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Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “staggeringly heartbreaking” MONSTER opens Friday.

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Gently devastating in its compassion, Monster, the latest from Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda (After Life, Shoplifters, Broker), is a masterpiece of shifting perspectives that defies expectations. It begins with a mother who confronts a teacher about her child’s behavioral changes. This is the first time Kore-eda has directed a film he did not write in almost 20 years. (The film was the last scoring project by Ryuichi Sakamoto.) We open Monster this Friday at the Laemmle Monica Film Center, Glendale, Town Center/Encino and Claremont 5.

Leading film critics have weighed in:

“Monster is one of the finest films of the year, and its structure — like its circle of characters — carries secrets that can only be unraveled through patience and empathy.” ~ Natalia Winkelman, New York Times

“If possible, watch Monster more than once.” ~ Anthony Lane, New Yorker
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“It poetically shows the power of perspective. So well-observed, nuanced, and compassionately told.” ~ Claudia Puig, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
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Hirokazu Kore-eda's "staggeringly heartbreaking" MONSTER opens Friday.
“As you’d expect from Kore-eda, it’s all told with the utmost detail and care, and a gentle score from the late Ryuichi Sakamoto only adds to the overarching air of thoughtfulness and empathy.” ~ Dave Calhoun, Time Out
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“There is so much beauty in Monster, and so much sadness.” ~ Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

“What Monster most comes to resemble is a reminder of the rich inner and emotional worlds of children — of their autonomy, even, in the context of a culture reluctant to acknowledge it. ~ Zachary Barnes, Wall Street Journal

“Monster’s three perspectives are not so much in argument with one another as they are pieces of the same puzzle. And once they are locked together, the final portrait is staggeringly heartbreaking.” ~ Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail

“While Monster depends on dramatic irony and revelatory twists, it’s also a showcase for director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose knack for collaboration brings out the best in his actors, especially his younger cast members.” ~ Simon Abrams, RogerEbert.com

“One of the director’s finest, its thematic scope and emotional power growing with each new revelation.” ~ Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

“Across the film, you can feel the push and pull between a master technician who built his career on the patient, delicate plucking at our heartstrings and his newfound desire to please a wide audience with the broadest of affective strokes.” ~ Kyle Turner, Slant Magazine

“Monster is another striking piece of work from a master, a movie that’s so carefully calibrated that you get lost in these characters, forgetting they’re performers and not people caught up in a genuinely traumatic chapter of life.” ~ Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

“Monster keeps its secrets until its final moments, leaving us with the feeling that we have earned its trust and are worthy of the precious, beautiful truths that lie at its heart.” ~ Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, AWFJ.org

“A case of Kore-eda’s incredible felicity in handling child actors, or perhaps the kids challenging and inspiring Kore-eda yet again.” ~ Namrata Joshi, The New Indian Express

“Kore-eda is a master of directing children’s performances, so it’s no wonder that Monster is at its best when there are no adults on screen, the children living in their own world of fantasy and adventure and emotion.” ~ Alissa Wilkinson, Vox

A “genuinely delightful” movie about a brilliant teacher, RADICAL Opens Friday.

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Joining the list of inspiring films about brilliant teachers like Stand and Deliver and Dead Poets Society, Radical is set in a Mexican border town plagued by neglect, corruption, and violence. A frustrated teacher (Eugenio Derbez) tries a radical new method to unleash the curiosity and potential of his students… and maybe even their genius. Based on a true story and winner of the Festival Favorite award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Radical will make you think about the best teachers you’ve had the good fortune to meet. (Thinking of you, Ray Schaefer!) We open the movie this Friday at the Town Center, Newhall, Claremont and Monica Film Center.
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“Christopher Zalla’s truth-based drama is a rarity, a crowd-pleaser about an unorthodox 6th-grade school teacher and his students that actually earns its stand-up-and-cheer status.” Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News
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“Destined to bring a tear to even the most hardened of viewers, Radical is a genuinely delightful reimagining of a tale we might have mistakenly believed had run its course.” ~ Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, AWFJ.org
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“Comes to a stirring close that balances optimism with a side of heartbreak for those kids who lack access to the right resources.” ~ Tomris Laffly, Variety

“Zalla teaches a lesson on how to deliver an affirming, emotional gut punch.” ~ Johnny Oleksinski, New York Post

A "genuinely delightful" movie about a brilliant teacher, RADICAL Opens Friday.

