32nd Philadelphia Film Festival

Every October, the Philadelphia Film Society hosts the Philadelphia Film Festival which gathers more than 25,000 dedicated film lovers and scores of talented filmmakers for ten exceptional days of cinematic splendor. As a world-class film festival, PFF represents a major contribution to the cultural life of the city and region, attracting new audiences to PFS and the film community at large.

Schedule Of Events:

Thursday October 19, 2023

Philadelphia Film Center

4:30pm: SILVER DOLLAR ROAD
RAOUL PECK - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 100 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction, PFS on Us

When a land developer leverages legal loopholes to seize waterfront property owned by a Black family for more than a century, it sparks a decades-long battle exposing the fractured American system fueling economic disparity.

6:45pm: AMERICAN FICTION
CORD JEFFERSON - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 117 MIN
Category: Centerpieces

Opening Night Film In this hilariously biting satire, a terrific Jeffrey Wright stars as a disillusioned black author forced to reckon with the nature of the publishing industry after he compromises his own integrity in his search for success.

9:30pm: FOE
GARTH DAVIS - AUSTRALIA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 108 MIN
Category: Spotlights

Paul Mescal and Saoirse Ronan star in this near-future sci-fi about a struggling farmer who's offered a lucrative opportunity to work on a space station while an AI replica remains at home with his wife.

Friday October 20, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

11:45am: RICHLAND
IRENE LUSZTIG - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 93 MIN
Category: Green Screen

Using candid, multifaceted narratives, this vivid documentary explores a city forged by the Manhattan Project, where nuclear pride and a haunting legacy coexist.

2:15pm: ToTEM
LILA AVILÉS - DENMARK, FRANCE, MEXICO - SPANISH - 2023 - 95 MIN
Category: World View

As chaos and tension mounts, a seven-year-old girl watches her relatives prepare for a surprise birthday party that may also be a farewell in this compassionate, lived-in, critically acclaimed family portrait.

4:30pm: CHRONICLES OF A WANDERING SAINT
TOMÁS GoMEZ BUSTILLO - ARGENTINA, USA - SPANISH - 2023 - 85 MIN
Category: World View

In this offbeat Argentinian indie, a pious, elderly chapel custodian is in desperate search of a way to show up the other women at her church–even if it means staging a miracle herself.

6:30pm: THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED
JOANNA ARNOW - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 87 MIN
Category: Made in USA, PFS on Us

Filmmaker Joanna Arnow stars as a thirtysomething woman in New York City navigating her BDSM relationship and cubicle hell with a defiant shrug in this wry send-up of modern millennial living.

8:45pm: LOUSY CARTER
BOB BYINGTON - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 80 MIN
Category: Spotlights

Man-baby Lousy Carter struggles to complete his animated Nabokov adaptation, teaches a graduate seminar on The Great Gatsby, and sleeps with his best friend's wife. He has six months to live.

PFS East 1

12pm: GOODBYE JULIA
MOHAMED KORDOFANI - EGYPT, FRANCE, GERMANY, SAUDI ARABIA, SUDAN, SWEDEN - ARABIC - 2023 - 120 MIN
Category: PFS on Us, World View

Mohamed Kordofani's Cannes prizewinner merges Sudanese history into an affecting narrative about two women whose vastly different worlds collide after a horrific tragedy.

2:30pm: LIVE ACTION SHORTS 2
104 MIN
Category: Shorts, Shorts Programs

LIVE ACTION SHORTS 2 - 104 MIN

5pm: CATERPILLAR
LIZA MANDELUP - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 111 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Hoping to transform the way the world sees him and the way he sees himself, a man seeks out a risky cosmetic procedure in this unsettling and moving meditation on beauty, identity, and self-acceptance.

7:45pm: ART FOR EVERYBODY
MIRANDA YOUSEF - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 99 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Tracking the rise and fall of Thomas Kinkade, this poignant, revealing documentary delves beneath his reputation as the “Painter of Light” to explore the multifaceted, troubled man whose work revolutionized the business of art-making.   

10:15pm: RED ROOMS
PASCAL PLANTE - CANADA - FRENCH - 2023 - 118 MIN
Category: After Hours

Impeccably crafted and deeply unsettling, this shape-shifting Québécois thriller probes the warped psyche of a woman obsessed with a sadistic serial killer and his legendary snuff films.

PFS East 2

12:15pm: THE (EX)PERIENCE OF LOVE
RAPHAËL BALBONI, ANN SIROT - BELGIUM, FRANCE - FRENCH - 2023 - 89 MIN
Category: Cinema De France

To save their relationship, a seemingly happy couple must track down and sleep with all of their past lovers in this insightful, gently surreal romantic comedy from Belgium.

2:15pm: THE MONK AND THE GUN
PAWO CHOYNING DORJI - BHUTAN, FRANCE, TAIWAN, USA - DZONGKHA, ENGLISH - 2023 - 107 MIN
Category: World View

Bhutanese director Pawo Choyning Dorji follows up his Oscar-nominated LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM with a gently satirical ensemble comedy about a village learning to reconcile tradition with modernity.

4:45pm: IF ONLY I COULD HIBERNATE
ZOLJARGAL PUREVDASH - FRANCE, MONGOLIA, QATAR, SWITZERLAND - MONGOLIAN - 2023 - 98 MIN
Category: PFS on Us, World View

Zoljargal Purevdash's affecting and personal portrayal follows Ulzii, a gifted teen who is suddenly faced with incredibly adult choices when his mother leaves him and his siblings in the dead of winter.

7:15pm: THE PROMISED LAND
NIKOLAJ ARCEL - DENMARK - DANISH - 2023 - 127 MIN
Category: Spotlights

Mads Mikkelsen brings primal intensity to his portrayal of a lowborn army captain striving to establish a settlement in Denmark's notoriously inhospitable Jutland Heath in this brutal, beautiful historical epic.

10pm: THE SETTLERS
FELIPE GÁLVEZ - ARGENTINA, CHILE - ENGLISH, SPANISH - 2023 - 97 MIN
Category: World View

A mixed-race Chilean accompanies a disgraced English captain and an American mercenary on a journey to secure a trade route for a wealthy landowner with ulterior motives in this harrowing and hauntingly beautiful Western.

