Films

A car becomes the connective tissue of director Stephanie Ahn’s absorbing, Sundance award-winning debut, as an accident brings two broken souls together, drawing them into an intimate, if fumbling, relationship.

The fascinating documentary reveals the man behind the legend of cosmologist Carl Sagan, the man who was for many the face of space exploration, scientific inquiry, and insatiable curiosity.

Two soldiers fall in love amidst World War I in celebrated Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont’s (Close) latest work. Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne shared Best Actor at Cannes for this tender drama that mixes sensual sex scenes with stark combat sequences.

Some things arrive in waves: sunlight, joy, but also grief and loss. Director Phuong Mai Nguyen’s animated adaptation of AJ Dungo’s 2019 graphic novel is an indelible story of love between two teenagers and their passion for each other and the sea.

A young boy navigates life from inside an iron corset in Wall-E and Up animator Louis Clichy’s tender, funny rite-of-passage story that honestly confronts the distress that every adolescent endures.

Three eras, one buried story. La bola negra is a mesmerizing cinematic journey through love, memory, persecution, and the quiet wounds passed from one generation to the next, told with haunting beauty.

Finding the love of your life can be exhilarating and a little crazy. Margaret Qualley creates a nuanced portrait of a young woman on the verge as a nurse whose life is upturned by the pandemic.

In AIDS-era New York, an artist throws himself into work, love, music, and desire, surrounded by people who challenge the boundaries of intimacy, loyalty, and the life he wants to live.

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.

What begins with an unexpected connection between two families becomes a tender, quietly funny portrait of love, loss, and belonging, reminding us that sometimes the family we find is the one we never imagined.

A fisherwoman mocked for her spinsterish ways beseeches a basket maker to weave her a husband in this altogether unique and fantastical folk romance starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, and Peter Dinklage.

Three eras, one buried story. La bola negra is a mesmerizing cinematic journey through love, memory, persecution, and the quiet wounds passed from one generation to the next, told with haunting beauty.

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