“Derbez, always a charismatic screen presence, is at his best interacting with young people.” ~ Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com

“Those who inspired Radical deserved to be celebrated, and it’s likely that a mass-appealing filmic interpretation of their against-the-odds accomplishments might function as the farthest-reaching vehicle to disseminate them.” ~ Carlos Aguilar, indieWire

“Thoroughly entertaining, completely unpredictable” Finnish Romantic Comedy FALLEN LEAVES opens Wednesday.

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The latest deadpan gem from living legend Aki Kaurismäki is a romantic comedy, but discard any preconceived notions about what that connotes. Fallen Leaves looks, sounds and moves audiences unlike a typical, predictable rom-com or most movies, for that matter. It’s sui generis and will almost certainly make the Oscar shortlist for Best International Film, and rightly so. The nation’s top film critics agree, declaring it one of the best movies of the year:

“Modestly scaled and tonally perfect, Fallen Leaves opens in a fluorescent hell-on-earth and ends with a vision of something like paradise.” ~ Manohla Dargis, New York Times

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“[A] weirdly beguiling delight.” ~ Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com

“Aki Kaurismäki’s deadpan dark comedy dips with style and just a hint of weird whimsy into the lives of his working-class characters, and the tableaux he crafts give off the whiff of a Finnish spin on Hopper’s alienated figures.” ~ Alissa Wilkinson, Vox"Thoroughly entertaining, completely unpredictable" Finnish Romantic Comedy FALLEN LEAVES opens Wednesday.

“Fallen Leaves is, for all its intended quietness, one of the most trenchant works about modern life to emerge in cinemas, post-pandemic.” ~ David Sims, The Atlantic

“Aki Kaurismäki’s latest is deeply alert to the sensory pleasures of the world.” ~ Carson Lund, Slant Magazine

“Fallen Leaves, short, sweet and utterly delightful, is the kind of movie that’s so charming, you want to run it back the moment it’s over.” Jake Coyle, Associated Press

"Thoroughly entertaining, completely unpredictable" Finnish Romantic Comedy FALLEN LEAVES opens Wednesday.

“Fallen Leaves is thoroughly entertaining, completely unpredictable and one of the best films I’ve seen this year.” ~ Leonard Maltin, leonardmaltin.com
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“The key to this movie’s winning emotional delicacy is its formal sturdiness. Every shot has a specific job to do and does it well. The performances are measured and restrained.” ~ Glenn Kenny, RogerEbert.com

“There’s life boiling under the simple surfaces, which is both Kaurismäki’s aesthetic mantra and his great theme. At their best, these quiet, cool films tear you to pieces. Fallen Leaves already feels like one of his signature works.” ~ Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture

We open the film Wednesday, November 22 at the Royal and December 1 at the Laemmle Glendale, Monica Film Center and Town Center.

Todd Haynes’ MAY DECEMBER and the 35th Anniversary of the Mighty Zeitgeist Films.

