After offering a traditional thanks to the audience for attending a sneak preview of the 47th Mill Valley Film Festival’s highlights, executive director Mark Fishkin added a uniquely 2024 observation.
“I don’t know if you realize it, but you are the emissaries of film in this community,” he said on Sept. 12 at San Rafael’s Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. This was after pointing out that the assembled moviegoers included many who are not just regulars at MVFF and the Rafael’s year-round cinematic offerings but were among the first film fans to return to movie theaters in measurable numbers following the pandemic.
“By supporting the film festival, and by supporting film in general, you are actively encouraging other people to return to the theater. You are playing a vital part in the resurgence of film, and we thank you for that,” he continued.
As Fishkin suggests, for the first time since theaters reopened after the Covid shutdowns, film festival attendance numbers are up, if only a bit, and if only in some markets. This year’s Cannes Festival, in May, saw a 6% rise in attendance, and that same month, at the Milwaukee Film Festival, attendance was up by 10%.
Earlier in the year, though attendance numbers were not released, the annual Sundance Film Festival reported that hotel vacancy rates in Park City, Utah, were at their lowest rates since 2022, which almost certainly shows that people are gradually returning to watch films and look out for celebrities at parties. At the same time, attendance at this year’s Berlin Film Festival and a number of other international festivals was slightly down.
Zoe Elton, MVFF’s longtime programming director, confirmed Fishkin’s optimism.
“There is reason to feel good about the future of film,” she said, “and this year’s crop of films is proof of that. The films we are exhibiting over the 10 days of the festival are some of the strongest we’ve seen in a while, and they show a huge expansion of diverse voices. The future looks good.”
Running Thursday, Oct. 3 to Sunday, Oct. 13, the 2024 Mill Valley Film Festival does have a large number of promising offerings, from small gems one will likely find nowhere else, to potential Oscar-winners one will be able to brag about, professing to have seen them first. With screenings planned at a number of theaters from the Rafael to Mill Valley’s Sequoia Theater, there are films aimed at an array of audiences, from young to adult. Lovers of documentaries and fans of narrative storytelling will find plenty to enjoy; ditto those with an ear for an array of languages.
The festival opens with Conclave, a papal mystery-thriller from director Edward Berger, winner of the Oscar last year for Best International Feature, for his adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. Starring Ralph Fiennes as a Vatican priest who is ordered to oversee the selection of a new pope following the somewhat detail-free death of the last one, the film also features Stanley Tucci, Lucian Msamati and John Lithgow as competitive priests, all in the running for the title. Isabella Rosselini also appears as a nun with secrets to share about what really might have happened in the late pope’s private chambers.
Fiennes and Berger are expected to be present to introduce the film and engage in a post-screening Q&A. As is often the custom on opening night, the film will be screened simultaneously in several theaters, and will be followed by the Opening Night Celebration at the Marin Country Mart.
The closing night spotlight film (Thursday, Oct. 3, 5pm, all theaters) is the sensation-causing, somewhat polarizing Nightbitch, starring Amy Adams, and directed by Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). Adams, who last appeared at the festival with her 2016 film, Arrival, is expected to be present to discuss the film. And it sounds like quite the experience.
Described as a bold look at the dark side of motherhood, Nightbitch is the story of an overactive two year old’s frazzled mother (Adams), who begins to suspect she is turning into a dog.
Anora, winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes, stars Mikey Madison as a New York stripper who impulsively marries the rich son of a ruthless Russian oligarch. It was directed by Sean Baker, best known for The Florida Project. The film plays Friday, Oct. 4 at 6 and 7:30pm at the Sequoia, with Mikey Madison expected to be there for pre-show introductions of the film.
On Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7pm, actors Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofia Gascón, Adriana Paz and Edgar Ramírez will make an appearance to talk about their new film from director Jacques Audiard (Paris, 13th District). Titled Emilia Pérez, and described as a “narco trans musical,” the film follows a violent drug cartel leader (Paz) who hires a lawyer (Saldaña) to help him handle the complications that ensue when he decides to have a gender reassignment, becoming the title character of Emilia Pérez (Gascón).
Better Man, another musical, of sorts, tells the true story of British boy band superstar Robbie Williams. Screening Thursday, Oct. 10 at 6pm at the Sequoia, the film stars … a monkey. That’s not an error. In the film, directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), Williams is portrayed as a monkey, using motion capture technology. Williams, for what it’s worth, does provide the voice for the primate imitation of himself. The film screens again on Friday, Oct. 11 at 1pm at the Sequoia.
Jude Law will be present to accept a lifetime achievement award, supported by clips from his many films, and to introduce the film Firebrand, in which he plays King Henry VIII. That happens Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2pm at the Rafael.
Another can’t-miss-this spotlight event features Danielle Deadwyler (Till), with a screening of The Piano Lesson, based on the play by August Wilson. Directed by Malcolm Washington, set in 1938 Philadelphia, the film features Deadwyler as a woman desperate to hang onto the family’s prize possession—a piano carved with the images of her enslaved ancestors. Also starring are John David Washington (BlacKKKlansman) and Samuel L. Jackson. It screens Sunday, Oct. 6 at 6:30pm at the Sequoia. Deadwyler is expected to be in attendance, with a reception to follow.
The full lineup of films and special events can be found at MVFF.com.
