For the last 25 years as the program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center Richard Pena has shaped the New York Film Festival upholding the standards of cutting edge cinema and opening new perspectives for film directors and the audience. By introducing new film making countries  to the critical film community  in New York and other major festivals he has shifted the festival’s  Eurocentric orientation to a global perspective presenting production...

The New York Asian Film Festival (June 29 - July 15) returns - and this year we’re bringing crazy back!   The opening night film is Pang Ho-cheung’s astonishingly filthy, extremely hilarious VULGARIA, a movie about making movies, shot in just 12 days, all about gangsters named Brother Tyrannosaur, sleazy lawyers, the sex film industry, and men who love donkeys a little too much. The Hollywood Reporter calls it a “...laugh-out-loud, aptly titled comedy.” Pang himself, Hong Kong's hotte...

  The second NY/SF International Children's Film Festival, presented by San Francisco Film Society and New York International Children's Film Festival, wrapped a highly successful three-day celebration of diverse, enlightening, inspiring and entertaining films for kids ages 3 - 18 and their families on Sunday and announced the winners of the best feature film and the best short film, as selected by the audiences who attended screenings at San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema and t...

It is with deep sadness that we announce that Graham Leggat, beloved executive director of the San Francisco Film Society, died at his San Francisco home on August 25, 2011, after an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 51. "For nearly six exciting and transformative years, Graham Leggat led the San Francisco Film Society with irrepressible determination, dash and design," said Pat McBaine, president of the Film Society's board of directors. "His vision, leadersh...

 French Collector, Archivist and Showman Extraordinaire Will Present Retour de Flamme: Rare and Restored Films in 3-D at the Castro Theatre   San Francisco, CA – The 54th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21–May 5) will present the 2011 Mel Novikoff Award to the extraordinary showman Serge Bromberg for his invaluable work as a collector, preservationist, exhibitor, programmer and enthusiast of cinematic treasures, Sunday, May 1 at 5:00 pm at the Castro Th...

  It may only be July, but already news is beginning to filter out about one of the major events of the Fall film season. The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced that THE SOCIAL NETWORK, the newest fiilm from Oscar-nominated director David Fincher has been selected as the Opening Night film for the 48th Annual New York Film Festival. The Festival will open at the recently refurbished Alice Tully Hall on the evening of Friday September 24th. The announcement is the first in ...

Local French-Speaking Film Student Wins Free Trip to One of the World's Most Prestigious Film Festivals, Courtesy of the French GovernmentThe San Francisco Film Society Colleges & Universities program, in partnership with the Consulate General of France in San Francisco and the French American Cultural Society, today announces the winner of the inaugural From College to Cannes contest. Emile Bokaer, who will receive an MFA in documentary film and video from Stanford University later this spring,...

The San Francisco Film Society announced today the creation of the SFFS FilmHouse Residencies, a new program developed in partnership with the San Francisco Film Commission that is designed to support local independent filmmaking. Under the terms of the innovative new agreement, the SFFS FilmHouse Residencies will make 2,800 square feet of production office space available free of charge to local independent filmmakers actively engaged in various stages of film production."We are delighted to pa...

The San Francisco Film Society announces the appointment of Carla Emil, James H. Herbert II, Celeste Meier and Suzie Reider to its board of directors as it continues to expand its annual calendar of film programs, including the acclaimed SFFS Education Program, and prepares to present the 51st edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival, the longest-running film festival in the Americas. The four new SFFS board members bring a wealth of experience from their professional and philant...

 Friday, December 7-----------New York film audiences will be able to add a bit of Spanish spice to their seasoned greetings this holiday season, as the Film Society of Lincoln Center unveils its annual survey of the best of the new Spanish cinema. With such Spanish names as Pedro Almodovar, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (among others) becoming international superstars, the red hot Spanish cinema is certainly one of the most vital and varied film cultures around. For its 16th edition at the ...

The 45th New York Film Festival runs through: September 28 – October 14, 2007The 45th New York Film Festival will premiere 28 films when it runs September 28 - October 14 at the Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The festival, presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center and sponsored by Sardinia Region Tourism and The New York Times, also features three showcases, three music documentaries and six retrospective films.Opening NightThis year’s festival opens on Friday,...

Wednesday, July 18-------The New York Film Festival, one of the pre-eminent film events in North America, celebrates its 45th anniversary this year. The event, which will run from September 28 to October 14, has begun to announce some of its programming and special events, tantalizing New York film lovers with some gems to look forward to. The Film Society of Lincoln Center, which presents the Festival along with its yearlong programming at the flagship Walter Reade Theater, has announced that...

Monday, May 7-----Rajendra Roy (known to his friends and colleagues as “Raj”) has been appointed as the Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of the Department of Film at the Museum of Modern Art, one of the most important and influential film archives in the world. Roy, who will begin his new post in July 2007, succeeds Mary Lea Bandy, who retired from the Museum in 2006.“Rajendra Roy brings to the Museum a breadth of experience that encompasses museum work as well as programming and management fo...

 Thursday, March 15----The Film Society of Lincoln Center is presenting a mini-hommage to Chinese film master Tian Zhuangzhuang, which includes the premiere U.S. engagement of his newest film THE GO MASTER, The director has had a long relationship with the New York Film Festival, the flagship event of the Film Society, who will also screen two of the director's past classics (and past New York Film Festival premieres) THE BLUE KITE and SPRINGTIME IN A SMALL TOWN. “Over the past twenty...

New York Jewish Film Festival, January 11-26, 2006Among the more than 60 Jewish film festivals held in the United States the NY Jewish Film Festival (NYJFF) has after 15 editions become well established and is now considered as important as the Sans Francisco Jewish Film the oldest and biggest at 23 years. Organized by the influential Jewish Museum of New York, the NYJFF’s alliance with the Film Society of Lincoln Center has added to its prestige.As a community based film festival, th...

Richard Peña, Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and Chairman of the Selection Committee of the New York Film Festival, is a film curator and scholar whose wide-ranging knowledge of the medium includes a special expertise and interest in Latin American, Asian, and Arab cinemas.Program Director of the Film Society and Festival Selection Committee Chair since 1988, Mr. Peña has brought a visionary zeal and enthusiasm and a remarkable variety of programs both to the Festival a...