11 posts tagged “history”
The film tells the story of the genocide in Darfur through the eyes of Brian Steidle who became a military observer there in 2004 after leaving the Marines. He photographed the horrors he saw there, but later wrote that his camera was not nearly enough. But the images he took are powerful, particularly as he tells the story in the film.
Wells says there will be a feature film based on his story, but people should see the documentary now. I asked
her about being the field producer on a segment of the film where Steidle visits Rwanda. She said people are still in mourning twelve years later, that what happened had an impact long after the killing stopped.
Revolution Summer which played at the San Francisco International Film Festival also opens at the Roxie tonight. Jonathan Richman who did the score will perform.
I'll revise this post with more tomorrow, but until then, he'll be showing it again at 5:15 pm on Sunday, June 10th at the Roxie.
There also is a free screening (though you have to RSVP) of Go Bots: Battle of the Rock Lords at 1 pm Sunday at the Roxie.
More on Dennis Nyback.
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.
Update: It is now at both the Opera Plaza and Balboa. Co-direcotr Richard Berge will do a Q&A after the 4 pm Saturday, June 9th show at the Opera Plaza, after the 6:30 pm show at the Balboa and he will introduce the 8 pm show. On Sunday, June 10th, he will do a Q&A after the 3:50 pm show at the Balboa and introduce the 6:30 pm show. Subscribe to the Balboa's newsletter for updates.
The documentary, based on the book of the same name by Lynn Nicholas, focuses on the massive theft of art by the Nazis which continues to have an impact today. It doesn't ignore the impact of the Allies telling the story of the military's Monuments Men (including Taper) who worked to protect the culture of the cities in the path of the war.
Michael Guillén interviewed Berge and Cohen. Cohen, Nicholas, and Taper were also on Forum this morning. Co-producer Robert Edsel has a blog on issues related to the film. There are more video clips from the film online.
Cohen was executive producer of Wonders are Many which also screened at SFIFF, and Newnham directed Sentenced Home which has been airing this week on Independent Lens on PBS.
The San Francisco International Film Festival opens Thursday night at the Castro and runs through May 10th, but the celebration of the festival's 50th anniversary began earlier this year with a launch of a website devoted to the history of the oldest film festival in the United States.
In March, sf360 editor Susan Gerhard, creative director Miguel Pendás, photographer Pamela Gentile, and History Project Coordinator Jennifer Preissel gave a presentation on the site at the Apple Store (more photos).
It is possible to search for any film or guest, and there are Great Moments stories on Les Blank (who is showing All in this Tea this year), Jack Lemmon, Jack Nicholson, Mary Pickford, Abbas Kiarostam, The Talking Heads, and many others.
The story on Bette Davis includes a PDF of her letter to the festival which includes her suggestions for film clips (with a brief comment on each movie). There is an MP3 of Davis, and more MP3s of other guests in the Closeups section.
There are also videos (a player is linked from the the Closeups section). There are short clips including last year's sold out tribute at the Castro to Werner Herzog, and an excerpt from Tilda Swinton's State of Cinema address (the full text is online - this year Peter Sellars is giving the address on Sunday at 4 pm at the Kabuki).
There are also trailers from past years, and a short film by Christian Bruno and Sam Green (who is a judge
this year for the documentary short Golden Gate Awards), Pie Fight '69.
The Our History section includes oral histories from Jerry Mander (author of Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television and a publicist for the fest in the early sixties), Jeannette Etheredge (the owner of Tosca Cafe), and others. Etheredge is scheduled take part in a special edition of the Porchlight storytelling series, Five-O: Stories and Images from 50 Years of the SF International at the Kabuki on Tuesday, May 8th at 6:30 p.m. People can contribute their own stories about the festival in the Collective Memory section of the site.
There will be more stories and history during The True Story of the World: On the Road at 50, at the Kabuki on Monday, April 30 at 6:30 pm. Peter Coyote, Diane DiPrima, and Michael McClure will discuss Kerouac's book which was published the same year the festival started.
The Chronicle has a page which includes Ruthe Stein's short pieces on each year of the festival and other coverage. B. Ruby Rich (who talked about the importance of film festivals in her 2004 State of the Cinema address) interviewed the festival staff about the history of the fest for sf360.
Tonight at 8:30 pm at Other Cinema (slightly edited with links added):
Satisfying OC’s wanderlust, here’s a sublime survey of works that explore the country’s southern margins, moving from West to East. Erik (Visionary State) Davis initiates our drift with a slideshow on Leonard Knight, Charles Manson, and other SoCal desert-rats.
Prodigal son Bill Daniel floats back to Frisco, setting up his Sail-van right here on Valencia St., for “field” projections in the urban jungle! After Aptos–based Enid Blader shares her tone-poem on the Salton Sea, Sabrina Alonso shows her Mischief at 16th and Florida on the Hamms Brewery vat-rat squat, and Jenny Stark shuttles in from Sacto with her Floods, Ghosts, & Contamination, on turf issues in her home-state of Texas. Our passage pauses for a moment at New Orleans, where we honor the memory of recently-deceased Helen Hill—to whom this evening is dedicated—with a screening of her last composition from Katrina-damaged footage, accompanied by pieces from Thad Povey and Alfonso Alvarez.
The final stop on the Southern arc takes us to the Mlonso shows her Mischief at 16th and Florida on the Hamms Brewery vat-rat squat, and Jenny Stark shuttles in from Sacto with her Floods, Ghosts, & Contamination, on turf issues in her home-state of Texas. Our passage pauses for a moment at New Orleans, where we honor the memory of recently-deceased Helen Hill—to whom this evening is dedicated—with a screening of her last composition from Katrina-damaged footage, accompanied by pieces from Thad Povey and Alfonso Alvarez. The final stop on the Southern arc takes us to the Mason–Dixon line and Roger Deutsch’s deeply moving Dead People. $7.
Mischief was one of the best films I saw at Indiefest. Bill Daniel will have a show of his photos March 17 - 21st at Needles & Pens (there will be a reception on the 17th from 6 to 9 pm).
Helen Hill was an animator who was murdered in New Orleans. I first learned about it from a piece on NPR. Nightline also did a story.
I had planned on writing a longer post with some of my criticisms of the rather stiffling format of the docs of Ric Burns. You'd think this would be the subject to break out of it (just like Jazz should have been for Ken).
But it does show a Warhol different than the Soup Can/15 minutes of fame which is the only one most people know. And in the current climate, Warhol raises important issues about celebrity, fame, art, appropriation (among other things).
I also hope that people will seek out Mary Jordan's documentary on Jack Smith who influenced
Warhol (it is mentioned in the PBS doc that he was an avid follower of the experimental film scene).
What was (or is) your favorite subject in school?
Almost all of them except math (though I did like geometry since I could
visualize it, but that unfortunately was just for one summer so I could take organic chemistry).
But probably literature and history. I also had great classes in high school
in critical thinking/philosophy (where I got to hang out with Cyndi and Catherine)
and anthropology (where I did a paper on Stephen Jay Gould's the Mismeasure of Man
which made me completely cynical about the SAT and standardized tests in general).
We're going meta today: What questions would you'd like to see become QoTDs?
Well to start really meta, it would be nice to be able to see a list of all past QoTDs to make sure
I'm not suggesting repeats (there may be a way to do this I can't figure out).It would also be good to be able to answer QoTDs I missed or thought about for too long (I know it would be possible to just cut and paste, but an archive would be nice).
And easier ways to see everyone's answer, and answers to past QoTDs.
It would be interesting to have some political questions.
I'll think of some other things and add them.
