SFFLA 2015

Scandinavian Film Festival Los Angeles 2015

The 16th Annual Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. showcases the best and finest films from the Nordic countries. This is the place where Nordic film 'winters' in Southern California. SFFLA was launched in the year 2000 and features as many as possible of the Nordic Oscar submissions. Starting in 2014 with BALTIC FILM EXPO at SFFLA, the festival initiated cinematic offerings from the three Baltic nations - Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

It all takes place over two weekends: January 17, 18, 24, 25, 2015 at the Writers Guild Theater: 135 South Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills, CA, 90211.

This year's festival is dedicated to the loving memory of David Larson (11/1/1950-10/26/2014) partner and pathfinder, co-founder and collaborator, without whose hard work, love and generosity, SFFLA would not have been possible.

Screening Schedule:

Saturday, January 17

11:00am: The Optimists ★★★
(Optimistene), Norway, 2013, 90 minutes, Brunhild Westhagen



A moving, humorous, and absorbing documentary about an extraordinary volleyball team in the town of Hamar; consisting of ladies between 66 and 98. Many of us fear age, but these ladies will change our ideas.

1:00pm: It's Only Make-Believe ★★
(Eventryland), Norway, 2013, 91 minutes, Arild Ostin Ommundsen

 

After serving 10 years in prison for murder, Jenny returns to society. She wants to live a quiet life and resume her responsibilities as a mother. But soon shadows from the past start to appear. It’s Only Make Believe is a warm tale of love and longing.

3:00pm: Antboy 2: The Revenge of the Red Furry
(Antboy: Den Røde Furies hæv), Denmark, 2014, 77 minutes, Ask Hasselbalch


In Antboy, 12-year-old Pelle is bitten by an ant and develops superpowers. With his comic book nerd buddy, he creates a secret identity as superhero as Antboy. The two are on to new adventures in The Revenge of the Red Furry.


4:30pm: Sorrow and Joy ★★★
(Sorg og glæde), Denmark, 2013, 107 minutes, Nils Malmros (Oscar Submission)

Filmmaker Johannes and his wife, schoolteacher Signe, experience the biggest sorrow and misfortune imaginable. Yet, in all the hopelessness they must try to reach for mutual and mature love in order to continue life after death. One of Danish films most significant personalities, Malmros characters have a strong autobiographical element.


6:30pm: Opening Gala and Buffet, Great Food & Drinks to open SFFLA's 16th Anniversary year!

Join us for drinks at our opening gala which includes a delicious buffet. If you want to purchase an online ticket for the gala please click on the Tickets Link in the purple bar above.  You can then add the gala to your shopping cart. Purchasing this $40 gala ticket will also include the 8:00 pm screening of A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Contemplating Existence.





8:00pm: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence ★★★★
(En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron), Sweden, 2014, 101 minutes, Roy Andersson






Swedish master Roy Andersson (Songs from the Second Floor) returns with this absurdist, surrealistic and shocking pitch-black comedy, which moves freely from nightmare to fantasy to hilariously deadpan humour as it muses on man’s perpetual inhumanity to man. The third part of his “living” trilogy, the film premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival where it was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Film.

Sunday, January 18

11:00am: Whale Valley (short)
(Hvalfjörður), Iceland, 2013, 15 minutes, Gudmundur Gudmundson


Two brothers struggle to find their place and purpose while living by a  small remote fjord in Iceland. Special mention at Cannes Film Festival and winner of Best Short Film at Hamptons Int'l Film Festival.

11:15am: Life in a Fishbowl ★★★
(Vonarstræti), Iceland, 2014, 130 minutes, Baldwin Zophoniasson (Oscar Submission)

Three tales of three people who have a lasting effect on one another.  A young writer whose career is skyrocketing finds himself in a stormy marriage.  He divorces his wife after the death of their daughter, shuts himself off from the outside world and drinks himself to death over a twenty-year period.

2:00pm: Speed Walking ★★★
(Kapgang), Denmark, 2014, 109 minutes, Niels Arden Oplev

In a quirky, small town, situated on the outskirts of everything, 14 year old Martin is getting ready for on of the most formal transitions from boy to man, the communion. It’s 1976, music is in the air and hormones are blossoming. But in the midst of it all Martin’s mother suddenly passes away and her tragic death triggers a series of events that not only change Martin’s life forever, but also affect everyone else in the local community. An intense, humorous and evocative story about how life and death demand a transition in us all.


5:00pm: Heart of a Lion ★★★★
(Leijonasydän), Finland, 2013, 104 minutes, Dome Karukoski



The film tells the story about a Neo-Nazi named Teppo, who falls in love with a woman named Sari. He later finds out that Sari's son from the previous marriage is black. This leads Teppo to trouble with his fellow Neo-Nazis, especially his half-brother Harri.

 

7:30pm: 1001 Grams ★★★★
(1001 Gram), Norway, 2014, 93 minutes, Bent Hamer (Oscar Submission)





The Bent Hamer (Kitchen Stories) film revolves around Anna, a scientist who specializes in weights and measures, lives a life of precision, rigidity and solitude. But when her father, a fellow scientist, suffers a heart attack, Anna’s world falls out of perfect alignment. Wry and winsome, this beautifully told and thoughtful human story—and Norway’s official submission for the Academy Awards—follows Anna on a journey from Norway to France and back, as she attempts to find the right balance in her life.

Saturday, January 24

 

10:30am: Ivan's Day (short) ★★★
(Ivanipäev), Estonia, 2014, 30 minutes, Ivan Pavljutskov



Story of a perfect summer day, love and being a stranger in one’s own homeland.







