The titanic struggle between American oil interests and the rights of native peoples creates a mosaic of political corruption and corporate greed that is at the heart of CRUDE, the latest cinematic essay by acclaimed American documentarian Joe Berlinger that is having its West Coast Premiere at the San Francisco International Film Festival this week. The prolific filmmaker is best known for his collaborative projects with partner Bruce Sinofsky on the award-winning documentaries BROTH...
TROUBLED WATER
At mid point of the 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival, the oldest in North America, films from European directors have been making the most impact. With its cosmopolitan air and its distinctive European ex-pat communities, San Francisco is not only a destination for European artists but also a place to sample the best of the new European cinema.
Most of the European films on display are congregated in the World Cinema section. ...
In the beautiful city of San Francisco, history is never far away from the gleaming city by the bay that has been its modern identity. Yes, tech companies prosper and it is a financial and business hub. But the glories of San Francisco past is still very much in evidence.
Some would say the glory years were the 1950s and 1960s, when San Francisco was the home to the beats and the hippies, and had an international reputation for tolerance and forward thinking. It still has that ...
The atmosphere was tinged with excitement in the glorious movie palace that is the Castro Theater. Eager audiences were assembled to worship at the feet of one of filmdom's true icons. Here, on this stage, was an actor who has made women swoon, made man envious and made his mark as one of the last true Hollywood stars. Robert Redford, with a face and physique that still makes heads turn, was being honored by the San Francisco International Film Festival with the Peter J. Owens Award f...
As part of its tribute to iconic director Francis Ford Coppola, the San Francisco International Film Festival will host a rare screening of THE RAIN PEOPLE on Friday evening, as part of An Evening with Francis Ford Coppola & Friends.
The film, released in 1969, was the first production from Coppola’s own company, American Zoetrope. An original script by Coppola, one year before his Oscar win for PATTON, the film stars Shirley Knight as a Long Island housewife on the run...
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...
Actors Evan Rachel Wood and Elijah Wood (no relation) have been chosen to receive this year’s Midnight Awards at the San Francisco International Film Festival tomorrow evening. The Awards have been designed to honor a dynamic young American actor and actress who have made outstanding contributions to independent and Hollywood cinema. The Awards ceremony and after-hours cocktail reception is one of the Festival’s hottest tickets. This year, the actors will be interviewed in a rel...
With all the headlines emerging from Mexico about drug cartels and gang wars, the zeitgeist culture of America's neighbor to the south is undeniably dramatic and more than a bit terrifying. Out of this cultural conflict often emerges great art and artists, and Mexico has been for the past decade a prime resource of exceptional film talent. Add to the list that includes Del Toro, Cuaron and Innaritu, the name of writer/director Fernando Eimbcke, whose film LAKE TAHOE is premiering at t...
Robert Redford has won many hats in his nearly 50 year career: leading man, Oscar-winning director (ORDINARY PEOPLE), social activist and founder of the Sundance Film Institute. However, it is his acting that will be honored next week at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where he will receive the Peter J. Owens Award at the Festival’s Tribute Gala. In addition, the notoriously publicity-shy Redford will appear at a public onstage tribute at the Castro Theatre in a ...
San Francisco, April 18-------The 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival (23 April – 7 May) will open with local director Peter Bratt’s LA MISSION, a powerful story about the ties of family and responsibility set in the city’s Mexican-American community. The film, which stars Benjamin Bratt, Erika Alexander and Jeremy Ray Valdez, had its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was made, in part, with monies from the Scene in San Francisco financial rebate pro...
San Francisco, April 17-----
While it is common these days for every city, resort and college town to have its own international film festival, it is San Francisco, the glittering city in North California, that can make the singular claim of having hosted North America’s first on-going film festival event. Launched in December 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival was the first event to offer a mix of international cinema, the first stirring of th...
