MUMBAI: The 54th annual San Francisco International Film Festival has a wide variety of films in its lineup of nearly 200 selections. Here is a short list of five recommended films.
Topping the list is Beginners, the opening night film. It is the story of man coming out at age 75. The focus of the story is Plummer‘s character‘s son (Ewan McGregor) and his struggle with childhood memories, the loss of his father, depression and an attempt at romance. The film would be shown on 21 April.
The second recommended film is The Mill and the Cross that traces the lives of people in and around Pieter Bruegel the Elder‘s 1564 painting, The Way to Calvary created during the brutal Spanish occupation of Flanders as Philip II‘s army wreaked havoc on the population, executing "heretics" by crucifying them. To be screened on 23 April.
Next recommeded film is the Japanese film Hospitalité that talks about the economic problems of working-class Tokyo residents. Among the strange happenings are unexpected secrets, the presence of a foreign blonde who speaks accentless English and surrealistic couplings. To be also screened on 21 April.
The fourth film is the Indian film Autumn directed by Aamir Bashir. The film, set in Kashmir was filmed on location in the beautiful Kashmir Valley and features non-professional or first-time Kashmiri actors.
The story follows the lives of a family in which one son has been lost in the conflict, and the younger son faces peril in everyday life, while his parents fight trauma and depression. To be screened on 25 April.
And the last recommended film is Ulysses. Odyssey-like wanderings of a Peruvian emigrant in Chile comprise the film in which the main character finds himself with a head wound on the pavement of a city and, feeling dazed, confused and disconnected, begins a journey back home.
On the way, he faces challenges on a somewhat smaller scale than those of Homer‘s Ulysses. Instead of mythical monsters, he deals with sleeplessness, a job search and immigration regulations. To be screened on 26 April and 2 May.
