MVFF47 - RSVP Guide

It’s 10pm on October 11th, 1975, and the Not Ready for Prime Time Players are definitely not ready. Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, and John Belushi (has anyone seen Belushi?) are in alternating states of confusion, excitement, rage, disbelief, and blissfully buzzed. If SNL producer Lorne Michaels can’t pull these impossibly loose ends together within 90 minutes, his career is over before it’s begun, and NBC’s risk-averse execs will be proven right: Live sketch comedy on TV can never beat old Johnny Carson reruns. Jason Reitman (MVFF Award Recipient 2009) delivers a deliciously dizzying behind-the-scenes panoptic view of the lights (some toppling onto the stage), cameras (like producer Dick Ebersol’s beloved Polaroids), and action (loads of it) leading up to the moment Chevy Chase broke late-night television’s fourth wall and proclaimed to the world, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

Melody, 12, is obsessed with Rachel from Friends and worried about fitting in at school. Living with cerebral palsy, she faces extra challenges when moved from special ed into an “inclusive learning environment”. Based on Sharon Draper’s best-selling YA novel.

Twelve-year-old Melody Brooks is a typical early-21st-century tween, obsessed with Rachel from Friends, unhappy with the uncool clothes her mom buys for her, and worried about fitting in at school. As a nonverbal sixth grader living with cerebral palsy, she’s got extra challenges to contend with, especially when she’s moved from the special ed classroom into an inclusive learning environment that feels far from inclusive, given her teacher’s refusal to welcome her and the disdain of fellow students. But when given an assistive communication device, Melody quickly learns to use her new-found voice to prevail over the forces holding her back. Based on Sharon M. Draper’s YA bestseller and starring the amazing Phoebe-Ray Taylor as Melody, with Judith Light, Rosemarie DeWitt, Luke Kirby, and Jennifer Aniston (as Melody’s inner voice), director Amber Sealey’s (No Man of God) drama delivers a tale of determination, pride, and self-empowerment like no other.

Age 12+



Expected In Person Guest

This riveting documentary examines Billy Preston’s extraordinary career and life and pays soulful homage to the musical genius who blazed through the 1960s-‘70s music scene like a supernova.

Billy Preston blazed through the 1960s-‘70s music scene like a supernova, shining brightly until brought down by personal demons and changing tastes. In this riveting documentary, Paris Barclay examines the late musician’s extraordinary career and life. Raised in the Black church, Preston was a child prodigy, playing organ on tour with Mahalia Jackson at 10. As a solo artist, he scored number one hits, but the singer-songwriter-keyboardist might be better known for his collaborations: The Beatles considered him one of them, he recorded and toured with The Rolling Stones, and he played with Little Richard, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Sly Stone, and many others. But there was a dark side to Preston’s success as he wrestled with his sexuality, financial mismanagement, and substance abuse. With archival interviews, testimony from famous friends, and best of all, scads of incandescent performance footage demonstrating Preston’s charisma and monumental talent, Barclay’s doc pays soulful homage to a musical genius.

One of the most memorable films of the season, maestro Pedro Almodóvar's first English-language film explores territory familiar in his work: the complex personal intimacies of women who find that they have more in common with each other than they realize. When a chance encounter reconnects New York writer Ingrid (Julianne Moore) with former war correspondent Martha (Tilda Swinton), a friend from her past, the two are thrown into a journey both profound and unexpected. As their bond grows stronger, it is beset sometimes by bravery, sometimes panic, and as issues of propriety and legality emerge, they retain a remarkable warmth and compassion. Anchored by two fantastic lead performances (and with wonderful support from John Turturro), this adaptation of a Sigrid Nunez novel is deeply touching. Visually striking, and with an atmospheric score by frequent collaborator Alberto Iglesias, Almodóvar and his terrific cast deliver a generous supply of laughter, tears, thoughtfulness—and surprise.

Nearly 30 years after Secrets & Lies, British auteur Mike Leigh reunites with Marianne Jean-Baptiste for this compelling drama. The actress delivers an indelible tour de force performance as an angry woman who takes out her frustrations on her family.

