The San Francisco Film Society has announced a special program as part of the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival scheduled for next Friday, May 1. An Evening with Francis Ford Coppola & Friends, to be held at the historic Castro Theater, will honor the brilliant career of one of the seminal figures in American film.

The event will take the form of a free-ranging onstage conversation between Coppola and his longtime colleagues and collaborators George Lucas, editor Walter Murch and screenwriter Matthew Robbins. Following the conversation, an extended Q&A, and the trailer from Coppola's upcoming film TETRO, there will be a screening of a custom-built 15-minute clip reel featuring on-set footage of Coppola over several decades.

Aside from his astonishing career resume, which includes the classic THE GODFATHER trilogy and the penultimate war film APOCALYPSE NOW, Coppolla is widely recognized for his role as a mentor to new talents. His collaborative studio, American Zoetrope, founded with George Lucas and John Korty 40 years ago, became the epicenter of a new cinematic culture. Over the years, Coppola has nurtured and funded filmmakers including Lucas (who started as an intern on Coppola's own THE RAIN PEOPLE), Carroll Ballard (THE BLACK STALLION) and a host of Bay area film talents.

TETRO, a family drama set in Argentina starring Vincent Gallo, Carmen Maura and Klaus Maria Brandaeur, opens in limited release in June in the U.S. and is being distributed by Coppola's own company American Zoetrope Releasing. For more information on the film, visit: www.tetro.com.

Sandy Mandelberger, San Francisco Film Festival Dailies Editor