Here are 10 movies you shouldn’t miss
Will Steph show?
In the run-up to the 2023 SFFILM Festival’s kick-off event April 13 at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, this has become the most bandied-about question.
Obviously, Stephen Curry has received an invitation, since he is the focal point of the opening-night film, award-winning Oakland documentary-maker Peter Nicks’ exceptional “Stephen Curry: Underrated.”
But even if the Golden State Warriors star is a no-show, the East Bay filmmaking community will be in the spotlight, with Nicks and Oakland native Ryan Coogler, director of “Fruitvale Station” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” planning to attend, along with other notables.
Although “Stephen Curry: Underrated” received its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Nicks (known for his trio of Oakland-based films, “The Waiting Room,” “The Force,” and “Homeroom”), said there is something special about seeing his latest effort launch SFFILM Fest in in Oakland.
“I’m just excited to watch the film with our community because at Sundance it was exciting … but it was Sundance, you know,” he said. “This is just different. This is home. This is going to be a reflection of the pride that we all have in our home and how Stephen Curry has helped elevate that community in the national consciousness.”
The Oakland presence can be felt throughout the 11-day festival’s run. Oakland also commands the spotlight for the fest’s closing night feature, East Bay rapper and director Boots Riley’s wild Amazon Prime series, “I’m a Virgo.” Four episodes of the upcoming Oakland-set bit of surrealness will be screened April 23 at CVG San Francisco 14 cinemas.
Meanwhile, director Stanley Nelson receives SFFILM’s Mel Novikoff Award — given to a filmmaker who has “enhanced the filmgoer’s appreciation of world cinema” at 3:15 p.m. April 15 at CGV Cinema. Nelson’s 2015 documentary “Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” will be shown after the presentation.
Not to be outdone, Fremont also grabs star billing. After its raved-about world premiere at Sundance, director Babak Jalali’s black-and-white “Fremont,” a drama about a former U.S. military translator in Afghanistan who is now living in Fremont and working at a fortune cookie factory in San Francisco screens as part of the festival April 22 in San Francisco and April 23 in Berkeley.
The Peninsula gets represented too with San Mateo folk legend Joan Baez the focus of the documentary “Joan Baez I Am a Noise,” screening April 18 at The Castro in San Francisco. The iconic performer plans to attend.
There is much to savor at the SFFILM Fest. Here are 10 standout movies we’ve seen.
‘Rally’
When and where: 5:30 p.m. April 21 at CGV San Francisco 14; noon April 23 at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Guests expected: Director Rooth Tang and others
Why it stands out: In this engrossing documentary about the late Chinese-born San Francisco political activist Rose Pak, getting its world premier here, Tang never soft-pedals the divisiveness of his subject. And that makes “Rally” all that more special and interesting. Tang covers a lot of ground — Pak’s meager origins in China, her brief San Francisco Chronicle reporting stint, her brazen chess-like maneuvers to get favored politicians elected and the verbal jibes she took while emceeing the Chinatown New Year’s Parade at politicos who, in her eyes, had failed the Asian community. If you’re a Bay Area history buff or of a fan of fascinating documentaries about larger-than-life characters upset the status quo, “Rally” is a must.
‘Past Lives’
When and where: 8 p.m. April 18 at The Castro, California Premiere and Centerpiece Selection
Guests expected: Director/screenwriter Celine Song and actor Greta Lee
Why it stands out: Every scene, every carefully slimmed-down yet revealing line of dialogue in Celine Song’s heartbreaker on a South Korean childhood friendship and the infinite possibilities of soul-stirring past connections reflects a wise and empathetic understanding of the conflicts waging within its three characters (played with virtuosity by Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro). Told with literary grace and with metaphorical flourishes, “Past Lives” speaks quietly on the immigrant dynamic and on life’s what-might-have-beens and then hits us with an emotional ending that’s so unbelievably perfect and beautiful it renders you wordless.
After the festival: The A24 release is slated to open June 2 in theaters.