A director reunites with a muse and the results are spectacular. Nearly 30 years ago British auteur Mike Leigh cast Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Secrets & Lies (MVFF19’s opening night film), a collaboration that netted five Oscar® nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Jean-Baptiste. History may just strike twice with this riveting intimate drama. Jean-Baptiste is Pansy, an antagonizing (and always antagonized) woman who hits out at everyone in her orbit. She is simply angry and aggrieved. All the time. It is an exhausting situation for husband Curtley (David Webber), son Moses (Tuwaine Barrett), sister Chantal (Michele Austin), and anyone Pansy encounters but for the audience, it is gripping. Jean-Baptiste delivers a tour de force as this bitter, challenging ball of rage. Like Naked’s Johnny, Pansy is dark and damaged and always compelling, an indelible character.

In the heady days of the 1968 Prague Spring, a group of Czechoslovak Radio journalists risk not just their careers but their lives to distribute independent news amidst national and regional tumult in this thrilling historical drama. Central to the story are two orphaned brothers caught in the struggle for freedom. The elder, Tomáš (Vojtěch Vodochodský), is a radio technician working at the station that is committed to defying the Communist Party’s censorship, overwhelming propaganda, and police harassment. When security forces pressure him to spy for them, Tomáš finds himself in a bind where he has to choose between betraying his colleagues or protecting his teenage sibling. This Karlovy Vary International Film Festival’s Právo Audience Award winner depicts the heroism of ordinary Czechs against the Soviet puppet regime, intertwining personal stories with well-known historical events. Waves is a gripping ode to press freedom and a timely reminder of the dangers of censorship.

MVFF47 honoree Jude Law delivers a resonant performance as Terry Husk, an FBI agent battling neo-Nazis in this harrowing 1980s-set drama inspired by true events. A recent transfer to the Pacific Northwest, Husk initially rejects deputy Jamie Bowen’s (Tye Sheridan) theory that a group of white supremacists are behind a recent string of bank robberies. That simply doesn’t track with what Husk knows about the local fascist community. But as the gang’s activities expand to include assassination, Husk takes the lead in pursuing an offshoot organization and its mastermind Bob Mathews (Nicholas Hoult), a man who conceals his vicious white nationalism under a mask of good-natured bonhomie. Director Justin Kurzel (Macbeth, MVFF38) brilliantly portrays the racist brutality hiding in plain sight amidst the Northwest’s bucolic beauty, while Jed Kurzel’s spare, droning score adds to the sense of growing unease in a thriller where the suspense builds inexorably from its first frames to its stunning climax.

The kings of stoner comedy drive through the desert, remembering the good times and rehashing decades-old arguments, searching for a place called “The Joint.” One is a Canadian Chinese musician who recorded songs for Motown. The other is a Mexican American from LA who moved to Vancouver, BC, to avoid the draft and make pottery. Fate—and an improv group based in a topless bar—brought Tommy Chong and Richard “Cheech” Marin together to become the “hard-rock comedy” team Cheech & Chong. Framed within that contemporary road trip interspersed with plenty of archival material, David Bushell’s profile of the most successful stand-up duo of the 1970s and ’80s charts their rise from hippie-club headliners to countercultural icons with chart-topping albums to movie stars, before the combo of ego, fame, and an imbalance of power made their career temporarily go up in smoke. You couldn’t ask for a funnier, more moving documentary on the guys who invented, like, pot humor, man! —David Fear

Los reyes de la comedia de fumetas recorren el desierto, recordando los buenos tiempos y repitiendo discusiones de hace décadas, mientras buscan un lugar llamado "The Joint". Uno es un músico chino-canadiense que grabó canciones para Motown; el otro es un mexico-americano de Los Ángeles que se mudó a Vancouver, BC, para evitar el reclutamiento y dedicarse a la cerámica. El destino (y un grupo de improvisación con sede en un bar de topless) unió a Tommy Chong y Richard “Cheech” Marin, convirtiéndolos en el equipo de comedia de “hard rock” Cheech & Chong. Enmarcado en ese viaje por carretera e intercalado con abundante material de archivo, el retrato que David Bushell presenta del dúo de comediantes de stand-up más exitoso de los años 1970 y 1980 traza su ascenso desde estrellas de clubes hippies hasta íconos contraculturales con álbumes en las listas de éxitos y películas exitosas, antes de que la combinación de ego, fama y desbalance de poder hiciera que su carrera se esfumara temporalmente. ¡No podrías pedir un documental más divertido y conmovedor sobre los tipos que inventaron el humor de marihuana, hombre! —David Fear
 
