S.F. film fest marks 60 years with new name, structure
The San Francisco International Film Festival turns 60 this year, and it is celebrating by looking ahead, not back. On Wednesday, the festival announced an adventurous program and a re-branding of their name. They’re now to be known as the SFFilm Festival, and their umbrella organization, the San Francisco Film Society, is now SFFilm.
“Our approach to our 60th anniversary — while acknowledging our heritage — is really to be forward looking,” said Rachel Rosen, director of programming. “So we’re not heavily embedded in retrospectives but in unique programming, special events and
live components, to make it really fun.”
The festival will open with “Landline,” the second feature film from Gillian Robespierre, whose first film was “Obvious Child.” The new film is a comedy-drama about a dysfunctional family that grows closer as long-buried secrets are revealed. It stars Jenny Slate, Edie Falco and Abie Quinn and screens at 7 p.m. April 5 at the Castro Theatre.
This year’s festival is loosely structured into three parts. “As we see it,” said Noah Cowan, the festival’s executive director, “the first weekend through Sunday will have a lot of premieres, red carpet events and parties geared to out-of-towners. The second phase will have more local focus and foreign language films. And the third will allow cinephiles to catch up.”
Among the many highlights, look for “The Force,” from documentarian Peter Nicks, whose “The Waiting Room,” about what goes on inside a hospital waiting room, was one of the best films of 2013. His new film takes a look at the Oakland Police Department over the course of two years.
Also look for “The Lost City of Z,” the latest from director James Gray (“Two Lovers”), who is considered a leading American auteur in Europe. It’s the drama based on the real life story of a British explorer in search of a lost city in the Amazon. It screens at 7 p.m. April 9 at the YBCA Theatre on Mission Street.
Classic film aficionados will not want to miss the screening of “Citizen Kane,” which will be accompanied by a conversation between film historian David Thomson and William Randolph Hearst III. It’s the first time a member of the Hearst family will have spoken publicly about the film, which was loosely based on the life of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. The program will take place at 6:30 p.m. April 6 at the Castro.
Ethan Hawke will be the subject of a tribute built around a screening of “Maudie,” an Aisling Walsh film in which he co-stars opposite Sally Hawkins. He will appear onstage in a conversation about his career at 3:30 p.m. on April 8 at YBCA.
The festival’s centerpiece film will be “Patti Cake$,” from first-time feature director Geremy Jasper, who won a grant from the Film Society and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation in 2014. Danielle Macdonald stars in the fictional story of a white working-class girl from New Jersey who aspires to stardom as a hip-hop artist. Cathy Moriarty (“Raging Bull”) plays the girl’s grandmother. The film screens at 7:30 p.m. April 12 at the Castro.
The closing night film will be “The Green Fog — A San Francisco Fantasia,” from director Guy Maddin. The film is a kind of remake of Hitchcock’s “Vertigo,” using no footage from the original, that is pieced together from already existing footage of San Francisco. It will be accompanied by Kronos Quartet, playing a score written by Jacob Garchik. The show will screen at 7 p.m. April 16 at the Castro.