Film director Michael Bully Herbig tells a tale of what is surely the most spectacular escape from East Germany in his gripping movie thriller, BALLOON. And, like the best and most credible thrillers, it is based on a true story of the ordinary lives of two ordinary families who represent, once more, what is indomitable in the human spirit. BALLON was Mountain Shadow’s film selection for October, 2019. You can read the Mountain Shadow’s film review by clicking on the image above.

September’s show is always the annual Short Film Competition, and this year’s eleven Finalists, selected from 635 submissions, provided an outstanding combination of live-action, animated and documentary works. You can read the full review by clicking on the image above, and watch a video wrap up HERE.

Mountain Shadow’s film selection for August, 2019, takes as its premise the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and then proceeds to bill itself as a romantic comedy with such an inflammatory title as “Tel Aviv on Fire.” Dubbed by several critics as a biting satire poking fun at ethnic and political divisions that are nonetheless infatuated with the twists and turns of the same soap operas on television, Sameh Zoabi’s film goes deeper. To read the full Review, click on the image above.

“In the Aisles” is a quiet little film about the lives of ordinary people. Based on a short story by Clement Meyers, it is told with subtle humor, pathos and charm. It was Mountains Shadow’s film selection for July, 2019. To read the Mountain Shadow review, click on the image above.

Many of us are probably familiar with at least one variation of the Harry Truman quote, “I never gave anybody hell! I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.” Perhaps less well known is Truman’s even more telling observation, “The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know.” Both of these sayings came to mind after previewing Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar’s film, “The Silence of Others.” This was Mountain Shadow’s selection for June, 2019, and you can read the full review by clicking on the image above.

ONE LAST DEAL - An elderly art dealer, Olavi ,is about to retire, but he cannot imagine life without work. At an auction, an old painting catches his attention. Olavi suspects it is worth much more than its starting price, which is low because its authenticity hasn’t been confirmed. Olavi’s instincts kick in. He decides to make one last deal, with the help of his estranged grandson. This touching film from Finland was Mountain Shadow’s selection for May, 2019. Click on the image above to read our Review.

In Christian Petzold’s film TRANSIT, the main character Georg has assumed the identity of a controversial dead writer, in his attempt to obtain a travel visa and escape a fascist regime that is closing in. While the film is adapted from a 1944 novel by the same name, the film takes place today in the city of Marseille; as if to suggest refugees seeking political asylum still occurs …. The film was Mountain Shadow’s selection for April, 2019, and the review can be read by clicking on the image above.

“Capernaum” (“Chaos”) won Jury Prize at Cannes, and was a 2019 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. It was Mountain Shadow’s selection for April, 2019. While it is not based on a true story, it is the truest possible story; because all the people who portray all the fictional characters in the film Nadine Labaki wrote and directed are not professional actors, but ordinary, real people who depict what it means to be human. Capernaum is a tough, gritty, episodic film to watch; where the best and worst in human-kind are exposed in the chaos humans can experience, inflict on one another, and endure. Click on the image above to read the full Mountain Shadow Review.

Like all bio-pics PAULA combines historical fact about the early 20th century expressionis artist with a filmmaker’s imagination that fills in those places of unknowing with universal themes found in what is most common and familiar to the human story. It is in this sense that PAULA is far more than an early women’s empowerment story, or pictorial lecture in art history. To read a Mountain Shadow review of our January selection, click on the photo above.

In the comedic British film, “Swimming with Men,” stayin’ alive is the challenge facing Eric, a middle-aged accountant executive whose hum-drum career, marriage and family life has become so utterly and predictably dull and meaningless that his only escape is swimming solo laps after work. That is, until one day he finds himself sinking – both literally and metaphorically -- to the bottom of the pool. Then he opens his eyes and sees before him the unlikeliest form of re-immersion, initiation and rebirth. His revelatory discovery is that it’s all about coming alive once again, while he’s in the water. To read the full Mountain Shadow review, click on the image above.

