53rd San Francisco International Film Festival 22 April - 6 May 2010
FILMS
- Air Doll
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Kore-eda returns with possibly his most surprising work to date. An “air doll” suddenly comes to life in the middle of modern Tokyo in this offbeat, gorgeously filmed and soulfully directed anti–fairy tale about love, loneliness and what it means to be human, starring Korean starlet Bae Doo-na.
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- Hirokazu Kore-eda
- World Cinema
- Japan
- 2009
- Alamar
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The Mexican Caribbean’s stunning Banco Chinchorro, home to the world’s second largest coral reef, provides setting and inspiration for this effortlessly beautiful film, which follows a Mayan father and young son as they spend a summer working (and playing) along the coast.
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- Pedro González-Rubio
- New Directors
- Mexico
- 2009
- All About Evil
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A meek librarian turns sanguinary filmmaker after inheriting an old movie palace in this hilarious tribute to ’80s slasher films by Bay Area impresario Joshua Grannell—aka Peaches Christ—who’ll be on hand with special guests for a live prescreening spectacular.
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- Joshua Grannell
- The Late Show
- USA
- 2009
- Animal Heart
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This potent first feature, set on a small two-person dairy farm deep in the Swiss Alps, is a courageously clear-eyed and forgiving look at the wildly dysfunctional marriage of a brutish dairy farmer and his beleaguered wife.
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- Séverine Cornamusaz
- New Directors
- France/Switzerland
- 2009
- Around a Small Mountain
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In this playful divertissement by the celebrated French auteur, an Italian traveler falls in with a French circus troupe after becoming smitten with one of the performers, returning after a 15-year absence, and determines to help her face her fears and reenter the ring.
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- Jacques Rivette
- World Cinema
- France/Italy
- 2009
- Between Two Worlds
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The lingering psychic, physical and spiritual effects of over 20 years of civil war in Sri Lanka provide the context for this poetic and revelatory second feature from the maker of The Forsaken Land (SFIFF 2008).
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- Vimukthi Jayasundara
- New Directors
- Sri Lanka
- 2009
- Bill Cunningham New York
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This intimate portrait captures the contradictions and passion of this de facto anthropologist who has for years been absorbed in a sole pursuit - documenting the way people dress.
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- Richard Press
- Documentaries
- USA
- 2010
- Bodyguards and Assassins
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Centering around an assassination attempt on Chinese revolutionary hero Sun Yat-sen in 1906 Hong Kong, this star-studded epic is a rousing, electrifying mix of history, revolution and martial arts. The first half is an intricate political thriller and the second half is just plain thrilling.
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- Teddy Chen
- World Cinema
- Hong Kong/China
- 2009
- A Brand New Life
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Drawing on her childhood memories, director Lecomte creates an intimate portrait of an emotionally bereft nine-year-old and her irrepressible cohort at a South Korean Catholic orphanage, featuring an unforgettable performance by the film’s young lead.
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- Ounie Lecomte
- New Directors
- South Korea/France
- 2009
- Budrus
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When a group of Palestinian villagers stands in front of bulldozers to save their olive trees from destruction, their actions initiate a new movement that unites Israelis and Palestinians in a nonviolent struggle in this up-close and inspiring documentary chronicle.
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- Julia Bacha
- Documentaries
- Palestinian Territories/Israel
- 2009