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 After a couple disappointing features, it was great to see Todd Haynes, one of our finest filmmakers, return to his indie roots with the 2021 documentary The Velvet Underground.  And now with May December — which we open May 17 at the Glendale, Monica Film Center, NoHo and Town Center — we have another feature that can stand alongside his masterpieces like Safe, Far from Heaven, I’m Not There and Carol.  This is also a moment to remember his first feature, Poison, and the use this as an opportunity to honor New York-based boutique distributor Zeitgeist Films (the distributor of Poison) on their 35th anniversary. Long and successful careers require talent, to be sure.  But the role of early supporters is also key. And from Todd Haynes to Atom Egoyan and Francois Ozo to Christopher Nolan, Zeitgeist has championed so many amazing talents.  ~ Greg Laemmle
Stephen Saito of The Movable Fest recently spoke with Zeitgeist founders Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo about their company, the ingenuity and drive it took to make it a success, their favorite films, and much more. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the changing world of independent film distribution from two experts. Saito introducers the interview like this:

For much of cinema history, the sight of a big Z slashing across the screen promised the fictional adventures of a sword-wielding caped crusader, but starting in 1988, that big red Z started to stand for something else amongst discerning cinephiles, as real life heroes Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo believed there was a better way forward for the films they loved. Starting Zeitgeist Films out of a small West Village apartment after working a variety of jobs in film distribution, the two have played an outsized role in shaping film culture in the decades since, taking a quality over quantity approach to making room in a crowded American theatrical marketplace for some of the most daring work from around the world. Limiting their acquisitions to a manageable slate of four to five releases a year where each one would receive their undivided attention, a necessity when championing artists such as Bruce Weber (“Let’s Get Lost”), Peter Greenaway (“The Draughtman’s Contract”), Derek Jarman (“Blue”) and Guy Maddin (“Cowards Bend at the Knee”) without deep pockets, the duo has not only had the foresight to see the enduring nature of the films themselves that they release, but the value of time in how much they put into each film and how it has afforded them the sustainability to keep going.

“We noticed that there were companies that started that spent a lot of money on films and would acquire a lot and those companies went out of business extremely quickly,” Gerstman said recently on the occasion of the company’s 35th anniversary. “And we wanted to stay in business and we were able to.”

Their latest milestone has led the Metrograph in New York to pay Zeitgeist a much-deserved month-long tribute with an in-theater 13-film retrospective, kicking off this Friday with Gerstman and Russo introducing a newly spiffed up 4K restoration of “Sophie Scholl: The Final Days,” Marc Rohemund’s unfortunately all-too-relevant WWII tale of the Munich University student who stood up against the infiltration of Nazi thought at school, and an additional 20 films being made available on the theater’s streaming service Metrograph-At-Home, tilting towards the visionary meta-fiction works from Yvonne Rainer, Atom Egoyan and Jennifer Baichwal that the distributor pushed long before such playful documentaries were in fashion. Guests of the series such as Raoul Peck (“Lumumba”), Christine Vachon (“Poison”) and Astra Taylor (“Examined Life”) reflect the range of Gerstman and Russo’s belief in taking advantage of the big screen’s ability to hold a variety of perspectives, yielding a catalog deep with films where the ordinary becomes extraordinary simply by telling stories that have been overlooked, particularly when it comes to the hidden histories of women and gay life in the 20th century.

With the machinery they’ve built over the years, Gerstman and Russo have celebrated the careers of free-thinking artists and activists as a home to documentary profiles of filmmakers such as Maya Deren (“In the Mirror of Maya Deren”) and Alice Guy Blache (“Be Natural”), photographers Cecil Beaton (“Love Cecil”) and Bill Cunningham (“Bill Cunningham: New York”) and intellectuals Noam Chomsky (“Manufacturing Consent”), Hannah Arendt (“Vita Activa”) and Slavoj Zizek (“The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology”) while helping launch so many others, picking up on the early promise in the work of Todd Haynes (“Dottie Got Spanked”), Laura Poitras (“The Oath”), Chaitanya Tamhane (“Court”), Talya Lavie (“Zero Motivation”), and Andrey Zvyagintsev (“Elena”). (Only they could arrange for a documentary to be made about the stop-motion animation maestros the Brothers Quay made by Christopher Nolan, whose first film “Following” they shepherded to theaters.)

