ons stival . - California Film Institute

Drained (O Cheiro do ralo) bRAzIL 2006 105 MINS
Wednesday, October 10 9:45 pm DRA10R Rafael
Saturday, October 13 6:45 pm DRA13T 142 Throckmorton
Director Heitor Dhalia Producers Heitor Dhalia, Joana Mariani, Marcelo Doria, Matias Mariani, Rodrigo Teixeira Screenwriters
Heitor Dhalia, Marcal Aquino. Cinematographer Jose Roberto Eliezer Editors Jair Peres, Pedro Becker Cast Selton Mello, Paula
Braun, Lourenco Mutarelli, Silvia Lourenco, Fabiana Gugli, Martha Meola Print Source Ondamax Films
In Portugese with English subtitles • A wild and witty deadpan daydream, Drained is adapted from Lourenco
Mutarelli’s novel and focuses on the troubled mind of a twisted pawnbroker and the eccentric characters that cross
his path. Lourenco (Selton Mello) is a strange, scruffy man who spends his days having philosophical conversations
about the value of gold watches, glass eyes and rakes. Things take a turn for the weird when a horrible smell coming
from his workplace drain, and his unadulterated lust for the specific body part of a local waitress, push Lourenco
into a mind-bending loop of comedy and confusion. Filmmaker Dhalia uses minimalist sets, a scattering of evocative
music and crisp editing to create a hypnotic atmosphere in which to portray the unexpected actions of these
unconventional people. Absurd, funny and giddily absorbing from the first frame, Drained is one-of-a-kind experience
that will charm filmgoers in search of a new cult classic. —Brendan Peterson
Elvis and Anabelle US 2007 105 MINS
Thursday, October 11 9:30 pm ELV11S Sequoia
Friday, October 12 7:15 pm ELV12R Rafael
Director/Screenwriter Will Geiger Producers Nick Quested, Carolyn Pfeiffer Cinematographer Conrad W. Hall Editor
Sandra Adair Cast Max Minghella, Blake Lively, Joe Mantegna, Keith Carradine, Mary Steenburgen Print Source Goldcrest Films
International
Elvis and Anabelle finds romantic innocence in dark and bizarre places. Elvis (Max Minghella, Bee Season, MVFF
2005), the brooding yet devoted son of a mortician, meets Anabelle (Blake Lively, The Sisterhood of the Traveling
Pants), a lovely young Texas pageant queen, as he prepares her for her funeral. Miraculously, he discovers she’s
alive. Resurrected, Anabelle yearns for joy in her second life. She is also strangely drawn to Elvis’ funeral home,
captivated by a vision she can’t quite remember. Elvis slowly becomes enchanted by Anabelle’s vibrant, pure spirit,
while her curiosity threatens to expose his secret, that he has secretly taken over the business for his brilliant but
now tragically disabled father. Lush cinematography, a haunting soundtrack and characters with a distinct voice and
depth are finessed by powerful performances by Minghella and Blakely, who radiate boundless chemistry as the
titular couple, and by Mary Steenburgen and Joe Mantegna. —Kristine Kolton
• • •Sponsored by Pacific Union
The End of the Neubacher Project AUSTRIA/NeTheRLANdS 2006 74 MINS
Saturday, October 6 1:00 pm END06S Sequoia
Monday, October 8 9:30 pm END08R Rafael
Director Marcus J. Carney Producers Lukas Stepanik, Rolf Orthel, Georg Tschurtschenthaler Cinematographers Marcus J.
Carney, Ludwig Löckinger, Rolf Orthel Editors Marcus J. Carney, Georg Tschurtschenthaler Print Source Marcus J. Carney
In English and German with English subtitles • Filmmaker Marcus J. Carney’s gripping and intimate film examines
“Morbus Austracus,” a so-called Austrian psychic disease with symptoms including a “disability to accept historical
facts, denial of responsibility and covering shame with persistent silence.” Specifically, Carney focuses on his
grandparents, who had been high-ranking members of the Austrian Nazi Party, and the way in which his relatives
persist in the pretense that their family has no skeletons in the closet. In the course of making the film, Carney also
documented his mother’s losing battle with lung cancer. A devastating chronicle of one nation’s refusal to confront a
less-than-stellar legacy, The End of the Neubacher Project is also one man’s attempt to find peace with his parents.
Like fellow first-person documentarian Ross McElwee, Carney knows how to seamlessly match the political with
the personal. What begins as a scathing social indictment becomes an extraordinary testament to the power of
forgiveness. North American Premiere —David Fear
• • • Presented in association with Facing History and Ourselves, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival and the Doc Film Institute of San Fancisco State
University
Four Sheets to the Wind US 2007 91 MINS
Sunday, October 7 3:30 pm FOUR07S Sequoia
Saturday, October 13 5:00 pm FOUR13R Rafael
Director/Screenwriter Sterlin Harjo Producers Ted Kroeber, Chad Burris Cinematographer Frederick Schroeder Editor David
Michael Maurer Cast Cody Lightning, Tamara Podemski, Laura Bailey, Jerri Arredondo Print Source Ted Kroeber
In English and Muscogee with English subtitles • “Every now and then, good things happen in Oklahoma,” promises
the film’s narrator, and the wry melancholy of this observation infuses every frame of this haunting portrait of modernday
Native Americans. The simple, unaffected story—a Seminole-Creek family coping with the untimely death of
its taciturn patriarch—unfolds with disarming quiet, as if the constricted choices of poverty and Indian life have
constricted voices as well, words being too precious to spend. But as silence gives way to talking, and listening, the
characters’ emotions break through in heart-rending waves. After the death of his father, dutiful son Cufe Smallhill
leaves home to visit his self-destructive, hard-living sister, Miri, in Tulsa. Here, he meets Miri’s white neighbor Francie,
whose genuine affection for Cufe opens him up—to grief, reconciliation and new possibilities. This first feature by
Oklahoma native Sterlin Harjo crackles with lived authenticity, nuanced acting and an unexpectedly cool soundtrack.
—Jeff Campbell
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