Q4.18 at the Smith Rafael Film Center

O C T O B E R — D E C E M B E R

2 0 1 8

O C T O B E R

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D E C E M B E R

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2 0 1 8 Vol. 20 Issue 4

From the

DIRECTOR of PROGRAMMING Welcome to the October-December quarterly schedule for the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. For everyone at the CFI office, as well as anyone within earshot (we hope), October always means the Mill Valley Film Festival, which runs this year through the 14th.

DOCLANDS DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

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MARIN COUNTY, CA

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MAY 2-5, 2019

CALL FOR ENTRIES OPENS NOVEMBER 1

SMITH RAFAEL FILM CENTER on SOCIAL MEDIA FACEBOOK: @SMITHRAFAELFILMCENTER1 TWITTER: @CAFILMINSTITUTE INSTAGRAM: @CAFILM #SMITHRAFAEL

CFI B OARD O F DI RECTO RS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / FOUNDER

Mark Fishkin CFI BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Maida Lynn Kenneth Broad (Vice President)

Lynne Hale Richard J. Idell (Secretary)

Daniel Kenyon Amy Keroes

Jennifer Coslett MacCready (Vice President)

Cathy Nourafshan Maggie O’Donnell Jonathan Parker (President)

Susan Schwartz Dr. Joel Sklar

(Vice President)

Jann Stanley Steve Weinswig Zach Zeisler (Treasurer)

EMERITUS BOARD

ADVISORY BOARD

Rita Cahill Sid Ganis Bruce Katz Gary Meyer Gordon Radley Christopher B. Smith Henry Timnick

The Honorable Barbara Boxer Stewart Boxer Drusie Davis Jeff Fisher Peter Flaxman Robert Greber Linda Gruber Peggy Haas Jessica Igoe Michael Klein Roxanne Klein KC Lauck

FOUNDING BOARD

Rita Cahill Mark Fishkin Lois Kohl Shore

Andrew McGuire Mary Poland Eric Schwartz Michael Schwartz Skip Whitney

What’s coming to the Rafael following MVFF? For one thing, we’re opening theatrical engagements on several festival titles, including Free Solo, Wildlife, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Museo, Border, Shoplifters, Becoming Astrid and Capernaum. And since the Rafael quarterly publication is never the final word, we’re likely to add more MVFF titles as we proceed through the fall.

However, we have plenty unique to the Rafael, and we’re very pleased that we’ll have some interesting guests on hand. English writer-director Alex Cox perfectly fits anybody’s definition of a “maverick” filmmaker, and he can be delightful in person discussing his own work, as well as presenting other films he admires.

Also in November, we recharge our Bergman 100 batteries. Our celebration of the Ingmar Bergman centenary began in February with Liv Ullmann’s residency, and now we bookend it with a visit from Katinka Faragó. While Liv arguably has one of the most recognizable names in the film and theater world, it’s true that very few Americans know who Katinka is. She has spent her six-decade career behind the camera and, as an essential member of Bergman’s production team for more than 30

GILDA

October 17

A December highlight is a visit from Colorado’s Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra accompanying an extremely funny silent Harold Lloyd comedy called Speedy. Every time these terrific musicians have visited the Rafael, the exit polls are through the roof. Do yourself a favor and be there.

LIFE AND NOTHING MORE

Opens October 26

Finally, we request you join us when we open our engagement of Life and Nothing More, the latest film from CFI Releasing. Its theatrical premiere takes place at New York’s prestigious Film Forum on October 24, and two days later, it opens at the Rafael and other Bay Area theaters. Mark Fishkin, CFI executive director, says: “Life and Nothing More, in its gentle manner, is as timely as any film we have seen in years…it resonates universally, just as Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves did 70 years ago. It is CFI Releasing’s honor to be introducing this film to American audiences.”

We’ll see you at the movies! ~ Richard Peterson

SHEL L EY SPICER Director of Marketing & Publicity

JONAT HAN MA RLO W CFI Releasing / Rafael Film Club

D A N Z A S TR OW Rafael General Manager

JAN KL INGEL HOF ER Program Consultant

L EAH L OSCHIAV O Marketing Coordinator

Films marked with this logo are part of CFI’s gender equity initiative, Mind the Gap, launched at the 2015 Mill Valley Film Festival. CFI is dedicated to actively working towards closing the gender gap in Hollywood and the rest of the global film industry.

