San Francisco International Film Festival 2013 (year 56)

[Chris Knipp]

San Francisco International Film Festival 2013 April 25-May 9

[Filmleaf Festival Coverage thread begins: HERE. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=29900#post29900)]

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Links to the reviews:

Act of Killing, The (Joshua Oppenheimer 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3441-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2013&p=29809#post29809) ND/NF
After Lucia/Después de Lucía (Michel Franco 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30084&posted=1#post30084)
Artist and the Model, The (Fernando Truba 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30016#post30016)
Before Midnight (Richard Linklater 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30033#post30033)
Chimeras (Mika Matilla 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30112&posted=1#post30112)
Cleaner, The (Adrian Saba 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30023&posted=1#post30023)
Cold War (Longman Leung, Sunny Luk 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30095#post30095)
Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30066#post30066)
Ernest & Célestine Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30032#post30032)
Eight Deadly Shots (Mikko Niskanen 1972) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30030#post30030)
Fill the Void (Rana Burshtein 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28572#post28572)
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28484#post28484) NYFF
Futuro, Il (Alicia Scherson 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30017&posted=1#post30017)
Habi, the Foreigner (María Florencia Álvarez 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30018&posted=1#post30018)
Hijacking, A (Tobias Lindholm2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3441-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2013&p=29795#post29795) ND/NF
In the Fog (Sergei Loznitsa 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30106&posted=1#post30106)
Juvenile Offender (Kang Yi-Kwan 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30022#post30022)
Key of Life (Kenji Uchida 2012)
La Sirga (William Vega 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30031#post30031)
Last Step, The (Ali Mosaffa 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30028#post30028)
Leviathon (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Peravel 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28541&posted=1#post28541)
Memories Look at Me (Song Fang 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28528#post28528) NYFF
Museum Hours (Jem Cohen 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30019#post30019)
Nights with Théodore (Sébastien Betbeder 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30020&posted=1#post30020)
Night Across the Street (Raul Ruiz 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28534#post28534) NYFF
Patience Stone, The (Atiq Rahimi 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30021#post30021)
Pearblossom Highway (Mike Ott 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30082#post30082)
Penance (Kiyoshi Kurosawa 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30129#post30129)
Present Tense (Belmin Söylemez 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30077#post30077)
Rosie (Marcel Gisler 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30091#post30091)
Sirga, La (William Vega 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30076#post30076)
Sofia's Last Ambulance (Ilian Metev 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30119#post30119)
Something in the Air (Olivier Assayas 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28583#post28583) NYFF
Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3441-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2013&p=29856#post29856) ND/NF
Strange Little Cat, The (Ramon Zürcher 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30069#post30069)
Tall as the Baobab Tree (Jeremy Teicher 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30104#post30104)
Thérèse Desqueyroux (Claude Miller 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3443-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-at-Lincoln-Center-2013&p=29665#post29665) R-V
What Maisie Knew (David Siegel, Scott McGehee 20113) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30026#post30026)
Youth (Justine Malle 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30072#post30072)



Sfiff56 narrative and documentary feature films in competition announced: The 56th San Francisco International Film Festival announced the films in competition for the New Directors Prize and the Golden Gate Award nominees for documentary feature. The International will award $70,000 in total prizes this year. This year's competitions are comprised of films from 19 countries. Independent juries will select the winners, which will be announced at the Golden Gate Awards, Wednesday, May 8. For more film details, visit sffs.org. [March 5, 2013.]

Official Selections 2013 New Directors Prize (Narrative Feature)

The Cleaner, Adrián Saba, Peru (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30023&posted=1#post30023)
As a mysterious epidemic eviscerates Lima's adult population -- but spares its children -- a solitary middle-aged forensic worker discovers an orphaned boy at one of his cleanup sites and decides to shelter the traumatized youth until he can find a relative to take him. As time passes, a subtle transformation takes hold of both man and child in this gently haunted and affecting study of social alienation and redemption.

Habi, the Foreigner, María Florencia Álvarez, Argentina/Brazil - North American Premiere (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30018&posted=1#post30018)
Highlighted by an impressive and subtle performance by Martina Juncandella, first-time director María Florencia Álvarez's film traces a 20-year-old woman's spontaneous attempt to create a new identity for herself as a Lebanese orphan in Buenos Aires. Sensitively examining the role of culture in self-definition, Habi, the Foreigner is a beguiling coming-of-age story detailing the feeling of being an outsider in your own land.

Memories Look at Me, Song Fang, China (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28528#post28528)
In this strong feature debut, Song Fang directs and plays herself as she pays a visit to her parents at their home in Nanjing. Intimate and contemplative, Memories Look at Me muses on life, death and tradition while touching on the essence of family life with a mixture of melancholy and serenity.

Our Homeland, Yang Yonghi, Japan
Based on the director's own experience, this powerful drama tells the story of a family torn between Japan and North Korea. Rie, an ethnic Korean, lives with most of her family in Tokyo. The arrival of the family's son, repatriated 25 years earlier to North Korea, forces the family to navigate difficult political and emotional waters.

Present Tense, Belmin Söylemez, Turkey (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013/page2#post30077)
A recent divorcée named Mina takes a job as fortune-teller, reading coffee grounds in a cafe, but longs to move to the U.S. Using her own personal experiences and frustrated dreams to inform her work, she offers penetrating psychological readings for her customers and develops a loyal following.

La Sirga, William Vega, Colombia/France/Mexico (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30076#post30076)
Uprooted from her destroyed village by the armed conflict in Colombia, young Alicia tries to start a new life in La Sirga, a ramshackle inn on the shores of a great lake in the Andes highlands. The house belongs to her uncle Oscar, an old solitary hermit. There, on a swampy and murky beach, she will try to settle down until her fears and the threat of war resurface again.

The Strange Little Cat, Ramon Zürcher, Germany - North American Premiere (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30069#post30069)
Initiated in a seminar taught by Béla Tarr and inspired by Kafka's Metamorphosis, this startling debut feature takes place almost entirely within the apartment of a family where relatives gather to prepare dinner, repair a washing machine and talk. With its quirky choreography of movement, sound and words, the film imbues the mundane with an odd sense of otherworldliness.

Tall as the Baobab Tree, Jeremy Teicher, USA/Senegal - U.S. Premiere
Working with local communities and non-professional actors playing roles that mirror their own lives, Jeremy Teicher tells the moving story of a teenage girl who hatches a plan to rescue her sister from an arranged marriage. The film is also the first full-length feature in the Pulaar language of Senegal.

They'll Come Back, Marcelo Lordello, Brazil (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3441-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2013&p=29841#post29841)
A potent exploration of class and adolescence, They'll Come Back tells the story of Cris, a privileged 12-year-old who -- after being left on the side of the road as punishment for her and her brother's constant bickering -- embarks on a journey that will open her eyes to a world she never knew as she tries to find her way home.

Youth, Justine Malle, France (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30072#post30072)
A nuanced portrait of identity coming into focus and a young woman willfully emerging from the shadow of a strong parent, the semi-autobiographical debut feature by the late, great Louis Malle's middle daughter follows an inexperienced college student (Esther Garrel, daughter of Philippe and sister of Louis) whose sexual awakening coincides with her filmmaker father's terminal diagnosis.

In addition to these 10 first features in competition, the New Directors section of SFIFF56 includes 19 out-of-competition films, which will be announced at the Festival's press conference Tuesday, April 2.


Official Selections 2013 Golden Gate Awards (Documentary Feature)

After Tiller, Martha Shane and Lana Wilson, USA
After the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas in 2009, there are now only four doctors left in the country who provide third-trimester abortions for women. After Tiller moves between the rapidly unfolding stories of these doctors, all of whom were close colleagues of Dr. Tiller and are fighting to keep this service available in the wake of his death.

Before You Know It, PJ Raval, USA
Before You Know It explores the fascinating, but until now, rarely seen world of aging gay men. This provocative, poignant and life-affirming documentary details the lives of three different and remarkable individuals, the joys and hardships they experience, the difficulties of aging and being overlooked and also the support and uplift they find in their particular communities.

Chimeras, Mika Mattila, Finland - U.S. Premiere
This revelatory and visually striking documentary follows a pair of political pop artists -- the hugely successful middle-aged painter and sculptor Wang Guangyi and the gifted young photographer Liu Gang -- as they grapple with their place and purpose in a new China of pervasive materialism and Western influence.

Cutie and the Boxer, Zachary Heinzerling, USA
After 39 years of marriage, painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko, have weathered many storms of creative conflict. Clearly the nurturer in the relationship, Noriko endeavors to support her fiery partner while also endeavoring to find space for her own artistic efforts. Capturing them both, at work and at play, the result is a skillfully crafted portrait of art and long-term companionship.

God Loves Uganda, Roger Ross Williams, USA/Uganda
A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America's Christian Right, the film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting "sexual immorality" and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow Biblical law.

Inori, Pedro González-Rubio, JapanIn the small mountain community of Kannogawa, Japan, the laws of nature reshape the human blueprint of what used to be a lively town. While the younger generations have gone to the cities, the few people who remain perform the everyday activities with a brave perspective on their history and the cycles of life.

The Kill Team, Dan Krauss, USA
In this chilling documentary, Bay Area-based Dan Krauss (The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club, Golden Gate Award winner, SFIFF 2005) explores the deeply disturbing story of U.S. soldiers, stationed in Afghanistan in 2009, who were convicted of murdering innocent civilians. Their motives, and the culture that enabled their crimes, are as complex as they are nightmarish.

Let the Fire Burn, Jason Osder, USA
In 1985, the Philadelphia Police Department dropped two pounds of military explosives on the house belonging to the radical black liberation group known as MOVE. Constructed entirely of archival materials and judicious intertitles, the film cannily juxtaposes startling images from the bombing, the resulting fire -- left to burn for over an hour -- and their aftermath to create a vivid portrait of a tragic injustice.

Rent a Family Inc., Kaspar Astrup Schröder, Denmark - U.S. Premiere
Filmmaker Kaspar Astrup Schröder's (The Invention of Dr. Nakamats, SFIFF 2009) alternately fetching, absorbing and offbeat documentary revolves around a 44-year-old Japanese family man who owns and operates a professional stand-in business that rents out fake relatives, spouses, friends and parents to a rapidly growing Japanese customer base "desperate...to cover up a secret."

A River Changes Course, Kalyanee Mam, Cambodia/USA
Bay Area filmmaker Kalyanee Mam presents an intimate and moving portrait of the vanishing world of rural farmers and fishermen in Cambodia. Focusing on three families in vivid cinéma vérité style, Mam reveals how the encroaching modern world is destroying the rich and sustaining cultures of the past and forcing the young to seek work in factories or plantations.

