San Francisco director H.P. Mendoza sees the biggest theatrical release of his career this week with “The Secret Art of Human Flight,” an indie dramedy about a children’s book author trying to overcome crippling grief by learning how to fly. It lands July 5 at the Roxie in San Francisco, one of 16 cities where it will be shown this weekend.
In addition, we’ll look at the upcoming Fraenkel Film Festival (July 9-20), also at the Roxie.
Bay Area favorite Mendoza’s eclectic, adventurous career defies his being pigeonholed or bound to a particular genre. Whether working in music, movies or multimedia projects, the Filipino American auteur remains one of Bay Area’s most respected artists. (In 2023, he received the San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle’s Marlon Riggs Award, given to filmmakers displaying innovation and courage.)
Mendoza’s newest venture marks a bit of a departure from “Colma: The Musical,” which he wrote, and the dark comedy “Bitter Melon,” which he wrote and directed. The setting is different (New England, not the Bay Area), and he didn’t write it. Up-and-coming screenwriter Jesse Orenshien (who incidentally was an “American Ninja Warrior” contestant) did.
“The Secret Art of Human Flight” bears his stamp, though. It’s a tender yet tough and wise indie. Grant Rosenmeyer gives a deeply vulnerable performance as Ben Grady, who is emotionally crippled by the unexpected death of his wife (Reina Hardesty), with whom he collaborated on children books. Unable to move away from his grief, his ensuing strange behavior starts to worry those around him.
Ben seeks a potential way out of the depressive rut by achieving something remarkable: learning how to fly. To get flight-ready, he seeks the dubious consul of an internet guide called Mealworm (Oscar nominee Paul Raci, in a hilarious performance). Ben’s kooky, sometimes touching interactions with the Winnebago-traveling Mealworm make “The Secret Art of Human Flight” soar. The film is a lovely true portrayal of the erratic nature of grief and how it profoundly clips our wings until we can fly.
The Fraenkel Film Festival, an 11-night movie connoisseur’s fantasy at the Roxie from July 9-20, marks the 45th anniversary of San Francisco’s Fraenkel Gallery. All proceeds benefit the venerable Roxie.
Gallery artists Robert Adams, Sophie Calle, Kota Ezawa, Lee Friedlander, Nan Goldin, Martine Gutierrez, Christian Marclay, Richard Misrach, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Carrie Mae Weems selected the films on the basis of how deeply they resonated. They’re being screened in double bills.
Here are some highlights:
The Coen Brothers’ infectious 2000 Southern-broiled reconfiguration of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” “O Brother Where Art Thou” starring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson, opens the festival at 6:30 p.m. July 9.
Ingmar Bergman’s seminal 1957 drama “Wild Strawberries” and Barry Jenkins’ Oscar-winning “Moonlight” from 2016 were selected by Weems. “Wild Strawberries” screens at 6:30 p.m. July 10, followed by “Moonlight” at 8:40 p.m.
Sugimoto chose the 1964 Japanese horror award-winner “Kwaidan” screening at 6 p.m. July 17, followed by Akio Jissoji’s 1970s Buddhist-themed epic (the first in a trilogy) “This Transient Life” at 9:15 p.m.
Gutierrez chose the science fiction buff’s ultimate July 19 double bill of Ridley Scott’s visually dazzling 1982 classic “Blade Runner” in its final cut version and Mamoru Oshii’s ingenious 1995 anime mindbender “Ghost in the Shell.” “Blade Runner” is at 6:30 p.m.; “Ghost in the Shell” at 9:15 p.m.
Misrach’s closing night picks are Peter Weir’s prescient 1998 comedy-drama “The Truman Show” at 4:15 p.m. July 20 and Philip Kaufman’s epic 1983 retelling of author Tom Wolfe’s “The Right Stuff” at 7:15 p.m., with Kaufman appearing in conversation with Misrach at 6:45 p.m.
Most tickets are $16, except $20 for “The Right Stuff.” Passes range from $72 for six movies to a $200 all-film pass. Visit https://roxie.com/series/fraenkel-film-festival/.
The post Pass the Remote: H.P. Mendoza’s appealing ‘Secret,’ Fraenkel artists curate benefit film fest appeared first on Local News Matters.