BRIAN LEHMAN Quarterly Layout/Production

On the cover: MUSEO - See page 8

No portion of the Rafael Quarterly may be duplicated in any form without written consent from the Smith Rafael Film Center and/or the California Film Institute.

Opens October 15

LIVING IN THE FUTURE’S PAST

October 15 & 16

R I C H A R D P E T E R S ON Director of Programming | Editor

Smith Rafael Film Center is owned and operated by the California Film Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that also produces the annual Mill Valley Film Festival, DocLands Documentary Film Festival and CFI Education programs throughout the year. © Copyright 2018. All rights reserved.

FREE SOLO

years, she probably knew him as closely as anyone did. Faragó has said that “He approached his work with a discipline and humility unlike any other filmmaker I have ever encountered,” and she also has many stories to tell.

Once again we are grateful to our Bergman 100 partners at BAM/PFA, the Consulate General of Sweden, San Francisco, and the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.

R AFAE L QUARTER LY STAF F

A L E X A N D R A CANTIN Rafael Program Associate

AT-A-GLANCE

Programs subject to change, including opening dates. OTHER PROGRAMS OPEN THAT DO NOT APPEAR HERE. For up-to-date info: rafaelfilm.org Sign up for weekly email at rafaelfilm.org Check daily newspaper Call 415 454 1222

TEA WITH THE DAMES

Opens October 15

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

October 18 STUDIO 54

Opens October 19

FILMMAKERS UNITE (FU) October 21 RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE

October 25 WILDLIFE

Opens October 26

AQUÍ Y ALLÁ

October 27

’68

October 28

THE PRAIRIE TRILOGY

November 1

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

Opens November 2 MUSEO

Opens November 2

AN EVENING WITH

INGMAR BERGMAN & KATINKA FARAGÓ

November 3 RED

November 7

WILD STRAWBERRIES

November 8

BORDER

Opens November 9

TOMBSTONE RASHOMON November 14 THE LAST MOVIE

November 15

MARIA BY CALLAS

Opens November 16

BECOMING ASTRID

Opens in November

SHOPLIFTERS

Opens in November

THE KING AND I

November 29 & December 4

The Royal Opera MAYERLING

December 2

MONT ALTO MOTION PICTURE ORCHESTRA

with HAROLD LLOYD in SPEEDY

December 2 WELCOME TO THE MEN’S GROUP

December 6 The Royal Opera DIE WALKÜRE

December 9

The Royal Ballet THE NUTCRACKER

December 23

CAPERNAUM

Opens in December

Programs with in-person guests

FREE SOLO

THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR

TEA WITH THE DAMES

STUDIO 54

LIVING IN THE FUTURE’S PAST

FILMMAKERS UNITE (FU)

OPENS OCTOBER 15 What’s more civilized than spending a pleasant afternoon with four British legends of stage and screen? When it comes to Dame Maggie Smith, Dame Judi Dench, Dame Eileen Atkins and Dame Joan Plowright, the occasion can also be raucous, mischievous and irreverent, as they discuss their lives, now and then, and recount their experiences in theater, television and cinema. Filmmaker Roger Michell (Notting Hill, Venus) prompts his icons with questions and provides us with generous clips from their careers. Since we’re gathered at Dame Joan’s house, her husband Sir Laurence Olivier comes up more than once, and so do other figures in this delightful serving of refined dish. Director: Roger Michell. (UK 2018) 84 min.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 7:00 Down on his luck in the suburbs, John Falstaff plans to hustle his way to a comfortable retirement by seducing the wives of two wealthy men. Unknown to him, it’s the women of Windsor who really pull the strings, orchestrating Falstaff’s comeuppance amidst a theatrical smorgasbord of petty rivalries, jealousies and over-inflated egos, in this new production of William Shakespeare’s comedy filmed live by the Royal Shakespeare Company. David Troughton has great fun as Sir John Falstaff, and director Fiona Laird’s colorful and eccentric production is filled with comic gags. (UK 2018) 165 minutes including intermission. $15 general, $13 seniors/youth, $10 CFI members

OPENS OCTOBER 19 For 33 months, from 1977 to 1980, Studio 54 was the place to be in New York City.

