Playlist
The 2024 edition will take place from April 24–28 in venues in San Francisco and around the Bay Area.
Browse the Program + Ticket Info
Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival) is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. The annual event features a range of marquee premieres, international competitions, compelling documentaries, short and mid-length films, live music performances, and dazzling red carpet events. The SFFILM Festival is deeply rooted in the culture and process of film appreciation—film as an art form and as a meaningful agent for social change—and is an important showcase for the most searching and innovative films from around the globe.
In Oakland, an up-and-coming Muslim rapper struggles to balance his faith with the provocative nature of his song lyrics.
Hoping to make a masterpiece, a young artist explores the meaning of art and rediscovers why he creates in the first place.
Two best friends navigate high school as explorers, discovering new lands. When they find no island where they fit, they learn to change course.
Ruth divulges the history of a precious artifact: a medallion that signifies her family's struggles, successes, and hopes for the future. – Anita Raswant
Mother (Ellen Burstyn) refuses to leave a couch, which might not be a problem for her youngest child David (Ewan McGregor), except the sofa sits in a defunct furniture store and the owners want her to vacate. That is the set up for writer-director Niclas Larsson's absurd first feature that explores the ways our families can work our every last nerve. With Mother refusing to budge, David enlists his brother Gruffudd (Rhys Ifans) and sister Linda (Lara Flynn Boyle) to join him in coaxing her home. The three actors' wildly incongruous accents hint at children raised apart from one another and help explain the overall sense of estrangement — though not how Mother wandered into the store in the first place. 91-year-old Burstyn is marvelous in this film full of droll laughs as the recalcitrant matriarch, receiving excellent support from a cast that also includes Lake Bell, Taylor Russell, and F. Murray Abraham.
A 2015 dinner with Noriyuki Yamagauchi evolves into a years-long nightmare for Shiori Ito after the veteran journalist drugged and sexually assaulted the Reuters intern. In her quest for justice, Ito faces long odds: Yamagauchi, is not only a high-profile newsman but also Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's personal biographer. But she will not be deterred in this powerful, intensely personal documentary that depicts her campaign to hold her assailant accountable. The case makes Ito the face of Japan's #MeToo movement while launching a national discussion about the country's outdated sexual assault and consent laws. As she faces threats and the possibility of a coverup, she turns investigator, chasing leads, determined to expose the truth. Splashed across the media as both a hero and villain, Ito becomes a voice for the modern Japanese woman, speaking for those whose own experiences have been too often silenced.
British-Somali teen Muna is desperate to go on the school trip – but her parents aren't so sure. Tragedy strikes when her grandfather dies back in Somalia, and Muna must navigate a confusing mourning period for someone she never really knew.
Amidst a pulsing crowd at a Barcelona rave, Uri tries to find a rhythm and pieces of themselves in others.
Under roaring fighter jets and missile strikes, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind and fight, contending with the soldiers they have become. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it's easy to make people afraid, it's hard to destroy their passion for living.
And how does one continue to live when everything you love is under a vicious attack? Porcelain War argues that you can learn to fight back using all the tools you have, including your art, in order to avoid erasure. "We're ordinary people in an extraordinary situation" is how co-director Slava Leontyev describes their current life. Meanwhile, there is absolutely nothing ordinary about them — these artists, farmers, IT specialists — coming together to fight their oppressor. Porcelain War is a true cinematic gem. Leontyev and co-director Brendan Bellomo manage to gracefully capture the dissonance between the horrors of war and the fragile beauty of nature and artistic practice. Anya's and Slava's porcelain pieces come to life in delicately crafted animations that offer context to their makers' story and a stunning outlet for processing grief.—AT
Leading light of the New Argentine Cinema, Martín Rejtman returns with his first film in nearly a decade (following Two Shots Fired, NYFF52), a shrewd deadpan comedy that provides further evidence that few directors are as adept at dramatizing the absurdity of the mundane. Gustavo (Esteban Bigliardi), an Argentinean yoga instructor living in Chile, has recently separated from his wife, which leaves him essentially without an apartment and complicates keeping his business afloat. Adding injury to insult, he's dealing with a torn meniscus, a meddling mother, a new client who might be a thief and another who gets amnesia during a session. A flirtation with a former student, Laura (Camila Hirane), brings promise for the future. Directed and acted with wry precision, the entrancing La Práctica is a sardonic yet loving immersion into a world in which wellness retreats and physical and spiritual self-improvement naturally exist side-by-side with romantic and professional neuroses.
