San Francisco International Film Festival 2018

[Chris Knipp]

Ones that got away.

San Francisco 2018 film festival films that might have been cool to see but I missed.



Boom for Real
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-88). In fact I did see the show at the Barbican Art Gallery, London (21 Sept. '17-28 Jan. '18) which presumably this doc was made to go with, and watched some of it there. Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sara Driver, USA


Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1982). Photograph: Jean-Michel Basquiat/Barbican



A Kid Named Jake

The Opening Night Film of the festival, and I got invited to it, but I didn't go. Don't know that I'll like it, but its transgender and class themes make it relevant to today. Coming June 1. A Kid Like Jake, Silas Howard, USA



Makala, Emmanuel Gras, France A documentary about an African guy who struggles to make charcoal to sell. I've now missed it twice; it was included in a day of ND/NF last month that I missed, and was in the SFIFF too.



Tully, Jason Reitman, USA

A new movie starring Charlize Theron. She was the honored actor at this year's festival and the premiere of this new movie starring Charlize crowned the celebration of her career. Which ain't over yet, for sure!

القاضية

The Judge, Erika Cohn, USA / Palestine

Doc about Kholoud Al-Faqih, a Palestinian trailblazer as the first woman judge on the Shari’a (Islamic law) court in the Middle East.

More to come....

[Chris Knipp]

RBG (Julie Cohen, Betsy West 2018)

An admiring documentary portrait of the life and achievement (not over) of Supreme court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, now 84 but still not retired. With the heavily conservative court since Bush's two appointments, she represents a further to the left element and must write many dissenting decisions. She has become a liberal pop icon, known as "The Notorious RBG."

[Chris Knipp]

HALF THE PICTURE (Amy Adrion 2018)

Half the picture, women think, should be women. Hollywood is a very sexist community, more than most. The percentage of women actually directing films in Hollywood is minuscule, and it starts with a lot of women in film school studying to be directors. They get filtered out, and by the time you get to the top there are virtually none. Ava DuVernay was the first woman to get to make a $100 million movie. It didn't turn out to be very good,, but how many men have gotten to make lousy $100 million movies? Hundreds? Thousands? A talking heads picture. The EEOC has looked into this lately. They have brought charges against all the major studios for discrimination against women.

[Chris Knipp]

TIGRE (Ulises Guardiola, Silvina Schnicer 2017)

A heady tropical debut from Argentina. As island estate, family squabbles, burgeoning sexuality. Boom!

[Chris Knipp]

THE WHITE GIRL (Jenny Suen, Christopher Doyle 2017)

Famous Wong Kar-wai cinematographer Doyle may draw festival attention to this return-to-Hong Kong film, but frankly it's a non-starter. A wan mood piece about a girl who must hide from the sun, a street boy who sells mosquito coils and lives with a mute Buddhist priest who makes Rube Goldberg machines, and a Japanese pop Star who lives in an empty tower.

[Chris Knipp]

The Golden Gate Awards for feature films and McBaine documentary feature competition.


NATO MARVANIDZE IN SCARY MOTHER


The SFIFF does give awards, and their top ones are these, divided into documentary and fiction feature. Here are the 2018 nominees. Ten of each. The winners, announced Apr. 15, 2018, are in red. Links to the Filmleaf reviews. Given here are the SFIFF blurbs.

2018 GGA NEW DIRECTORS (NARRATIVE FEATURE) COMPETITION

Djon África, João Miller Guerra and Felipa Reis, Portugal/Brazil/Cape Verde
At loose ends in Lisbon, Miguel (Miguel Moreira) is prompted by a chance encounter to search for the father he has never known in Cape Verde, where he encounters a diverse mélange of residents. From cheeky bus riders to a ribald farmwoman who serves as a kind of cultural griot, Guerra and Reis's winning and funny debut uses the road movie format as its jumping-off point for a culturally rich portrait of the verdant and beautiful landscapes of Cape Verde.

I Am Not a Witch, Rungano Nyoni, UK/France
"The child is a witch," exclaim the villagers in the opening of this strikingly beautiful first feature by Rungano Nyoni. When young Shula is accused of witchcraft in her village, she is exiled, her movements constrained, and she is expected to perform miracles; however, she is not prepared to live this way forever. Employing breathtaking composition, Nyoni layers magical realism, satire, and social critique to blur reality with the surreal in this original and unforgettable story.

Night Comes On, Jordana Spiro, USA
Jordana Spiro's heartfelt and nuanced debut feature concerns Angel, just out of juvenile detention, and her sister, currently in a foster home. Angel is determined to confront her father about their past, while her sibling needs her to stay out of trouble so they can build on their bond. Newcomers Dominique Fishback (The Deuce) and Tatum Marilyn Hall give authentic and grounded performances, intimately capturing the close bond of sisterhood as they desperately try to remain a family against their complex circumstances.

Ravens, Jens Assur, Sweden
A young boy, whose aspirations lie away from the family farm, tries to take a stand against his father, a stubborn and taciturn man who extols the virtues of toil and sacrifice. As their conflict butts up against challenging economic and emotional realities, the lives of all family members, including the boy's dissatisfied mother, are profoundly altered. With a stark visual sensibility and powerful performances, Assur's debut feature beautifully renders the story of a life that seems to offer little way out.

Scary Mother, Ana Urushadze, Georgia/Estonia (Filmleaf review-ND/NF 2018)
Manana, a wild-haired 50-something mother of three, has just written a book. The problem is that the novel is clearly autobiographical and leaves no family member unscathed. As the ramifications of her artistic endeavor unravel in compellingly bizarre fashion, Manana's single-minded pursuit of her new calling leads the film into brave and uncharted territory.

The Sower, Marine Francen, France
In a rural mountain village in 1851, it is up to the women to bring in the grain harvest after all their men have been arrested for sedition. Under these challenging circumstances, their livelihoods as well as their desire for children become an obsession and when a mysterious man appears, these concerns play out in continually surprising and erotic fashion in this frank, feverish, and ravishingly beautiful film.

Suleiman Mountain, Elizaveta Stishova, Kyrgyzstan/Russia
Without preamble, a young Kyrgyz boy is taken out an orphanage and into the lives of his supposed parents who make ends meet by running various cons on unsuspecting villagers. Director Stishova weaves mythological and even comedic elements into a beautifully filmed tale that centers around the titular mountain, a mysterious and holy place where the prophet Solomon is said to be buried and where the film's characters aim to find their destinies.

Those Who Are Fine, Cyril Schäublin, Switzerland (nd/ND/NF 2018 review)
Through striking framing, intense angles, fragmented scenes, and amusing conversations that at first seem to be unrelated, Those Who Are Fine weaves together stories of a young woman at a telemarketing company who takes advantage of the elderly by convincing them to give her large sums of cash. Director Cyril Schäublin's bold and precisely assembled debut astutely captures a world where every character is either on or using a device and surveillance is everywhere but fails to protect.

Tigre, Ulises Porra Guardiola and Silvina Schnicer, Argentina
In a boarded-up family estate situated in Argentina's mysterious and ancient Tigre delta, three generations gather to decide whether to sell their property to developers. As the family navigates their relationship to their home, their interpersonal conflicts lead to them to a unique and beautiful farewell.

Winter Brothers, Hlynur Pálmason, Denmark/Iceland (ND/NF 2018 review)
A powerful batch of moonshine made in the barracks of an industrial compound causes problems for Emil after his coworkers become ill. Already an outcast, resentment grows as he blunders everything that he tries to pursue—including the only woman in town. Set in an ashen-grey wilderness, where everything is covered in a clay-like dust, director Hlynur Pálmason's drama distinctly captures each character's bumbling rage with sly humor in this debut feature film.


OLEG AFANASYEV in THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS

2018 GOLDEN GATE AWARDS MCBAINE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

City of the Sun, Rati Oneli, Georgia/USA/Qatar/Netherlands
The lives, dreams, and desires of three stalwart denizens of a desolate Georgian mining town provide the framework for this observational and gorgeously rendered film. With precise attention to landscape and architecture, director Rati O'Neli focuses on Archil, a miner with an operatic flair for theater, the workouts of twin sprinters, and Zurab, an impassioned man working to keep Georgian music and culture alive.

The Distant Barking of Dogs, Simon Lereng Wilmont, Denmark/Sweden/Finland – NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Filmleaf review •Receives $10,000 cash prize
In the midst of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, a loving, wise, and defiant grandmother raises her two young grandsons. Living under the omnipresent threat of war, the spirited boys, Oleg and Yarik, learn to adapt to their precarious situation and playfully wander through their neighborhood oblivious to the dangers around them. With a warm gaze toward his beguiling protagonists, director Simon Lereng Wilmot lends sensitivity and entrancing visuals—intimately framed close-ups and vibrant rural landscapes—to deliver a nuanced portrait of war and its corrosive effect.

Hale County This Morning, This Evening, RaMell Ross, USA (ND/NF review)
"I already had my troubles for today, so I can't worry about tomorrow," states Daniel, one of the protagonists in award-winning photographer RaMell Ross's inspired and intimate portrait of a place and its people. Set in an African-American community in rural Alabama where the director moves to coach basketball in 2009, the film captures small, but nevertheless precious, moments in Black lives—church services, a toddler running circles, an eclipse—with rapturous attention.

The Judge, Erika Cohn, USA/Palestine •Receives $5,000 cash prize
Judge Kholoud Al-Faqih became the first female appointed to any of the Middle East's Shari'a courts in 2009, challenging longstanding traditions and customs of women's roles in society. Constantly battling controversy over her position, Al-Faqih offers guidance, mentorship, and support both in and outside the courts. In this intimate portrait, director Erika Cohn captures the determined and compassionate judge as she strives to achieve justice in a system that so often does not favor women.

