This year's Mill Valley Film Festival closed Sunday. I caught two narrative films there. I loved them both. Both films will get theatrical releases in the near future. A Capernaum Children living in poverty have to do for themselves in this heartbreaking story of love and the lack of love. Twelve-year-old Zain sues his parents for … Continue reading Lebanon & Beale Street: Closing Day of the Mill Valley Film Festival
Category: First-person Report
The West meets Islam on the Mill Valley Film Festival’s penultimate day
I saw three films Saturday at the Mill Valley Film Festival - all at the Rafael. Two were narratives, one was a documentary. All three dealt with the line between Islam and the West. A- Northern WindThis essentially serious film offers flashes of humor while studying the universality of working-class struggle. Two blue-collar men, who … Continue reading The West meets Islam on the Mill Valley Film Festival’s penultimate day
Comedy Weekdays at the Mill Valley Film Festival
I saw one Mill Valley Film Festival screening on Monday, and another two on Wednesday. Oddly, not a single documentary. Even odder, all three movies were comedies - a genre generally considered too frivolous for film festivals. In the order I saw them: A- Seder Masochism Nina Paley created this blasphemous and hilarious adult animation … Continue reading Comedy Weekdays at the Mill Valley Film Festival
Bias & Hate: Sunday at the Mill Valley Film Festival
I went to Mill Valley yesterday for the Mill Valley Film Festival (I usually go to the Rafael). I saw two films, one documentary and one narrative, and both about prejudice. B+ Bias Everyone, even the least racist and sexist among us, have implicit biases - the prejudices you don't even know you have. Even computer … Continue reading Bias & Hate: Sunday at the Mill Valley Film Festival
A Private War & Opening Night at the Mill Valley Film Festival
Thursday night, I attended one of the two opening night screenings at the Mill Valley Film Festival. I chose A Private War over Green Book. But before I get to the movie, I want to comment on something that bothers me at all the big film festivals. Although they bend left politically, their ticket sales … Continue reading A Private War & Opening Night at the Mill Valley Film Festival
Spike Lee and BlacKkKlansman at the Castro
Tuesday evening, my wife and I attended a special Tribute to Spike Lee at the Castro. First, David Thomson interviewed Lee on the Castro stage. Then, after an intermission, they screened Lee's latest film, BlacKkKlansman. As so often happens at these big events, a huge chunk of the house was reserved. If you're not some … Continue reading Spike Lee and BlacKkKlansman at the Castro
Greatest Hits with the Club Foot Orchestra
I spent most of Saturday at the Castro, where The Club Foot Orchestra accompanied a selection of silent features and shorts. The event was run by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The Club Foot Orchestra - ten musicians in its current form - calls itself "pioneers of modern music for silent films." They seem to … Continue reading Greatest Hits with the Club Foot Orchestra
My Last Day at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
For personal reasons, Saturday was my last day at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. I caught two documentaries. A Science Fair Highly-motivated high school students compete in local and national science fairs for fun and college tuition. They also hope to place in the biggest such event, the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). This … Continue reading My Last Day at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Take Action Day at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Friday was the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival's Take Action Day, which, when you think about it, is a strange name for sitting on your butt all day. They screened five political documentaries at the Castro that day. I saw the first three. None of these could reasonably be called Jewish films. The Festival justified … Continue reading Take Action Day at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Freedom of Expression, Liz Garbus, & The Fourth Estate
Thursday night, my wife and I visited the Castro for the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival's Freedom of Expression Award, which goes to a Jewish filmmaker who has worked to preserve our freedoms. This year, the award goes to documentarian Liz Garbus, the maker of Girlhood, Bobby Fischer Against the World, and What Happened, Miss … Continue reading Freedom of Expression, Liz Garbus, & The Fourth Estate
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