11:30am: In the Crosswind ★★★
(Risttuules), Estonia, 2014, 87 minutes, Martti Helde



In 1941, an Estonian woman and her young daughter struggle to find their way home after being deported to Siberia by the Soviet occupiers, in this dreamlike saga of survival inspired by a true story. Alissa Simon of Variety wrote: In the Crosswind” offers a unique take on the moving picture, a black and white slice of history that mixes live- action with living tableaux to provide a requiem for the inhabitants of the Baltic countries who, in the summer of 1941, were deported to Siberia or killed on Stalin’s orders..... An art film in every sense... the extraordinary visual techniques offer those open to a different sort of cinema...a very poignant experience.”

RERUN

1:30pm: The Optimists ★★★

(Optimistene), Norway, 2013, 90 minutes, Brunhild Westhagen



A moving, humorous, and absorbing documentary about an extraordinary volleyball team in the town of Hamar; consisting of ladies between 66 and 98. Many of us fear age, but these ladies will change our ideas.

3:30pm: Concrete Night ★★★★★
(Betoniyö), Finland, 2013, 96 minutes, Pirjo Honkasalo (Oscar submission)



A dream-like odyssey through beautiful Helsinki over the course of one night for two brothers whose chaotic home is in the heart of a concrete jungle in Helsinki. The protagonist of the film is a 14 year-old boy on a journey of self-discovery. His unpredictable mother wants him to spend the evening with his older brother who has one last day of freedom before starting a prison sentence.

5:00pm: Force Majeure ★★★
(Turist), Sweden, 2014, 118 minutes, Ruben Östlund (Oscar submission)


A family on a ski vacation in the French alps find themselves staring down an avalanche while they’re having lunch one day. In the aftermath, the family dynamic is shaken to the core after the father “runs for his life” to save himself.











7:30pm: SWEA Grant Presentation, The Dogwalker (short) ★★★
(Hundvakten), Sweden, 2014, 14 minutes, Caroline Ingvarsson

8:00pm: Miss Julie ★★
(Fröken Julie), Sweden, 2013, 85 minutes, Mikael Berg





A beautiful and bold new adaptation of Strindberg's classic battle of the sexes play set on a Midsummer's night in a rustic mansion in 1920s Europe.

Sunday, January 25

11:00am: Pioneer ★★★★
(Pionér), Norway, 2013, 111 minutes, Erik Skjoldbjaerg




 

A thriller set at the beginning of the 1980's Norwegian Oil Boom and centered on a diver whose obsession with reaching the bottom of the North Sea leads to tragedy.











1:15pm: The Gambler ★★★★
(Losejas), Lithuania, 2013, 109 minutes, Ignas Jonynas


 

Paramedic Vincentas is a passionate gambler, who is forced to make radical decisions to return the debts. An idea strikes Vincentas to create an illegal game related to his profession. Love, life and death will be at stake.





3:30pm: Raspberry Boat Refugee ★★★
(Vadelmavenepakolainen), Finland, 2014, 87 minutes, Leif Lindblom

The film is a comedy about a Swedish man trapped in the body of a Finn. Mikko Virtanen has hated everything Finnish since childhood and has always thought he was actually Swedish. While traveling he meets a Swedish psychologist who is thoroughly fed up with the Swedish culture of rational moderation. The two come up with a plot switch identities— but Mikko has to get his new Swedish family.


5:30pm: In Order of Disappearance (Canceled)
(Kraftidioten), Norway, 2014, 115 minutes, Hans Petter Moland

Premiered at the 64th Berlin Film Festival. With a pitch-black sense of humor and a snowballing body count, upstanding community leader Nils(Stellan Skarsgård) who has just won an award for “Citizen of the Year” when he learns the news that his son has died of a heroin overdose. Suspecting foul play, Nils begins to investigate, which leads to a quest for vengeance which lands him in the crossfire between two rival gangs: one local, one "imported" from Serbia.

7:30pm: Itsi Bitsi ★★★
(Itsi Bitsi), Denmark, 2014, 107 minutes, Ole Christian Madsen

Based on actual events, Madsen (SuperClásico, Kira’s Reason) takes us to to the Danish rock scene in 1962 with a young generation rebelling against the Establishment. Peace activist Eik Skaløe meets Iben and falls head over heels in love, but Iben refuses to commit herself to one man only. Desperate, Eik tries to win her over by transforming from poet to writer, nomad, junkie and eventually lead singer in the destined-to-become- legendary band STEPPEULVENE.



For tickets and more information please visit: http://www.sffla.net/

BAFTA AWARDS 2015

BAFTA NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

The BAFTA Awards will take place on February 8, 2015 at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London.



Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel is leading with 11 nominations.

Here is the full list of the 2015 BAFTA awards nominees:

BEST FILM
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
’71
The Imitation Game
Paddington
Pride
The Theory of Everything
Under the Skin

ANIMATED FILM
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
The Lego Movie

DIRECTOR
Birdman - Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Boyhood - Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson
The Theory of Everything - James Marsh
Whiplash - Damien Chazelle

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Birdman - Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo
Boyhood - Richard Linklater
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wes Anderson
Nightcrawler - Dan Gilroy
Whiplash - Damien Chazelle

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Sniper - Jason Hall
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn
The Imitation Game - Graham Moore
Paddington - Paul King
The Theory of Everything - Anthony McCarten

LEADING ACTOR
Benedict Cumberbatch The Imitation Game
Eddie Redmayne The Theory of Everything
Jake Gyllenhaal Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton Birdman
Ralph Fiennes The Grand Budapest Hotel

LEADING ACTRESS
Amy Adams Big Eyes
Felicity Jones The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore Still Alice
Reese Witherspoon Wild
Rosamund Pike Gone Girl

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Edward Norton Birdman
Ethan Hawke Boyhood
J.K. Simmons Whiplash
Mark Ruffalo Foxcatcher
Steve Carell Foxcatcher

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emma Stone Birdman
Imelda Staunton Pride
Keira Knightley The Imitation Game
Patricia Arquette Boyhood
Rene Russo Nightcrawler

