Mar 19, 2020
Festival
154 Films from 45 Countries Were to Screen Over the Festival’s 14 Days
San Francisco, CA – SFFILM has announced the complete lineup for the 2020 San Francisco International Film Festival (originally scheduled for April 8–21), though the event itself was canceled due to growing safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is obviously not the way we wanted to share the Festival program with the world, but we feel strongly about each of these films and filmmakers,” said SFFILM Director of Programming Rachel Rosen. “We’ve been working for months to assemble a lineup that would delight our audiences, and we’re proud of this slate of world-class films. We will be seeking ways to continue to champion all of them as they continue their journeys throughout the rest of 2020 and into the future.”
“While we are heartbroken that we are unable to hold the Festival itself, we are planning new ways to keep our audiences entertained, inspired, and engaged with each other,” said SFFILM Executive Director Anne Lai. “We look forward to sharing ideas on how to stay involved in film culture in the coming weeks. I want to thank our incredible staff for their beautiful work and dedication, and our audiences for their commitment and shared sense of desire to look forward to what’s next for SFFILM. Stay tuned.”
63RD SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
154 Films
49 Fiction Features
33 Documentary Features
7 New Visions Features
2 Animated Features
63 Shorts
45 Countries Represented
50 Languages
4 World Premieres
6 North American Premieres
1 US Premiere
73 Women Directors (including co-directors)
BIG NIGHTS
Opening Night: Boys State, Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss, USA, 109
Centerpiece: I Carry You with Me, Heidi Ewing, USA/Mexico, 111
Closing Night: Bad Education, Cory Finley, USA, 108
AWARDS & TRIBUTES
George Gund III Craft of Cinema Award – Agnes Gund: Aggie
Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award – Pedro Costa: Vitalina Varela
Mel Novikoff Award – Alamo Drafthouse Cinema: Mother
A Tribute to Sienna Miller: Wander Darkly
A Tribute to Steve Coogan: The Trip to Greece
LIVE & ONSTAGE PROGRAMS
Cut Chemist: Live Score + Films Concrète
An Evening with Jacolby Satterwhite: Birds in Paradise
Fantastic Negrito: Live Score + Lost Landscapes of Oakland
Miwa Matreyek: Infinitely Yours + This World Made Itself
FEATURE FILMS
Abou Leila, Amin Sidi-Boumédiène, Algeria/France/Qatar, 135 min.
Acasă, My Home, Radu Ciorniciuc, Romania/Germany/Finland, 85 min.
The American Sector, Courtney Stephens & Pacho Velez, USA, 70 min. (North American Premiere)
Amulet, Romola Garai, UK, 99 min.
Athlete A, Bonni Cohen & Jon Shenk, USA, 104 min.
Balloon, Pema Tseden, China, 102 min.
Beautiful Dreamer, Amy Glazer, USA, 94 min.
Beyond Moving, Vikram Dasgupta, Canada, 84 min. (North American Premiere)
Birds in Paradise, Jacolby Satterwhite, USA, 63 min.
Circumstantial Pleasures, Lewis Klahr, USA, 65 min.
Coded Bias, Shalini Kantayya, USA/China/UK, 90 min.
Collective, Alexander Nanau, Romania/Germany/Finland/Luxembourg, 109 min.
Crip Camp, Nicole Newnham & Jim LeBrecht, USA, 107 min.
Dick Johnson Is Dead, Kirsten Johnson, USA, 89 min.
Dolphin Reef, Alastair Fothergill & Kevin Scholey, USA, 77 min.
Dramarama, Jonathan Wysocki, USA, 91 min. (World Premiere)
Farewell Amor, Ekwa Msangi, USA, 103 min.
Feels Good Man, Arthur Jones, USA/Canada, 93 min.
La Femme au Couteau (The Woman with the Knife), Timité Bassori, Ivory Coast, 80 min.
The Fever, Maya Da-Rin, Brazil/France/Germany, 98 min.
The Fight, Eli Despres, Josh Kriegman, & Elyse Steinberg, USA, 96 min.
Freeland, Mario Furloni & Kate McLean, USA, 80 min.
Groove: 20th Anniversary Screening, Greg Harrison, USA, 86 min.
Happy Happy Joy Joy – The Ren & Stimpy Story, Ron Cicero & Kimo Easterwood, USA/Canada, 107 min.
House of Cardin, P. David Ebersole & Todd Hughes, France/USA, 97 min.
How to Build a Girl, Coky Giedroyc, UK, 102 min.
The Human Factor, Dror Moreh, Israel, 108 min.
I’m No Longer Here, Fernando Frías de la Parra, Mexico/USA, 106 min.