Deep in the Central Valley, undocumented farmworkers share their stories and describe dreams transformed into harsh reality.
Follow the disappearance of the final Little Egg of the season in strange circumstances, leading Oona and her friends to embark on a race against time to try to save it before a big storm hits Puffin Rock and puts the island in danger.
After having sex for the first time, Alba, a 16 year old, searches for a strength she has never exercised before.
Lizzie and Les are two artists who create interactive giant puppet shows in the streets of Southampton in order to create conversation about climate issues.
Eight-year-old Iranian Rizoo is faced with a challenging dilemma; does she take her summer school picture wearing the hijab as her mother insists, or does she follow her own heart and showcase her long hair one last time?
Robert Peace grew up in an impoverished section of Newark and later graduated from Yale with degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry while on scholarship. Peace led a dual life in academia and research while also earning six figures selling marijuana. Based on Jeff Hobbs' bestselling biography.
Chiwetel Ejiofor's thoughtful adaptation of Hobbs' biography examines Peace's struggle to reconcile his academic ambitions with mounting economic and family pressures. Although Peace's (Jay Will) talents are nurtured from childhood by his devoted mother (Mary J. Blige), he lives in the shadow of his father (Ejiofor) who is imprisoned for a murky double murder. Intellectually curious and restlessly entrepreneurial, Peace lives a divided life, tenaciously working in a university research lab while secretly raising cash for his dad's defense. Detailing Peace's dual rise within the ranks of Yale and the Newark drug trade, Rob Peace explores the double bind between being true to one's dreams and faithful to one's roots, exposing the contradictions in the American dream for young Black men. Will vividly conveys Peace's inner turmoil while Ejiofor gives an anguished performance as his mercurial father.—MC
Based on the Governor General's Award-winning novel by Kim Thúy, Ru is the story of the arduous journey of a wealthy family fleeing from Vietnam, before landing in Quebec.
A scrapbook of opinions and advice about love in Sierra Leone.
Launched in the late '80s, educational software Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions globally, but the program's Haitian-born cover model vanished decades ago. Two DIY investigators search for the unsung cultural icon, while questioning notions of digital security, AI, and Black representation in the digital realm.
Jazmin Jones' inventive directorial debut boldly embraces outspoken questioning. Jones turns the camera onto herself and co-investigator Olivia McKayla Ross, foregrounding their investigatory process and supportive friendship. While unraveling the complex narrative of Mavis Beacon, they uplift the pioneering of Black women in technology, and self-reflect on their own methodologies in the process. Jones celebrates diverse ways of embodying knowledge by creatively connecting various sources of information. Observational footage of herself and Ross sit alongside interviews, memes, and insights from activists and artists. The meaning of each clip is made richer by Jones' astute and witty layering, often incorporating the digital interface of a desktop. The dynamic investigation also reveals questions about documentary practice, the incompleteness of archives, and the right to exist on one's own terms. Jones' vision is vibrant, full of curiosity, and refreshingly openhearted. —SO
The short follows "a wooden doll who desperately wants to fit in makes an ill-fated wish upon a star, sparking a journey of self-discovery. Her desire to blend in with her peers leads her down a harmful path, challenging her perspective of both who she is and where she belongs."
While on a book tour in Japan, Sidonie Perceval, still haunted by the ghost of her late husband, begins an affair with her mysterious Japanese publisher.