As Gerstman and Russo readily acknowledge, the work has only gotten more difficult as time has gone on, but leaning on good taste and institutional knowledge, they have beaten the odds to become a pillar of arthouse cinema and in having such a hand in bringing important voices into those sacred spaces, it was truly an honor to get to speak to them on the eve of their retrospective at the Metrograph, which may be a short distance from their offices, but involves a journey that cuts across multiple countries and decades as they’ve brought global cinema to the city and beyond.

Click here to read the interview.

ONLY IN THEATERS Nominated for a Film Threat Award and Now Available in Theaters on DVD.

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Only in Theaters, the documentary about the history and future of Laemmle Theatres and includes interviews with Allison Anders, Cameron Crowe, Ava DuVernay, Nicole Holofcener, James Ivory, Kenneth Turan, Leonard Maltin and more, is now a Film Threat’s Award This! nominee in the Film About Movies or Filmmaking category. The ceremony is December 10th at The Frida Cinema in Santa Ana. “Hollywood often shows us that they can re-make anything, but indie filmmakers continue to show us that there are no limits in cinema,” said Film Threat publisher and Award This! producer Chris Gore. “Award This! and Film Threat are here to champion voices that color outside the lines. Independent cinema rises like a phoenix away from the studio cutting room floor. Join us as we cheer on the rebel artists on December 10th. And it’s always fun to party with a group of amazing and eclectic filmmakers.”

Also notable, the Only in Theaters DVD is now available for sale at all seven of our theaters. In his recent Film Factual review of the release, Brent Simon described the film as “a rich and fortifying watch, and it thankfully isn’t fanciful enough to peddle easy solutions, or clear skies on the horizon. It’s funny and sad and at times emotionally piercing, but most of all it’s honest — a quality we should all want more of in movies, big and small.”

Reviews of the film’s theatrical release include:

“The narrative about the theaters’ present-day fight for survival is undeniably compelling.” ~ Glenn Kenny, New York Times

“A fascinating and poignant look at the Laemmle family.” Claudia Puig, FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)

“Like a knotty, poignant family business saga you might see on one of their screens, the story here is beautiful and complicated, one in which the twin weights of legacy and calling bear down on the need to survive in changing times.” Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

“It’s not a film about how important theatrical exhibition is for filmmakers (though that is nice too). Rather, it’s an intimate portrait of a man burdened by legacy, navigating uncharted waters, not even sure that he wants to.” ~ Katie Walsh, TheWrap
“It’s essential viewing for any film fan and should — yes — be seen on the big screen.” ~ Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

Zydeco, Godard, Inuit Throat Singer Tanya Tagaq, Klimt & Koons: The Final Culture Vulture Films of 2023.

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We have finished programming Culture Vulture, our long-running weekly film series of fine art, theater, opera, music and more, for the rest of the year. Have a look! The screenings are every Monday evening and Tuesday matinee at the Laemmle Claremont, Glendale and Monica Film Center. After a hiatus over the holidays, we’ll bring the series back in 2024, likely with additional screening days and venues. Nice! More opportunities to apply the balm of beauty against the burn of our harsh world. Keep an eye on our social media and weekly newsletter for updates.

November 6-7: Klimt & the Kiss: The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is one of the most recognized and reproduced paintings in the world. It is perhaps the most popular poster on student dorm walls from Beijing to Boston. Painted in Vienna around 1908, the evocative image of an unknown couple embracing has captivated viewers with its mystery, sensuality and dazzling materials ever since it was created. But just what lies behind the appeal of the painting – and just who was the artist that created it?

November 13-14: I Went to the Dance: The seminal film on the history of the foot-stomping, toe-tapping music of French Southwest Louisiana. Features many Cajun and Zydeco greats, Michael Doucet, BeauSoleil, Clifton Chenier, Canray Fontenont, Marc and Ann Savoy, D.L. Menard.

