March 29, 2005

48th San Francisco International Film Festival Launches April 21 for Two-Week Journey Around the World; Festival Explores 49 Countries in 185 Films

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival kicks off April 21 and runs though May 5, boasting 185 films from 49 countries, including 14 world premieres and 22 North American premieres. The Festival opens with the newest film from legendary director Costa-Gavras, THE AX, starring José García, Olivier Gourmet (this great, award-winning French actor is appearing in three films in the Festival this year) and Yolande Moreau (who also directs and stars in another Festival film, WHEN THE TIDE COMES IN). This dark comedy is based on a highly praised novel by American author Donald E. Westlake about a corporate drone who decides to take "downsizing" into his own hands—via murder. Costa-Gavras and Moreau will be attending the Festival. Closing the Festival is the directorial debut of acclaimed playwright Craig Lucas, THE DYING GAUL, a scathing show-biz satire starring Campbell Scott, Patricia Clarkson and Peter Sarsgaard. Stars Scott, Clarkson and Sarsgaard, director Lucas and producer George VanBuskirk will be in attendance.

In announcing the program Executive Director Roxanne Messina Captor said, "The films in the 48th Festival reflect a world in the midst of great changes. Filmmakers throughout the world are taking risks and using the medium to speak out about the social issues that effect their country and the world at large, such as economic collapse in Argentina and the Enron corporation, political corruption in Peru and Denmark, the rise of U.S. neoconservatism and Islamic fundamentalism. At the same time, many filmmakers are celebrating life on Earth with films about the music of Iran and Thailand, a blind percussionist and a gay country music duo; films honoring the films and filmmakers of the past; films about iconoclastic farmers and shepherds, boxers and ballerinas, traveling through time or along the road from Shangri-La."

The Festival's 14 world premieres include Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer's LIFE IN A BOX, an engaging documentary about gay country music duo Y'all and their coast-to-coast minivan tour; Geoff Callan and Mike Shaw's PURSUIT OF EQUALITY, which captures the behind-the-scenes story of that cataclysmic month in 2004 when thousands of same-sex couples married in San Francisco; the debut feature by acclaimed short filmmaker Alison Murray, MOUTH TO MOUTH (executive-produced by Atom Egoyan), which translates her choreographic expertise into a story about a young woman swept up into a youth cult traveling across Europe; Woo Ming Jin's MONDAY MORNING GLORY, one of the emerging new wave of independent films from Malaysia; and KAMANCHEH, a documentary by Bahman Kiarostami—son of the great Abbas Kiarostami—celebrating the soaring beauty of Iranian classical music by spotlighting one instrument, the kamancheh.

Honored with awards at this year's Festival are Taylor Hackford, director of one of 2005's Best Picture nominees, RAY, who receives the Film Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Directing and Joan Allen, who receives the Peter J. Owens Award, which honors an actor whose work exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity. Both award recipients will be interviewed onstage prior to specially chosen screenings; Hackford will introduce his feature film debut, THE IDOLMAKER, and Allen will introduce her newest film, YES, directed by Sally Potter (Potter will also conduct Joan Allen's onstage interview).

The Film Society inaugurates a new award this year: The Kanbar Award will be given each year for excellence in screenwriting. The inaugural Kanbar Award is given this year to Paul Haggis, acclaimed creator of and scriptwriter for such television series as EZ STREETS, FAMILY LAW and DUE SOUTH and writer of this year's Academy Award—winner for Best Picture, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, and the upcoming CRASH. "We have introduced the Kanbar Award to acknowledge the crucial role that strong screenwriting plays in the creation of great films," explained Captor. "The award is named after longtime San Francisco Film Society board member, philanthropist and San Francisco Film Commissioner Maurice Kanbar, who has shown unwavering support for the arts and for the Film Society for many years."

Adam Curtis receives this year's Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award, which honors the life achievement of a filmmaker who works in forms other than narrative features. Curtis has been creating controversial, myth-shattering, multipart documentary series for the BBC that form a cultural history behind the politics of the 20th century and beyond. The Festival this year will screen his newest series, THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES: THE RISE OF THE POLITICS OF FEAR, following an onstage interview with Curtis. The Mel Novikoff Award, which is bestowed on an individual or institution whose work has enhanced the filmgoing public's knowledge and appreciation of world cinema, is given this year to the Bay Area's Anita Monga, whose astute 17-year stewardship of the Castro Theatre is legendary in the Bay Area and throughout the world. Monga has chosen one of her favorite little-seen films, Jacques Becker's 1957 French gangster thriller, TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI, to screen after her onstage interview at the Palace of Fine Arts.

