desertfilmsociety.com

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

“Still Walking” observes a family reunion at the seaside home of a strait-laced retired doctor and his wife; events are seen through the eyes of their self-effacing grown-up son, Ryo, a recently unemployed art restorer who brings along his new bride, a widow, and her 10-year-old son from her previous marriage.

in addition to a test market screening of "HELPLESS" (10 mins) w/Special Guest, Brent Huff -View Trailer-

Coachella Valley Premiere

José finds out that Nora, the woman he'd been married to for 30 years and then divorced, has died.  The rabbi explains to Jose that due to the celebration of Passover, if Nora is not buried that same day, they will have to wait five days to carry out the burial.  José, has to figure out what to do with his ex's body.  This affecting, understated comedy set in Mexico City is both sweet and sad, and wonderfully textured. 

Sneak Preview to DFS Members
February 10, 2010 @ 7:30 PM

Regal Rancho Mirage 16
72-999 Dinah Shore Drive
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

The soul of the story is the loving father-daughter bond the two have formed in the absence of a wife and mother. They are happy as they are, yet Lionel at times gently encourages his daughter's independence even as she resists it. Directed by Claire Denis (“Beau Travail”, “Chocolat”) 35 Shots of Rum made Stephen Holden’s “Best of the Year” list in the New York Times.

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

FLAME AND CITRON tells the true story of Danish resistance to Nazi occupation during WWII.  Flammen and Citronen were the code names for a legendary duo responsible for the deaths of countless Nazis and collaborators.  The acclaimed Ole Christian Madsen’s political thriller is an ultra-stylized and remarkable spy noir about the murky moral complexities of wartime.  Stars Mads Mikkelsen (of AFTER THE WEDDING and CASINO ROYALE) and Thure Lindhardt.

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

“Saviors in the Night” is based on the memories of Marga Spiegel. In her narrative, published in 1965, she describes how courageous farmers in southern Münsterland hid her, her husband and their little daughter from 1943 until 1945, thus saving them from deportation to the extermination camps in the East.  “Saviors in the Night” is the Opening Night selection for this year's New York Jewish Film Festival at Lincoln Center. 

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

A psychological thriller that gives two of France's finest actresses’ roles to sink their teeth into.  Catherine Frot - opposite Sandrine Bonnaire - plays a woman who finds herself stalking another family once she catches a glimpse of their young daughter. 

Total runtime:  33 min.

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

A comic drama that examines how far a young couple will go in order to save their house from confiscation.  The two search for creative solutions to obtain the money, while each of them believes that his solution is saner. 

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

A grieving woman commissions a painter to do a portrait of her children: her 22 year old daughter, and her 19 year-old son, who recently died in a tragic accident. Directed by Academy Award winner, Caroline Link, "Nowhere in Africa."

Chamaco is a timeless story told in the gritty world of boxing. Abner is trapped in the rough life of Mexico City. His escape? Boxing. Dr. Frank Irwin (Martin Sheen) and his son Jimmy (Kirk Harris), a pro boxer, come together to teach Abner that the heart fuels the punches we throw in life.  

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

As a down-and-out musician barely surviving in New York, Robert has lost his mojo. An unexpected trip to Serbia offers a fresh angle in this tale about loneliness, cross-cultural connections and the redemptive power of love. Cast : Starring David Thornton. Featuring Cyndi Lauper

SPECIAL GUEST:  WRITER/DIRECTOR JAVIER FUENTES-LEON

 * Peru's Official Submission - Best Foreign Film - Academy Awards 2011 *

Coachella Valley Premiere

"With the measured patience of a seasoned filmmaker, writer/director Javier Fuentes Leon’s feature debut is a haunting tribute to the power of the heart and the painful consequences of love denied.  Set in an exotic Peruvian fishing village, the film's romantic complications, familial assembly and loyalty to tradition evoke Shakespearean themes.

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

Judith is an attractive, level-headed woman in her fifties. She lives alone and regularly treats herself to the sexual services of young men. That's how she meets Patrick, whose kindness and simplicity win her over. This charming young man, whose real name is Marco, only works as an escort to pay the mortgage on the hair salon run by his beloved wife, Fanny.

Coachella Valley Premiere

Mousse and Louis are young, beautiful, rich and in love.  But drugs have invaded their lives.  One day, they overdose and Louis dies.  Mousse survives, but soon learns she's pregnant.  Feeling lost, Mousse runs away to a house far from Paris. Several months later, Louis's gay brother Paul (French singer Louis-Ronan Choisy) joins her in her refuge.  The two strangers gradually develop an unusual and deeply moving relationship as Ozon continues his unique exploration of the nature of family and blood ties.  Also starring Isabelle Carré, Pierre Louis-Calixte, Melvil Poupaud.

Opens in NY on 9/10 and in LA on 9/17. 

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

Marco is a lonely, handicapped, Spanish smuggler, driving through Brazil to sell out his cheap goods. When two bandits assault him and steal his load, he is miraculously saved by Carmo, a beautiful local girl who would rather die than spend another day in the hellhole where she lives. Starring Spanish superstar Fele Martínez as Marco and Mariana Loureiro as Carmo. 

Opens theatrically in NY and LA in October.

Coachella Valley Premiere - One Time Screening

"Young Sasha Petrovic, studious and musically talented, is the beloved child of his Montenegro-born parents, who run a pub adjacent to their home in Cologne.  But he’s got a secret crush that’s about to throw his life into chaos.  With a clash of cultures and generations, Sasha is a refreshing take on the coming-out story, bravely addressing homophobia in a Balkan immigrant family.

Sasha is beginning to take those first few momentous steps out of the closet, but he’s got a lot of other stuff on his hands.  He’s nervous about an upcoming audition for a prestigious music school, he’s beset by a powerful crush on his piano teacher, Mr. Weber, and he’s taunted by his younger, more athletic brother Boki.

 HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT’S INFERNO

”A dazzling evocation of what may be one of the greatest films never made”

In 1964, famed director Henri-Georges Clouzo,  (Wages of Fear, Diabolique, etc.),  began work on his most ambitious film to date, L’ENEFER (INFERNO).  It was a dark psychological study of the mental disintegration of hotel owner Marcel (Serge Reggiani), consumed by jealousy at the supposed infidelity of his stunning young wife, played by Romy Schneider in her prime.  After months of preparation in Paris, Clouzot took his cast and crew to the south of France, where everything went horribly wrong.