Big Nights
Opening Night Film
7 DAYS
Thursday, October 28, 2021 at 7:00 pm
The San Diego Natural History Museum
Ravi and Rita dutifully go on an arranged blind date. He’s awkward and sincere, while she’s respectfully present, all to get through the ritual of appeasing their traditional Indian parents. And then COVID strikes! Their phones buzz with news about a stay-at-home order, public transportation is suspended, and they’re stuck together on a date that knows no end—and in quarantine, polite gloves start coming off and it starts getting real. Physician-turned-screenwriter Roshan Sethi proves to be the perfect director of the shelter-in-place rom-com, capturing the hilarity and anxiety of our pandemic hearts and spirits.
Admission includes outdoor post-screening reception.
Centerpiece Film
CATCH THE FAIR ONE
Sunday, October 31, 2021 at 5:00 pm
Ultrastar Cinemas Mission Valley
Boxer Kaylee’s been training for the fight of her life, every punch growing more agile and ferocious than the last. This time, the fight won’t be in the ring. Kaylee’s got word that her sister, missing for two years, was abducted by human traffickers. With every reason to fear for her life and safety, Kaylee decides to follow her sister’s footsteps in order to save her. Based on a story by WBA super lightweight champion Kali “K.O.” Reis (who also plays the lead), and written and directed by up-and-coming talent Josef Kubota Wladyka, CATCH THE FAIR ONE is a gripping drama of physical and emotional tenacity in the face of society’s worst.
Admission includes outdoor post-screening reception.
Special Presentation
INSIDE THE RED BRICK WALL
Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at 8:10 pm
Ultrastar Cinemas Mission Valley
In 2019, demonstrators occupied Hong Kong Polytechnic University to protest a pro-Beijing extradition bill. In the crowd, rubbing shoulders with protestors, was a collective of documentarians filming this historical crossroads as police marched in and blocked the exits. A captivating on-the-ground documentary, filmed with journalistic instincts and a sympathy for escalating human and political stakes.
Closing Night Film
DRIVE MY CAR
Friday, November 5, 2021 at 6:30 and 7:00 pm
Angelika Film Center & Café – Carmel Mountain
Yusuke lives life the way he directs his plays: with precision and purpose. Perhaps it’s a reaction to death in his family. Perhaps it’s his way of maintaining control. So when the producers of his latest show require that a stranger be his chauffeur during rehearsals, he only cautiously relents. Because DRIVE MY CAR is adapted from a Haruki Murakami story, letting strangers into private spaces will have unsettling psychosexual reverberations, especially as Yusuke begins theater rehearsals that swerve uncannily into his own life and backstory. Winner of Best Screenplay at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
Admission includes outdoor pre- and post-screening receptions.