Philadelphia Film Center

3:15pm: THE THREE MUSKETEERS: D'ARTAGNAN
MARTIN BOURBOULON - FRANCE - FRENCH - 2023 - 121 MIN
Category: Cinema De France

Featuring lavish production values and a star-studded cast including Vincent Cassel and Eva Green, this adaptation breathes thrilling new life into the swashbuckling Alexandre Dumas classic.

6pm: STAND UP & SHOUT: SONGS FROM A PHILLY HIGH SCHOOL
AMY SCHATZ - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 54 MIN
Category: Special Events

This soul-stirring musical documentary highlights a Philadelphia high school program that encourages students to channel their thoughts, feelings, and dreams into an album of rousing original songs.

8pm: DREAM SCENARIO
KRISTOFFER BORGLI - USA - ENGLISH - 2023 - 101 MIN
Category: Centerpieces

An everyman attains overnight celebrity when he inexplicably turns up in thousands of people's dreams in this horror-laced comedy from Sick of Myself director Kristoffer Borgli and co-producer Ari Aster.

10:15pm: SLEEP
JASON YU - SOUTH KOREA - KOREAN - 2023 - 95 MIN
Category: After Hours

In this devilishly entertaining domestic thriller, a young, expectant wife must figure out how to stop her husband's nightmarish sleepwalking habits before he harms himself or his family.

Saturday October 21, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

12pm: FOUR DAUGHTERS
KAOUTHER BEN HANIA | CYPRUS, FRANCE, GERMANY, SAUDI ARABIA, TUNISIA | ARABIC | 2023 | 107 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

This profound documentary character study seamlessly blends reality and fiction, enlisting actors to embody two missing Tunisian women as their family members struggle to find closure.

2:30pm: THE DELINQUENTS
RODRIGO MORENO | ARGENTINA | SPANISH | 2023 | 180 MIN
Category: World View

Fed up with his daily milieu, an Argentinian bank manager coordinates the perfect heist that will earn him minimal prison time only if his unknowing accomplice will agree to stash his haul.

6pm: OMEN
BALOJI | BELGIUM, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, NETHERLANDS | ENGLISH, FRENCH, LINGALA, SWAHILI | 2023 | 90 MIN
Category: World View

The exhilarating, visually rich first feature from Belgian-Congolese musician Baloji tells the intertwined tales of four people accused of various forms of witchcraft and sorcery.

8pm: BREAK THE GAME
JANE M. WAGNER | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 73 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

A prolific trans video game streamer grapples with universal questions of identity and connection, all while broadcasting her life to thousands of (sometimes toxic) viewers in this eye-opening, moving doc.

10:15pm: KUBI
TAKESHI KITANO | JAPAN | JAPANESE | 2023 | 131 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

The latest film from auteur Takeshi Kitano is an epically bloody, darkly humorous, and surprisingly queer dramatization of one of the most famous political assassinations in Japanese history.

PFS East 1

11:45am: GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI
SAM OSBORN, ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 104 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

Immersing viewers in the world of competitive high school mariachi, this tuneful doc follows one hard-working team as it overcomes numerous obstacles in pursuit of a state championship.

2:40pm: BAD PRESS
REBECCA LANDSBERRY-BAKER, JOE PEELER | USA | ENGLISH, MVSKOKE | 2023 | 98 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

This thrilling political documentary spotlights a courageous journalist's perilous fight to expose government corruption and protect free speech rights in Muscogee Nation.

5pm: IF ONLY I COULD HIBERNATE
ZOLJARGAL PUREVDASH | FRANCE, MONGOLIA, QATAR, SWITZERLAND | MONGOLIAN | 2023 | 98 MIN
Category: PFS on Us, World View

Zoljargal Purevdash's affecting and personal portrayal follows Ulzii, a gifted teen who is suddenly faced with incredibly adult choices when his mother leaves him and his siblings in the dead of winter.

7:45pm: I USED TO BE FUNNY
ALLY PANKIW | CANADA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 105 MIN
Category: World View

Rachel Sennott's layered performance anchors this absorbing, darkly comedic indie about a stand-up comedian who's attempting to put her life back together after a traumatic series of events.

10:15pm: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL
COLIN CAIRNES, CAMERON CAIRNES | AUSTRALIA, UAE, USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 92 MIN
Category: After Hours

A 1970s late-night talk show host plans a daring Halloween special to save his failing program, only to discover there may be a sinister entity afoot.

PFS East 2

12pm: MONSTER
HIROKAZU KORE-EDA | JAPAN | JAPANESE | 2023 | 126 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Revered director Hirokazu Kore-eda returns to Japan with this intense drama, employing an intricate, Rashomon-like structure to unravel the mystery of what transpired between two troubled boys.

2:30pm: THE OLD OAK
KEN LOACH | BELGIUM, FRANCE, UK | ENGLISH | 2023 | 113 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Ken Loach's latest film is a heartfelt and impassioned plea for empathy and solidarity in the face of prejudice, focusing on the unlikely friendship between a small-town pub owner and a young Syrian refugee.

5:15pm: FALLEN LEAVES
AKI KAURISMÄKI | FINLAND, GERMANY | FINNISH | 2023 | 81 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

A touching love story about two lost souls, Aki Kaurismäki's rumored swan song perfectly encapsulates the Finnish master's deadpan wit, visual ingenuity, and quiet humanism.

7:15pm: THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
THOMAS CAILLEY | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 130 MIN
Category: Cinema De France

When a mysterious ailment causes some humans to transform into different species of animal, a devoted father must do whatever it takes to track down his mutating wife and protect his teenage son in this crowd-pleasing dramedy.

10pm: INFESTED
SÉBASTIEN VANICEK | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 103 MIN
Category: After Hours

An arachnophobe's nightmare, this squirm-inducing horror film finds residents of a rundown French apartment building battling against an army of deadly, rapidly reproducing spiders.

Philadelphia Film Center

12pm: PLAYTIME
JACQUES TATI | FRANCE | ENGLISH, FRENCH, GERMAN | 1967 | 124 MIN | 35MM
Category: From the Vaults

In his magnum opus, French legend Jacques Tati once again transforms into clumsy cinematic hero Monsieur Hulot as he stumbles through a postmodern, absurdist Paris filled with tourists, bureaucrats, and the bourgeoisie.

2:35pm: FINGERNAILS
CHRISTOS NIKOU | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 113 MIN
Category: Spotlights

Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed star in this thought-provoking, melancholy sci-fi romance set in an off-kilter reality in which a mysterious test determines whether couples are truly in love.