This ultra-trendy Manhattan nightclub was a haven of hedonism, tolerance, glitz and glamour. It was difficult to gain entrance to and impossible to ignore, with celebrity sightings filling the daily newspapers. Steve Rubell was the public face of the club, and his college pal Ian Schrager was the behind-the-scenes mastermind of its theatrical fantasies. Studio 54 was an instant success and a cash cow, but the drug-andsex-fueled dream soon imploded in financial scandal and the club’s demise. This vivid portrait of a disco-era phenomenon is packed with a treasure trove of rare footage.

Producer/Director: Matt Tyrnauer. (US 2018) 98 min.

MONDAY & TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15 & 16 Produced and hosted by Jeff Bridges, this award-winning documentary looks “under the hood of humanity” to explore our environmental challenges through the prisms of evolution, neuropsychology, emergence, ecology and energy. Bridges shares the screen with thinkers, scientists and a dazzling array of the Earth’s creatures to reveal profound concepts about our selves and our past, providing the keys to a better future. Speakers in this beautifully photographed film include astronaut Dr. Piers Sellers, General Wesley Clark, environmental and Native American activist Oren Lyons, philosopher Dr. Timothy Morton and marine biologist Dr. Ruth Gates, among many others. Director: Susan Kucera. (US 2018) 93 min.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 4:15 IN PERSON: ELLEN BRUNO & JAY ROSENBLATT WITH EVA BRZESKI, SHY HAMILTON, JOHN HAPTAS, KRIS SAMUELSON Leading Bay Area filmmakers Jay Rosenblatt and Ellen Bruno organized this diverse anthology of 13 short films offering a collective response to the US political situation and current threats to our democracy. Including documentary, narrative and experimental shorts, the program includes: The Good Mother by Sarah Clift, The Starting Line by Pacho Velez and Nicole Salazar, The Tool by Kate Amend and Pablo Bryant; Who Matters? by Shy Hamilton; The United States by Ferne Pearlstein; Scared Very Scared by Jay Rosenblatt; This Is My Country by Kristine Samuelson and John Haptas; The Muslim Meme by Usama Alshaibi; Little Donnie by Chel White; Brothers by David Sampliner and Rachel Shuman; State of the Union by Alan Berliner; Fellow American by Eva Ilona Brzeski; A Fine Initial Act by Jeremy Rourke. (US 2018) 78 minutes plus discussion.

GILDA

RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RITA!

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 7:00 Margarita Carmen Cansino was born to a family of dancers on October 17, 1918.

She entered movies in the mid-1930s and eventually changed her name to Rita Hayworth. Celebrate the 100th birthday of one of the screen’s great beauties with this centenary presentation of her most iconic film. Glenn Ford stars in this film noir as Johnny Farrell, a crooked gambler hired to manage a Buenos Aires casino. When the owner (George Macready) shows up with young wife Gilda, who happens to be Farrell’s ex-lover, the stage is set for a steamy and deadly love triangle. Rita Hayworth scorches her surroundings with her performances of “Amado Mio” and “Put the Blame on Mame.” Director: Charles Vidor. (US 1946) 110 min.

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ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

OPENS OCTOBER 15 From the makers of the mountain film classic Meru, documentarian Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and photographer-mountaineer Jimmy Chin, comes a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world’s most famous rock, the 3,200-foot El Capitan in Yosemite National Park…without a rope. His project sets the ultimate standard: perfection or death. The filmmakers explore Honnold’s training, as well as the armor of invincibility that he’s developed over the years that threatens to break apart when he falls in love. It’s both an inspiring portrait of an athlete and an edge-of-your-seat thriller. Camera: Jimmy Chin. Producers/Directors: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin. (US 2018) 100 min.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 7:00 IN PERSON: FILMMAKERS QUINN COSTELLO & CHRIS METZLER Bay Area filmmakers Quinn Costello and Chris Metzler will present and discuss a special screening of their unusual new documentary. After decades of hurricanes and oil spills, Louisiana fishermen are now confronted with hordes of 20-pound swamp rats known as “nutria.” These invasive South American rodents breed faster than roving squads of hunters can control them, and with their orange teeth and voracious appetite, they are eating up the coastal wetlands that help protect communities from hurricanes. But a lively pack of bounty hunters are hellbent on saving Louisiana from these environmental terrors. It’s man vs. rodent, and may the best mammal win! Narrator: Wendell Pierce. Music: Lost Bayou Ramblers. Directors: Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer. (US 2018) 71 min. plus discussion.

