Avenue of the Giants

Beautiful performances from Stephen Lang and Elsie Fisher anchor a tale of personal strength and sacrifice in this fifth feature from Bay Area writer-director Finn Taylor. Set in locations as disparate as Terezín, Prague, and the titular drive in California’s Humboldt Redwoods State Park, it is also very much a Marin story. And it’s true: For more than 50 years, Auschwitz survivor Herbert Heller (Lang) kept his memories of the Holocaust secret — even from his wife and children. But when he met Abbey (Fisher), a troubled teen dealing with her own unspoken pain, Herbert decided it was time to talk. Through sharing their personal traumas, Herbert and Abbey became the unlikeliest of friends, allies in healing whose bond brought them a previously undiscovered sense of purpose. With dramatic reenactments of Herbert’s struggles to survive, Taylor’s touching film demonstrates that hope and redemption can come from anywhere if we’re open to it. (Mill Valley Film Festival)