Film Feature: 69th SFFILM Festival Preview #2

The 69th SFFILM Festival is days away, April 24 – May 4, featuring over one hundred films from more than forty countries. Please visit the SFFILM Festival website for more information about the exciting program, how to purchase tickets, and a calendar of special events and presentations.

In the meantime, here’s a second preview of the Festival, highlighting three films and six shorts: Renoir, How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps, Filipiñana, and shorts Corpus Christi, The Veil, Vultures, A Year of Marriage, Cardboard and First Winter.

1.) RENOIR
(Japan/France/Singapore/Philippines/Indonesia/Qatar/USA, 2025. 118 min.)

In Renoir, director Chie Hiyakawa (Plan 75) takes us deep into the emotional hardships of a Japanese family in late-’80s suburban Tokyo. Yui Suzuki is incredible as 11-year old Fuki, whose perspective we follow as she navigates coming to terms with a terminally ill father, an overwhelmed mother, and her own imagination, which often blurs the line between fantasy and reality. At times beautiful, and other times haunting and tense, Renoir is a patient meditation on grief as seen through the eyes of an adolescent.

Screenings (click here for tickets):
– Sat., Apr 25th, 11:30 am PT @ BAMPFA
– Sun., May 3rd, 6:00 pm PT @ Marina Theatre

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Film Feature: 68th SFFILM Festival Preview #3

The 68th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) is underway with screenings at various theaters around San Francisco and the 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 a few remaining features and the Shorts 6: Family Films program with upcoming showtimes:

1.) SHORTS 6: FAMILY FILMS
(Various, 2024-2025. 66 min.)

HOOFS ON SKATES
(Lithuania. 13 min.)

Hoofs on Skates is a delightful tale about two friends, a pig and a cow, who enjoy skating on a frozen lake, only to be scared away by a giant fish. Eventually, the duo discovers where their assumptions and reality may be vastly differing. The stop-motion animation is cute, simplistic, and charming, and eases wordlessly (except for adorable animal-sound exchanges) into a positive message for kids.

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SFIFF59 Spotlights #3: Phantom Boy / Chevalier / Shorts 1 / Shorts 2 / Animated Shorts

 

A scene from Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli's PHANTOM BOY will play at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, on April 21 - May 5,2016.

Today, it begins! The San Francisco International Film Festival(SFIFF) runs from today, April 21st through Thursday, May 5th. We’ll continue to bring you spotlights of amazing films at the festival, and cover special events and awards. But allow us to give you one last preview of the program with spotlights on two more features and three excellent short film programs. Full program available here.

Phantom Boy
(France/Belgium, 2015, 84 min, Global Visions)

A scene from Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli's PHANTOM BOY will play at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, on April 21 - May 5,2016.
A scene from Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli’s PHANTOM BOY will play at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival, on April 21 – May 5,2016.

From the filmmaking team that brought us 2010’s A Cat in Paris comes another fun, beautifully drawn adventure, Phantom Boy. In the film, a young cancer patient with a unique power to engage in out-of-body excursions teams up with a cop to stop a deranged gangster from taking over New York City. Constantly hilarious, always engaging, and totally charming, this film is an instant crowd-pleaser and should be on the top of everyone’s must-see festival list.

Screenings:

  • Sunday, April 24rd, 1:00pm, Alamo Drafthouse

Tickets available here.

Continue reading “SFIFF59 Spotlights #3: Phantom Boy / Chevalier / Shorts 1 / Shorts 2 / Animated Shorts