The 39th edition of the Mill Valley Film Festival plays Oct. 6-16 at the Century Cinema in Corte Madera, Century Larkspur, Cinearts Sequoia in Mill Valley, Lark Theater in Larkspur and Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. The film fest features a selection of American independent cinema, Oscar-buzz-worthy Hollywood features, European art-house fare, and many features and documentaries that will march through the awards season into Golden Globes and Oscar triumphs. Our coverage will run for two weeks.
Julieta (Spain) In Pedro Almodovar's holiday treat, our heroine (Emma Suarez) is sharing a Madrid flat with a boyfriend. The couple is about to move to Portugal when by chance Julieta reconnects with the best friend of her long-absent daughter Antia. Heartbroken that her child, now married and living in Switzerland with three kids, has not been in touch for 12 years, Julieta cancels her trip and returns to her old apartment hoping that Anita will know where to find her. She starts a memoir and recalls her first lover, a fisherman from Galicia. A fatal accident changes their lives. (Larkspur, 10/11; Sequoia, 10/15)
American Pastoral (US) is based on Philip Roth's 1997 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Ewan McGregor (directorial debut) seems to have all that a man could want: A former beauty queen as his wife (Jennifer Connelly), a 16-year-old daughter (Dakota Fanning) in an America bursting with purpose and energy. What could go wrong? It's 1968, and the daughter inexplicably veers from the path and bombs the local post office, killing a bystander. McGregor will do a post-film Q&A. (Rafael, 10/9)
The Eagle Huntress (Mongolia) Director Otto Bell introduces us to a coming-of-age ritual in the story of the first young woman to hunt with eagles. This odd mix of doc and fable transpires over still-wild landscapes. (Sequoia, 10/9; Rafael, 10/10)
Elle (France-Germany-Belgium) Director Paul Verhoeven returns. Isabelle Huppert sizzles as a middle-aged designer of computer games who lives in the shadow of a sexually charged childhood trauma. (Sequoia, 10/7, 12)
You're Killing Me, Susana (Mexico) Gael Garcia Bernal headlines this romantic comedy-drama about a philandering husband who runs after his wife after she abandons him for the Iowa Writers Workshop. Roberto Sneider directs. (Rafael, 10/7; Lark, 10/8; Sequoia, 10/12)
Neruda (Chile-France-Spain-Argentina) Gael again, this time as a policeman who hounds Chile's famous rebel poet Pablo Neruda. This blend of fact and fiction from director Pablo Larrain mixes politics, poetry and high-spirited hedonism. Spanish and French with English subtitles. (Rafael, 10/10)
A Man Called Ove (Sweden) This comedy about an odd-couple friendship begins when Parvaneh, pregnant, moves into the neighborhood and backs into Ove's mailbox. Ove is a jobless widower who likes to think he runs the condo association and everybody's lives. Directed by Hannes Holm. (Larkspur, 10/10)
Manchester by the Sea (US) Casey Affleck appears as a Boston guy shocked into maturity when his older brother (Kyle Chandler) dies and makes him the guardian of his teenage son. Written and directed by theater veteran Kenneth Lonergan. (Rafael, 10/12; Sequoia, 10/15)
Company Town (US) Locally produced doc from Jewish Film Festival co-founder Deborah Kaufman and co-director Alan Snitow connects the dots on Silicon Valley tech moguls who are exercising an increasing role in shaping the future of San Francisco and the once-diverse communities within. (Sequoia, 10/9; Larkspur, 10/15)
Paterson (US) Jim Jarmusch paints a fictional portrait of a poet/bus driver (Adam Driver) who struggles to keep his soul intact. (Lark, 10/7; Sequoia, 10/11)
The Nine (US) Katy Grannan turns her camera on the bedraggled residents of Modesto's South Ninth Street skid row. (Sequoia, 10/11; Lark, 10/12)
Oddball (Australia) Aussie director Stuart McDonald tells the story of a nine-year-old girl who helps her grandfather save the penguins of Australia's Middle Island. (Rafael, 10/8; Lark, 10/16)
One Week and a Day (Israel) Following the seven days of mourning or shiva, Eyal walks off with his dead son's remaining supply of medical pot, resulting in wacky and moving misadventures. Hebrew with English subtitles. (Sequoia, 10/8; Rafael, 10/10)
Paint It Black (US) Amber Tamblyn shoots her first feature around the story of an LA punk, Josie (Alia Shawkat), and a pianist, Meredith (Janet McTeer), who struggle over how to honor the memory of a young man who killed himself. (Sequoia, 10/7; Rafael, 10/8)
Moonlight (US) Filmmaker Barry Jenkins returns with the tale of an African American youth who grows up in Reagan-era Miami, slammed by the crack cocaine epidemic. He struggles to survive despite bullying at school and parental neglect at home. (Sequoia, 10/10; Rafael, 10/13)
Land of Mine (Denmark-Germany) A Danish military man spends 100 minutes in Martin Zandvliet's drama instructing 14 German teen POWs on how to defuse thousands of still-active landmines. (Larkspur, 10/12; Rafael, 10/13)
Frantz (Germany-France) Francois Ozon returns with a WWI-era drama featuring Pierre Niney as an attractive young Frenchman who infiltrates a German family mourning the death of their son Frantz. (Rafael, 10/7; Larkspur, 10/14)
Denial (US-UK) Director Mick Jackson pits American historian Deborah E. Lipstadt (Rachel Weisz) against Holocaust denier David Irving (Timothy Spall) in a film that probes the limits of freedom of speech. (Rafael, 10/6)
Certain Women (US) In Kelly Reichardt's drama, four women (Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams, Laura Dern, Lily Gladstone) illustrate three Maile Meloy stories. (Rafael, 10/8; Sequoia, 10/16)
California Typewriter (US) Director Doug Nichol's three stories about the old-fashioned typewriter, with three famous writers (Tom Hanks, Sam Shepard, David McCullough). (Sequoia, 10/7; Rafael, 10/10)
Burden (US) Timothy Marrinan and Richard Dewey co-direct this provocative bio-doc of punk artist Chris Burden. (Lark, 10/10; Rafael, 10/12)
Info: mvff.com