The Search for Emak Bakia, Oskar Alegria, Spain
In 1926, avant garde artist Man Ray shot a film titled Emak Bakia, a Basque expression that means "Leave me alone." Intrigued by the fanciful conundrums and coincidences of Ray and his art, filmmaker Oskar Alegría ignores Ray's dictum and sets out to plumb the mysteries of Emak Bakia, leading to an unforgettable journey of whimsical discoveries and charming surprises.

Sofia's Last Ambulance, Ilian Metev, Germany/Bulgaria/Croatia
On the front lines of a degraded emergency-care system in Sofia, Bulgaria, an over-extended, yet emphatically humane, paramedic crew hurtles frantically from one call to the next in a dilapidated ambulance. Filmed primarily through the lenses of three dashboard-mounted cameras, Sofia's Last Ambulance unfolds in a series of unflinching, real-time vignettes shot over the course of two years.

In addition to these 12 features by emerging filmmakers in the documentary competitions, the Golden Gate Awards also will include competitors in six other categories. These films will be announced at the Festival press conference on Tuesday, April 2.

[Chris Knipp]

Opening, closing, and centerpiece films announced.

SFIFF56 Opening Night: What Maisie Knew
April 25; Screening 7:00, Party 9:30 Castro Theatre and Temple Nightclub
Directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel and Actor Onata Aprile Expected!


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The 56th San Francisco International Film Festival opens with a screening of What Maisie Knew.

In this contemporary adaptation of Henry James's 1897 novel of the same name, Scott McGehee and David Siegel focus on the effects of a marriage's unraveling as viewed through the eyes of a couple's six-year-old daughter. Shuttling between narcissistic parents and bemused but compassionate parental stand-ins, young Maisie comes face to face with the mercurial world of grown-ups who are anything but. With Julianne Moore, Alexander Skarsgård, Onata Aprile, Steve Coogan.


SFIFF56 Centerpiece: Inequality For All
May 4; Screening 6:30, Party 8:30 Sundance Kabuki Cinemas and Roe
Director Jacob Kornbluth and Subject Robert Reich Expected!

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At the center of the Festival is an extraordinary event featuring an impassioned new film by a celebrated director followed by a chic lounge party at one of San Francisco's hottest nightspots, Roe. Be part of one of the Festival's most anticipated events. For more film and party details, visit sffs.org.

In this Inconvenient Truth for the economy, the Sundance Special Jury Award-winning Inequality For All introduces former Secretary of Labor (and current UC Berkeley professor) Robert Reich as an inspirational and humorous guide in exploring the causes and consequences of the widening income gap in America and asks what is means for the future of our economy and nation. Passionate and insightful, Reich connects the dots for viewers by providing a comprehensive and significantly deeper understanding of what's at stake if we don't act.


SFIFF56 Closing Night film: Richard Linklater's Before Midnight
May 9; Screening, 7:00, Party 9:00 Castro Theatre and Ruby Skye *
Director Richard Linklater Expected!

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They're still the same romantic, articulate and gorgeous couple that met on a train in Linklater's Before Sunrise (1995), but now, nearly 20 years on, Jesse and Céline (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) are approaching middle age and facing questions of commitment, family and, as ever, the staying power of love. Before Midnight, with a funny and touching screenplay cowritten by Linklater and his two lead actors, is that rare sequel (rarer still: a sequel to a sequel) that not only delivers the charm and energy of its antecedents but adds layers of poignancy, standing firmly on its own as a mature observation of love's pleasures and discontents. With Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Prior, Charlotte Prior.

[Chris Knipp]

Oscar's recommendations of recent Spanish language films below. To look for at the SFIFF.

Violeta Went to Heaven (Chile, Andrés Wood). But this just came out in NYC, so not likely.
After Lucia (Mexico, Michel Franco). Cannes Un Certain Regard winner.
A Gun in Each Hand (Cesc Gay, Spain).
Tanta Agua/So Much Water (Uruguay,Ana Guevara, Leticia Jorge, Knight Grand Jury Prize at MIFF )
Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico)

But Post Tenebras Lux also is getting a US theatrical release soon, so it may not be in the SFIFF. "Carlos Reygadas’ Cannes Prize-Winning POST TENEBRAS LUX has US Theatrical Premiere Wednesday, May 1 at Film Forum" -- recent message from Susan Norget, NYC agent.

P.s.: Oscar, though there are a few other Spanish language films, I think of these the only one of these in the SFIFF is
AFTER LUCIA.

The others are:
CRYLTAL FAIRY by the Chilean Sebastian Silva (THE MAID) but it may be mostly in English, with Michael Cera, and it looks a bit silly.
THE ARTIST AND THE MODEL by the Spanish director FernandoTrueba, but it is more international, with Jean Rochefort and Claudia Cardinale, those glamorous oldsters, and is in Spanish, French, and Catalan.
MAI MORIRE is by Enrique Rivas (Mexican). This is in Spanish despite the Italian title.
THE CLEANER (Adrián Saba, Peruvian born in Madrid). Set in Lima, at a time of plague. Spanish title EL LIMPIADOR.
IL FUTURO (Alicia Scherson, whose PLAY SFIFF 2005 I liked). But this one is in Italian, and in English when Rutger Hauer is on screen. An adaptation of the late Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño’s novella, Una novelita lumpen.
Two others with the festival blurbs:
HABI, THE FOREIGNER (María Florencia Álvarez’s, about a Lebanese orphan in Buenos Aires.)
LA SIRGA (William Vega, about a Colombian refugee building a house in the Andes)

As for Portuguese:
Included in the SFIFF 2013 slate is Raul Ruiz's THE NIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. I saw it at the 2012 NYFF and have reviewed it.
They would have done well to include the Brazilian Marcelo Lordello's THEY'LL COME BACK, which is good. Bit it's not in the lineup.

CORRECTION (22 April 2013) THEY'LL COME BACK is included in the SFIFF lineup.

[Chris Knipp]

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The opening press conference was held and now the entire program of films can be found on the SFIFF website. To access the list click on the word "FILMS" below.

FILMS (http://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/list.aspx?epguid=db9c7f13-edc8-489f-bc28-5aa111f9970e&)

There are 158 films in all in 31 languages -- 67 narrative features and 28 documentaries, 63 shorts. Further breakdowns: 51 countries represented (this would include co-productions), 25 films by women directors.

[Chris Knipp]

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Here's the complete April 2 press conference day online release from the 2013 SFIFF with its links. To find all of the SFIFF films with blurbs, schedule of screenings, and an image, go to FILMS. (http://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/list.aspx?epguid=db9c7f13-edc8-489f-bc28-5aa111f9970e&)

SFIFF56 Runs April 25 - May 9

The San Francisco Film Society today announced the complete schedule of films and events that will make up the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival, running April 25 - May 9 at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, New People Cinema and the Castro Theatre in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley.

Browse the full public program info at festival.sffs.org. (http://festival.sffs.org/)

Find press releases, high-resolution film stills and awardee images, logos, program guides and more at sffs.org/pressdownloads.

SFIFF 2013 by the Numbers:

158 Films
180 Filmmakers and Industry Guests Expected
51 Countries Represented
67 Narrative Features
28 Documentary Features
63 Shorts
25 Women Directors
31 Languages

Highlights from today's press conference included these announcements:

The 2013 Founder's Directing Award will go to Philip Kaufman, who will be honored with an onstage tribute and a screening of his San Francisco-set classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). Read the full press release for details. (http://www.sffs.org/pressdownloads/press.aspx?catid=131,1478,1479&pageid=3454)

Julie Delpy will join director Richard Linklater for the Closing Night screening of Before Midnight, and the pair will also participate in an in-depth conversation focusing on the creation of their groundbreaking trilogy (A Conversation with Richard Linklater, May 8). Visit festival.sffs.org for more details. (http://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?evtinfo=53852~8781fb85-6bb2-474d-a97d-cec76d1b8c32&epguid=db9c7f13-edc8-489f-bc28-5aa111f9970e&)

SFIFF has launched A2E: Artist to Entrepreneur, a four-day lab designed to match independent filmmakers with cutting-edge tools for digital distribution, outreach and audience engagement. This pilot program will bring filmmakers and tech pioneers together to collaborate and confront the challenges facing artists today in getting their work seen, connecting with audiences and building community. Read the full press release for more details. (http://www.sffs.org/pressdownloads/press.aspx?catid=131,1478,1479&pageid=3453)

The Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award will be given to media artist Jem Cohen, in a tribute program that will include a screening of his new feature film Museum Hours (April 28). Read the full press release for more details. (http://www.sffs.org/pressdownloads/press.aspx?catid=131,1478,1479&pageid=3458)

Bay Area connections abound at SFIFF56, with local icons like Philip Kaufman, Rick Prelinger and Robert Reich (subject of Centerpiece film Inequality for All), local directors like Les Blank (Spend it All), Jacob Kornbluth (Inequality for All), Dan Krauss (The Kill Team) and Kalyanee Mam (A River Changes Course) and Bay Area focus in films like Google and the World Brain and Big Sur.

Browse the complete list of SFIFF56 press releases here, (http://www.sffs.org/pressdownloads/press.aspx?catid=131,1478,1479) including the previously-announced Opening, Closing and Centerpiece programs, Steven Soderbergh's State of Cinema Address, the Festival's tribute to industry pioneer Ray Dolby, and more.

[Chris Knipp]

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Press screenings.
So far four have been announced. Probably a few more will come up. Those offered are as follows. I will skip FILL THE VOID because I saw it at the NYFF last fall.


Variety Club FILL THE VOID
Thursday April 4 (Rama Burshstein, Israel, 90 min)
2:00 pm Festival dates: Wed May 1, 6:30 pm, Kabuki; Thu May 2, 4:00 pm, Kabuki
out 3:30 pm Larsen Associates RSVP: larsenassc@aol.com

Director Rama Burshtein and actress Hadas Yaron are available for in person interviews, Thursday, May 2nd. Please let Larsen Associates know if you are interested in an interview. You must attend this screening if you plan to interview. No DVDs will be made available. Capsule pieces may be written for this film’s Festival screenings, but ALL major stories must be held for the theatrical opening later this year.

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Variety Club WHAT MAISIE KNEW (Opening Night film)
Monday April 8 (Scott McGehee and David Siegel, USA, 93 min)
11:00 am Festival date: Thu April 25, 7:00 pm, Castro
out 12:35 pm Allied-THA RSVP: Meghan.hurder@gmail.com

Codirectors Scott McGehee and David Siegel and actress Onata Aprile will be available for interviews on Thursday April 25. Please contact Meghan Hurder at Allied-THA know if you are interested in an interview. Capsule pieces may be written for this film’s Festival screening, but ALL major stories must be held for the theatrical opening later this year.

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Variety Club THE PATIENCE STONE
Thursday April 11 (Atiq Rahimi, France, 102 min)
2:00 pm Festival dates: Mon April 29, 6:30 pm, Kabuki; Tue April 30, 8:45 pm, Kabuki
out 3:45 pm Larsen Associates RSVP: larsenassc@aol.com

Director Atiq Rahimi is available for in person interviews on Monday, April 29. Please let Larsen Associates know if you are interested in an interview. You must attend this screening if you plan to interview. No DVDs will be made available. Capsule pieces may be written for this film’s Festival screenings, but ALL major stories must be held for the theatrical opening later this year.

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Variety Club BEFORE MIDNIGHT (Closing Night film)
Thursday April 18 (Richard Linklater, USA, 108 min)
2:00 pm Festival date: Thu May 9, 7:00 pm, Castro
out 3:50 pm Larsen Associates RSVP: larsenassc@aol.com

Director Richard Linklater and Actress Julie Delpy are available for in person interviews, Thursday, May 9. Please let Larsen Associates know if you are interested in an interview. You must attend this screening if you plan to interview. No DVDs will be made available. Capsule pieces may be written for this film’s Festival screening, but ALL major stories must be held for the theatrical opening later this year.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

[Johann]

You are unstoppable.
Keep those fine reviews coming in...

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks. I'll do my best.

[Chris Knipp]

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/ecdf.jpg

Tue., April 16, 2013.

The public screenings and other events of the SFIFF begin in a week. Meanwhile I have been watching some press screenings and viewed some screener dvd's. Plus nine of the festival roster of films are ones I've already posted on before at Lincoln Center events last year and this. Links to all I've covered so far are below. More will come shortly. This week there is a screening of the closing night film, Richard Linklater's BEFORE MIDNIGHT, with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Some commercial release films I can only post "previews" of and that includes BEFORE MIDNIGHT and WHAT MAISIE KNEW (with Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan and Alexander Skarsgård), the opening night film, directed by those two guys who made THE DEEP END and the pointless UNCERTAINITY, David Siegel and Scott McGehee. I like this one probably most of anything they've done so far. Some of the titles linked below were reviewed in earlier series as indicated: NYFF (2012 New York Film Festival), ND/NF (2013 New Directors/New Films), and R-V (2013 Rendez-Vous with French Cinema) in New York.


http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/5673/2844t.jpg
JEM COHEN, RECIPIENT OF SFIFF 2013 POV AWARD

[Chris Knipp]

Ali Mosaffa: THE LAST STEP (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30028#post30028)

A fiercely ingenious film by Ali Mosffa, who wrote, directed, and starred in it with Leila Hatami of A SEPARATION. This is Mosaffa's second film but his first was way back in 2005. I loved this new one. And yet I thought it was too complicated, too ambitious. Maybe I'm not sure. It certainly is a head trip, and fun. And I am sure the 46-year-old Mosaffa is another Iranian filmmaker to be reckoned with now though. And so far, or at the moment, he may have managed not to get in trouble with the mullahs.

[Chris Knipp]

Richard Linklater: BEFORE MIDNIGHT (2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30033#post30033)

The unprecedented third in the Linnklaer-Hawke-Delpy "Before" series, each nine years apart, is the SFIFF closing night film. A full review will appear here on theatrical release 24 May 2013. The work is as polished as ever, but it doesn't succeed quite as well now that Jesse and Céline are a longtime cohabiting couple and not a romantic pair meeting and reuniting, mainly because Delpy's neurotic argumentativeness, honed in her own two relationship pictures 2 DAYS IN PARIS and 2 DAYS IN NEW YORK, seems exaggerated. But this may be like Apted's "Up" series in fictional form, and if it continues there could be a richer iteration next time. Anyway many fans of the format will love this, with the squabbling.

[Chris Knipp]

Andrew Bujalski: COMPUTER CHESS(2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30066#post30066)

Here's a really fun, or annoying new oddity -- depending on your orientation. Forget Mumblecore. This is more like Nerdcore. Bujalski has recreated with terrifying accuracy the trappings, visual style, and people of a ca. 1980 weekend conference when computer chess was in its early stages, notbly using ancient Portapak video equipment. As a Guardian writer noted, this deadpan evocation is among other things "a wide-eyed appreciation for just what humble, shabby beginnings the digital revolution sprang from." Preview. Watch for a full-length review when it's released theatrically in July. Or you can find reviews from Sundance (pro: Vadim Rizov, Mike D'Angelo; con: Justin Chang, Todd McCarthy) or the Berlinale (European publications like the Guardian). I find this maybe better to think about than to actually watch, but it's definitely one of the more memorably unique items in the SFIFF.

[Chris Knipp]

Ramon Zürcher: THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT (2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30069#post30069)

Probably the most admired debut film of the Berlinale. Dennis Lim described it for the NY Times: "The Strange Little Cat, which originated in a seminar with Béla Tarr, the director of The Turin Horse, revolves around the well-worn scenario of a family gathering but defies convention at every turn. The domestic environment in the movie, with its hyperactive children and pets, short-circuited cross-talk and roaring kitchen appliances, is at once highly choreographed and buzzing with life; everyday actions and conversations take on a syncopated strangeness and a balletic grace."

It's more often compared to Jacques Tati than Béla Tarr. But Tati was French. Zürcher is Swiss, living in Berlin. His familial Twittering Macine works like clockwork. It's more smooth and ingenious than quirky and funny.

[Chris Knipp]

Justine Malle: YOUTH (2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30072#post30072)

A fictionalized memoir and debut feature by Louis Malle's daughter, who's now 39, about herself at 20 when her father was suddenly diagnosed with a fatal wasting disease and she had to try to cope with her own immaturity and sexual inexperience at the same time as her exams and her father's sudden decline. Stars Esther Garrel, herself daughter of a famous French director, Philippe Garrel. This seeks to evoke the New Wave style in both its style and images and its cultural references and has some sad and beautiful moments, but I wish it were better, braver, and simpler. And better cast. Only 72 minutes.

[Chris Knipp]

William Vega: LA SIRGA (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30076#post30076)

A young woman in Colombia runs away from political disaster (her parents are dead, the house burned down) to her uncle by a vast lake in the Andes. She helps him repair a ramshackle inn for tourists, but tourists don't seem likely to come in this much admired metaphorical debut feature that focuses on atmosphere rather than narrative. Debuted at Cannes last May, shown at many festivals since.

[Chris Knipp]

Belmin Söylemez: PRESENT TENSE (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30077#post30077)

Söylemez, who previously made documentaries, focuses in her debut feature on a young woman recently divorced living on the edge in Istanbul. About to be evicted, she gets a job as a fortune teller in a cafe reading coffee grounds, and converts what money she has into dollars to go to America, a dream that may not happen. Sanem Öge, the restrained, sad-faced actress who plays the lead, looks like Juliette Binoche and Austrian dp Peter Roehsler provides beautiful images (he leans toward turquoise, yellow, and pale green) that are a continual pleasure to watch.

[Chris Knipp]

Mike Ott: PEARBLOSSOM HIGHWAY (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30082#post30082)

Mike Ott is a fine super-indie American filmmaker whose previous (second) feature, LITTLEROCK (2010) won a raft of awards, for understandable reasons, and this one uses the same general setting and some of the same main actors in slightly different roles, focusing on a young Japanese woman and a would-be artist/rock star who drinks and smokes too much. They are Atsuko Okatsuko, who co-wrote both films, and Cory Zacharia, who stars in both films. A fourth feature using much the same company is coming next year, LAKE LOS ANGELES. LITTLEROCK is on Netflix instant play, and I recommend it.

[Chris Knipp]

Michel Franco: AFTER LUCIA/DESPUÉS DE LUCÍA (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30084&posted=1#post30084)

A coldly filmed art-house-style shocker, and therefore compared to Haneke (I'm not suggesting that's justified), Cannes Un Certain Regard winner and Mexico's entry in the Best Foreign Oscar lists. About bullying at a posh Mexico City school, and other stuff that happens afterwards. It is bold and effective, at least the last half, but don't look for Haneke's puzzlement and intelligence. I guess this is another Mexican director to watch for, even if warily.

[cinemabon]

Just superior stuff, Chris. Can't begin to express my appreciation and gratitude for the this level of work.

On the technical side, I'd like to ask about digital presentation. As we move further away from film as a medium and move toward digital recording and digital projection, I wondered how many films were projected without the use of the motion picture film as a medium (if you know). Digital films are far more diverse when it comes to mobility, cost, transfer, editing, and distribution as well as presentation. For doc filmmakers (and the SFFS seems to have a plethora) this is a godsend as shooting ratios can be high and digital formats simple erased and used over and over, transferring only shots that matter to the final cut.

I believe most film schools around the country and around the world have kissed 16mm film goodbye in favor of DSLR, Red Camera, 4X, and other digital formats. Is the same true with the International crowd at this festival?

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for the compliment.

As for film vs. digital, surely digital has won out but some still use film, though except for 16mm it has become a luxury. This is a big topic about which I know relatively little. I can't give you a rundown on all the films and how they were projected. Festival quality auditoriums have to remain able to show film or digital formats and classics are still shown sometimes on newly cut films. I mention in my review of COMPUTER CHESS (Andrew Bualski) that it's a jokey response to the colleagues who've urged him to switch to digital, because it's video, but a very antique kind of it; he has a few minutes in 16mm color. Obviously most small budget films are greatly assisted by using digital because of saving on processing and film and bigger budget filmmakers like being able to shoot through without all the pauses reels of tape require. However some still do use film. I can't give specifics. If you look up and can find a review of the film in Variety, it usually gives all the specs, and so would a dedicated website for the particular movie. I cringed slightly when you went on recently about how much better digital is than film, it doesn't have the scratches, etc. Film is beautiful and it has a different look. Digital tends to be harsher. Digital also creates an odd effect at night. It banishes some of the mystery. I don't think Kubrick could have shot BARRY LYNDON as he did on digital. Some films made now shot on 16mm by sophisticated cinematographers tends to have richer, more unusual colors. When CD's came along they were heralded as the great new thing. But later it turned out that vinyl has fuller, richer sound. Converting sound and image to pixels causes more loss of information. However, digital can look really great sometimes, obviously. It's just that it's not simply "better." It's more convenient. I personally miss working in the darkroom. Don't you? But I don't exactly miss the toxic smells, or the mess.

A guy I know in New York called Jack Angstreich, who was the main character in the documentary CINEMAPHILIA, is a fanatic about projection. His concern is not whether a film was shot in digital or in film, but that it be projected in the format appropriate to how it was made. Somebody like Jack could tell you a lot more than I can but he's not around, I'm in California. When (bigger budget) films are shot in film, they are usually transferred to digital now and edited in digital. Nobody wants to cut an paste film anymore. But then they are transferred back to film. It gets too complicated for me, because there are various combinations.

[Chris Knipp]

In a forum about the survival of film (http://www.apug.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-89565.html) it's pointed out that MAD MEN and LAW AND ORDER, the TV series, are still shot on film, then transferred to digital. (As I mentioned, pretty much everything is transferred to digital for the editing phase.)