Growing up 6,000 miles away from her grandparents, a young Korean American reflects on lost family stories and the culture uprooted from her life.
Based on the real-life arts rehabilitation programme founded at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Greg Kwedar's new film follows a troupe of incarcerated actors who work on a play as part of a theatre workshop at the prison.
In 1960, United Nations: the Global South ignites a political earthquake, musicians Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach crash the Security Council, Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe denouncing America's color bar, while the U.S. dispatches jazz ambassador Louis Armstrong to the Congo to deflect attention from its first African post-colonial coup.
Director Johan Grimonprez (Double Take, 2009) returns to Sundance with this magnificent essay film that vibrantly embodies the historic and continually evolving colonial machinations that underpin what author and Congolese writer In Koli Jean Bofane refers to as an ever-evolving "algorithm of Congo Inc."
People (mostly children) try to keep a very nasty candy in their mouths for as long as possible. For some it's simply an interesting experience; for others, it's THE worst thing they've EVER tasted.
A young heir to a dictatorship navigates an isolated world of power and control. A solitary gesture of peace leads to tragic revelations in this stark allegory of inherited violence and the urgent need for empathy.
An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.
Filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie deliver a multilayered film that invites audiences to confront profound questions about morality and justice, and to bear witness to the lasting intergenerational legacy of trauma from the residential school system — including forced family separation, physical and sexual abuse, and the destruction of Native culture and language. Drawing on their backgrounds in activism and journalism — as well as NoiseCat's own personal connection to the story and community — the filmmakers deftly weave together multiple strands to form this compelling, heartbreaking narrative. Demonstrating unparalleled humanity, compassion, and grace for the affected Indigenous communities in North America, their powerful documentary operates from a place of pure and total empathy. At the same time, NoiseCat and Kassie recognize the resilience of the survivors and their descendants, and their unflagging determination to seek answers to long-buried secrets. Ultimately, Sugarcane reminds us to respect the humanity in ourselves as well as in others.—BB
The destruction of a Palestinian home by Israeli edict and the murder of a youth at the hands of an Israeli settler set the stage for even more shocks to come in writer/director Farah Nabulsi's assured feature debut. Saleh Bakri is Basem, an amiable educator who tries to steer the deceased boy's younger brother Adam (Muhammad Abed Elrahman) from seeking revenge. At the same time, Basem ignores his own advice, maintaining ties with the resistance and involving himself in a hostage situation. He tries to keep his activities secret from Adam and his British girlfriend Lisa (Imogen Poots) but it becomes harder to maintain his silence when Israeli troops show up at his door. Inspired by a real incident and set in 2014, The Teacher is a shattering work that feels as current as today's headlines, and a drama made more devastating by Bakri's soulful performance.
When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.
Inspired by a real-life experience of writer-director Josh Margolin's own centenarian grandmother, Thelma puts a clever spin on movies like Mission: Impossible, shining the spotlight on an elderly grandmother as an unlikely action hero. With affectionate humor, Margolin employs the familiar tropes of the action genre in hilarious, age-appropriate ways to tackle themes of aging, mortality, and human frailty. In the first leading film role of her over 70-year career, Oscar-nominated veteran character actor June Squibb portrays the strong-willed Thelma with grit and determination, demonstrating that she is more than capable of taking care of business — despite what her daughter Gail (Parker Posey), son-in-law Alan (Clark Gregg), or loving grandson Danny (Fred Hechinger) might believe.—BT
On a road trip with her younger sister, Charlie struggles to hide a secret sex addiction.
This portrait of photographer James Hamilton, one of the great chroniclers of the cultural history of America, goes well beyond his creative and technical process. Through the stories behind his work at Harper's Bazaar, The New York Observer, and The Village Voice about his iconic portraits and assignments —from Patti Smith, Liza Minnelli, Lou Reed, Hitchcock, George Romero, to Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson—the film becomes a brilliant depiction of New York's cultural zeitgeist over the last 50 years. – Ruth Somalo
In this heart-wrenching drama, after a man drowns in the Mediterranean Sea, bureaucracy prevents his family from bringing his body home to Morocco.
