The San Francisco Film Festival celebrated its 62nd festival on April 10th to April 29th, honoring new and emerging filmmakers, and this year, highlighting the work of several up and coming female directors, writers, and cinematographers.
Booksmart
Director: Olivia Wilde
Screenplay: Emily Halpern, Susanna Fogel, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman
Runtime: 105 minutes
Official U.S. Release Date: May 24, 2019
Booksmart, starring Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever, follows the story of best friend duo Molly and Amy, two of their high school’s highest achieving students. As the eve of their high school graduation approaches, Molly and Amy realize they need to make up for lost time and attempt to cram four years of fun and partying into one night.
The film is the directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde, known for her roles in dramas such as television’s House. Wilde shines in her debut, displaying a masterful understanding of comedy, from the hilarious and outlandish dance sequences and the basic construction of a great female friendship, to the perfectly assembled score by Lick alum, Dan Nakamura ’83 (aka Dan the Automator).
The film leans on its ingenious script, initially written over ten years ago by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins. The script had been bouncing between Hollywood executives ever since, even appearing on 2009’s Blacklist, the annual Hollywood survey of the “most liked” motion picture screenplays that have not yet been produced. Despite the changes in American culture over the last ten years, Halpern, Haskins, and co-writers Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman managed to perfectly capture modern high school times, plagued by the stress and rising popularity of social media. Although adapted to appeal to modern times and audience, the script still encompasses a early 2000s charm, appearing as a slight homage to the 2007 film Superbad, starring Michael Cera and Jonah Hill (Feldstein’s older brother).
Where the film succeeds the most is in its dynamic, yet individually compelling, cast of characters. The relationship between Molly and Amy is highlighted by the supporting cast, from Amy’s parents (Will Forte and Lisa Kudrow) to the random pizza delivery guy they meet on the way to a party (Mike O’Brien).
The film is a joyous, nostalgic tale of high school friendship and lasting memories.
The Farewell
Director & Screenplay: Lulu Wang Runtime: 98 minutes
Official U.S. Release Date: July 12, 2019
Awkwafina stars as Billi, a Chinese-American woman tasked with keeping the truth about her grandmother’s terminal lung cancer hidden from her grandmother, in Lulu Wang’s semi autobiographical major motion picture directorial and screenwriting debut.
The story itself is moving and knowingly personal; it is based on Wang’s short story which she read on NPR’s series This American Life,
touching upon her own experience caught between her American and Chinese identities. The film follows Wang’s narrative, closing in on each one of Billi’s relationship as if each one were its own vignette in her life. However, the film centers in on her relationship with her grandmother, Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhou). The cinematography mirrors this theme, with stunning, beautifully color graded close up shots by Anna Franquesa Solano. The film expertly tackles a tough topic: loss and recovery. Wang intercepts moments of tragedy with brief moments of humor, setting the overall tone of the film.
The Farewell, albeit tragic at times, should be considered a must watch film of 2019.
The Nightingale
Director & Screenplay: Jennifer Kent
Runtime: 136 minutes
Official U.S. Release Date: August 2, 2019
It’s been five years since the initial release of Australian-born director and screenwriter Jennifer Kent’s debut thriller/horror, The Babadook, an internationally
praised film. The release of the 2014 hit proved that Kent is no stranger to controversial and even violent material. This 2019 thriller tells the story of an Irish convict Claire (Aisling Franciosi) and an aboriginal tracker, Billy (Baykali Ganambarr), as they seek revenge on a British officer (Sam Claflin) who committed serious wrongdoing towards Claire’s family.
Kent borderlines on relying too heavily on the response of her film’s audience. Kent wants to make her audience feel uncomfortable, and even repulsed during moments in the film, but does so in a way that distracts from the overall plot of the film. Specifically, the relationship between Billy and Claire, the film’s two central characters.
Kent should be applauded, however, for her accurate depiction of a period of Australian history, during the time of the occupation by a British penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land. Kent avoids the trap that many filmmakers fall into of romanticizing a violent and brutal period of history.