The Iron Hammer, Joan Chen, USA/China/Italy 99 min. (World Premiere)
Just 6.5, Saeed Roustaee, Iran, 134 min.
La Llorona, Jayro Bustamente, Guatemala/France, 96 min.
The Last Autumn, Yrsa Roca Fannberg, Iceland, 78 min. (North American Premiere)
The Last Vermeer, Dan Friedkin, USA, 117 min.
Lost Landscapes of Oakland, Rick Prelinger, USA, 68 min.
Lucky Chan-sil, Kim Cho-hee, South Korea, 96 min. (North American Premiere)
maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore, Sky Hopinka, USA, 82 min.
Marona’s Fantastic Tale, Anca Damian, France/Romania, 92 min.
Mayor, David Osit, USA/UK/Palestine, 89 min.
Miss Juneteenth, Channing Godfrey Peoples, USA, 103 min.
Nine Days, Edson Oda, USA, 124 min.
No. 7 Cherry Lane, Yonfan, Hong Kong/China, 125 min.
The Nowhere Inn, Bill Benz, USA, 91 min.
Oh Mercy!, Arnaud Desplechin, France, 119 min.
On a Magical Night, Christophe Honoré, France/Belgium/Luxembourg, 90 min.
143 Sahara Street, Hassen Ferhani, Algeria/France, 100 min.
The Painter and the Thief, Benjamin Ree, Norway, 102 min.
Paris Calligrammes, Ulrike Ottinger, Germany/France, 129 min. (North American Premiere)
The Perfect Candidate, Haifaa Al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia/Germany, 101 min.
The Personal History of David Copperfield, Armando Iannucci, UK, 120 min.
Promising Young Woman, Emerald Fennell, USA, 113 min.
Radioactive, Marjane Satrapi, UK, 103 min.
Rebuilding Paradise, Ron Howard, USA, 92 min.
River City Drumbeat, Marlon Johnson & Anne Flatté, USA, 95 min.
Rocks, Sarah Gavron, UK, 93 min.
Rose Plays Julie, Joe Lawlor & Christine Malloy, Ireland/UK, 100 min.
Saudi Runaway, Susanne Regina Meures, Switzerland, 88 min.
Save Yourselves!, Alex H. Fischer & Eleanor Wilson, USA, 94 min.
Selah and the Spades, Tayarisha Poe, USA, 97 min.
Shirley, Josephine Decker, USA, 107 min.
Shit & Champagne, D’Arcy Drollinger, USA, 91 min. (World Premiere)
Sibyl, Justine Triet, France/Belgium, 100 min.
Sing Me a Song, Thomas Balmès, France/Germany/Switzerland, 99 min.
The Sleepwalkers, Paula Hernández, Argentina/Uruguay, 107 min.
So Long, My Son, Wang Xiaoshuai, China, 185 min.
Some Kind of Heaven, Lance Oppenheim, USA, 83 min.
Stray, Elizabeth Lo, USA, 72 min.
Suk Suk, Ray Yeung, Hong Kong, 92 min. (US Premiere)
Tesla, Michael Almereyda, USA, 102 min.
Those That, at a Distance, Resemble Another, Jessica Sarah Rinland, Argentina/UK/Spain, 67 min.
A Thousand Cuts, Ramona S. Diaz, USA/Philippines, 120 min.
Time, Garrett Bradley, USA, 81 min.
True History of the Kelly Gang, Justin Kurzel, Australia/UK, 124 min.
Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me, Abby Ginzberg, USA, 80 min. (World Premiere)
Two of Us, Filippo Meneghetti, France/Luxembourg/Belgium, 100 min.
Valley of Souls, Nicolás Rincón Gille, Colombia/Belgium/Brazil/France, 136 min. (North American Premiere)
A Voluntary Year, Ulrich Köhler & Henner Winckler, Germany, 86 min.
We Are as Gods, David Alvarado & Jason Sussberg, USA, 92 min.
Welcome to Chechnya, David France, USA, 107 min.
Workforce, David Zonana, Mexico, 82 min.
You Will Die at Twenty, Amjad Abu Alala, Sudan/France/Egypt/Germany/Norway/Qatar, 105 min.
Zana, Antoneta Kastrati, Albania/Kosovo, 97 min.
Zappa, Alex Winter, USA, 129 min.
Zumiriki, Oskar Alegria, Spain, 122 min.
SHORT FILMS
Abuelos, Rodrigo Reyes, USA, 9 min.
Basurero, Eileen Cabiling, Philippines, 17 min.
Betye Saar: Taking Care of Business, Christine Turner, USA, 8 min.
Broken Bird, Rachel Harrison Gordon, USA, 10 min.
Chasing Normality, Madison Empalmado, USA, 9 min.
