SFFilm celebration at hard time for industry

If last year’s movieland mood was inspired by “La La Land”-like bubbles and sunshine, this year’s mood has been beclouded by real-life scandal and political unrest. And while SFFilm itself is in such a healthy state that eager supporters at its Tuesday, Dec. 5, awards night raised almost $200,000 in five minutes, the subjects — racism, violence, immigration, degradation of women, feminism — discussed and alluded to reflected the distinctly uneasy state of our country right now. So this item is not going to describe manicures on the red carpet. As Beth Spotswood reported, three awards were presented:

UC Berkeley’s john a. powell, Detroit-born director of the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, introduced Kathryn Bigelow, winner of the Irving M. Levin Award for directing, whose “Detroit” was about riots and shootings in Detroit in the summer of 1967. “In our society,” said powell, “race is the third rail.” Although some would take issue, he said, “with a white woman making a movie about black pain ... what happened in Detroit is certainly about black pain but it was much more. This is a movie about America.” Movies are more than entertainment, said Bigelow, who grew up in the Bay Area and attended the San Francisco Art Institute. By focusing on such subjects as racially motivated violence and police brutality, “we have the tools to expand people’s minds,” said the director.

Filmmakers Terry Zwigoff and Melissa Axelrod presented the Kanbar Award for storytelling to Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon, whose romance was the basis of their movie, “The Big Sick.” “If there’s ever a time in our history when we need more compassion and truth, it is now,” said Zwigoff. After thanking Maurice Kanbar, the two sarcastically thanked all the straight white men who’d allowed a South Asian man to be the lead in a rom-com, quipped Gordon. She is from Pakistan, said Nanjiani, and he is from North Carolina — “And if you thought that was funny, you are racist.”

Introducing Peter J. Owens Award for acting winner Kate Winslet, director James Cameron began by saying he was so humbled and honored that he’d left the set of “Avatar 2” and “Avatar 3” — his first time ever leaving a set — to participate. He owned up to not preparing remarks, but winging it wasn’t hard since 20 years ago, he’d directed Winslet in “Titanic.” “She was pretty goddamn perfect” even then, he said, and he’d fallen for her as soon as they talked and she started dropping “f-bomb after f-bomb.”

Winslet paid respect to the occasion by preparing a careful speech, beginning by thanking Cameron for hiring “a little-known British actress with a fat ass. He’s the only director who didn’t tell me to lose weight.” From that irresistible opening, she went on to praise actresses who have been mentors — Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Judi Dench, Jodie Foster, Julie Christie and Judy Davis — from whom “I learned about sisterhood in the working world, which is crucial today.” And finally, after expressing love for her family, she turned back to a delicate but definite reference to the current headlines. “Out of this time will emerge a world in which our children grow up knowing that the only way to treat each other is gently and with respect.”

On Friday, Dec. 8, Barbara Kahn Gardner, mother of GOP stalwart political ad man Bob Gardner, turns 101 years old. Fifteen years ago, when Mrs. Gardner was asked by an insurance provider who she thought the president was, she answered “Dick

Cheney.” Corrected, she corrected the corrector. “You didn’t ask me who the president of the United States is. You asked, ‘Who do I think the president of the United States is?’ ” Having thus demonstrated her political savvy, what does this elder think of the current White House occupant? “As a lifelong Republican,” said her son, “she thinks he’s crazy and dangerous.”

The Dire Warnings Gazette: “Trees are being trimmed, hot cocoa is being made and presents are starting to appear. But I’m not sure if you knew the holidays accumulate a lot of waste,” says Imperfect, which puts to use fruits and vegetables that “might look a little different than the produce in the grocery store.” Remember, a misshapen potato will be a willing latke.