5pm: THE HOLDOVERS
ALEXANDER PAYNE | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 133 MIN
Category: Centerpieces

During a prep school's winter break in the 1970s, the unlikely trio of a prickly professor, grieving cafeteria manager, and a disillusioned student find warmth in Alexander Payne's touching dramedy.

7:45pm: MAESTRO
BRADLEY COOPER | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 129 MIN
Category: Centerpieces

Epic yet intimate, this decades-spanning drama offers a fascinating look at legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, focusing on both his artistry and his adoring but tumultuous marriage.

Sunday October 22, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

10am:DEEP SEA
XIAOPENG TIAN | CHINA | CHINESE | 2023 | 112 MIN
Category: This Animated Life

After an accident on a cruise ship throws her overboard, a young girl and her new underwater companions embark on a turbulent quest to find her mother in this visually astonishing animated adventure.

12:20pm: FANTASTIC MACHINE
AXEL DANIELSON, MAXIMILIEN VAN AERTRYCK | DENMARK, SWEDEN | ENGLISH, SWEDISH | 2023 | 88 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Hilarious, informative, and deeply troubling, this ambitious cinematic essay tracks the evolution of the recorded image from photography's inception to our current, content-obsessed era.

2:20pm: IT'S ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL
ALEXANDRIA BOMBACH | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 123 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

Known for stirring harmonies and socially conscious lyrics, iconic folk rock duo Indigo Girls are the subject of this intimate and insightful documentary, which tracks their decades-long career.

5:15pm: CHESTNUT
JAC CRON | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 87 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

STRANGER THINGS star Natalia Dyer plays a recent college graduate who falls in with a circle of restaurant workers and navigates romantic entanglements under the neon lights of the eponymous Philadelphia street.

7:30pm: WHITE PLASTIC SKY
TIBOR BÁNÓCZKI, SAROLTA SZABÓ | HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA | HUNGARIAN | 2023 | 111 MIN
Category: This Animated Life

Set in a future dystopian society in which there are no plants or animals, this chilling yet romantic animated drama follows a man desperate to save his wife from the inevitable.

PFS East 1

10am: PIANOFORTE
JAKUB PIATEK | GERMANY, POLAND | CHINESE, ENGLISH, ITALIAN, POLISH, RUSSIAN, SLOVENIAN | 2023 | 89 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

At once tenderly moving and keenly riveting, this doc follows several gifted pianists as they compete in the rigorous and highly prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition

12:15pm: LATE BLOOMERS
LISA STEEN | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 92 MIN
Category: Made in USA

Karen Gillan delivers a knockout tragicomic performance as a hapless twentysomething in a love-hate relationship with a cantankerous Polish woman in this poignant, hilarious indie.

2:45pm: GREEN BORDER
AGNIESZKA HOLLAND | BELGIUM, CZECH REPUBLIC, FRANCE, POLAND | ARABIC, ENGLISH, FRENCH, POLISH | 2023 | 152 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Examining the refugee crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border from multiple perspectives, Agnieszka Holland's searing drama is one of the master filmmaker's most ambitious, devastating works.

6pm: COPA 71
JAMES ERSKINE, RACHEL RAMSAY | UK | ENGLISH, FRENCH, ITALIAN, SPANISH | 2023 | 91 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Nearly forgotten after 50 years, the remarkable story of the 1971 Women's World Cup is finally given the spotlight with never-before-seen footage and interviews with the soccer superstars who kicked it off.

8:15pm: RAGING GRACE
PARIS ZARCILLA | UK | ENGLISH, TAGALOG | 2023 | 99 MIN
Category: After Hours

An innovative blend of social commentary and spine-tingling scares, this SXSW award-winner follows an undocumented Filipina house cleaner whose latest snobby employer just might be her last.

PFS East 2

10:15am: THE MONK AND THE GUN
PAWO CHOYNING DORJI | BHUTAN, FRANCE, TAIWAN, USA | DZONGKHA, ENGLISH | 2023 | 107 MIN
Category: World View

Bhutanese director Pawo Choyning Dorji follows up his Oscar-nominated LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM with a gently satirical ensemble comedy about a village learning to reconcile tradition with modernity.

12:45pm: THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE
ILKER CATAK | GERMANY | ENGLISH, GERMAN, POLISH, TURKISH | 2023 | 98 MIN
Category: World View

In a misguided attempt to solve a string of thefts, a virtuous young teacher unwittingly sets off a disastrous chain of events in this gripping, conversation-starting German drama.

3pm: EVIL DOES NOT EXIST
RYÛSUKE HAMAGUCHI | JAPAN | JAPANESE | 2023 | 106 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

In this slow-burn masterpiece from DRIVE MY CAR auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, the peaceful existence of a mountainside community in rural Japan is threatened by misguided urban developers.

5:30pm: ANIMATED SHORTS PROGRAM
88 MIN
Category: Shorts, Shorts Programs

ANIMATED SHORTS PROGRAM | 88 MIN

8pm: THE SWEET EAST
SEAN PRICE WILLIAMS | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 104 MIN
Category: Made in USA

The delirious directorial debut from famed indie cinematographer Sean Price Williams finds a high school senior ditching her class trip for an outrageous infiltration of fringe communities along the East Coast.

Philadelphia Film Center

3pm: THE TASTE OF THINGS
TRAN ANH HUNG | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 145 MIN
Category: Cinema De France

Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel make a delectable pair in this luminous period romance about a couple who channel their passions into mouthwatering, elaborate gastronomic creations.

5:50pm: LA CHIMERA
ALICE ROHRWACHER | ITALY | ITALIAN | 2023 | 135 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Italian auteur Alice Rohrwacher returns with a luminous, boldly cinematic caper following a band of grave robbers and their mysterious leader, a lovelorn Brit charismatically played by Josh O'Connor.

8:35pm: EILEEN
WILLIAM OLDROYD | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 97 MIN
Category: Spotlights

The arrival of a bewitching psychologist at a 1960s penitentiary awakens strange new feelings in a mousy young woman, leading her down a tantalizingly dark path full of shock and glee.

Monday October 23, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

1pm: UPON ENTRY
ALEJANDRO ROJAS, JUAN SEBASTIÁN VÁSQUEZ | SPAIN | CATALAN, ENGLISH, SPANISH | 2023 | 77 MIN
Category: PFS on Us, World View

A couple is flagged by a border agent and forced to endure an invasive probe into their lives in the hauntingly relevant sociopolitical debut from Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez.

