San Rafael, CA, September 10, 2013 – Presented annually by the California Film Institute (CFI) the 36^th Mill Valley Film Festival (October 3-13, 2013) returns with 11 days of world class cinema, industry panels and Oscar^® hopefuls. Every fall, thousands flock to Marin County to the internationally acclaimed festival to catch an early glimpse of some of the upcoming Academy Award^® contenders while mingling with film aficionados, industry guests, and VIP filmmakers. The Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF) holds the proud distinction of presenting the Bay Area premieres of the last five Academy Award^®-Winners for Best Picture (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, THE HURT LOCKER*, THE KING’S SPEECH, THE ARTIST, and ARGO).

On Thursday, October 3^rd, the festival will kick off in grand style with the Co-Opening night films NEBRASKA, from director Alexander Payne and a Special Presentation of Brian Percival’s THE BOOK THIEF. Bruce Dern (Best Actor, Cannes Film Festival) and Will Forte will be in attendance for the Bay Area Premiere of NEBRASKA at the CineArts @ Sequoia in Mill Valley at 6:45PM and 7:00PM. Academy Award^®-winner Geoffrey Rush, Sophie Nélisse and Brian Percival will be in attendance for THE BOOK THIEF at the Century Cinema Corte Madera in Corte Madera, the new Mill Valley Film Festival Co-Opening night venue, at 7:00PM.

The Opening Night Gala at the Corte Madera Town Center will follow the Opening Night Screenings. From 9:30PM to Midnight, guests will enjoy delicious local cuisine and wine from Il Fornaio, Cantina, Balboa Cafe, Teacake, The Counter, Big Jim's BBQ, among many others while listening to James Henry-Hands on Fire, and DJ’s Richard Habib and Marija Dunn. Additionally on Opening Night, the Mill Valley Film Festival will launch an art exhibition curated by Carly Ivan Garcia and Justin Giarla of White Walls and Shooting Gallery and featuring stunning new works by cutting-edge contemporary artists. The exhibition will be open for view throughout the festival in the Mark Fishkin Room at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center.

On Friday, October 4^th, the Mill Valley Film Festival will present Academy Award^®-winning director Costa-Gavras with a Special Tribute. The evening will start at 6:30PM at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael with an on-stage interview with Costa-Gavras featuring clips from his past work and moderated by Mill Valley actor/activist Peter Coyote. Following the interview will be the Bay Area Premiere of his latest film CAPITAL (LE CAPITAL).

Academy Award® winning actor Geoffrey Rush will also be honored with a special Tribute on Saturday, October 5^th. The evening will include an on-stage interview and feature clips from his past work. The program will begin at 9:15PM at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.

On Tuesday, October 8^th, the Mill Valley Film Festival will feature AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY in a Centerpiece/Spotlight program and honor director John Wells at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. The evening begins at 6:30PM with an on-stage interview.

Actor, and Thirty Seconds to Mars front man Jared Leto, will be honored with a Spotlight program on Thursday, October 10^th at 6:30PM at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. The evening will feature an on-stage conversation and the U.S. Premiere of Jean-Marc Vallée’s DALLAS BUYERS CLUB.

Acclaimed British Filmmaker Steve McQueen and British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor will be in attendance on Friday, October 11^th for Steve McQueen’s latest directorial effort,12 YEARS A SLAVE. In a festival first, both director and lead actor will be recognized in this Spotlight program. The event will start at 6:30PM at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.

Dakota Fanning will be honored with a Spotlight program on Saturday, October 12^th at 6:30PM at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael. An on stage conversation will be followed by the World Premiere of her new film EFFIE GRAY from director Richard Laxton.

For Closing Night, the Mill Valley Film Festival will honor Ben Stiller with the Mill Valley Film Festival Award on Sunday, October 13^th at 5:00PM at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center. He will be on hand with his latest directorial effort THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY. Ben Stiller will introduce both the at 5:15PM and 5:30PM showings at the CineArts @ Sequoia in Mill Valley and will receive the Mill Valley Film Festival Award following the 5:00PM screening at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael.

Following the screenings, the festival will come to an end with the Closing Night Party at the Maple Lawn Estate at the Elks Lodge in San Rafael.  

Music oriented films and events once again play an integral part of the festival atmosphere. This year they include the return of THE HI DE HO SHOW on Friday, October 4th at 9:00PM at the CineArts @ Sequoia in Mill Valley and the 2^nd Annual Mill Valley ASCAP Music Café, a series of music showcases at the Sweetwater Music Hall, daily from October 4^th to 6^th, 1:00pm to 5:00pm.  The Music Café will feature an exciting and dynamic assortment of composers, songwriters and artists from across the musical spectrum over the course of three days during the film festival’s first weekend. The West Coast Premiere of THIS AIN’T NO MOUSE MUSIC!, from co-directors Maureen Gosling (Oakland resident) and Chris Simon, on Tuesday, October 3rd at 6:00PM will be followed by a special concert to celebrate the premiere at Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley. On Thursday, October 10th at 8:00PM at 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, songwriter, musician, and innovator Thomas Dolby will present the U.S. Premiere of his director debut THE INVISIBLE LIGHTHOUSE. For this special screening, Dolby will perform live in collaboration with music designer/supervisor and bassist Blake Leyh. Special guests include Multi-Grammy®-winning producer and musician Don Was (John Mayer, Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones), Academy Award®-nominated film composer Mark Isham (Once Upon a Time, Crash [TV & film]; The Secret Life of Bees), cellist, composer and indie artist-phenom Zoe Keating, Swing-Meister Dan Hicks, and three-time Grammy® winner, Emmy®-winning Producer and Musician,Narada Michael Walden.  

