CENTERPIECE ENSEMBLE. In the not-quite halcyon days of late-'70s Santa Barbara, on the cusp of a new era in sexual politics, single mother Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening) enlists two younger women (Greta Gerwig, Elle Fanning) to help her raise her teenage son in hopes that he will grow into a man who truly understands women.

FOCUS: KINOWERKS A powerful drama about a woman facing a moral dilemma when, deep into her pregnancy, she learns that there are problems with her baby, 24 Weeks avoids cliché and judgment with a tender, multi-faced exploration of choice. Star Julia Jenstch forcefully portrays the conflicting emotions of a woman facing a difficult decision.

Step right up! The 3D Sideshow is back in town, with depth-defying attractions for all ages! Journey from inside a snowflake to the surface of Mars. Thrill to microscopic monsters and giant bats. Marvel at time-lapse images of the heavens and the alien world of fractals. All this, plus Pixar’s classic Knick Knack, the US 3D premiere of Disney’s Inner Workings, door prizes, and more! Ages 10+

"The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then, makes no difference what group I'm in. I am everyday people." A collection of true-life tales about extraordinary individuals. Stolen Youth: Political Prisoner of the Dictatorship (Joshua Dylan Mellars, US 2016, 6 min), Oddball (Joshua Moore, US 2016, 5 min), Nascent (Lindsay Branham, US 2015, 7 min), Washed Away (Dana Nachman, US 2016, 16 min), and The New Environmentalists - from Peru to Tanzania (Will Parrinello, John Antonelli, and Tom Dusenbery, US 2016, 30 min).

“You see it’s in the blood…Blood’s thicker than mud…You can’t leave ‘cause your heart is there.” These shorts prove that ties that bind come in all sorts of unpredictable varieties. I Remember You (Michael W. Catlin, US 2015, 11 min), parodic Abe & Ike (Justin and Christian Long, US 2016, 11 min), The Mulberry Bush (Neil LaBute, US 2016, 17 min), The Ground Is Breathing (Ali Pour Issa, Iran 2016, 15 min), and Twinsburg (Joe Garrity, US 2016, 16 min).

Highlights from the short programs of MVFF39. Films to be announced.

“That's harmony: Simple as A-B-C, easy as 1-2-3.” And what could promote harmony better than family-friendly films from around the world? This selection includes films from the UK, Denmark, Japan, South Africa, and Croatia—all non-verbal or in English, and all guaranteed to make you laugh, cheer, or perch on the edge of your seat. Ages 4+

FOCUS: SMOKE SCREENS “Feeling that should make you move. Sounds that should help you groove.” Inhale deep into the world of marijuana shorts. Weed: The Story of Marijuana (US 1971, 24 min), The Secret Story (Brian Applegarth, US 2016, 16 min), Bad Habits (Priscilla Gonzalez Sainz and Lyntoria Newton, US 2016, 9 min), Deflowered with the Marines (Todd Bishop, US 2015, 4 min), and Green Thumb (Kiel Murray and Phil Lorin, US 2014, 11 min). Plus, trailers, clips, and more!

“My world—the one thing I defend. She’s my friend and best of kin.” These diverse tales about women, all directed by women, are as eclectic and perceptive as they are entertaining. She Collage (Kate Lain, US 2015, 10 min), Step 9 (Leonora Pitts, US 2015, 13 min), What Happened to Her (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, US 2016, 16 min), Bluey (Darlene Johnson, Australia 2015, 14 min), As If to Say (Kerry Bishe, US 2015, 4 min), Another Time (Autumn McAlpin, US 2016, 7 min).

“My only weapon is my pen. And the frame of mind I'm in. I'm a songwriter. A poet.”  Hand-drawn, CG, and stop-motion characters evoke life in this year’s animated shorts program: Splotch (Dan McHale, US 2015, 4 min), Daewit (David Jansen, Germany 2015, 15 min), Stardust Serenade (Kathleen Quillian, US 2014, 4 min), Chad Gadya (Nina Paley and Theodore Gray, US 2015, 3 min), Honky Cat (Tamara Hahn, US 2016, 5 min), Stems (Ainslie Henderson, UK 2015, 3 min), Father and Daughter (Michael Dudok de Wit, Netherlands/UK/Belgium 2000, 9 min), Borrowed Time (Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj, US 2015, 7 min), and Clouds (Diego Maclean, Canada 2016, 11 min).

“Thank you for the party, but I could never stay. Many things is on my mind, words in the way.” Join us for these four terrific tales of conflicted characters, each at a crossroads on their own personal voyage of self-discovery. The Firefly Girls (Katie Micay, US 2016, 11 min), At Ease (Jacob Kirby, US 2015, 13 min), Modern Houses (Matthew Dixon, US/Australia 2016, 17 min), and Pool (Leandro Goddinho, Brazil 2016, 29 min).

“Wishful thinking, playing with the moon. Won’t you realize we’ll get there soon.” These landscapes prove indelible characters all their own. The Trader (Manuel Alvarez Diestro and Sergio Belinchon, Spain 2016, 12 min), Killing the Coat (Aaron Stoller, US 2015, 4 min), The Child and the Dead (Marc and Karina Ripper, US 2015, 18 min), Lamentation (Kirk Kelley, US 2015, 5 min), Isla Traena (Freddy Syborn, UK 2015, 13 min), and Down South (Bob Yothers, US/Netherlands 2016, 6 min).

Once a promising novelist, sad-sack Ryota is now divorced, hooked on lottery tickets, and stuck working as a private detective spying on adulterers. Meanwhile his wily mother may be plotting to reunite him with his ex-wife. With quiet humor and empathy, After the Storm dissects one family’s postponed dreams in a precisely observed, poignant comedy.

SPOTLIGHT EWAN MCGREGOR: Seymour "Swede" Levov (Ewan McGregor) seemed destined to have it all: the beautiful wife (Jennifer Connelly), an adored daughter (Dakota Fanning), a successful business. But in the turbulent ‘60s, his perfect life begins to unravel. Terrific performances drive Ewan McGregor's directorial debut, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Philip Roth novel.

A retired music critic (a radiant Sonia Braga) defies unscrupulous real estate developers to hold onto her apartment with its sunlit rooms and analog treasures. Mendonça’s airy, widescreen compositions and decisively tracking camera reveal a life richly lived and a character grounded in the past but still permeable to the present world.

A work-in-progress screening shown in conjunction with the panel Master Class—The Filmmaker as Heroine

Archery champion Lauren Pierce lands in a corrupt juvenile correctional facility in the wilderness. She escapes with Rebecca, a fierce but alluring inmate and together they must survive a desperate warden who is bow-hunting his prey to make sure his secret stays buried.

Parker Posey (Best in Show) and Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) star as a couple attempting to start a family and build their dream house, but trouble brews even before an oddball architect (James Frain, Orphan Black) begins dissecting their lives in local director Jonathan Parker’s (Bartleby) fresh comedy drama.

OPENING NIGHT: In award-winning director Denis Villenueve’s (Sicario, Incendies) riveting and deeply thoughtful drama, five-time Oscar® nominee Amy Adams is a brilliant linguistics professor on a journey that leads her across time and space to discover the force that unites all sentient beings on our planet and any others that may exist: the power of communication.