Culture Maven: San Francisco International Film Festival

April 29, 2009

SFIFF52 April 23- May 7, 2009

by Geneva Anderson

It’s film festival season again and nothing beats the San Francisco International Film Festival, which offers an exceptional program of global cinema—151 films from 55 countries in 34 languages with 54 West Coast, 9 North American, and 1 global premiere. Fortunately, a number of angels stepped up with generous financial sponsorship so the economic crisis would not impact the 15 day festival which draws over 75,000 people. I am especially attached to SFIFF because the programming is wonderfully diverse offering narrative features, feature documentaries, works from new directors, and shorts from all over the world that can loosely be divided into over 20 causes— the arts, environment, health, family issues, world culture, war, youth, and Cinema by the Bay (locals). All screenings include engaging Q&A with the directors, actors, and film crews. The festival takes place in San Francisco (Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Castro Theatre, and Landmark’s Clay Theatre) and Berkeley (Pacific Film Archive). Most of these films sell out, so buy your tickets in advance.

Here are Culture Maven’s picks, biased by an interest in local issues and environmental concerns: (for full film reviews and festival coverage visit ARThound)

“A Sea Change”: Dir. Barbara Ettinger (USA 2009, 84 min) Did you happen to read Elizabeth Kolbert’s penetrating article “The Darkening Sea” in the New Yorker? (Full-text version as pdf file here.) Norwegian grandfather Sven Huseby and his wife, director Barbara Ettinger were so impacted by Ettinger’s findings that they spent two years traveling all over the world and documenting the scientific impact of ocean acidification on sea life. The urgent and accessible message delivered by Huseby is that we have reached a turning point: CO2 is acidifying our oceans and this is going to dramatically alter life on our plant for coming generations. Ocean acidification is the flip side of global warming and if you have children, grandchildren or any investment in life as we know it continuing on this planet, this is a must-see film. This is our generation’s legacy and we need to both inform and change things now. Screens: Sat April 25, 3:45 pm, Mon April 27, 6:15 pm, Thurs April 30, 1:30 pm, all at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

A special forum “Ocean Acidification: Imagining a World Without Fish” will take place Saturday April 25, 5:45 pm, following the screening with several of the experts featured in the film present to discuss the latest findings.

“Speaking in Tongues”: Dir. Marcia Jamel, Ken Schneider (USA 2009, 60 min) Is America’s commitment to remaining an “English-only” nation a wise course in an increasingly interconnected world? So far, thirty-one states have voted to make English their official language and even in liberal Palo Alto, a Mandarin language immersion program was viewed as extremely controversial and nearly stopped. “Speaking in Tongues” explores bilingual language immersion through the compelling stories of four San Francisco public schoolchildren enrolled in Chinese and Spanish language-immersion programs. The children enter immersion programs for different reasons and while they grow impressively at ease with the portal language offers, becoming impressive global citizens and much better students, their parents argue. Screens: Sun April 26, 3:15 pm, Sat May 2, 11;45 am and 3:30 pm, Thurs, May 7, 2:30 pm, all at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

“Empress Hotel”: Dir. Allie Light, Irving Saraf (USA 2008) This film addresses the homeless and mentally ill who are residents of an innovative Tenderloin residential hotel, the Empress Hotel. Local academy-award film-making team Allie Light and Irving Saraf weave the residents’ amazing and unexpected life stories with their daily comings and goings in the tenderloin, building a living portrait of the struggles faced by an often overlooked part of our Bay Area community. Screens: Sat April 25, 3:15 pm, Mon April 27, 6:00 pm, Wed April 29, 6:15 pm, Thurs May 7, 12:15 pm, all at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

“California Company Town”: Dir. Lee Anne Schmitt (USA 2008, 78 min) If you’ve ever driven across California and passed through an abandoned town located just outside a booming metropolitan area and wondered what happened “California Company Town” provides the answers. This portrait of wasting and forgotten California industrial boomtowns–established around certain industries and occupied by workers– documents their current condition with moving commentary against a backdrop of abandoned warehouses and factories and the rural beauty of California. Screens: Thurs April 30, 8:35 pm, PFA. Repeats: Sat May 2, 6:45 pm and Mon May 4, 3:30 pm, both at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

“The Other One”: Dir. Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic (France 2008, 97 min) Forty-seven year-old social worker Anne-Marie is newly single after an amicable break with her (much) younger lover, Alex, whom she encouraged to find someone more appropriate for the long-term. He takes her advice but her replacement turns out to be another older professional woman rather than the gorgeous creative model-type that Anne-Marie imagined he should be with. What starts off as mild curiosity about the other woman morphs into out of control jealousy and a meltdown. Screens: Friday May 1, 4:15 pm, Sun May 3, 9:30 pm, Wed May 6, 6:00 pm, all at the Clay Theatre.

Each year the festival asks a culturally prominent public figure to address one or more of the pressing issues facing contemporary cinema. Mary Ellen Mark, voted by the readers of American Photo as the most influential woman photographer of all time, will deliver the 2009 State of Cinema address on Sunday May 3, 3 pm, at the Sundance Kabuki Theatres, giving a tour of her film-set images and discussing the legendary figures in her famous frames as well. She will also show us her photo essay “Twins.”

SFIFF52 tickets: available at www.sffs.org , or by phone (925) 866-9559 or in person at the main ticket outlet, Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. Price $12.50 general public.

Bookmark and Share

Close Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks