San Francisco International Film Festival 2018

[Chris Knipp]

About the Centerpiece Film:

Sorry to Bother You
Boots Riley, USA, 2018, 107 min

The wait is over–Bay Area icon Boots Riley’s outrageous, taboo-breaking satire is now a wonderfully deranged feature film. Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield)
gets hired as a telemarketer for Oakland company RegalView. His potential blossoms when he finds his “white voice”—a hilarious voice-over running
gag—but moving up the ranks leads to conflicts with coworkers and his girlfriend, not to mention the nefarious activities (including genetic manipulation!)
he discovers being perpetrated by RegalView’s CEO, played by Armie Hammer. With shades of Charlie Kaufman, Jordan Peele, and Jonathan Swift, Sorry to
Bother You brings surreal flair, dazzling originality, and a scathing lampoon of hyper-capitalist excess to the familiar streets of Oakland, California. Costars
Tessa Thompson, Steven Yuen, and Danny Glover, with music by The Coup and Tune-Yards.

THURSDAY • APRIL 12 • 6:30 • CASTRO
THURSDAY • APRIL 12 • 8:00 • GRAND LAKE
$20 MEMBER / $25 GENERAL

About the Closing Night Film, Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (SFIFF text):

[CLOSING NIGHT FILM]
Caustic and wickedly funny, celebrated quadriplegic Portland
cartoonist John Callahan had a knack for depicting taboo
subjects – especially people with physical disabilities –
without an ounce of cultural sensitivity. With an engrossing
and shape-shifting performance by Joaquin Phoenix as
Callahan, accompanied by scene-stealing support from
Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, and Jack Black, Gus Van Sant’s
(Milk, My Own Private Idaho) newest film follows the life of
this troubled alcoholic who journeys from rock-bottom to an
oddball AA group to ultimately channeling his demons into
sometimes shocking and always humorous profane art.