San Francisco International Film Festival 2011: 04/24 – 04/27 Round-Up

This week’s San Francisco International Film Festival round-up is quite beefy, so we’re splitting it into two parts! For now, what you can see from Sunday through Wednesday.

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Asleep In The Sun

This Argentine film evokes the tag words: “metaphysical mystery,” “canine-crazed,” “soul-deep,” “Kafkaesque world,” “psuedo scientists,” “self-possessed,” and “’50s decor.” It certainly targets a very specific audience, but that audience will love it.
Directed by Alejandro Chomski – ARGENTINA

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Apr 24 @ 8:45 (Kabuki)
Thu, Apr 28 @ 3:30 (Kabuki)
sat, Apr 30 @ 6:15 (New People)

At Ellen’s Age

Like Eat, Pray, Love, this film documents what happens when the comforts of the middle-class life are disrupted. Unlike Eat, Pray, Love, this film is less “mall mom” and more surreal and quirky.
Directed by Pia Marais – GERMANY

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Apr 24 @ 6:15 (Kabuki)
Wed, Apr 27 @ 3:30 (Kabuki)
Fri, Apr 29 @ 7:00 (PFA)

the colors of the mountain

Soccer is a way of life in Latin America. What happens when soccer-playing youth come too close in contact with contended territories? The Colors Of The Mountain explores that idea.
Directed by Carlos Cesar Arbelaez – COLOMBIA

SHOWTIMES
Sat, Apr 23 @ 1:00 (Kabuki)
Sun, Apr 24 @ 6:30 (Kabuki)

hot coffee

Do you remember when a foolish (or is it brilliant?) consumer spilled hot coffee and turned around to sue McDonald’s for millions? Director Susan Saladoff does, and uses that case as a jump-off point to explore the ludicrous nature of the American legal system.
Directed by Susan Saladoff – USA

SHOWTIMES
Mon, Apr 25 @ 6:30 (Kabuki)
Tue, Apr 26 @ 2:00 (Kabuki)

the light thief

“An electrician affectionately known as Mr. Light finds himself in a difficult position when a politician embraces his dream of generating wind energy for his impoverished town. This allegory of a man confronting injustice dramatizes the challenges facing the economies of Central Asia.”
Directed by Aktan Arym Kubat

SHOWTIMES
Mon, Apr 25 @ 9:15 (Kabuki)
Sun, May 1 @ 8:45 (PFA)

microphone

Ahmad Abdalla’s second feature film explores Alexandria music scene, and about the struggle of succeeding as an artist in the Egyptian city.
Directed by Ahmad Abdalla – EGYPT

SHOWTIMES
Mon, Apr 25 @ 9:15 (Kabuki)
Sun, May 1 @ 8:45 (PFA)

Nostalgia For The Light

This film captures parallels between natural surroundings, memory, and the mysterious by digging through Chilean history and events occuring in the universe.
Directed by Patricio Guzmán – CHILE

SHOWTIMES
Tue, Apr 26 @ 6:30 (Kabuki)
Thu, Apr 28 @ 6:15 (PFA)

position among the stars

A film that follows an Indonesian family dwelling in the countryside, Position Among The Stars explores how traditional Islam and Western materialism clash.
Directed by Leonard Retel Helmrich – NETHERLANDS

SHOWTIMES
Tue, Apr 26 @ 8:50 (PFA)
Wed, Apr 27 @ 6:00 (Kabuki)
Wed, May 4 @ 9:00 (Kabuki)

a useful life

“A man who has spent his entire adult life working in a film archive faces a new beginning with the threatened closure of the institution in this loving black-and-white ode to a life lived among the reels, a deadpan comedy of cinema and obsolescence from the director of Acne.”
Directed by Federico Veiroj – URAGUAY

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Apr 24 @ Noon (New People)
Mon, Apr 25 @ 7:00 (PFA)
Sat, Apr 30 @ 3:45 (Kabuki)

ulysses

Director Oscar Godoy explores loneliness and isolation, and the idea that money cannot bring happiness or love.
Directed by Oscar Godoy – ARGENTINA/CHILE

SHOWTIMES
Sun, Apr 24 @ Noon (New People)
Mon, Apr 25 @ 7:00 (PFA)
Sat, Apr 30 @ 3:45 (Kabuki)