3:15pm: 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES
ESTIBALIZ URRESOLA SOLAGUREN | SPAIN | BASQUE, SPANISH | 2023 | 125 MIN
Category: PFS on Us, World View

Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren's debut feature is a tender portrait of girlhood and womanhood as seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old during a family vacation in the countryside.

6pm: IT'S ONLY LIFE AFTER ALL
ALEXANDRIA BOMBACH | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 123 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

Known for stirring harmonies and socially conscious lyrics, iconic folk rock duo Indigo Girls are the subject of this intimate and insightful documentary, which tracks their decades-long career.

9pm: RAGING GRACE
PARIS ZARCILLA | UK | ENGLISH, TAGALOG | 2023 | 99 MIN
Category: After Hours

An innovative blend of social commentary and spine-tingling scares, this SXSW award-winner follows an undocumented Filipina house cleaner whose latest snobby employer just might be her last.

PFS East 1

6:15pm: A STILL SMALL VOICE
LUKE LORENTZEN | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 93 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

This intimate and profoundly moving documentary follows a dedicated hospital chaplain navigating a year-long residency where she learns to provide spiritual care to terminally ill patients.

8:45pm: LATE BLOOMERS
LISA STEEN | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 92 MIN
Category: Made in USA

Karen Gillan delivers a knockout tragicomic performance as a hapless twentysomething in a love-hate relationship with a cantankerous Polish woman in this poignant, hilarious indie.

PFS East 2

6pm: EVIL DOES NOT EXIST
RYÛSUKE HAMAGUCHI | JAPAN | JAPANESE | 2023 | 106 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

In this slow-burn masterpiece from DRIVE MY CAR auteur Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, the peaceful existence of a mountainside community in rural Japan is threatened by misguided urban developers.

8:30pm: GREEN BORDER
AGNIESZKA HOLLAND | BELGIUM, CZECH REPUBLIC, FRANCE, POLAND | ARABIC, ENGLISH, FRENCH, POLISH | 2023 | 152 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Examining the refugee crisis at the Polish-Belarusian border from multiple perspectives, Agnieszka Holland’s searing drama is one of the master filmmaker’s most ambitious, devastating works.

Philadelphia Film Center

6pm: RUSTIN
GEORGE C. WOLFE | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 106 MIN
Category: Centerpieces

Colman Domingo soars in this rousing biographical drama, which shines a long-overdue spotlight on the contributions of trailblazing, openly gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.

8:30pm: THE BOOK OF SOLUTIONS
MICHEL GONDRY | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 102 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Indie auteur Michel Gondry mines his own history behind the camera for this madcap comedy of errors about an imaginative but erratic filmmaker on an obsessive quest to finish his magnum opus.

PFS Bourse (THEATER 2)

2pm: BETWEEN THE RAINS
ANDREW H. BROWN, MOSES THURANIRA | KENYA, USA | TURKANA | 2023 | 82 MIN
Category: Green Screen, PFS on Us

With an empathetic subject at its core, this heartwarming documentary from Kenya captures a young man’s exploration of his identity amidst the ecological erosion of his community.

4pm: RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE
KATJA ESSON | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 86 MIN
Category: Green Screen

As climate change affects Miami Beach's elite, developers invest in Liberty City, a historic Black enclave outside the floodplains. Despite promises of progress, residents face possible displacement and cultural erasure.

6:15pm: THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED
JOANNA ARNOW | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 87 MIN
Category: Made in USA, PFS on Us

Filmmaker Joanna Arnow stars as a thirtysomething woman in New York City navigating her BDSM relationship and cubicle hell with a defiant shrug in this wry send-up of modern millennial living.

8:30pm: IN OUR DAY
HONG SANG-SOO | SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN | 2023 | 84 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Prolific Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo’s wry, subtly profound take on meaning and connection ties together two seemingly unrelated (but strikingly similar) storylines about artists and their admirers.

Tuesday October 24, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

1:45pm: THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER
FERNANDO TREUBA, JAVIER MARISCAL | FRANCE, SPAIN | ENGLISH | 2023 | 103 MIN
Category: This Animated Life

The team behind CHICO & RITA returns with a vibrant animated docudrama, following the brilliant career, mysterious disappearance, and lasting influence of bossa nova trailblazer Francisco Tenório Júnior.

4pm: GOING VARSITY IN MARIACHI
SAM OSBORN, ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 104 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

Immersing viewers in the world of competitive high school mariachi, this tuneful doc follows one hard-working team as it overcomes numerous obstacles in pursuit of a state championship.

6:30pm: KIM'S VIDEO
DAVID REDMON, ASHLEY SABIN | ITALY, USA | ENGLISH, ITALIAN, KOREAN | 2023 | 85 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Equal parts cinema history and gonzo journalism, this doc conjures the halcyon days of legendary rental shop Kim’s Video and investigates the whereabouts of its collection.

8:45pm: THE (EX)PERIENCE OF LOVE
RAPHAEL BALBONI, ANN SIROT | BELGIUM, FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 89 MIN
Category: Cinema De France

To save their relationship, a seemingly happy couple must track down and sleep with all of their past lovers in this insightful, gently surreal romantic comedy from Belgium.

PFS East 1

6:15pm: ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT
RAVEN JACKSON | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 97 MIN
Category: Made in USA

Produced by Barry Jenkins, the debut feature of award-winning poet and photographer Raven Jackson is an evocative, richly textured journey through multiple decades of one woman’s life in rural Mississippi.

8:30pm: BAD THINGS HAPPEN IN PHILADELPHIA
KYRA KNOX | USA | ENGLISH | 2022 | 69 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

This timely and powerful documentary follows three Philadelphia young people who are working to overcome violence and forge a positive new path through the power of basketball.

PFS East 2

6pm: MONSTER
HIROKAZU KORE-EDA | JAPAN | JAPANESE | 2023 | 126 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Revered director Hirokazu Kore-eda returns to Japan with this intense drama, employing an intricate, Rashomon-like structure to unravel the mystery of what transpired between two troubled boys.

8:45pm: KUBI
TAKESHI KITANO | JAPAN | JAPANESE | 2023 | 131 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

The latest film from auteur Takeshi Kitano is an epically bloody, darkly humorous, and surprisingly queer dramatization of one of the most famous political assassinations in Japanese history.

