pace) to accompany Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s most popular film, the 1932 black and white drama I was Born, But…The story summarizes life in post-war Japan and follows the working class Yoshi as he moves his family to the Tokyo suburbs to be closer to his new job.  As his two rambunctious young boys, Keiji and Ryoichi, prepare for school, they encounter all sorts of bullies and must negotiate the local pecking order.  When they discover their good-natured dad is a nobody who sucks up to his new boss, they become indignant with the realities of class stratification.  The film is of full of wonderful physical gags and comedic moments.  Castro (SF), April 11, 8 p.m.

 

Suleiman Mountain, Elizaveta Stishova (Kyrgyzstan, Russia,  2017, 103 min)

A scene from Elizaveta Stishova’s “Suleiman Mountain.” Image: courtesy SFFILM

Russian actress-turned-filmmaker Stishova weaves mythological and even comedic elements into her debut feature.  Uluk, a young Kyrgyz orphan boy, is reunited with his father and his two wives who are traveling skam artists and who survive by swindling unsuspecting villagers in various Kyrgyz townships.  Working with a cast of nonprofessional Kyrgyzstani actors, Stishova guides audiences into a world of ancient folk traditions and shamanistic rituals that are enacted at fabled Takht-i-Suleiman Mountain, the mid-point of the Silk Road, where the characters aim to find their destinies.  Golden Gate Award Competition  BAMPFA, April 12, 6 p.m.  Also YBCA (SF), April 13, 5:30 p.m. and Roxie (SF), April 14, 2 p.m.

 

Jupiter’s Moon, Kornél Mundruczó, (Hungary, Germany, 2017, 128 min)

A scene from Kornél Mundruczó’s “Jupiter’s Moon.”  Image: courtesy SFFILM

From the director of the 2014 Cannes Un Certain Regard winner, White God, comes another visually astounding film, a parable of a Syrian refugee named Aryan, who, in death, discovers he can fly, literally.  An opportunistic doctor smuggles Aryan to Budapest and touts him as an angel. Soon, he is identified as a person to fear and possibly destroy.   Castro (SF), April 12, 9:30 p.m. and Roxie (SF), April 17, 3:30 p.m.

 

Details:  The 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival is April 4–17, 2018.  Most films are $16 and big nights, awards, tributes, and special events are priced slightly higher.   Advanced purchase is highly recommended as most of the screenings and events sell out well in advance.  For full program information and online ticket purchase, visit: sffilm.org.