SFFILM has announced the complete lineup for the 2020 San Francisco International Film Festival (originally scheduled for April 8–21), though the event itself was canceled due to growing safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
OH MERCY! (Roubaix une lumière) (2019)
OH MERCY! (Roubaix une lumière) (2019)
NAME OF FILM: OH MERCY!
DIRECTOR(S): Arnaud Desplechin
STARRING: Léa Seydoux, Sara Forestier, Roschdy Zem
GENRE: Crime Film
SYNOPSIS: In a change of pace from such recent kaleidoscopic knockouts as My Golden Years (NYFF53) and Ismael’s Ghosts (NYFF55), Arnaud Desplechin shows a different and no less impressive side of his mastery with this taut policier, based on a true murder case. The scene of the crime is Roubaix, the city in Northern France where Desplechin was born and where he’s set many of his films. Here, during a somber Christmas season, a middle-aged, French-Algerian detective is investigating the fatal strangulation of a poor, elderly woman in her apartment, with suspicion falling on her next-door neighbors, two young white women with a complicated interpersonal bond. Desplechin turns what might have been a lurid thriller into a work of engrossing psychological portraiture and socioeconomic inquiry that pays exquisite attention to the nuances of each remarkable performance, including Roschdy Zem as police captain Douad, and Léa Seydoux and Sara Forestier as the suspects.
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San Francisco International Film Festival Reveals What Would’ve Been 2020 Lineup
I Carry You with Me directed by Heidi Ewing
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PARASITE and STATE FUNERAL Top Film Comment’s 2019 End-of-Year Survey
State Funeral directed by Sergei Loznitsa Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite took the top spot among films released in 2019 in Film Comment’s annual end-of-year survey. Of the films that screened at festivals worldwide but have not announced stateside distribution, Sergei Loznitsa’s State Funeral, Eloy Enciso Cachafeiro’s Endless Night, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth received the top rankings.
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JUST MERCY and KNIVES OUT Bookend 28th Philadelphia Film Festival Lineup
JUST MERCY Starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx Destin Daniel Cretton’s JUST MERCY will open the 28th Philadelphia Film Festival on October 17. This heartrending and inspirational film tells the story of author and social justice activist, Bryan Stevenson, played by acclaimed actor Michael B. Jordan of FRUITVALE STATION, CREED, and BLACK PANTHER fame. Additional Opening Night titles include PARASITE, opening Masters of Cinema; CUNNINGHAM, opening Spotlights; COME AS YOU ARE, opening Made in the USA; BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, opening Non/Fiction; and THE LODGE opening After Hours.
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Virginia Film Festival Announces 2019 Lineup – Harriet, Just Mercy, Western Stars, The Two Popes
Western Stars by Thom Zimny, Bruce Springsteen The 32nd Annual Virginia Film Festival will feature more than 150 films, including independent films along with hotly anticipated titles including Harriet, Just Mercy, Western Stars, Jojo Rabbit, Marriage Story, The Two Popes, The Report, Clemency, and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. This year’s lineup also includes award-winning actor, writer, and director Ethan Hawke, noted actor Ann Dowd, international bestselling author John Grisham, actor Dennis Christopher, acclaimed filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu – plus more than 100 filmmakers in all.
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57th New York Film Festival Unveils Main Slate of 20 Films From Top Filmmakers
Portrait of a Lady On Fire (PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU) This year’s Main Slate of the 57th New York Film Festival, September 27 – October 13, showcases 29 films from 17 different countries. Nine films in the festival were honored at Cannes, including Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or–winner Parasite; Grand Prix–winner Atlantics: A Ghost Love Story, directed by Mati Diop, an alum of annual FLC series Art of the Real and winner of the 2016 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist award; Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, NYFF’s Film Comment Presents selection and winner of both the Queer Palm and the Best Screenplay prize; Pedro Almodóvar’s Pain and Glory, awarded Best Actor for Antonio Banderas; Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’ Jury Prize–winner Bacurau; Young Ahmed, which brought home the Best Director prize for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne; and three Un Certain Regard winners, including Oliver Laxe’s Jury Prize–winner Fire Will Come, Albert Serra’s Special Jury Prize–winner Liberté, and Kantemir Balagov’s Beanpole, which collected the Best Director prize. Top prize winners from the Berlinale will also appear in the Main Slate: Nadav Lapid’s Golden Bear–winner Synonyms and Angela Schanelec’s I Was at Home, But…, which won the Silver Bear for Best Director.
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2019 Cannes Film Festival Unveils Official Selection, with Films by Pedro Almodóvar, Xavier Dolan, Terrence Malic
A HIDDEN LIFE, Terrence Malick The Official Selection of the 72nd Cannes Film Festival was unveiled this morning at the annual press conference. In addition to opening night film – Jim Jamusch’s The Dead Don’t Die, the competition lineup includes new releases from Pedro Almodóvar, Xavier Dolan, Ken Loach, and Terrence Malick. Films premiering out of competition include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Too Old to Die Young – North of Hollywood, West of Hell.