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 a postcard to a friend.
Mary and Max is a heartwarming and tragicomic stop-motion, clay animation 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.
As Mary and Max’s friendship unfolds in the screen, you’ll be able to write your own letters to
your friends. Haven’t written a letter since English class? Was your last letter a “cover” one?
Don’t worry, we got you. Our Marina is a passionate letter-writer and postcard-sender, and
she will do her best before the movie starts to give you some inspiration to get the words
flowing out of you!