It’s the Earth Not the Moon, Gonçalo Tocha (Portugal, 2011)/ Ethel Rory Kennedy (U.S., 2011) / Smugglers' Songs Rabah Ameur-Zaï

Description

55th San Francisco International Film Festival @ BAM/PFA
12:00
It’s the Earth Not the Moon
Gonçalo Tocha (Portugal, 2011)

(É na terra não é na lua). The lure of islands as places apart from yet delicately connected to the rest of civilization make them powerful places for filmmakers to land. When they do, they follow Homer, Shakespeare, Defoe, Golding, and others drawn to the island as a place to unpack immense ideas about creation and being. Filming on the remote Azores island of Corvo, director Gonçalo Tocha aims “to be everywhere at the same time and not miss a thing.” Thus, we delight in a furtive satire of the anthropological documentary, the informational documentary, and the armchair adventure, made with almost naïve sincerity. Robert Koehler

Photographed by Tocha. (183 mins)


4:00
Ethel
Rory Kennedy (U.S., 2011)

Robert and Ethel Kennedy’s youngest child, acclaimed documentarian Rory Kennedy, directs this affectionate portrait of her mother, a formidable matriarch who supported her husband’s political ambitions—and weathered numerous tragedies—while never losing her quirky, independent spirit. Offering a unique perspective on one of America’s most prominent political dynasties, the film is filled with intimate interviews and rare home movies from the Kennedy family archives. You may think you know the full story of the Kennedy family, but the small moments Ethel remembers—including RFK’s decision to scale Canada’s Mt. Kennedy after his brother’s death—reveal the deeply affectionate family bonds behind the gilded myth. Cheryl Eddy

Written by Mark Bailey. Photographed by Buddy Squires. (97 mins)


6:30
Smugglers' Songs
Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche (France, 2011)

(Les chants de Mandrin). Subversion takes many forms in this unblushingly partisan film, set in eighteenth-century France three decades before the Revolution. Renowned smuggler Louis Mandrin, who campaigned against the unjust tax system of France’s ancien régime, has recently been tortured and executed. His defiance, however, lives on. An organized band of “Mandrins” guard an illegal market in the countryside, as the peddler touts “the sad life of Mandrin, songs in four volumes, a framework for the republic…” Smugglers’ Songs depicts, realistically yet with humor, hardening resistance in the face of oppression, and the strong role literacy played in inciting social change. Pamela Tro

Written by Ameur-Zaïmeche. Photographed by Irina Lubtchansky. With Jacques Nolot, Christian Milia- Darmezin, Kenji Levan, Ameur- Zaïmeche. (97 mins)


8:50
Back to Stay
Milagros Mumenthaler (Argentina/Switzerland/Netherlands, 2011)

(Abrir puertas y ventanas). Marked by a trio of nuanced performances and exquisitely understated storytelling, this top-prizewinner from last year’s Locarno Film Festival portrays three young sisters adjusting to the absence of their recently deceased grandmother. The sisters still occupy the late matriarch’s large house in a quiet Buenos Aires neighborhood, coping with private grief while attempting, often in vain, to reach out to one another. Drawing the viewer deep into a world that exists within four walls, Back to Stay’s strong sense of place and complicated sibling dynamics linger long after the film is over and signal the emergence of the Argentine New Wave’s latest promising filmmaker. Jesse Dubus

Written by Mumenthaler. Photographed by Martín Frias. With María Canale, Martina Juncadella, Ailín Salas, Julián Tello. (99 mins)

Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley
http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/sfiff_2012

Special Pricing
BAM/PFA members, San Francisco Film Society members, UC Berkeley students: $11
General admission: $13
Non-UC Berkeley students, seniors, and disabled persons: $12

More Info

Link

http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/filmseries/sfiff_2012

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(510) 642-1412

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