ORIGINAL MUSIC
Birdman - Antonio Sanchez
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Alexandre Desplat
Interstellar   Hans Zimmer
The Theory of Everything - Johann Johannsson
Under the Skin - Mica Levi

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Birdman - Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Robert Yeoman
Ida - Lukasz Zal, Ryzsard Lenczewski
Interstellar - Hoyte van Hoytema
Mr. Turner - Dick Pope

EDITING
Birdman - Douglas Crise, Stephen Mirrione
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Barney Pilling
The Imitation Game - William Goldenberg
Nightcrawler - John Gilroy
The Theory Of Everything - Jinx Godfrey
Whiplash - Tom Cross

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH ACTOR, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Elaine Constantine (Writer/Director) Northern Soul
Gregory Burke (Writer), Yann Demange (Director) ’71
Hong Khaou (Writer/Director) Lilting
Paul Katis (Director/Producer), Andrew de Lotbiniere (Producer) Kajaki: The True Story
Stephen Beresford (Writer), David Livingstone (Producer) Pride

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Ida - Pawel Pawlikowski POLAND
Leviathan - Andrey Zvyagintsev RUSSIA
The Lunchbox - Ritesh Batra INDIA
Trash - Stephen Daldry BRAZIL-UK
Two Days, One Night - Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne BELGIUM

DOCUMENTARY
20 Feet From Stardom - Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Gil Friesen
20,000 Days on Earth - Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard
Citizenfour - Laura Poitras
Finding Vivian Maier - John Maloof, Charlie Siskel
Virunga - Orlando von Einsiedel, Joanna Natasegara

BEST PROCUCTION DESIGN 
Big Eyes - Rick Heinrichs, Shane Vieau
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
The Imitation Game - Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
Interstellar - Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
Mr. Turner - Suzie Davies, Charlotte Watts

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Milena Canonero
The Imitation Game - Sammy Sheldon Differ
Into The Woods - Colleen Atwood
Mr. Turner - Jacqueline Durran
The Theory Of Everything - Steven Noble

BEST MAKE-UP & HAIR
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Frances Hannon
Guardians Of The Galaxy - Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou, David White
Into The Woods - Peter Swords King, J. Roy Helland
Mr. Turner - Christine Blundell, Lesa Warrener
The Theory Of Everything -  Jan Sewell

BEST SOUND
American Sniper - Walt Martin, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
Birdman - Thomas Varga, Martin Hernández, Aaron Glascock, Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño
The Grand Budapest Hotel - Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak
The Imitation Game - John Midgley, Lee Walpole, Stuart Hilliker, Martin Jensen
Whiplash - Thomas Curley, Ben Wilkins, Craig Mann

BEST SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Erik Winquist, Daniel Barrett
Guardians Of The Galaxy - Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi
The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Interstellar - Paul Franklin, Scott Fisher, Andrew Lockley
X-Men: Days Of Future Past - Richard Stammers, Anders Langlands, Tim Crosbie, Cameron Waldbauer

BEST BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
The Bigger Picture - Chris Hees, Daisy Jacobs, Jennifer Majka
Monkey Love Experiments - Ainslie Henderson, Cam Fraser, Will Anderson
My Dad - Marcus Armitage

BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM
Boogaloo And Graham - Brian J. Falconer, Michael Lennox, Ronan Blaney
Emotional Fusebox - Michael Berliner, Rachel Tunnard
The Karman Line - Campbell Beaton, Dawn King, Tiernan Hanby, Oscar Sharp
Slap - Islay Bell-Webb, Michelangelo Fano, Nick Rowland
Three Brothers - Aleem Khan, Matthieu de Braconier, Stephanie Paeplow

EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Jack O’Connell
Margot Robbie
Miles Teller
Shailene Woodley

Ghadi DVD Release

GHADI - DVD signing at Virgin Megastore in Downtown Beirut

 Come and join the talented cast and crew of the sensational Lebanese film Ghadi on Tuesday January the 20th, 2015 for the DVD signing at Virgin Megastore Lebanon - Downtown Beirut.

GHADI (غدي) is Lebanon's submission to the Academy Awards in 2014 as Best Foreign Language Film. It's one of the very best submissions I've seen this year if not the finest. The fanciful comedic style, distinguished cinematography by Karim Ghorayeb, and first person narration remind us of fine Italian filmmaking in the style of Giuseppe Tornatore.

Audience Award winner at Busan 2014. An absolute must-see!

 

Lebanon 2013 - 100 min

Director: Amin Dora

Producer: Gabriel Chamoun
Editor: Rana Sabbagha
Screenwriter: Georges Khabbaz
Cinematographer: Karim Ghorayeb
Music: Nadim Mishlawi
Cast: Georges Khabbaz, Lara Rain, Emmanuel Khairallah, Camille Salameh, Rodrigue Sleiman, Samir Youssef, Caroline Labaki, Giselle Boueiz, Sirvart Fazlian

 

Golden Globe® Foreign Language Film Series 2015

GOLDEN GLOBE FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM SERIES 2015

January 5 - 10, 2015 at the Aero and Egyptian Theatres

Presented by the American Cinematheque and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Discover the best of 2014's foreign-language cinema with screenings of the five films nominated for Best Foreign-Language Film Golden Globe at the Aero Theatre. Then meet the filmmakers at a free panel discussion at the Egyptian Theatre! The nominees are: FORCE MAJEURE, Sweden; GETT: THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM, Israel; IDA, Poland/Denmark; LEVIATHAN, Russia; TANGERINES, Estonia. Please join us for a FREE panel discussion with directors of the Golden Globe Best Foreign-Language Film Nominees, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. This seminar will also stream online. Click here to watch. All films in original language with English subtitles.

AERO THEATRE 1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90403

Monday, January 5 - 7:30 PM - Aero Theatre

"Huge monsters of the deep move under the surface of this powerful, craftily allusive and elusive film, the director's best and most courageous so far." Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter.