Asagi's classmates don't seem concerned when her friend Satake suddenly dies in a strange way: they just continue their conversations about food and karaoke. While Asagi struggles with her loss, everything around her becomes increasingly absurd. A promising, idiosyncratic psychological horror debut with a generous dollop of dark humour and an eerie atmosphere.
Wakhri is about a widowed school teacher in Pakistan who becomes a viral sensation overnight when she accidentally unleashes her unabashed opinions on social media. This newfound fame as an unlikely influencer comes with its own challenges as she has to navigate archaic mindsets and secret identities while raising her ten-year-old son in a world where women's right to have a voice and own their own space, physical or online, is a constant challenge. The film draws inspiration from the bravery of individuals like Qandeel Baloch, Pakistan's first social media celebrity who was strangled to death by her brother for bringing disrepute to the family's honour.
Three teenagers openly share their personal stories of struggle and transformation that allowed them to embrace self-acceptance.
Mother and son spend a candid weekend together in a family lodging center attached to a women's prison.
Where do ideas come from? Using seemingly unrelated archival material, the filmmaker uses a split-screen to probe this question. And, it's not just the images that are recycled: the voiceover consists of various excerpts pondering the origin of ideas. Meanwhile, we witness the emergence of a new idea.
In Elizabeth Scharang's evocative drama, a journalist from Vienna retreats to her childhood village and her late grandparents' barely habitable home as she copes with the trauma of witnessing a terrible crime. Marian (Brigittle Hobmeier) finds peace in the surrounding woods but it is not a comfortable homecoming — the townspeople resent her for critical articles she's written and her best friends Gerti (Gerti Drassi) and Franz (Johannes Krisch) still feel the sting of being left behind. Marian has more to heal than just her wounded psyche as she recalls the tight bonds of her youth and attempts to mend broken relationships. Hobmeier delivers a nuanced performance as a woman shut down by the violence she experienced who gradually learns to embrace life again — not through the isolation she originally sought but by reaching for human connection.
An astonishingly confident directorial debut from San Francisco-based actress Joan Chen, Xiu Xiu is a heartbreaking coming-of-age melodrama set during the later stages of the Cultural Revolution. A young girl, Xiu Xiu, is sent to a desolate part of Tibet to learn horse breeding from her trainer, Lao Jin, a serene Tibetan herdsman. Deserted in such a bleak, uncompromising landscape, Xiu Xiu dreams of a better life, but slowly realizes that the authorities have no intention of ever rescuing her. Her dreams shattered, she is coerced into sex by visiting townsmen and their promises of "help." But no help ever comes, and the silent, love-struck Lao Jin is left as her only hope. Chen's slow-building moods and self-assured narrative tone recall the emotional power and underlying social critique inherent in mainland China's Fifth Generation filmmakers as well as the work of their predecessor Xie Jin (whose 1977 film, Youth, saw Chen in one of her first starring roles). Austere, uncluttered—no unnecessary dramatic pyrotechnics or visual exotica—Xiu Xiu achieves a purity of vision not found in most contemporary cinema. Coaxing gorgeously refined performances out of radiant newcomer Lu Lu and the Tibetan-born Lopsang, Chen weaves a story of love unspoken and love lost, and in so doing introduces an exciting new voice to world cinema.
Yuck! Kissing on the mouth is disgusting. But secretly, little Léo really wants to try it ...
In this gem of minimalist and poetic magnetism, filmmaker Oskar Alegría and adorable donkey Paolo embark on a journey to bring provisions to the last shepherd of the Andia Mountains. Retracing the seasonal route his grandfather made with his flock, Alegría collects a trove of memories from a disappearing world, embodied in sounds and degraded silent images captured with his father's Super-8 camera. Ancient songs, sounds, and encounters chart a way of life mostly forgotten. – Ruth Somalo
Amber is one of the many agents working for the Bhutanese government to measure people's happiness levels among the remote Himalayan mountains. But will he find his own along the way?
