Our coverage of the 46th Mill Valley Film Festival, which starts tomorrow, Thursday Oct. 5th, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 15th, continues below. We take a look at four titles worthy of your attention: two documentaries and two narrative features. You can browse the full program here, and read our first preview post here. Be sure to bookmark Spinning Platters to check back for more film snapshots during the Fest! And special note: although the Festival’s in person screenings end on the 15th, several films will be available for streaming after the Fest closes.
1.) FRYBREAD FACE AND ME
(USA, 2023. 83 min. In English and Navajo with English subtitles)
Fans of the AMC series Dark Winds will want to check out this charming, wry coming-of-age feature film debut from Dark Winds staff writer Billy Luther. City-boy Benny (Keir Tallman) is reluctantly sent to spend the summer with his Navajo-speaking grandmother (Sarah Natani) on the Navajo reservation. Contending with various aunts and uncles and especially his forthright cousin Dawn (Charley Hogan) – known affectionately as Frybread Face – Benny’s resentments begin to dissipate as he comes to know, enjoy, and value his extended family. Narrated by the adult Benny as he reflects on that meaningful summer, the film exudes Stand by Me vibes, and is equally poignant in its depiction of how our childhood experiences become a part of us.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Oct. 7th, 11:00am at the CinéArts Sequoia
– Mon., Oct. 9th, 5:00pm at Smith Rafael Film Center (at rush)
2.) ALL HAPPY FAMILIES
(USA, 2023. 90 min)
Taking its title from Tolstoy’s famous Anna Karenina opening line “All happy families are alike. Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” director Haroula Rose introduces us to the Landrys and their disparate reasons for melancholy. Graham (Josh Radnor, one of the most underrated actors working today) is a struggling actor jealous of his brother Will’s (Rob Huebell) success. But Will has his own problems, as do mom Sue (Becky Ann Baker), dad Roy (John Ashton), and Will’s daughter Evie (Ivy O’Brien). Rose and co-writer Coburn Goss present a nuanced dramedy about toxic behaviors, unhealthy familial patterns, and the ways loving family bonds can strengthen even the most dysfunctional of families.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Oct. 14th, 3:00pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center
– Sun., Oct. 15th, 12:00pm at the CinéArts Sequoia
– Mon., Oct. 16th-Sun. Oct. 22: Available for streaming via CAFILM
3.) DEMON MINERAL
(USA, 2023. 88 min)
As we wind down from the Oppenheimer-dominated summer, first-time filmmaker Hadley Austin’s documentary makes for a sobering coda. Austin explores the dangers faced by members of the Navajo Nation, whose livelihoods, health, and future have been dangerously affected by radioactive contamination from the uranium mining on their land. While most of us have heard of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, fewer know about the far worse Church Rock radioactive waste spill near Navajo tribal lands that followed later that same year. Austin seeks to rectify this oversight, and her interviews with Navajo families, ranchers, activists and Secretary of the Interior and Laguna Pueblo member Deb Haaland will leave you infuriated and saddened, but also inspired.
Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Oct. 14th, 6:00pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center
– Sun., Oct. 15th, 12:00pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center
– Mon., Oct. 16th-Sun. Oct. 22: Available for streaming via CAFILM
4.) CAROL DODA TOPLESS AT THE CONDOR
(USA, 2023. 100 min)
“I want to be in show business, and I don’t know any other way but to start showing my business,” so proclaims stripper Carol Doda in this terrific doc about the San Francisco icon and the club she made famous. Brash, subversive, and complicated, Doda had her share of hardships and successes, but whether she was exploited or empowered directors Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker leave for the viewer to decide. Not just a biography of a legendary San Franciscan, the film also serves as a fascinating history of North Beach and the Tenderloin from the ‘60s through the ‘90s.
Screenings (click here for tickets; currently at rush):
– Tues., Oct. 10th, 8:45pm at the Roxie Theater
– Sat., Oct. 14th, 7:00pm at the Smith Rafael Film Center