LEVIATHAN 2014. Sony Classics, Russia, 140 min. Dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev. Crafted with novelistic detail and rich with allegory, this dark and ambitious film explores big ideas through intimate drama like the best work of Tarkovsky (though at a more accessible pace and leavened with humor). In a small coastal town in northern Russia, a corrupt mayor (Roman Madyanov) tries to confiscate the home of a man (Alexey Serebryakov) who suffers the trials of Job when he resists. In Russian with English subtitles. more info >>

Tuesday, January 6 - 7:30 PM - Aero Theatre

"A film of exceptional artistry whose emotions are as potent and persuasive as its images are indelibly beautiful." Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

IDA 2014, Poland/Denmark, Music Box Films, 82 min. Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski. Set in 1962 and shot in B&W, this haunting drama is carried by two exceptional performances in very different roles. While visiting family before taking the vows to become a nun, shy Anna (newcomer Agata Trzebuchowska) is shocked to learn that her birth name is Ida Lebenstein, and that her parents were killed during WWII. With her hard-nosed aunt (Agata Kulesza), she sets out to find their graves – a journey that takes them through Poland's painful past to the doorsteps of their futures. In Polish with English subtitles. Discussion following with director Pawel Pawlikowski. more info >>

Wednesday, January 7 - 7:30 PM - Aero Theatre

"With nearly five-decade screen veteran Ulfsak setting the wry, soulful tenor, TANGERINES balances humor and seriousness in deft fashion." Dennis Harvey, Variety

TANGERINES (MANDARIINID) 2013, Estonia, 89 min. Dir. Zaza Urushadze. This poignant drama about shared humanity challenging artificial borders is set in Abkhazia during the 1990s, when the region was fighting to separate from Georgia. Old Ivo (Lembit Ulfsak) and his neighbor Markus (Elmo Nüganen), who is determined to harvest his tangerine orchard, are about the only ones left in their village until two wounded soldiers - from opposite sides of the bloody conflict - wind up under Ivo's roof. In Russian and Estonian with English subtitles. Discussion following with director Zaza Urushadze. more info >>

Thursday, January 8 - 7:30 PM - Aero Theatre

GETT: THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM 2014, Music Box Films, 115 min, Israel, Dir. Ronit Elkabetz, Shlomi Elkabetz. "Gett" is Hebrew for a divorce decree - something that's very tough to get in Israel, where rabbinical courts hold jurisdiction and mutual consent is required. This riveting drama follows the five-year struggle of Viviane Amsalem (Ronit Elkabetz) to break from her loveless marriage to husband Elisha (Simon Abkarian); its powerful examination of the roles of men and women in a religious society where they are not always equal recalls Asghar Farhadi's A SEPARATION. In Hebrew, French and Arabic with English subtitles. Discussion following with co-director-actress Ronit Elkabetz and co-director Shlomi Elkabetz. more info >>

Friday, January 9 - 7:30 PM - Aero Theatre

FORCE MAJEURE (TURIST) 2014, Sweden, Magnolia Pictures, 118 min. Dir. Ruben Ostlund. If you're vacationing with your wife and kids in the Alps when disaster suddenly threatens, what do you do? If you're Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke), you panic – a reaction that produces an avalanche of consequences in this perceptive, funny and ultimately moving look at family dynamics in a crisis. Gorgeously shot by Fredrik Wenzel, this highly original film picked up the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival. In Swedish, English and French with English subtitles. Introduction by director Ruben Ostlund. more info >>

EGYPTIAN THEATRE 6712 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, CA 90028

Saturday, January 10 - 1:00 PM - Egyptian Theatre

This event will be broadcast LIVE on the web. Click here.	Free Event! Live Web Stream! GOLDEN GLOBE FOREIGN-LANGUAGE NOMINEES SEMINAR Please join us for a FREE panel discussion with the filmmakers of the Golden Globe nominees for Best Foreign-Language Film in person! The following directors are confirmed to appear: Andrey Zvyagintsev, Ronit Elkabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz, Zaza Urushadze, Pawel Pawlikowski, and Ruben Ostlund. Moderated by Mike Goodridge (writer on film with 20 years in print, recently edited the Filmcraft series of books and wrote the Filmcraft Directing book).* A reception for the entire audience will follow the symposium. This is a free event, but we encourage you to RSVP to secure your seat. Doors will open at 11am. Click here to RSVP for the symposium.

Golden Globe Foreign-Language Nominees Series Click here for detailed listings, guest updates and more information.

Visit the Golden Globes page on

PSIFF 2015

26th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival 2015

During the last 5 years, PSIFF has been a regular winter stop for me to catch up with World Cinéma and expand my viewings of the Academy submissions from around the world. This year I attended PSIFF for three days and watched 9 films as follows:

DAY 1:

White God  ★★★★
Hungary, 2014, 119 min.
A new city law taxing mixed breed mutts leads many owners to dump their dogs on the streets – including 13-year-old Lili’s beloved pet Hagen. While she tries to find him, Hagen fights for survival. But every dog has his day.

Today  ★★★★
Iran, 2014, 87 min.
A Tehran taxi driver becomes the impromptu protector of a desperate young pregnant woman after he rushes her to hospital, in this delicate, deceptively small-scale drama from award-winning Iranian director Reza Mirkarimi (A Cube of Sugar).

Dancing Arabs  ★★★★★
Israel, 2014, 105 min.
Eran Riklis’ best film since The Syrian Bride looks at the difficult road taken by Arab Israeli student Eyad (Tawfeek Barhum), who wins a scholarship to a posh Israeli high school—where he’s the only Arab in attendance.

DAY 2:

Excuse My French  ★★★
Egypt, 2014, 99 min.
A smash box office success in Egypt, this comic coming-of-age story from the director of Asma’a spotlights social discrimination. Twelve-year-old Hany, a smart boy from a privileged Coptic Christian family, is mistaken for a Muslim when he attends a government-run public school.

