ons stival . - California Film Institute

Welcome to Nollywood US 2007 57 MINS - TOTAL PROGRAM 72 MINS
Sunday, October 7 3:30 pm WELC07R Rafael
Tuesday, October 9 7:30 pm WELC09A SF Art Institute
Director Jamie Meltzer Producers Henry S. Rosenthal, Cayce Lindner Cinematographer Bruce Dickson Editor Daniel Friedman
Print Source Jamie Meltzer
Roger Corman meets the digital age in Nigeria, where a hyperactive young film industry churns out an astonishing 2,400
movies a year. Entrepreneurial producer-directors shoot fast and cheap, targeting the ravenous direct-to-DVD market.
Some of these young moguls are artists at heart, dreaming of making “serious” films as they labor away under extremely
trying conditions. With a perfect blend of respect and deadpan humor, director Jamie Meltzer documents the ambitions
and struggles of several Nollywood filmmakers on the rise, including Izu Ojukwu, who is embarking on a daunting, largescale
film about the Liberian civil war, based on actual events (Laviva, MVFF 2007; see page 97). Interviews with actors,
journalists and industry professionals round out this excellent introduction to the Nigerian film explosion. —Michael Fox
PRECEDED BY
Salim Baba Director Tim Sternberg
India/US 2007 15 MINS In Bengali with English subtitles • A handcranked-cinema-cart projectionist artfully edits his own
medley of Bollywood’s best song and dance spectacles for his young viewers.
• • • Presented in association with the San Francisco Black Film Festival and the Museum of the African Diaspora
When Darkness Falls (När Mörkret Faller) SwedeN 2006 134 MINS
Wednesday, October 10 9:30 pm WHEN10S Sequoia
Director/Screenwriter Anders Nilsson Producer Joakim Hansson Cinematographer Per Arne Svenson Editor Darek Hodor
Cast Oldoz Javidi, Lia Boysen, Reuben Sallmander, Per Graffman, Bibi Anderson, Peter Engman Print Source Swedish Film
Institute
In Swedish with English subtitles • With shifting storylines reminiscent of Crash, this intense, understated Swedish
thriller unfolds in a compromised society in which danger lurks in even the most seemingly benign situations. Two
young sisters discover their immigrant family’s deadly notion of honor when their parents suspect one of them has
shamed them by consorting with boys; after years of abuse, an award-winning television journalist has her husband
arrested, only to see her colleagues take his side; a restaurateur receives death threats after agreeing to testify
against the gunman that shot his bouncer. Tension and dread increase as each of these characters, regardless of
personal cost, manages to find the will to stand up against the twin threats of injustice and social censure—and a ray
of light begins to peek out of the bleak Stockholm winter. North American Premiere —Pam Grady
• • • Presented in association with the Consulate General of Sweden of San Francisco
• • •Sponsored by Frank Howard Allen Realtors
Wild Boys of the Road US 1933 68 MINS - TOTAL PROGRAM 75 MINS
Monday, October 8 4:30 pm WILD08R Rafael
Director William Wellman Producer Robert Presnell, Sr. Screenwriter Earl Baldwin Cinematographer Arthur L. Todd Editor
Thomas Pratt Cast Frankie Darro, Dorothy Coonan, Edwin Phillips Print Source Warner Bros. Classics
In 1933, the year Oscar winner William Wellman’s hard-hitting movie about kids who leave home to ride the rails
was released, the Great Depression was at its lowest point and Franklin D. Roosevelt had just begun to implement
his sweeping governmental reforms. Frankie Darro, who played the lead, and his “leading lady,” Dorothy Coonan,
were both 16. Their two characters meet while hopping trains, and they eventually hook up with a large community
of kids living rough because their parents can’t support them. As they wander from state to state in search of work,
a glimmer of hope finally appears when New Deal reforms offer jobs to young people. Never released on video and
seldom shown in Warner Brother retrospectives, Wild Boys, with its gritty realism and natural acting, nonetheless
wins audiences every time it’s shown. Ages 10+ —John Morrison
PRECEDED BY
Betty Boop for President Director Dave Fleischer
US 1932 7 MINS Betty runs for president in the same year as FDR, in this parody of politics that is very relevant to
Depression-era concerns.
Women of Tibet: A Quiet Revolution US 2007 57 MINS - TOTAL PROGRAM 95 MINS
Wednesday, October 10 7:00 pm WOME10T 142 Throckmorton
Saturday, October 13 3:30 pm WOME13R Rafael
Director/Producer Rosemary Rawcliffe Cinematographer Peter McCandless Editor Miriam Telles Print Source Frame of Mind
Films, Inc.
ACTIVE CINEMA MOVEMENT • In English and Tibetan with English subtitles • In 1959, Tibetan women in Lhasa
took to the streets to oppose the violent occupation of their country by Chinese forces, and remained there until
heavy shelling forced their surrender. Some were jailed; some risked escape across the Himalayas. The exiled
elders of what became known as the Tibetan Women’s Uprising are at the heart of this second film in director
Rosemary Rawcliffe’s trilogy about women of Tibet. Interviews with three generations of women—including Ama
Adhe Tapontsang, Dolma Tsering Teykhang and Tseten Choeden—as well as with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, reveal
incredible stories of long incarceration, of perilous treks and of women in exile who continue to embody their country’s
cultural legacy as they build schools, clinics and communities, and work as doctors, engineers and politicians. The
rare footage and thoughtful beauty of the film, combined with these deeply moving stories, make this a perfect
companion piece to last year’s Gyalyum Chemo—The Great Mother (MVFF 2006). World Premiere —Zoë Elton
• • •A panel discussion with special guests will follow both screenings.
• • • Presented in association with Bay Area Friends of Tibet
online | mvff.com
valley of the docs
world cinema
children’s filmfest
valley of the docs
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