VTIFF Program-Guide 2024 - Flipbook - Page 22
FILMS A TO Z
FH: FILM HOUSE | BB: BLACK BOX THEATER | SR: SCREENING ROOM • All at Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center, Burlington
RUN LOLA RUN
(LOLA RENNT)
Directed by Tom Tykwer
Germany | 1998 | Fiction | 81 min | German w/subtitles
Sponsored by: Erika Senft Miller and John Miller
SHOWTIMES
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27 | 4:30 PM | FH
Let’s do the time warp again. We’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of the banner movie
year of 1999 with the eye-popping restoration of this sensational film with style for days.
Underrated journeyman Tom Tykwer—soon after a close confidant of simpatico
cyberpunk visionaries the Wachowskis—races through a triptych of chaos theory in this
German-language stunner, one of cinema’s greatest adrenaline rushes. Run Lola Run is
as propulsive a movie as you’ll ever see, a pulse-pounding hypercapitalist techno fairy
tale. When Lola’s partner, Manni, leaves a bag with 100,000 Deutsche Marks on the
U-Bahn, she’s tasked with coming up with the cash in 20 minutes to save his life. Tykwer
tells then retells then retells again this real-time dilemma as our rebel hero hustles
across the city trying and trying and trying for a big score until she gets it right. Franka
Potente sprinting through the streets of Berlin with her Kool-Aid red hair and powder
blue tank top is one of the the signature images of the ’90s—an instant punk icon is
born. ~OO
SABBATH QUEEN
Directed by Sandi DuBowski
USA | 2024 | Documentary | 105 min | English, Hebrew w/subtitles
Sponsored by: VTIFF Programming Committee
SHOWTIMES
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26 | 1:15 PM | FH
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is one of the most compelling characters you’ll meet in a
theater this year, a lifelong seeker who is intelligent, compassionate, courageous, and
rebellious. His journey to self-actualization across many years and many diverse life
chapters is truly remarkable and affecting to witness, and is a testament to being
open-minded and compassionate above all else. This feature documentary, filmed over
21 years, follows Rabbi Lau-Lavie’s tumultuous, conflicted path as he comes to terms
with his family’s 38-generation Rabbi dynasty. He is torn between rejecting and
embracing his destiny and birthright while also exploring his sexuality and identity. He
may be an ordained orthodox rabbi but he’s also a drag-queen, a Radical Fairy, a queer
bio-dad, and the founder of an everybody-friendly, God-optional experimental
congregation. This thoughtful and heartwarming portrait of Amichai is also a timely
meditation on what Jewish survival means in a rapidly changing 21st century. ~OO
There is an in-person Q&A with the director following the screening.
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof
Iran | 2024 | Fiction | 168 min | Persian w/subtitles
Sponsored by: Jennifer Rangnow
SHOWTIMES
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26 | 7 PM | FH
Master filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has made many films (and VTIFF has shown a
number of them), but none has caused quite the stir of The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which
earned him an eight-year prison sentence from Iranian authorities. Rasoulof was able to
leave Iran before his arrest, and now lives in exile in Europe. A story like that can tend to
overshadow a film, which would be a shame, because The Seed of the Sacred Fig is a
strong entry in the Rasoulof catalog. Shot entirely in secret, it tells the story of an
investigating judge during a period of turmoil in Iran, who succumbs to paranoia when
his gun goes missing, leading him to enact draconian measures against his own family. In
The New Yorker, Justin Chang called it, “a thriller of propulsive skill and blunt emotional
force, marrying the muscularity of an action film to the psychological intensity of a
chamber drama.” As always, VTIFF is thrilled to present another film by this bold,
fearless filmmaker. ~SM
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VTIFF.ORG | VERMONT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2024
