PROXY SPRING SERIES 2024
For this year’s SPRING SERIES, we’re mixing things up a bit! Kicking things off with Greta Gerwig’s BARBIE and ending with Domi Shi’s TURNING RED – an animated film for young audiences about a giant red panda – we’re bracketing the Series with two crowd-pleasing, fun and vibrant films! The heart of the festival is a set of three tender, lovely films: Wim Wender’s new film PERFECT DAYS, which centers presence and immersion in the rituals of daily existence; Celine Song’s PAST LIVES, which explores In-Yun: the Korean cultural belief that the connections we have with each other in this life are influenced by relationships we’ve had together in our past lives; and Babak Jalali’s FREMONT: the story of an Afghan refugee’s strange new life in the San Francisco Bay Area.
PRESHOW
3.29 BARBIE
BARBIE
Directed by Greta Gerwig, 2023
Running time: 1h 54m
A visually dazzling comedy whose meta humor is smartly complemented by subversive storytelling. In the film, Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
BARBIE PRESHOW PLAYLIST
4.5 PERFECT DAYS
PERFECT DAYS
Directed by Wim Wenders, 2023
Running time: 2h 2m
Japanese with English subtitles
An absorbing slice-of-life drama led by a remarkable Kôji Yakusho performance as Hirayama, Perfect Days adds a quietly soaring gem to director/co-writer Wim Wenders' estimable filmography. In the film, Hirayama works as a public toilet cleaner in Tokyo. He repeats his structured, ritualized life every day starting at dawn. He dedicates his free time to his passion for music, which he listens to in his van to and from work, and to his books, which he reads every night before going to sleep.
PERFECT DAYS PRESHOW PLAYLIST
4.12 PAST LIVES
PAST LIVES
Directed by Celine Song, 2023
Running time: 1h 46m
English/Korean with English Subtitles
Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are torn apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.
PAST LIVES PRESHOW PLAYLIST
4.19 FREMONT
FREMONT
Directed by Babak Jalali, 2023
Running time: 1h 32m
English/Dari/Cantonese with English subtitles
Donya, an Afghan translator who fled her country and landed in Fremont, CA, has trouble sleeping. Her routinized life in the Bay Area changes when she's promoted to writing fortunes at her job in a fortune cookie factory. Unsure where it will lead, Donya’s quiet longing for connection drives her to send a secret message out to the world.
FREMONT PRESHOW PLAYLIST
4.26 TURNING RED
TURNING RED
Directed by Domee Shi, 2022
Running time: 1h 40m
Trying to juggle her burgeoning independence and her family's high expectations is about to become even more complicated when 13-year-old high-achiever Mei Lee makes an eye-opening discovery. As her hyperactive teenage hormones kick in, Mei's emotions also take on a life of their own: whenever she gets too stressed or excited, a strange, radical metamorphosis springing from her mother’s maternal lineage is triggered. How can Mei Lee endure the growing pains of growing up without turning red?
