San Francisco International Film Festival

Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. Held each spring for two weeks and highly anticipated by its loyal, passionate audiences, SFIFF is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring some 150 films and live events with more than 100 filmmakers in attendance and nearly two dozen awards presented for excellence in film craft.

San Francisco International Film Festival started in 1957 and takes place in San Francisco, California, U.S.

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2 Live & Onstage Programs Featuring Performances by Will Oldham and Terence Nance Added to San Francisco International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_21052" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] A still from experimental filmmaker Jerome Hiler’s BAGATELLE II, who’s work will be played alongside Will Oldham, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy’s original musical compositions during the Headlands and San Francisco Film Society special program PARALLEL SPACES: WILL OLDHAM AND JEROME HILER.[/caption] “Parallel Spaces: Will Oldham and Jerome Hiler” and “18 Black Girls / Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines” have been added to the popular Live & Onstage section of the 60th San Francisco International Film Festival. Composer Will Oldham, aka Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (Headlands Artist in Residence, 2008), and Chicago-based Bitchin Bajas (Drag City) present Parallel Spaces: Will Oldham and Jerome Hiler, a special program of improvised music to be performed live alongside the projection of experimental films created by Bay Area artist Jerome Hiler. Joining Oldham and the Bajas is Bay Area-based Cornelius Boots, known as both a virtuosic clarinetist, and a burgeoning master of the shakuhachi flute of Zen Buddhism. Screenings of Hiler’s 16mm films, recognized for their mastery of visual composition, is an all too rare thing, and Hiler and Oldham have selected three that will be shown: Words of Mercury (2011), Marginalia (2015), and Bagatelle II (2016). Each film displays a different approach to the poetics of moving imagery and the deceptively simple, yet powerful, practice of viewing light passing through celluloid. This program will take place Monday April 10, 8:00 pm, at the historic Castro Theatre. Artist and filmmaker Terence Nance (Headlands Artist in Residence, 2014; An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Festival 2012) presents his compelling, interactive dual live programs, 18 Black Girls / Boys Ages 1-18 Who Have Arrived at the Singularity and Are Thus Spiritual Machines. Accompanied by his brother, multidisciplinary artist Norvis Junior, and by local musicians and dancers, Nance investigates the predispositions of our culture and media by taking audiences through a tour of the ways in which various narratives of black youth, beginning with age one and progressing through year 18, are presented via simple internet search functions. Using Google’s autocomplete algorithms and responding to audience feedback, Nance’s project presents a virtual self-portrait of our society that reflects our biases and norms back to us. Featuring live music, personal digressions, improvisation, and chance, Nance’s unique, and at turns heartwarming, heartbreaking, and insightful presentations will unfold at the Victoria Theatre over two consecutive days. The “girls” program will be featured on Sunday, April 16 at 5:00 pm, and the “boys” program on Monday, April 17 at 6:00 pm. “We’re delighted to be partnering with Headlands Center for the Arts to bring these dynamic performers to the Festival,” said Rachel Rosen, San Francisco Film Society’s director of programming.”Artists in creative dialogue with moving images make the Live & Onstage section one of our most thrilling offerings at the Festival, and it’s especially gratifying to be able to collaborate with an organization that supports such creative exploration.” “We’re excited to join San Francisco Film Society in sharing new work from Headlands’ Artist in Residence alumni Terence Nance and Will Oldham with Festival audiences,” says Sean Uyehara, Headlands Center for the Arts Director of Programs. “Supporting artists with opportunities for this kind of thoughtful, cross-disciplinary collaboration is what we’re all about.”
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World Premiere of Guy Maddin’s THE GREEN FOG — A SAN FRANCISCO FANTASIA to Close San Francisco International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_20600" align="aligncenter" width="1049"] The Green Fog — A San Francisco Fantasia[/caption] The 60th San Francisco International Film Festival will close with The Green Fog — A San Francisco Fantasia, a new collage film by Guy Maddin. The Green Fog — A San Francisco Fantasia is a new commission by the Film Society and Stanford Live in which the world-renowned Kronos Quartet will perform a new score by composer Jacob Garchik to accompany a visual collage by award-winning filmmaker and cultural iconoclast Guy Maddin. The Green Fog will take place at the historic Castro Theatre on Sunday, April 16. Maddin, assisted by his Forbidden Room collaborator Evan Johnson, set himself the challenge and constraint to remake Vertigo without using any footage from the Hitchcock classic, creating a “parallel-universe version,” in his words. Using Bay Area-based footage from a variety of sources — studio classics, ’50s noir, documentary and experimental films, and ’70s prime-time TV — and employing Maddin’s mastery of assemblage technique, seen in work like My Winnipeg and Brand Upon the Brain, the result exerts the inexorable pull of Hitchcock’s twisted tale of erotic obsession while paying tribute to our fair city and the ways it looks and feels through the medium of cinema. Composer Jacob Garchik, who was born in San Francisco and has worked with Kronos Quartet since 2006, fashions a score that collides and converses with Maddin and Johnson’s irreverent and loving footage to create a distinctive musical extravaganza. Both filmmakers and composer are excited to include a live Foley element, the “Old Hollywood” method of creating special sound effects. San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet have combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagine the string quartet experience for more than 40 years. They have collaborated with recording artists including Paul McCartney, Laurie Anderson, Jarvis Cocker, Patti Smith, and David Bowie, and have performed scores by Philip Glass live for the films Mishima (1985) and Dracula(1931). At the 58th SF International Film Festival, they performed to Bill Morrison’s Beyond Zero: 1914-1918.
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San Francisco International Film Festival Announces 2016 Golden Gate Award Winners