Finally, on Friday, October 11th at 8:00PM at the CineArts @ Sequoia in Mill Valley,Bob Sarles and Christina Keating’s documentary SWEET BLUES: A FILM ABOUT MIKE BLOOMFIELD will premiere and be followed by a tribute concert at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley with special guests Jimmy Vivino (Conan O’Brian bandleader) and Barry Goldberg (Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield, Bob Dylan, Steven Stills), who together will lead an all-star band featuring guitarist Nick Gravenites (Electric Flag with Mike Bloomfield).

Each year the Mill Valley Film Festival highlights many local Bay Area filmmakers. This year several will be making their World Premiere at the festival. They include: THE ILLNESS AND THE ODYSSEY from San Francisco director Berry Minott; TOXIC HOT SEAT from co-directors Kirby Walker (San Francisco) and Jamie Redford(Fairfax); Narrated by Academy Award^®-winner Sean Penn, THE HUMAN EXPERIMENT from Los Altos residents Dana Nachman and Don Hardy; andSTANDING ON SACRED GROUND from Berkeley resident Christopher (Toby) McLeod. 

Additional special guests include: Actor Andy Garcia and actress Vera Farmiga will be attendance for the Bay Area Premiere of AT MIDDLETON; actor Stephen Dorffwill be on hand for a special screening on ZAYTOUN; actor Chris Lowell will present the World Premiere of his directorial debut BESIDE STILL WATERS with the whole cast in attendance; and acclaimed Swedish director Jan Troell will come to Mill Valley for a screening of his film THE LAST SENTENCE.

Additional selections in this years festival are: ALL IS LOST, starring Academy Award^®-winner Robert Redford, from director J. C. Chandor; AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, based on the Pulitzer Prize Winning Play by Tracy Letts; Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR;MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM, from director Justin Chadwick; THE PAST (LE PASSE), Winner of the Best Actress Award at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival; PHILOMENA, starring Academy Award^®-winner Judi Dench and Steve Coogan; SWEETWATER from brothers Logan and Noah Miller; Roger Michell’s LE WEEK-END;  and WHOOPI GOLDBERG PRESENTS MOMS MABLEY from director and Academy Award^®-winner Whoopi Goldberg.

* A special post-MVFF presentation with director Kathryn Bigelow at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center


About the 36^th Mill Valley Film Festival 

Presented by the California Film Institute, the 36^th Mill Valley Film Festival runs October 3-13, 2013 at the CinéArts@Sequoia (25 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley), Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center (1118 Fourth Street, San Rafael), and other venues throughout the Bay Area.

The internationally acclaimed Mill Valley Film Festival is greatly anticipated by cinema aficionados and film industry professionals alike, is well known for the quality of its programming, and is considered a major launching pad for the annual awards season.  It has established an impressive track record for launching new films and new filmmakers, and has earned a reputation as a filmmakers' festival by offering a high-profile, prestigious, noncompetitive environment for celebrating the best in independent and world cinema. MVFF holds the distinction of presenting premieres of four of the last five films that have gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture (Slumdog Millionaire, The King’s Speech, The Artist, Argo).

Each year, the 11-day Festival welcomes more than 200 filmmakers, representing over 50 countries from around the world. Festival sections include: World Cinema; US Cinema; Valley of the Docs; Children’s FilmFest; 5@5, a daily shorts program; and Active Cinema, MVFF’s activist films initiative. Gala celebrations, tributes to actors and filmmakers, workshops, panels and seminars, as well as opportunities to mingle with filmmakers in the spectacular setting of the San Francisco Bay Area are just a few of the reasons Screen International named Mill Valley one of its top 10 US film festivals.

Tickets are $14.00 (CFI Members, $11.50), unless otherwise noted and are available for purchase starting on September 8 for CFI or MVFF Fast Pass holders, Premier Patron and Cinema Benefactors only; September 9 for Director’s Circle and above; September 10 for Gold Star and above; September 12 for all CFI Members only and September 14 for the general public. For tickets and additional information, please visitwww.mvff.com or call 877.874.MVFF (6833).


About the California Film Institute

The nonprofit California Film Institute celebrates and promotes film as art and education through the presentation of the Mill Valley Film Festival and year-round exhibitions at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center, film distribution by CFI Releasing, and building the next generation of filmmakers and audiences through the CFI Education program. For more information www.cafilm.org or (415) 383-5256.


Supporters

As a nonprofit arts organization, CFI relies on the generosity of its community to sustain not only the Festival, but also the year-round programs of the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center and CFI Education. The invaluable support of our sponsors, foundations, and individual donors ensures our continued success as we celebrate our 36th year.

CFI is once again proud to acknowledge the leadership support of Christopher B. and Jeannie Meg Smith, and the continued major support of Jennifer Coslett MacCready, Ken and Jackie Broad Family Fund, The Bernard Osher Foundation, the Gruber Family Foundation, the Marin Community Foundation, the Christine Zecca Foundation and the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation. We are also fortunate to have the continued contributions of the following Major Sponsors of the Mill Valley Film Festival: Wells Fargo, Lucasfilm, Ltd., Maroevich, O'Shea & Coghlan Insurance Services, Frantoio Ristorante and Olive Oil Co., Zaentz Media Center/A Wareham and Development.