MFF 2019 Festival Catalog

Films
FICTION FEATURE
FICTION FEATURE COMPETITION
THE DIVE
Director: Yona Rozenkier
Producers: Efrat Cohen, Kobi Mizrahi
Cast: Yoel Rozenkier, Micha Rozenkier, Yona Rozenkier,
Claudia Dulitchi
Israel, 91 min
Yona Rezenkier’s semi-autobiographical debut feature is
set during the 2006 Lebanon war when three estranged
brothers reunite in their native kibbutz for the funeral
of their father. The younger brother Avishai (Micha
Rozenkier) is set to go into active battle just two days
after the funeral. When the older brothers realize he has
had little to no training they decide to help him prepare
for it the best they know how, but things soon spiral
out of control in Rezenkier’s powerful indictment on the
unintended side effects of living in a constant state of war.
Co-presented by Temple Ner Tamid and B’nai Keshet.
Post film conversation facilitated by Rabbis Marc Katz
and Elliot Tepperman.
Monday, May 6, 7:30 PM, Clairidge 1
DIVINE LOVE
Director: Gabriel Mascaro
Producer: Rachel Daisy Ellis
Cast: Dira Paes, Julio Machado, Emilio de Melo,
Teca Pereira, Mariana Nunes, Thalita Carauta
Brazil/Uruguay/Denmark/Norway/Chile, 101 min.
An atmospheric sci-fi story set in Brazil, in the year 2027,
Gabriel Mascaro’s (NEON BULL, AUGUST WINDS) latest
follows Joana (Dira Paes), a deeply religious woman who
uses her position in a notary’s office to convince couples
on the verge of divorce to attend her cult-like Divine Love
therapy sessions in an effort to save their marriages. That
is not hard to do in a society where religion has seeped
into every crevice and where people celebrate their faith
in all-night raves and search for answers from drivethrough
24-hour confessional booths. DIVINE LOVE is an
intriguing parable and socio-political commentary of a
future Brazil in which questionable past choices led to a
future where everyone is craving salvation.
Saturday, May 11, 9:30 pm, Clairidge 4
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
FICTION FEATURE COMPETITION
THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY
Director: Petra Costa
Producer: Joanna Natasegara
Brazil, 120 min.
Through the lens of Western media, the political
upheaval in Brazil has been a story of corruption and
transformation. But in THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY,
filmmaker Petra Costa charts the unfolding political
landscape of Brazil to explore one of the most
dramatic periods in her country’s history by bridging
the personal and the political. With unprecedented
access to Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva,
Costa explores the rise and fall of both leaders and the
tragically polarized nation that remains. Costa captures
this crucial moment in history, and delivers a stunning
cautionary tale for these times of democratic crisis.
Monday, May 6, 7:15 pm, Clairidge 4
Sunday, May 12, 6:30 pm, Clairidge 4
A FAMILY SUBMERGED
Director: Maria Alche
Producer: Barbara Francisco
Cast: Mercedes Moran, Esteban Bigliardi,
Marcelo Subiotto, Laila Maltz
Argentina/Brazil/Germany/Norway, 91 min.
Ever since the recent death of her sister Rina, Marcela (a
fabulous Mercedes Morán) stumbles around her Buenos
Aires apartment and her family in a perpetual state of
mental haze, gradually losing grip on any sense of reality,
lost in elliptical conversations with deceased relatives.
Marcela’s trance-like state is beautifully evoked through
the fragmented narrative and unexpected sound design
as well as the gossamer, light-filtered, cinematography.
María Alché’s A FAMILY SUBMERGED is a lush, poetic,
and tantalizing debut feature that establishes Alché as a
director to watch.
Saturday, May 4, 1:00 pm, Clairidge 3
Wednesnday, May 8, 5:15 pm, Clairidge 5
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