Minding the Gap, Bing Liu, USA
In Rockford, Illinois, Bing Liu has been filming his friends Zack and Kiere on and off their skateboards for ten years. Weaving archival footage, interviews, and incredible skate videos, Liu chronicles in simple and poetic fashion the lives of his inner circle of friends and family, revealing the damaging circumstances in which they all grew up. Less a film about skate culture and more an unusual and powerful coming-of-age story, Liu's feature documentary is fresh and powerful.

The Next Guardian, Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó, Hungary/Netherlands
In the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, teenage siblings, Gyembo and Tashi share a passion for soccer, Facebook, and girls. Gyembo enjoys reading classmates Facebook posts while Tashi turns heads with her confident, boyish demeanor. As technology and social media become more accessible, these youthful amusements collide with the father's desire for Gyembo to inherit the family monastery. Co-directors Arun Bhattarai and Dorottyya Zurbó present a penetrating and compassionate portrait of globalization and fundamental change in a country immersed in tradition and culture.

The Other Side of Everything, Mila Turajlić, Serbia/France/Qatar
In 1945, filmmaker Mila Turajlić's (Cinema Komunisto, Festival 2011) family apartment was divided and redistributed by the state government. Her mother's political activism meant that they were spied on from the very rooms they used to own. Now her fascinating mother, Srbijanka, can talk about that "other side." A staunch public advocate and voice of resistance against Slobodan Milosevic for years, she discusses with her daughter their complicated personal and political histories, while reflecting on the divided past they share.

The Rescue List, Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink, USA/Ghana – WORLD PREMIERE
Lake Volta in Ghana is the largest man-made lake in the world; it is also notorious as a locale for forced child labor. Bay Area filmmakers Zachary Fink and Alyssa Fedele's beautifully shot documentary charts the courageous efforts of a local safe house to rescue the kids, give them schooling and therapy, and prepare them for reintegration into their families. Though it contains many intimate and moving moments with the children, the star of the film is real life hero Kwame, who initiates several dramatic rescues and is a former child slave himself.

Shirkers, Sandi Tan, USA
"When I was 18, I had so many ideas," reflects Sandi Tan in this buoyant personal documentary. 25 years ago, Tan and two cinephile friends made a film in Singapore, but the reels disappeared, along with a mysterious man named Georges Cardona who had been acting as the project's mentor. Recently, the footage was found, which prompts this constantly surprising and reflective film about movie love, female friendship, and the urge for creative expression.

Tre Maison Dasan, Denali Tiller, USA – WORLD PREMIERE
Tre, Maison, and Dasan are three boys who all share something in common—one of their parents is in jail. Following their separate lives through boyhood and weaving their stories together, first-time documentary filmmaker Denali Tiller tenderly observes each youngster's life, as the kids come to understand more about the world around them. Capturing loving, frustrating, and heart wrenching moments between parent and child, Tre Maison Dasan approaches the issue of mass-incarceration by exposing the effects of the criminal justice system on young men.

[Chris Knipp]

Golden Gate Awards announced.

GOLDEN GATE NEW DIRECTORS AWARD (FICTION FEATURE)
The New Directors award is given to a debut feature by an international filmmaker whose work exhibits unique artistic sensibility or vision. The New Directors jury included Programmer Dilcia Barrera, Producer and Editor-in-Chief of Filmmaker Magazine Scott Macaulay, and Producer Adele Romanski.

SCARY MOTHER
GGA New Directors Award winner: Scary Mother, Ana Urushadze (Georgia/Estonia)
Receives $10,000 cash prize
The jury awarded its Golden Gate prize to Ana Urushadze for Scary Mother “for its confident tone and unquestioning commitment to its fearless protagonist, a complicated artist caught between motherhood and the wilds of her own imagination.”

MCBAINE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE AWARD
For more than 60 years, a significant element of the SFFILM Festival has been its broad selection of acclaimed documentaries from across the globe. There are two awards in this category – Best Documentary and Best Bay Area Documentary. Films in the Bay Area Documentary Feature category are also eligible for the Best Documentary Feature award. This year’s Documentary Feature jury was comprised of filmmaker and journalist Carrie Lozano, journalist Noel Murray, and nonfiction filmmaker, visual artist, and writer AJ Schnack.

CITY OF THE SUN
Special Jury Mention, McBaine Documentary Feature: City of the Sun, Rati Oneli (Georgia/USA/Qatar/Netherlands)
The jury granted this mention to Oneli’s film “for its stunning use of cinematography and sound design that immerses us in a place that is at once stark and stirring.”

THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS
McBaine Documentary Feature Award Winner: The Distant Barking of Dogs, Simon Lereng Wilmont (Denmark/Sweden/Finland)
•Receives $10,000 cash prize
The jury described the Feature Award winner as “Remarkable, exquisite and unforgettable.”

THE JUDGE
McBaine Bay Area Documentary Feature Award: The Judge, Erika Cohn (USA/Palestine)
•Receives $5,000 cash prize
The jury applauded The Judge for "turning a lens on a charismatic and influential woman who is fighting for equality against all odds, and for its nuanced portrayal of a culture that is often misunderstood."

Links to the reviews. I have not had an opportunity to watch The Judge., or, among the nominees, Night Comes On or Shirkers.