Philadelphia Film Center

5:45pm: THE TASTE OF THINGS
TRAN ANH HUNG | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 145 MIN
Category: Cinema De France

Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel make a delectable pair in this luminous period romance about a couple who channel their passions into mouthwatering, elaborate gastronomic creations.

8:35pm: THIS CLOSENESS
KIT ZAUHAR | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 88 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

Attending a high school reunion, a young couple confronts their personal issues and a reclusive Airbnb host in Philly native Kit Zauhar’s tantalizingly tense chamber drama.

PFS Bourse (THEATER 2)

1:30pm: RAZING LIBERTY SQUARE
KATJA ESSON | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 86 MIN
Category: Green Screen

As climate change affects Miami Beach's elite, developers invest in Liberty City, a historic Black enclave outside the floodplains. Despite promises of progress, residents face possible displacement and cultural erasure.

3:45pm: UPON ENTRY
ALEJANDRO ROJAS, JUAN SEBASTIÁN VÁSQUEZ | SPAIN | CATALAN, ENGLISH, SPANISH | 2023 | 77 MIN
Category: PFS on Us, World View

A couple is flagged by a border agent and forced to endure an invasive probe into their lives in the hauntingly relevant sociopolitical debut from Alejandro Rojas and Juan Sebastián Vásquez.

6:15pm: FANCY DANCE
ERICA TREMBLAY | USA | CAYUGA, ENGLISH | 2023 | 90 MIN
Category: Made in USA

Lily Gladstone delivers a fierce performance as a Native American woman trying desperately to hold her family together after the disappearance of her sister in this urgent and deeply affecting family drama.

8:30pm: LIVE ACTION SHORTS 2
104 MIN
Category: Shorts, Shorts Programs

LIVE ACTION SHORTS 2 | 104 MIN

Wednesday October 25, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

1:15pm: FANCY DANCE
ERICA TREMBLAY | USA | CAYUGA, ENGLISH | 2023 | 90 MIN
Category: Made in USA

Lily Gladstone delivers a fierce performance as a Native American woman trying desperately to hold her family together after the disappearance of her sister in this urgent and deeply affecting family drama.

3:30pm: STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING
ROGER ROSS WILLIAMS | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 92 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams offers a profound and unflinching exploration of America's enduring struggle with racist, anti-Black narratives and the continued impact on policy and culture.

6pm: SCREAM OF MY BLOOD: A GOGOL BORDELLO STORY
NATE POMMER, ERIC WEINRIB | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 99 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

Known for their raucous live shows, punk rock immigrant folk heroes Gogol Bordello delve into their past and present as they voyage home to Ukraine amidst a smattering of bombs.

8:30pm: A BRIGHTER TOMORROW
NANNI MORETTI | ITALY | ITALIAN | 2023 | 95 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

In a jubilant return to form for Nanni Moretti, this semi-autobiographical cine-memoir finds the Italian auteur playing an aging director struggling to finish his latest film.

PFS East 1

6:30pm: LOUSY CARTER
BOB BYINGTON | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 80 MIN
Category: Spotlights

Man-baby Lousy Carter struggles to complete his animated Nabokov adaptation, teaches a graduate seminar on The Great Gatsby, and sleeps with his best friend's wife. He has six months to live.

8:45pm: AMERICAN SYMPHONY
MATTHEW HEINEMAN | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 104 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

Prepping an ambitious new project while his partner grapples with a devastating illness, award-winning musician Jon Batiste experiences a year of artistic triumphs and intense personal struggles.

PFS East 2

6pm: FINGERNAILS
CHRISTOS NIKOU | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 113 MIN
Category: Spotlights

Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed star in this thought-provoking, melancholy sci-fi romance set in an off-kilter reality in which a mysterious test determines whether couples are truly in love.

8:30pm: THE SWEET EAST
SEAN PRICE WILLIAMS | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 104 MIN
Category: Made in USA

The delirious directorial debut from famed indie cinematographer Sean Price Williams finds a high school senior ditching her class trip for an outrageous infiltration of fringe communities along the East Coast.

Philadelphia Film Center

6pm: PERFECT DAYS
WIM WENDERS | GERMANY, JAPAN | JAPANESE | 2023 | 124 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

A lovely meditation on the magnificence of an ordinary life, this late-career masterpiece from master filmmaker Wim Wenders follows a good-natured cleaner of Tokyo's public toilets.

8:45pm: THE SEARCHERS
JOHN FORD | USA | ENGLISH | 1956 | 119 MIN | 35MM
Category: From the Vaults

In this troubling, powerful, and hugely influential cornerstone of the Western genre, John Wayne stars as a Civil War veteran seeking revenge and redemption on the American frontier.

PFS Bourse (THEATER 2)

1:30pm: FOOD AND COUNTRY
LAURA GABBERT | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 99 MIN
Category: Green Screen

Concerned about the impact of the pandemic on independent farmers and chefs, culinary maven Ruth Reichl talks to innovators across the country working to repair America's broken food system and build a more sustainable future.

3:45pm: Live Action Shorts Program 1
91 MIN
Category: Shorts, Shorts Programs

LIVE ACTION SHORTS PROGRAM 1 | 91 MIN

6:30pm: FANTASTIC MACHINE
AXEL DANIELSON, MAXIMILIEN VAN AERTRYCK | DENMARK, SWEDEN | ENGLISH, SWEDISH | 2023 | 88 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Hilarious, informative, and deeply troubling, this ambitious cinematic essay tracks the evolution of the recorded image from photography's inception to our current, content-obsessed era.

8:45pm: RIDDLE OF FIRE
WESTON RAZOOLI | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 113 MIN
Category: After Hours

Equipped with paintball guns and a whole lot of attitude, three rebellious children embark on a dirt bike odyssey across rural Wyoming to create the perfect blueberry pie for their mother in this instant cult classic.

Thursday October 26, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

12:45pm: THE BREAKING ICE
ANTHONY CHEN | CHINA | CHINESE, KOREAN | 2023 | 97 MIN
Category: World View

Three adrift twentysomethings navigate a budding love triangle during a blustery winter along China's northern border in this captivating relationship drama from acclaimed director Anthony Chen.