Adorableness is a given when it comes to puppy movies. It’s also the “Ahhhhh-factor” when people so much as walk past the movie poster of Dana Bachman and Don Hardy’s documentary, “Pick of the Litter.” But it’s serious business when highly bred litters begin their training at facilities like Guide Dogs of the Blind (San Rafael), or Guide Dogs of the Desert (Palm Desert, California). To read a review of Mountain Shadow’s selection for November, 2018, click on the image above.

Bookshops come and go. But the larger theme behind “The Bookshop” is an allegorical tale familiar to us all in all its many guises; where the resilience and gumption of any underdog is pitted against entrenched and formidable powers. To read a Mountain Shadow review of our selection for October, 2018, click on the image above.

Mountain Shadow’s 4th Annual Short Film Competition was held Sept. 14th – 15th at the Las Lomas Theater. Twenty-two volunteer-member jurors previewed 539 submissions and selected ten Finalists to present live-action, animated and documentary films in person for audience balloting and cash awards. Click on the image above to find out who won, and view a terrific YouTube video of the filmmaker’s Q&A with the audience!

“The Cakemaker” - How does one grieve the loss of a lover? Especially a clandestine love who cannot be revealed? Seeking solace and resolution, two abandoned lovers instead try to love the one they’re with; in this critically-acclaimed German-Israeli drama that was Mountain Shadow’s selection for August, 2018. You can read Mountain Shadow’s film review by clicking on the image above.

The Desert Bride is a quiet little gem of a film about an ordinary little life. It’s an allegory, filled with metaphors. There’s the desert of nothingness, filled with mythic beliefs in miracles that – like the winds – are strong enough to blow and toss one where one never could have imagined, or undertaken on one’s own. This film was Mountain Shadow’s selection for July, 2018. Click on the image above to read the Mountain Shadow film review.

Life Lessons? What’s the worth of a teacher? In Santiago Rizzo’s autobiographical drama, an abused 12 year old graffiti addict has his life turned around by a humble middle school teacher and football coach in Berkeley; who believes that there is no such thing as a bad kid, only a bad situation. “QUEST” was Mountain Shadow’s selection for June, 2018. To read the Review, click on the image above.

From Chile, Oscar winning “Best Foreign Language Film,” A Fantastic Woman is a readily recognizable love story; including a tragic twist. It is one in which one lover is lost to the other; with the one left behind having to learn how to muster the strength and courage to carry on alone. The unfolding drama is subsequently one that seeks the answer to a question with which anyone who has ever mourned can identify. How shall one grieve? And specifically with the particular set of circumstances in this story, how will Marina, a transgender person, be allowed to grieve the death of Orlando? This fantastic film was Mountain Shadow’s selection for May, 2018. Click on the image above to read the review.

FINDING WHAT LASTS FOREVER - A personal journey of self-discovery combines with a documentary to delight foodies, along with a beautiful travelogue of Italy! Click on the image above to read a film review and commentary of Mountain Shadow’s selection for April, 2018: Matteo Troncone’s document: “Arrangarsi - Pizza and the Art of Living”

If one considers film an art form, and one subscribes to the maxim about art imitating life, then a fine film like THE INSULT is an excellent example. It is also an “everyman’s” story. Lebanon's submission for "Best Foreign Language Film," was aptly selected as one of five nominees at the 2018 Oscars. The film was Mountain Shadow's selection for March, 2018. Click on the image above to read a Mountain Shadow review of this film.

Journey, home and homecoming are universal themes, portrayed time and again in a stock story line. But they can be all the more powerful when depicted with characters who were once total strangers; but now find themselves thrown together by misfortune that becomes the catalyst for a semblance “family” where one never existed before. Such is the story line in Jackie van Beek’s slow-burn film, “The Inland Road.” To read a review of Mountain Shadow's selection for January, 2018, click on the image above.