#1 ·
The international lineup is officially out:
For this year’s 56th annual San Francisco Film Festival, we’re looking at twenty incredible films handpicked from the world's most prestigious festivals. You'll find them spread across the Europolis-Meridians in Castel, China Valley, and the main Pop program at the local stadium. It’s heavy on genre stuff—think crime thrillers, comedies, and juicy melodramas—and this year, there's a massive focus on French cinema.
We’re kicking off the fifth edition of the Europolis-Meridians section on July 11th at the Castel with a funny drama called Paradise being West (Eden in the West). It follows a young illegal immigrant navigating the European Union, directed by the Greek-French veteran Costa-Gavras, who actually closed out this year's Berlin International Film Festival. Also, we’re bringing back a legend: last year's winner, the cult French director Claude Chabrol, will be represented by his crime flick Bellamy. It’s his first time teaming up with Gerard Depardieu, playing a famous Parisian inspector who gets sucked into a murder investigation while on summer vacation.
Continuing the haul from the Berlin International Film Festival, we've got the latest from legendary French director Catherine Breillat – Bluebeard. It’s an unconventional period drama about a girl standing up to a brutal killer of women—specifically the notorious Elizabeth Báthory. In her own take on the Bloody Countess, the director herself, Julie Delpy, stars alongside William Hurt and Daniel Brühl.
Coming straight from Berlin is Philippe Claudel’s film I Loved You So Long. This one already cleaned up, winning a César for Best First Film and a BAFTA for Best Foreign Film. Plus, Kristin Scott Thomas snagged a European Film Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe nod for her role as a woman trying to reintegrate into society after fifteen years in prison.
From Sundance, we’ve got an allegorical German comedy called Absurdistan by Veit Helmer. It’s about women in a remote village withholding sex from their husbands until the water supply finally returns. We also have the acclaimed crime thriller Transsiberian by American director Brad Anderson. It’s a high-stakes tale of murder, chases, and deception on a train ride from Moscow to China, starring Ben Kingsley and Woody Harrelson.
Three heavy hitters are arriving from the last Venice Film Festival. There's the Mexican romantic drama The Burning Plain by Guillermo Arriage (the mastermind behind Dog Love, 21 Grams, and Babel). It weaves together four different stories involving affairs, past sins, and broken families, starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger.
Representing Japan is Takeshi Kitano with a witty drama called Achilles and the Tortoise. It tracks the life of a painter trying to find his footing and gain recognition from childhood through old age. Then there’s the crime thriller Province No. 2 by Vinko Möderndorfer, which centers on a dark secret about a mass murderer uncovered during a robbery.
Also from Venice, we have the Mexican crime thriller La Zona, directed by Rodrigo Pla, which deals with a crime committed within a gated community for the wealthy.
That movie is a total winner—it grabbed the Luigi de Laurentis award in Venice, the FIPRESCI prize in Toronto, and audience awards in San Francisco, Miami, and Fribourg.
Finally, two films are making the jump from Cannes: the romantic drama Two Lovers by James Gray (the guy behind Little Odessa and Cop Land). It’s about a guy torn between a good friend his parents want him to marry and a hot neighbor; notably, it features Joaquin Phoenix’s final role before he pivoted toward music, alongside Gwyneth Paltrow. We also have the German-Kazakh comedy Tulpan by Sergey Dvortsevoy, about a guy searching for a bride in the middle of the steppe after leaving the navy. That one won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes and picked up Best Director in Cottbus, plus wins in Tokyo, Zurich, and Montreal, and even Best Film in the East from West program at Karlovy Vary.
Coming straight out of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival is Aleksei Uchitel’s Russian drama *The Prisoner*, which just snagged Best Director. It’s about two Russian soldiers using a young Chechen prisoner to try and claw their way back to freedom. It’s basically the heavy hitter from that major Eastern European fest in Cottbus. We're also getting a French crime flick called *The Killer* by Cédric Anger. It dives into the twisted dynamic between a hitman and his target, starring Grégoire Colin (you know him from *Olivier, Olivier* or *Before the Rain*).
From the UK, we’ve got Julian Jarrold’s *Brideshead Revisited*. It’s an adaptation of that famous Evelyn Waugh novel about a young guy whose whole world shifts after meeting an aristocratic Catholic family in pre-war England. Then there's a romance drama from Rome titled *The French Gigolo* by Josiane Balasko—she's actually the daughter of an American immigrant, Ivan Blaskovic. It follows a married guy living a double life, providing sexual services to wealthy ladies in his spare time.
The international program for the 56th San Francisco Film Festival is kicking things off with the 5th edition of the Europolis-Meridians in Castel. That runs from Saturday the 11th through Friday the 17th of July, 2009, starting at 9:30 PM.
Every single movie from that kickoff lineup will be screened again during the main festival over at China Valley starting at 4:00 PM. As for the international program films, they’ll show up at China Valley at 6:00 PM, and they'll also hit the stadium right after the National Program movies wrap up.
Believe it or not, the first international film program at the San Francisco stadium dates all the way back to 1953, thanks to Marian Rotar. Since then, they've done occasional foreign film revues as part of the festival.
Back in 2001, they officially launched the competitive program for European cinema.
Since 2004, the international competition has been showcasing hits from both European and global cinema.
Honestly, most of these names are garbage. But hey, with an Almodóvar retrospective and maybe one or two decent local titles, this could easily be the festival of the year.
