The World of Cinema
Welcome to the 29th Mill Valley Film Festival! Throughout the spring and summer, our Festival programming staff is on the lookout for new films. The search can easily keep us firmly rooted on our home turf, since well over a thousand entries arrive for consideration for the Festival. But our programmers also cast their nets wide in their search for new work, both through research and by attending festivals in other parts of the world.
The festival circuit is a seasonal occurrence, and each venue offers something different: At the beginning of the year is the Sundance Festival, which is rooted in American independent cinema. Around the same time, the Fajr Festival takes place in Tehran and specializes in Iranian cinema; while the Berlin Festival presents the latest in international cinema. By the time of the Cannes Film Festival in May, things are heating up for MVFF’s programmers. Cannes is an important festival for us to find international works that have just been completed, whether they’re films from the main competition, like Days of Glory, or gems we find in the myriad daily market screenings, such as the Indonesian film Love for Share.
But although we cast our nets far and wide, the riches of the Bay Area are always an important part of MVFF programming. It became obvious early on this year that it was going to be a bonanza year by the Bay. While the Bay Area has long been known for its documentary making—look out for Have You Heard from Johannesburg? and China Blue—it’s also a notable year for features, evidenced by Drifting Elegant and Read You Like a Book.
Our programmers always look out for certain demographics, covering many countries, themes and so on, but we also try to remain open to currents of strength that appear. Hence, as it has seemed like a particularly strong year for films from the Netherlands, we’ve put together a special program on this region. Focus: The Netherlands includes five features (Bonkers, Figner: The End of a Silent Century, Live!, The Mystery of the Sardine, Wanted: Man) as well as two shorts. We also celebrate the 30-year legacy of San Francisco’s Film Arts Foundation this year with a Focus program.
Other themes also arise. Curiously, there are several films this year that are structured as triptychs, films that examine a core issue through three separate, intersecting stories, including 3 Needles, Café Setareh, Babel and The Porcelain Doll. Issues related to the Middle East are obviously on filmmakers’ minds and are found in films like Can You Hear Me?, Forgiveness and The Observer. Notable this year, too, are films about artists, such as Emile Norman: By His Own Design and Orozco: Man of Fire.
The films mentioned above are just a few of the discoveries we made as we perused the world through film. There are riches to be found throughout the 11 days of the Festival in films great and small. I hope your time at the Festival is full of as many revelations and delights as we found in our searches for new work.
Zoë Elton
Director of Programming
Mill Valley Film Festival
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