TRIBUTES AND SPOTLIGHT

TRIBUTE TO GLENN CLOSE

Since her debut in The World According to Garp and her performance the following year in The Big Chill, Glenn Close has demonstrated she can more than hold her own in fast company. She became a lightning rod for feminist politics in Fatal Attraction, but it is her signature combination of steeliness and covert vulnerability that has made her an actor to reckon with in such films as Jagged Edge, The Natural and Reversal of Fortune. Her recent TV creation, ruthless litigator Patty Hewes in the legal drama Damages, adds yet another memorable variation to an impressive line of determined, strong-willed women with minds of their own. In her new film, Close reprises her Obie Award–winning role as Albert Nobbs, a woman who has spent her life avoiding poverty in mid–19th-century Ireland by dressing and working as a man. It's an extraordinary performance, a milestone in an already exceptional career.  —Sura Wood

MVFF welcomes Glenn Close for a Tribute to her stellar career. Enjoy an onstage interview and a review of clips from her films. Then join us for a memorable reception with regional Italian cuisine, house-made pastas, wood-fired pizzas and mesquite-grilled meats at Piatti Ristorante & Bar.

Glenn Close will be presented with the MVFF AWARD, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning.

Glenn Close as Albert Nobbs

PROGRAM AND RECEPTION
Friday, October 7
8:00 pm

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

Tribute and Reception $150 TRBT07P

Tribute Only $50 TRBT07R

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SPOTLIGHT ON MICHELLE YEOH / THE LADY

Michelle Yeoh is in a class all her own. After an early career that saw this dancer-turned-actress as an action and martial arts star in many top Hong Kong films, Yeoh's breakthrough in the West came with the James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies; and her indelible presence in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the stealth weapon that helped take this great film to extraordinary heights. Now comes The Lady, a film about a different kind of fighter: Burmese prodemocracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. Yeoh marshals her considerable talents to tell a compelling story that raises our awareness and understanding of the struggle of Suu Kyi and her people. Yeoh attends MVFF with Luc Besson, the internationally esteemed director and producer of The Lady.

Join us for this special Spotlight Award in recognition of great artistry in the service of justice and human rights. The screening of The Lady will be followed by an onstage conversation with Michelle Yeoh, who will be joined by director Luc Besson. After the program, the evening continues with dinner at Frantoio Ristorante and Olive Oil Co., one of Marin County's premier dining destinations.

Michelle Yeoh will be presented with the MVFF AWARD, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning.

Poster art by Shepard Fairey

THE LADY
FRANCE/UK 2011 • 127 MINS

This profound and epic love story, set against a backdrop of political upheaval, chronicles the lives of Burmese prodemocracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi (an exquisite performance by Michelle Yeoh, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and her husband, British academic Michael Aris (David Thewlis, Naked).

PROGRAM AND RECEPTION
Saturday, October 8
7:30 pm

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

Spotlight and Reception $150 LADY08P

Spotlight Only $50 LADY08R

SPOTLIGHT CO-SPONSORED BY

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TRIBUTE TO GASTON KABORÉ

In the three decades since Wend Kuuni's release, Gaston Kaboré's films have ignited a love affair with cinema in his tiny nation of Burkina Faso that has since become one of its indelible features. Exploring both the past, through precolonial quasi-mythical allegories, and the present, with his pointedly satirical take on post-independence, Kaboré's most important contribution to African film may yet be to its future, in the form of talented young students he trains at his aptly named Imagine film school in Ouagadougou.

Join us for a Tribute program honoring the career of Gaston Kaboré, including an onstage conversation with Kaboré and a showing of Wend Kuuni (God's Gift). Afterward, the evening continues with dinner at Acqua Hotel Mill Valley, catered by Delicious! Catering.

Gaston Kaboré will be presented with the MVFF AWARD, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning.

WEND KUUNI
(GOD'S GIFT)
BURKINA FASO 1982 • 70 MINS

A mute boy in precolonial West Africa is found in the bush and adopted by Mossi villagers whose love and kindness help restore his voice in this rarely screened classic that established Gaston Kaboré as a major voice in African cinema.

PROGRAM AND RECEPTION
Sunday, October 9
4:30 pm

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

Tribute and Reception $50 WEND09P

Tribute Only $25 WEND09R

CINEMA AFRICA SPONSORS

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SPOTLIGHT ON EZRA MILLER

It is not often that young actors make a truly indelible imprint in their early roles. Those who do often end up the stars of the next generation: Jodie Foster, Leonardo DiCaprio, Anna Paquin. Eighteen-year-old Ezra Miller holds his own comedically and dramatically among Hollywood elite in indie favorites City Island, Every Day and Another Happy Day as well as Showtime's Californication. But it is his work in We Need to Talk About Kevin—bringing intensity and nuance to the title role in a performance Variety called "chilling"—that will surely make the raven–haired actor a household name. —Alexis Whitham

Our Spotlight program honoring Ezra Miller starts with an onstage interview and a special viewing of We Need to Talk About Kevin. After, join us for a memorable reception just steps away in the Rafael Hospitality Lounge.

Ezra Miller will be presented with the MVFF AWARD, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning.

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN
UK 2011 • 111 MINS

Lynne Ramsay's artistically bold exploration of the relationship between a mother (Tilda Swinton) and her apparently psychopathic son (Ezra Miller) is a gripping film that offers no easy answers to its troubling questions but will leave many needing to talk about Kevin.

SPOTLIGHT AND RECEPTION
Thursday, October 13
7:30 pm

Rafael Film Center

Spotlight and Reception $50 KEVN13P

Spotlight Only $25 KEVN13R

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SPOTLIGHT ON ELIZABETH OLSEN

Elizabeth Olsen got her start acting alongside older sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley but soon emerged as a promising talent in her own right. Today her burgeoning career, already marked by challenging and complex roles, includes upcoming projects with seasoned professionals like Dakota Fanning, Catherine Keener and Jane Fonda. But her breakout performance came at this year's Sundance Film Festival with a luminous and layered portrayal of a young woman recently free of an all-consuming cult in Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene. With this sensitive and affecting portrait, Olsen's rising star reaches the brightest points in the firmament of independent cinema.

Join us for the Spotlight program and conversation with Elizabeth Olsen, followed by a screening of Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Elizabeth Olsen will be presented with the MVFF AWARD, designed by celebrated artist Alice Corning.

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
US 2011 • 101 MINS

Martha is a young woman damaged by two years in a Family-styled cult who attempts to readjust to society and reconnect with her sister in this assured directorial debut, a sensitive and atmospheric rendering of a sensational subject. 

PROGRAM
Saturday, October 15
8:00 pm

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

Spotlight $25 MART15R 

SPOTLIGHT SPONSORED BY