‘BlackBerry’
When and where: 7:30 p.m. April 17 at Premier Theater, San Francisco; receiving the Sloan Science on Screen Award
Why it stands out: How in the heck did the first smartphone, which everyone expected would rule the world, tank? Matt Johnson’s pitch-perfect feature film jauntily shows us what went up and what went down with the BlackBerry, from its kooky start to its rise to its crash-and-burn demise. It makes for a massively entertaining ride with two main actors steering the action: Glenn Howerton as tantrum-prone Canadian businessman James Balsillie, who slices himself a huge piece of the company pie; and Jay Baruchel as founder Mike Lazaridis, the OCD brainiac behind the mobile device. This is simply irresistible and told with just the right touch.
Guests Expected: Director/co-writer/co-star Matt Johnson, co-screenwriter Matthew Miller, scientist Joel Moore
After the festival: “BlackBerry is slated for a May 12 release.
‘Dalíland’
When and Where: 8:30 p.m. Friday at CGV San Francisco 14 (tribute to director Mary Harron), 7:45 p.m. Saturday at BAMPFA
Guests expected: Director/co-writer/co-star Mary Harron and producers David O. Sacks, Daniel Bunt and Sam Pressman
Why it stands out: The psychedelic, anything-goes New York art scene bursts out in Harron’s (“American Psycho,” “I Shot Andy Warhol”) dishy romp in which handsome gallery assistant James Linton (Christopher Birney) crosses paths with the iconic surrealist Salvador Dali (Ben Kingsley, chewing into the part) and the painter’s tempestuous wife Gala Dali (Barbara Sukowa). James gets entangled like a fly in a spider’s web with the couple’s stormy relationship. But can he earn a permanent spot with this crowd or is he just a plaything? Harron’s sinfully fun feature ponders that a bit.
After the festival: The film is slated for a June release.
‘Earth Mama’
When and where: 8 p.m. April 14 at BAMPFA, 6 p.m. April 15 at CGV San Franisco 14
Guests expected: Director/writer Savanah Leaf, actors Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander and Keta Price
Why it stands out: Olympian-turned-filmmaker Savanah Leaf’s impressive feature debut adopts a John Cassavetes-like approach in observing pregnant single mom Gia (Tia Nomore) as she agonizes over whether she’s going to give her upcoming baby to another Bay Area family. “Mama” fills the screen with images of East Bay, but your attention will focus more on Leaf’s signature style of spotlighting the voice of a person we so rarely hear expressed. Equally, Leaf’s raw and vulnerable debut shows that there are many nurturing hands needed to help someone like Gia along the way.
‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’
When and where: 8:30 p.m. April 21 at CGV San Francisco 14
Guests expected: Director Davis Guggenheim
Why it stands out: Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”) keeps things frank and creative and avoids getting overly sentimental in depicting Michael J. Fox’s life, career and battle with Parkinson’s disease. Instead, his film is much like the actor himself: candid, engaging and immensely likable. “Still” is anything but a clinical overview of what Parkinson’s can do. The focal point is on Fox and how the diminutive Canadian actor who no one initially wanted for TV’s “Family Ties” never managed to stay still or content as he raced through his career and then kept secret about his condition. Guggenheim’s approach is entirely in sync with Fox himself, making it one of the best documentaries you’ll see in 2023.
After the festival: The Apple TV+ release comes out May 12.
‘Stephen Curry: Underrated’
When and Where: 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. April 13 at Grand Lake Theater, Oakland
Guests expected: Director Peter Nicks and producer Ryan Coogler
Why it stands out: This astutely aware documentary avoids taking a cheerleading approach to its subject, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry. Award-winning Oakland documentary-maker Peter Nicks ventures away from oft-repeated nuts and bolts about Curry’s life and astonishing career, and comes up with a novel approach, interlacing Curry’s basketball career at Davidson College in North Carolina with the championship 2021-2022 Warriors season. Even if you aren’t a sports fan, you’ll come away from “Underrated” inspired by this underdog. It’s also Nicks’ best film yet.
After the festival: The film has no release date set yet but is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2023.
‘I’m a Virgo’
When and where: 6 and 7:30 p.m. April 23 at CGV San Francisco 14
Guests expected: Creator Boots Riley
Why it stands out: It’s always an E-ticket ride whenever Oakland’s overflowing fount of creativity Boots Riley hitches his name onto something. He doesn’t disappoint with this Amazon series, which one-ups his Oakland-set 2018 feature debut “Sorry to Bother You” in being brilliantly weird. It’s a surreal fable about 13-foot-tall teen Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), an Oakland youth, who discovers that the world outside the four tall walls he’s been confined to can be both beautiful and problematic, especially when there’s a white superhero (Walton Goggins, a scream) running around The Town who thinks he’s doing the right thing, but so isn’t. “I’m a Virgo” is such a distinctive work of art and I can’t wait to google up all seven episodes. (Four will be shown)
After the festival: The series is expected to debut this summer on Amazon Prime.
