The 49th Mill Valley Film Festival opens Thursday, Oct. 1. The Rafael Film Center in downtown San Rafael will serve as one of the festival’s main venues, with screenings throughout the 11-day run.

Opening Night begins at 6 p.m. Oct. 1 with Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh's dark comedy starring Oscar winner Sam Rockwell and Oscar nominee John Malkovich. The film will screen simultaneously across three Rafael Film Center auditoriums and additional festival venues. Rockwell will receive the MVFF Actor Tribute during the festival.

Other Rafael Film Center highlights include Poetry, The Meltdown and Miss Representation: Rise Up. Poetry, a 2010 film by South Korean director Lee Chang-dong about a woman battling memory loss through verse, screens Saturday, Oct. 3, at 11:30 a.m., according to the official MVFF schedule. Chang-dong, this year's Auteur Award recipient, is expected in town Friday, Oct. 2, for a spotlight screening of his newest film, Possible Love, which was a critical hit at the Venice Film Festival, the Pacific Sun reported.

Chilean drama The Meltdown, directed by Manuela Martelli, follows a family running a ski resort during Chile's transition to democracy after years of dictatorship. It screens Sunday, Oct. 4, at 2:30 p.m. Miss Representation: Rise Up, a new documentary from filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, screens Friday, Oct. 9, at 8:30 p.m. Siebel Newsom is expected to attend.

The festival wraps Sunday, Oct. 11, with Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut, starring Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti. Eisenberg is scheduled to be present. The Closing Night Party takes place at the San Rafael Elks Lodge that evening.

Across all venues, the festival features 94 features and 80 short films from 45 countries, with 61% of projects coming from women and nonbinary filmmakers. Two new programming sections debut this year: New Directors and Animation.

"As we head toward our 50th anniversary, this lineup is a reminder of why we started this festival: to bring the world's best storytelling to Marin and beyond …" MVFF founder and director Mark Fishkin said in September when the lineup was announced.

Marin Magazine estimated that the 11-day festival contributes $1 million to $3 million annually to Marin County through visitor spending at hotels, restaurants and shops.

Tickets and the full schedule are available at MVFF.com. The festival box office number is 415-818-8757.