November 20-21: Jeff Koons: A Private Portrait: This is not just a documentary but an amazing journey inside the mind of the most controversial artist of our time. Jeff Koons is widely regarded as one of the most influential, popular and disputed artists of the last 30 years. This film shows the hidden mechanisms lying behind the person, the artist and the Koons brand. It’s an intimate exploration of Jeff Koons’ consciousness, aiming to discover what motivates him and shapes his incomparable vision.

November 27-28: Recordially Yours, Lou Curtiss: Yale Strom explores the life and work of Lou Curtiss – creator of the San Diego Folk Festival, audiophile, folklorist, author, raconteur, radio host and proprietor of Folk Arts Rare Records, a mecca for some of the most celebrated American roots musicians in America (Jack Tempchin, Jason Mraz, Tom Brousseau, A.J. Croce, George Winston, Sue Palmer, Alison Brown, Tomcat Courtney, Tom Waits, Gregory Page, Mike Seeger and many others). Archival footage, live interviews and music tell the story of this American icon.

December 4-5: Titanic: The Musical: Five-time Tony Award winner Titanic: The Musical is ‘breathtaking’ (The Guardian) and ‘magnificent’ (The Telegraph). A stunning and stirring production recounting the hopes, dreams and aspirations of her passengers, from the wealthy first class to the third class dreaming of a new life in America.

December 11-12: Ever Deadly weaves together intimate concert footage of Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq alongside moving personal reflections, stunning sequences filmed in Nunavut, and hand-drawn animation by Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona to seamlessly bridge history, landscapes, stories, and songs with pain, anger, and triumph – all through the expressions of one of the most innovative musical performers of our time.

December 15-21 at the Royal, December 18-19 at the Claremont, Glendale and Monica Film Center: Godard Cinema with Trailers of the Film that Will Never Exist: ‘Phony Wars’: Jean-Luc Godard is synonymous with cinema. With the release of Breathless in 1960, he established himself overnight as a cinematic rebel and symbol for the era’s progressive and anti-war youth. Sixty-two years and 140 films later, Godard is among the most renowned artists of all time, taught in every film school yet still shrouded in mystery. One of the founders of the French New Wave, political agitator, revolutionary misanthrope, film theorist and critic, the list of his descriptors goes on and on. Godard Cinema offers an opportunity for film lovers to look back at his career and the subjects and themes that obsessed him, while paying tribute to the ineffable essence of the most revered French director of all time.

We’ll screen Godard Cinema with Godard’s final work, Trailer of a Film That Will Never Exist: ‘Phony Wars.’ At the time of his death in September 2022, Jean-Luc Godard had been in the midst of planning another feature, an adaptation of Belgian author Charles Plisnier’s 1937 novel Faux Passports. Though the film was never produced, the intricate and beautiful “trailer” that Godard put together in preparation now stands as his final work, a complex collage of history, politics, and cinema constructed of paper and glue, paintings and photographs, sound and silence.

Godard often transformed his synopses into aesthetic programs. His swan song follows in this tradition and will remain as the ultimate gesture of cinema, which he accompanies with the following text: “Rejecting the billions of alphabetic diktats to liberate the incessant metamorphoses and metaphors of a necessary and true language by returning to the locations of past film shoots, while keeping track of modern times.”

CAT PERSON Opens Friday; Director Susanna Fogel in Person for Conversations with Monica Lewinsky & Alex Winter October 12 & 13.

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“Margot met Robert on a Wednesday night toward the end of her fall semester. She was working behind the concession stand at the artsy movie theatre downtown when he came in and bought a large popcorn and a box of Red Vines.”

So begins Kristen Roupenian’s short story Cat Person. When The New Yorker published it in 2017, it struck a nerve with readers and was the first work of short fiction to ever go viral, spurring conversations around the world about the modern dating scene, seduction, and consent. After the film adaptation’s buzzy premiere at Sundance in January, Cat Person is finally where it belongs, at “artsy movie theatre[s],” opening this weekend at the Royal, Town Center and Glendale and October 13 at the Monica Film Center and NoHo. We’re also pleased to host two special screenings at the NoHo with the filmmaker Susanna Fogel in person for conversations with social activist and writer Monica Lewinsky on October 12 and  with actor-writer-director Alex Winter on October 13.