For this year’s 56th annual San Francisco Film Festival, we’re looking at twenty incredible films handpicked from the world's most prestigious festivals. You'll find them spread across the Europolis-Meridians in Castel, China Valley, and the main Pop program at the local stadium. It’s heavy on genre stuff—think crime thrillers, comedies, and juicy melodramas—and this year, there's a massive focus on French cinema.
We’re kicking off the fifth edition of the Europolis-Meridians section on July 11th at the Castel with a funny drama called Paradise being West (Eden in the West). It follows a young illegal immigrant navigating the European Union, directed by the Greek-French veteran Costa-Gavras, who actually closed out this year's Berlin International Film Festival. Also, we’re bringing back a legend: last year's winner, the cult French director Claude Chabrol, will be represented by his crime flick Bellamy. It’s his first time teaming up with Gerard Depardieu, playing a famous Parisian inspector who gets sucked into a murder investigation while on summer vacation.
Continuing the haul from the Berlin International Film Festival, we've got the latest from legendary French director Catherine Breillat – Bluebeard. It’s an unconventional period drama about a girl standing up to a brutal killer of women—specifically the notorious Elizabeth Báthory. In her own take on the Bloody Countess, the director herself, Julie Delpy, stars alongside William Hurt and Daniel Brühl.
Coming straight from Berlin is Philippe Claudel’s film I Loved You So Long. This one already cleaned up, winning a César for Best First Film and a BAFTA for Best Foreign Film. Plus, Kristin Scott Thomas snagged a European Film Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe nod for her role as a woman trying to reintegrate into society after fifteen years in prison.
From Sundance, we’ve got an allegorical German comedy called Absurdistan by Veit Helmer. It’s about women in a remote village withholding sex from their husbands until the water supply finally returns. We also have the acclaimed crime thriller Transsiberian by American director Brad Anderson. It’s a high-stakes tale of murder, chases, and deception on a train ride from Moscow to China, starring Ben Kingsley and Woody Harrelson.
Three heavy hitters are arriving from the last Venice Film Festival. There's the Mexican romantic drama The Burning Plain by Guillermo Arriage (the mastermind behind Dog Love, 21 Grams, and Babel). It weaves together four different stories involving affairs, past sins, and broken families, starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger.
Representing Japan is Takeshi Kitano with a witty drama called Achilles and the Tortoise. It tracks the life of a painter trying to find his footing and gain recognition from childhood through old age. Then there’s the crime thriller Province No. 2 by Vinko Möderndorfer, which centers on a dark secret about a mass murderer uncovered during a robbery.
Also from Venice, we have the Mexican crime thriller La Zona, directed by Rodrigo Pla, which deals with a crime committed within a gated community for the wealthy.
That movie is a total winner—it grabbed the Luigi de Laurentis award in Venice, the FIPRESCI prize in Toronto, and audience awards in San Francisco, Miami, and Fribourg.
Finally, two films are making the jump from Cannes: the romantic drama Two Lovers by James Gray (the guy behind Little Odessa and Cop Land). It’s about a guy torn between a good friend his parents want him to marry and a hot neighbor; notably, it features Joaquin Phoenix’s final role before he pivoted toward music, alongside Gwyneth Paltrow. We also have the German-Kazakh comedy Tulpan by Sergey Dvortsevoy, about a guy searching for a bride in the middle of the steppe after leaving the navy. That one won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes and picked up Best Director in Cottbus, plus wins in Tokyo, Zurich, and Montreal, and even Best Film in the East from West program at Karlovy Vary.
Coming straight out of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival is Aleksei Uchitel’s Russian drama *The Prisoner*, which just snagged Best Director. It’s about two Russian soldiers using a young Chechen prisoner to try and claw their way back to freedom. It’s basically the heavy hitter from that major Eastern European fest in Cottbus. We're also getting a French crime flick called *The Killer* by Cédric Anger. It dives into the twisted dynamic between a hitman and his target, starring Grégoire Colin (you know him from *Olivier, Olivier* or *Before the Rain*).
From the UK, we’ve got Julian Jarrold’s *Brideshead Revisited*. It’s an adaptation of that famous Evelyn Waugh novel about a young guy whose whole world shifts after meeting an aristocratic Catholic family in pre-war England. Then there's a romance drama from Rome titled *The French Gigolo* by Josiane Balasko—she's actually the daughter of an American immigrant, Ivan Blaskovic. It follows a married guy living a double life, providing sexual services to wealthy ladies in his spare time.
The international program for the 56th San Francisco Film Festival is kicking things off with the 5th edition of the Europolis-Meridians in Castel. That runs from Saturday the 11th through Friday the 17th of July, 2009, starting at 9:30 PM.
Every single movie from that kickoff lineup will be screened again during the main festival over at China Valley starting at 4:00 PM. As for the international program films, they’ll show up at China Valley at 6:00 PM, and they'll also hit the stadium right after the National Program movies wrap up.
Believe it or not, the first international film program at the San Francisco stadium dates all the way back to 1953, thanks to Marian Rotar. Since then, they've done occasional foreign film revues as part of the festival.
Back in 2001, they officially launched the competitive program for European cinema.
Since 2004, the international competition has been showcasing hits from both European and global cinema.
Honestly, most of these names are garbage. But hey, with an Almodóvar retrospective and maybe one or two decent local titles, this could easily be the festival of the year.