3:15pm: 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES
ESTIBALIZ URRESOLA SOLAGUREN | SPAIN | BASQUE, SPANISH | 2023 | 125 MIN
Category: PFS on Us, World View

Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren's debut feature is a tender portrait of girlhood and womanhood as seen through the eyes of an eight-year-old during a family vacation in the countryside.

6:15pm: FOOD AND COUNTRY
LAURA GABBERT | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 99 MIN
Category: Green Screen

Concerned about the impact of the pandemic on independent farmers and chefs, culinary maven Ruth Reichl talks to innovators across the country working to repair America's broken food system and build a more sustainable future

8:30pm: IN OUR DAY
HONG SANG-SOO | SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN | 2023 | 84 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Prolific Korean auteur Hong Sang-soo's wry, subtly profound take on meaning and connection ties together two seemingly unrelated (but strikingly similar) storylines about artists and their admirers.

PFS East 1

3:30pm: ART FOR EVERYBODY
MIRANDA YOUSEF | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 99 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Tracking the rise and fall of Thomas Kinkade, this poignant, revealing documentary delves beneath his reputation as the “Painter of Light” to explore the multifaceted, troubled man whose work revolutionized the business of art-making.

6pm: RIDDLE OF FIRE
WESTON RAZOOLI | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 113 MIN
Category: After Hours

Equipped with paintball guns and a whole lot of attitude, three rebellious children embark on a dirt bike odyssey across rural Wyoming to create the perfect blueberry pie for their mother in this instant cult classic.

8:30pm: SCREAM OF MY BLOOD: A GOGOL BORDELLO STORY
NATE POMMER, ERIC WEINRIB | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 99 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

Known for their raucous live shows, punk rock immigrant folk heroes Gogol Bordello delve into their past and present as they voyage home to Ukraine amidst a smattering of bombs.

PFS East 2

3:45pm: THE OLD OAK
KEN LOACH | BELGIUM, FRANCE, UK | ENGLISH | 2023 | 113 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Ken Loach's latest film is a heartfelt and impassioned plea for empathy and solidarity in the face of prejudice, focusing on the unlikely friendship between a small-town pub owner and a young Syrian refugee.

6:15pm: FILMADELPHIA SHORTS PROGRAM
100 MIN
Category: Shorts, Shorts Programs

FILMADELPHIA SHORTS PROGRAM | 100 MIN

8:45pm: I THINK I'M SICK
DANNY GEVIRTZ | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 106 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

Given a second chance at life after a suicide attempt, a high school senior reluctantly joins the cross country team and begins a friendship with a young woman with struggles of her own.

Philadelphia Film Center

8:45pm: TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN | USA | ENGLISH | 1985 | 116 MIN
Category: From the Vaults

William Friedkin's gritty crime thriller plunges viewers into the underbelly of Los Angeles, following an unorthodox lawman determined to avenge his partner's murder and catch a counterfeiter.

PFS Bourse (THEATER 2)

1pm: RICHLAND
IRENE LUSZTIG | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 93 MIN
Category: Green Screen

Using candid, multifaceted narratives, this vivid documentary explores a city forged by the Manhattan Project, where nuclear pride and a haunting legacy coexist.

3:30pm: A STILL SMALL VOICE
LUKE LORENTZEN | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 93 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

This intimate and profoundly moving documentary follows a dedicated hospital chaplain navigating a year-long residency where she learns to provide spiritual care to terminally ill patients.

6pm: SMOKING TIGERS
SO YOUNG SHELLY YO | USA | ENGLISH, KOREAN | 2023 | 91 MIN
Category: Made in USA, PFS on Us

Director So Young Shelly Yo delivers a refreshing Korean-American coming-of-age narrative about a girl navigating the pressures of adolescence when she is admitted into an elite school.

Friday October 27, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

12:15pm: SMOKING TIGERS
SO YOUNG SHELLY YO | USA | ENGLISH, KOREAN | 2023 | 91 MIN
Category: Made in USA, PFS on Us

Director So Young Shelly Yo delivers a refreshing Korean-American coming-of-age narrative about a girl navigating the pressures of adolescence when she is admitted into an elite school.

2:45pm: PIANOFORTE
JAKUB PIATEK | GERMANY, POLAND | CHINESE, ENGLISH, ITALIAN, POLISH, RUSSIAN, SLOVENIAN | 2023 | 89 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

At once tenderly moving and keenly riveting, this doc follows several gifted pianists as they compete in the rigorous and highly prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition.

5pm: BETWEEN THE RAINS
ANDREW H. BROWN, MOSES THURANIRA | KENYA, USA | TURKANA | 2023 | 82 MIN
Category: Green Screen, PFS on Us

With an empathetic subject at its core, this heartwarming documentary from Kenya captures a young man's exploration of his identity amidst the ecological erosion of his community.

PFS East 1

12:15pm: AMERICAN SYMPHONY
MATTHEW HEINEMAN | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 104 MIN
Category: Sight and Soundtrack

Prepping an ambitious new project while his partner grapples with a devastating illness, award-winning musician Jon Batiste experiences a year of artistic triumphs and intense personal struggles.

2:30pm: GOODBYE JULIA
MOHAMED KORDOFANI | EGYPT, FRANCE, GERMANY, SAUDI ARABIA, SUDAN, SWEDEN | ARABIC | 2023 | 120 MIN
Category: PFS on Us, World View

Mohamed Kordofani's Cannes prizewinner merges Sudanese history into an affecting narrative about two women whose vastly different worlds collide after a horrific tragedy.

5pm: THE BREAKING ICE
ANTHONY CHEN | CHINA | CHINESE, KOREAN | 2023 | 97 MIN
Category: World View

Three adrift twentysomethings navigate a budding love triangle during a blustery winter along China's northern border in this captivating relationship drama from acclaimed director Anthony Chen.

7:15pm: BREAK THE GAME
JANE M. WAGNER | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 73 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

A prolific trans video game streamer grapples with universal questions of identity and connection, all while broadcasting her life to thousands of (sometimes toxic) viewers in this eye-opening, moving doc.

9:30pm: THE BOOK OF SOLUTIONS
MICHEL GONDRY | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 102 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Indie auteur Michel Gondry mines his own history behind the camera for this madcap comedy of errors about an imaginative but erratic filmmaker on an obsessive quest to finish his magnum opus.

PFS East 2

12pm: KIDNAPPED: THE ABDUCTION OF EDGARDO MORTARA
MARCO BELLOCCHIO | ITALY | HEBREW, ITALIAN | 2023 | 134 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Marco Bellocchio's sumptuously mounted historical drama is the explosive true story of a Jewish boy whose kidnapping at the hands of the Catholic Church caused an international scandal.

2:45pm: COPA 71
JAMES ERSKINE, RACHEL RAMSAY | UK | ENGLISH, FRENCH, ITALIAN, SPANISH | 2023 | 91 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Nearly forgotten after 50 years, the remarkable story of the 1971 Women's World Cup is finally given the spotlight with never-before-seen footage and interviews with the soccer superstars who kicked it off.

5:15pm: THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER
FERNANDO TREUBA, JAVIER MARISCAL | FRANCE, SPAIN | ENGLISH | 2023 | 103 MIN
Category: This Animated Life

The team behind CHICO & RITA returns with a vibrant animated docudrama, following the brilliant career, mysterious disappearance, and lasting influence of bossa nova trailblazer Francisco Tenório Júnior.

8pm: BRAVO, BURKINA!
WALE OYEJIDE | BURKINA FASO, ITALY | ITALIAN, MOORE | 2023 | 63 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

In this visually stunning, time-traveling meditation on lives not led, filmmaker Walé Oyéjidé crafts an imaginative epic about a Burkinabé man confronting the culture and family he left behind.

10pm: SLEEP
JASON YU | SOUTH KOREA | KOREAN | 2023 | 95 MIN
Category: After Hours

In this devilishly entertaining domestic thriller, a young, expectant wife must figure out how to stop her husband's nightmarish sleepwalking habits before he harms himself or his family.

Philadelphia Film Center

4:30pm: WHITE PLASTIC SKY
TIBOR BANOCZKI, SAROLTA SZABÓ | HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA | HUNGARIAN | 2023 | 111 MIN
Category: This Animated Life

Set in a future dystopian society in which there are no plants or animals, this chilling yet romantic animated drama follows a man desperate to save his wife from the inevitable.

7pm: SALTBURN
EMERALD FENNELL | UK | ENGLISH | 2023 | 127 MIN
Category: Centerpieces

Closing Night Film Oscar-winner Emerald Fennell returns with this provocative, visually stunning psychological thriller, starring Barry Keoghan as an enigmatic social striver and Jacob Elordi as the privileged object of his obsession.

9:45pm: ART DEALERS
ROY POWER, ADAM WEINER | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 79 MIN
Category: Special Events

The rapturous, sweaty live experience of Philly rock band Low Cut Connie—fronted by charismatic leader Adam Weiner—is celebrated in all its beer-soaked, piano slamming glory in this rousing documentary.

Saturday October 28, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

1pm: TOTEM
LILA AVILES | DENMARK, FRANCE, MEXICO | SPANISH | 2023 | 95 MIN
Category: World View

As chaos and tension mounts, a seven-year-old girl watches her relatives prepare for a surprise birthday party that may also be a farewell in this compassionate, lived-in, critically acclaimed family portrait.

3:15pm: BRAVO, BURKINA!
WALE OYEJIDE | BURKINA FASO, ITALY | ITALIAN, MOORE | 2023 | 63 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

In this visually stunning, time-traveling meditation on lives not led, filmmaker Walé Oyéjidé crafts an imaginative epic about a Burkinabé man confronting the culture and family he left behind.

5:30pm: THIS CLOSENESS
KIT ZAUHAR | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 88 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

Attending a high school reunion, a young couple confronts their personal issues and a reclusive Airbnb host in Philly native Kit Zauhar's tantalizingly tense chamber drama.

PFS East 1

12pm: Live Action Shorts Program 1
91 MIN
Category: Shorts, Shorts Programs

LIVE ACTION SHORTS PROGRAM 1 | 91 MIN

2:30pm: FOUR DAUGHTERS
KAOUTHER BEN HANIA | CYPRUS, FRANCE, GERMANY, SAUDI ARABIA, TUNISIA | ARABIC | 2023 | 107 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

This profound documentary character study seamlessly blends reality and fiction, enlisting actors to embody two missing Tunisian women as their family members struggle to find closure.

5pm: BAD PRESS
REBECCA LANDSBERRY-BAKER, JOE PEELER | USA | ENGLISH, MVSKOKE | 2023 | 98 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

This thrilling political documentary spotlights a courageous journalist's perilous fight to expose government corruption and protect free speech rights in Muscogee Nation.

7:30pm: RED ROOMS
PASCAL PLANTE | CANADA | FRENCH | 2023 | 118 MIN
Category: After Hours

Impeccably crafted and deeply unsettling, this shape-shifting Québécois thriller probes the warped psyche of a woman obsessed with a sadistic serial killer and his legendary snuff films.

10pm: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL
COLIN CAIRNES, CAMERON CAIRNES | AUSTRALIA, UAE, USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 92 MIN
Category: After Hours

A 1970s late-night talk show host plans a daring Halloween special to save his failing program, only to discover there may be a sinister entity afoot.

PFS East 2

12:15pm: THE THREE MUSKETEERS: D'ARTAGNAN
MARTIN BOURBOULON | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 121 MIN
Category: Cinema De France

Featuring lavish production values and a star-studded cast including Vincent Cassel and Eva Green, this adaptation breathes thrilling new life into the swashbuckling Alexandre Dumas classic.

3pm: THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
THOMAS CAILLEY | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 130 MIN
Category: Cinema De France

When a mysterious ailment causes some humans to transform into different species of animal, a devoted father must do whatever it takes to track down his mutating wife and protect his teenage son in this crowd-pleasing dramedy.

5:45pm: FALLEN LEAVES
AKI KAURISMAKI | FINLAND, GERMANY | FINNISH | 2023 | 81 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

A touching love story about two lost souls, Aki Kaurismäki's rumored swan song perfectly encapsulates the Finnish master's deadpan wit, visual ingenuity, and quiet humanism

7:45pm: THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE
ILKER CATAK | GERMANY | ENGLISH, GERMAN, POLISH, TURKISH | 2023 | 98 MIN
Category: World View

In a misguided attempt to solve a string of thefts, a virtuous young teacher unwittingly sets off a disastrous chain of events in this gripping, conversation-starting German drama.

