‘Auteur, Author’ film series adds to festival offerings
Presented in Collaboration with BAMPFA
The Bay Area Book Festival partners with BAMPFA for the second year to present nine film programs that celebrate, adapt or creatively reinterpret the written word and its practitioners. Renowned writers, filmmakers and other guests introduce the screenings. Guest curated by Tom Luddy. Wednesday, May 31 7 P.M.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
(Philip Kaufman, U.S., 1978): A remake of the classic 1956 sci-fi flick, adapted from Jack Finney’s novel about an alien invasion, set here in San Francisco. Starring Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Goldblum. Phil Kaufman and David Thomson in conversation. Thursday, June 1 7 P.M.
Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, USSR, 1979) Digital Restoration: A writer, a scientist and their “stalker” guide venture into a mysterious wasteland known as the Zone. “A dense, complex, often contradictory, and endlessly pliable allegory about human consciousness” (Slant). Introduction by Geoff Dyer. Friday, June 2 7 P.M.
100 Years with Juan Rulfo (Juan Carlos Rulfo, Mexico,
2017): A very personal profile of the great Mexican author and photographer Juan Rulfo, created by his son Juan Carlos, whose film In the Pit won Best Documentary at Sundance. Juan Carlos Rulfo in conversation with Jorge Ruffinelli. Saturday, June 3 3 P.M.
The Secret Garden (Agnieszka Holland, U.S., 1993) Family
Matinee: A lonely but enterprising young girl discovers a secret garden on her uncle’s isolated estate in this magical adaptation of the famed children’s novel. “Elegantly expressive ... celebrating nature as a force for freedom” (New York Times). Introduction by Caroline Paul. 5:30 P.M.
Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset and Grove Press (Neil Ortenberg, Daniel O’Connor, U.S., 2007): Go behind the scenes of the legendary Grove Press, publisher of Samuel Beckett, Malcolm X, Che Guevara and more, in this illuminating documentary and testament to free speech. Preceded by A Very British Pornographer: The Jack Kahane Story (Jon Willers,
United Kingdom, 2016), a portrait of the man who published significant works of the avant-garde too racy to see print in Britain or the U.S., including books by James Joyce, D.H. Lawrence and Anaïs Nin. Introduction by Robert Scheer. 8:30 P.M.
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (Paul Schrader, U.S., 1985)
Director’s Cut: Paul Schrader and his brother Leonard joined together with Bay Area producer Tom Luddy for this rich, compelling profile of the controversial Japanese literary giant Yukio Mishima, who committed suicide in 1970 after a failed coup attempt. Introduction by Rachel Kushner. Sunday, June 4 3 P.M. Intruder in the Dust (Clarence Brown, U.S., 1949): A proud black man who refuses to stand down to racism finds an unlikely friend in a young white boy (played by Claude Jarman, Jr.) in this extraordinary Hollywood adaptation of the Faulkner classic. Claude Jarman, Jr. in person. 5:45 P.M.
California Typewriter (Doug
Nichol, U.S., 2016): This hymn to the ordinary typewriter is also a portrait of the countless artists, writers and collectors (including Tom Hanks and Sam Shepard) who remain steadfast in their love and loyalty. “Pure typewriter heaven” (Don DeLillo). Doug Nichol, Steve Wasserman, Jeremy Mayer, Herbert Permillion III and Ken Alexander in person. 8:30 P.M.
Memories of Underdevelopment (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Cuba, 1968) Digital Restoration: This groundbreaking Cuban work explores the experiences and reveries of a bourgeois writer after the revolution. “A profound, noble film” (New York Times). Introduction by Joshua Jelly-Schapiro.