Somebody else on that forum says THE HURT LOCKER was shot mostly on Super 16mm, ditto BLACK SWAN. Christopher Nolan and Spielberg are using film. Cinemascope and iMAx movies are shot on film stock.

Sports are shot on film (NFL games) at 120 fps to allow for slow motion replays. Film has up till recently, they say, been superior for slow motion.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and ARGO were shot on film. Nolan made a plea (http://www.laweekly.com/2012-04-12/film-tv/35-mm-film-digital-Hollywood/)for 35mm film, which the Hollywood studios are trying to squash. This LA Weekly article (http://www.laweekly.com/2012-04-12/film-tv/35-mm-film-digital-Hollywood/)describe the concern about having film wiped out.

David Lynch deliberately switched to digital but used an expensive consumer grade camera for INLAND EMPIRE, which gives it a weird shitty look. He said he would never go back to film because of the shortening of takes and all the trouble and expense with film.

It is true that most still photographers have switched to digital, but it is still possible to shoot in film, and people are still doing it, for a reason, the look, as I've mentioned. Film has beauties that are lost with digital.

3D films are shot in digital and projected with 3D projectors.

[Chris Knipp]

Stay tuned on this thread. I will be reviewing more SFIFF films in the following week. These will include:

Penance, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan, 300 min. This is a recent TV miniseries said to be great.
Sofia’s Last Ambulance, Ilian Metev, Germany, 75 min. Documentary, nitty gritty stuff.
Our Homeland, Yang Yong-hi, Japan, 100 min. I may not be able to see this.
Rosie, Marcel Gisler, Switzerland, 106 min. Wry humor.
The Cold War, Longman Leung, Sunny Luk, Hong Kong, 102 min. Hong Kong gangster flick with big stars.
In the Fog, Sergei Loznitsa, Russia, Belarus, Germany, etc., 128 min. WWII drama, won FIPRESCI Prize at Cannes 2012.
Big Sur, Michael Polish, US, 90 min. About Jack Kerouac's stays at Ferlinghetti's cabin on the California coast.
Chimeras, Mika Mattila, Finland, 86 min. Doc about two contemporary Chinese artist.
Tall As the Baibab Tree, Jeremy Teicher, US/Senegal, 83 min. About fighting arranged marriage. Very young director.
Possible:
Populaire, Régis Roinsard, France, 110 min. Fifties period charmer, was opening nighter of the R-V but we didn't get to see it.

[Chris Knipp]

Marcel Gisler: ROSIE (2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30091#post30091)

This gay interest plus family issues interest Swiss film ia about a cynical gay novelist who must return from long years in Berlin to deal with the health problems of his aging mother in a small Swiss town. This leads to closer relations with family, revealed famlily secrets, and young love. Hooray! Many nominations at the Swiss film awards and Sibylle Brunner, who plays Rosie, won the Best Actress award, but it could not compete with last year's terrific Swiss film, Ursula Meier's SISTER, a Best Foreign Oscar finalist which won top prize.

[Chris Knipp]

Longman Leung, Sunny Luk: COLD WAR (2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30095#post30095)

This ultra-slick Hong Kong police drama is by two new directors but features some famous names such as Andy Lau and Tony Leung Ka-fai as well as some new hotshots, especially Aaron Kwok (who takes the lead) as managerial deputy commissioner and Aarif Rahman as a cocky young ICAC investigator. It's in two parts, a somewhat botched operation (dubbed "Cold War") to deal with a hostage situation, with an almost Shakespearean powere conflict over who shall be in charge -- and second half that goes off on a whole new tack with a complicated investigation of a possible "mole" and internal wrongdoing. The aim seems to be a return to the kind of "mole" police drama featured in the ultra-successful INFERNAL AFFAIRS series on which Scorsese's THE DEPARTED was based. There are a lot of good scenes, but the analytical, yet violent with explosions, second half is so cut off from the first half, something seems wrong. It's all shiny glass and steel and chiseled rooms and faces here. Makes you miss the old days of John Woo and Wong Kar-wai when things were grittier.

[Chris Knipp]

Here's a change of pace again.

Jeremy Teicher: TALL AS THE BAOBAB TREE (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30104#post30104)

Teicher, who is only 23 and a recent Dartmouth College graduate, shot this film in a Senegalese village where he was known and had established close contact via visits over a four-year period partly making a short documentary, and he uses state of the art digital equipment and local people in a quiet drama about an underage girl in an arranged marriage used to pay medical expenses. Despite sensitive use of non-actors and the gorgeous imagesthe action is a bit too low key for most viewers, but the film has drawn international attention and been shown at Montreal, London, and other fests and clearly Teicher is a precocious talent.

[Chris Knipp]

Sergei Loznitsa: IN THE FOG (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30106&posted=1#post30106)

Everybody's a bit confused about what they should do and what's right in this WWII three-hander set when the Germans are fighting a long fight against the partisans in Belarus. Winner of the FIPRESCI prize at Cannes, it may be just a bit too simple. As in the director's 2010 Cannes fiction feature debut MY JOY, which went haywire but was more original, Loznitsa stages a striking crowd scene covered in a continuous tracking shot. The rest becomes a rather long slog, though there are clearly admirers, and Strand Releasing has bought this for some sort of US distribution. Hence I am only giving a preview at this time.

[Chris Knipp]

Mika Matilla: CHIMERAS (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30112&posted=1#post30112)

A handsome, elegant documentary about two post-Mao Chinese artists of two different generations and very different styles and personalities who both wrestle with the basic question: Chinese contemporary art has lost its roots in ancient Chinese culture. And contemporary art is dominated by Western art. Contemporary art is Western. Matilla is a cinematographer for documentaries of Finnish origin long resident in Beijing. His understanding and access inform this thought-provoking film, which just debuted in Toronto.

[Chris Knipp]

R.I.P. MITCHELL BANKS

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/mb122.jpg
Mitchell Banks by CK

Mitch Banks was an international film distributor, film and Torah scholar whom I watched press & industry screenings with at Lincoln Center events for the past seven years. We sat together on the back bench at the Walter Reade Theater. I've just learned he died of a massive heart attack a day or so ago (April 29, 2013). Information about him online is hard to find - he was not an Internet person - but luckily there is this video

Mitchell Banks on Amtrak & Montreal Film Festival ~ Stephen Holt Show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0GaUCYmEX0)

Watch it and you'll get a gliimpse of this brilliant, knowledgeable, passionate, articulate and devout man who loved cinema, knew everybody, and had stories to tell about filmmakers and actors, especially the French ones he particularly loved. I learned a lot from him and he was incredible company. I'll miss him terribly.

His company was M&L Banks International. His funeral in Thursday May 2nd 9:30AM @ Riverside Memorial Chapel 180 W. 76th St., NYC. Thanks to Peter Hargove, Kurt Brokow, and Nora Lee Mandel for passing on this information.

[Chris Knipp]

Ilian Metev: SOFIA'S LAST AMBULANCE (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30119#post30119)

A fly-on-the-wall documentary of a three-person ambulance crew in Bulgaria, where the system is so bad there are only 13 ambulances for two million people, and they ones they have aren't working too well. HD cameras were stapled to the dashboard and the young filmmaker, who won a youth prize at Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2012, edited material gathered over a two-year period.

[cinemabon]

Thanks for sharing about Mitchell Banks and his story of the "Blue Angel" and the last surviving print. You are a treasure, mon frère.

Here is a reference to what Michell was referring to in the video:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Langlois

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks. Mitch was the treasure. Mitch obviously had met Langlois, I never have or would have but there is a documentary about him that you can rent on Netflix, Phantom of the Cinémathèque
Acclaimed filmmakers Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Claude Chabrol and others pay homage to the founder of the progressive Cinémathèque Française in this documentary that chronicles Henri Langlois's remarkable life. From the theater's early days in the 1930s and Langois's resistance of the Nazis to the Paris riots in the 1960s, this film captures the story of the passionate cinephile through interviews, archival footage and movie screenings.

The Cinémathèque's serving as the birthplace in a way of the Nouvelle Vague is dealt with obliquely in Bertolucci's THE DREAMERS. Mitch says Langlois was "a piece of work." I heard him say that on another occasion. In the film you see how stubborn and peculiar he was, and vastly overweight, on an unhelthy diet, but worth his weight. Mitch also was formidable. He could be off-putting. But as is often the case, it was worth getting past that.

[Chris Knipp]

Showing in the San Francisco International Film Festival today,
Thursday, May 2, 2013, film's I've reviewed or previewed:


Sundance Kabuki, San Francisco:

COLD WAR 2 p.m.

FILL THE VOID 4 p.m.

FRANCES HA 6:30 p.m.

KEY OF LIFE 8:30 p.m.

COMPUTER CHESS 9:00 p.m.


Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley:

SOMETHING IN THE AIR 6:30 p.m.

THE ACT OF KILLING 8:55 p.m.

[Chris Knipp]

Forgot to list this. Don't you forget it. Us theatrical release coming.


Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar: Ernest & Célestine (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30032#post30032)

Inter-species love, happy poverty, sweets: The thing that's great about the French animated film Ernest & Célestine is the drawing, which has the same loose, light, Forties or Fifties pen & ink and watercolor sketch visual style as the children's book by Daniel Pennac. Never has there been a better antidote to the hard, plastic, puffy look of Hollywood or Pixar animations. By the guys who made the stop-motion original A TOWN CALLED PANIC/PANIQUE AU VILLAGE.

[Chris Knipp]

Forgot this one too.

William Vega: LA SIRGA (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30076#post30076)

A teenage Colombian refugee, Alicia (Joghis Seudin Arias) is a downcast young woman who sleepwalks, tries to rebuild her life at a guest house located on the shores of a great lake in the Andes in William Vega's atmospheric, quietly haunting film. US release by Zoetrope Films expected.

[Chris Knipp]

Kiyoshi Kurosawa: PENANCE (2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30129#post30129)

This nearly five-hour miniseries broadcast on Japanese TV last year, the director's adaptation based on a novel by Kanae Minato, "is a wild, uneven ride through the oddities of the Japanese psyche, as much as it is a psychological thriller examining the far-reaching aftereffects of a little girl’s murder" (Deborah Young). This is just a preview; I'm holding a longer review at the SFFS's request because a US theatrical release is contemplated. This is fascinating stuff for fans of Japanese culture, horror, or Kiyoshi Kurosawa, but you might want to wait for his new movie REAL, which is in competition at Cannes in a few weeks. Interesting that two of the main characters in this convoluted tale are played by Teruyuki Kagawa and Kyôko Koizumi, who played the husband and wife in Kurosawa's non-horror departure (NYFF 2008), TOKYO SONATA.

[Chris Knipp]

David Siegel, Scott McGehee: WHAT MAISIE KNEW (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30026#post30026)

Expanded review.

