This year’s San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) opens April 24, and runs through April 28. The fest is in-person, at the Marina, the Premier Theater at One Letterman, t Vogie, the Walt Disney Family Museum, and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA).
The menu at SFFILM includes films from 40 countries, including 12 world premieres, 8 North American premieres and 5 US premieres. Peruse the program and buy tickets at SFFILM.
Here are more special elements of this year’s SFFILM:
- The opening night film is the the highly-buzzed-about coming age dramedy Didi. This will be only the third festival for Didi, which was a hit at both Sundance and SXSW, and which is scheduled to be released on July 26. It’s the first narrative feature from director Sean Wang, who was Oscar-nominated for his documentary short Nai Nai & Wai Po.
- The closing night film is a hoot – Thelma, starring 93-year-old June Squibb (Oscar-nominated for Nebraska) in an action picture. Squibb plays a scammed senior who goes on a quest to recover her money from the scammers. I’ve seen it, and it’s a surefire audience-pleaser. Thelma also features indie favorite Parker Posey and the sweet final performance of Richard Roundtree (Shaft).
- Tributes to Joan Chen and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
- Movies starring Chen, Squibb, Roundtree, Posey, Isabelle Huppert, Colman Domingo, Ellen Burstyn, Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans, Lara Flynn Boyle, Lake Bell, Taylor Russell, F. Murray Abraham, Judy Greer, Julianne Nicholson, Elias Koteas and Paul Raci,
As usual, I’ll be looking for under-the-radar gems and posting my recommendations just before the fest’s opening. My coverage will be linked on my SFFILM 2024 page.