‘1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed’
Screening with “Creating Things” and “Southern Afternoon”
When and where: Noon April 22 at BAMPFA
Guests expected: Director W. Kamau Bell, Bryan and Taylor Simpson and Tian Lan
Why it stands out: The Bay Area’s Bell, a media bright light, best-selling author and Bay Area treasure, drops in on Bay Area mixed-race families to chat about how they define themselves and how others try to define them. The responses prove to be thoughtful, heartwarming, incisive and, since kids are often the ones responding, quite funny and en pointe. While it’s just shy of an hour, it raises – as does all of Bell’s work – important points and issues that hopefully will spark even further conversations.
After the festival: Expect it to pop up on HBO soon.
‘Home Is a Hotel’
When and where: 12:45 p.m. April 22 at CGV San Francisco 14; world premiere, entry for Golden Gate Award Documentary Competition
Guests expected: Directors Kevin Duncan Wong, Todd Sills and Kar Yin Tham, plus a few participants from the film.
Why it stands out: What’s it like to reside in one of the wealthiest cities in the world — San Francisco — and have to carve out an existence in an SRO? A trio of filmmakers put audiences into the shoes of single-room occupants, individuals and families who are barely scraping by and are wedged into tight, sometimes bug-ridden quarters so they can avoid landing on the city’s unforgiving streets. While the verité approach lends itself to relating these stories ever so well, some context say from an expert such as San Jose native Matthew Desmond, the award-winning author of “Poverty, by America” and “Evicted: Power and Poverty in the American City,” would have made it even more effective.
Contact Randy Myers at [email protected].
SFFILM FESTIVAL
When: April 13-23
Where: Various San Francisco and East Bay theaters
Tickets: Most screenings $19-$20; special events cost more; sffilm.org
Will Steph show?
In the run-up to the 2023 SFFILM Festival’s kick-off event April 13 at Oakland’s Grand Lake Theatre, this has become the most bandied-about question.
Obviously, Stephen Curry has received an invitation, since he is the focal point of the opening-night film, award-winning Oakland documentary-maker Peter Nicks’ exceptional “Stephen Curry: Underrated.”
But even if the Golden State Warriors star is a no-show, the East Bay filmmaking community will be in the spotlight, with Nicks and Oakland native Ryan Coogler, director of “Fruitvale Station” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” planning to attend, along with other notables.
Although “Stephen Curry: Underrated” received its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Nicks (known for his trio of Oakland-based films, “The Waiting Room,” “The Force,” and “Homeroom”), said there is something special about seeing his latest effort launch SFFILM Fest in in Oakland.
“I’m just excited to watch the film with our community because at Sundance it was exciting … but it was Sundance, you know,” he said. “This is just different. This is home. This is going to be a reflection of the pride that we all have in our home and how Stephen Curry has helped elevate that community in the national consciousness.”
The Oakland presence can be felt throughout the 11-day festival’s run. Oakland also commands the spotlight for the fest’s closing night feature, East Bay rapper and director Boots Riley’s wild Amazon Prime series, “I’m a Virgo.” Four episodes of the upcoming Oakland-set bit of surrealness will be screened April 23 at CVG San Francisco 14 cinemas.
Meanwhile, director Stanley Nelson receives SFFILM’s Mel Novikoff Award — given to a filmmaker who has “enhanced the filmgoer’s appreciation of world cinema” at 3:15 p.m. April 15 at CGV Cinema. Nelson’s 2015 documentary “Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution” will be shown after the presentation.
Not to be outdone, Fremont also grabs star billing. After its raved-about world premiere at Sundance, director Babak Jalali’s black-and-white “Fremont,” a drama about a former U.S. military translator in Afghanistan who is now living in Fremont and working at a fortune cookie factory in San Francisco screens as part of the festival April 22 in San Francisco and April 23 in Berkeley.