The film goes into limited US theatrical release today so I've posted my full review of it in the Festival Coverage section. Metacritic rating now is 63, top review being by A.O. Scott of the NY Times, (http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/movies/what-maisie-knew-stars-julianne-moore-and-steve-coogan.html) where it's a Critics Pick.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/2952/sfiff564clogo.jpg

SFIFF 2013 ROUNDUP

It's a bit premature to be summing up the festival. After all there are seven whole more days of films coming, counting today, Friday, May 3, 2013. But except for going to see BIG SUR at the Pacific Film Archive Sunday, I am probably done with my SFIFF film-watching. And I have watched nearly forty films. So here is a little summary along with some tentative 1-10 star ratings compiled for the website Flickfeast.uk. Those are in progress.

As usual, I have written about every film I saw. The SFIFF can be a last chance to see last year's festival films before the new ones begin, since the cycle truly starts over in mid-May with Cannes. I watched nine of the ten New Directors award nominees. Of these I particularly liked the touching little sci-fi film of Lima, Peru, after a plague, The Cleaner, but the Brazilian film, They'll Come Back, is also great and the cinematography in the Turkish film Present Tense is hauntingly beautiful.

My most memorable viewing experiences were the most lengthy ones, two made-for-TV mini-series: Mika Niskanen's 1972 Finnish saga of an alcoholic farmer, Eight Deadly Shots, starring the director, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's intricate five-part psychological thriller of murderous women, Penance.

Of the nine films I'd already seen before I'd recommend A Hijacking, the Danish feature film about Somali pirates, a significant real phenomenon, and Sarah Polley's autobiographical Stories People Tell is a strong documentary debut for the Canadian actress-director. Also the weird, oppressive, memorably fish-eye doc, Leviathon.

In their stylish opening and closing films, Siegel and McGehee's What Maisie Knew and Richard Linklater's third in the talky Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy romantic two-handers, Before Midnight, the festival organizers struck a very good balance of quality and audience appeal.

In my other choices I'm pleased to say that though it may not sound like it, I did well enough, so everything was decent: none that rocked my world, but no duds. I got as much variety as possible with an emphasis of fiction over documentary but with some good documentaries. So I got to range around from one language to another constantly, seeing films in Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Turkish, Farsi, Italian, French, Chinese, Finnish, Danish, and an African dialect I never previously heard of. At least a third of these may not come available on DVD, and that's the value of festivals.

I'd also single out Andrew Bujalski's uniquely nerdy 1980-set video recreation of an early Computer Chess convention. Similarly I discovered a talented super-indie American director, Mike Ott.

I hope you enjoy my reviews and through them discover some films to watch later on your own.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/7625/54793890.jpg

RATINGS:

Act of Killing, The (Joshua Oppenheimer 2012).
This is a harsh documentary about massacres in Indonesia and I did not like its tone, but it has been widely admried. Grade: 6
After Lucia/Después de Lucía (Michel Franco 2012)
A Mexican fiction film about brutal bullying at a posh high school. It has occasioned much comment, but as a treatment of the theme it is weak, and has a vague ending. Grade: 5
Artist and the Model, The (Fernando Truba 2012)
A beautiful black and white film about an aging sculptor (Jean Rochefort) who's momentarily revivified by finding a beautiful, vibrant young woman model. Nice enough but the theme is hackneyed and the action is bland. Grade: 4
Before Midnight (Richard Linklater 2013)
Julie Delpy's character has become peevish and crabby in this sequel where the couple are finally married. The romance has gone out of it but the talk is still as energetic as ever. Grade: 6.5
Chimeras (Mike Matilla 2013)
A new documentary by a Finn long resident in Beijing contrasting and linking two contemporary Chinese artists. Beautiful and elegant, if inconclusive. Grade: 6
Cleaner, The (Adrian Saba 2012)
A touching, perfectly pitched little Peruvian first film about a city employee and a little boy he rescues in the wake of a virus wiping out the male population of Lima. Grade: 8
Cold War (Longman Leung, Sunny Luk 2013)
A new Hong Kong gangster flick by two new directors with some big name stars. Very slick, but in two halves that don't fit together enough. Grade: 5.5
Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski 2013)
Well beyond mumblecore, its godfather recreates the mood, look, and ultra-nerdiness of 1980 when computer chess was still rudamentary. This one is unique. Grade: 7.5
Ernest & Célestine Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar (2012)
By the guys who did A TOWN CALLED PANIC, this time adapting a popular French comics series with lovely watercolor style animation. Grade: 7.5
Eight Deadly Shots (Mikko Niskanen 1972)
Finnish 5-hour 1972 TV miniseries about an alcoholic farmer's gradual meltdown is deeply memorable and a remarkable tour de force by director-star Mika Niskanen. Should become a Criterion DVD set. Grade: 9
Fill the Void (Rana Burshtein 2012)
This was in the NYFF 2012, about an ultra-orthdox wedding in Israel. Much admired and well done (with short NYC release), but it's like an advert for a very retro style of living. Grade: 5.5
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach 2012)
Black and white talky improv drama debuted at NYFF 2012 is like mumblecore for young white New York hipsters. Greta Gerwig is in her element but I don't think Baumbach is. Grade: 5
Futuro, Il (Alicia Scherson 2012)
I loved Chilean Scherson's debut PLAY. Here she adopts a hitherto untranslated Roberto Bolaño novel (his last) set in Italian in Rome. An oddity. It's got Rutger Hauer. Grade: 4
Habi, the Foreigner (María Florencia Álvarez 2012)
An extreme form of cultural tourism, a young woman temporarily pretends to be a Muslim in Buenos Aires to escape her drab life. Good cultural details but it doesn't quite add up. Grade: 4.5
Hijacking, A (Tobias Lindholm 2012)
Escellent, highly realistic evocation of what it's like for a Danish shipping company and a crew to be victims of Somali pirages. Grade: 7
In the Fog (Sergei Loznitsa 2012)
Much admired festival film about men in WWII Bellarus wandering through a forest mired in moral ambiguity. Metaphor over action. Grade: 5
Juvenile Offender (Kang Yi-Kwan 2012)
Well-written and acted little Korean film about a parent and child both victims of a judgmental and exclusive society. Grade: 7
Key of Life (Kenji Uchida 2012)
A gangster and a failed actor switch identities. Regarded by some as clever and witty, but this gets bogged down in detail and the pace lags. Grade: 5
La Sirga (William Vega 2012)
A young woman takes refuge in the Andes with a cousin and helps repair his crumbling shack of a tourist inn in this metaphor for Colombia's national condition. Beautiful location, draggy action. Grade: 5
Last Step, The (Ali Mosaffa 2012)
Witty and convoluted Iranian film about jaded artist intellectuals and what did and didn't go right in their lives, with the actress who starred in Farhadi's A SEPARATION. Grade: 6
Leviathon (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Peravel 2012)
NYFF 2012 Harvard ethnography doc center product fish-eye view of Mass. fishing tanker, exhausting to watch, one of their most emersive experiences and most admired efforts. Limited NYC release earlier. Grade: 8
Memories Look at Me (Song Fang 2012)
A young Chinese filmmaker goes to visit her parents and shoots herself talking to them. Much admired at fests (NYFF 2012) but I find it hopelessly drab and obvious. Grade: 4.5
Museum Hours (Jem Cohen 2012)
Cohen received the POV (Persistence of Vision) SFIFF award this year and this shows his elegance and subtle humanism as a documentary filmmaker blending a view of Vienna's Kuntshistorisches Museum with the viewpoint of a low-key couple. Grade: 6
Nights with Théodore (Sébastien Betbeder 2012)
Young Paris couple meet at a party and start spending the nights inside a park. A big creepy and not much to it. Original premise, though. Grade: 4
Night Across the Street (Raul Ruiz 2012)
Too complicated to explain here but this acts as a kind of summing up of the late master's themes. Grade: 8
Patience Stone, The (Atiq Rahimi 2012)
A very handsome but overly symbolic and theatrical film based on the director's own novel about an Afghan couple trapped in the war in Kabul. US release. Grade: 6
Pearblossom Highway (Mike Ott 2012)
A young ultra-indie US director worth knowing about, he focuses on marginal young people in a nowhere SoCal town. His previous LITTLEROCK you can watch on Netflix instand play. Grade: 6.5
Penance (Kiyoahi Kurosawa 2012)
In between TOKYO SONATA and the new REAL Kurosawa made this elegant 4-5-hour TV miniseries about murderous women based on the novel by Kanae Minato. This is going the rounds and was in Film Comment Selects. Grade: 8
Present Tense (Belmin Söylemez 2012)
A divorcee getting by barely in Istanbul as a fortune teller. Captures marginal survival strategies well and has lovely cinematography. Grad: 7
Rosie (Marcel Gisler 2013)
Little film about a gay writer who returns from Berlin to deal with his alcoholic, ailing mom. Sibylle Brunner won Best Actress at the Swiss awards. Grade: 5.5
Sofia's Last Ambulance (Ilian Metev 2012)
Three HD cameras stapled onto the dahsboard made a chronicle of exhaustion over a two-year period, but a fuller documentary of Bulgarian emergency services to have gone out with the crew more, wielding a handheld camera, and showing more of the actual treatments and patients. Grade: 5
Something in the Air (Olivier Assayas 2012)
Assayas, attractive, but shapeless autobiographical feature about kids chasing the revolution that vanished after May '68. Grade: 6
Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley 2012)
(New Directors 2013 entry). Polley's strong doc debut is about her own life and investigates her confused patrimony. Grade: 7
Strange Little Cat, The (Ramon Zürcher 2013)
German first film is more a logicstical game than a film but very clever and precise as a Swiss watch. Grade: 5.5.
Tall as the Baobab Tree (Jeremy Teicher 2012)
A young American's gorgeously shot drama about teenage girls in revolt in a village in Senegal profits from his excellent rapport with all the people. Ultra low-key action though. Grade: 6
Thérèse Desqueyroux (Claude Miller 2012)
Claude Miller's last film is the Mauriac novel redone with less verve than Georges Franju's 1952 version and Audrey Tautou instead of Emanuelle Riva. Grade: 6
What Maisie Knew (David Siegel, Scott McGehee 20113)
Typically cold-blooded and unfun, this Siegel-McGehee remake of the Henry James novel fits its plot neatly into cotempo Manhattan. Their best since THE DEEP END. SFIFF opening night film. Grade: 7
Youth (Justine Malle 2013)
Alas, daughter Justine Malle's fictionarlized study of her celebrated New Wave director father's last days and what she was doing at the time seems too little, too late and in the protag role Esther Garrel hasn't at all her brother Louis's charisma or sex appeal. Grade: 4.5

[Chris Knipp]

Tomorow is the last day, when they show BEFORE MIDNIGHT at the big old Castro Cinema in the big old Castro Dictrict of San Francisco.

I didn't get to see BIG SUR because I threw my back out, partly watching MUD. But if I happen to see any more SFIFF films in other venues later, I'll add reviews of them in the Festival Coverage section.