[caption id="attachment_9418" align="alignnone" width="1000"] The Demons[/caption] The 59th San Francisco International Film Festival announced the winners of the juried Golden Gate Award (GGA) competitions at an event held at Gray Area. This year the Festival awarded nearly $40,000 in prizes to emerging and established filmmakers. GOLDEN GATE NEW DIRECTORS (NARRATIVE FEATURE) PRIZE The 2016 Golden Gate Awards New Directors jury was composed of film critic Justin Chang, producer Benjamin Domenech, and IFP’s Executive Director Joana Vicente. Winner: The Demons, Philippe Lesage (Canada) * Receives $10,000 cash prize In a sunny, placid Montreal suburb in the late 1980s, before every child was attached to their parents by a cell phone, 10-year-old Félix (Edouard Tremblay-Grenier) grapples with the insecurities and confusion of impending adolescence. He harbors a crush on his teacher as a distraction from the uncomfortable sensation that everyone fits in perfectly at school except him. At home, Félix and his doting older siblings land in the middle of a scarily intense fight between their parents. Innocence is a fragile thing, easily dented and destroyed, and Félix surprises himself by inflicting cruelties on a younger boy. From the opening frames, documentary filmmaker Philippe Lesage infuses his exquisitely observed debut feature with an unsettling air of ambiguity and dread that portends greater crimes to follow. Nicolas Canniccioni’s calmly probing camera and Pye Corner Audio’s intense, judiciously placed score alert us to the incursion of an unseen danger into this pastel setting of swimming pools and playgrounds. The adults are caring but distracted, and their obliviousness—which extends to the end of the film, and presumably beyond—enables unexpected malevolent forces. The Demons evokes the close escapes and inevitable traumas that speckle the path to adulthood, culminating in a gentle entreaty to love your children well. In a statement, the jury noted: “The Demons is an extraordinarily perceptive and structurally daring exploration of childhood in all its terrors and anxieties, both real and imagined.” Special Jury Prize: Mountain, Yaelle Kayam (Israel/Denmark) The jury noted: “The film provides a rigorous and multifaceted character study that becomes a bold statement about the role of women in physical and psychological confinement.” GOLDEN GATE AWARDS FOR DOCUMENTARY FEATURES The GGA Documentary feature competitions jury was comprised of journalist, film critic and programmer Eric Hynes; Sundance Institute’s Director of the Documentary Film Program Tabitha Jackson; and documentarian Jeff Malmberg. [caption id="attachment_11488" align="alignnone" width="1000"] Cameraperson[/caption] Documentary Feature Winner: Cameraperson, Kirsten Johnson (USA) * Receives $10,000 cash prize Simultaneously an astute observation of nonfiction filmmaking’s dilemmas, and a wonderfully creative autobiographical collage, Cameraperson is a must-see for all documentary enthusiasts. As the cinematographer for acclaimed documentaries such as Citizenfour, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Darfur Now, Kirsten Johnson has seen the world from behind her camera lens. Here she assembles moments from 25 years of location shoots—including a birthing clinic in Nigeria, a Bosnian farm, a detention center in Yemen and a boxing ring in Brooklyn—and stitches together an illuminating, emotional patchwork memoir. It’s abundantly clear that Johnson loves her work and values the experience of filming with people from all walks of life. Along with editor Nels Bangerter and co-editor Amanda Laws, Johnson draws out the similarities of seemingly different people all over the world, and elicits the question of the observer’s responsibility to the observed. Rather than employ the obvious tool of narration, Johnson cannily places statements made by interview subjects and crew members into contexts that reflect the complex challenges she feels herself, as a professional who can chronicle extensively, but interfere minimally. Amid the exotic and the foreign, Johnson weaves her own home movies of her young children and Alzheimer’s afflicted mother, bringing her experience of her own personal world into focus. The jury noted in a statement: “We honor Cameraperson for its compassion and curiosity; for its almost tangible connection to subjects and humble acknowledgment of its own subjectivity; for its singular enfolding of memoir, essay and collage; for its perfect expression of the vital collaboration between director and editor; and for its disarming invitation for us to participate in the meaning and construction of the work, and by extension the meaning and construction of documentary cinema itself.” Special Jury Prize: Notes on Blindness, Peter Middleton, James Spinney (UK/France) The jury noted: “We extend a special mention to Notes on Blindness, in recognition of an audaciously ambitious, formally inventive and yet fully realized film that somehow manages to translate an intensely interior experience into compelling, even revelatory cinema, ingeniously articulating what it means to see and be seen.” [caption id="attachment_12753" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The Return[/caption] Bay Area Documentary Winner: The Return, Kelly Duane de la Vega, Katie Galloway (USA) * Receives $5,000 cash prize In 1994, California voters enacted the Three Strikes law, mandating a sentence of at least 25 years to life for third-time felons. In 2012, voters amended that law with Prop. 36, which added a provision for non-violent offenders and the radical demand that currently incarcerated prisoners be re-sentenced. “Overnight,” the filmmakers explain, “thousands of lifers became eligible for release.” The Return chronicles what happens next—on an individual and statewide scale. Weaving together the confessional musings of newly freed men, interviews with cautiously hopeful family members and on-the-ground coverage of lawyers working to free eligible lifers, filmmakers Kelly Duane de la Vega and Katie Galloway (Better This World, SFIFF 2011) build a case against long prison terms for crimes driven by poverty, addiction and mental illness. Whether following Bilal Chatman—who served 11 years of a 150-to-life sentence—on his bike ride to work or Michael Romano—a lawyer who co-authored Prop 36 and heads Stanford’s Justice Advocacy Project—mustering resources to help clients transition to life outside of prison, the film illuminates the long, fraught, and joyful journey from incarceration to resettlement. The jury noted: “We are honoring a film that starts where others would stop, that addresses the inhumanity of America’s criminal justice system through patient and humane observation, handling the complexities of its subjects not as matters to work around, but to embrace as a pathway to deeper feeling and understanding.” GOLDEN GATE AWARDS FOR SHORT FILMS The GGA Short Film jury consisted of festival programmer Laura Thielen; Fandor’s Vice President of Film Acquisitions Amanda Salazar; and independent media writer, producer and creative consultant Santhosh Daniel. Narrative Short Winner: Night Without Distance, Lois Patiño (Portugal/Spain) * Receives $2,000 cash prize Documentary Short Winner: The Send-Off, Patrick Bresnan, Ivete Lucas (USA) * Receives $2,000 cash prize Animated Short Winner: Manoman, Simon Cartwright (UK) * Receives $2,000 cash prize Special Jury Prize: Glove, Alexa Lim Haas, Bernardo Britto (USA) New Visions Short Winner: My Aleppo, Melissa Langer (USA) * Receives $1,500 cash prize Bay Area Short First Prize Winner: Extremis, Dan Krauss (USA) * Receives $1,500 cash prize Bay Area Short Second Prize Winner: In Attla’s Tracks, Catharine Axley (USA) * Receives $1,000 cash prize The shorts jury noted: “These well-wrought miniatures connected us to