The Mill Valley Film Festival’s storied tradition of bringing major-league stars and high-profile indie features to the Bay Area carries on with its 47th program running Oct. 3-13.
This year boasts a knockout 129-film lineup of documentaries, shorts and features. The annual celebration of indie filmmaking kicks off Thursday with “Conclave,” a buzzy papal thriller with Ralph Fiennes, who’s set to attend with director Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”). It concludes Oct. 13 with the horror-comedy “Night Bitch” starring Amy Adams as a doggone tired mom with canine tendencies.
This week, Pass the Remote shines a light on some less-hyped titles in the festival, which offers screenings and events in Mill Valley, San Rafael, Larkspur and Berkeley.
We also check out the 17th annual Drunken Film Festival, branching out from Oakland with a screening in San Francisco, and the world premiere of a terrific documentary about two San Francisco Ballet dancers participating in a competition.
For the Mill Valley Film Festival lineup and to purchase tickets, visit mvff.com.
- “My Dead Friend Zoe”: Former Army mechanic Merit (Sonequa Martin-Green) lugs around unresolved hurt and anger. Most of it is tied to the death of Zoe (Natalie Morales), her best friend she served with in Afghanistan. Suffering from PTSD but not willing to fully commit to a counseling group, Merit becomes increasingly erratic, and active in the daily life of her grandfather (Ed Harris), a veteran slipping toward dementia. Director-co-screenwriter Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’ own tour of duty in Iraq inspired his feature debut; the resulting realness, compassion and understanding, and the first-rate cast, make this one of the fest’s most poignant, tender films. Can’t recommend it more highly. (7 p.m. Oct. 5 and 11:30 a.m. Oct. 6 at the Sequoia in Mill Valley)
- “Eastern Western”: An immigrant father (Igor Galijasevic) relocates to the American frontier of the 20th century with his 2-year-old son (played by Galijasevic’s own son) after his wife’s untimely death. He sets up a modest life in the remote wilderness but decides to move to safer places after game-changing events: a tense encounter with a bear (a thrilling sequence) and his son wandering off by himself into the snow. The sister directing team of Biliana and Marina Grozdanova create a beautiful, majestic portrait of the untamed West (the cinematography is staggering), but don’t be fooled by the beauty and languid pace. Numerous developments in this three-act drama, making its world premiere here, will jolt you right out of your seat and make you misty eyed. (7:30 p.m. Oct. 5 and noon Oct. 6 at the Rafael in San Rafael)
- “JessZilla”: Emily Sheskin’s inspiring documentary on young boxing sensation Jesselyn Silva and her supportive dad Pedro will utterly destroy you. But don’t let that dissuade you from seeing it. Jesselyn, better known as JessZilla in the boxing ring, took a shine to the sport as a young child and trained hard, aspiring to win a Junior Olympic gold medal. Sheskin spends time with the New Jersey girl as she trains, wins and loses. But the best parts of “JessZilla” take place outside the ring during the playful and loving exchanges between the daughter and her father who will do anything to help her achieve her goal. “JessZilla” reminds us to cherish and appreciate such times together, whether you’re pursuing a big goal or simply hanging out, because life can change dramatically anytime. (1 p.m. Oct. 6 and noon Oct. 12 at the Rafael)
- Shorts programs in most festivals never get as much attention as features or documentaries, even though they’re equally deserving. This year, MVFF offers eight collections arranged around specific themes: “Freedom,” “I Was Here, Sweet Dreams,” “Ring the Alarm,” “Superpower,” “Time to Come Home,” “Saturday Morning Cartoons” and “Love/Happy” (youth works). “Out of the Dark: Cal Calamia,” in the Freedom section, is an uplifting eight-minute profile on inspiring San Francisco marathon runner Calamia, who is non-binary and transmasculine. Their story about developing a more positive mindset and returning to an activity they love has the power to help others. “Freedom” shorts are at 3 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Rafael 3 (at rush) and 3:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Rafael 3 with Calamia planning to attend.
- Accomplished Bay Area filmmakers Jeanne C. Finley’s “Red Boat Crossing” and Allie Light’s “The Ship That Turned Back” complement each other and screen together. Both are intimate family accounts that offer a revealing perspective on historical events. “Red Boat Crossing” recalls Finley’s mother’s experiences as a psychiatric social worker caring for wounded aboard a Red Cross hospital ship; “The Ship That Turned Back” finds Irving Saraf (Light’s late husband) enlisting his grandson to help narrate his remembrances of fleeing Nazi reign in Poland during World War II. Both take creative approaches as they bring courageous, important true stories to life. (7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 at the Rafael)
The seventh annual Drunken Film Fest this year ponies up, or would it be more accurate to say spills over?, from the East Bay to San Francisco for one of its eight nights of innovative programming, an always potent, tempting brew of indie shorts and, this year, two full-length features.
The festival opening isn’t at a bar, but at the Balboa Theater, 3630 Balboa St., San Francisco. Frameline is a co-presenter (Drunken Film Festival made its presence known at Frameline with screenings at The Stud) for a talker of an opening night selection, “Caterpillar.” The documentary about a queer man’s participation in an eye-color-changing procedure in India screens at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4.
Fans (and haters!) of “Real Housewives” won’t want to miss the 9:30 p.m. Oct. 5 showing at Oakland’s New Parkway Theater (474 24th St.) of the tongue-in-cheek mockumentary “My Imaginary Life for Someone.” It peers into the sinfully rich and catered-to lives of five women who reside in sprawling Los Angeles mansions.
The rest of the free program boasts 69 indie shorts, with 7 p.m. screenings at these bars: The Double Standard, 2424 Telegraph Ave. (Oct. 6); Stay Gold Deli, 2635 San Pablo Ave. (Oct. 7); Berryland, 2318 Telegraph Ave. (Oct. 8); Temescal Brewing, 4115 Telegraph Ave. (Oct. 9); Eli’s Mile High Club, 3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way (Oct. 10); and The Continental Club, 1658 12th St. (Oct. 11).
For more information, visit drunkenfilmfest.com.
Dance aficionados won’t want to miss Sausalito director Lisa Le Lievre’s nail-biter of a documentary “Closer Than Yesterday,” receiving a world premiere at 8 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Premier Theater, One Letterman Drive, in San Francisco’s Presidio at a fundraiser for the San Francisco Dance Film Festival, which runs in select theaters and streams from Oct. 4-Nov. 3.
The excellent film charts the journey of San Francisco Ballet dancer Carmela Mayo as she comes back from a major injury to compete in the Helsinki International Ballet Competition. Under the tutelage of former San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Tiit Helimets, Mayo surmounts one obstacle after another as she and the utterly charming Alexis Francisco Valdes partner up days before for the event. “Closer Than Yesterday” might well appeal most to dancers, but the movie, which also features former San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson, should grab you even if you have two left feet.
In conjunction with the screening, Helimets leads a masterclass for advanced ballet students of any age from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at Smuin Center for Dance. For details, visit sfdancefilmfest.org/workshops/#helimets.
For tickets ($450$75) to the screening, which includes the short “Summer,” visit sfdancefilm fest.org/fall-festival2024.
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