Opening Night: A Private War
Thursday, October 4
Based on a Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner, the biographical drama tells the story of Marie Colvin, a celebrated war correspondent at the front lines of conflicts across the globe. Directed by Academy Award nominee Matthew Heineman, A Private War boasts an all-star cast including Rosamund Pike, Jamie Dornan and Stanley Tucci.
Tribute to Pawel Pawlikowski
Friday, October 5
Oscar-winning director Pawel Pawlikowski’s latest feature, Cold War, will be screened, followed by a conversation onstage. Loosely based on his parents’ lives, the film details a stormy relationship between a composer and a singer in mid-20th-century Poland.
Spotlight: Wildlife
Friday, October 5
The creative collaboration between writer/director Paul Dano and actress Carey Mulligan will be acknowledged with an MVFF award. The two will have an onstage conversation that explores the director-actor relationship and how they work together to achieve great performances.
California Premiere of Beautiful Boy
Saturday, October 6
Filmed in San Francisco and Marin, Beautiful Boy is director Felix Van Groeningen’s adaptation of the bestselling memoirs of father and son David and Nic Sheff. Actors Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet play father and son in this feature about a family’s grappling with addiction. Chalamet and the director will be at the screening.
North American Premiere of The Parting Glass
Saturday, October 6
After the unexpected death of their youngest sister, three siblings embark on an apprehensive road trip with their father and the sister’s estranged husband. Starring Anna Paquin, Cynthia Nixon, Melissa Leo and Denis O’Hare,the film is also the directorial debut of True Blood’s Stephen Moyer.
Jarvis Cocker at the Sweetwater
Saturday, October 6
Best known as the frontman for the band Pulp, musician, actor and author Jarvis Cocker has been making music for two-thirds of his life. In this time, he has gone from being the quintessential outsider to being one of the most recognized figures in British music.
Spotlight: Boy Erased
Sunday, October 7
Directed by Joel Edgerton, Boy Erased portrays a teenage son of a preacher who finds himself in a gay conversion camp after being outed to his family by a fellow student. Based on true accounts, the film stars Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Lucas Hedges.
MVFF Centerpiece: Roma
Monday, October 8
The program will feature an onstage talk with director Alfonso Cuarón, a screening of Roma, and a presentation of the MVFF Award. In a cinematic love letter to the Mexico City of his youth, the Oscar-winning director depicts the life of a family in 1970 and a housekeeper who is its emotional anchor.
Special Event: Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait
Wednesday, October 10
In this new live music and film piece, musician Jenny Scheinman shows the captivating work of fillmmaker and photographer H. Lee Waters, who documented over 118 small towns in the Southeast between 1936 and 1942. Scheinman and filmmaker Finn Taylor have re-edited the footage and scored it with Scheinman’s music.
Kasia Pawlowska loves words. A native of Poland, Kasia moved to the States when she was seven. The San Francisco State University creative writing graduate went on to write for publications like the San Francisco Bay Guardian and KQED Arts among others prior to joining the Marin Magazine staff. Topics Kasia has covered include travel, trends, mushroom hunting, an award-winning series on social media addiction and loads of other random things. When she’s not busy blogging or researching and writing articles, she’s either at home writing postcards and reading or going to shows. Recently, Kasia has been trying to branch out and diversify, ie: use different emojis. Her quest for the perfect chip is never-ending.