By Ruthe Stein, Artistic Director, Mostly British Film Festival & Catherine Barry, SF/ARTS

THE MOSTLY BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL - FEBRUARY 6-13

The Mostly British Film Festival opens on February 6 with the comedy “The Penguin Lessons,” directed by Peter Cattaneo (“The Full Monty”) and starring Steve Coogan as an English teacher in Buenos Aires who discovers having a penguin by his side inspires his students to understand poetry. Think “Dead Poet’s Society” only with a penguin in a co-starring role.

Bumping up against Valentine’s Day, it seems fated that a lot of this year's festival picks would lean heavily on romance.

Douglas Booth in "Shoshana" - image courtesy Mostly British Film Festival

In the riveting intelligent romantic thriller “Shoshana,“ (7:30 p.m. Friday, February 7) political intrigue heightens the attraction between a Polish Jew, Shoshana, who is also a fervent Zionist and a British police inspector Tom in late 30s Palestine under the British Mandate. Based on a true story, their love affair plays out against a fraught background brought to life by prolific British director Michael Winterbottom. The lovers — played by the impossibly handsome Douglas Booth (“Jupiter Ascending”) and the Russian actress Irina Starshenbaum — crave to be together, and you will find yourself rooting for them with all your heart. But outer pressures drive a wedge between them and put pressure on the relationship. Winterbottom creates a sense of the world of Tel Aviv as it was evolving and coming into being. It is a brave new world where people want to build something better. Tom is not just in love with Shoshana but also attracted to the vibrant energy of Tel Aviv society. In a Zoom interview conducted by the festival Winterbottom talks about the real-life couple who inspired his film.

“Falling into Place” (7:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 12) also features troubled lovers. Kira (played by German actress Aylin Tezel who also directs) is a German artist who worries that her work falls far from the goals she has set for herself. While living in London, she takes a vacation in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides and meets struggling musician Ian (Chris Fulton from “Bridgerton") at a local pub. The two actors have such great chemistry that we feel as though we can see them falling in love. But is a torrid romance really what they need to advance their artistic pursuits? Visually stunning early scenes show them running and jumping along the isle’s irregular coast, seemingly alone in the world they have created. While heavy on romance, the director never allows her film to slip into clichés. Kira and Ian feel like real people with past lives and, most dramatically, past lovers. The question posed by the film: Do they have staying power as a couple?

"I Know Where I’m Going" - image courtesy Mostly British Film Festival

The lush Inner Hebrides also features prominently in “I Know Where I’m Going” (Friday, February 7), a classic 1945 film from famed British director Michael Powell. It is shown in a 4K digital restoration and accompanied by a documentary (narrated by Martin Scorsese) about Powell and his long-time screenwriter Emeric Pressburger. The feature tells a simple story of a head-strong woman (Wendy Hiller) who plans to marry a wealthy, much older industrialist solely for his money. But on her way to her wedding the weather strands her in a Scottish seacoast town where she meets and slowly falls in love with a dashing naval officer (Roger Livesey). Replete with delightful local lore (and Gaelic language), curses and Viking legends, the film is widely celebrated for its wit and charm. “One of the 10 best films of all times,” according to New York critic Molly Haskell.

"Jane Austen Wrecked My Life" - image courtesy Mostly British Film Festival

The festival closes with “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” ((7:45 p.m. Thursday, February 13) a title that describes the film to a T. It follows a perpetually single clerk at Shakespeare & Company, the legendary British bookshop in Paris, who escapes into romance novels yearning for the happy ending Austen artfully conjures up for her heroines. What better place to meet a potential partner than at a writing retreat in England while on a quest to learn how to spin out stories like her literary idol? First-time director Laura Piani obviously knows her Austen while contriving a modern feminist twist. French is the dominant language spoken so you know the film will sound romantic no matter what the characters actually say.

Hugh Bonneville - image courtesy Mostly British Film Festival

Other highlights of the festival include an onstage live interview with Hugh Bonneville (Saturday, February 8), the elegant Earl of Grantham, lordship of Downton Abbey, and loving adoptive dad to the adorable Paddington Bear. In Hugh’s honor “Paddington in Peru,” the latest installment in this hugely successful franchise, will be sneak previewed (Thursday, February 13).

In honor of the late Maggie Smith the festival will screen “From Time to Time,” (Saturday, February 8), an earlier film from “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes in which she and “Downtown” co-star Bonneville also appear together. Smith will be seen as well in the much-revered “A Room with a View,” (2:30 p.m. Monday, February 10) from the filmmaking team of Merchant and Ivory.

"Swing Bout" - image courtesy Mostly British Film Festival

The popular Irish Spotlight day includes "Housewife of The Year" (12:30 p.m. Sunday, February 9), a documentary by Ciaran Cassidy about an Irish TV competition that took place from 1969–1995. Absurd as the contest was, the documentary shines a light on part of the journey of Irish women over the last few decades. A generation of resilient women have paved the way out of a repressive Ireland leaving financial powerlessness, lack of contraception or divorce, placements in institutions such as Magdalene Laundries in the past.