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AQUÍ Y ALLÁ

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 4:15 IN PERSON: FILMMAKER ANTONIO MÉNDEZ ESPARZA Antonio Méndez Esparza, director of the CFI release Life and Nothing More (see page 6), will present and discuss a rare screening of his first feature. Filming in a small mountain village in Guerrero, Mexico and working with non-professional actors, Méndez Esparza creates the story of Pedro, who returns to his wife and daughters after a stretch working in the US. He yearns to restart his band and realize his lifelong dream.

This stunning debut was the Grand Prize winner of the International Critics’ Week at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the recipient of other film festival honors.

In Spanish with English subtitles. Writer/Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza. (Spain/ Mexico 2012) 110 min. plus discussion

WILDLIFE

LIFE AND NOTHING MORE

OPENS OCTOBER 26 IN PERSON: FILMMAKER ANTONIO MÉNDEZ ESPARZA | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 7:30 Stressed by the pressures of raising two children and getting by on her minimum-wage diner job, single mother Regina (Regina Williams) longs to find more to life than constant work, while she attempts to instill in 14-year-old Andrew (Andrew Bleechington) the values she hopes will prevent him from landing in prison like his father. Filmed in Florida, this beautifully crafted drama by Spanish-born filmmaker Antonio Méndez Esparza employs non-professional actors and documentary realism to create a remarkable snapshot of race, class and the bonds of family in contemporary America. The winner of the John Cassavetes Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards earlier this year, Life and Nothing More is also the latest film from CFI Releasing.

While not a professional actor, Regina Williams was nominated for Best Female Lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, opposite the likes of Frances McDormand, Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan, and Jessica Kiang in The Playlist called her “an utter revelation in one of the most compelling performances of the year.” Screen Daily critic Jonathan Romney wrote: “In the light of rising political and racial tension in the US following Charlottesville, there could hardly be a more timely, urgently charged film on the festival circuit than Life and Nothing More.” The film was named by Variety as one of the 10 best films at the Toronto Film Festival, and in Film Comment, critic Amy Taubin called it “a near-perfect film.”

Also starring Robert Williams and Ry’Nesia Chambers. Writer/Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza. (US/Spain 2017) 114 min.

OPENS OCTOBER 26 Actor Paul Dano makes an auspicious debut as director with this elegant and intimate adaptation of a novel by Richard Ford. Set in small-town Montana in the early 1960s, while wildfires are raging close to the Canadian border, the story focuses on 14-yearold Joe Brinson (Ed Oxenbould), who witnesses the erosion of his own nuclear family.

His father Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) loses his position as golf pro and takes a remote job fighting the fire, leaving wife Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) and Joe to fend for themselves. Jeanette’s determination to keep their heads above water takes its toll on the family. Writers: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan. Director: Paul Dano. (US 2018) 104 min.

‘68 35MM PRINT

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28, 6:30 IN PERSON: FILMMAKERS STEVEN KOVACS, DALE DJERASSI & ISABEL MAXWELL 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of one of our country’s most iconic years, and Bay Area filmmaker Steven Kovacs will present a special 35mm screening of his dramatic feature film set in that turbulent era. Filmed in San Francisco and originally released in 1988, the movie focuses on the fictional Szabos, a Hungarian immigrant family (much like Kovacs’ own) and their generational conflicts sparked by social upheavals of the era. Starring Eric Larson, Sandor Tecsi, Robert Locke, Terra Vandergaw and Neil Young, the film also features music by Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Country Joe and the Fish. Rated R. Producers: Dale Djerassi, Isabel Maxwell, Steven Kovacs. Writer/Director: Steven Kovacs. (US 1988) 99 min. plus discussion.