COMING:

The awards announcements.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/2952/sfiff564clogo.jpg

COMING RELEASES PREVIEWED ON FILMLEAF


Films I've recently reviewed or previewed (SFIFF, ND/NF & R-V) that are now scheduled to open in the US later this summer:

AUGUSTINE MAY 17 (R-V)

A HIJACKING JUNE 21(ND/NF)

THE ARTIST AND THE MODEL JULY 12 (SFIFF)

COMPUTER CHESS JULY 17 (SFIFF)

THE ACT OF KILLING JULY 19 (ND/NF)

YOU WILL BE MY SON JULY 26 (R-V)

THE PATIENCE STONE AUGUST 14 (SFIFF)

THÉRÈSE DESQUÉROUX AUGUST 23

A lot are Film Forum. Alll listed in the NY Times Sunday 5 May 2013 Summer Movies section. There will be others; these are what I've found so far. POST TENETRAS LUX which Oscar and I have I think seen (I have) is in release in NYC, again at Film Forum. I have not written a review but would like to give it a go, after another viewing.

[Chris Knipp]

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SFIFF 2013 PRIZES

Golden Gate Award Documentary Feature Winners
Documentary Feature: A River Changes Course, Kalyanee Mam (Cambodia/USA 2012)
* Winner receives $20,000 cash prize

Bay Area Documentary Feature: The Kill Team, Dan Krauss (USA 2012)
* Winner receives $15,000 cash prize

New Directors Prize: Present Tense, Belmin Sölyemez (Turkey 2012)
* Winner receives $15,000 cash prize
Honorable Mention: La Sirga, William Vega (Colombia/France/Mexico 2012), The Cleaner, Adrián Saba (Peru 2012)

FIPRESCI Prize: Nights with Theodore, Sébastian Betbeder (France 2012)
The Golden Gate Award Short Film jury consisted of filmmakers Cheryl Dunye, Amanda Micheli and Malcolm Pullinger.

COMMENT. I didn't focus on documentaries this time and I missed A RIVER CHANGES COURSE and THE KILL TEAM. I know there was good buzz about them and the subject are timely. As for the New Directors Prize, I'm delighted that PRESENT TENSE won. I remarked on the mood and the beauty of the cinematography. It really stood out. I didn't know others would like it as much as I did. I'm not surprised with LA SIRGA's honorable mention. It didn't appeal to me so much, but it's well calculated to catch the jury's eye with its amazing location and overriding metaphorical content. I'm also delighted with THE CLEANER, which was my other favorite, a very charming little film.

FIPRESCI Prize would probably not have been my choice. NIGHTS WITH THEODORE is a non-starter in my view, and got only a fair rating with the French critics. I guess it was deemed distinctive because of its odd premise. My comment was: "Nights with Théodore is initially sexy and romantic and French; atmospheric and instructive; finally a little strange and creepy. " The NY POst critic V.A. Musetto was one of the three jurors for this one. The New Directors Prize jury was composed of LA critic Betsy Sharkey, filmmaker Alicia Scherson (PLAY, IL FUTURO) and editor Charles Mudede.

[Chris Knipp]

Kiyoshi Kurosawa: PENANCE (20120 [again] (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30129#post30129)

Since this absorbing and elegant if emotionally chilly Japanese TV horror minisries by the PULSE and CURE master apparently isn't on the SFIFF Hold Review list afer all, I have replaced my "preview" with a full review of it, for those interested. It's pretty unlikely now that this will have a theatrical release anywhere, but after some festival exposure, it's to be hoped that it will have US and UK DVD releases some time soon. It was on Japanese Wowow Television in January 2012, then at Venice August 2012, and finally people in the San Francisco Bay area got three or four shots at seeing it in late April and early May 2013.

[Chris Knipp]

WHAT MAISIE KNEW (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30026#post30026)

Full review is now up since the film has been theatrically released. More full reviews will appear in Festival Coverage when additional films come out.

[Chris Knipp]

Links to the reviews:

Act of Killing, The (Joshua Oppenheimer 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3441-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2013&p=29809#post29809) ND/NF
After Lucia/Después de Lucía (Michel Franco 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30084&posted=1#post30084)
Artist and the Model, The (Fernando Truba 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30016#post30016)
Before Midnight (Richard Linklater 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30033#post30033)
Chimeras (Mika Matilla 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30112&posted=1#post30112)
Cleaner, The (Adrian Saba 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30023&posted=1#post30023)
Cold War (Longman Leung, Sunny Luk 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30095#post30095)
Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30066#post30066)
Ernest & Célestine Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30032#post30032)
Eight Deadly Shots (Mikko Niskanen 1972) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30030#post30030)
Fill the Void (Rana Burshtein 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28572#post28572)
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28484#post28484) NYFF
Futuro, Il (Alicia Scherson 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30017&posted=1#post30017)
Habi, the Foreigner (María Florencia Álvarez 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30018&posted=1#post30018)
Hijacking, A (Tobias Lindholm2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3441-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2013&p=29795#post29795) ND/NF
In the Fog (Sergei Loznitsa 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30106&posted=1#post30106)
Juvenile Offender (Kang Yi-Kwan 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30022#post30022)
Key of Life (Kenji Uchida 2012)
La Sirga (William Vega 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30031#post30031)
Last Step, The (Ali Mosaffa 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30028#post30028)
Leviathon (Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Peravel 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28541&posted=1#post28541)
Memories Look at Me (Song Fang 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28528#post28528) NYFF
Museum Hours (Jem Cohen 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30019#post30019)
Nights with Théodore (Sébastien Betbeder 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30020&posted=1#post30020)
Night Across the Street (Raul Ruiz 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28534#post28534) NYFF
Patience Stone, The (Atiq Rahimi 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30021#post30021)
Pearblossom Highway (Mike Ott 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30082#post30082)
Penance (Kiyoshi Kurosawa 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30129#post30129)
Present Tense (Belmin Söylemez 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30077#post30077)
Rosie (Marcel Gisler 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30091#post30091)
Sirga, La (William Vega 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30076#post30076)
Sofia's Last Ambulance (Ilian Metev 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30119#post30119)
Something in the Air (Olivier Assayas 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3341-New-York-Film-Festival-2012&p=28583#post28583) NYFF
Stories We Tell (Sarah Polley 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3441-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2013&p=29856#post29856) ND/NF
Strange Little Cat, The (Ramon Zürcher 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30069#post30069)
Tall as the Baobab Tree (Jeremy Teicher 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30104#post30104)
Thérèse Desqueyroux (Claude Miller 2012) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3443-Rendez-Vous-with-French-Cinema-at-Lincoln-Center-2013&p=29665#post29665) R-V
What Maisie Knew (David Siegel, Scott McGehee 20113) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30026#post30026)
Youth (Justine Malle 2013) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30072#post30072)

[Chris Knipp]

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/7479/2977.jpg

Final press release [excerpt]

This year the International awarded over $70,000 in prizes -- one of the largest cash totals distributed by a U.S. film festival -- to emerging and established filmmakers from ten countries around the world. Thanks to its unique programming choices and the always enthusiastic San Francisco Bay Area audiences, the International sold out 144 screenings this year. Of particular popularity were the many screenings and events featuring special guests such as Steven Soderbergh, Harrison Ford, Richard Linklater, Philip Kaufman, Julie Delpy, William Friedkin, David Gordon Green, Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig, Sarah Polley, Michael Cera and Kate Bosworth.

"This festival may be 56 years old, but it was my first, and I have been amazed and delighted with the enthusiasm and love of cinema demonstrated by our audiences," said Ted Hope, SFFS executive director. "The Film Society's programming team, led by our Director of Programming Rachel Rosen, assembled a fantastic program of films from around the globe. Combine them with Steven Soderbergh's State Of Cinema address setting the stage for our innovative A2E (artist to entrepreneur) filmmaker training, a number of amazing Live & Onstage events, and our star-studded and incredibly moving Film Society Awards Night, as well as an incredible array of guests from across the planet, and no one can deny that SFIFF56 was a truly extraordinary event. San Francisco should be as extremely proud of hosting this festival as I am of our team that produced it."

Sponsors and Partners
Among SFIFF56's 175 sponsors, leading corporate partners were Blackberry; Blue Angel Vodka; Grolsch; the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Vimeo; Bank of the West; TV5 Monde; the French American Cultural Society and the Consulate General of France, San Francisco; Dolby Laboratories; Comcast; Visa; the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office of San Francisco and the San Francisco Film Commission. Local businesses were eager to work with the International as well. More than 45 restaurants supported the Festival and about 180 hotel rooms were donated for Festival guests.

Star-Studded Nights
Film Society Awards Night, the fundraising gala cochaired by Todd and Katie Traina, honored four world-class film talents at Bimbos 365 Club on May 7. Honorees were Philip Kaufman, recipient of the Founder's Directing Award, presented by actor Clive Owen; Harrison Ford, recipient of the Peter J. Owens Award for acting, presented by cinema legend George Lucas; Eric Roth, recipient of the Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting, presented by renowned journalist Lowell Bergman; and local hero Ray Dolby, recipient of the inaugural George Gund III Award, presented by San Francisco Film Society Executive Director Ted Hope.

Attending the festivities were Vimeo's creative director Jeremy Boxer, San Francisco society hostess Dede Wilsey, former mayor of San Francisco Willie Brown, Nion McEvoy of Chronicle Books, designer Ken Fulk, San Francisco Ballet's principal Maria Kochetkova and musicians Vanessa Carlton and Tracy Chapman.

Numerous guests graced the stage during SFIFF56, starting on Opening Night with What Maisie Knew codirectors Scott McGehee and David Siegel as well as actor Onata Aprile and continuing throughout the Festival. Filmmaker and media artist Jem Cohen received the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award and legendary cinephile Peter von Bagh was awarded the Mel Novikoff Award at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

The Festival's Big Nights continued successfully with the Centerpiece film, Inequality for All, featuring director Jacob Kornbluth and subject Robert Reich. The festivities ended on a high note with the Closing Night screening of Before Midnight, attended by director Richard Linklater and actor Julie Delpy.

Several Festival screenings featured filmmakers who introduced their films and participated in on-stage Q&A sessions with SFIFF audiences. Amongst many others, these guests included Sarah Polley, Michael Cera, Kate Bosworth, Merry Clayton, Tata Vega, Ricky Jay, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof and Peaches.

[Chris Knipp]

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1859/435931943640.jpg

Following an Indiewire leak of a recording of the speech, the SFFS gave in and released a VIMEO of Soderbergh's entire State of Cinema speech. This is a feature of every SFIFF.

SODERBERG'S STATE OF CINEMA ADDRESS, MAY 2013 SFIFF (http://vimeo.com/65060864)

The VIMEO with a full transcript also on the SFFS blog here. (http://blog.sffs.org/home/2013/4/steven-soderbergh-the-state-of-cinema-video-transcripthtml)

[cinemabon]

Any person, and I am talking to our active members, who is even remotely interested in cinema/movies should watch this address. Excellent! Thanks, Chris.

