It was a most unusual beginning for theMill Valley Film Festival.

The46th editionkicked off Thursday, Oct. 5, with short sleeves and sandals in abundance during the late-afternoon reception at the Outdoor Art Club in Mill Valley as temperatures settled in the 90s. But Bay Area fall heat wave aside, it was a rarity that the opening night film was “Day of the Fight,” which does not yet have distribution.

In the old days, when it began as a director-oriented festival, that wouldn’t have been so odd. However, MVFF has since emerged as a key awards-season event, so the choice to open with Jack Huston’s film was, as festival director of programming Zoe Elton told an audience at the Smith Rafael Film Center, “like going back to our roots.”

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Indeed, with movie stars still on strike and unable to promote their films, there was a throwback vibe as MVFF, organized by the California Film Institute and running through Oct. 15, moved to both the Cinemark CinéArts Sequoia theaters in Mill Valley and the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael where five mostly filled auditoriums screened “Day of the Fight,” and ended with a party at Marin Country Mart in Larkspur with live music and plenty of food.

说到再现的,这部电影一个d Huston, who brought his million-wattage smile to a post-screening Q&A and the party. Huston’s family has been in the business since his great-grandfather Walter made his film debut in 1929. His grandfather John was one of the great directors of the Hollywood studio system. His dad, Tony, was a screenwriter, and his aunt and uncle, Anjelica and Danny, have had long acting careers.

The British-born Huston, an actor known for his work withMartin Scorsese(HBO’s“Boardwalk Empire”and the role of Bobby Kennedy in“The Irishman”) and as a regular on the fourth season of “Fargo,” makes his directorial debut with the independently financed “Day of the Fight.” It’s a black-and-white film about a boxer coming to terms with his past on the day of his first fight in 10 years.

The inspiration came from Stanley Kubrick’s 1951 short film of the same name, and influences included his grandfather’s 1972 boxing film, “Fat City.”

“I grew up watching black-and-white films,” Huston told the Chronicle. “I love that I come from a background of film, and I’ve been brought up to respect film and respect what film is and what it means and how goddamn lucky we are to be a part of this beautiful business.

“I want people to go into this film and remember those days when you walked into the cinema and just had an experience, because I know that this film leaves something imprinted on you.”

John Huston, whose first film was the 101-minute black-and-white San Francisco noir classic “The Maltese Falcon,” would have been proud of his grandson’s directorial debut, a 105-minute gritty black-and-white character study.

“Day of the Fight” has many familiar faces, Ron Perlman, Steve Buscemi and Joe Pesci among them. But star Michael Pitt, Huston’s co-star on “Boardwalk Empire,” carries the film with his intense, riveting and emotionally honest performance.

Neither Pitt nor any co-stars could attend MVFF, which hosted the film’s second public screening after its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, because of the actors’ strike. That makes things more difficult for Huston and producer Jai Stefan, who represented the film at the festival with Huston and cinematographer Peter Simonite, in the quest for distribution.

“I stand with my union,” Huston told the Chronicle. “I think we’re all hoping and praying and keeping fingers crossed that we’re going to come up with a resolution very soon. This film is my actors. That I can’t be standing here tonight holding (Pitt) in my arms and just saying thank you, that’s tough.”

But they have found allies in the MVFF team. Although the festival features manyhigh-profile big nights—Sofia Coppolapresenting her Priscilla Presley biopic “Priscilla,”Emerald Fennellshowcasing her highly lauded “Saltburn,”Todd Haynesin person for “May December” and the music team behind closing night film“Maestro,”Bradley Cooper’s biopic of Leonard Bernstein — Elton and founder Mark Fishkin were determined to champion the movie in its opening night slot.

“There are certain films that stand out, and those are the ones that deal with subjects where you may not even have any familiarity with the location or the people, but they resonate in a universal way that everybody can understand,” Fishkin, who serves as festival executive director, told the Chronicle. “This film not only tells a story in a magnificent way with incredible actors and is beautifully shot, it’s just better than anything I’ve seen in a long time.”

Still, the absence of movie stars despite the festival’s excellent slate of films might be a financial challenge for the event. Among the actorswho attended last year’s festivalwereKate Hudson,Kathryn Hahn,Leslie Odom Jr.(all representing opening night film“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”),Frances McDormand(“Women Talking”),Eddie Redmayne(“The Good Nurse”) and eventual Oscar winnerBrendan Fraser(“The Whale”).

There was hope that after the writers settled their strike last month that the actors would soon follow. That has yet to happen, and the timing couldn’t be worse for an event that, like many festivals across the Bay Area, has yet to fully recover from the pandemic.

Filmmaker Jonathan Parker, who is co-vice-president of MVFF’s board of directors and has a film, “Carol Doda Topless at the Condor,” in the festival, told the audience at the Smith Rafael Film Center that while the California Film Institute’s revenue increased by 30% over the past year, it is still half of what it was pre-COVID.

“The film industry was turned upside-down 3½ years ago,” Parker said. “I’ll be very candid: We need your help. It’s really, really critical at this point in the organization’s history.”

Buying tickets to remaining events helps, too. Fishkin noted that this year’s event is the most ambitious MVFF since 2019, and it’s just getting started.

“There are nearly 145 other films, and 56 films that have never played on the West Coast,” Fishkin said. “I’m hoping people will come out and check out the documentaries, the American indies and the vibrant international section.”

Reach G. Allen Johnson:ajohnson@sfchronicle.com