This marks the third year for the Festival's State of Cinema Address, and the first year the address will be delivered by a filmmaker: animator Brad Bird, writer and director of the 2005 Oscar—winner for Best Animated Film, THE INCREDIBLES (not to mention the voice of Edna Mode). Bird will discuss the future of film and filmmaking and what's being left behind in the forward march of technology.

Alloy Orchestra first brought one of their original silent film scores to the Festival back in 1995, making 2005 something of a ten-year anniversary visit. To celebrate, this year Festival audiences are lucky enough to experience two new performances from these masters of the silent film score. The trio will perform its new score to accompany Alfred Hitchcock's silent masterpiece BLACKMAIL, as well as the spectacular silent classic THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, starring that Man of a Thousand Faces, Lon Chaney. Alloy Orchestra cofounder Ken Winokur supervised a new colored print of PHANTOM that replicates the 217 tint changes of the original, as well as reproducing the original stencil method that was used to color the film.

The Festival has once again commissioned a new score for a rarely screened silent film. This year's unique music-plus-movie event is a new score by San Francisco's own American Music Club for Frank Borzage's 1927 melodrama, STREET ANGEL, starring former San Francisco resident, Janet Gaynor. Gaynor won the first Best Actress Academy Award that year for her work in this and two other films (including Borzage's SEVENTH HEAVEN). This will be the first film score composed by American Music Club, and its gloriously emotional music should be a perfect match for Borzage's unmatched romanticism.

Eleven films comprise the Next Wave section of the Festival. All these films compete for the SKYY Prize, a $10,000 cash award given to a first-time feature filmmaker and chosen by an international jury. The films are Fernando Eimbcke's DUCK SEASON from Mexico, Marina Razbezhkina's HARVEST TIME from Russia, Pete Travis's OMAGH from Ireland, Maren Ade's THE FOREST FOR THE TREES from Germany, Danielle Arbid's IN THE BATTLEFIELDS from Lebanon, Marek Najbrt's CHAMPIONS from the Czech Republic, Miranda July's ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW from the U.S., Vera Fogwill and Martin Desalvo's KEPT AND DREAMLESS from Argentina, Mohamed Asli's IN CASABLANCA, ANGELS DON'T FLY from Morocco, Francesco Fei's WAVES from Italy and Alison Murray's MOUTH TO MOUTH from England.

The Festival continues to maintain a focus on Asia, Latin America and France, thanks in part to the efforts of programming consultants Roger Garcia (Asia), Ivan Giroud (Latin America) and Michel Ciment (France). There are 17 films from Pacific Asia this year, from feature film debuts to work from well-established veterans. From the veterans come such films as THE WORLD, a sly modern parable about the human costs of China's recent cultural renovation from one of China's most acclaimed directors, Jia Zhangke (PLATFORM, SFIFF 2001; XIAO WU, SFIFF 1999); DELAMU, a beautiful documentary from director Tian Zhuangzhuang (HORSE THIEF, SFIFF 1988) detailing a trip along the rugged Tea Horse Road that connects southwestern China to the outside world through Tibet, Bhutan, India, Western Asia through to Europe; from Indonesia, OF LOVE AND EGGS, directed by Garin Nugroho (AND THE MOON DANCES, SFIFF 1997); and a new film—his 99th!—by South Korean master (and recipient of the Film Society's Akira Kurosawa Award in 1998) Im Kwon-Taek, LOW LIFE, the tale of an ambitious young everygangster set against the tumultuous political and social history of South Korea from the late '50s through the '70s. A partial list of other Asian films include Pang Ho-Cheung's BEYOND OUR KEN from Hong Kong, Park Heung-Shik's MY MOTHER, THE MERMAID and Kim Ki-Duk's 3-IRON from South Korea; and a film from Thailand, THE OVERTURE, directed by Itthi-sunthorn Wichailak and based on the life of legendary Thai musician Luang Pradit Phairao.