the world and our own humanity in urgent and unexpected ways. We were impressed by the 29 storytellers in competition, and we thank them for sharing their visions with San Francisco audiences. We look forward to seeing what they do next.” GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR FAMILY FILM The Family Film jury consisted of Betsy Bozdech, Executive Editor, Ratings & Reviews at Common Sense Media; animator and filmmaker Jim Capobianco; and animation director Simon J. Smith. Winner: Bunny New Girl, Natalie van den Dungen (Australia) * Receives $500 cash prize The jury noted: “Bunny New Girl was recognized for its great, relatable message of acceptance and solidarity in a new community — as well as technical achievement, strong talent direction, and able storytelling that builds to a powerful and entertaining ending.” Special Jury Prize: Simon’s Cat: Off to the Vet, Simon Tofield (UK) The jury noted: “We recognize this film for its pure entertainment value, great observational comedy, laugh-out loud jokes, and clear cat knowledge.” GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR YOUTH WORK The Youth Works jury was comprised of bay area high school students Sophia Anderson, Karla Mandujano and Kyle Wolfe, with adult supervisor Aldo Mora-Blanco of Film School Shorts at KQED. Winner: Elliot, Dennis Kim (South Korea/USA) * Receives $1,000 cash prize — including $500 donated by Vancouver Film School. The winner will also receive a one week scholarship, including tuition and accommodation, to one of the Vancouver Film School’s Summer Intensive Programs. The jury noted: “In another filmmaker’s hands, the story may have been an old hat. But in this filmmaker’s craft, what emerges is a meticulously crafted, well thought-out narrative that is engaging and beautiful to look at.” Special Jury Prize: Lucky Numbers, Chester Milton (USA) * Receives $500 cash prize donated by Vancouver Film School The jury noted: “Lucky Numbers is a crowd pleasing black comedy that managed to balance humor and morbidity perfectly.” GOOGLE BREAKTHROUGH IN TECHNOLOGY AWARD The Google Breakthrough in Technology Award jury was comprised of members of Google’s Computer Science in Media and Industry Relations teams, including: Courtney McCarthy, Strategist in Computer Science in Media and Julia Hamilton Trost, Account Executive, Google Media Sales. Google presents the Breakthrough in Technology Award for the best use or display of technology and innovation. The award honors filmmakers who go the extra mile to highlight the use of technology to solve a problem and make the world a better place, and aspires to promote diversity in tech while disrupting negative stereotypes in STEM fields. Winner: From My Head to Hers, Maria Alvarez (USA) * Receives $500 cash prize donated by Google Inc.
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Animated Films Focus of World Cinema Spotlight at 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_12066" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Blanca Engström in GRANNY’S DANCING ON THE TABLE[/caption] The 6th World Cinema Spotlight at the 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival will feature films under the theme Animating the Image, focusing on frame-by-frame animation. Whether hand-drawn, stop-motion, CGI, motion capture or a combination thereof, animation recalls the illusory magic of the earliest days of cinema, a surprisingly simple “trick” that continues to enthrall and inspire—when presented in succession, a series of still images transform to appear in motion. Adaptable to a variety of eclectic approaches—exemplified by this year’s Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award recipient Aardman Animations, the collage of Lewis Klahr’s Sixty Six and the variety of styles employed by multiple artists in Penny Lane’s surprising and singular documentary NUTS!—animation endures as one of the most satisfying and versatile techniques in cinema. WORLD CINEMA SPOTLIGHT PROGRAMS Granny’s Dancing on the Table (Sweden/Denmark 2015) – Taking place within the quiet serenity of the dense Swedish woods, isolated from civilization, Hanna Sköld’s intense drama delivers a harrowing tale of abuse, psychological imprisonment and the power of imagination to withstand painful circumstances. Enchanting stop-motion animation captures 13-year-old Eini’s worldview as she silently struggles against her father’s brutal control and envisions the dysfunctional family history that led to her grandmother’s rebellious travels and her own pale and powerless existence. Life, Animated (USA 2016) – The power of cinema has rarely been revealed as strongly as in this documentary about an autistic man named Owen Suskind who, as a boy, discovers a way to communicate with his parents through Disney movies. Now a young man, Owen is getting ready to live on his own, and the film shows his successes and struggles as he embarks on this huge step. NUTS! (USA 2015) – Penny Lane’s documentary—comprised of archival material, animated sequences and the occasional talking head—blooms into an incredible almanac of early 20th-century quackery and innovation as she focuses on JR Brinkley, an early broadcasting baron, direct-mail pioneer and an evangelical proponent of goat-testicle implants. An empire built on spurious claims and fear mongering seems unstoppable—until the American Medical Association dares to question its foundations. Persistence of Vision Award: An Afternoon with Aardman Animations – Established in 1997, the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award honors the achievement of filmmakers whose main body of work falls outside the realm of narrative feature filmmaking. This year, we recognize the team behind beloved animation studio Aardman. Join co-founder Peter Lord for an in-depth conversation and a filmic celebration of the studio’s 40th anniversary. Phantom Boy (France/Belgium 2015) – When a kingpin with a face only Picasso could love threatens to bring down New York City’s infrastructure, a seriously ill boy with a unique, ghostly superpower teams up with a bedridden crusading cop to stop him. The team behind A Cat in Paris (SFIFF 2011) delivers another dose of enchanting 2D animation along with a story that blends absurd humor with an emotionally potent tale of a child rising about troubling circumstances. Shorts 3: Animation – A retirement home resident attempts to woo with music. A participant in a primal scream class gets more than he bargained for. And a child is made to drink blood from deer antlers. These imaginative, often hilarious story-based animations mingle with non-narrative works that ply their magic with light and sophisticated processing techniques in this wide-ranging program. Shorts 5: Family Films – In this eclectic international collection of short films for young audiences, an array of colorful characters—of the human, animal and monster varieties—learn how to help one another and work together in fun and sometimes surprising ways. Works range from new student films to those by veteran artists such as Nick Park of Aardman Animations, Disney animator Glen Keane, YouTube favorite Simon Tofield (and his fussy fat cat), and Oscar-winning SFIFF alum Brandon Oldenburg. [caption id="attachment_12067" align="aligncenter" width="1018"] A scene from Lewis Klah’s SIXTY SIX[/caption] Sixty Six (USA 2015) – Sixties pop-art heroines and DC comic-strip heroes are suffused with the passions of Greco-Roman gods in Lewis Klahr’s short film compilation spanning 14 years of filmmaking, chosen by the New York Times’ Manohla Dargis as one of the best films of 2015. Lovers of melodrama, all your paper-doll superstars are here, but an individual heart beats beneath the vivid imagery.
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Filmmaker Mira Nair to Receive Directing Award

