Adam Elliot
film070 presents: Mary and Max
A tragicomic and moving gem about an unlikely friendship between two lonely souls on opposite sides of the world.
When was the last time you wrote a love letter?
Perhaps what first comes to mind is a letter to a lover, but in 2026, we are ready to accept that the big loves of our lives can also be our friends. Since International Friends Day is celebrated in July, at Film070 we are celebrating the power of friendship (and of letters) by screening Mary and Max (2009), and giving you the space to write a letter or sign a postcard to a friend.
Mary and Max is a heartwarming claymation tragicomedy masterpiece that brings an unusual friendship to life with dark humor and touching honesty. Starring the incomparable Philip Seymour Hoffman and the fantastic Toni Collette, this was the major breakthrough for Adam Elliot, the acclaimed creator of the enchanting Memoir of a Snail.
Eight-year-old Mary Dinkle grows up in a dreary suburb of Melbourne, Australia, and doesn't have an easy life. Her parents ignore her, and at school, she is bullied because of the chestnut-brown port-wine stain on her forehead. One day, out of pure curiosity, she picks a name at random from an American phone book and sends a letter to Max Horovitz, an overweight, 44-year-old Jewish man with Asperger's in chaotic New York.
And, if after the screening, Mary and Max’s friendship has made you really want to write to your friends - we got you! Everything you need to create the cutest letter will be waiting for you outside Zaal 5. Haven’t written a letter since English class demanded you write to a fictional pen-pal? Or was your last letter a “cover” one? We got you there too! Our Marina is a passionate letter-writter and postcard-sender. She will give you some tips and inspiration to get the words flowing!