Agent of Happiness, directed by Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, offers a unique take on the notoriously exoticized Bhutan and its unusual happiness policy. We follow Amber as he investigates various expressions of contentment across different households and lifestyles while navigating his own struggle as a Nepali minority. The holistic philosophy at the heart of the survey he conducts challenges the conventional metrics of fulfillment and success, often provoking some deeper soul-searching. The filmmakers elegantly capture many tender moments between Amber and his interlocutors, as well as some very revealing conversations filled with unflinching honesty and quiet wisdom.
Through its carefully crafted narrative, the film resonates as a heartfelt exploration of happiness in the face of adversity. As Amber grapples with societal disparities and personal roadblocks while searching for love, this story becomes a beautifully realized reminder to count our blessings.—AT
María Zanetti's vivid debut feature, inspired by her own family's story, tells the story of Lola, a 16-year-old who dreams of escaping her challenging homelife. Lola struggles with school and driving lessons but the mental illness of older sister Julieta presents greater challenges. Julieta consumes their parents' time and money, leaving Lola often ignored, at constant odds with her mother, and dreaming of a different life. Maite Aguilar makes an indelible screen debut as a young woman yearning for refuge and security in this complex drama that drifts between a teen's inherent need to embark on her own path and the difficulties her parents face in meeting the disparate needs of their daughters. Striking cinematography further enhances this vibrant coming-of-age tale, which won the Best Director and Best Screenplay prizes at Cine Ceará—Ibero-American Film Festival
Ramata-Toulaye Sy's debut feature Banel & Adama showcases the mythic love between the eponymous couple in a remote Senegalese village, but it is the conjunction in the title that is at the heart of this scorching romantic drama. "Without Adama, you're nothing", quips Banel's twin brother, upset at his sister's fanatic attachment to her new husband.
Adama, for his part, has turned down his hereditary right to be the village chief, content instead to live in marital bliss with Banel. Together, they work at unearthing a house buried in sand outside the village, hoping to carve out a private niche away from this community where everything unfolds in public spaces. However this spirit of independence won't be easily tolerated, and the village is soon visited upon by a deadly drought, severely straining the bond between the lovers.
As Banel, Khady Mane traverses the terrains of infatuation, determination, obsession and guilt with conviction and an almost evangelical fervour. Her emotional capacities grow as the film itself expands from a gentle ode to teenage romance to an operatic saga of divine tribulations. Through her persistence, Banel & Adama unveils a star-crossed love story of Biblical proportions.
– Srikanth Srinivasan
Battery Mommy works at a nursery. One day, she finds out the Christmas tree in the nursery is on fire. She urgently runs to the fire alarm to safely rescue the sleeping children.
When a wild otter in desperate need of help washes up on his jetty in the remote Scottish islands of Shetland, Billy, his wife Susan, and their devoted sheepdog Jade find themselves with a unique new member of their family. From National Geographic and Silverback Films, "Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story" is a heart-warming story directed by Charlie Hamilton James and shot in 4K. This documentary film shows us how love can reawaken us to the beauty of nature.
Journalist Shiori Ito embarks on a courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Her quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country's outdated judicial and societal systems.
Black Box Diaries was born out of Ito's need to document her investigation — a response to the authorities' refusal to pursue her case in a meaningful manner. More importantly, it was a way to journal her fears and thoughts as she anticipated the backlash that followed.
