San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
REEL LOCAL NEWS By Pam Grady
“Into the Okavango,” a National Geographic documentary that follows an expedition across 1,500 miles and three countries as it explores Africa’s Okavango River’s biodiversity and assesses the threats facing it, opens the eighth San Francisco Green Film Festival, Sept. 6-13.
The festival closes with “The Condor and the Eagle,” in which indigenous leaders journey from the plains of Canada to the Amazonian jungle in a bid to deepen the meaning of “climate justice” while uniting the people of North and South America.
Formerly held in the spring, the 2018 festival moves to September to coincide with Gov. Jerry Brown’s Sept. 12-14 Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, held in support of the Paris Climate Agreement. The theme for this year’s SFGFF is “It’s Elemental,” using the elements of earth, water, fire and air to bring multiple perspectives to the issue of climate change.
“There is so much that we are adapting to with our changing climate, our changing political force and environmental threats,” says SFGFF founder and CEO Rachel Caplan. “As we push back at the elements, they push back harder at us. ”
The complete SFGFF program will be announced Aug. 1.
San Francisco Green Film Festival, Sept. 6-13, $13-$125. www.greenfilmfest.org
SFFilm Rainin Grant winners: Jinho “Piper” Ferreira’s “Cops and Robbers,” a drama about a man who tries to change police culture from within by becoming a cop; D’Arcy Drollinger’s “S— & Champagne,” a send-up of 1970s exploitation movies; and Travis Mathews’ “Sutro Forest,” about a homeless woman whose plan to leave San Francisco is changed when her brother goes missing, are among the 10 films awarded spring 2018 SFFilm Rainin Grants. The grants are given twice yearly to support the work of filmmakers and filmmaking teams at varying stages in their projects, from screenwriting to postproduction. The grants are for narrative films that examine social issues or have an impact on the Bay Area filmmaking community.
The three films are among five filmmaking teams based in the Bay Area. They and the five other grantees join the more than 100 projects that have received funding from the partnership between SFFilm and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, a roster that includes Boots Riley’s “Sorry to Bother You,” “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler’s debut feature “Fruitvale Station,” and Benh Zeitlin’s Oscar-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” For a complete list of the spring 2018 SFFilm Rainin Grant winners: https://krfoundation.org
Ciao, Marcello!: “La Dolce Vita” (1960), “8½” (1963) and “A Special Day” (1977) are among the five films that screen Sept. 22, at the Castro Theatre when the Leonardo da Vinci Society, the Consul General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco host “Ciao, Marcello! An Homage to Marcello Mastroianni.” In addition to the films, the organization pays tribute to the Italian screen star with a Via Veneto party. “Ciao, Marcello! An Homage to Marcello Mastroianni,” Saturday, Sept. 22, Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., S.F., $12-$70. Tickets available late July. www.cinemaitaliasf.com