The Peninsula gets represented too with San Mateo folk legend Joan Baez the focus of the documentary “Joan Baez I Am a Noise,” screening April 18 at The Castro in San Francisco. The iconic performer plans to attend.
There is much to savor at the SFFILM Fest. Here are 10 standout movies we’ve seen.
‘Rally’
When and where: 5:30 p.m. April 21 at CGV San Francisco 14; noon April 23 at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Guests expected: Director Rooth Tang and others
Why it stands out: In this engrossing documentary about the late Chinese-born San Francisco political activist Rose Pak, getting its world premier here, Tang never soft-pedals the divisiveness of his subject. And that makes “Rally” all that more special and interesting. Tang covers a lot of ground — Pak’s meager origins in China, her brief San Francisco Chronicle reporting stint, her brazen chess-like maneuvers to get favored politicians elected and the verbal jibes she took while emceeing the Chinatown New Year’s Parade at politicos who, in her eyes, had failed the Asian community. If you’re a Bay Area history buff or of a fan of fascinating documentaries about larger-than-life characters upset the status quo, “Rally” is a must.
‘Past Lives’
When and where: 8 p.m. April 18 at The Castro, California Premiere and Centerpiece Selection
Guests expected: Director/screenwriter Celine Song and actor Greta Lee
Why it stands out: Every scene, every carefully slimmed-down yet revealing line of dialogue in Celine Song’s heartbreaker on a South Korean childhood friendship and the infinite possibilities of soul-stirring past connections reflects a wise and empathetic understanding of the conflicts waging within its three characters (played with virtuosity by Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro). Told with literary grace and with metaphorical flourishes, “Past Lives” speaks quietly on the immigrant dynamic and on life’s what-might-have-beens and then hits us with an emotional ending that’s so unbelievably perfect and beautiful it renders you wordless.
After the festival: The A24 release is slated to open June 2 in theaters.
‘BlackBerry’
When and where: 7:30 p.m. April 17 at Premier Theater, San Francisco; receiving the Sloan Science on Screen Award
Why it stands out: How in the heck did the first smartphone, which everyone expected would rule the world, tank? Matt Johnson’s pitch-perfect feature film jauntily shows us what went up and what went down with the BlackBerry, from its kooky start to its rise to its crash-and-burn demise. It makes for a massively entertaining ride with two main actors steering the action: Glenn Howerton as tantrum-prone Canadian businessman James Balsillie, who slices himself a huge piece of the company pie; and Jay Baruchel as founder Mike Lazaridis, the OCD brainiac behind the mobile device. This is simply irresistible and told with just the right touch.
Guests Expected: Director/co-writer/co-star Matt Johnson, co-screenwriter Matthew Miller, scientist Joel Moore
After the festival: “BlackBerry is slated for a May 12 release.
‘Dalíland’
When and Where: 8:30 p.m. Friday at CGV San Francisco 14 (tribute to director Mary Harron), 7:45 p.m. Saturday at BAMPFA
Guests expected: Director/co-writer/co-star Mary Harron and producers David O. Sacks, Daniel Bunt and Sam Pressman
Why it stands out: The psychedelic, anything-goes New York art scene bursts out in Harron’s (“American Psycho,” “I Shot Andy Warhol”) dishy romp in which handsome gallery assistant James Linton (Christopher Birney) crosses paths with the iconic surrealist Salvador Dali (Ben Kingsley, chewing into the part) and the painter’s tempestuous wife Gala Dali (Barbara Sukowa). James gets entangled like a fly in a spider’s web with the couple’s stormy relationship. But can he earn a permanent spot with this crowd or is he just a plaything? Harron’s sinfully fun feature ponders that a bit.
After the festival: The film is slated for a June release.
‘Earth Mama’
When and where: 8 p.m. April 14 at BAMPFA, 6 p.m. April 15 at CGV San Franisco 14
Guests expected: Director/writer Savanah Leaf, actors Tia Nomore, Erika Alexander and Keta Price
Why it stands out: Olympian-turned-filmmaker Savanah Leaf’s impressive feature debut adopts a John Cassavetes-like approach in observing pregnant single mom Gia (Tia Nomore) as she agonizes over whether she’s going to give her upcoming baby to another Bay Area family. “Mama” fills the screen with images of East Bay, but your attention will focus more on Leaf’s signature style of spotlighting the voice of a person we so rarely hear expressed. Equally, Leaf’s raw and vulnerable debut shows that there are many nurturing hands needed to help someone like Gia along the way.
‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’
When and where: 8:30 p.m. April 21 at CGV San Francisco 14
Guests expected: Director Davis Guggenheim
Why it stands out: Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”) keeps things frank and creative and avoids getting overly sentimental in depicting Michael J. Fox’s life, career and battle with Parkinson’s disease. Instead, his film is much like the actor himself: candid, engaging and immensely likable. “Still” is anything but a clinical overview of what Parkinson’s can do. The focal point is on Fox and how the diminutive Canadian actor who no one initially wanted for TV’s “Family Ties” never managed to stay still or content as he raced through his career and then kept secret about his condition. Guggenheim’s approach is entirely in sync with Fox himself, making it one of the best documentaries you’ll see in 2023.
After the festival: The Apple TV+ release comes out May 12.
‘Stephen Curry: Underrated’
When and Where: 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. April 13 at Grand Lake Theater, Oakland
Guests expected: Director Peter Nicks and producer Ryan Coogler
Why it stands out: This astutely aware documentary avoids taking a cheerleading approach to its subject, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry. Award-winning Oakland documentary-maker Peter Nicks ventures away from oft-repeated nuts and bolts about Curry’s life and astonishing career, and comes up with a novel approach, interlacing Curry’s basketball career at Davidson College in North Carolina with the championship 2021-2022 Warriors season. Even if you aren’t a sports fan, you’ll come away from “Underrated” inspired by this underdog. It’s also Nicks’ best film yet.
After the festival: The film has no release date set yet but is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2023.
‘I’m a Virgo’
When and where: 6 and 7:30 p.m. April 23 at CGV San Francisco 14
Guests expected: Creator Boots Riley
Why it stands out: It’s always an E-ticket ride whenever Oakland’s overflowing fount of creativity Boots Riley hitches his name onto something. He doesn’t disappoint with this Amazon series, which one-ups his Oakland-set 2018 feature debut “Sorry to Bother You” in being brilliantly weird. It’s a surreal fable about 13-foot-tall teen Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), an Oakland youth, who discovers that the world outside the four tall walls he’s been confined to can be both beautiful and problematic, especially when there’s a white superhero (Walton Goggins, a scream) running around The Town who thinks he’s doing the right thing, but so isn’t. “I’m a Virgo” is such a distinctive work of art and I can’t wait to google up all seven episodes. (Four will be shown)
After the festival: The series is expected to debut this summer on Amazon Prime.
‘1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed’
Screening with “Creating Things” and “Southern Afternoon”
When and where: Noon April 22 at BAMPFA
Guests expected: Director W. Kamau Bell, Bryan and Taylor Simpson and Tian Lan
Why it stands out: The Bay Area’s Bell, a media bright light, best-selling author and Bay Area treasure, drops in on Bay Area mixed-race families to chat about how they define themselves and how others try to define them. The responses prove to be thoughtful, heartwarming, incisive and, since kids are often the ones responding, quite funny and en pointe. While it’s just shy of an hour, it raises – as does all of Bell’s work – important points and issues that hopefully will spark even further conversations.
After the festival: Expect it to pop up on HBO soon.
‘Home Is a Hotel’
When and where: 12:45 p.m. April 22 at CGV San Francisco 14; world premiere, entry for Golden Gate Award Documentary Competition
Guests expected: Directors Kevin Duncan Wong, Todd Sills and Kar Yin Tham, plus a few participants from the film.
Why it stands out: What’s it like to reside in one of the wealthiest cities in the world — San Francisco — and have to carve out an existence in an SRO? A trio of filmmakers put audiences into the shoes of single-room occupants, individuals and families who are barely scraping by and are wedged into tight, sometimes bug-ridden quarters so they can avoid landing on the city’s unforgiving streets. While the verité approach lends itself to relating these stories ever so well, some context say from an expert such as San Jose native Matthew Desmond, the award-winning author of “Poverty, by America” and “Evicted: Power and Poverty in the American City,” would have made it even more effective.
Contact Randy Myers at [email protected].
SFFILM FESTIVAL
When: April 13-23
Where: Various San Francisco and East Bay theaters
Tickets: Most screenings $19-$20; special events cost more; sffilm.org
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