9 posts tagged “castro”
This is one of the best years for silent film in San Francisco in a long time. One the highlights of the San
Francisco International Film Festival was the live performance of Guy Maddin's Brand Upon the Brain (there
was also a screening of the Phantom Carriage). Charlie Chaplin's City Lights just was at the Castro. And the San Francisco Silent Film Festival runs through Sunday, July 15th.
It opens Friday at 7 pm with Ernst Lubitsch's The Student Prince of Old Heidelberg. Chronicle film critic Mick LaSalle (who has written about star Norma Shearer in his book Complicated Women) introduces the film. He talked with Silent Film Festival executive director Stacy Wisnia and with artistic director Stephen Salmons on recent podcasts.
Michael Hawley previews the festival at The Evening Class and Max Goldberg for the Bay Guardian and for SF360. I'll just mention the free More Amazing Tales from the Archives program with Rob Stone of the UCLA Film at 10:30 am on Sunday. My photos from last year.
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will be showing His People with a live jazz score by Paul Shapiro at 7:30 pm on July 21st at the Castro..
I'll write more about Red Without Blue when it airs on the Sundance Channel on Monday, June 25th, but there is a screening on Wednesday at 2:15 pm at the Castro with the directors and the twins the film is about doing a Q&A.
On Thursday at 7 pm at the Victoria, Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff and Robert Mapplethorpe is screening (it is sold out, but there are rush tickets if you get there early enough). I followed the NEA battle over Mapplethorpe's work closely (and was able to see the show that sparked the controversy at the Whitney), but I still learned a lot about his work and the influence of Sam Wagstaff.
Lynn Breedlove's Godspeed (based on her novel) will also show on Saturday as part of the same shorts program. Breedlove will also be reading on Wednesday at 6 pm at the main library as part of the Mad to Live: Queers Under the Influence of the Beats series Tea organized (it concludes on June 27th at the same time). Two films by experimental filmmaker Abigail Child will also be shown on Saturday at the Victoria at 6 pm.
It took six years and $150,000 (half donated by Steven Soderbergh) was spent to get the music rights. They still weren't able to get the rights to Unforgettable by Dinah Washington which played during the closing of the film (and is still listed in the closing credits - you can buy it on itunes for 99 cents and bring your ipod to the theater).
Killer of Sheep is playing in theaters in some cities through the fall. It is at the Castro and Rafael through Thursday. It will continue through at least next week at the Shattuck in Berkeley. It will be out on DVD along with My Brothers Wedding and some short films on November 13th, but see it in a theater if you can. Hopefully, his 1990 film, To Sleep with Anger, will also soon be available again on DVD.
Interview with Burnett, another interview, interview with links at bottom (though some don't work)
Review and story from NPR.
Review by J. Hoberman
More reviews and articles.
The ninth San Francisco Independent Film Festival opens tonight and runs through Feb. 20th. In less
than a decade, the main fest has grown, and they've added Docfest, the Hole in a Head horror fest, and
a new animation fest later this year.
David Lynch (shown here in a still from an excellent Culture Catch interview ) is in England for the opening there, but producer Mary Sweeney will answer questions.
On Friday at 2:15 pm Chris Gore will give a free presentation at the Roxie.
Trailers for some of the films are online including Dante's Inferno which is among the films I'm most looking forward to seeing. You can also vote for the best trailer online, and there will be audience ballets for the best films at all the screenings.
The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib is playing at the Roxie through Sunday. It probably will be playing in a few
other cities before HBO begins showing it February 22nd. I'll be seeing it on Monday at a screening followed
by a discussion with filmmaker Rory Kennedy and Mark Danner.
Update: Rory Kennedy was interviewed on KQED's Forum (MP3 & streaming audio online).
Noir City runs through Sunday at the Castro. I still have more photos from last weekend I need to upload.
And the Wide Lens: Oscar Documentaries series at SFMOMA runs Sunday afternoons and Thursday evenings through the end of February.
Marsha Hunt was interviewed by Eddie Muller between screenings of Raw Deal and
Saturday Jan. 27, Richard Erdman will be interviewed between screenings of Cry Danger and Abandoned (also never on VHS or DVD).
Show us something burnt.
From a crash in April of 2006 where a car exploded and burned a bunch of parked cars. More photos.
Update: I've added a brief video of Nancy Fishman introducing the film.
To put it kindly, opening night films at film festivals often aren't very good. They are sometimes programmed more for the stars they can attract to the party than the quality of the film. Or the choice can just be plain baffling. But Four Weeks in June which opened the 26th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival at the Castro Theater on July 20th was both an exception and exceptional.
It screens again Saturday, July 29 in Mountain View, Wednesday August 2 in Berkeley, and Saturday, August 5 in San Rafael.
Festival director Peter Stein (on the right) said he thought it was the first time a Sweedish film had opened. the festival. Director Henry Meyer (on the left) has crafted a moving brilliantly acted story. He and others who worked on the film talk about it in short interviews.
Follow My Voice: The Music of Hedwig begins showing on Sundance Monday, June 26 & Friday, June 30th (and probably other times over the next few years or whatever the window is).
You can buy the album which has raised over $75,000 for the Harvey Milk School in NYC. Katherine Linton told me they currently don't have a DVD distributor. Hopefully, this will change.
I'll write more about the documentary and hopefully have some video
by the end of the week. Audio should also be available soon of John Cameron Mitchell's convetsation at the Persitent Vision conference.
More Frameline photos (they used a couple of my photos in their newsletter.
There also announced the winning films including the Believers (which I'll also write about and hopefully post some video).
