This Week at SF Film Society | NEW PEOPLE Cinema is the continuation of A Burning Hot Summer, and SACRIFICE!

Through July 26
(Directed by Philippe Garrel)
3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00pm

The stormy relationship between a painter and an Italian film actress is seen through the eyes of another young couple in Philippe Garrel’s latest exploration of twisted emotional ties. An aspiring actor and self-professed revolutionary, Paul is working as an extra when he falls in love with another bit player in the film, the emotionally fragile Elisabeth. Around the same time, Paul meets the painter Frédéric through a mutual friend, and Frédéric soon invites Paul and Elisabeth to Rome to stay with him and his Italian wife. In the heat of a Roman summer, Paul and Elisabeth face the delicate start to their new love while Frédéric and Angele’s begins to implode. More info >>

July 27 – August 2
(Directed by Chen Kaige)
1:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:30pm

Mixing the intimate and the epic to great effect, Chen Kaige’s latest is a character-driven story of retribution and regret. General Tu’an feels that his fortunes have been thwarted by the popularity of the Zhao clan and devises an intricately planned coup d’état. During the confusion of the ensuing massacre, Cheng Ying, a court doctor who is a new father himself, helps deliver the last of the Zhao clan in secret and is entrusted with the baby’s safety, setting in motion an intricate story of mistaken identities, paternal love, betrayal and revenge. As he did with Farewell My Concubine (1993), Chen turns to the stage for his filmic inspiration, this time giving his own spin to this sweeping adaptation of Yuan dynasty-era Orphan of Zhao. More info >>

This Week at SF Film Society | NEW PEOPLE Cinema is the continuation of BALLPLAYER: PELOTERO, BONSÁI, Dark Horse, A Burning Hot Summer, and THE STORY OF FILM: AN ODYSSEY (Part Seven)!

Through July 19
(Directed by Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, Jonathan Paley)
3:00, 7:00pm (Fri, Sat, Tues); 5:00, 9:00pm (Sun, Mon, Wed) (1:00pm only on July 19)

For 16-year-old Dominican baseball players, or Peloteros, the only real chance to escape crushing poverty comes every July 2, the day they become eligible to sign professional baseball contracts. Ballplayer: Pelotero provides an intimate portrait of two prospects as they train during the run-up to the most important day of their lives and navigate the calculating, mercenary and often corrupt elements that surround professional baseball’s recruitment of the island’s top talent. More info >>

Through July 19
(Directed by Cristián Jiménez)
5:00, 9:00pm (Fri, Sat, Tues); 3:00, 7:00pm (Sun, Mon, Wed); (3:00pm only on July 19)

Director Cristián Jiménez brings a keen comic sense to Chilean author Alejandro Zambra’s contemporary classic novella Bonsái, crafting an existential romance with deep insight into the psychology of love, finding meaning through literature and caring for sensitive plants. Making several leaps forward and backward in time, the film follows its protagonist Julio in his sincere but deadpan fumbling through early adulthood. Bonsái strikes the perfect balance of humor and angst, wisdom and folly, and brings home a universal emotional truth—though the story Julio tells may be idealized, delusional and partially fictional, nothing has more power to move his soul. More info >>

July 19
(Directed by Todd Solondz)
9:00pm

Director in person! Solondz, the master of the “sorrowful comedy” (his term), carefully and humorously examines the life of a middle-aged schlub. Abe, an overweight and sometimes belligerent man-child in his mid-30s, lives with his folks (marvelously played by Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow) and works ineffectually for his father. He collects action figures, drives a bright yellow Hummer and often evinces an optimistic streak, though he quickly turns nasty when things don’t go his way. Selma Blair plays Miranda, the dysfunctional object of Abe’s intense romantic affections. As ever, Solondz is interested in the environments and the people who revolve around his main characters, particularly Abe’s coworkers and an ex-boyfriend of Miranda’s. Using this prism, he shows the failings and fantasies of his protagonists, perhaps pointing a way forward for them both. More info >>

July 20 – July 26
(Directed by Philippe Garrel)
3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00pm

The stormy relationship between a painter and an Italian film actress is seen through the eyes of another young couple in Philippe Garrel’s latest exploration of twisted emotional ties. An aspiring actor and self-professed revolutionary, Paul is working as an extra when he falls in love with another bit player in the film, the emotionally fragile Elisabeth. Around the same time, Paul meets the painter Frédéric through a mutual friend, and Frédéric soon invites Paul and Elisabeth to Rome to stay with him and his Italian wife. In the heat of a Roman summer, Paul and Elisabeth face the delicate start to their new love while Frédéric and Angele’s begins to implode. More info >>

July 21
12:00pm noon
Adapted from his book of the same name, Mark Cousins’ epic exploration of film—its distant and recent past, and even its future—has something of interest for everyone from the mildly curious to the hardcore cineaste. Part eight: “Cinema Today and the Future” (2000s). More info >>