MVFF47 - RSVP Guide

Director Adam Elliot’s exquisitely eccentric snail-centered stop-motion dramedy for adults is a basket of wonders, featuring voiceover talents of Australian luminaries Sarah Snook (Succession), Eric Bana (Full Frontal) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Power of the Dog). Slimily sublime!

Director Adam Elliot’s exquisitely crafted, beautifully scripted stop-motion animation geared to an adult audience is a basket of wonders, from Elena Kats-Chernin’s brilliant musical score to the voiceover talents of Australian luminaries Sarah Snook (Succession), Eric Bana (Full Frontal) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog, MVFF44). It's Australia, 1970s. Life is no bowl of cherries for young Grace Pudel and her twin brother Gilbert. Bullied at school, Grace imagines growing a shell, curling her soft center into a ball of protection—just like her beloved pet snail, Sylvia. After their street musician dad dies in a busking accident, Grace is left alone when the twins are shunted off to separate parts of the continent. Enter Pinkie, an ebullient, cigar smoking octogenarian whose colorful past includes stints as an exotic dancer in a schnitzel bar, ping pong matches with Fidel Castro, and now, a leading role in Grace’s life as her first human friend. Whimsical, irreverent, totally charming. And: Unforgettably sub(s)lime!

Expected In Person Guest

A former actress battles her troubled past, strained family ties, and lingering scars from Brazil's political turmoil. This powerful drama, rich in emotion and resilience, offers a raw and moving portrait of three women bound by generational trauma.

A former actress grapples with the shadows of her past in Pedro Freire’s riveting drama that captures a turbulent life. At 50, Malu resides in a dilapidated Rio de Janeiro slum with her staunchly traditional mother, Lili, while attempting to mend a fragile relationship with her daughter, Joana. The film delves deep into generational trauma, illustrating how past political upheavals, including Brazil's military dictatorship, have left lasting scars on this dysfunctional family. Malu's close bond with her queer friend Tibira further strains her relationship with Lili, exposing deep-seated prejudices and conflicts. Inspired by the real-life experiences of Freire's own mother, Malu Rocha, the film boasts a spectacular script and phenomenal performances that illuminate the complexities of family ties and personal resilience. Filmed in a Cassavetes-esque style that emphasizes character relationships and creates a cinema vérité feel, the must-see Malu delivers a profoundly moving portrayal of three women navigating the tumultuous waters of shared history.

Una ex actriz lidia con las sombras de su pasado en el fascinante drama de Pedro Freire que captura una vida turbulenta. A sus 50 años, Malu reside en una ruinosa favela de Río de Janeiro con su madre, Lili, mientras intenta reparar su frágil relación con su hija Joana. La película profundiza en el trauma generacional, ilustrando cómo las revueltas políticas pasadas, incluida la dictadura militar en Brasil, han dejado cicatrices duraderas en esta familia disfuncional. El estrecho vínculo de Malu con su amiga queer Tibira tensa aún más su relación con Lili, exponiendo prejuicios y conflictos profundamente arraigados. Inspirado en las experiencias de vida real de la propia madre de Freire, Malu Rocha, la película cuenta con un espectacular guión y actuaciones fenomenales que iluminan las complejidades de los lazos familiares y la resiliencia personal. Filmado al estilo Cassavetes, enfatizando las relaciones entre los personajes y creando una sensación de cinéma vérité, “Malu”, una película imperdible, ofrece un retrato profundamente conmovedor de tres mujeres navegando por las turbulentas aguas de una historia compartida.

Filmmaker Michael Premo follows three impassioned right-wing activists through the 2020 election, the January 6 Capitol riot, and beyond. With unexpected nuance and intimacy, he captures his protagonists’ combustible blend of delusional cosplayer, stalwart patriot, and potential threat.

An unexpectedly nuanced cinema verité portrait emerges in Michael Premo’s look at three impassioned right-wing activists. Having won their trust in the lead-up to the 2020 election, the Brooklyn filmmaker follows them through election night, the January 6 riot, and beyond. Contradictions abound—Thad (from Texas) attends Trump rallies with Black Lives Matter activist Jacarri; Chris (from New Jersey) participates in a “Back the Blue” march yet charges the line of police defending the Capitol—but their commitment to a particular red, white, and blue vision of America can’t be denied. Each is a combustible mix of delusional cosplayer, stalwart patriot, and potential threat, with the line between blood and bluster further blurred by cameos from Enrique Tarrio and Roger Stone. For all its madness, January 6 isn’t the film’s climax but a turning point in its protagonists’ political and personal evolutions. Yet the chant echoes: “I am a Western chauvinist/And I refuse to apologize/For creating the modern world/We’re all Proud Boys.”

Expected In Person Guest

Crafted with visual poetry and empathy, MVFF Mind the Gap Award honoree Payal Kapadia’s drama shines a light on three nurses as they negotiate love and life in teeming Mumbai.

