The Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) is always the best opportunity for Bay Area film goers to catch an early look at the Big Movies – the prestige films that will be released during Award Season. This year is the same – except we don’t even have to visit Marin County in person.
The MVFF has gone virtual and is streaming most of its program. A few of the biggest movies can be seen on a big screen – at Marin County drive-in theaters. Browse the program and buy tickets here.
THREE of the movies I am expecting to be the year’s best are playing at this year’s MVFF:
- Nomadland: Frances McDormand stars in the latest from filmmaker Chloe Zhao (The Rider).
- The Father: some say this is Anthony Hopkins’ greatest performance. Olivia Colman co-stars.
- One Night in Miami: highly acclaimed directorial debut of actress Regina King.
This 2020 MVFF has an especially rich slate of documentaries, including:
- Banksy Most Wanted (will it reveal his identity?)
- The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (opens the fest at a drive-in)
- The Boys Who Said No (Vietnam War resisters)
- Trust Me (explores misinformation on social media)
- Coded Bias (there’s an Algorithmic Justice League searching out racial bias in AI and facial recognition software)
The Heist of the Century from Argentine plays on opening night and looks pretty funny. Other international cinema includes:
- I Carry You With Me (double Sundance winner)
- Jumbo (popular at Sundance and the Berlinale)
- My Donkey My Lover and I (with the hilarious actress Laure Calamy)
- Undine (the latest from German auteur Christian Petzold)
Other promising films including Alexandre Rockwell’s much buzzed-about indie Sweet Thing and the romp The Comeback Trail (with Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones). Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit with Judi Dench opens the fest at a drive-in.
Last year’s MVFF showcased five films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: the winner Parasite, along with Marriage Story, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit and Ford vs. Ferrari. The 2018 festival featured Roma, Green Book, Shoplifters, If Beale Street Could Talk and Cold War; those five films combined for 28 Oscar nominations and 7 Oscars. You get the idea.
This year, I’m not going to have to find a parking space in downtown Mill Valley nor race from Mill Valley’s Sequoia to San Rafael’s Rafael during Marin’s rush hour. But I’ve already got my tickets to nine of the offerings. Pick out your tickets here.