"Swing Bout" by Maurice O'Carroll (2:30 p.m. Sunday, February 9), presents itself as a crime thriller with a backdrop of a major boxing event in Cork, Ireland. There's not actually that much boxing in it, but the bigger fight involving corruption and greed packs a punch. Actor and producer Sinéad O'Riordan takes on a dual role in this low-budget acclaimed film. "Swing Bout" lands at a perfect time, as more Irish women take the stage in world-class boxing.

A documentary about Ismail Merchant and James Ivory accompanies the film (2:30 p.m. Monday, February 10), and 96-year-old Ivory will talk in a festival Zoom interview about this storied collaboration. Another Zoom interview is with first-time filmmaker Lucy Lawless, best known for her role as Xena in the TV series “Xena: Warrior Princess.” Her documentary “Never Look Away” (12:15 p.m. Saturday, February 8) is about a courageous fellow New Zealander Margaret Moth, a video journalist in Sarajevo legendary for her willingness to get as close as she could to the reality of war.

"Memoir of a Snail" - image courtesy Mostly British Film Festival

Early Saturday February 8, 2025 comes an artfully crafted stop-motion animation that explores themes of memory, love and the passage of time. "Memoir of a Snail" by Academy Award-winning director Adam Elliot (“Harvie Krumpef”) brings to life the whimsical and poignant journey of a snail named Norman, who embarks on a slow-paced but deeply emotional adventure. Winner of Best Animated Film at the Catalonian International Film Festival. Not advised for children.

Tickets to the Mostly British Film Festival are available at mostlybritish.org and at the Vogue Theatre box office at 3290 Sacramento Street. Individual tickets are $17.50/$20 and series passes which allow admittance into all 26 films and festival parties are $300/$400. Opening night including a light dinner is $50/$65 and closing night is $30/$40. Discounted prices go to members of several local organizations listed on the website and to people 65 and over.

SAN FRANCISCO INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL - February 6 - 16, 2024

By Catherine Barry

You won't find films from the SF IndieFest at your local multiplex or on popular streaming services, and, as Festival Director Jeff Ross says, the festival has sought out new film discoveries to provide new and unusual alternatives to the Hollywood Industrial Complex.

"Pavements" - image courtesy SF IndieFest

Screening on opening night (February 6) at the Roxie Theater, director Alex Ross Perry's experimental music biopic "Pavements" captures the story of one of the most important bands of the 90s. Perry blends documentary and fiction, combining interviews, rehearsals, and behind-the-scenes footage to portray the cult-favorite band’s past and present as they prepare for a reunion tour.

"The Paper Bag Plan" - image courtesy SFIndieFest

A terminally ill father ( Lance Kinsey) takes it upon himself to endow his disabled son (Cole Massey) with the know-how to bag groceries, in an attempt to set him up with a skill for independent living. "The Paper Bag Plan" is an absolute charmer of a film by Oakland filmmaker Anthony Lucero, whose "East Side Sushi" was picked up by HBO following its release in 2018. Don't be put off by the grim subject matter - this film will make you smile. With Diana Lee Inosanto, Ravi Kapoor, Diana Elizabeth Torres. Dates TBA

"The Legend of The Vagabond Queen of Lagos" - image courtesy SFIndieFest

The debut from Nigeria’s Agbajowo Collective is part thriller, part magical realism and anchored by a stunning performance from Temi Ami-Williams, who plays Eyimofe, a young mother in a Lagos slum who discovers corrupt blood money. The filmmakers of "The Legend of The Vagabond Queen of Lagos" bring a mix of legend and community struggle to Nigeria’s real-life mass evictions in 2017, when the state government and corrupt police colluded to burn out and bulldoze the waterside shanty town of Otodo-Gbame, leaving thousands homeless. Dates TBA

"From My Cold Dead Hands" - image courtesy SFIndieFest

It's not surprising that exploring gun culture in this country through thousands of hours of Youtube videos would result in a most bizarre collection. Pat Cavanaugh's "From My Cold Dead Hands" (its title, of course, being from Charlton Heston's remark at the 2020 NRA convention) doesn't really examine or critique, but looks at gun culture through a variety of video lenses. Prepare for rants, product reviews, tutorials - not to mention exhibitionists and zombies. Dates TBA

"Infinite Summer" - image courtesy SFIndieFest

"Infinite Summer" follows Mia and her two friends on a summer break in Estonia. The girls run into a mind-bending experience while using a meditation app, and darker forces turn the summer romp into a transhumanist mystery. Spanish director Miguel Llansó returns (Jesus Shows You The Way to the Highway SF Indie 2020) with this science fiction story full of bizarre humor and fascinating images. Dates TBA

Full program will be announced on January 8. Visit sfindie.com for information

Screenplay Panel/Reception
Panel discussion and Q&A with working writers and this years' Screenplay Competition winners.
Saturday, February 8, 11 am at 518 Valencia Street, San Francisco

Opening Night Party
Join SF IndieFest in an opening night celebration at Kilowatt Bar celebrating Pavement and other 1990s alternative music. Thursday, February 6 at 3160 16th Street in San Francisco