Make your plans now to attend the 30th edition of Cinequest, Silicon Valley’s own major film festival. By some metrics the largest film festival in North America, Cinequest was recently voted the nation’s best by USA Today readers. The 2020 Cinequest is scheduled for March 3 through March 15 and will present almost 100 feature films and dozens of short films and virtual reality experiences from the US and over fifty other countries. And, at Cinequest, it’s easy to meet the filmmakers.
This year’s headline events include:
- New movies with Annette Bening, Bill Nighy, Elizabeth Debicki, Jesse Eisenberg, Elle Fanning, Javier Bardem, Anthony Mackie, Jamie Dorman, Donald Sutherland, Kristin Scott Thomas, Gina Gershon, Ed Harris, Mira Sorvino, Thomas Sadoski, Christina Ricci and…Mick Jagger.
- Hong Chau (Treme, Downsizing) gets an award and appears in person with her new film Driveways.
- See it here FIRST: Resistance, The Burnt Orange Heresy, Hope Gap, Roads Not Taken, The Longest Wave and Driveways are among the movies slated for theatrical release later this year.
- The 1920 Douglas Fairbanks silent The Mark of Zorro will be projected in a period movie palace, the California Theatre.
Cinequest is the Bay Area’s preeminent PREMIERE festival – this year with 154 US, North American or World Premieres – be in the FIRST AUDIENCE ANYWHERE to see these films. Indeed, the real treasure at Cinequest 2020 is likely to be found among the hitherto less well-known films.
So, it’s fitting that, for only the second time in Cinequest’s 30-year history, the opening night film will be an open submission: John Pinette: You Go Now, a documentary tribute to the comedian John Pinette. (The only previous open submission to open the festival was Chuck Workman’s The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies in 1995.)
In recent years, Cinequest hosted the debut features for directors Charlie Griak (The Center) and Julie Sokolow (Aspie Seeks Love), both world premieres. Griak returns with his new film Nina of the Woods and Sokolow will bring her latest, BAREFOOT: The Mark Baumer Story. Oscar-nominated director Milcho Manchevski (Before the Rain) premiered his Bikini Moon at the 2018 Cinequest and his new Willow will play the 2020 Cinequest.
Cinequest revels in its Downtown San Jose vibe, with concurrent screenings at the 1122-seat California, the 550-seat Hammer and the 257-seat 3Below, all within 1600 feet of the VIP lounge at The Continental Bar. There will still be satellite viewing in Redwood City.
At Cinequest, you can get a festival pass for as little as $165, and you can get individual tickets as well. The express pass for an additional tax-deductible $100 is a fantastic deal – you get to skip to the front of the lines! Take a look at the entire program, the schedule and the passes and tickets.
As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) over thirty Cinequest films from around the world. Bookmark my CINEQUEST page, with links to all my coverage (links on the individual movies will start to go live on Sunday, March 1). Follow me on Twitter for the latest.
