Program Features Bay Area Premiere of Sean Wang’s Dìdi (弟弟), Tributes Honoring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Joan Chen, Closing Night with June Squibb attending West Coast premiere of Thelma, and the Novikoff Award to Landmark Cinema Founder Gary Meyer
SFFILM Festival Encore Days Will Be Presented by the Roxie Theater May 2–4
[San Francisco, CA ] SFFILM announced the full lineup for the 67th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival), the longest running film festival in the Americas. This year’s program, curated from nearly 5,000 submissions and invitations, will screen exclusively in theaters in San Francisco’s Marina and Presidio neighborhoods, and in Berkeley from April 24–28. A selection of titles, curated from the full festival, will be presented from May 2–4 as SFFILM Festival Encore Days at the historic Roxie Theater.
“We have been boldly imagining a future where the San Francisco Bay Area is thriving in its celebration of and engagement with the arts and community,” said Anne Lai, Executive Director of SFFILM. “Film—always a reflection of and beacon for society—remains the gateway to a vibrant, healthy future of our culture and city. This year’s Festival brings the pleasure of movie-going to a footprint highlighting San Francisco’s unparalleled and iconic beauty. We look forward to welcoming guests to be inspired, entertained, and connected in the way only movies can do.”
SFFILM’s Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks expanded on what audiences can expect to see on screen. “The cornerstone of this year’s program is the considered, international curation we are known for,” she said. “We have put together a group of films that is global in scope, artistry, and impact, and includes discovery titles, hotly anticipated films, and powerhouse shorts blocks. Now more than ever we need the art of cinema—to entertain, to provoke, to question and to inspire—and each film in this lineup is richly deserving of our attention.”
Opening Night celebrates the Bay Area’s own Sean Wang with his Sundance award-winning first feature, Dìdi (弟弟). Wang was recently nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short (Nai Nai & Wài Pó, Festival, 2023), and was supported by SFFILM’s Artist Development Programs previously as a recipient of the SFFILM Rainin Grant and SFFILM Dolby Institute Fellowship, and through SFFILM Invest. Closing Night features Thelma, a new work from Josh Margolin that stars the 94-year-old Academy Award® nominee June Squibb. Joined onscreen by an all-star cast that includes Fred Hechinger, Parker Posey, Clark Gregg, Malcolm McDowell, and Richard Roundtree (in his final film role), June Squibb will be in attendance at the Festival.
SFFILM will celebrate the filmmaking careers of two artists, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Joan Chen, with unique tribute programs.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is an Oscar nominated and award-winning actor, screenwriter, and director. His sophomore outing behind the camera, Rob Peace, is about a young New Jersey science prodigy headed for the Ivy League, who attempts to find balance between his familial and community obligations with his academic ambition. Chiwetel stars, co-writes and directs. Rob Peace will have its West Coast premiere alongside a tribute to Ejiofor’s career.
Joan Chen, whose work as an actor, screenwriter, producer, and director is that of a true cinema maverick, will be honored in conjunction with a special screening of a rare 35 mm print of her debut directorial feature Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl. Chen, a Festival favorite who also appears in and executive produces Dìdi (弟弟), first premiered Xiu Xiu with SFFILM in 1998, again in 2017 for a 30th anniversary.
Several marquee titles are found in both narrative and documentary features including The Idea of You, directed by Michael Showalter and starring Anne Hathaway; Janet Planet, directed by Annie Baker and starring Julianne Nicholson; Sing Sing, directed by Greg Kwedar and starring Colman Domingo and co-starring multi-talented Bay Area artist Sean San José, who will be in attendance; Porcelain War winner of Sundance’s U.S. Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev; Luther: Never Too Much about singer and musician Luther Vandross from SFFILM Festival alum Dawn Porter; and Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story, a documentary for the whole family from renowned wildlife cinematographer Charlie Hamilton James.
