The SF International Film Festival SFFILM just announced its 2024 lineup, with an Opening Night feature shot in Fremont, and a Closing Night feature that has the final screen appearance of the late Richard Roundtree (Shaft).
It’s Christmas Day for Bay Area film fans, as this morning we got the full schedule and lineup for the 67th annual SFFILM Festival (April 24-28). This year’s festival features 82 films from 40 different countries, with highlights including a Sundance award-winner shot and set in Fremont, Anne Hathaway’s latest, the last-ever screen appearance of Richard (“Shaft”) Roundtree, and for you Otter 841 fans out there, a documentary about sea otters.
Though about that schedule… only five days? Yes, this is a trimmed-down festival (last year it was 11 days, and pre-pandemic it often went two weeks). Moreover, the films are primarily screening only at the Premier Theater in the Presidio and the Marina Theatre, with a handful of other screenings at other venues. Obviously, the Castro Theatre is not available at the moment because of renovations, though SFFILM says the highly shortened schedule is not permanent.
“It’s us experimenting a little bit, because over the last few years we have had to re-envision our venue footprint, from year to year,” SFFILM executive director Anne Lai told the Chronicle. “How do we make it a little bit easier for audiences to get to? How do we also create a space where filmmakers might run into each other? How do you try to create a centralized hub? How do you make it a little bit easier for audiences to go from film to film, grab a bite to eat, get a coffee? We knew we would be able to achieve that more in five days, rather than flattening it out over 10 or 11 days.”
But your Opening Night film is Dìdi (弟弟) (April 24), directed by Fremont native Sean Wang, and set in Fremont in 2008. This coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old Taiwanese American kid was an Audience Award winner at Sundance, and also stars Joan Chen (Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl). That film is also playing at the festival with Chen in attendance on Sunday, April 28.
Your Closing Night Film is Thelma (April 28), a raucous comedy about a 94-year-old woman seeking revenge on scammers who conned her out of her savings. The lead actor is real-life 94-year-old June Squibb, and the film features the final performance of Shaft star Richard Roundtree.
Just a few of the other 80-plus films include Anne Hathaway’s new Coachella-set romance The Idea of You (April 27), Fremont-based director Jazmin Renée Jones’s Mavis Beacon documentary Seeking Mavis Beacon (April 26 and 27), and for the otter enthusiasts, the Shetland Islands otter documentary Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story (April 27).
The 67th annual SFFILM Festival is April 13-23 at various Bay Area theaters. Tickets here, on sale Friday, March 29 at 10 am PT.
Image: SFFILM