9:50pm: INFESTED
SEBASTIEN VANICEK | FRANCE | FRENCH | 2023 | 103 MIN
Category: After Hours

An arachnophobe's nightmare, this squirm-inducing horror film finds residents of a rundown French apartment building battling against an army of deadly, rapidly reproducing spiders.

Philadelphia Film Center

10am: DEEP SEA
XIAOPENG TIAN | CHINA | CHINESE | 2023 | 112 MIN
Category: This Animated Life

After an accident on a cruise ship throws her overboard, a young girl and her new underwater companions embark on a turbulent quest to find her mother in this visually astonishing animated adventure.

12:30pm: ROBOT DREAMS
PABLO BERGER | FRANCE, SPAIN | 2023 | 101 MIN
Category: This Animated Life

A dog and a robot form a beautiful bond, but when a mechanical malfunction tears them apart, they're forced onto journeys of individual growth in this affecting, melancholy tale of unlikely friendship for all ages.

2:45pm: SEVEN SAMURAI
AKIRA KUROSAWA | JAPAN | JAPANESE | 1954 | 207 MIN | 35MM
Category: From the Vaults

An aging ronin puts together an A-Team of masterless samurai to protect a village of farmers from nefarious bandits in Akira Kurosawa's influential symphony of action, suspense, and heart.

6:45pm: BAD THINGS HAPPEN IN PHILADELPHIA
KYRA KNOX | USA | ENGLISH | 2022 | 69 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

This timely and powerful documentary follows three Philadelphia young people who are working to overcome violence and forge a positive new path through the power of basketball.

8:45pm: I THINK I'M SICK
DANNY GEVIRTZ | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 106 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

Given a second chance at life after a suicide attempt, a high school senior reluctantly joins the cross country team and begins a friendship with a young woman with struggles of her own.

Sunday October 29, 2023

PFS Bourse (THEATER 1)

12pm: CHESTNUT
JAC CRON | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 87 MIN
Category: Filmadelphia

STRANGER THINGS star Natalia Dyer plays a recent college graduate who falls in with a circle of restaurant workers and navigates romantic entanglements under the neon lights of the eponymous Philadelphia street.

2:15pm: THE SETTLERS
FELIPE GÁLVEZ | ARGENTINA, CHILE | ENGLISH, SPANISH | 2023 | 97 MIN
Category: World View

A mixed-race Chilean accompanies a disgraced English captain and an American mercenary on a journey to secure a trade route for a wealthy landowner with ulterior motives in this harrowing and hauntingly beautiful Western.

4:30pm: THE DELINQUENTS
RODRIGO MORENO | ARGENTINA | SPANISH | 2023 | 180 MIN
Category: World View

Fed up with his daily milieu, an Argentinian bank manager coordinates the perfect heist that will earn him minimal prison time only if his unknowing accomplice will agree to stash his haul.

PFS East 1

10:30am: CHRONICLES OF A WANDERING SAINT
TOMAS GOMEZ BUSTILLO | ARGENTINA, USA | SPANISH | 2023 | 85 MIN
Category: World View

In this offbeat Argentinian indie, a pious, elderly chapel custodian is in desperate search of a way to show up the other women at her church–even if it means staging a miracle herself.

12:30pm: STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING
ROGER ROSS WILLIAMS | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 92 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams offers a profound and unflinching exploration of America's enduring struggle with racist, anti-Black narratives and the continued impact on policy and culture.

2:45pm: ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT
RAVEN JACKSON | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 97 MIN
Category: Made in USA

Produced by Barry Jenkins, the debut feature of award-winning poet and photographer Raven Jackson is an evocative, richly textured journey through multiple decades of one woman's life in rural Mississippi.

5pm: OMEN
BALOJI | BELGIUM, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, NETHERLANDS | ENGLISH, FRENCH, LINGALA, SWAHILI | 2023 | 90 MIN
Category: World View

The exhilarating, visually rich first feature from Belgian-Congolese musician Baloji tells the intertwined tales of four people accused of various forms of witchcraft and sorcery.

7pm: CATERPILLAR
LIZA MANDELUP | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 111 MIN
Category: Non/Fiction

Hoping to transform the way the world sees him and the way he sees himself, a man seeks out a risky cosmetic procedure in this unsettling and moving meditation on beauty, identity, and self-acceptance.

PFS East 2

12:15pm: KIDNAPPED: THE ABDUCTION OF EDGARDO MORTARA
MARCO BELLOCCHIO | ITALY | HEBREW, ITALIAN | 2023 | 134 MIN
Category: Masters of Cinema

Marco Bellocchio's sumptuously mounted historical drama is the explosive true story of a Jewish boy whose kidnapping at the hands of the Catholic Church caused an international scandal.

3pm: ANIMATED SHORTS PROGRAM
88 MIN
Category: Shorts, Shorts Programs

ANIMATED SHORTS PROGRAM | 88 MIN

5:15pm: I USED TO BE FUNNY
ALLY PANKIW | CANADA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 105 MIN
Category: World View

Rachel Sennott's layered performance anchors this absorbing, darkly comedic indie about a stand-up comedian who's attempting to put her life back together after a traumatic series of events.

7:45pm: FILMADELPHIA SHORTS PROGRAM
100 MIN
Category: Shorts, Shorts Programs

FILMADELPHIA SHORTS PROGRAM | 100 MIN

Philadelphia Film Center

2pm: FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE
CHEN KAIGE | CHINA, HONG KONG | CHINESE | 1992 | 170 MIN | 4K
Category: From the Vaults

A Palme d'Or-winning landmark of Chinese cinema, this lush, riveting love triangle set against the backdrop of the Peking Opera is presented in an uncut 4K restoration.

5:30pm: THE PROMISED LAND
NIKOLAJ ARCEL | DENMARK | DANISH | 2023 | 127 MIN
Category: Spotlights

Mads Mikkelsen brings primal intensity to his portrayal of a lowborn army captain striving to establish a settlement in Denmark's notoriously inhospitable Jutland Heath in this brutal, beautiful historical epic.

8:15pm: SLY
THOM ZIMNY | USA | ENGLISH | 2023 | 95 MIN
Category: Centerpieces

Iconic actor and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone looks back on his storied five-decade career with candor and hard-won wisdom in this intimate, revealing documentary portrait.

Date: October 19-29, 2023

Locations:

PFS Bourse Theater, 400 Ranstead St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

PFS East Theater, 125 S 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Philadelphia Film Center, 1412 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Buy Tickets

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