Featuring 130 films, the SFFilm Festival 2022, is back in person and it’s a real pleasure. The 2022 Festival will run from April 21st through May 1st, with tickets on sale at sffilm.org.
More than 130 films from 56 countries are to be shown at landmark venues including the Castro Theatre, the Vogue Theater, the Roxie Theater, the Victoria Theatre, and BAMPFA in Berkeley.
For this 65th edition of the SFFilm Festival, we will enjoy 16 World and 10 North American premieres, along with many SFFILM-supported titles.
The Festival will also celebrate the cinematic icon, Michelle Yeoh, with a special tribute to be presented by critically acclaimed actor Sandra Oh on April 29th at Castro Theater.
We have focused on French movies and here is what we have selected.
Documentary
Fire of Love, Sara Dosa (USA/Canada 2021, 93 min)
A couple’s passion for one another is inextricably bound with the explosive geology that is their life’s work in this stunning documentary portrait of volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft narrated by Miranda July. Katia and Maurice Krafft were Alsatian French volcanologists who died in a pyroclastic flow on Mount Unzen, in Japan, in 1991. The Kraffts were known for being pioneers in filming, photographing, and recording volcanoes, often getting within feet of lava flows.
Sat, Apr 23 1:00 PM CASTRO
Sun, APR 24 5:00 PM BAMPFA
Featured movies
Both Sides of the Blade – Claire Denis (France 2022, 116 min)
Master director Claire Denis reunites with Juliette Binoche to tell the passionate story of a woman torn between two men. Co-starring Vincent Lindon and Grégoire Colin, the film is scored by Denis regular Stuart Staples
Sat, Apr 23 8:00 PM CASTRO
Happening – Audrey Diwan (France 2021, 100 min)
A bright literature student in 1960s France refuses to let an unwanted pregnancy shatter her life, and seeks an illegal abortion in this powerful drama adapted from Annie Ernaux’s memoir. With Anamaria Vartolomei, Sandrine Bonnaire, Anna Mouglalis et Pio Marmai.
Fri, Apr 22 7:00 PM BAMPFA
Sat, Apr 23 6:00 PM VICTORIA
Mid-Length Films
Not quite feature-length and not quite a short—between 30 and 50 minutes long—
Mud Water – My-Linh Le (USA 2021, 31 min) – WORLD PREMIERE
Myth, naturalism, and performance blend in this lively chronicle of a Bay Area dance crew preparing for a major battle in turfing, a dance style originated in Oakland.
Screens with The Door of Return (dir. Kokutekeleza Musebeni, Anna Zhukovets) and Listen to the Beat of Our Images (dir. Audrey Jean-Baptiste, Maxime Jean-Baptiste).
Listen to the beat of our images tackles the construction of the Kourou space base (French Guiana), through the eyes of a young Guyanese woman who observes the transformation of her territory like a spectator. Combining field research and a process of editing archive images, this film approaches the French conquest of space from a unique point of view.
Fri, Apr 29 5:45 PM ROXIE
A selection of documentaries that we recommend to add to your list.
Navalny – Daniel Roher (USA/Germany/Russia 2022, 98 min)
During a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August 2020, someone poisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny with a deadly nerve agent. This riveting documentary explores the question of who tried to kill him and why.
Sat, Apr 23 4:30 PM CASTRO
TikTok, Boom. Shalini Kantayya (USA 2022, 90 min)
For young people, TikTok is the most popular platform for creating personalized content. But behind the cute videos lurk issues of censorship and data mining. This documentary deftly explores both sides of the TikTok boom.
Sat, Apr 30 3:00 PM VICTORIA
Klondike – Maryna Er Gorbach (Ukraine/Turkey 2022, 100 min)
Armed conflict hits home in the most vivid way imaginable when mortar fire decimates one wall of the farmhouse belonging to married Ukrainian couple Irka and Tolik in this striking drama based on real events.
Fri, Apr 22 8:30 PM VICTORIA
Sun, May 1 7:00 PM BAMPFA
For general information visit sffilm.org
