Mill Valley Film Festival - October 08

Avenue Montaigne

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:59:19 -0500

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As breezy as a stroll along the chic Parisian street where it unfolds, this engaging romantic comedy from writer-director Danièle Thompson offers an all-star cast in several intertwined tales of the upscale Champs-Elysées cultural scene.

Babel

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:05:45 -0500

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Alejandro González Iñárritu's multilingual, multilayered masterpiece explores the paradox of humanity's interconnectedness despite our inability to truly communicate. Jumping from Morocco to Mexico to Japan, an American tourist is shot, and lives are instantly connected.

Beneath the Southern Cross

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:33:40 -0500

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Christmas comes in summer, and water drains in the other direction, but filmmakers on the south side of the equator are anything but backward. These eclectic shorts demonstrate keen attention to the human condition and the ways that others' choices can dramatically affect our lives.

SHORTS IN PROGRAM: Blue Willow, Break, Elalini (Place of Rest), Fish Out of Water, Karma, Story of Hong

Black Gold

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 11:46:15 -0500

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For Ethiopian coffee farmers a delicious cup of Joe represents the corrupt side of the global economy. Black Gold exposes the political, economic and cultural consequences of the worldwide coffee business.

Can You Hear Me? Israeli and Palestinian Women Fight for Peace

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:16:05 -0500

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Narrated by Debra Winger, Lilly Rivlin's passionate documentary focuses on Israeli and Palestinian women who insist on dialogue, inspiring hope that women may lead the way to peaceful coexistence in the Middle East.

PRECEDED BY: Voices of Patriots: Why Are We In Iraq?

China Blue

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 10:11:57 -0500

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This potent documentary gets inside a Chinese sweatshop, revealing the lives of the mostly teenage girls who make the West's blue jeans. A humanized portrait, not a polemic, about this intersection of Chinese society and international commerce.

Cine Manifest

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 18:15:25 -0500

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This poignant, hilarious and fascinating film charts the giddy highs and teeth-gnashing lows of a unique Marxist political film collective that rose from the utopian ideologies of the '60s and somehow survived the turmoil and tumult of the '70s.

PRECEDED BY: McLaren's Negatives

Days of Glory

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 21:54:33 -0500

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Winning the prize for best male ensemble acting at Cannes, this stirring World War II epic addresses the plight of North African soldiers fighting under the French flag against the Nazis—and against the racism of their superior officers.

Dreaming of Space

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 12:59:02 -0500

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In a Russian border town in 1957, a carefree lad's admiration for a mysterious stranger leads him to discover a sense of purpose at a fleeting moment on the precipice of the space race.

Grown Up

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 17:27:35 -0500

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Kids can be more grown up than adults at times, and these five different films from five different countries prove it.

SHORTS IN PROGRAM: Ayla, the Tsunami Girl, Big Girl, Chicle, Heavy Metal Jr., I Swear I Saw It: Iara

I'm Seducible

Sun, 17 Sep 2006 10:30:20 -0500

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How does a rebellious Beijing artist juggle two cultures and two men as she makes a new life for herself in San Francisco? Follow Shi-Wei as she reclaims her own ambitions amid the sacrifice required by her newfound freedom.

Klunkerz

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:19:51 -0500

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Originating in MVFF's backyard–Mt. Tam, to be exact–as an outgrowth of Bay Area counterculture, the global phenomenon of mountain biking is celebrated in this fast-moving documentary that honors the sport's gonzo riders.

PRECEDED BY: Russian Hill Roulette

Lorange, Muffin and Dartanjang

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 17:31:27 -0500

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Dad, son and grandfather couldn't be happier, particularly at times when everyone else seems at their worst. This cartoon family makes the Simpsons look stiff.

PRECEDED BY: A Fish with a Smile

Love for Share

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 02:17:37 -0500

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Three Indonesian women from different backgrounds react differently when they learn of other women in their men's lives. Nifty plot twists link the stories together into a portrait of polygamous lifestyles in contemporary Jakarta.

Men at Work

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 23:16:47 -0500

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In this absurdist comedy-meets-Sufi parable, four 50-something buddies returning from a ski trip in an SUV try to push over a huge stone on the side of a mountain road.