Premiere status: West Coast 
Initiative: Vive El Cine
 
Director: David Bushell made his directorial feature film debut with the SXSW 2024 World Premiere of Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie. He previously directed one of Vimeo’s favorite films of the decade, the short Jim Carrey: I Needed Color (2017). Bushell’s producing credits include Billy Bob Thornton’s Academy-award winning film Sling Blade (1996), and Get Him to the Greek (2010), which he produced alongside Judd Apatow. He is an executive producer on Academy Award®-winning films Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind (2004) and Dallas Buyers Club (2013). Bushell was named one of Variety’s “10 Producers to Watch.” He currently resides in Los Angeles.



Expected In Person Guest

Oscar®-winning film editor William Goldenberg makes an indelible directing debut with this thrilling underdog sports drama focused on the life of wrestler Anthony Robles. Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight, MVFF39; I’m a Virgo) stars as Robles, introduced as a high school senior whose record ought to have college wrestling programs scrambling to recruit him. But the teen was born with one leg and the wrestling powerhouses passed on him. Ultimately, he chooses to walk on at Arizona State University and compete for a non-scholarship spot. Balancing wrestling, school, a job in airplane maintenance, and support of his younger siblings and mother (Jennifer Lopez) as she navigates an abusive relationship with his prison-guard stepfather (Bobby Cannavale) is a challenge, but Robles strives to attain his goal to not just wrestle but win a national championship. Michael Peña and Don Cheadle offer empathetic support as his coaches in an electrifying film that, like its hero, has the heart of a champion.

A carefree teen must care for his sister and win a cheese-making competition to secure their future in this heartwarming, funny, and uplifting coming-of-age tale that captures the essence of family and friendship.

In Louise Courvoisier's feature film debut, a teenager’s carefree days of drinking beers and partying in the idyllic French countryside are interrupted when he must care for his 7-year-old sister and find a way to support the two of them. His solution? To craft the best Comté cheese and win 30,000 euros, along with a prestigious gold medal, at an agricultural competition. Holy Cow is a sweet and uplifting coming-of-age story, capturing the essence of friendship, first love, and the struggles of growing up without parents. Courvoisier's masterful simplicity and authenticity bring a refreshing comedic touch to themes often steeped in drama. The film delves into youth culture, employment challenges, and the cherished traditions of cheese-making, all while highlighting the importance of family, friendship, and love. With its engaging narrative and relatable characters, this winner of the Prix de la Jeunesse at Cannes is a perfect film to enchant all audiences.

This fond, furry portrait dubs cats “the quiet royalty of the living room.” But they’ve got a gripe: The ongoing practice of surgical declawing, a contentious issue this documentary examines.

Rhetoric around “childless cat ladies” be danged, Americans love their kitties—there are by some estimates nearly 100 million of them here. Yet, while most people would certainly consider themselves pro-animal welfare, there remains one practice routine amongst US pet owners that’s considered “barbaric” almost everywhere else. That would be declawing, the surgery that’s promoted as healthy for cats (not to mention your furniture) but is really an “amputation” that can leave them crippled, in pain, and more likely to bite. It’s also a lucrative procedure for the veterinary industry, which has lobbied against laws banning it. Todd Bieber’s documentary follows comedienne Amy Hoggart from reality TV spoof Almost Royal and Full Frontal With Samantha Bee on the investigative trail. She probes both sides of a divisive issue, while also glimpsing myriad other points of interest—from domestication history to today’s celebrity cats—within the feline universe.

Expected in person guest.

Oscar®-winning film editor William Goldenberg makes an indelible directing debut with this thrilling underdog sports drama focused on the life of wrestler Anthony Robles. Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight, MVFF39; I’m a Virgo) stars as Robles, introduced as a high school senior whose record ought to have college wrestling programs scrambling to recruit him. But the teen was born with one leg and the wrestling powerhouses passed on him. Ultimately, he chooses to walk on at Arizona State University and compete for a non-scholarship spot. Balancing wrestling, school, a job in airplane maintenance, and support of his younger siblings and mother (Jennifer Lopez) as she navigates an abusive relationship with his prison-guard stepfather (Bobby Cannavale) is a challenge, but Robles strives to attain his goal to not just wrestle but win a national championship. Michael Peña and Don Cheadle offer empathetic support as his coaches in an electrifying film that, like its hero, has the heart of a champion.