THE PRAIRIE TRILOGY

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 7:00 IN PERSON: FILMMAKER ROB NILSSON Filmmaker Rob Nilsson will present a special screening of this newly restored trio of documentaries co-directed with John Hanson. Thematically related to their 1978 dramatic feature Northern Lights (winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes), the three documentaries revolve around North Dakota labor history and subject Henry Martinson, then 97 years old and a lifetime labor organizer and Socialist activist. Prairie Fire focuses on the formation of the Nonpartisan League in 1916. In Rebel Earth, Martinson accompanies a young North Dakota farmer searching for the sites of his past. In Survivor, completed shortly before Martinson’s death, this extraordinary man of the people shares his memories and experiences. These films find hope for the future by excavating a radical past. Directors: John Hanson, Rob Nilsson. (US 1977-80) 120 minutes plus discussion.

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—7—

OPENS NOVEMBER 2 Lee Israel was a successful author and celebrity biographer in the 1970s and 80s.

When her publishing market dried up in the early 90s, she desperately turned to literary forgery. Melissa McCarthy gives a beautiful performance (both dramatic and humorous) as Israel in this fascinating telling of her tale, capturing the author’s caustic wit and creating a colorful and moving portrait of a complex woman. Richard E. Grant co-stars as Jack, a flamboyant and surly rebel who becomes her accomplice in pursuing unsuspecting targets in the collectors’ market. With Dolly Wells, Jane Curtin, Ben Falcone, Anna Deavere Smith, Stephen Spinella. Writers: Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty. Director: Marielle Heller. (US 2018) 106 min

MUSEO

OPENS NOVEMBER 2 Well into their 30s, Juan (Gael García Bernal) and Benjamin (Leonardo Ortizgris) can’t seem to finish veterinary school or manage to leave their parents’ homes. On a fateful Christmas Eve in 1985, Juan persuades Benjamin it’s finally time for them to distinguish themselves by executing the most infamous heist of cultural artifacts in Mexican history: looting the National Anthropology Museum. But once you have 150 priceless Mayan artifacts, what do you do with them? Inspired by true events, this sardonic and suspenseful cautionary tale plays like a fable about human folly. With Alfredo Castro, Simon Russell Beale. In Spanish with English subtitles. Writers: Manuel Alcalá, Alonso Ruizpalacios. Director: Alonso Ruizpalacios. (Mexico 2018) 128 min

RED

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 7:00 Alfred Molina and Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away with Murder) star in the first UK revival of John Logan’s play, which first opened in 2009 and, following a transfer to Broadway, went on to win six Tony Awards, including Best Play. Filmed live this year under returning director Michael Grandage, the play stars Molina as American abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko and Enoch as his young assistant Ken, as they face Rothko’s toughest challenge to date, in what one critic called “a tense and occasionally ferocious exploration of the price of making art.” Running time approximately 90 min. $15 general, $13 seniors, $10 CFI members

Katinka

FARAGOÓ :

Working with Ingmar

BERGMAN

Katinka Faragó has often been referred to as “Bergman’s right hand.” As script supervisor, production manager and producer, she has worked in the Swedish film industry for more than 60 years, and her professional association with Ingmar Bergman endured for more than three decades. It was Faragó who ensured continuity throughout the filming of such early classics as Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal, and she later went on to work as production manager at Bergman’s own company, Cinematograph.

Faragó was born in Vienna in 1936, the daughter of Hungarian refugees. Her family moved to Sweden in 1940, where her father became an author and scriptwriter. At age 17, she first worked with Bergman on the production of Dreams (1955), and their association continued through Fanny and Alexander (1982) and projects beyond. Over the years, she also worked on other major Swedish productions, including Jan Troell’s The Emigrants and The New Land and Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice.

We welcome Katinka Faragó, one of Ingmar Bergman’s most longstanding collaborators, to the Rafael for these special evenings.

Katinka Faragó will also appear at BAM/PFA on November 4 and 7 as part of its Bergman 100 series.

2018 marks the centenary of Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007), the Swedish writer and director widely recognized as one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century

BORDER

OPENS NOVEMBER 9 Eva Melander delivers an extraordinary performance as Tina, a Swedish customs officer whose facial “disfigurement” has left her a loner, but whose ability to sense or smell people’s emotions has made her a superstar among border agents. When she meets Vore (Eero Milonoff), who shares physical traits with her, she will soon learn the truth about her true heritage and find her life completely transformed. Based on a story by John Ajvide Lindqvist (Let the Right One In), this terrific fusion of fantasy, social commentary and psychological insight was the winner of the Un Certain Regard section of the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. Rated R. In Swedish with English subtitles. Writers: Ali Abbasi, Isabella Eklöf, John Ajvide Lindqvist. Director: Ali Abbasi.

