Heddy Honigmann’s sharp, tender, funny stories of ordinary Peruvians reflecting on politics and governmental corruption are woven together in Oblivion (El olvido, Netherlands 2008, SFIFF 2009), a documentary about pride and self-respect, glory long-gone, love, art and politics, opening Friday, October 2 on SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

“Veteran documentarian Heddy Honigmann, a citizen of the Netherlands, was born in Peru, and there she returns for Oblivion, her typically quirky, deeply humanist exploration of everyday resilience and resignation. For Honigmann, Lima is ‘the forgotten city,’ though its citizens live in the shadow of the presidential palace. If presidents and dictators in endless parade have forgotten about the citizens of Lima, the citizens have not. In fact, if you want a concise history of the ‘scandals, dirty wars and towering inflation’ of the last few decades, just ask a bartender, a waiter, a leather craftsman. All recall to the ever-approachable Honigmann how they have created their own reality to survive an economy in ruins. What is revealed in their faces and their wisdom is, in the words of a poet, ‘a deep, unexpected tenderness: the paradox of the beast.’ From the youngsters doing backflips in the street for coins to the waiter who sagely admits, ‘I’m a clown,’ survival is a performance. For all the good it does these average Peruvians, having their eyes wide open is a point of pride. But if realism is good, magical realism is better—the sort that allows you to juggle glass balls in the air in the middle of a crowded intersection and call it progress.” — Judy Bloch

Written by Honigmann, Judith Vreriks, Sonia Goldenberg. Photographed by Adri Schover. In Spanish with English subtitles. 93 min. Distributed by First Run/Icarus Films.

For screeners and interviews contact hilary@sffs.org.
For photos and press materials visit: http://download.sffs.org/press/02_SFFS_Screen.

At the Sundance Kabuki all seats are reserved and an amenities fee is in effect for most shows. Tickets are available through the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas box office, at kiosks in the lobby and online at sundancecinemas.com/kabuki with print-at-home capability. San Francisco Film Society members receive discounted admission only to SFFS Screen programs and only at the box office, not online or at the lobby kiosks.

Coming soon to SFFS Screen

September 4: The Beautiful Person Loosely based on a famous 17th-century French novel, Christophe Honoré’s new film tracks an ensemble of Parisian high school students as they navigate through the turbulent imbroglios of young love.

September 11: Tony Manero Set in 1978 Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship, Pablo Larrain’s drama focuses on a man whose obsession with John Travolta’s character from Saturday Night Fever reflects the troubled state of Chilean society at that time.

September 18: The Headless Woman Lucrecia Martel, a major figure in contemporary Argentine cinema, directs this complex and exquisite film about a bourgeois woman who may have been involved in a hit-and-run accident.

September 25: You, the Living Roy Andersson continues to display his unique take on humanity in this dryly humorous, surreal and unforgettable amalgamation of encounters and tableaux covering various facets of existence.

October 9: The Wedding Song The Nazi occupation of Tunisia strains the bonds of friendship between a Muslim woman and a Sephardic Jewess who are both preparing for their marriages in Karin Albou’s second feature.

October 16: Birdwatchers Tensions escalate when a tribe of indigenous Guarani Indians attempts to re-inhabit their ancestral land—which lies on the border of a wealthy landowner’s fields—in Marco Bechis’s powerful critique of contemporary life in the Amazon.

October 23: The Vanished Empire Karen Shakhnazarov’s coming-of-age drama, set in the 1970s, profiles a group of young Russians dealing with love in turbulent times. The main character, a callous youth, can be seen to represent Russia at this turning point in her history.

For full, complete and up-to-date information on all SFFS Screen programming, including buying tickets, visit sffs.org. Information and tickets are also available at sundancecinemas.com.

The San Francisco Film Society is a nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to celebrating film and the moving image.
SFFS Screen, the innovative exhibition partnership with Sundance Cinemas, enables the Film Society to present its acclaimed film programs and events at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas year-round on a daily basis.

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