The big three fall film festivals at Venice, Telluride and Toronto have come and gone, but the Bay Area is just getting started. The 48th Mill Valley Film Festival, the Bay Area’s premier fall festival, is kicking off and its program is as rich as ever. With dozens of films from over 30 countries, ranging from big-name awards hopefuls to small independent films from across the globe, the Mill Valley Film Festival offers a swath of programming representing the whole spectrum of cinema in 2025. The festival opens Oct. 2 with Chloé Zhao’s highly anticipated adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s acclaimed novel, “Hamnet,” the story of William and Agnes Shakespeare in the wake of the death of their son, Hamnet. Zhao’s newest film, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, debuted at the Telluride Film Festival earlier this year to rave reviews and won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, setting it on a clear path to the Academy Awards. Buckley will be awarded th...