THE MOSTLY BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS TO THE HISTORIC VOGUE THEATRE IN SAN FRANCISCO FOR THE FIFTH YEAR

For immediate release / December 13, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.
The Mostly British Film Festival will celebrate its fifth anniversary with twenty-five new and classic feature films and documentaries from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and South Africa. “There is something to please everyone in our selection of films,” festival co-director Jack Bair said of the week long event benefiting the non-profit San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation. “In many cases, this will be your only chance to see these films on a big screen.” The festival opens on January 17 with “Hunky Dory,” a musical starring Minnie Driver as a free-spirited drama teacher in South Wales who leads her class in putting on “The Tempest” set to popular 1970′s music. Driver, an Oscar nominee for “Good Will Hunting,” will attend Opening Night and participate in a post-film question and answer session. On January 22, the Mostly British Film Festival will present the Northern California premiere of the documentary “56 Up,” which follows the same group of British citizens at seven year intervals beginning in 1963 when they were seven years old. The Philadelphia Inquirer called director Michael Apted’s series “one of the towering achievements in the history of documentary filmmaking” and the festival is thrilled to show the latest installment. The intense spy drama “Shadow Dancer” starring Clive Owen, closes the festival on January 24. Director James Marsh, an Oscar winner for his documentary “Man on Wire,” brings his visual skills to this story of a M15 official (Owen) who recruits a young woman whose brothers are with the IRA in 1990′s Northern Ireland. Other programs of note include the popular British Noir evening on January 18 featuring “Odd Man Out” and “The Deadly Affair,” both starring James Mason and introduced by Noir expert Tony Broadbent, and another double bill January 19 of the David Lean masterpieces “This Happy Breed” and “Brief Encounter,” both presented in 35mm prints. Among the new films to have their San Francisco premiere at the festival are “Stella Days,” an Irish comedy starring Martin Sheen (January 18); “Swerve,” an Australian thriller starring up and coming actor Jason Clarke (January 20); the British family drama “Cheerful Weather for a Wedding,” with “Dontown Abbey’s” Elizabeth McGovern and Felicity Jones (January 21); and the Irish comedy of errors “Stand Off” directed by Terry George and featuring Brendan Fraser (January 21). The festival will be held at the Historic Vogue Theatre in San Francisco. At 100 years, the Vogue Theatre is one of the oldest movie theatres in the world. It was purchased in 2007 by the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation as a part of the non-profit’s mission of saving and preserving historic movie houses. More information about the Theater Foundation can be found at www.sfntf.org. Festival passes are on sale now at the Vogue Theatre and at www.cinemasf.com. Festival passes include free admission to the Opening Night & Closing Night parties. Please visit www.mostlybritish.org for more information about the festival. A full festival schedule and a description of each film will be posted on or before December 21, 2012 when all single tickets will go on sale.