Docent from Wild Care, with special guest Hinton, a Swainson Hawk

On November 16, 130 students and teachers from five elementary schools joined us for a screening of Winged Migration at The Red Vic Movie House in San Francisco. This beautiful documentary gives us an up-close view of the migrating habits of birds. Wild Care, a nonprofit animal rescue center in Marin County, brought a Swainson Hawk to better explain migration. The children were fascinated by this beautiful creature and also asked many questions about conservation and what they can do to help birds survive their long journeys.

Animator Louis Clichy

On November 14 and 15 our annual collaboration with the French Consulate General of San Francisco continued with two screenings of L’Enfant and A quoi ça sert l’amour? The program serves as a way for high school students studying French to be exposed to French culture through film. The screenings took place on consecutive days in San Francisco and Palo Alto. Three-hundred-fifty students from 12 schools attended. L’Enfant, Palme d’Or winner at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, kept them riveted and absolutely silent while the short animated film, A quoi ça sert l’amour?, had them laughing out loud. Our special guest was Louis Clichy, the director of the short, who recently moved here from Paris to work for Pixar.

A student from ASA Academy meets Vusi Mahlasela

On October 19, 180 students and teachers attended a screening of the documentary Amandla at the Berkeley High Auditorium. Students attended from both Berkeley High and ASA Academy, an all African American school in East Oakland. The film tells the story of the music that sustained and galvanized black South Africans during apartheid.After the film, one of the film’s subjects, singer/songwriter Vusi Mahlasela, participated in a moving Q&A. Mahlasela shared with the students his visions of hope and philosophy of forgiveness. One of his most touching stories recounted his playing at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration. Mahlasela finished with a performance of songs sung in Zulu, Swahili and English.

Runner’s High screening

On October 3 students packed into Oakland’s Grand Lake Theater to view the documentary Runner’s High. The film follows the lives of teenagers from Oakland’s most underserved schools as they train for the Los Angeles Marathon with the Students Run Oakland organization. The students overcome physical, mental and emotional challenges in order to prepare for the 26.2-mile run. Directors Justine Jacob and Alex da Silva, along with two SRO coaches, were on hand to answer questions. When several students asked about joining SRO, it was clear the film had been inspirational. One teacher remarked that after the film, “A few of my students even ran back to school.” Another observed,  “A number of students were inspired...if not to run a marathon, at least to ‘go for the gold.’”

American Blackout

Around 100 teenagers and parents spent a foggy afternoon August 11  in the Red Vic Theater watching American Blackout, an edgy documentary that studies the systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters through the lens of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney’s political career. Viewers were joined by the director Ian Inaba, who participated in a Q&A session after the screening. The discussion was heated and it was apparent that the young film buffs had found a hero. On the way out of the theater two parents commented, "It is a wonderful thing to see teenagers engaged and curious about politics. We are so lucky to have opportunities like these."

Students at February screening of The Boys of Baraka.

In February we had an encore presentation of 2005 San Francisco International Film Festival smash hit The Boys of Baraka, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady. This event took place at Landmark’s Bridge Theatre February 16 with around 340 students in attendance from 15 different institutions. Our outreach efforts brought schools in from as far as Oakland, Berkeley and Sonoma. A portion of the ticket sales went to support a group of students from an underserved school in Oakland to participate in a day excursion at experimental education center Deer Hill Ranch. Study guides were also given to the students to continue discussion in the classroom.

Rob Dicely of Leopards, Etc. works with Kgosi, our guest cheetah.

Cheetahs, yes we said cheetahs! On January 12 there was more excitement when we presented Duma, directed by Carroll Ballard, to almost 300 elementary school students at the Balboa Theater. Along with this wonderful family adventure film the children were treated to an educational animal presentation. Our special cheetah guests Kamau and Kgosi came courtesy of Leopards, Etc. We learned from their owners Rob and Barbara Dicely that our feline guests actually played a small part in the film as voiceover doubles.

Amanda Micheli & Zoë Bell answer questions at Convent of the Sacred Heart High School for Girls.

On December 15 we screened Double Dare, the 2004 San Francisco International Film Festival Audience Award Best Documentary winner, directed by local filmmaker Amanda Micheli. The film follows the lives of two stuntwomen as they navigate through an often male-dominated Hollywood. Along with Micheli, one of the stars of the film, Zoë Bell, also attended. The first screening was at the Julia Morgan School for Girls in Oakland, and the second was at Convent of the Sacred Heart High School for Girls in San Francisco. The interaction between the guests and the students was incredible with many topics covered, including women in Hollywood, female body issues and documentary filmmaking.