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.

Ten-year-old Percy Boy Collins is one of the fastest runners in school, but he never fails to arrive late for class. A smart-talking Aboriginal child in a white-dominated environment, Percy Boy has few allies until he befriends Keithy Cobb, the new kid at school. The schoolmates join forces to fend off the fifth-grade bullies known as the Wolf Pack. Joining them is little Daisy Hawkins, the fiercest and scariest third grader around. The three share a common goal: for Percy Boy to defeat the Wolf Pack in the running competition at the school carnival. But while he trains for the race, Percy Boy also begins to see visions from the afterworld, including those who perished in the bushfire that claimed the lives of his parents. Indigenous Australian director Tanith Glynn-Maloney’s first feature is an inspirational celebration of the bonds that tie us to our family, our friends, and our heritage.

Up above the clouds, on the highest mountain from the seafloor, a group of women fight to defend the sacred mountain of Mauna Kea from the world’s largest telescope. Filmmaker Jalena Keane-Lee focuses on native Hawaiian families’ efforts to block the installment of the giant instrument on hallowed land in a captivating documentary that interweaves breathtaking images of stunning locations with intimate portraits of colorful people. The fascinating story combines complex courtroom events with intimate moments that capture the ongoing tension between technological progress and historical identity. Despite rollercoaster political encounters, including arrests, the small but mighty community pursues an inspirational grassroots effort to protect culture and tradition. Standing Above the Clouds, the winner of the 2022 DocPitch Industry Award and Hot Docs’ Bill Nemlin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary, illuminates the ongoing struggles of Indigenous people battling to save ancestral lands and preserve an irreplaceable culture.

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.

The war on immigrants is happening. The realities of deportation, jail, and even death are but a few of the obstacles that organizer Gabriela Castañeda and activist and asylum seeker Kaxh Mura'l, participants in Borderland: The Line Within, confront while battling the United States’ border/industrial complex. Filmmaker Pamela Yates focuses on how anti-immigrant US policies upend lives and how law enforcement not only apprehends immigrants making the dangerous crossing over the border but also those who assist them. The film exposes the human toll of these policies as well as the business side of this war, exposing the politics of the situation and the politicians who benefit from the status quo. At a time when the undocumented are demonized and pols recklessly talk of mass deportations, this vital documentary puts the topic into perspective. It’s not a red or blue debate: this is a human issue. — Erin Lim

La deportación, la cárcel e incluso la muerte no son más que algunos de los obstáculos a los que la organizadora Gabriela Castañeda y el activista y solicitante de asilo Kaxh Mura’l, participantes en “Frontera Adentro”, se enfrentan mientras luchan contra el complejo fronterizo e industrial de los Estados Unidos. La cineasta Pamela Yates se centra en cómo las políticas anti-inmigrantes estadounidenses transforman las vidas de muchas personas y cómo las fuerzas del orden no sólo detienen a los inmigrantes que cruzan la peligrosa frontera sino también a quienes les ayudan. La película revela el costo humano de estas políticas, así como el aspecto comercial de esta guerra, desenmascarando la situación política y a los políticos que se benefician del statu quo. En un momento en el que los indocumentados son demonizados y los políticos hablan imprudentemente de deportaciones masivas, este documental pone el tema en perspectiva. No se trata de un debate de rojo o azul: es una cuestión humana.

Expected In Person Guest

In the realm of cinema, few actors possess the captivating allure and versatile talent quite like Jude Law. This Tribute will revisit key moments from his remarkable and diverse career.

In the realm of cinema, few actors possess the captivating allure and versatile talent of Jude Law. With a career spanning decades – a BAFTA winner and Oscar®, Tony®, and Olivier Award-nominated actor – Law has left an indelible mark on the landscape of film, enchanting audiences with his magnetic presence and commanding performances. This Tribute will revisit key moments from his films and examine his unique portrayal of Henry VIII in Firebrand, a testament to his remarkable and diverse career. In 2024 in addition to Firebrand, Law leads the Disney+ series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Ron Howard’s Eden, and Justin Kurzel’s The Order, produced by Law’s production company Riff Raff. He is currently in production on the Netflix series Black Rabbit, in which he stars opposite Jason Bateman, who also directs, and executive produces under Riff Raff. OUR TRIBUTE PROGRAM honors lifetime achievement, and will feature a conversation with Jude Law, and the presentation of the MVFF Award.