Sunday morning in San Francisco, Kevin Kelly, founding editor of Wired magazine, delivered the State of Cinema address. Kelly has worked in digital technology since his founding role with The Well, in 1985, one of the first "true" online communtities. So he had a lot to say about what the future, inevitably and obviously digital all the way, will look like for motion pictures. He opened his talk with a little factoid about life today: the amount of screens everywhere. "Anywhe...
courtesy of http://fest08sffs.org 51st SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALWINNERS ANNOUNCED AT GOLDEN GATE AWARDS CEREMONY WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2008 New Directors Award: Vasermil, Mushon Salmona (Israel, 2007)New Directors Special Jury Mention: Wonderful Town, Aditya Assarat (Thailand, 2007)FIPRESCI Prize: Ballast, Lance Hammer (USA, 2007)FIPRESCI Special Jury Mention: Glasses, Naoko Ogigami (Japan, 2007)Chris Holte...
Documentary 1000 Journals showed at the San Francisco International Film Festival this week. Director Andrea Kreuzhage and also the main subject of the film, Someguy, were in attendance for a Q and A after a screening Wednesday. 1000 Journals is the directing debut for Kreuzhage, who has worked in the film industry since 1986 with companies Beyond Films and Sony Classics, on films like Strictly Ballroom (1992) and Bookies (2003), to name a few. In the summer of 2000, a man living in San Fr...
Here's what's going on at the San francisco International Film festival today, May 3rd. The "scoop do jour"- Visit http://fest08.sffs.org/news/ for links and more. Video Scoop The latest video edition of Scoop du Jour features scenes from Film Society Awards Night with honorees and guests in attendance, plus an interview with filmmaker Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg) about his foray into “docu-fantasia.” Who’s in Town? Arriving today are directors Peter Galison (Secrecy), Lance Ham...
courtesy of fest08.sffs.org Video Scoop The video edition of Scoop features interviews with Mike Leigh, director Ted Thomas (Walt & El Grupo), and director Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy). Who’s in Town? Arriving today are directors Patricio Lanfranco (The Judge and the General), Jonathan Levine (The Wackness), Mahmoud al Massad (Recycle), Jirí Menzel (I Served the King of England) and Robb Moss (Secrecy); subject Juan Guzmán (The Judge and the General); and jurors Florence Alm...
from http://fest08.sffs.org/news/Video Scoop The video edition of Scoop du Jour features interviews with Novikoff Award recipient Jim Hoberman and interviewer/colleague Kent Jones; plus 1000 Journals director Andrea Kreuzhage and her film’s artist/subject Someguy; and Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award recipient Errol Morris (Standard Operating Procedure). Who’s in Town? Arriving today are directors Serge Bozon (La France), Mia Hansen-Løve (All Is Forgiven), Mark Kidel (A Journey wi...
Here is what's going on today at the festival in San Francisco, courtesy of fest08.sffs.org Who’s In Town? Arriving today are directors Dorota Kedzierzawska (Time to Die) and Guy Maddin (My Winnipeg); actor Danuta Szaflarska (Time to Die); cinematographer Arthur Reinhart (Time to Die); and Founder’s Directing Award recipient Mike Leigh (Topsy-Turvy). What to Do? By chance, Newton I. Aduaka’s harrowing Ezra, about child soldiers ...
Edward Menicheschi, Vanity Fair vice president and publisher says, "The partnership with the San Francisco Film Society is an important opportunity for us. Not only are we collaborating with one of the most renowned film organizations in the world during its showcase event, but we are able to bring our own charitable initiative, Vanity Fair Reel Relief, to life through the lens of the Festival to benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). It's an alliance that is truly innovative...
The San Francisco Film Society today announced the creation of the Nellie Wong Magic of Movies Education Fund endowed by SFFS board member Penelope Wong and her husband, Tim Kochis, to honor the memory of Penelope's mother, Nellie Wong (1917-2007), who was an avid filmgoer and cinephile. The Magic of Movies Education Fund has been developed to support the year-round efforts of the SFFS Education Program, with the particular aims of cultivating students' imaginations, enhancing their critical thi...
In 2007, the San Francisco International Film Festival became the first film festival in the Americas to turn 50. We recognized this historic milestone in style by screening 120 unique programs of the finest in international cinema, playing host to more than 80,000 film lovers and hundreds of filmmakers, journalists and film industry professionals, throwing sensational parties, launching new digital initiatives like International Online, celebrating Bay Area film culture, showcasing new technolo...
