WILD TALES
The 38th Portland International Film Festival (PIFF 38) begins on Thursday, February 5th and will run through the 21st; and opens with Argentinean director Damián Szofrón’s Oscar-nominated film WILD TALES.
Produced by Pedro Almodóvar, WILD TALES is an anthology of six blackly-comic short stories sharing a common theme of frustration, bestial revenge, and the past coming back to haunt in an escalating fashion.
In addition to opening with Damián Szofrón’s WILD TALES, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Festival will host Abderrahmane Sissako’s TIMBUKTU, also nominated in that category. As in past years, the Festival features an abundance of short films. This year’s lineup boasts eight discrete short film programs, including one devoted entirely to films made in Oregon, another built entirely of Spanish-produced content, and an animated shorts program curated by LAIKA’s Mark Shapiro. Among the multitude of shorts on offer, the festival is proud to host Daisy Jacobs’ THE BIGGER PICTURE, nominated for the Short Film – Animated Academy Award, and Matt Kirby’s THE PHONE CALL, nominated in the Short Film – Live Action category.
This year’s Festival includes the return of the popular PIFF After Dark program, showcasing late night movies like Adam MacDonald’s BACKCOUNTRY, Mark Hartley’s (NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD) ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS, and Hitoshi Matsumoto’s (BIG MAN JAPAN) R100 for adventurous festival attendees.
Other highlights of PIFF 38 include screenings of Lisandro Alonso’s (LOS MUERTOS) JAUJA, Joshua Oppenheimer’s (THE ACT OF KILLING) THE LOOK OF SILENCE, Pedro Costa’s (COLOSSAL YOUTH) HORSE MONEY, Gabe Polsky’s (THE MOTEL LIFE) , Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s (EAGLE VS. SHARK) WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, Najwa Najjar’s (POMEGRANATES AND MYRRH) EYES OF A THIEF, Albert Maysles’ (GIMME SHELTER) IRIS, Olivier Assayas’ (CARLOS) CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA, Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker’s I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY, Kornél Mundruczó WHITE GOD, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky’s THE TRIBE, Chuck Workman’s (EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL) MAGICIAN: THE ASTONISHING LIFE AND WORK OF ORSON WELLES, Sergei Loznitsa’s (MY JOY) MAIDAN, Maria Gamboa’s MATEO, Yȏji Yamada’s (THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI) THE LITTLE HOUSE and Christian Petzold’s (JERICHOW) PHOENIX.