As the film's director, Ito accomplishes something remarkable. On one hand, Black Box Diaries has a raw and honest quality to it — it's a personal journey from the perspective of a victim piecing together the crime she experienced, while pushing herself to the extreme. At the same time, it is an impressively crafted, concise piece of filmmaking — guided by a strong sense of purpose and broken up by occasional moments of joy. Shiori Ito came forward to challenge her high-profile abuser despite knowing the risks. Her bravery meant hope for others and the prospect of real change to a broken system.—AT
As a child in Vietnam, Thao's mother often rescued ants from bowls of sugar water. Years later they would return the favour. Boat People is an animated documentary that uses a striking metaphor to trace one family's flight across the turbulent waters of history.
In 1992, as Colombia faces an era of drug violence, car bombs, and daily power outages, a young mother in Bogotá receives an internship opportunity in New York and eventually must choose between her family and her dreams.
A mischievous cat and a young girl facing family troubles meet an unusual creature in this latest short from Chimney Town, dwarf studios, and the award-winning studio Tonko House.
Vera and Tazzie have been attached at the hip since the moment they met. After leaking a damning quote heard during her recent internship in the White House, Vera is launched into the public eye. Loyalties are tested as they struggle to see eye to eye on justice, compromise, and truth.
An ample community of cats has set up home around the Shinto shrine in Ushimado. Some local residents take care of them, others are disturbed by their mess. Kazuhiro Soda observes their co-existence with kindness, precision and occasional involvement.
Hidden away under the bleachers at school, free-spirited Aisha gives a pregnancy test to Jessica, a cheerleader and prom queen contender, who's terrified of what the results might mean. They are joined by their childhood friend Portia, who has made her own decisions about motherhood. The three reconnect over their circumstances and celebrate all of life's choices.
Former soccer star Andres, lovingly named "Coach Pancake" by his students, finds his calling training six-year-olds to find their superpowers on and off the field.
At a busy train station, a human with an ever-exploding head stumbles upon an old newspaper. This discovery opens a portal to a world of different stories, all intertwined by a shared theme: the war in Ukraine. Despite the war's impact, each story depicts people living normally, dancing, walking their dogs, and engaging in peaceful activities.
Although their lives have been altered, they persist and strive to find meaning in a world where a missile attack can ruin your house daily. The film utilizes a stop-motion technique crafted from newspaper clippings in various languages, illustrating the chronological progression of the war. Visually, the film is made with pastels in the traditional 2d method, lending it a distinctive style and atmosphere.
Confused Blood (혼혈) is a story about finding belonging in places where we feel estranged. Whether intended or not, many people exist in a state of limbo and these spaces can take many forms, such as broken relationships, citizenship status, socio-economic background, race and many more.
Counted Out investigates the biggest crises of our time—political polarization, racial and economic inequity, a global pandemic, and climate change—through an unexpected lens: math.
In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get—all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice.
But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy—whether we can speak the language of math—is a critical determinant of social and economic power.
Through a mosaic of personal stories, expert interviews, and scenes of math transformation in action, Counted Out shows what's at risk if we keep the status quo. Do we want an America in which most of us don't consider ourselves "math people"? Where math proficiency goes down as students grow up? Or do we want a country where everyone can understand the math that undergirds our society—and can help shape it?
In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can't teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.
In his striking directorial debut, Sean Wang takes us on a kinetic ride through the ups and downs of adolescence, mining personal experience to share a joyful, funny, and deeply affecting ode to first-generation teenagers navigating the beauty and pain of cultural heritage in a sea of conformity. Wang confidently steers us through the freewheeling early days of social media, where AIM emoticons and MySpace rankings carry the weight of heartbreak and friendships forged and broken. Both a moving love letter to immigrant parents and a playful examination of our uncertain paths to adulthood, Dìdi (弟弟) reminds us that growing up and growing into better versions of ourselves are often one and the same.—AS
On a winter day in Washington State, Kiana Davis suffers a traumatic brain injury stemming from a freak accident. As she begins to have difficulty with her hearing, she is forced to find a new path forward.
Their shared passion for rodeo and the weight of their family's legacy in the sport bind together mother-daughter duo Kanesha and Kortnee.