Filmmaker Mira Nair will be honored with the Irving M. Levin Directing Award at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 21 to May 5, 2016. Given each year to one of the masters of world cinema in memory of SFIFF founder Irving M. Levin, the tribute acknowledges exceptional versatility in film and honors the director’s expansive body of work while celebrating her unique contributions to the art of cinema. Nair will also be honored at An Afternoon with Mira Nair at the Castro Theatre on Sunday April 24. An onstage conversation with Nair will be followed by a screening of Monsoon Wedding (2001). [caption id="attachment_12062" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Queen of Katwe[/caption] The presentation will also include an exclusive first look at special footage from Nair’s next project , about a rural Ugandan girl with an aptitude for chess, starring Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo. Mira Nair was born and raised in Rourkela, India and went on to study at Delhi and Harvard universities. She began as an actress before segueing to make documentaries. Her narrative feature debut, Salaam Bombay! (1988) won the Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. A resourceful and determined independent filmmaker who casts unknowns alongside Hollywood stars, Nair has directed Mississippi Masala (1991), The Perez Family (1995), Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), Hysterical Blindness (2002), Vanity Fair (2004), The Namesake (2006), Amelia (2009) and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012). Monsoon Wedding: Winner of the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion in 2001, Monsoon Wedding is a film of gigantic heart served with an ample dollop of social satire. Five romantic entanglements threaten to derail a high-end New Delhi marriage as the film effortlessly shifts between Bollywood expressionism and Altman-like character intrigue, gut-busting comedy and tender romance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjQjw-UyAX0 Previous recipients are Guillermo del Toro, Mexico; Richard Linklater, USA; Philip Kaufman, USA; Kenneth Branagh, England; Oliver Stone, USA; Walter Salles, Brazil; Francis Ford Coppola, USA; Mike Leigh, England; Spike Lee, USA; Werner Herzog, Germany; Taylor Hackford, USA; Milos Forman, Czechoslovakia/USA; Robert Altman, USA; Warren Beatty, USA; Clint Eastwood, USA; Abbas Kiarostami, Iran; Arturo Ripstein, Mexico; Im Kwon-Taek, South Korea; Francesco Rosi, Italy; Arthur Penn, USA; Stanley Donen, USA; Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal; Ousmane Sembène, Senegal; Satyajit Ray, India; Marcel Carné, France; Jirí Menzel, Czechoslovakia; Joseph L. Mankiewicz, USA; Robert Bresson, France; Michael Powell, England; and Akira Kurosawa, Japan.
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LOVE & FRIENDSHIP Starring Kate Beckinsale to Kick Off San Francisco International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_12014" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Love & Friendship[/caption] The 59th San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 21 to May 5, 2016, kicks off with Whit Stillman’s Love & Friendship (Ireland 2016), an adaptation of a Jane Austen novella starring Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny. Slated as the Festival’s high-profile Centerpiece event is Indignation (USA 2015), James Schamus’ directorial debut based on novelist Philip Roth’s fictionalized account of his college experiences in the 1950s. The Festival will come to a close with local director Jesse Moss’ documentary The Bandit (USA 2016), a jubilant look at Burt Reynolds, stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham and their high-speed pursuit classic Smokey and the Bandit. Opening Night: Love & Friendship Thursday April 21, 7:00 pm, Castro Theatre Director Whit Stillman and star Kate Beckinsale expected to attend. Writer-director Whit Stillman brings a very funny sense and sensibility to this period comedy as sassy social climber Lady Susan (Kate Beckinsale) tries to finagle out of a scandal and gain matrimonial advantage for herself and her daughter. Witty and spry from start to finish, Stillman’s adaptation of a Jane Austin novella set in the 1790s charms as it peers into the affairs of the privileged and those who aspire to be, winking at contemporary pretensions through the lens of the past. Centerpiece: Indignation Saturday April 30, 8:00 pm, Victoria Theatre Director James Schamus expected to attend. James Schamus (Kanbar Award recipient, SFIFF 2010) makes his directorial debut with an elegant adaptation of Philip Roth’s novel, a fictionalized account of the author’s own college experiences in the ’50s. Logan Lerman gives a terrific performance as Marcus Messner, one of a handful of Jewish students on the Midwestern university campus, whose efforts to assert and define himself are tested in interactions with the college dean, a beautiful blonde and his protective mother. Closing Night: The Bandit Thursday May 5, 7:00 pm, Castro Theatre Director Jesse Moss expected to attend. An exuberant, surprisingly moving romp through 1970s pop culture, The Banditcelebrates the friendship between superstar actor Burt Reynolds and stuntman-turned-director Hal Needham, as together they create the Southern-fried classic Smokey and the Bandit. Bay Area director Jesse Moss (The Overnighters,SFIFF 2014) brings great warmth and impossibly retro-cool archival footage to this exceptional dual biography.
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20 Films to Compete for Golden Gate Awards at San Francisco International Film Festival