(Sweden/Denmark 2018) 101 min.

—8—

Photo courtesy SF Studios / Swedish Film Institute

CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?

Katinka Faragó (center) with Bergman on the set of Wild Strawberries

AN EVENING WITH INGMAR BERGMAN & KATINKA FARAGÓ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 7:00 IN PERSON: KATINKA FARAGÓ Katinka Faragó will participate in an onstage interview and discussion about her work with Ingmar Bergman, illustrated with clips from their films. She will also share some candid stories about her association with the filmmaker and discuss the working conditions for women in the Swedish film industry over the years. Program approximately 100 minutes. $13 general, $11 seniors, $9 CFI members

WILD STRAWBERRIES

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 7:00 IN PERSON: KATINKA FARAGÓ Katinka Faragó will present and discuss this early masterpiece by Ingmar Bergman. One of the key films that cemented his international reputation, this beautiful drama stars Victor Sjöström (a great Swedish filmmaker himself) as a cold and elderly professor who examines his past while on a road trip to Stockholm to receive an honorary degree. With Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Max von Sydow. In Swedish with English subtitles.

(Sweden 1957) 91 min. plus discussion

Support for this series has been provided by the Consulate General of Sweden, San Francisco and the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.

—9—

MARIA BY CALLAS

presents English filmmaker Alex Cox, legendary director of the independent hits Repo Man and Sid and Nancy, will visit the Rafael to present two programs: a screening of his latest, Tombstone Rashomon, and the recent archival restoration of Dennis Hopper’s The Last Movie. Besides his two most celebrated titles, Cox has also created numerous others that have achieved cult status, such as Walker, Straight to Hell, Highway Patrolman and Revengers Tragedy. He is also the author of several books and articles on filmmaking and film genres and is a lively presenter of the cinema he loves.

TOMBSTONE RASHOMON

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 7:00 IN PERSON: ALEX COX Filmmaker Alex Cox will present and discuss his latest project, a retelling of the fabled Gunfight at the O.K. Corral with a contemporary twist. Establishing the premise that time-traveling filmmakers have landed in 1881 Tombstone one day after the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday faced-off with the Clanton and McLaury brothers, Cox reconstructs the deadly event in the style of Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece Rashomon, with survivors being interviewed and offering their different (and conflicting) perspectives of the shootout. A cast of largely non-professional actors and slyly crafted special effects bring this low-budget drama to life.

Visual Effects: Tippett Studios. Writer/Director: Alex Cox. (US 2017) 83 min. plus discussion.

THE LAST MOVIE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 7:00 IN PERSON: ALEX COX Alex Cox will present a film he admires, ripe for reevaluation in its recently restored version. Given a sizeable budget after the astounding success of Easy Rider, actor-director Dennis Hopper took cast and crew to a remote Peruvian village and created a fable about the effects of a Hollywood production on the indigenous population. Hopper stars as a stuntman who stays on after the fictional movie has wrapped, and his onscreen ensemble includes Kris Kristofferson, Dean Stockwell, Toni Basil, Russ Tamblyn, Michelle Phillips and Samuel Fuller. Although it garnered a prize at the Venice Film Festival, its consciously experimental style alienated the studio and hurt Hopper’s career. Camera: Laszlo Kovacs. Writer: Stewart Stern. Director: Dennis Hopper. (US 1971) 108 min. plus discussion.

The Last Movie is screened in collaboration with Camera Obscura, on the occasion of its opening night. Its Fourth Annual Report runs in Petaluma through November 18.

— 10 —

OPENS NOVEMBER 16 This loving documentary portrait of legendary Greek-American opera singer Maria Callas allows her to tell her story in her own words, using performances, interviews and home movies never before shown to the public (as well as readings of her letters by contemporary opera star Joyce DiDonato). Callas believed that two different women lived in her: Maria, who longed for a normal life; and Callas, the public figure and icon. The film confronts the controversies of her career, from her reputation as a “tempestuous” diva to her conflict with the Metropolitan Opera’s Rudolf Bing, and it also sheds new light on her relationship with Aristotle Onassis, the love of her life.