[Chris Knipp]

It's an important part of the film festival, so natural to include it here. The crowd loved the talk, you loved the talk, it was fluent and clear. I agree that we should watch it. Or read it, either way.

I personally am very ambivalent about this speech and about Soderbergh's work. As I said in my review of his latest movie I have gotten excited about his work in the past but feel that overall he has let me down. I also tend to think he has served me better with his entertainments than with his efforts at "cinema."

I think it's good to read or watch the address with the comments at the end on the VIMEO as context. I share some of the range of views expressed there. Some important points got made. For example, the citing of TRAFFIC and SOLARIS as examples of Soderbergh as "artist" -- they are remakes. And this was not said, but CHE, also cited as an example of Soderbergh's "out there" experimentation, is that, but it is also simply a vanity project, and it is basically a flop. Some misinterpreted MAGIC MIKE as a deliberate money-maker. They failed to notice he said the tests were bad and the studio didn't expect it to succeed; its big success was a fluke. (I didn't like it, and it seems to me pointless; but I wouldn't call it pandering or commercialism; tastelessness maybe.) One commenter says every filmmaker at some point makes a moneymaking commercial film, even Kurosawa. That is not even true: what has Michael Haneke done to make money? But the real problem of Soiderbeerg's filmography is that it's all over the place.

I find it somewhat odd that "State of Cinema" should be interpreted as "State of Hollywood" and "State of the Movie Business," but that is what he knows about. He spoke largely as a producer, and I was impressed that he mentioned a trio of talented and edgy new young directors, one of whom I am very impressed by, and he is NOT commercial at all. That endorsement is a good thing, and adds to Soderbergh's cred. But this is an address given at an international film festival. People go to film festivals because they want to see what Hollywood will not offer them. Why not get Harvey Weinstein to give this address if they're going to have Soderbergh? Weinstein knows more about the business. Next year though, they need to get somebody who will talk about "Cinema" purely in the "art" sense and not talk about promotion, exports, and financing. Soderbergh mentioned hardly any films, other than some of his own.

He is also, as Americans so often are, speaking with blinders about the international scene. All his figures are about American films. And yet most of the films the audience of the SFIFF comes to see were made elsewhere.

He is taking an industry and big business stand when he cites Steve Jobs as a moral standard (noted with keen irony by a commenter) and when he misquotes Orson Welles about an artist and his tools. The tools should serve the artist and not the artist serve the tools is not in itself a justification of jettisoning "old" formats like film vs. digital. Sure, don't get "weepy" about film: this is typical of the cold, macho tone Sonderbergh habitually adopts. BUt it is not a question about getting "weepy," it is a matter of passion about craft. As a longtime artist and printmaker, I know that the artist does not throw out old media and does not simply bend media to his will. The media are stern taskmasters. In its way digital is just as tough to work with as celluloid.

The most important point Soderbergh makes, however well known it may be, is that more and more the decision makers in Hollywood know nothing about movies, and do not even watch them for pleasure. And that the unwillingness to take a chance on a smaller cost film is sad, even if ultimately it makes economic sense.

[cinemabon]

Your arguments are sound and go to the heart of what you and I believe is at the core to the art of cinema (and I'm certain Johann, Oscar and Tab probably believe as well). That movie making is more than a financial choice or the manipulation of bankers (although they certainly play an important part of commercial films). If Soderbergh were more concerned with art, he should drop the pretense and make movies on any budget. (Instead, I believe you are correct to point out his choices revolve around financial gain). However, in studying the art of filmmaking in college and then making "student" films of my own, I quickly discovered that as a director, the process was less about what I shot than about the choices I made after I had complied several thousand feet of film. How to edit a movie is far more complex and more involving in the process than most people can possibly imagine.

Like written stories, most films are made in the editing room. While we might be forced to use certain shots (lacking others) the choices we make as editors has everything to do with the final composition. So it must be true with graphic art as well (as you would know more than any writer on this site as you live in the world of the graphic artist). When we chose this shot or that one, we can make a statement about who we are as artists and what we think of the world through art of storytelling via this projected medium.

I would argue that perhaps the future of cinema is more about the Youtube type offerings (small films made with digital cameras) than it is about massive films made on massive budgets with massive special effects (escalating costs being the greatest limiting factor). The true heart of story telling through film is made by those who have lived life and have something to say. The same could be said of writing as well. Instead of our world expanding, the world is shrinking thanks to internet choices. We no longer depend on any one source for news, weather, or information. We can narrow our choices to the miniscule and find our own niche. This adaptation to contentment must surly be evolutionary in terms of media and perhaps a portent of a world to come.

[Chris Knipp]

I agree with you and I have been influenced by you in what I say. You have more of a practical knowledge of film and film school, and you know what you're talking about when you say editing is the key element in making any film. I know that in theory but I've never edited a film, and even with digital editing, it's still a very ticklish process just to edit something a few minutes long. I'd love to be a cinematographer but I'd hate to be an editor, even though it's the key role. I know that you can take a lot of footage and make a good film or a bad film out of it, or just two different films. "Montage" (which just means editing in French) as described by Eisenstein I believe, refers to the different emotional effect sequence of shots can have.

It would help if Hollywood got some editors who just cut things down, and many's the time any film, internationally, including festival films (especially!) would be better if they lost ten or twenty minutes from their run-time.

YouTube type offerings indeed are sure to play a larger role in future, and represent a "career open to talents," to use Napoleon's phrase, which is really neither good nor bad. Are we so lucky that we have Justin Bieber? No but I'm sure some good artists musical or filmmaking have honed their skills and maybe gotten connected that way. At the moment Hollywood is making long movies. I just saw PAIN & GAIN (which I may review-- but I put it off to see IRON MAN 3 and report on Cannes), and though it's hard to see how this mess could have been a good film, it certainly could have been a better one if it was cut down to 90 minutes instead of 129.

As for Soderbergh, we are perhaps better for having him, but he flirts with "cinema" rather than immersing himself in it, being perhaps as you suggest seduced by the high life that moving in the company of George Cloony and Matt Damon and rolling in the dough with the star-studded OCEANS series permits. I wonder who he is. Is he an auteur, or an opportunist? He comes form an academic background! His virtue may be that he's uncllassifiable. But I admire filmmakers who just make their own unique films, every time.

The big budget and special effects machine is crushing. One even feels assaulted when sitting in the cineplex. But the industry is crushing individuality and, as you say, storytelling "by those who have lived life and have something to say."

[Chris Knipp]

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/426/1ltu.jpg

Computer Chess (Andrew Bujalski) - theatrical release (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30066#post30066)

Since Bujalski's calculatedly clunky leap into nerdy 1980 A.I.-dom began its US theatrical release at Film Forum in NYC Wednesday, July 17, 2013, I've expanded my SFIFF post on the movie to a full-length review, though strictly speaking its, for me, local (Bay Area, Opera Plaza and Shattuck Berkeley) release (since I just flew back from NYC to SFO) is not till next Fri. Jul. 26. I have now slightly expanded my original "held" April review, but being about to rewatch the film, and may adjust my comments again accordingly. In memory despite my reserved initial reaction COMPUTER CHESS emerges as the most original American indie film of the year, as others are saying -- that is, along with Shane Carruth's UPSTREAM COLOR.

On Wed. COMPUTER CHESS received an excellent critical response (Metacritic: 79, based on 10 reviews so far*), though less so than the (to me) over-adored VIOLA (Metacritic: 85, based on 7 reviews). If you're interested and outside major metropolitan areas, watch for DVD or VOD releases of COMPUTER CHESS by Kino next year.

Click here (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30066#post30066) or on the title above for the expanded SFIFF review. Also not in General Forum. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3567-COMPUTER-CHESS-%28Andrew-Bujalski-2013%29&p=30723#post30723)

*The Metacritic rating has dropped to 74 with 26 reviews as of Dec. 10, 2013, but that's still good for such an experimental film.

[Chris Knipp]

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I don't think I'll alter my review for now, just say that this film stands as unique in its ability to creep into your consciousness, as other ultra-low-fi sci-fi films in the past have done. It is surely to me more creepy and surreal than comic, though if people persist in calling it a comedy, I can't say they're wrong. I'd prefer to call it absurdist surrealism. I definitely think Bujalski has successfully moved beyond mere mumblecore here through his effort at period authenticity and the ensemble nature of his action. Still stands as destined to be one of the truly memorable American films of the year, not just Amerindie.

TribecaFilm intereview with Bujalski July 18, 2013 with Trailer. (http://tribecafilm.com/features/andrew-bujalski-s-leap-off-the-cliff-computer-chess)

[Chris Knipp]

Fernando Trueba's THE ARTIST AND THE MODEL (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3470-San-Francisco-International-Film-Festival-2013&p=30016#post30016), with Jean Rochefort and Claudia Cardinale, opened in NYC Aug. 2, 2013. Metacritic rating 49. I kind of warned you. However, it's nice to look at, and some will enjoy it. No monsters or explosions. Nude modeling. Mediterranean summer setting. Lovely light.

[cinemabon]

Matisse and Renoir, both known for their famous nude paintings, would have made dull subjects had a reality cam watched them in their studios. It's easy to imagine how difficult putting a human form into proper perspective must be to a layman like myself. As the subject of a film, you must have sympathized somewhat being both film critic and painter.

[Chris Knipp]

Sympathize? Not really. He took on the subect. It was up to him to make something interesting of it. And there is a precident for this subject being handled interestingly that I acknowledged in my review when I wrote, "Compare this little film with Jacques Rivette's almost four-hour La belle noiseuse (1991) starring Michel Piccoli, and you will see how much more complex a treatment of the artist-model relationship can be." Mike D'Angelo, whose reviews I tend to follow, grabs this bull by the horns and brings the issue up right away in the first paragraph of his ARTIST AND THE MODEL review, for AV Cllub, which publishes his excellent day-by-day Cannes Festival reviews:
I Saw This
By Mike D'Angelo August 1, 2013
Director: Fernando Trueba
Cast: Jean Rochefort, Aida Folch, Claudia Cardinale (In French, Catalan, and Spanish w/subtitles)
Rated: R
Running time: 105 minutes
Sometimes a film tackles a particular subject so exhaustively that there scarcely seems to be any point in subsequent movies about it. Jacques Rivette’s 1991 drama La Belle Noiseuse devotes four hours to the thorny relationship between a male artist and his nude female model, dissecting the power structure with minute attention to every emotional detail. Its existence towers over any effort to explore similar material, yet there have been two such attempts already this year alone. Renoir, though mediocre, at least had a biopic angle to exploit, and also split focus between painter Pierre-Auguste and his son Jean, the soon-to-be-famous filmmaker. Fernando Trueba’s The Artist And The Model, however, is a wholly fictional tale, and while it has a few lovely, tender moments, there’s a definite feeling of “been there, drawn that.” D'Angelo knows Trueba better than I do and mentions his work has been "placid and unchallenging" for two decades. All I know is this one is placid and unchallenging. The Renoir one, as he mentions, at least has a historical biopic angle. Matisse would be more interesting than either Trueba's purely fictional sculptor or the French film's Renoir, because he's a more interesting artist and his relationship with his models is more intense and transformative if you look at, say, his big Reclining Nude at the Baltimore Museum of Art, whose many stages were recorded in photographs.

