One week from today is opening night...

THIRD ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL
NOVEMBER 13–16,

This year the festival includes: Opening Night Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues, Cannes Highlight Waltz with Bashir, Bill Plympton’s Idiots and Angels, Retrospective of Gene Deitch’s Films for Children and Award-Winning Shorts from Around the World

The San Francisco Film Society presents the third annual San Francisco International Animation Festival (SFIAF), a four-day event celebrating one of the most fertile, creative and productive forms of artistic, experimental, commercial and industrial media. The International Animation Festival ranges from the latest award-winning features to family-friendly short cartoons and celebrates San Francisco’s preeminence as a hub for one of the most vital forms in cinema today. SFIAF will screen November 13–16 at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema, with special live events at the Apple Store and the Ninth Street Independent Film Center.

Sean Uyehara, programmer for the Film Society said, “The SF International Animation Festival presents animation as a multifaceted practice. We are interested in works that push the definition of animation. From nonfiction features such as Ari Folman’s Waltz with Bashir to award-winning shorts like Dennis Tupicoff’s Chainsaw—in the Control Freaks shorts program—SFIAF presents the richness of the art of animation.”
A week from today!

Thursday, November 13 is Opening Night with  

Director in Person
7:00 pm Sita Sings the Blues
Nina Paley, USA 2008
Betty Boop meets bhangra in Nina Paley’s celebrated first feature-length film, a beautifully animated East-meets-West visual feast that has delighted audiences around the world, and took the top prize at Annecy, the world’s premier animation festival. Composed of several narrative and musical threads, Sita Sings the Blues skips delightfully from era to era and style to style as Paley turns the dissolution of her marriage into fodder for a tongue-in-cheek update of the Ramayana—the story of the goddess Sita and her star-crossed relationship with Rama. The musical interludes are set to the gorgeous melodies of the irresistible Annette Hanshaw, whose songs intelligently and nostalgically bring into relief what it means to be a modern, yet hopelessly romantic, woman. Written by Nina Paley. 82 min. Distributed by Nina Paley Productions.
8:00 pm Reception with Nina Paley director of Sita Sings the Blues
Complimentary Peroni beer, wine and appetizers at One Embarcadero Center, Lobby Level (in the former Gallery One space).
9:15 pm Sita Sings the Blues (see above)