The Demons

The 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival, taking place April 21 to May 5, announced the films in competition for the Golden Gate Awards (GGA).

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Aardman Animations to Receive Award at San Francisco International Film Festival

[caption id="attachment_11936" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Wallace-and-Gromit[/caption] The pioneering studio Aardman will be presented with the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 21 to May 5, 2016. Co-founder and Creative Director Peter Lord will accept the award and participate in an in-depth onstage conversation about the work of the beloved animation studio on the occasion of its 40th anniversary. A screening featuring a selection of Aardman’s short films will provide audiences a chance to see key works from the studio’s rich catalogue. “We’ve been fans of the work of Aardman at the Festival for quite a while so it is a great thrill to be able to recognize them on their 40th anniversary,” said SFFS Director of Programming Rachel Rosen. “This program will be a great opportunity to perhaps discover some unheralded gems from the studio’s history and to be delighted again by favorite classics.” Established in 1997, the Persistence of Vision Award each year honors the achievement of a filmmaker or institution whose main body of work is outside the realm of narrative feature filmmaking, crafting documentaries, short films, television, animated, experimental or multiplatform work. Co-founded by Peter Lord and David Sproxton in the 1970s, Aardman has grown from the two friends’ kitchen-table experimentation to one of the world’s leading model animation studios, with 11 Oscar nominations and four wins. Creating animation that appeals to both adult and family audiences in work that ranges from documentary to madcap adventure, Aardman has produced a stream of stop-motion marvels from Creature Comforts to Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep. Along with directing and producing his own stellar work, Lord and Aardman have encouraged and nurtured the careers of many talented new directors. The studio recently debuted their latest short film, Special Delivery, via Google’s 360 film initiative “Spotlight Stories.” As a director, Peter Lord has been nominated for two Academy Awards and has been honored along with Sproxton with a Special BAFTA Award. He has helped create numerous series for television; music videos, including one for Nina Simone’s “My Baby Just Cares for Me”; and television commercials. With Nick Park, he co-directed Aardman’s first feature, Chicken Run, a critical and commercial success, and produced the studio’s first CGI feature, Flushed Away, in collaboration with DreamWorks. Lord also most recently directed Aardman’s stop-motion adventure on the high seas The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists with Sony Pictures Animation.
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SWORN VIRGIN, WESTERN Among Winners of 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival Awards