A Few Cubic Meters Of Love  ★★★
Afghanistan, 2014, 90 min.
Set in a shantytown on the outskirts of Tehran where a factory owner employs a horde of illegal Afghan workers, this affecting social issue drama centers on a forbidden relationship. 

Nabat    ★★★
Azerbaijan, 2014, 105 min.
“A rare art film from Azerbaijan, Nabat tells the simple but affecting story of an elderly peasant woman who selflessly cares for her dying husband in wartime while grieving for her lost son. What makes it extraordinary is the presence of major Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya.

DAY 3:

Mr. Kaplan  ★★★
Uruguay, 2014, 98 min.
A cantankerous 76-year-old Jewish retiree in Montevideo attempts to leave a legacy by unmasking an elderly German beach bar owner as a Nazi war criminal. 

Walter   ★★
USA, 2014, 94 min.
Since making his childhood deal with God to decide the eternal fate of everyone he encounters in return for God sending his dad to heaven, theatre ticket-taker Walter has kept his part of the bargain. But once the mysterious Greg appears on the scene, Walter finds his side of the bargain increasingly. 

Charlie’s Country   ★★★★
Australia, 2014, 108 min.
A hypnotically beautiful film that parallels star David Gulpilil’s own troubled life and epitomizes the cultural dislocation that aboriginal people face in contemporary Australia. 

With Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer - Bad Boy Bubby, The Tracker, Ten Canoes, Charlie's Country (Australia's official entry to the Academy Awards)

This year, PSIFF had a wide selection of around 190 films in total from which I have already seen 56 in various film festivals during 2014. Here they are with their corresponding ratings:


1001 Grams  ★★★★    
Norway, 2014, 90 min.
Scientist Marie travels to Paris with the Norwegian national kilo prototype where it can be weighed against international standards in this deadpan, Tati-esque comedy. 

Accused (Lucia de B.)  ★★★
Netherlands, 2014, 97 min.
This tense thriller is based on the true story of one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Dutch history, the case of intensive care nurse Lucia de Berk, aka “The Angel of Death.” 

Alleluia  ★★
Belgium, 2014, 93 min.
Amour fou is particularly deranged in this maniacal tale of two lovers who conflate raging passion and rampant bloodletting. The story of the “honeymoon killers” remains just as shocking in this contemporary retelling as when it was ripped from the headlines for the 1969 cult classic. 

August Winds   ★★★
Brazil, 2014, 77 min.
A gorgeously shot, sensual tone poem, centering on the romance between handsome deep-sea diver Jeison and beautiful coconut plantation worker Shirley. 

Back on Board: Greg Louganis  ★★★★
USA, 2014, 88 min.
Incorporating vintage footage of diving champion Greg Louganis’ rise to greatness and intimate views of the turmoil in his personal life along with candid interviews with Louganis and those who know him best, this an engrossing portrait of the four-time Olympian.

Beloved Sisters  ★★★
Germany, 2014, 170 min.
German director Dominik Graf lets his Romantic imagination run wild in this tasteful but erotically charged melodrama about the love life of German sturm-und-drang philosopher and writer Friedrich Schiller, the object of a pact between two sisters who decide to love him equally. 

Clouds of Sils Maria  ★★
France, 2014, 124 min.
Set high in the Swiss Alps, Olivier Assayas’ beautifully directed backstage drama hinges on a bravura turn from Juliette Binoche as a star wrestling with questions of aging, identity and the meanings of art and life. 

Concrete Night   ★★★★★
Finland, 2013, 96 min.
Shot in stunning black-and-white, Concrete Night is a dream-like odyssey through Helsinki over the course of one night. A 14-year-old boy from the slums roams the streets with his older brother, on his last day before incarceration. 

Corn Island  ★★★
Georgia, 2014, 100 min.
A fable-like drama capturing the cycle of life along the border between Georgia and Abkhazia. An old farmer sows corn on one of the tiny islands that form in the Inguri River each spring, but cultivating no-man’s land is dangerous business. 

Cowboys   ★
Croatia, 2013, 107 min.
A nifty blend of social drama and absurdist comedy, about a bunch of small town no-hopers who stage an American Western as a musical. 

The Dark Valley   ★★★★
Austria, 2014, 115 min.
In this moody, almost Gothic feature, the Western genre’s mainstays are all in place – a brooding hero, an isolated town full of secrets; a revenge motif; an evil villain – but the majestic Alpine backdrop against which the archetypical tale plays out is something quite different. 

Eyes of a Thief   ★★★★
Palestinian Territories, 2014, 98 min.
Palestine’s Academy Award® submission is simultaneously a thriller and a relationships drama about an ex-prisoner with a dark past, and a nuanced portrait of life under occupation. 

Fair Play  ★★★
Czech Republic, 2014, 100 min.
In Czechoslovakia circa 1983, a talented young sprinter risks her career by resisting the “special care” program designed to boost her competition times in this involving drama. 

Force Majeure  ★★★
Sweden, 2014, 118 min.
Set in a European ski resort, this is a bitingly funny dissection of masculinity found wanting from rising Swedish star Ruben Ostlund. 

Futuro Beach   ★★★★★
Brazil, 2014, 106 min.
Two breakneck motorcycle rides bookend a tactile gay romance, told over three chapters and in the contrasting locations of sexy Brazil and frigid Berlin. Karim Ainouz’s latest feature is an astonishingly colorful and intimate look into the complexities of human relationships.

Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem  ★★★★
Israel, 2014, 115 min.
Israel’s answer to Iran’s A Separation, this powerhouse courtroom drama is stirring winds of change in Israeli society. 

Ghadi   ★★★★★
Lebanon, 2013, 100 min.
A gently barbed social satire about bigotry and redemption in a traditional Lebanese coastal town. 