Expected In Person Guest

IN PERSON: Amy Adams; Marielle Heller, Director

Marielle Heller’s (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, MVFF41) bold new film starring the impeccable Amy Adams (Arrival, MVFF39 Opening Night) explores the darker side of motherhood with mischievous humor and a dash of suspense. The unnamed protagonist (played by Adams) is a visual artist whose career goes by the wayside after she gives birth to her son, a rather hyperactive charmer now hitting his Terrible Twos. Beset by folks who want to simplify the difficulties of childrearing or insist on its joys, she imagines herself responding in violent verbal fashion. When she starts to have strange dreams involving wild dogs and notices her body and senses changing, the primal instincts at the root of motherhood take center stage. Heller’s script (adapted from a book by Rachel Yoder) has a tonal agility that bounces adeptly from comedy to drama, even dipping its tail into body horror, and Adams is similarly dexterous in her display of the manifold emotions lying just below the surface of her character.
 
Amy Adams first appeared on the big screen in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) and worked steadily on television and in such movies as The Slaughter Rule (2002) and Catch Me If You Can (2002) before achieving her breakthrough with Junebug (2005), for which she won a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female and received her first Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The Oscar® nod was the first of six, followed by Doubt (2008), The Fighter (2010), The Master (2012), American Hustle (2013), and Vice (2018). Among her other notable films are Julie and Julia (2009), On the Road (MVFF45), Her (2013), Big Eyes (2014), Nocturnal Animals (2016), and Arrival (MVFF39 Opening Night film). She also received two Primetime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and Outstanding Limited Series for Sharp Objects (2018).

We close out MVFF47 with Adams’ latest film, Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch, where we also honor Adams with an MVFF Award for her stellar career.

Expected in person guest.

In 1970s Brazil, a family's life collapses when the military regime seizes former congressman Rubens Paiva. His wife, Eunice, becomes a fierce advocate for justice. Walter Salles directs this poignant film, which reveals the pain and resilience of fighting for truth.

The idyllic life of a happy family in Rio de Janeiro takes a devastating turn when agents of Brazil’s military regime seize former congressman Rubens Paiva (Shelton Mello), leaving his wife Eunice (a stirring Fernanda Torres) alone with their five children. As Rubens disappears into the shadows of the country’s savage penal system, Eunice navigates the perilous waters of the police state and transforms into a relentless advocate for justice, her voice becoming a beacon in the fight against government atrocities. Based on Marcelo Paiva’s memoir and using actual family photos as inspiration, director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries; On the Road, MVFF35) brings us a haunting portrayal of a family's tragic transformation under a brutal dictatorship. Eunice Paiva’s journey is a powerful testament to the enduring scars of forced disappearances and the unyielding search for truth. The film, anchored by a stellar cast that includes Fernanda Montenegro (Salles’s Central Station) and Maeve Jinkings, resonates with the pain and resilience of those left behind.

La idílica vida de una familia feliz en Río de Janeiro da un giro devastador cuando los agentes del régimen militar de Brasil capturan al excongresista Rubens Paiva (Shelton Mello), dejando a su esposa Eunice (una conmovedora Fernanda Torres) sola con sus cinco hijos. Mientras Rubens desaparece en las sombras del salvaje sistema penal del país, Eunice navega por las peligrosas aguas del estado policial y se transforma en una implacable defensora de la justicia y su voz se convierte en un modelo de inspiración en la lucha contra las atrocidades cometidas por el gobierno. Basado en las memorias de Marcelo Paiva y utilizando fotografías familiares reales como inspiración, el cineasta Walter Salles (Diarios de motocicleta; On The Road, MVFF35) nos presenta un retrato inquietante de la trágica transformación de una familia bajo una brutal dictadura. La experiencia de Eunice Paiva ofrece un testimonio conmovedor de las cicatrices duraderas dejadas por las desapariciones forzadas y de la incansable búsqueda de la verdad. La película, respaldada por un elenco estelar que incluye a Fernanda Montenegro (conocida por su papel en la película de Salles “Central Station”) y Maeve Jinkings, resuena profundamente con el dolor y la resiliencia de quienes permanecen.