September 26, 2023
COBWEB (GEOMIJIP)
DescriptionBiosContactDescription No stranger to a myriad of genre play, Kim Jee-woon revisits his comedic strand for this metatextual farce on filmmaking. Set in the ‘70s depression period when the censorship board heavily controlled the silver screen in South Korea, Song Kang-ho (PARASITE) plays a struggling director searching for a career comeback. As another underwhelming production...
September 26, 2023
IN WATER (MUL-AN-E-SEO)
DescriptionBiosContactDescription Desperate to make a film, former actor Seongmo drags two friends to popular vacation spot Jeju Island during the chilly offseason. Waiting for inspiration to strike, they wander the island scouting potential locations, eating junk food and pondering the finer points of love and art. When he spots a woman picking up trash off...
September 26, 2023
CLOSE YOUR EYES (CERRAR LOS OJOS)
DescriptionBiosDescription Spanish auteur Víctor Erice returns to cinema after a three-decade-long absence with this hauntingly personal, discursive yet simmering reflection on memory, art and the passage of time. Set years after his lead actor and best friend, Julio, disappears suddenly from a film shoot, filmmaker Miguel Garay (Manolo Solo) is approached by a TV show...
September 26, 2023
KIDNAPPED: THE ABDUCTION OF EDGARDO MORTARA
DescriptionBiosDescription Bologna, 1858. A well-to-do Jewish family suffers an unfathomable fate when their six-year-old son, Edgardo, is ripped from their arms. Secretly baptized, he must now be raised a Catholic. Under instruction of the Papal State, he is abducted and taken to the Vatican to be put under the care of Pope Pius IX himself....
September 26, 2023
ABOUT DRY GRASSES (KURU OTLAR ÜSTÜNE)
DescriptionBiosContactDescription Turkey’s Oscar® submission for Best International Feature Eastern Anatolia is once again the setting for the films of celebrated Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan (THE WILD PEAR TREE, AFI FEST 2018). To art teacher Samet (Deniz Celiloglu), the landscape is relentless, characterized by a harsh cold that breaks to a dry heat. Now in...
September 26, 2023
WE GROWN NOW
DescriptionBiosDescription Screening to be followed by a conversation with director Minhal Baig. Set against the backdrop of the Cabrini-Green public housing complex in 1992 Chicago, the latest film from Minhal Baig (HALA, AFI FEST 2019) charts the prepubescent friendship between two boys, Malik and Eric. Sidestepping any infatuation with its infamous reputation of organized crime and destitution, the film instead focuses...
September 26, 2023
THE DAUGHTERS OF FIRE (AS FILHAS DO FOGO)
DescriptionBiosDescription Plays before the feature MUSIC. Acclaimed Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Costa crafts a haunting, layered triptych of three women singing in chorus, expressing their deep existential suffering against the backdrop of a blazing inferno. –Julia Kipnis Bios Born in Lisbon, Pedro Costa left his studies in history to attend classes taught by the poet and...
September 26, 2023
THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE (DAS LEHRERZIMMER)
DescriptionBiosDescription Germany’s Oscar® submission for Best International Feature Screening to be followed by a conversation with director Ilker Çatak. Idealistic young teacher Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) relishes her work, teaching both math and physical education to her class of seventh graders. Unfortunately, disciplinary issues are also part of the job, and a recent spate of thefts has both teachers and students...
September 26, 2023
THE PROMISED LAND (BASTARDEN)
DescriptionBiosDescription Denmark’s Oscar® submission for Best International Feature Screening to be followed by a conversation with director Nikolaj Arcel and actor Mads Mikkelsen. Denmark, 18th century. A retired army captain with humble origins, Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen), makes a deal with the King: successfully settle the Jutland’s land and ascend to nobility. Arriving with nothing...
September 26, 2023
TÓTEM
DescriptionBiosContactDescription Mexico’s Oscar® submission for Best International Feature Following her humanist drama, THE CHAMBERMAID (AFI FEST 2018), Lila Avilés’ sophomore feature unfurls in a single chaotic day. Filtered through the perspective of an observant seven-year-old protagonist Sol (sensitively portrayed by newcomer Naíma Sentíes), TÓTEM follows an extended family busily preparing for the birthday party of...