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MATISSE'S 'RECLINING NUDE' IN THE CONE COLLECTION, BALTIMORE
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/6052/6lgz.jpg

[Chris Knipp]

Atiq Rahimi: The Patience Stone (2012)--SFIFF April '13

This came out in NYC [Film Forum] and LA Wed, Aug. 14, 2013, but by the rules of releasing protocol I am not allowed to post my full review till it comes out in the San Francisco Bay Area August 30. Despite its good reviews in France and Oscar entry, it has not done well critically here (Metacritic 58). Mike D'Angelo dares to say what I worked my way around: it's just one long monologue and it's boring. He gives in a C- on AV Club. (http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-patience-stone,101583/)

[Chris Knipp]

I just found this on Mike D'Angelo's twiter feed (https://twitter.com/gemko/media/grid). Were those not better days?

http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/4148/z9yr.png

[cinemabon]

"Advise and Consent" was on TCM - the Essentials over the weekend (with its all-star cast); the crime at the heart of the drama is that a senator had a gay liaison with his Army buddy during the Korean War - portrayed as the ultimate social faux pas. The senator is blackmailed for his vote or capitulation. I love the film and watched it with my wife on Sunday right after golf ended.

Preminger loved to shock audiences with his frank talk about sexual taboos (such as rape in "Anatomy of a Murder"). "Advise and Consent" tried to shine a light on the political process that few people knew at the time had existed in Washington for decades. The novel by Allen Drury was a big best seller and won the Pulitzer in 1960. Unfortunately for Preminger, his abrasive personality cost him many accolades that should have come his way had he been more of a Hollywood insider. While he had many friends in Hollywood (Billy Wilder among them), he was considered too opinionated by many and never won the coveted recognition that so many directors with his level of involvement crave. Nominated for his work - Laura and Anatomy of a Murder - "Advise and Consent" while a box office success didn't garner one nomination that year for anything - perhaps a commentary of how taboo the subject of homosexuality was at the time.

That Sallitt should list it as the number one film of the year is rather telling. Don't you think?

[Johann]

Adding my 2 cents:

I totally understand the ambivalence towards Steven Soderbergh and his films. To me he's a craftsman who has made movies that excited me and he also made a bunch that I will never watch (Oceans 11 series as one example).

Kubrick can be heard on the audio CD that came with the original Taschen Stanley Kubrick Archives book that studios (and their bosses) need to respect the directors who KNOW how to make a film.
George Lucas also lamented once upon a time that a directors job is to make the film, and the studios job is to MARKET the film. And all too often the studio has no clue how to market a movie. (which is why 20th Century Fox gave him all rights to the toys from Star Wars).

What we see today is largely cookie-cutter marketing, with the trailer usually doing the selling. Sometimes a poster can do more work than the trailer (at least for me, anyway).
I wish studio executives knew how to make a movie. Then maybe you'd see more "hits" and "sleepers".

[oscar jubis]

I'm always looking for excuses to post my lists...

1962-Oscar Jubis

LA JETEE (Marker)
THE HOUSE IS BLACK (Farrokhzad)
MAMA ROMA (Pasolini)
THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE (Ford)
L'ECLISSE (Antonioni)
THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (Schlesinger)
THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (Bunuel)
MY LIFE TO LIVE (Godard)
CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 (Varda)
IVAN’S CHILDHOOD (Tarkovsky)

RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY (Peckinpah)
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (Lean)
THE ELUSIVE CORPORAL (Renoir)
LOLITA (Kubrick)
HATARI! (Hawks)
THE TRIAL (Welles)
AN AUTUMN AFTERNOON (Ozu)
PITFALL (Teshigahara)
SANJURO (Kurosawa)
SALVATORE GIULIANO (Rosi)

DEVI (Ray)
KNIFE IN THE WATER (Polanski)
LE DOULOS (Melville)
CAPE FEAR (Thompson)
BOCCACCIO ’70 (Monicelli/Fellini/Visconti/de Sica)
ADVISE AND CONSENT (Preminger)
LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (Lumet)
SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN (Lope-Nilsson)
HARAKIRI (Kobayashi)
DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE (Germi)

[Chris Knipp]

Another proof that those were better -- way better -- times for movies.

I love LA JETÉE, L'ECLISSE, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, LOLITA, SANAJURO, LE DOULOS, DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE. It goes on and one. And 1961 was great too.

[cinemabon]

I could sit and watch Renoir read from the Paris phone book and it would beat these modern punks any day!

Of course, the splash that "La Jetee" made on its debut was so significant. It was as if the entire science fiction film community had been asleep.

And I felt so gratified to find John Ford on both lists. Yes, it's schmaltzy, but beyond the sentiment there is great dramatic tension, incredible close ups of Wayne post-Searchers, looking like he didn't give a crap, and Lee Marvin with such a great sadistic villain (way better than most guys - in fact, anyone playing a sadist villain should watch Marvin and take a few good lessons). Ford is another filmmaker I could just sit and watch and be happy to pass if I was on my deathbed (knock, knock).

[oscar jubis]

Yes indeed, Preminger fought many times with the PCA for inclusion of words that were verboten.
Great to be among Ford lovers. I have not seen the TV movie directed by Ford on the list CK posted. Have you?
The only shot in La Jetee that is not a freeze-frame or a photo is among the most memorable in cinema history.
The Elusive Corporal is bottom-barrel Renoir and nearly makes my Top 10 in a remarkable year.
1961 was better though...I was born that year ;)

[Chris Knipp]

Even though I haven't watched Ford much because I've never liked Westerns, surely he's one of the American greats. Not so sure about Preminger. He is known more for content than his art as a filmmaker. And some of that is sensationalist or otherwise dubious. Indeed "Flashing Spikes" is an odd inclusion and I've never heard of it. But it has James Stewart and Jack Warden. LA JETEE is reveting and remarkable. Also very French.

[oscar jubis]

I wrote in detail about 3 scenes from Anatomy of a Murder to illustrate his use of the camera and other formal elements and how they serve the narrative in Preminger's films:
http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2584-Otto-Preminger-s-Anatomy-of-a-Murder

This thread has reminded me of his magnificent Fallen Angel, someday I'll write about it, which I haven't seen as often as Laura, Anatomy, and Angel Face.

[Chris Knipp]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASAE · DECEMBER 9, 2013

FILMS SUPPORTED BY SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY'S
FILMMAKER360 PROGRAM TO PREMIERE AT
2014 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL2014

[Read to the bottom and you'll see the SFFS has a good track record for the past year.--CK.]

San Francisco, CA -- Seven films that have received support from the San Francisco Film Society's Filmmaker360 program will have their world premieres at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. As the festival made its final round of feature film announcements for its January event, it was revealed that Kat Candler's Hellion will screen in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, Sara Colangelo's Little Accidents and Ira Sachs' Love is Strange will appear in the Premieres category and both Gillian Robespierre's Obvious Child and Michael Tully's Ping Pong Summer will be included in the festival's popular program. In addition to these narrative projects, two films enrolled in the SFFS Project Development program will have their world premieres in the U.S. Documentary Competition: Marmato, directed by Mark Grieco, and The Overnighters, directed by Bay Area-based filmmaker Jesse Moss. Funded by San Francisco Film Society grants and incubated with the support of various Filmmaker360 programs, these exciting and varied films are poised to make a splash on the country's biggest stage for independent film.

Filmmaker360, the San Francisco Film Society's filmmaker support program, offers assistance and opportunities to foster creativity and further the careers of independent filmmakers nationwide and oversees one of the largest film grant programs in the country, which disperses nearly $1 million annually to incubate and support innovative and exceptional films. Other services offered by Filmmaker360 include project development and fiscal sponsorship, FilmHouse residencies offering free office space to filmmakers in any stage of production, Off the Page script workshops, and more. For more information visit sffs.org/filmmaker360.

SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY-SUPPORTED FILMS
AT SUNDANCE 2014

Hellion, directed by Kat Candler, U.S. Dramatic Competition
When his delinquent behavior forces his little brother to be taken away, a motocross-obsessed teenager and his emotionally absent father must take responsibility for their destructive behavior to bring him home.
* Fall 2013 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner: $70,000 for postproduction

Little Accidents, directed by Sara Colangelo, Premieres
In a small American coal town, the disappearance of a boy draws a young miner, the lonely wife of a mine executive and a local 14-year-old together in a web of secrets.
* Fall 2013 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner: $50,000 for postproduction

Love is Strange, directed by Ira Sachs, Premieres
A multi-generational story of love and marriage, Love is Strange depicts the delicate nature of any two people trying to build a long life together, and the possibility of love to grow deeper, and richer, with time.
* Fall 2013 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner: $70,000 for postproduction

Marmato, directed by Mark Grieco, U.S. Documentary Competition
Colombia is the center of a new global gold rush, and Marmato, a historic mining town, is the new frontier. Filmed over the course of nearly six years, Marmato chronicles how townspeople confront a Canadian mining company that wants the $20 billion in gold beneath their homes.
* Currently enrolled in the SFFS Project Development program

Obvious Child, directed by Gillian Robespierre
An honest comedy about what happens when Brooklyn comedian Donna Stern gets dumped, fired, and pregnant, just in time for the worst/best Valentine's Day of her life.
* Participated in the SFFS "Off the Page" screenwriting workshop in January 2013

The Overnighters, directed by Jesse Moss, U.S. Documentary Competition
Desperate, broken men chase their dreams and run from their demons in the North Dakota oil fields. A local Pastor's decision to help them has extraordinary and unexpected consequences.
* Currently enrolled in the SFFS Project Development program

Ping Pong Summer, directed by Michael Tully
1985. Ocean City, Maryland. Summer vacation. Rap music. Parachute pants. Ping pong. First crushes. Best friends. Mean bullies. Weird mentors. That awkward, momentous time in your life when you're treated like an alien by everyone around you, even though you know deep down you're as funky fresh as it gets.
* Fall 2012 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant winner: $50,000 for postproduction

San Francisco Film Society-supported projects in the 2013 Sundance lineup presented earlier this year included Ryan Coogler's Fruitvale Station, which premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition and went on to win both the festival's Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the narrative category; Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson's American Promise; Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer; Jacob Kornbluth's Inequality for All; and Shaul Schwarz's Narco Cultura.

For additional information visit sffs.org/filmmaker360. (http://www.sffs.org/filmmaker360.aspx)