The Festival this year has a special focus on Malaysia, a multicultural society under Islamic law. With the development of digital video and the growing sophistication of a new, cine-literate generation, the past three years has seen the emergence of an independent film movement. These indie filmmakers have been motivated by the need to give voice to the major ethnic groups (Chinese, Indian) ignored by the Malay-dominated mainstream cinema as well as the drive to produce films reflective of social reality. Program Consultant Roger Garcia has brought six films from Malaysia to the Festival: Deepak Kumaran Menon's THE GRAVEL ROAD, Malaysia's first indie Tamil-language film; MONDAY MORNING GLORY, a first feature (and world premiere) directed by popular short filmmaker Woo Ming Jin; PRINCESS OF MOUNT LEDANG, a sweeping epic of the 15th century directed by Saw Teong Hin; SEPET, a tale of interracial love by one of the few Muslim women filmmakers, Yasmin Ahmad; and two witty, cutting-edge films by experimentalist Amir Muhammad, TOKYO MAGIC HOUR and THE YEAR OF LIVING VICARIOUSLY.

The Festival's Latin American section continues to spotlight both veteran and emerging artists: nine features from Argentina, three from Brazil, one from Ecuador, one from Mexico, one from Cuba and one from Peru. Here's a partial list: from Brazil comes João Moreira Salles's NELSON FRIERE and Roberto Moreira's UP AGAINST THEM ALL (produced by CITY OF GOD director Fernando Meirelles). Among the nine films from Argentina are Lucrecia Martel's THE HOLY GIRL; Pablo Trapero's rollicking road movie, ROLLING FAMILY; WHISKY ROMEO ZULU, written, directed and starring Enrique Piñeyro, a former airline pilot; Fernando E. Solanas's devastating documentary analyzing Argentina's economic collapse, A SOCIAL GENOCIDE; and Lisandro Alonso's LOS MUERTOS, in which an ex-con shucks civilization and disappears into the jungle. From Cuba comes the unique THREE TIMES TWO, in which three young Cuban filmmakers combine their efforts to create this omnibus film—the best and brightest of Cuba's new generation at its most immediate and most startling.

The Festival sports 15 films from France this year, including the Opening Night film, THE AX; a compilation of three films from Agnès Varda, CINEVARDAPHOTO; François Ozon's latest, 5X2, in which a long-term relationship is played backwards, from divorce to first meeting; Bertrand Tavernier's Cambodia-set HOLY LOLA, about a couple attempting to adopt a Cambodian child; Arnaud Desplechin's KINGS AND QUEEN, another of his ambitious, richly tragicomic tales starring French favorite Mathieu Amalric (with Catherine Deneuve as his psychiatrist); Clair Denis's poetic and challenging global journey, THE INTRUDER; and two films by revered French photographer Raymond Depardon (UNTOUCHED BY THE WEST, SFIFF 2003; CAUGHT IN THE ACT, SFIFF 1995), 10TH DISTRICT COURT: MOMENTS OF TRIALS and PROFILES FARMERS: DAILY LIFE.

This year's Midnight Movies section is a carnival of delights. There's a double dose from mayhem maestro Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER, SFIFF 2002): IZO follows an immortal samurai as he carries out his murderous mission across various epochs; and BOX, his contribution to the omnibus film, THREE…EXTREMES, is an unusually dreamy film about two female contortionists and the magician who loves them both. And speaking of THREE…EXTREMES, this trio of shriek-inducing short films also includes contributions by Hong Kong's Fruit Chan and South Korea's Park Chan-Wook. Chan's DUMPLINGS is about a beautiful woman who cooks the titular snack with a shocking secret ingredient and Park's CUT follows a demented extra who kidnaps a film director. The other Midnight Movies are Rob Stefaniuk's PHIL THE ALIEN, about an interstellar being who wreaks comic havoc in Canada and Dave Gebroe's ZOMBIE HONEYMOON, a bizarre, hilarious and genuinely heartrending conflation of two genres: the flesh-eating monster movie and the marital drama.

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 21—May 5, 2005 at the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, the Home of the Festival, the Castro Theatre, the Palace of Fine Arts, Kanbar Hall at the Jewish Community Center and the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center in San Francisco; the Pacific Film Archive Theater in Berkeley; and Landmark's Aquarius Theatre in Palo Alto. Tickets for San Francisco Film Society members will be available on March 29 and for the general public on April 5. To purchase tickets and for ticket information log on to www.sffs.org, call 925.866.9559 or visit the Main Ticket Outlet, located in the atrium of the AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post Street or the Satellite Ticket Outlet at the Virgin Megastore, 2 Stockton Street. For up-to-date Festival information log on to www.sffs.org or call 415.561.5000.

The 48th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21—May 5, 2005) is presented by the San Francisco Film Society, a nonprofit arts and educational organization dedicated to celebrating international film and the moving image.