I’ve already seen over twenty offerings from Cinequest 2016, and here are my initial recommendations.
MUST SEE
- The Memory of Water: This Chilean drama explores grief, its process and its impact and might just be most masterful filmmaking achievement at Cinequest 2016. Exquisite. March 2, 10, 11.
WORLD PREMIERES
- Lost Solace: Highly original psychological thriller and a brilliant directorial debut. World Premiere March 4, 6, 10.
- Heaven’s Floor: Absorbing and character-driven autobiographical drama about a most complicated woman and the choices that indelibly affect several lives. World Premiere March 4, 6, 11.
DRAMA
- Demimonde: Sex, intrigue and murder in this operatic Hungarian period drama. U.S. Premiere March 2, 3, 9, 10.
- The Daughter: Based on an Ibsen play, this Australian drama is Cinequest’s Closing Night film and packs a powerfully emotional punch. March 13.
ROMANCE
- Fever at Dawn: Urgent period romance between Holocaust survivors, with an unexpected nugget at the end.
DOCUMENTARIES
- Chuck Norris vs. Communism: The subversive impact of movies (ANY movies) on a culture-starved society. March 4, 6 and 12
- Dan and Margot: A very personal look at schizophrenia from the schizophrenic’s point of view. U.S. Premiere March 6, 7, 8.
- The Promised Band: A group of Israeli and Palestinian women seek to fight through the cultural, legal, political, military and security barriers between them by forming a girl band. World Premiere March 4, 6, 10.
- The Brainwashing of My Dad: Personalizes the effects of right-wing media on mood and personality as well as on the political culture. US Premiere March 5, 6, 9.
- Gordon Getty: There Will Be Music: Insights into the quiet passion and creative process of a most unusual classical composer. March 6, 11, 12.
SOMETHING YOU HAVEN’T SEEN BEFORE
- Parabellum: This absurdist and trippy Argentine drama is set in a pre-apocalyptic near future; clearly everyone should be panicking, but no one is. March 2. 10, 12.
COMEDY
- A Beginner’s Guide to Snuff: Broad, dark and shamelessly low brow comedy with a sparkling performance by an actress as an actress. World Premiere March 4, 6, 11.
WOMEN FILMMAKERS
This year, Cinequest presents the world or US premieres of sixty features and sixty-nine shorts. And of these 129 debut films, 64 were directed by women! These include Heaven’s Floor, The Brainwashing of My Dad, Dan and Margot and The Promised Band.
PREVIEWS
Several Cinequest films already have U.S. distributors and are planned for theatrical release later this year. I haven’t seen them yet, but you can see them first at Cinequest:
- The Helen Mirren thriller Eye in the Sky on Opening Night, March 1;
- The Wave (Borgen) March 2;
- Ma Ma (Penelope Cruz) March 6;
- Colonia (Emma Watson) March 10;
- February (Shipka Kiernan from Mad Men, Emma Roberts) March 12; and
- The Adderall Diaries (James Franco, who will be making a personal appearance) March 12;
- The Little Prince (already spoken of as a contender for the 2017 Animated Feature Oscar) March 13.
Take a look at the entire program, the schedule and the passes and tickets. (If you want to support Silicon Valley’s most important cinema event while skipping the lines, the tax-deductible $100 donation for Express Line Access is an awesome deal.)
As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) over thirty films from around the world. Bookmark my Cinequest 2016 page, with links to all my coverage. Follow me on Twitter for the latest.
Tomorrow: Cinequest insiders look at the 2016 festival