Rated PG. Writer/Producer/Director: Tom Volf. (US/France 2018) 113 min.

THE KING AND I

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29 | TUESDAY DECEMBER 4, 7:00 Recorded live this year at London’s Palladium, the 2015 Tony Award-winning Lincoln Center Theater revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s iconic musical bursts afresh on the big screen. Reprising her Tony-winning performance, Kelli O’Hara stars as Anna, alongside Tony-nominee Ken Watanabe as the King. Set in 1860s Bangkok, the musical recounts the unconventional and tempestuous relationship between the King of Siam and Anna, a British schoolteacher he imports to teach his many wives and children. Also starring Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles as Lady Thiang and featuring a company of more than 50 world-class performers, this glorious production boasts one of the finest scores ever written, including “Whistle a Happy Tune,” “Getting to Know You” and “Shall We Dance.” Director: Bartlett Sher. (UK 2018) Anticipated running time 180 min. $15 general, $13 seniors/youth, $10 CFI members

SHOPLIFTERS

OPENS IN NOVEMBER At the Cannes Film Festival this year, the Palme d’Or (the top prize) went to leading Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda for this masterpiece of humanistic filmmaking.

The family of Osamu (Lily Franky) and Nobuyo (Sakura Ando) is extremely loving, but also very unusual. Living “off the grid” in Tokyo, they subsist on scant employment, a grandmother’s pension and by petty thievery, in which Osamu is happy to coach the kids. Filled with emotional resonance (and narrative surprises), Kore-eda’s beautiful drama demonstrates that the family we make could be stronger than the one we’re given. In Japanese with English subtitles. Writer/Editor/Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda.

(Japan 2018) 121 min

BECOMING ASTRID

OPENS IN NOVEMBER As a teenager in the 1920s, the young woman who would become Swedish author Astrid Lindgren (the creator of Pippi Longstocking) knew that life on the family farm wasn’t for her. Already a talented storyteller, she jumped at the chance to work at her local small-town newspaper. An affair with her married editor resulted in pregnancy, and Astrid moved to Stockholm, subsequently having her baby in Copenhagen. Driven by Alba August’s commanding performance, this handsome film explores Astrid’s independent and resourceful spirit that would later inform her beloved literary creations. With Trine Dyrholm, Henrik Rafaelsen, Maria Bonnevie. In Swedish and Danish with English subtitles. Writers: Kim Fupz Aakeson, Pernille Fischer Christensen.

Director: Pernille Fischer Christensen. (Sweden/Denmark 2018) 123 min

— 11 —

WELCOME TO THE MEN’S GROUP

LIVE MUSIC FOR SILENT FILM FEATURING

HAROLD LLOYD

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 7:00 IN PERSON: FILMMAKER JOSEPH CULP Filmmaker Joseph Culp will present and discuss a special screening of his provocative comedy-drama that takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride through the bumpy terrain of the male psyche. Culp co-stars with Timothy Bottoms, Stephen Tobolowsky and Mackenzie Astin as part of an all-male support group that meets one Sunday a month, when members refrain from beer and football to discuss personal issues.

However, on this particular Sunday, one member appears headed for a breakdown, which triggers tensions, chaos and the exposure of longstanding conflicts amidst this oddball ensemble. With David Clennon, Phil Abrams, Terence J. Rotolo, Ali Saam.

Writers: Scott Ben-Yashar, Joseph Culp. Director: Joseph Culp. (US 2017) 130 min. plus discussion $13 general, $11 seniors, $9 CFI members

IN SPEEDY

THE ROYAL OPERA

SUNDAY

DECEMBER 2

DIE WALKÜRE

4:15

$20 GENERAL, $18 SENIORS, $15 CFI MEMBERS & YOUTH We’re excited to welcome back the talented musicians of the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra to accompany the classic Harold Lloyd comedy Speedy. In his final silent movie (and one of his best), extensively filmed in New York City, Lloyd plays Harold “Speedy” Swift, a Yankees fan who comes to the aid of his girlfriend’s (Ann Christy) grandfather, the owner and operator of the city’s last horse-drawn streetcar. With a notable appearance by Babe Ruth as himself, this terrific comedy features the acrobatics and chase scenes that helped make Lloyd one of the best comedy performers in the movies. Program approximately 90 minutes plus post-screening discussion.