CAT PERSON Opens Friday; Director Susanna Fogel in Person for Conversations with Monica Lewinsky & Alex Winter October 12 & 13.

Director Susanna Fogel stated “Like the short story that stirred so much controversy, Cat Person will call upon you to reflect on romantic encounters you’ve had in the past, and to question the role (or multiple roles) you may have played. We’ve all been the victim in some narratives and the villain in others, and I hope you’ll walk out of this film with a strong opinion, ready to debate.”

CAT PERSON Opens Friday; Director Susanna Fogel in Person for Conversations with Monica Lewinsky & Alex Winter October 12 & 13.
Susanna Fogel. Credit: Roger Kisby/Getty Images for Disney
CAT PERSON Opens Friday; Director Susanna Fogel in Person for Conversations with Monica Lewinsky & Alex Winter October 12 & 13.
Monica Lewinsky. Credit: Greg Gorman
CAT PERSON Opens Friday; Director Susanna Fogel in Person for Conversations with Monica Lewinsky & Alex Winter October 12 & 13.
Alex Winter

“A film that’s funny in places, horrifying in others and all but destined to be a reference point in future discussions about courtship.” ~ Peter Debruge, Variety

“The relief…is in the filmmakers’ approach to these tense scenes: Fogel and Ashford loosen their grip, at last trusting us to sit in our discomfort, draw our own conclusions and sharpen our tools for the discourse.” — The Hollywood Reporter

The beautifully acted late-life romance MY SAILOR, MY LOVE opens Friday.

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This Friday we’re pleased to open a touching and charming Irish indie film My Sailor, My Love. It follows Howard (James Cosmo), a widowed sailor living alone on the coast of Ireland and struggling to care for himself. His daughter, Grace (Catherine Walker), hires Annie (Bríd Brennan) to help out around the house. Though Howard initially rejects this imposition, Annie’s charm and gentle care win him over, and the two fall in love. Annie’s large and loving family welcomes Howard into their lives, but these new relationships only serve to illuminate the depth of pain and hurt between Howard and Grace, who is facing challenges of her own. Grace’s resentment tears at Howard and Annie’s otherwise idyllic seaside love story. This windswept drama deftly balances a universal family saga with a tender and timeless romance. We open My Sailor, My Love this Friday at the Town Center, Monica Film Center and Claremont with Saturday and Sunday morning screenings at our Newhall theater.

The beautifully acted late-life romance MY SAILOR, MY LOVE opens Friday.

Critics around the world have been writing about the acting. The film’s director, acclaimed Finnish filmmaker Klaus Härö, said this about his experiences working with the actors:

“The cast has been an immense joy, from the moment the roles were confirmed and when we first went on set. I would often sit very close by to the actors and get to witness what goes into their work, which left me very impressed. Sometimes when I looked around, I could see the emotions brought to surface after a take. Someone might have tears in their eyes, or the crew might burst into applause after a scene. This isn’t very common on a movie set, and it might even seem unprofessional in a way. The atmosphere at the set has been exceptional, and the actors left a very strong imprint on the whole crew.”

“Sharp writing, subtle acting, and a winning Irish setting. My Sailor, My Love will play to any nation where humans struggle to make themselves understood.” – Donald Clarke, The Irish Times

“A quiet yet profoundly powerful feature, aching in emotional sophistication and depth. Cosmo and Brennan are divine.” – Andrew Murray, The Upcoming

The beautifully acted late-life romance MY SAILOR, MY LOVE opens Friday.

“A lovely indie. Klaus Härö’s gentle and special family drama has much more at play than rote tear-jerking. Magnificently shot and acted. Sailor is filled with sage wisdom and vulnerable people struggling to do the best that they can even when they are at their worst.” – Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“Prepare to be moved.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Hammer to Nail