Wrap up: 62nd annual San Francisco International Film Festival
The San Francisco Film Festival wrapped up last week, concluding with the announcement of its Golden Gate Awards and its two Audience Awards. Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut comedy feature Booksmart earned the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature. Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall, Alfred George Bailey’s study of Bay Area photographer Jim Marshall, took the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature. If you didn’t get a chance to catch as many films as you would have liked, never fear: many of the Fest’s offerings will be widely released in the months to come. Below we take a look at four films that you’ll be able to see very soon at a theater near you (and you can also check out our previous Fest spotlights post here).
1.) Booksmart
(USA 2019, 105 min. Marquee Presentationl)
Not only did actress Olivia Wilde’s debut film win this year’s Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature, but the SFFilm folks liked it so much they created a special award to bestow on it: Best Breakout Comedy Directing. Both accolades are well deserved, as Wilde’s take on the teen coming of age comedy turns the genre’s well-worn tropes on their head. We meet sweet, nerdy, top-of-their class BFFs Amy (Kaitlyn Dever, Short Term 12) and Molly (Beanie Feldstein, Lady Bird) in the waning days of their senior year, as they realize they’ve studied and achieved at the cost of typical teenage fun. Vowing to rectify the situation before graduation, the socially awkward duo embarks on a series of escapades that, while not always well advised, become the source of endless laughs for us. Moving beyond the “let’s get laid before we finish high school” tired teenage comedy storyline, Wilde’s film feels modern (Amy is out, and that’s no big deal for the straight Molly, nor anyone else in their orbit) yet also timeless, thanks to its exploration of changing friendships and the stress and insecurities of young adulthood. Feldstein and Dever have terrific chemistry, and their rapport is believable and a pleasure to watch. The supporting players, including Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte as Amy’s well meaning but befuddled parents, and especially Wilde’s fiancé Jason Sudeikis as the school principal/Lyft driver, are first rate comedians as well, helping to make the entire production one of the funniest and truest pictures you’ll see this spring.
Booksmart will open in the Bay Area in late May.
2.) The Farewell
(USA/China 2019, 98 min. In Engish and Mandarin with English subtitles. Centerpiece Film)
Three years ago, writer/director Lulu Wang told a memorable story on the radio program This American Life about the elaborate lengths her extended family took to spare her grandmother the news of a dire cancer diagnosis. Wang has now turned that almost unbelievable story into a well-crafted and emotionally rich feature length film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January and garnered a Grand Jury Prize nomination. Awkwafina (Ocean’s 8) flexes her dramatic muscle in a nuanced performance as Billi, Wang’s stand in, an American-reared Chinese young woman wrestling with love for her grandmother and confusion at her family’s decision to outright lie to the beloved matriarch. Wang’s portrayal of a large, diverse, expat family coming together in China for a quickly-arranged family wedding allows us to experience Billi’s discomfort and struggle as she faces culture clash and family strife. Wang takes her time showing us the feelings and motivations of the different family members, so that instead of judging various characters, we are able to emphasize with them and understand their decisions, even if we may not agree with them. Anyone who has ever felt out of place or disconnected from family will appreciate this picture, which reminds us that family bonds can’t be broken, and love, complicated as it may sometimes be, can always be found.
The Farewell will open in the Bay Area on July 19th.
3.) Trial by Fire
(USA 2018, 127 min. Tributes)
Director Edward Zwick (Legends of the Fall; Glory) teams with Oscar winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious) to dramatize David Grann’s unforgettable 2009 New Yorker article for the big screen. Grann’s investigative story about Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’Connell), accused of murdering his three children in a house fire, and the advocate he finds in playwright Liz Gilbert (Laura Dern) feels cinematic on the page, and so transitions well into film. Zwick brings us a moving look at the criminal justice system, the death penalty, and the power of love, forgiveness, and empathy. Whether or not you believe in Willingham’s guilt or innocence, the film, like the article, will raise your suspicions as to the fairness and thoroughness of his trial. And O’Connell and Dern humanize two flawed characters in remarkable performances that illustrate for us that, no matter who we are, we are all deserving of compassion and respect.
Trial by Fire will open in the Bay Area in late May.
4.) Hail Satan?
(USA 2019, 95 min. Marquee Presentations)
Satanists don’t actually worship a physical being of Satan, we learn in Penny Lane’s fascinating look at the Satantic Temple. Lane chronicles the Temple, from its infamous Anton LaVey origins to its present day organization of national chapters that sponsor beach clean-ups and after-school kids’ programs. In doing so, she allows us an insider’s look into a group that uses the image of Satan as a symbol for rebellion and opposition to the status quo. Fighting valiantly for such hot-button issues as a woman’s right to choose and separation of church and state, TST, as its known, preaches acceptance, and welcomes all into its fold. One of TST’s Seven Fundamental Tenets is that members “should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.” Featuring interviews with charismatic leader Lucien Graves and a host of other TST members, Lane’s documentary shatters our preconceived notions of who Satanists are and what they stand for.
Hail Satan is currently playing at the Landmark Embarcadero in San Francisco and the Landmark California in Berkeley, and will also play for a week at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco beginning this Friday, May 3rd.
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