The Golden Era  ★★★  
China, 2014, 178 min.
A free spirit, Xio Hang became one of the most influential political essayists and a major influence in Chinese literature, reflecting progressive thinking not often seen in 1930s China. A bold, beautiful biopic from the director of A Simple Life and the star of Lust, Caution. 

Goodnight Mommy  ★★★★
Austria, 2014, 99 min.
A mother and her alienated twins get caught up in an increasingly disturbing battle of wills in this elegantly warped chiller from producer Ulrich Seidl. 

Güeros  ★★★
Mexico, 2014, 106 min.
A teenage boy goes to live with his slacker brother in Mexico City in the midst of the massive student protests of 1999. They go searching for a legendary folk singer in this witty and stylish nod to the French New Wave.

The Guide   ★★★
Ukraine, 2013, 120 min.
A boy on the run is rescued by a blind folk minstrel in this tale of love, loyalty, betrayal and infamy, set during the suppression of rural kulaks — wealthy farmers — and the Soviet-engineered Ukraine famine that left as many as 10 million peasants dead from starvation. 

Haemoo  ★★★
South Korea, 2014, 111 min.
Snowpiercer director Bong Joon-ho oversaw this extremely tense, ethically-probing dramatic thriller set onboard a rundown fishing trawler. To stave off bankruptcy the captain has agreed to smuggle migrants, but his human cargo proves less pliable than expected.

Human Capital  ★★★  
Italy, 2013, 111 min.
The destinies of two families are irrevocably tied together after a cyclist is killed in a hit and run incident in this engrossing transposition of a Stephen Amidon novel to northern Italy. 

The Humbling  ★★★
USA, 2014, 112 min.
Barry Levinson’s alternately loony and lacerating new comedy, adapted from Philip Roth’s eponymous final novel by award-winning screenwriter Buck Henry, boasts a dream cast in a twisted tale about an ageing actor (Al Pacino) who literally takes a nose dive into the dark recesses of his craft.

Ida  ★★★★
Poland, 2013, 80 min.
A moving and intimate drama set in 1960s Poland, about a young novitiate on the verge of taking her vows who discovers a dark family secret dating from the Nazi occupation. 

The Japanese Dog  ★★★  
Romania, 2013, 85 min.
This moving tale centers on bereaved 80-year-old reconnecting with his estranged son, who returns to Romania with a Japanese wife and child. 

Kurmanjan Datka: Queen of the Mountains  ★★★
Kyrgyzstan, 2014, 131 min.
A sumptuous and exotic historical epic tracing the true story of a young woman who rises to become the savior of her people, this is the engrossing tale of Kurmanjan Datka, who united the warring tribes of her Central Asian nation and led them against the Russian Empire’s invading forces. 

Leviathan  ★★★★
Russia, 2014, 140 min.
A hard-hitting parable of the Putin era, this modern take on the Biblical story of Job is a devastating tragedy set in contemporary Russia. 

Liar’s Dice  ★★★
India, 2013, 104 min.
Leaving her mountain village behind with her little girl, a pet goat and a cell phone, Kamala goes searching for her missing husband and encounters an enigmatic stranger who offers to help. 

Life in a Fishbowl  ★★★    
Iceland, 2014, 129 min.
In one of Iceland’s biggest-ever domestic hits, the lives of three characters intertwine. This strongly acted, sensitively directed drama offers a naturalistic portrait of fraught lifestyles in Reykjavik on the eve of the country’s 2008 economic meltdown. 

The Light Shines Only There  ★★★★
Japan, 2014, 120 min.
Portraying love and friendship among people on the margins of society, Mipo Oh solidifies her reputation as one of Japan’s most promising directors. 

Little England   ★★★★
Greece, 2013, 132 min.
Two sisters, both in love with the same man... This gripping family saga set on the Greek island of Andros during the 1930s and 40s is a story of passion, family and loss. 

Living is Easy with Eyes Closed  ★★★★
Spain, 2013, 108 min.
This charming, nostalgic road movie is inspired by a true story of a high school English teacher – a devoted Beatles fan – who drove across Spain to meet his idol John Lennon in 1966 to clarify some lyrics he couldn’t understand. 

Mateo  ★★★
Colombia, 2014, 86 min.
A Colombian teenager who works for his criminal uncle extorting money is forced to join a theater group. He starts to make friends there and falls for a pretty girl, but his uncle pressures him to spy on them. 

Mommy   ★★★
Canada, 2014, 134 min.
Dolan’s fifth feature (at just 25!) is a bold, innovative, nakedly emotional return to the mother-troubled teen dynamics of I Killed My Mother. Dolan shared a Jury Prize with Godard at Cannes, and the heartfelt Mommy smacks with a wallop. 

Natural Sciences  ★★★★
Argentina, 2014, 71 min.
With an inspiring force of will, 12-year-old Lila convinces a teacher at her boarding school to defy the principal and take her on a journey to find the father she has never known - with a rusty plaque as their only clue. 

Never Die Young  ★★★★
Luxembourg, 2014, 70 min.
A singular and unforgettable work, Pol Cruchten’s quasi-experimental documentary mixes harsh realities and daring visuals while looking at the hard, sad life of a heroin addict, paralyzed from the waist down at age 20. 

The Nightingale   ★★★★
China, 2013, 108 min.
In this ravishingly beautiful movie, an elderly farmer decides it is time to keep his promise and return to the village he left 20 years before for Beijing – bringing with him his beloved bird, and, unexpectedly, his spoiled, cosmopolitan granddaughter. 

One for the Road  ★★★
Mexico, 2014, 93 min.
Three octogenarians band together for a road trip to honor the dying wish of their friend: to deliver the draft of a Ranchera song to a museum. A series of poignant and comical adventures bring them a renewed sense of purpose and possibility in their golden years. 

Red Amnesia  ★★★
China, 2014, 115 min.
When an elderly widow starts receiving anonymous phone calls her sons shrug it off as the imaginings of a lonely and disoriented old woman. But the harassment continues, a painful reminder of a long-forgotten past. 