The 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival which ran April 23 to May 7, 2015, presented by the San Francisco Film Society, announced the winners of the juried Golden Gate Award (GGA) competitions. Sworn Virgin, directed by Laura Bispuri won the Golden Gate New Directors Prize, and Western, directed by Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross won the Golden Gate Awards for Documentary Features. GOLDEN GATE NEW DIRECTORS PRIZE The Golden Gate Awards New Directors jury of the 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival was composed of producer and BFI Senior Production Executive Lizzie Franke, writer and filmmaker Ryan Fleck and producer Laura Wagner. Winner: Sworn Virgin (pictured above), Laura Bispuri (Italy/Switzerland/Germany/Albania/Kosovo) * Receives $10,000 cash prize In a statement, the jury noted: “Laura Bispuri is a distinct new filmmaking talent who we are excited to follow as her career progresses. There is a great purity and truth in her approach to a story of contemporary female struggle. Bispuri has crafted a film, grounded by extraordinary performances, that is at once effortless and delicate, but also bold in its execution.” GOLDEN GATE AWARDS FOR DOCUMENTARY FEATURES The GGA Documentary feature competitions jury was comprised of filmmakers Kristine Samuelson and Robert Greene, and journalist Susan Gerhard. Documentary Feature Winner: Western, Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross (USA) * Receives $10,000 cash prize The jury noted in a statement: “The competition was remarkable and every film in the category presented a unique vision, which made our job very difficult and brought us to reconsider the very nature of cinema itself in the year 2015. Films of great ambition, exceptional intimacy and intricate sound design, offered up empathy and poetry in equal measure and charted new paths for the form. We give the GGA Documentary Feature award to Western, a film that compresses observation and symbolism to take the experience of ‘seeing’ in a bold direction. Though driven by characters, those characters never overwhelm the sense of place, and the tension between narrative and poetry, fact and fictional refraction inflect new meanings on how we see the West.” Special Jury recognition: Of Men and War, Laurent Bécue-Renard (France/Switzerland) The jury noted: “Of Men and War makes us understand the horrors of war without ever showing us a single frame of battle, offering access to interior psychologies most viewers have never seen before in a tightly structured, beautifully edited, minimalist piece of nonfiction.” Bay Area Documentary Winner: Very Semi-Serious, Leah Wolchok (USA) * Receives $5,000 cash prize The jury noted: “We award the Golden Gate Award for Bay Area Documentary Feature to Very Semi-Serious, which reminds us that humor has a purpose. It subtly reveals the vast array of personalities engaged in this art form, including women and young people making their way into a historically male-dominated field. Its brave ellipses in storytelling allow us to consider the intertwining of tragedy and comedy.” Special Jury recognition: T-Rex, Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari (USA) The jury noted: “We recognize T-Rex for its ambition and courage. This film subverts the sports conquest genre and takes a clear-eyed view of race and class.” GOLDEN GATE AWARDS FOR SHORT FILMS The GGA Short Film jury consisted of filmmakers Grace Lee and Jonathan Duffy and curator Liz Keim. Narrative Short Winner: The Chicken, Una Gunjak (Germany/Croatia) * Receives $2,000 cash prize Documentary Short Winner: Cailleach, Rosie Reed Hillman (Scotland) * Receives $2,000 cash prize Animated Short Winner: A Single Life, Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins, Job Roggeveen (Netherlands) * Receives $2,000 cash prize New Visions Short Winner: Discussion Questions, Jonn Herschend (USA) * Receives $1,500 cash prize Bay Area Short First Prize Winner: The Box, Michael I Schiller (USA) * Receives $1,500 cash prize Bay Area Short Second Prize Winner: Time Quest, John Dilley (USA) * Receives $1,000 cash prize GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR FAMILY FILM The Family Film jury consisted of Arts Education consultant Amy Balsbaugh, third grade teacher at Grattan School Susan DesBaillets and Head of Education and Community Programs at The Walt Disney Family Museum Hillary Lyden. Winner: The Story of Percival Pilts, Janette Goodey, John Lewis (Australia/New Zealand) * Receives $500 cash prize Family Film Honorable Mentions: Lava, James Ford Murphy (USA) and One, Two, Tree, Yulia Aronova (France/Switzerland) GOLDEN GATE AWARD FOR YOUTH WORK The Youth Works jury was comprised of local high school students Diana Garcia, Ramses Mosley-Wise and Sean Rossiter, with adult supervisor Lisa Landi, producer of Film School Shorts at KQED. Winner: Two and a Quarter Minutes, Joshua Ovalle (USA) * Receives $1,000 cash prize – including $500 donated by KQED Youth Work Honorable Mention: The Off / Season, Lance Oppenheim (USA) * Receives $250 cash prize donated by KQED
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Horror Comedy Film THE EDITOR To Be Released in the U.S.

Shout! Factory and Kennedy/Brooks, Inc., will partner up to distribute horror film, THE EDITOR in the U.S. Directed and produced by Adam Brooks and Matthew Kennedy, this stylish, giallo-inspired horror comedy premiered with critical praise at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and is scheduled to play at the San Francisco International Film Festival on May 1. A hilarious send-up of classic giallo cinema, THE EDITOR spins the twisted tale of a once-prolific film editor who becomes the prime suspect in a series of murders haunting a seedy 1970s film studio. Rey Ciso was once the greatest editor the world had ever seen. Since a horrific accident left him with four wooden fingers on his right hand, he’s had to resort to cutting pulp films and trash pictures. When the lead actors from the film he’s been editing turn up murdered at the studio, Rey is fingered as the number one suspect. The bodies continue to pile up in this absurdist giallo-thriller as Rey struggles to prove his innocence and learns the sinister truth lurking behind the scenes. Paz de la Huerta (“Boardwalk Empire”), Samantha Hill (Bad Meat), Laurence R. Harvey (ABCs of Death 2), Adam Brooks (Manborg), Matthew Kennedy (Father’s Day), Conor Sweeney (ABCs of Death 2), Tristan Risk (Dark Continents), and Udo Kier (Borgia, Blade) star in this absurdist throwback to the Italian giallo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0tiCVwHb04
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New Online Screening Room for 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival

The San Francisco International Film Festival will screen online 14 feature films and 11 shorts from the official 2015 lineup, as part of a new online streaming initiative called SFIFF Online Screening Room. The SFIFF Online Screening Room will provide an opportunity for SFFS members to stream select feature and short films free of charge for a limited time. Each film will become available to stream online starting the day of its final Festival screening, through May 31. For more information and to browse the lineup, visit the SFIFF Online Screening Room at watch.sffs.org. “We are grateful to our partner FORA.tv for providing a great reward for the loyal members of the Film Society, with this second chance to see some of the world’s finest films,” said Noah Cowan, Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society. “This pilot program will let us measure interest in the Bay Area for a highly curated, short-window online look at a range of global cinema. Many of these films will not be returning to play in theaters, nor will they be readily available on traditional streaming services, so the opportunity really is something special.” FEATURE FILMS All of Me – directed by Arturo González Villaseñor (pictured above) Since 1995, the Patronas, a group of women in southern Mexico, prepare food and drinking water in large quantities to hand out as the train known as “The Beast” speeds by carrying men and boys from Central America to the US border. This deeply moving documentary allows the women to tell their stories, reluctantly at first, then eloquently and with enormous heart. (Mexico 2014, 90 min) Beats of the Antonov – directed by Hajooj Kuka Filmed in the civil war-ravaged region between South and North Sudan, Beats of the Antonov paints an inspiring portrait of the Blue Nile and Nuba Mountain refugee communities and their reliance on music-making not only as a healing force in the face of devastating loss and displacement, but also as a vital instrument to keep their cultural heritage alive. Black Coal, Thin Ice – directed by Diao Yinan Both tense whodunnit and layered character study, Diao Yinan’s Berlin Golden Bear winner spans five years in the life of a troubled cop who can’t shake his experiences working a particularly gruesome serial-killer case. A carefully plotted film noir packed with twists and offbeat moments, it also boasts a scorching breakout lead performance by Liao Fan. (China/Hong Kong 2014, 106 min) Bota – directed by Iris Elezi and Thomas Logoreci Populated by charming oddballs, quirky café/bar Bota (literally “the world” in Albanian) is a silent witness to the lives and secrets of people living in the shadow of the past. Long after the end of Albania’s harsh dictatorship, the locals’ lives have stagnated, most too poor to seize the opportunities liberty has offered them. But progress, in the form of a highway construction project, prompts change and new decisions for this very special café society. (Albania/Italy/Kosovo 2014, 104 min) El Cordero – directed by Juan Francisco Olea Domingo is a devoted family man and Christian missionary gliding through a dutifully modest if unexceptional life. He’d happily keep it that way, too, but for the fact that a fatal accident leaves him, disturbingly, without a sense of guilt. Shot through with a subtle, sardonic humor and beautifully acted, this exceptional feature debut is an engrossing dramatic thriller reverberating with deeper questions about our innermost natures and our ties to one another. (Chile 2014, 90 min) Fidelio: Alice’s Odyssey – directed by Lucie Borleteau Working in the macho world of sailors, ship engineer Alice is an expert in her field and fully in command of her sexuality as well. When she comes up against the classic double standard after an affair with the ship’s captain, she risks the taunts of her peers and reprimands of her superiors. First-time director Borleteau offers a compellingly acted portrait of a woman who dares to subvert conservative notions of female behavior in a male-oriented workplace. (France 2014, 95 min) Murder in Pacot – directed by Raoul Peck Grappling with the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, a formerly well-to-do husband and wife rent their crumbling house in a tony Port-au-Prince neighborhood to a European aid worker. When his brash young Haitian girlfriend shows up, an emotionally fraught game of sexual intrigue and class warfare ensues in this tense and provocative film from acclaimed director Raoul Peck. (Haiti/France/Norway 2014, 130) NN – directed by Héctor Gálvez A team of forensic investigators in the Peruvian countryside digs up the remains of persons who were murdered during the brutal Fujimori Era of the 1980s and ’90s. The process of identifying one particular set of bones becomes an agonizing experience for the woman who claims they belong to her husband and for the investigator who has to go by the facts. Suffering, injustice and peace of mind are pitted against scientific truths with no easy answers in this engrossing, expertly paced drama. (Peru/Colombia/Germany/France 2014, 95 min) Of Men and War – directed by Laurent Bécue-Renard Winner of the 2014 IDFA award for Best Feature Documentary, Of Men and War is director Laurent Bécue-Renard’s multiyear account of the residents of The Pathway Home, an innovative treatment center for PTSD and related war traumas in Yountville, California. This quietly intense film bears witness to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans as they revisit the brutalities of combat, process the traumatic memories that haunt them and search for meaning in the psychological wreckage of war. (France/Switzerland 2014, 142 min) Red Amnesia – directed by Wang Xiaoshuai Deng, a retired widow, tries to care for her family, though her sons protest her “intrusions” into their personal lives. When mysterious phone calls and other strange occurrences disrupt her daily routine, she wonders, who-if anyone-might be coming after her. In this unsettling thriller set in contemporary China, Wang Xiaoshuai explores the political and personal consequences of memory, and traces the blurred lines between those who remember their past, and those who choose to forget. (China 2014, 110 min) T-Rex – directed by Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari In the new Olympic sport of women’s boxing, 17-year-old Claressa Shields bursts out from the total obscurity of a small Flint, Michigan, gym to compete for a coveted gold medal. T-Rex beautifully captures her rapid ascent, her battle to overcome a damaged home life, the culturally ingrained bias against women’s boxing, the spellbinding thrill of her bouts and the indomitable willpower that shows, in its purest and most powerful sense, the meaning of warrior spirit. (USA 2015, 87 min) The Postman’s White Nights – directed by Andrei Konchalovsky Postman Lyokha serves an aging community of island dwellers in a remote corner of northwestern Russia. Globetrotting veteran director Konchalovsky returns to his home turf for this humorous, rueful, occasionally surreal slice of rural life that takes place over a few summer days. It’s a leisurely yet eventful tale filled with ravishing imagery and the natural appeal of mostly nonprofessional actors. (Russia 2014, 101 min) Two Shots Fired – directed by Martín Rejtman Argentine filmmaker and short story writer Martín Rejtman’s first feature in 10 years is a slyly funny low-key existential comedy for fans of films like Stranger than Paradise and Slacker. As the film’s ever-evolving story follows an intersecting group of teenage and adult characters, it upends narrative expectations about the significance of individual events and offers instead careful, amused observation of how we all get through life, one thing after the other. (Argentina/Chile/Germany/Netherlands 2014, 104 min) Western – directed by Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross This intimate, observational documentary portrait of the US-Mexico border focuses on two Eagle Pass, TX, residents-cattleman Martin Wall and Mayor Chad Foster-and follows the strains in the border town’s relationship to its sister city, Piedras Negras, Mexico. As drug cartel violence moves into the region and threatens to spin out of control, US Federal policies made a thousand miles away shut down commerce and further test an already delicate balance. (USA 2015, 93 min) SHORT FILMS ( * denotes availability to all SFIFF ticket-holders) Art – directed by Adrian Sitaru A 19-year-old girl auditions for a sexy film role while the director tries to convince her mother of the artistic rationale behind the provocative part. A wry look at the machinations of filmmakers from the director of Hooked (SFIFF 2009). (Romania 2014, 19 min) Bang Bang! – directed by Julien Bisaro An auto accident leads to a chance encounter in the woods in this moody suspense tale. (France 2014, 12 min) * Big Head – directed by Jairo Boisier The bond between humans and their pets is often difficult to express with words. In this charming documentary, a Chilean artist finds his own way to immortalize his beloved mastiff Domingo. (Chile 2014, 25 min) * The Box – directed by Michael I Schiller Created as part of a journalistic story by the Center for Investigative Reporting, this story centers on juvenile imprisonment in New York’s Rikers Island jail. (USA 2014, 6 min) Cailleach – directed by Rosie Reed Hillman In Gaelic mythology, Cailleach means “old woman.” In this intimate film, 86-year-old Morag reflects on her life, family, unique sense of independence and connection to her wild island home. (Scotland 2014, 14 min) The Chicken – directed by Una Gunjak In 1993 Croatia, young Selma’s birthday gift carries unexpected and harrowing consequences. (Germany/Croatia 2014, 15 min) * Hotel 22 – directed by Elizabeth Lo Hop onboard a unique Bay Area bus route that becomes an unofficial shelter for the homeless. (USA 2014, 8 min) No ID – directed by Emnet Mulugeta A lonely stretch of desert road becomes the scene of a dance battle where an unexpected occurrence yields surprising results. (Sweden 2014, 3 min) * Plamen – directed by Dress Code Attempting to call attention to governmental depredations in Bulgaria, 37-year-old construction worker and artist Plamen Goranov takes desperate action. (Bulgaria/USA 2014, 21 min) * Rain – directed by Johannes Stjärne Nilsson Stormy weather literally follows a young woman through her day in this whimsical new work from the Sound of Noise (SFIFF 2011) co-director. (Sweden 2014, 9 min) Sormeh – directed by Azadeh Ghochagh During the 1979 Iranian revolution, a woman getting ready for a marriage ceremony has to make a quick decision when confronted by a rebel hiding in her building. (Iran 2014, 10 min) image: Photo credit: Courtesy of San Francisco Film Society. Description: A scene from Arturo Gonzalez Villasenor’s All of Me, playing at the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival, April 23 – May 7 2015
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Paul Schrader to Receive Kanbar Award at 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival

Screenwriter and filmmaker Paul Schrader will be the recipient of the 2015 Kanbar Award for excellence in storytelling at the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 23 to May 7, 2015, honoring his contributions to cinema. The award will be presented to Schrader at Film Society Awards Night, Monday April 27 at The Armory (1799 Mission Street).
Paul Schrader will also be honored at An Evening with Paul Schrader at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Tuesday April 28, 6:30 pm. An onstage interview and a selection of clips from his notable screenwriting and directing career will be followed by a screening of Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985).

“This year we are altering the Kanbar Screenwriting Award to the Kanbar Storytelling Award to acknowledge that great writers now control a far more expansive part of the creative process,” said Noah Cowan, Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society. “No person better embodies how creativity flourishes from the base of the written word than Paul Schrader. Accomplished in multiple creative fields, not least as the director of the incomparable Mishima, he has demonstrated for more than forty years how great writing translates into great cinema.”

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters: Paul Schrader captures the many layers of Japanese author and right-wing political activist Yukio Mishima’s short, tumultuous life in this mesmerizing, unconventional biopic that blends, to stunning effect, a recreation of the writer’s final day, snippets of biography that explore his psychology and beautifully staged, luridly colored scenes of three key novels that further explicate his psyche.

Raised in a Calvinist household, Paul Schrader never watched a movie until he was in college, but made up for lost time by earning his M.A. at UCLA, becoming an American Film Institute Conservatory fellow in its inaugural 1969 class and becoming first a film critic and then screenwriter. Though the action thriller The Yakuza (1974), co-written with his brother Leonard, was his first produced screenplay, it was the script for Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver(1976), written when he was 26 and inspired by his sense of isolation at a low point in his life, that was his breakthrough. The film won the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or and was the first of several collaborations between Schrader and Scorsese, a list that includes Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader made his directing debut in 1978 with Blue Collar, also co-written with his brother Leonard. As a writer/director, his films include Hardcore (1979),Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light of Day (1987), Light Sleeper(1992), Touch (1997), Affliction (1997), Forever Mine (1999), The Walker(2007) and Dying of the Light (2014). His screenplays include Obsession(1976), Rolling Thunder (1977), American Gigolo (1980), The Mosquito Coast(1976), City Hall (1996) and The Jesuit (2015). Among his directing projects are Cat People (1982), Patty Hearst (1988), The Comfort of Strangers (1990),Auto Focus (2002), Adam Resurrected (2008) and The Canyons (2013).

Acknowledging the crucial role that storytelling plays in the creation of great art, the Kanbar Award for excellence in storytelling is made possible through the generosity of Maurice Kanbar, longtime member of the SFFS board of directors, film commissioner and philanthropist with a particular interest in supporting independent filmmakers. Kanbar is the creator of New York’s first multiplex theater and, most recently, Blue Angel Vodka.

Previous recipients of the Kanbar Award are Stephen Gaghan (2014), Eric Roth (2013), David Webb Peoples (2012), Frank Pierson (2011), James Schamus (2010), James Toback (2009), Robert Towne (2008), Peter Morgan (2007), Jean-Claude Carrière (2006) and Paul Haggis (2005).
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