Twenty somethings Amir and Narges have found what feels like true love in their hometown by the coast of the Caspian sea. But in today's Iran that's far from enough to build a life together, and they are forced to keep the relationship secret. To win over Narges' upper class family and pay an appropriate dowry, Amir needs money, and he needs it fast. With his back against the wall, Amir finds work at a local fishery, where he is drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of black market caviar smuggling. As Amir's values are compromised by the illegal underworld, Narges stalls for time and tries to delay the arranged marriage her parents are planning for her. Can their love, hopes and dreams survive the tightly knit web of tradition, corruption, and social hierarchy that continues to rule over the lives of a new generation in Iran?
Startups are using AI to create avatars that allow relatives to talk with their loved ones after they have died. An exploration of a profound human desire and the consequences of turning the dream of immortality into a product.
"I wanted to see if he was okay," explains Christi, one of the users of Project December. With this innovative software, users can communicate with a virtual version of the deceased through a chatbot that simulates the dead person's conversation patterns. Hers was an attempt to check on her first love. Others may simply miss someone, seek permission to move on, or want to rid themselves of guilt.
Little is known about the effects that this kind of generative AI might have on our brains, hearts, and wallets. The filmmakers, Hans Block and Moritz Riesewieck (The Cleaners, 2018 Sundance Film Festival), do not claim to have the answers, but instead bring up various emotional and moral complexities we should be aware of. Eternal You poses important questions about algorithmic immortality, and the need to take a closer look at our future "digital remains."—AT
The protean Argentinean director Lisandro Alonso (La Libertad, NYFF39; Jauja, NYFF52) continues to shapeshift, delight, and challenge with his marvelous and immersive new film, which takes the viewer on an unexpected journey through three stories set in wildly different terrain, each of them reflecting lives haunted by the specter of colonialist violence. In the first, Viggo Mortensen and Chiara Mastroianni guest-star in a black-and-white neo-Western pastiche following a taciturn gunslinger seeking revenge in a lawless frontier town. In the second section, in a different kind of law-and-order narrative, set during the present day in the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, we accompany a Native American cop (Alaina Clifford) on her nighttime patrols, revealing a community troubled by addiction and poverty, but also, because of the cop's good-hearted basketball coach niece (Sadie Lapointe), touched by transcendence. Finally, the film travels to the magnificent Brazilian rainforest of the 1970s, where Indigenous workers pan for gold while articulating their dream lives. Cleverly transitioning between segments without hand-holding the viewer, Alonso has created an improbably unified aesthetic experience that leaves it up to us to make the connections among its transient worlds.
A woman waits for a visa with Turbo, a dog that she grows to adore. As time passes, she has to grapple with how their relationship will change when she has to leave.
Follows the story of the reconciliation of a father and son who had been estranged for a long time among lost memories and dispersed pieces of lives.
Summer 1996, Brazil. Tamara is enjoying her last weeks at the village she lives in before departing to Brasilia. One day, she hears about a teenager nicknamed Heartless. During the summer, Tamara feels a growing attraction for this girl.
"The Idea of You" centers on Solène, a 40-year-old single mom who begins an unexpected romance with 24-year-old Hayes Campbell, the lead singer of August Moon, the hottest boy band on the planet. When Solène must step in to chaperone her teenage daughter's trip to the Coachella Music Festival after her ex bails at the last minute, she has a chance encounter with Hayes and there is an instant, undeniable spark. As they begin a whirlwind romance, it isn't long before Hayes' superstar status poses unavoidable challenges to their relationship, and Solène soon discovers that life in the glare of his spotlight might be more than she bargained for.
Do we have the right to die if we no longer have the will to live? Approximately 280 million people suffer from depression. Among them – one depressed teddy bear. This autobiographical experimental documentary follows Erinbear as they contemplate the choice between surviving the weight of a monotonous, mundane world and their desire to escape it.
