Once again tackling a family on the fringes of modern Western life, writer-director Ursula Meier delivers a solid sophomore effort with the coming of age dramedy, Sister(L’Enfant d’en haut). Set in and around a swanky resort in the Swiss Alps, this portr

The European Union Film Festival, the city’s best film fest for several years running, begins in three weeks. The Gene Siskel Film Center announced the schedule yesterday (it’s already online), and it’s another commendable program: if I can find the time

“The good thing about mathematics is you don’t have to talk; you create order without words,” declares Nadia (Béatrice Dalle), a haughty, self-destructive mathematician holding forth tipsily to her bohemian friends at a nighttime picnic in “Domain.” A fo

Age: 46 Homebase: Seattle Inspired by: Many filmmakers, but especially Claire Denis. "She's a woman, obviously," Shelton notes. "But she also didn't make her first feature until she was 40. And when I was in my mid-30s, I saw her speak, and it made me r

In collaboration with Rotten Tomatoes and its parent company, Flixster, The Chronicle presents the critical consensus of female directors' best-reviewed films. The latest, "In the Land of Blood and Honey" directed by Angelina Jolie, is at Bay Area theate

Red Dog was an Australian box office success. Photo: Supplied THE YEAR IN AUSTRALIAN FILM IT MAY seem odd to start a year in review with 2009, but that year was a recent high point for local cinema with standouts including Blessed , Mary and Max , Samson