Coffee Cart, Catherine Lu & Alexandra Knopf, USA, 4 min.
Curses, Jodie Mack, USA, 4 min.
Daughter, Daria Kashcheeva, Czech Republic, 15 min.
The Devil’s Harmony, Dylan Holmes Williams, UK, 14 min.
Día de la Madre, Ashley Brandon & Dennis Hohne, USA, 6 min.
Diamond Game, Nolan Hieu Trifunovic, USA, 10 min.
Early Works, Ethan Ross, UK, 8 min.
Elephant in the Room, Brian R. Scott, USA, 3 min.
The Fall, Jonathan Glazer, UK, 6 min.
Fishy, Ashley Cai, USA, 1 min.
For Estefani, Jordan Bruner, USA, 3 min.
The Fox & the Pigeon, Michelle Chua & Ailneen Dewhurst, Canada, 6 min.
Funk Off Movie Remix, Tom Fitzgerald, USA, 30 min.
Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad, Camrus Johnson & Pedro Piccinini, USA, 5 min.
Grandad was a romantic, Maryam Mohajer, UK, 4 min.
How a Sprig of Fir Would Replace a Feather, Anna Kipervaser, USA, 8 min.
I Bleed, Tiago Minamisawa & Bruno H. Castro, Brazil, 7 min.
Indian Gold, Viggo Williams, USA, 4 min.
Infinitely Yours, Miwa Matreyek, USA, 30 min.
Island Queen, Zackary Grady & Jenn Harris, USA, 10 min.
Jimmy Qirqqut – Gjoa Haven Elder, Kadence Kikoak, Canada, 4 min.
Lichen, Lisa Jackson, Canada, 12 min.
The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun, Djibril Diop Mambéty, Senegal, 45 min.
Loch Ness Swim, Sean Gillane, USA/UK, 16 min.
Longer Nights, J Frisch-Wang, Germany, 4 min.
Loop, Erica Milsom, USA, 8 min.
The Magic of Chess, Jenny Schweitzer Bell, USA, 5 min.
Makeshift (For Mekas), Jem Cohen, USA, 7 min.
Matches, Géza M. Tóth, Hungary, 12 min.
Matriochkas, Bérangère McNeese, Belgium, 24 min.
Memoirs of Vegetation, Jessica Oreck, USA, 3 min.
Metro6, Geoff Hecht, USA, 8 min.
Nimic, Yorgos Lanthimos, Germany/UK/USA, 12 min.
No Fan of Andy, Kai Tomizawa, USA, 8 min.
Les nuits électriques, Eugene Deslaw, France, 13 min.
One Thousand Stories: The Making of a Mural, Tasha Van Zandt, USA, 14 min.
Pangu, Shaofu Zhang, USA/China, 6 min.
Pantyhose, Lydia Ricci, USA, 4 min.
Passenger, Cal Viet Thacher, USA, 8 min.
Puddles, Zachary Parrish, USA, 2 min.
Purpleboy, Alexandre Siqueira, Portugal, 14 min.
The Rabbit Hunters, Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson, USA/Canada, 10 min.
Reverse Shadow, Janie Geiser, USA, 8 min.
Serial Parallels, Max Hattler, UK, 2 min.
Shakti, Martín Rejtman, Argentina/Chile, 20 min.
Shotgun, Grace Gallagher, USA, 18 min.
Spit on the Broom, Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, USA, 11 min.
Standing Forward Full, Alee Peoples, USA, 6 min.
Stay Awake, Be Ready, Pham Thien An, Vietnam, 14 min.
Sticker, Georgi M. Unkovski, Macedonia, 19 min.
Stream, Diana Sánchez Maciel, Mexico, 2 min.
Symmetry, Robert Plaza, Australia, 4 min.
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore, Hannah Currie, UK, 12 min.
This World Made Itself, Miwa Matreyek, USA, 30 min.
Under the paving stones, the beach, Amanda Katz, USA, 16 min.
Vever (for Barbara), Deborah Stratman, USA/Guatemala, 12 min.
Wong Ping’s Fables 2, Wong Ping, Hong Kong, 14 min.
Yes People, Gísli Darri Halldórsson, Iceland, 9 min.
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SFFILM
SFFILM is a nonprofit organization with a mission to champion the world’s finest films and filmmakers through programs anchored in and inspired by the spirit and values of the San Francisco Bay Area. Presenter of the San Francisco International Film Festival, SFFILM is a year-round organization delivering screenings and events to more than 75,000 film lovers and media education programs to more than 15,000 students, teachers, and families annually. In addition to its public programs, SFFILM supports the careers of independent filmmakers from the Bay Area and beyond with grants, residencies, and other creative development services.
For more information visit sffilm.org.
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