Saint Laurent  ★★★★
France, 2013, 150 min.
The life of iconic fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (an uncanny Gaspard Ulliel) and the visual style of director Betrand Bonello make for a perfect match in this mesmerizing investigation of a life fuelled by excess, triumph, love and loss. 

The Salt of the Earth  ★★★★
France, 2014, 100 min.
Peripatetic Brazilian photojournalist Sebastião Salgado’s extraordinary life and work are the focus of this inspiring, visually mesmeric documentary, a collaboration between the photographer’s son and veteran German filmmaker Wim Wenders (The Buena Vista Social Club; Pina).

See You in Montevideo  ★★★
Serbia, 2014, 146 min.
This exciting sequel to Montevideo, Taste of a Dream (PSIFF, 2013) continues the tale of how the Yugoslav football team took part in the first official World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1930 and made sports history. 

Song of the Sea  ★★★
Ireland, 94 min.
The magical tale of a boy and his mute sister, running away from their grandmother in Dublin to get back to their lighthouse keeper father. A dazzling animated film from the director of the Oscar®-nominated Secret of Kells. 

Sorrow and Joy  ★★★
Denmark, 2013, 107 min.
Filmmaker Johannes and his wife, schoolteacher Signe, experience the biggest sorrow and misfortune one can ever imagine – and try to move forward together despite everything. A profound, deeply personal film from Nils Malmros. 

Tangerines   ★★★★
Estonia, 2013, 87 min.
1992. An Estonian village in Abkhazia. The approaching war scares off all but two villagers who remain to harvest the tangerines. This deeply pacifist chamber drama is as tense as a thriller. 

Three Windows and a Hanging  ★★★★
Greenland, 2014, 93 min.
When a woman from a traditional Kosovar village anonymously reveals to an international journalist that she and others were raped during the war with Serbia, the fallout from this once-repressed secret threatens to tear apart the fabric of village life. 

Timbuktu  ★★★★
Mauritania, 2013, 97 min.
Sissako’s account of the occupation of the Malian city by militant Islamic rebels is a direct aesthetic riposte to their zealotry, characterized by its warmth, color, texture and compassion, its sense of beauty and justice. 

To Kill a Man  ★★★ 
Chile, 2014, 82 min.
A thoughtful and restrained portrait of an unassuming family man driven extreme action. Let down by an ineffective legal system, he plots the murder of a street thug who has terrorized his family and cost him his marriage. 

The Tribe  ★★★★
Ukraine, 2014, 132 min.
One of the most original, audacious and talked about films of 2014, The Tribe takes place in a boarding school for the deaf where the students participate in an underground criminal network. Performed entirely in sign language without subtitles. Contains frank and disturbing scenes of sex and violence. 

Two Days, One Night  ★★★    
Belgium, 2014, 95 min.
Marion Cotillard is outstanding as a desperate working-class mother who has one weekend to save her job by confronting her coworkers and her own insecurities in this latest naturalistic, thought-provoking film from Belgian masters Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (The Son; The Kid with a Bike). 

Villa Touma  ★★★
2014, 88 min.
An 18-year-old Palestinian orphan arrives at the home of her three estranged aunts only to discover that they’re practically living in suspended animation, pretending that the epochal Six-Day War never happened. The directing debut of award-winning screenwriter Suha Arraf (The Syrian Bride).

Walking Under Water  ★★★★    
Poland, 2014, 77 min.
Eliza Kubarska’s magical, dreamlike documentary is a modern fairytale: Alexan, the last Badjao diver on his island in the Borneo Sea, takes 10-year-old Sari under his wing. But will Sari carry on this disappearing way of life or instead join the increasingly dominant tourist trade? 

The Way He Looks  ★★★★
Brazil, 2014, 95 min.
Leonardo is a blind, gay teenager; his best friend Giovana stands up for him against the school bullies. But then Gabriel, a new student, takes an interest in him. Giovana must try to adjust her expectations as tender feelings develop between the two boys. 

Wild Tales  ★★★★★
Argentina, 2013, 122 min.
Produced by Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar – a compendium of six absurdly taut, funny and emotionally-charged short films that share the common theme of revenge, delivered with a wicked sense of humor and a fresh and inventive visual style. One film you cannot afford to miss.

Kenji Mizoguchi Retrospective

Kenji Mizoguchi (溝口 健二) Retrospective
Billy Wilder Theatre in Westwood

January 16, 2015 -  February 15, 2015 

Organized by the UCLA Film & Television Archive                        

 

Although Kenji Mizoguchi is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, screenings of his movies are rare.  The core of Mizoguchi’s greatness is his use of the medium to convey a profound worldview, one that moves between social commentary, a deep feeling for tragedy and romance, and a transcendent sense of man’s—and woman’s—place in the cosmos.  The plight of women in a restrictive society is a recurring theme in his films, and many of his films are melodramas about the clash between women’s desires and the restrictions of social tradition.  Mizoguchi, whose masterful use of tracking shots and compositions that move between close-ups and tableaus, always viewed his deeply human dramas with a cosmic perspective.  No director made movies that were so intensely emotional without being overly sentimental, and movies that were so rigorous in their portrayal of the social order, yet so profoundly in touch with the human experience.  This series, drawn from a major retrospective presented at Museum of the Moving Image this summer, showcases a selection of Mizoguchi’s acknowledged masterpieces.

 

The Mizoguchi retrospective at Museum of the Moving Image was organized by Chief Curator David Schwartz and Assistant Film Curator Aliza Ma.  Program notes adapted from the Museum of the Moving Image program.

 

Program Schedule:

January 16, 2015 - 7:30 pm (Double feature)

Street of Shame  ★★★★

(赤線地帯,, 1956) Akasen Chitai

35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 87 min.