Crafted with visual poetry and emotional empathy, this 2024 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix winner from MVFF Mind the Gap Award honoree Payal Kapadia shines a light on three nurses as they negotiate love and life in the teeming Mumbai metropolis. Prabha has a husband living overseas, her younger roommate Anu is carrying on a secret relationship with a Muslim boy, and Parvati plans to leave the big city after her husband dies. Without the support of men, these women forge bonds of mutual support while dispensing much-needed information and advice to their female patients. Cinematographer Ranabir Das tracks their days from work to home with a shimmering beauty, especially in the nighttime scenes. As the film moves from city to country in its second half, the women’s relationships shift and deepen as Kapadia finds the small but wondrous epiphanies in everyday lives.

Expected in person guest.

In Oscar® winner Steve McQueen's brilliant drama, a young boy sent to the country to wait out the WWII Blitz runs away, determined to make it back home to London.

With a gripping visual prelude, Oscar®-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, MVFF36) brilliantly captures the on-the-ground drama of WW2 London during the Blitz. As the bombardments escalate, young mother Rita (Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn, MVFF38; Lady Bird, MVFF40 ) makes the painful decision to evacuate her nine-year-old son George (Elliott Heffernan making an indelible screen debut) to the English countryside for safety. Only the lad will have none of that, jumping off the train to find his way back home and reunite with his mum and beloved piano-playing granddad Gerald (musician Paul Weller). In an adventure increasingly fraught and filled with danger, he navigates the war-torn streets and Underground tunnels of London—complete with characters reminiscent of Dickens. Rita, meanwhile, frantically searches for her wayward child. With an impeccable sense of time, place and humanity, McQueen turns his attention to the perils everyday British civilians faced in the chaos and violence of the War with stunning, unforgettable results.

A woman discovers the corpse of her uncle, a man who caused her considerable pain, in this darkly funny portrait of Zambia’s matriarchal society that grippingly explores the younger generation’s desire to break free from the sins of the past.

Death and secrets permeate writer-director Rungano Nyoni’s dazzling second feature, the winner of Best Director in the Un Certain Regard sidebar at the Cannes Film Festival. Driving through the night after a party, Shula (Susan Chardy) happens across the corpse of her Uncle Fred. That she’s learned that he’s dead isn’t shocking—that she doesn’t care at all is. A portrait of Zambia’s matriarchal society and the lingering emotional scars left behind by sexual abuse, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl combines dark comedy and bruising drama—absurdism and stripped-down realism—to investigate lies that have smothered Shula’s family for years. The filmmaker of 2017’s equally stellar I Am Not a Witch continues to demonstrate an ability to craft modern parables that grapple with both history and a younger generation’s desire to break free from the sins of the past. Funerals have rarely been so cathartic.

What is the soundtrack of your life? Are there titles by artists that you didn’t connect with the first time round, but—pow!—one of their songs just hits you years later, and it’s love—albeit the second time around the turntable. Hi De Ho host extraordinaire John Goddard’s not-to-be-missed musings on music are an MVFF staple, as he veejays from his personal collection of musical wonders, this year unpacking titles from the grand era of Rock that he connected with sometimes decades after their initial release, often in random encounters. Like in the middle of a movie. Think Marc Bolan and T-Rex in Billy Elliot, or Queen in Revenge of the Nerds. Or seeing Patti Smith in a best-of SNL video. Expect the unexpected, as we come together for oddities from space, invaders from the UK, songs that are dirty, sweet—and quite eclectic. Be prepared to have your memory tweaked and your heart opened. It’s the Hi De Ho Show!

Expected In Person Guest

Adam Elliot grew up on a shrimp farm in southern Australia and went on to study at Victorian College of the Arts, where he began a trilogy of award-winning short films, Uncle (1996), Cousin (1999), and Brother (2000). His other shorts include Harvie Krumpet (2003), for which he won a Best Animated Short Oscar® and Ernie Biscuit (2015). He made his feature debut with Mary and Max (2009), winner of a Crystal Bear Special Mention at the Berlin International Film Festival, an Australian Directors Guild Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film, and the Cristal Award for Best Feature at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. For his latest feature, Memoir of a Snail, Elliot becomes the first animation director to receive an MVFF Award.

Memoir of a Snail:

Director Adam Elliot’s exquisitely crafted, beautifully scripted stop-motion animation geared to an adult audience is a basket of wonders, from Elena Kats-Chernin’s brilliant musical score to the voiceover talents of Australian luminaries Sarah Snook (Succession), Eric Bana (Full Frontal), and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog, MVFF44). It’s Australia, 1970s. Life is no bowl of cherries for young Grace Pudel and her twin brother Gilbert. Bullied at school, Grace imagines growing a shell, curling her soft center into a ball of protection—just like her beloved pet snail, Sylvia. After their street musician dad dies in a busking accident, Grace is left alone when the twins are shunted off to separate parts of the continent. Enter Pinkie, an ebullient, cigar smoking octogenarian whose colorful past includes stints as an exotic dancer in a schnitzel bar, pingpong matches with Fidel Castro, and now, a leading role in Grace’s life as her first human friend. Whimsical, irreverent, totally charming. And: unforgettably sub(s)lime!

Expected In Person Guest