Films & Schedules - M

In this good-hearted film about the trials of caring for the elderly, a middle-aged bachelor who lives with his mother finds himself looking after the mothers and aunts of two acquaintances over a long weekend.

“One of Italy’s leading scriptwriters, 59-year-old Gianni Di Gregorio (screenwriter of Gomorrah), stars in his utterly charming directorial debut as the money-troubled Giovanni, who spends his days caring for his elderly mother in Rome. Giovanni discovers that some of his back rent will be forgotten if he also takes in his landlord’s elderly mother for a few days during the traditional mid-August holiday. But when the landlord arrives, he has both his mother and his aunt in tow. Then Giovanni’s friend Luigi shows up with a similar caretaking request for his own aged mother. Winner of the Venice Film Festival’s Best First Film prize, Mid-August Lunch has a wonderfully loose, almost improvised feel in which Di Gregorio focuses on following the natural rhythms of his houseguests’ interactions with each other rather than on a set storyline.”—Film Society of Lincoln Center.

First Feature Film.

Cultural Partner: Italian Cultural Institute, San Francisco.

75 Minutes    

Interests: Narrative Feature, Comedy.

The Misfortunates examines the unconventional adolescence of thirteen year old Gunther and his dysfunctional family. A bawdy film full of pathos and humor that ponders what it takes to raise a child.

Thirteen-year-old Gunther represents the youngest generation of a line of proud, hard-drinking Strobbe men. Told in flashback from Gunther’s perspective as an unsuccessful writer in his early thirties, van Groeningen’s black comedy ruminates over Gunther’s ribald, chaotic adolescence under the “guidance” of three bawdy uncles, an ever-boozing dad, one put-upon grandmother, and unbounded collective dysfunction. Adapted from an acclaimed novel by Dimitri Verhulst and directed with deftness and verve by van Groeningen, The Misfortunates combines equal amounts of heart, soul, and pathos as it ponders whether, in the absence of other virtues, love is enough to raise a child. “Blackout drinking, compulsive gambling, non-stop whoring, and chronic fighting. Not exactly solid citizen types.”—Hollywood Reporter.

Filmography: Steve + Sky (04), With Friends Like These (07).

This year’s Belgian submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

108 Minutes    

Interests: Oscar Submissions, Narrative Feature, Comedy.

When a volcanic eruption forces the Moomin family to take refuge in an old theater, Moominpappa decides to write a play for the family to perform.

Based on Tove Jansson’s well-loved “Moomin” books, this visually striking animated film will delight young children and big kids alike. A tranquil summer day is interrupted by a volcanic eruption, causing a flood in the Moominvalley. The water rises higher and higher in Moominhouse, forcing the family to take refuge in a strange house that floats by. The unusual lifeboat turns out to be a theatre. Moominpappa begins to write a play for the others to perform.

First Feature Film.

Ages nine and up.

Sponsored by Scandinavian Heritage Foundation.

75 Minutes    

Interests: Narrative Feature, Animation, Family Fare, Literature.

Mother is the story of an over protective mothers’ undying love and devotion for her mentally handicapped son.

“Convinced that her son has been wrongly accused of murder, a widow throws herself body and soul into proving his innocence. After his madcap allegorical monster movie The Host, Bong Joon-ho returns with an even more startling genre film. Mother begins as a cartoonish, almost slapstick comedy about a village idiot and his insanely doting, long-widowed parent. Midway through, the movie takes a serious turn as the 27-year-old child is railroaded into prison for the murder of a local school girl; then, in its last third, Mother unexpectedly spirals into a chilling psychological drama, as its unstoppable, devoted maternal protector appoints herself the case’s chief investigator and mutates into a cosmic force of nature, giving perhaps the performance of the year.”—New York Film Festival.

Filmography: Barking Dogs Never Bite (01), Memories of Murder (03), The Host (06).

This year’s South Korean submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

Sponsored by Oregon Korea Foundation.

129 Minutes    

Interests: Oscar Submissions, Narrative Feature, Asian.

In this sensational comedy, a film composer with writer's block and a pregnant executive enter into an unusual bargain to keep a secret from the exec's conservative mother.

Ezequiel, a nearly broke film music composer, has 20 days to deliver a score. He’s just not hearing it. One day he calls his bank, and listening to muzak while on hold for Paula, an executive he’s never met, he hears a song that inspires a breakthrough. How to find that song again, among the hundreds of inane on-hold muzak tunes? Paula, meanwhile, has not told her very conservative mother that, though she is pregnant, she is no longer with her boyfriend. When mother and composer both wind up in her office, she impulsively introduces Ezequiel as the father. They each have something the other needs, and though they are not even acquaintances, Ezequiel and Paula soon enter into a strange partnership. A witty romantic comedy that has been a sensation in Argentina, Hernán Goldfrid’s breezy film features a stellar cast, including Norma Aleandro, Diego Peretti, and Natalia Oreiro.

First Feature Film.

106 Minutes    

Interests: New Directors, Narrative Feature, Spanish Language, Latino, Comedy, Music.

A suburban family is forced to put their life in perspective and figure out what's worth fighting for in this sensitive, hilarious comedy from the director of Look Both Ways (PIFF 30).

Sarah Watt’s follow-up to her imaginative first film, Look Both Ways (PIFF 30), examines both the comedy and drama of suburban family life in Melbourne, and will resonate with anyone who has endured life’s daily little challenges only to get sideswiped by a massive one. Sacha Horler stars as Natalie, an average housewife dealing with everyday realities and family chaos: never-ending mortgage payments, raucous kids, family celebrations, and an absent-minded husband (Matt Day). Suddenly, fate throws an unexpected curve ball, and Natalie and her family must pull together as one in ways they could never have anticipated. Natalie’s year-long trial ensures that she has little choice but to laugh and cry, often at the same time, as the riches and meaning of a life worth fighting for come into focus.

Filmography: Look Both Ways (05).

Sponsored by KINK.FM.

92 Minutes    

Interests: Narrative Feature, Comedy.