Films

Rising star Ben Wang is superb as a teenager given to self-sabotage who decides to run for senior class president in Will Robb’s SXSW breakout hit, an uproarious and heartfelt coming-of-age comedy.

Julianne Moore is a suburban housewife who yearns to perform in her New Jersey hometown’s latest theater production and Paul Giamatti is the director who must coax out her inner diva in Jesse Eisenberg’s sharp, funny musical comedy.

In Molly Manners’ witty and winsome debut about the pains of girlhood, quirky British boarding school besties Flic and Minna decide to become worldly Oxbridge candidates by getting some practice in romance.

Producers embrace journeyman actor-turned-screenwriter Sylvester Stallone’s boxing story, but no studio wants to invest in a film without a star—and Stallone wrote the part of Rocky Balboa for himself—in this behind-the-scenes drama charting the making of Rocky.

MVFF partners with CalArts, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA, California College of the Arts, and CSU Long Beach for a stellar showcase of animated work directed by female and nonbinary filmmakers. This selection features films reflecting family, friendship, life, death, and cultural identity.

MVFF partners with CalArts, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA and CSU Long Beach for a second showcase of animated work directed by female and nonbinary filmmakers. Films include kid-friendly topics like animals, family, friendship, big dreams, and outer space. Appropriate for grades 1-5 (ages 6-10)

A pair of CIA agents, Easter Island, and a mysterious assignment: Martin McDonagh delivers a darkly funny, visually stunning thriller fueled by the irresistible chemistry of John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell.

Sam Rockwell will be honored with a special MVFF Tribute Program, featuring a screening of Wild Horse Night, clips from his career, and an in-depth conversation, and preceded by an earlier screening of Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, another Martin McDonagh film starring Rockwell, whose performance earned him an Academy Award.

A jazzy, sassy musical tale of Mouse Detective Quill on the trail of his longtime nemesis and secret crush, Cat Burglar Juliette.

Dinner conversation at the table of a most imaginative family who definitely do not subscribe to the old saying, “Never play with your food!”

Adorable little Goddamn is ready for love but where is that obscure object of desire

The humorous story of a man working as a teddy bear mascot who gets transported to a land of plush animals where the humans live in cages and stuffies rule the world.

Memories of one man’s literal and figurative trip to Chiapas accompanied by his brother and a bag of magic mushrooms soaked in honey.

When the Empress transports herself to a spa planet for some much-needed R&R, her assistant Quip takes charge for the day and has some ambitious plans.

Can’t a girl just get a pair of regular old glasses in the astral plane?

A humorous punk-rock high school drama centering on an undying craving for an elusive incendiary snack.

A young man challenges himself to swim across a freezing river, only to discover the error of his ways when he gets to the opposite shore.

Two teenaged slackers do tarot readings in graveyards for cash ‘til their tagalong, screen-addicted baby brother takes off on his own.

A culinary whiz in the kitchen, this cat is a most unexpected cake-maker.