Mill Valley Film Festival Stars

Photo Credit: Drew Altizer

Over the weekend many of Hollywood’s biggest stars were in Northern California to take part in the 39th annual Mill Valley Film Festival. Emma Stone, Amy Adams, Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Ewan McGregor, and Gael Garcia Bernal were all in town to promote films at the 11-day internationally acclaimed cinema event. Stone and Adams made an appearances at Thursday night’s kickoff reception. Stone was promoting her musical “La La Land,” that costars Ryan Gosling, and Adams was in town to show “Arrival,” a film in which she tries to communicate with aliens. Both movies were a part of the opening night program. Festival founder Mark Fishkin believes that this year’s schedule strikes a balance between high-profile films with awards season buzz, movies with less hype, but that should be seen, and “fabulous, exciting, beautiful guests.”

Photo Credit: Drew Altizer

On Sunday, Nicole Kidman was honored by the Mill Valley Film Festival tribute program. She participated in an onstage conversation after the screening of her upcoming picture, “Lion.” Other recognition awards were presented to Ewan McGregor, who made his directorial debut in “American Pastoral,” and Gael Garcia Bernal whose transformational preference in the Spanish language film “Neruda,” was celebrated. Franco promoted the screening of “In Dubious Battle,” a film based on the John Steinbeck novel of the same name.

Photo Credit: Drew Altizer

The festival is currently in full effect and tickets are still available to some of this week’s upcoming events. On Thursday, October 13, Annette Benning and Elle Fanning will talk about their film, “20th Century Women.” Director Julie Dash will be honored on Friday, October 14 alongside a screening of “Daughters of Dust.” Aaron Eckhart’s career will be recognized on Saturday, October 15 with a screening of “Bleed for This.” The festival concludes this Sunday, with the screening of “Loving,” a highly anticipated film from director Jeff Nichols that tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving (played by Joel Egerton and Ruth Negga). The Lovings interracial marriage led to a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court in 1967.