Director Kenji Mizoguchi’s final film is nothing less than a summation of his art.  The Japanese National Diet’s debate over illegalizing prostitution is in the air, but it’s business as usual in Tokyo’s red-light district at the Dreamland salon (Hiroshi Miutani’s fantastic closed-world set).  Street concerns five working girls living double-lives as daughters, mothers, wives, loan sharks and dreamers when they are not waylaying potential clients in a terrifying pull-and-tug clamor.  Machiko Kyo is a standout as Hollywood-brainwashed “Mickey” in this unusual late-period contemporary drama. Shortly after it premiered, Mizoguchi was dead of leukemia at 58, and prostitution was outlawed in Japan.

 

Ugetsu ★★★★★

(雨月物語, 1953) Ugetsu Monogotari
35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 96 min.

In war-torn 16th-century Japan, two brothers, Genjuro and Tobei, prodded by their ambition, leave their wives and their village behind to pursue respective dreams of wealth and martial glory.  Initial good fortune only increases their yen for adventure, and on their next venture out, they encounter a beguiling noblewoman, Lady Wakasa, who puts further temptations before them—though she may not be of this earth.  Justly celebrated as containing some of director Kenji Mizoguchi’s most otherworldly and unforgettable imagery, Ugetsu is considered by many critics as one of the greatest of all films.

 

 

January 17, 2015 - 7:30 pm (Double feature)

 

Osaka Elegy  ★★★

(浪華悲歌, 1936) Naniwa Ereji
35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 71 min.

“In this film the mature Mizoguchi style emerges for the first time,” wrote film scholar Joan Mellen.  Ayako is barely making ends meet by working as a switchboard operator to support her family, so she becomes her boss’s mistress, and hardens herself into the role of a moga (“modern woman”).  Kenji Mizoguchi said that Osaka Elegy was the film with which he found his true direction, and it is evidently among his most personal—Ayako’s feckless father is rumored to be based on the director’s own.  Capped by a devastating final shot, it is also a trenchant social criticism, and after 1940 was banned by the military government.

 

Sisters of Gion  ★★★

(祇園の姉妹, 1936) Gion no Shimai
35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 96 min.

Along with Osaka Elegy (released the same year), this devastating portrait of courtesans scraping by in Kyoto’s “pleasure district” marked a turning point in Kenji Mizoguchi’s career.  Its story of two geisha sisters—one deferential and loyal, the other defiant and mercenary—lays forth one of the earliest and most forceful expressions of the director’s central thematic concern: the subjugation of women in a callously patriarchal society.

 

 

January 23, 2015 - 7:30 pm

 

Sansho the Bailiff  ★★★★★

(山椒大夫 , 1954) Sansho Dayu

35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 124 min. 

 

 

One of director Kenji Mizoguchi’s crowning achievements, this deeply affecting fable is a harrowing, heartrending story of human suffering and resilience.  In feudal Japan, the children of a nobleman are kidnapped and sold into slavery to the merciless Sansho the Bailiff, while their mother yearns desperately to see them again.  Exquisitely crafted and rapturously photographed (witness the knockout shot of the family making their way through a field of gently swaying tall grass), the film is a hugely compassionate, overwhelmingly emotional experience.

 

 

January 26, 2015 - 7:30 pm
 

Utamaro and His Five Women  ★★★★

(歌麿をめぐる五人の女, 1946) Utamaro o Meguru Gonin no Onna
35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 95 min.

 

Woodblock print-master Utamaro shuts out the turbulence of the rambunctious 17th-century Edo period by painstakingly and conscientiously practicing his art, with the help of five selflessly devoted models.  The outside world refuses to be ignored, though, and an incensed local magistrate devises a particularly insidious punishment for Utamaro by banning him from drawing for 50 days—here there is an echo of director Kenji Mizoguchi’s own struggles for creative freedom under both the censorious wartime government and the American Occupation.  This artistic self-portrait is a key illustration of Mizoguchi’s theme of sacrifice: of women for men, and of creator for creation.

 

 

January 30, 2015 - 7:30 pm
 

Life of Oharu  ★★★★★

(西鶴一代女, 1952) Saikaku Ichidai Onna
35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 136 min.

“Death is easy, but life is not so simple.”  So learns once beautiful, but now aging prostitute Oharu, who must endure hardship after hardship on her slow descent into the lowest rungs of society.  Mizoguchi beautifully renders the tragedy through carefully composed long takes, psychologically charged camera movements, and a delicate handling of actors.  As embodied by the remarkable, infinitely touching Kinuyo Tanaka, Oharu stands as arguably the most poignant and enduring of the director’s many “fallen” women.

 

February 6, 2015 - 7:30 pm
 
Story of the Last Chrysanthemum  ★★★★

(残菊物語, 1939) Zangiku Monogatari
35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 143 min.

In 19th-century Meiji-era Tokyo, a young actor, Kikunosuke, breaks away from his adoptive father’s Kabuki practice after a family servant, Otoku, is dismissed.  When they are reunited as lovers, Otoku encourages Kikunosuke to rededicate himself to his art—he is an oyama, playing female roles, but she is the one who makes the ultimate sacrifice.  Director Kenji Mizoguchi’s first film for Shochiku Studios is a key work in defining his mature style, encapsulating his ideas on the vampiric nature of artistic production, and altogether making for what scholar Joan Mellen called “one of the most brilliant satires of the Japanese family system.”

 

February 15, 2015 - 7:30 pm

The 47 Ronin  (Part 1 & 2)  

(元禄忠臣蔵, 1941) Genroku Chushingura
35mm, b/w, in Japanese with English subtitles, 241 min.

 

In the early years of the 18th century, the retainers of slain Lord Asano, led by the loyal Oichi, set out to avenge themselves against the man whose treachery was responsible for their master’s death over a matter of court protocol.  The most famous version of the most famous of Japanese tales, this epic was produced at the behest of the military government with propagandistic intent, but was made with a conviction, humanity and graphic genius that transcend the circumstances of its production.