Based in Louisville, Colorado, the members of Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra enrich the silent movie experience with authentic music of the era, performing under the direction of Rodney Sauer, who compiles and arranges the scores. Mont Alto made their Bay Area debut the same week that the restored Rafael opened in April 1999, and they have returned several times over the years. The New York Times wrote about their work: “The results are often breathtakingly beautiful and always in the strict service of the film on the screen.”

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 9, NOON Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) is the second of the four operas in Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle, an epic of gods, monsters and humanity on a superhuman scale. Antonio Pappano, music director of The Royal Opera, conducts Keith Warner’s production. The singers include Nina Stemme as Brünnhilde and Stuart Skelton and Emily Magee as the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde. The opera features some of the most glorious music ever written, including the sparkling “Magic Fire Music” and, of course, “The Ride of the Valkyries.” In German with English subtitles. Anticipated running time is 290 minutes, including two intermissions. $15 general, $13 seniors/youth, $10 CFI members

THE ROYAL BALLET

THE NUTCRACKER

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, NOON One of the most delightful ways to discover the enchantment of ballet, this seasonal treat matches Tchaikovsky’s much-loved music to a magical adventure on Christmas Eve for Clara and her Nutcracker doll. Their journey to the Land of Sweets creates some of the most familiar ballet moments, such as the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and the “Waltz of the Flowers.” In this brand new production, Peter Wright’s choreography (after Lev Ivanov) for The Royal Ballet keeps true to the spirit of this Russian ballet classic. Anticipated running time is 150 minutes, including one intermission $15 general, $13 seniors, $10 CFI members

Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra will also perform at the Castro on Saturday, December 1 as part of “A Day of Silents” from the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Check silentfilm.org for details.

THE ROYAL BALLET

MAYERLING

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2, NOON Based on a tragic historical love story, Mayerling is itself a classic of the Royal Ballet repertory, with its emotional depth, haunting imagery and one of the most demanding roles ever created for a male dancer. The glamour of the Austro-Hungarian court contrasts with undercurrents of sexual and political intrigue that drive the story to its dramatic climax. Utilizing the music of Franz Liszt, choreographer Kenneth MacMillan set his complex ballet around the psychologically tormented heir to the Habsburg Empire, Crown Prince Rudolf, danced with intensity and passion by Steven McRae. Anticipated running time is 195 minutes, including two intermissions $15 general, $13 seniors/youth, $10 CFI members

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CAPERNAUM

OPENS IN DECEMBER Winner of the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Nadine Labaki’s emotional and politically charged drama tells the story of Zain (Zain al Raffea), a Lebanese boy who sues his parents for the “crime” of giving him life. At the age of 12, Zain is already a hardened adult, fleeing his negligent parents and surviving through his wits on the streets. Labaki immerses us in a milieu of poverty her non-professional cast members know all too well. Zain is a charismatic screen presence, and some unforgettable moments involve him caring for the baby of an Ethiopian refugee woman he befriends.

His story is heartbreaking, yet hopeful in its tenderness. In Arabic with English subtitles. Director: Nadine Labaki. (Lebanon 2018) 120 min

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THANK YOU MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL 41 SPONSORS

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TEEN WELLNESS FILM SERIES

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TUHSD WELLNESS Join us for the new 2018-19 season of this popular documentary film series that brings people of all ages together for screenings and community-driven conversations. We invite local residents, school groups and organizations to learn about and discuss important issues and newsworthy topics. Meet new people, share stories, and join the conversation.

Admission is free, but seats must be reserved in advance.

This new quarterly series features films focusing on issues related to teen wellness in the areas of health, mental health, sexual health, and substance use and abuse—creating a community forum for education, communication, understanding, and awareness. Each screening will be followed by an in-depth panel discussion with filmmakers, film subjects, and/or subject area experts. A portion of the proceeds will go to support Tamalpais Union High School District (TUHSD) Wellness Centers.

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