A festival for children leads off the weekly slate, which also includes new releases starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor; David Straithairn and Jane Levy; and Francis Ford Coppola and chaos.
The Bay Area International Children’s Film Festival, featuring top-quality films from around the world for kids and families, presents its 2025 edition Sunday at the Roxie Theater. Two 75-minute programs at 1 and 3:15 p.m. include about a dozen short films, some award-winning. Program 1 selections include “Dot” (UK), a two-minute movie about a very tiny creature, from the Aardman animation studio; “The Sled” (Russia), starring an animated squirrel; and “The Night Boots” (France), a boy-in-boots adventure and Audience Award recipient at the Annecy animation festival. Program 2 includes “Persevere: The Wilma Rudolph Story” (USA), written and performed by Berkeley schoolkids; “Nube” (Mexico), about a puffy white cloud and her dark stormy daughter; and “Pigeons” (UK), an animated documentary about the omnipresent feathered creatures. Subtitled “A Playdate for the Imagination,” the locally produced festival was created in 2009 to give children an opportunity to experience a wide range of cultures through the friendly medium of a movie screen. For details, visit roxie.com.
“The History of Sound” directed by Oliver Hermanus (“Living”) is a love story, a celebration of traditional American music, and a reflection on the transitory nature of life and its shining moments. With its 127-minute runtime and ruminative tone, the film requires viewer commitment. It’s worth it. Written by Ben Shattuck (adapting his own short story), the screenplay follows two young men — Kentuckian Lionel (Paul Mescal) and New Englander David (Josh O’Connor) — who meet at the Boston Conservatory in 1917 and, bonding over a shared interest in regional folksongs, become romantically involved. The war interrupts their affair, but the pair later reunite and travel through rural Maine to collect traditional songs from country folk. The experiences go on to influence Lionel’s path for decades. Mescal and O’Connor supply considerable chemistry, and its absence is felt when the focus shifts largely to Lionel. But something is building under the surface, and in the final act, the wallop occurs, when the older Lionel (Chris Cooper), looks back at his song-collecting adventures with David, his memories roused by an unexpected package delivery. The movie becomes profoundly affecting and splendidly worthwhile. “The History of Sound” opens Friday in Bay Area theaters. Rated R.
“A Little Prayer,” written and directed by Angus MacLachlan, is a moving drama about parenting and connection, centering on an American family. Bill (David Strathairn) is a North Carolina business owner and military veteran with a straight-talking wife (Celia Weston) and two messed-up grown children (Will Pullen, Anna Camp) whose lives he keeps trying to better, even though neither of them wants his help. Daughter-in-law Tammy (Jane Levy), meanwhile, is functional and pleasant. She and Bill share a sweet rapport, courtesy of Strathairn and Levy. The movie, which addresses infidelity, domestic violence, abortion and PTSD and has an intimate focus on challenges facing small towners, might have amounted to sentimental hokum or shallow melodrama. But by keeping the material credible, the characters relatable and the emotion genuine, MacLachlan, who is best known as the screenwriter of “Junebug,” created something poignant and powerful. “A Little Prayer” opens Friday at the Smith Rafael Film Center, San Rafael. Levy appears in person after Friday’s 7 p.m. screening. Rated R.
“Megadoc,” directed by Mike Figgis (“Leaving Las Vegas”), chronicles the making of “Megalopolis” (2024), celebrated filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed $120 million passion project and notorious flop. Figgis’ documentary combines footage and interviews with Coppola and “Megalopolis” cast members (Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel and Jon Voight) going behind the scenes of the production of the long-gestating, epic-scale sociopolitical allegory set in a place called New Rome. The 80-something Coppola, who comes across sometimes warmly open and sometimes dictatorial, is shown conducting a playful rehearsal and, later, dealing with production delays and artistic differences that lead him to fire crew members and become exasperated with actor Shia LaBeouf. The documentary ends just before “Megalopolis” premieres at Cannes. “Megadoc” largely ignores the negative reception “Megalopolis” received and doesn’t address allegations of on-set misconduct on Coppola’s part. While Figgis’ coverage could be more complete, “Megadoc,” as an eye-of-the-storm picture of an artistic giant—one for whom chaos is familiar terrain — at work, and as an embrace of wildly original, big-thinking filmmaking, is captivating. “Megadoc” opens Friday at Bay Area theaters.
As part of a series featuring independent documentaries by award-winning East Bay filmmakers, the Albany Film Festival screens “Between the Sun and the Sidewalk,” directed by Helen De Michiel at 7 p.m. Thursday at Rialto Cinemas Cerrito theater, in El Cerrito. The film follows two Latino political organizers as they coach a rookie team in the ins and outs of grassroots community organizing, using a soda-tax campaign as an introductory experience. A discussion with De Michiel follows the film. Tickets are $16.50.
“Yi-Wo,” the internationally touring new documentary from renowned surf-film director Thomas Campbell (“The Seedling,” “Sprout,” “The Present”), screens at the Balboa Theater in San Francisco at 6 and 9 p.m. Saturday. A poetic portrayal of the art, skill and essence of surfing, the film was shot in waters around the world and features a cast of master surfers.
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