The 47th Mill Valley Film Festival will take place Oct 3 – Oct 13, 2024, with screenings at theaters across the North and East Bay.
For a full view of special awards, spotlights, and centerpiece films, check out the complete festival guide. Tickets can be purchased here.
Below is a preview of the festival, featuring brief looks at six films:
1.) MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE
(USA, 2023. 101 min.)
Writer/Director Kyle Hausmann-Stokes’s feature debut is an emotional and thoughtfully comical story about family and the debilitating effects of PTSD. The stellar cast is led by Sonequa Martin-Green (Star Trek: Discovery) and Natalie Morales (Parks & Rec) and supported by silver screen legends Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman. My Dead Friend Zoe was inspired by Hausmann-Stoke’s army experience in Iraq, and he has infused his film with charm, humor, and heartbreak to tell a timely story about the epidemic of suffering among US Military veterans after returning home.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Oct. 5th, 7:00pm at the CinéArts Sequoia
– Sun., Oct. 6th, 11:30am at the CinéArts Sequoia
2.) TO KILL A WOLF
(USA, 2023. 91 min)
Set mostly amid the thick, foggy forests of the Pacific Northwest, To Kill a Wolf is a unique iteration of the Little Red Riding Hood fairytale that expands backstories and roots the conflicts within a harsh reality. The film is beautiful and haunting, featuring a hypnotic musical score, a handful of unpretentious performances, and impressively restrained filmmaking that allows the atmospheric tensions between characters to develop naturally.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Tues., Oct. 8th, 7:30pm at Smith Rafael Film Center
– Wed., Oct. 9th, 6:00PM at Smith Rafael Film Center
3.) BRING THEM HOME (AISKÓTÁHKAPIYAAYA)
(USA, 2024. 85 min.)
Bring Them Home details the harrowing history of parallel genocides: the indigenous Blackfoot tribe and their buffalo population. Narrated by Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) and featuring breathtaking photography, Bring Them Home goes beyond just a historical retelling. The film also focuses on how the current Blackfeet Reservation lands of Glacier National Park are managed while chronicling the tremendous (and challenging) efforts to reintroduce buffalo back into their native lands.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Fri., Oct. 4th, 4:15pm at CinéArts Sequoia
– Fri., Oct. 11th, 12:00pm at CinéArts Sequoia
4.) AMERICAN CATS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE CUDDLY
(USA, 2024. 91 min.)
American Cats is a charming documentary that often resembles a feature-length segment on The Daily Show. The film follows comedienne Amy Hoggart (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee) as she explores the world of feline care and uncovers the terrible truth about cat declawing and the simple procedure’s chokehold on the veterinary industry. We’re introduced to an abundance of adorable kitties along the way, and the witty writing combined with Hoggart’s deft onscreen presence is thoroughly rewarding.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Thurs., Oct. 10th, 6:30pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center
– Sun., Oct. 13th, 1:30pm at CinéArts Sequoia
5.) FOOLS’ PARADISE (LOST?)
(USA, 2024. 91 min.)
This beautiful documentary explores the relationship between humans and nature in ten profiles. From a journalist to an ecotherapist to a famous “planetwalker,” the subjects in Fools’ Paradise identify how nature heals the mind and body, and how we can ensure that it continues to do so amid an existential climate crisis. It’s heartwarming to dive into the stories of individuals who have devoted themselves to nature, and even more heartwarming to see how nature gives back.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Oct. 12th, 5:00pm at CinéArts Sequoia
6.) CHAPERONE
(USA, 2024. 102 min.)
Misha is turning 30, but wishes for nothing more than to avoid the trappings of adulthood, no matter how much her friends and family beg her to be more ambitious in life. She is gleefully independent, and when she’s romantically mistaken for a peer by a charming 19-year-old high school athlete, her carefree life begins to spiral with the buildup of lies. Chaperone spotlights a commonly unseen segment of Hawaiian suburban society, and fills it with fully realized characters, each one stuck in a role of their choosing – and therefore their self-afflicting consequences.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sun., Oct. 6th, 3:30pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center
– Mon., Oct. 7th, 4:30pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center
