For the second time, Elements of Madness will officially be covering San Francisco International Film Festival 2025 and it’ll be the first time I’m doing as part of the EoM Team. Ahead of the festival start, here’s a few films that I’m hoping to see or recommend to keep an eye out for in wider distribution.
**These recommendations are primarily based on reading the summaries and finding them intriguing. If I’m able to cover (or EoM has covered previously), the titles will be hyperlinked with a review – so be sure to check back.**
San Francisco International Film Festival 2025 takes place across San Francisco’s Marina and Presidio neighborhoods, the Mission, and in Berkeley from April 17th – 27th, 2025.
The Devil Smokes
Official Synopsis:
The fears of five stoic young siblings abandoned by their parents mix with those of their schizophrenic grandmother who now looks after them, blurring and gradually dissolving the boundary between reality and imagination.
The Dutchman
Official Synopsis:
A successful black businessman, haunted by his crumbling marriage and identity crisis, is drawn into a psychological game of cat and mouse with a mysterious white woman he encounters on a New York subway.
L-R: André Holland as Clay and Kara Mara as Lula in THE DUTCHMAN. Photo Credit: Frank DeMarco / Andre Gaines. Photo courtesy of SXSW.
Harvest
Official Synopsis:
Over seven hallucinatory days, a village with no name, in an undefined time and place, disappears. In Tsangari’s tragicomic take on a Western, townsman-turned-farmer Walter Thirsk and befuddled lord of the manor Charles Kent are childhood friends about to face an invasion from the outside world: the trauma of modernity.
Honeymoon
Official Synopsis:
23 February 2022, a small town next to Kyiv. Taras and Olya spend their first night in their own apartment in a new residential complex. At dawn, they wake up from the massive explosions. They fail to leave the town on time; meanwhile, the Russian troops arrange headquarters in their house, right in their inner yard. The couple finds themselves trapped in their flat with no electricity, water and mobile connection. They even don’t know if Ukraine still exists. For the next five days, Taras and Olya will explore the black abyss of real intimacy between two people and will face crucial existential questions under mortal danger. Their main goal now is to keep in secret their presence, to plan the way to escape and to believe that the future is possible.
Idiotka
Official Synopsis:
In West Hollywood’s Russian immigrant district, Margarita lives out the American Dream: competing on a reality show. Will she slay, serve, or survive?
A still from IDIOTKA. Photo courtesy of SFFILM 2025.
Manas
Official Synopsis:
In the depths of the Amazon rainforest, 13-year-old Tielle grows up with dreams inspired by her older sister’s escape. As she matures, the illusions she clings to begin to crumble, revealing a world of deep-rooted exploitation and abuse. Determined to protect her younger sister and reshape their future, she dares to challenge the forces that bind the women in her community, in a poignant exploration of resilience and resistance.
Operation Taco Gary’s
Official Synopsis:
Two brothers embark on a cross country road trip that quickly devolves when they become involved in a global conspiracy.
A still from OPERATION TACO GARY’S. Photo courtesy of SFFILM 2025.
Surviving Earth
Official Synopsis:
Based on a true story, Surviving Earth follows Vlad, a talented harmonica player who arrived in the UK after fleeing the conflict in Yugoslavia. Now a counsellor living in Bristol, Vlad has brought his love for Balkan music to the city with a band formed with his friends from work. As the band strives for success, Vlad is revisited by the traumas of his past and his carefully rebuilt world starts to fracture, jeopardising the relationships with those closest to him and particularly with his daughter, Maria.
A still from SURVIVING EARTH. Photo courtesy of SFFILM 2025.
About San Francisco International Film Festival:
Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival) is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. The annual event features a range of marquee premieres, international competitions, compelling documentaries, short and mid-length films, live music performances, and dazzling red carpet events. The SFFILM Festival is deeply rooted in the culture and process of film appreciation—film as an art form and as a meaningful agent for social change—and is an important showcase for the most searching and innovative films from around the globe.
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Categories: Coming Soon, Recommendation
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