Devastated by a dire medical diagnosis for their young child, Elle and Jonah seek solace from an unexpected source.
Twelve-year-old Carla is grieving and speechless when she arrives at the Galapagos and realizes she must mutate to survive. She thus becomes an "Island" and, imitating the iguanas, learns to cling to the rocks, wait, plunge, and emerge to tell her story.
It's the summer before Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) starts sixth grade, and she is spending the lazy months with her acupuncturist mother, Janet (Julianne Nicholson), in their home in the woods. As the months drift by, the bespectacled, taciturn girl, fiercely observant, watches Janet and three enigmatic adults who drift in and out of their lives, whether romantic interests or reconnected friends. Set in 1991 rural Western Massachusetts, the superb debut film from Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Annie Baker is a work of surreal tranquility that moves at a different, lost pace of life, and which perceives heartbreak just as Lacy is beginning to grasp the world and her place in it. Baker has created a film about a mother and daughter quite unlike any other, heightening the viewer's senses and expressing oceans of feeling with the smallest gestures. Nicholson and Ziegler perform their roles with an inspiring lack of sentimentality, and the wondrous supporting cast includes Elias Koteas, Sophie Okonedo, and Will Patton.
In Bogota, a bird-girl leaves behind the family home, her domineering mother and faithful dog to go and explore her sexuality.
An estranged son wears a lie in order to return home.
A contemplative, ecstatic, and profound examination on the artistic process and inner lives of artists told through the eyes of three asian-american artists from the Bay Area.
Through elaborate and colorful designs, a beetle goes on a wondrous journey to get to the outdoors.
In this charming animation, a small and curious fan has an unexpected encounter that grows into a meaningful friendship.
Stéphanie is a jovial and strong single mother. She shares everything with her 13-year-old daughter, Léna: their passion for Angèle, their clothes, even the teenager's diary, in which Stéphanie corrects omissions.
Luther Vandross started his career supporting David Bowie, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, and more. His undeniable talent earned platinum records and accolades, but he struggled to break out beyond the R&B charts. Intensely driven, he overcame personal and professional challenges to secure his place amongst the greatest vocalists in history.
If you know, you know — there's only one Luther. Acclaimed Festival alum Dawn Porter invites audiences on a musical journey into the life of the iconic Luther Vandross, the man with the soulful velvet voice. An archival tapestry of performances and recording sessions immerse us in his legendary musical talent as a singer, songwriter, and producer. Porter then goes beyond the spotlight to delve into the man behind the music — insights from musicians and friends alongside archival interviews with Luther himself reveal his humor, frustrations, loneliness, and unwavering dedication to his craft. Luther: Never Too Much delivers a sensitive and jubilant celebration of Luther Vandross and his music that resonates with evocative power. Some will form newfound admiration for Luther, while others will be transported to moments when his timeless melodies were the soundtrack to their lives. Good luck not singing along and dancing in your seat.—SO
Mabel centers on Callie, whose only friends are the plants and trees that surround her home. When her dad's job moves the family to a sterile subdivision, she is utterly isolated—except for her best friend, a potted plant named Mabel. To Callie, Mabel is a peer, a fellow being, maybe overlooked or unseen, but still very much alive.
Poor and hungry peasant Macario wishes to have a good meal for All Saint's Day. After his wife cooks him a turkey he has three apparitions: The Devil, God, and the Death.
How do you rebuild "home" from nothing but memories? This verite-style film thrusts us into the intimate conversations between Maria and her grandchild, Marucha: two Indigenous refugees living in displacement. To Maria, the Venezuelan delta is her home. To Marucha, these refugee camps are all she knows. Through the rhythms of their daily lives, we witness the complexity of raising a new generation in displacement and explore how land, memory and identity are deeply intertwined.
Follows the story of the reconciliation of a father and son who had been estranged for a long time among lost memories and dispersed pieces of lives.
Through music, enchanting nature, and movement, explore a vibrant meditation on the power and joy of teenage femininity.