Special honors and awards at the 2024 SFFILM Festival celebrate the art and craft of filmmaking and its indelible influence on culture. The Mel Novikoff Award which honors film exhibitors will celebrate Bay Area legend Gary Meyer whose career kicked off while working for Novikoff himself. Meyer will be in an onstage conversation with IndieWire Editor at Large and film journalist Anne Thompson and includes Meyer-selected screenings of Macario (Festival, 1960) directed by Roberto Gavaldón and a short film, Sour Death Balls (Festival, 1992) directed by Jessica Yu. The Persistence of Vision Award goes to filmmaker Johan Grimonprez who will be in an onstage conversation with Dr. Fumi Okiji, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric at University of California Berkeley, at BAMPFA. The program also features a screening of his latest work, the vibrant essay film Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation at Sundance this year. In partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, SFFILM will present three films as part of their SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative which supports the compelling depiction of science on screen. The first is the world premiere of On the Invention of Species directed by Tania Hermida, recipient of the Sloan Science on Screen Award. The other two highlighted films are the world premiere of Mabel directed by Nicholas Ma with Judy Greer starring, and Rob Peace directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Juried competition winners for the Golden Gate Awards and Audience Awards will be announced at the end of the Festival and several will be featured in the Encore Days program at the Roxie Theater.
Short films are represented by six knockout programs that are thematically curated and mix narrative and documentary forms. These programs highlight filmmakers’ creativity, skill, and artistry, and is the place to experience a wide range of styles, perspectives, and stories in one place. They are Shorts 1: I’m Just a Girl; Shorts 2: Of Body and Mind; Shorts 3: Lineages of Love; Shorts 4: Migration Flows; Shorts 5: Family Films; and Shorts 6: Youth Works.
Family Friendly programs include Shorts Block 5: Family Films; Shorts Block 6: Youth Works; Family Workshop: Cartoon Saloon: Puffin Rock and the New Friends directed by Jeremy Purcell as well as titles like Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story directed by Charlie Hamilton James; Counted Out directed by Vicki Abeles; and Mabel, directed by Nicholas Ma.
The SFFILM Festival Lounge will host Industry Days programs for filmmakers and Talks for badgeholders. Those include Filmmaking in the Bay Area and Dìdi (弟弟), and Soundscapes with Richard King, which will feature an exclusive clip from Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two (courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures). SFFILM Members will get their annual and exclusive Member Screening: Mother Couch, directed by Niclas Larsson starring Ellen Burstyn, Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans, Lara Flynn Boyle, Lake Bell, Taylor Russell, and F. Murray Abraham.
SFFILM will also host its 33rd annual Schools at the Festival for students and educators in the Bay Area with school day matinees from the main program and specific selections for the youth audience. Highlights include The Art & Science of Lucasfilm: Star Wars: The Bad Batch; Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin directed by Raymond S. Persi; Madu directed by Matt Ogens, Joel Kachi Benson; Girls State directed by Amanda McBaine & Jesse Moss; Farming While Black directed by Mark Decena; and She Creates Change directed by Martha Adams.
The 2024 SFFILM Festival programs will run at the Premier Theater at One Letterman, the Marina Theatre, the Vogue Theatre, The Walt Disney Family Museum, and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA).
The footprint of the Festival will be centered between One Letterman in the Presidio and Chestnut Street in the Marina, allowing for guests to maximize their viewings, all while coming together in one of the most iconic and beautiful parts of the city in between programs. The SFFILM Festival Lounge will be near the Premier Theater, creating space for guests to meet and mingle with each other and take in festival talks and industry meetings.
A private screening of Dìdi (弟弟) in Dolby Vision + Dolby Atmos will be held at the Dolby Cinema @ 1275 Market exclusively for cast and crew, SFFILM Festival filmmakers, and SFFILM fellows and grantees.
SFFILM Festival Encore at the Roxie will run Thursday through Saturday, May 2–4. Select titles for the program will be announced publicly on Wednesday, April 10 and tickets available for purchase at roxie.com. For more details and a full film lineup, visit the festival website.
No Rest for the Weekend 