San Francisco Film Society Launches Web Site Devoted to Historic
50th Anniversary of San Francisco International Film Festival

Photographs, Audio and Video Podcasts, Streaming Audio Oral Histories Bring 50 Years of SFIFF to Global Audiences

September 21, 2006

San Francisco, CA—As it begins the countdown to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the San Francisco International Film Festival, the San Francisco Film Society has launched a Web site chronicling its storied history. The first film festival from Alaska to Argentina to reach the half-century mark, SFIFF50 will take place from April 26 to May 10, 2007.

The site showcases audio and video podcasts of tribute honorees at the International. Currently an audio podcast of Bette Davis speaking at the 1969 Festival is available for downloading and streaming video excerpts of Clint Eastwood at the 2001 Festival are available for viewing. Other tributes from Jacques Tati to Shelley Winters to Truman Capote will be added in the coming months, thanks in part to a partnership with Pacifica Radio Archives. Transcripts of oral histories from former Festival supporters and staff, and articles on SFIFF’s greatest moments capture the excitement of participating in a world-class festival. A photo gallery of pictures taken at the Festival opens in November. Additional features and assets will be added at regular intervals over the next eight months leading up to SFIFF50.

“Not only does the SF International have the longest history in the Americas, it will be the best documented,” said Festival historian and Creative Director Miguel Pendás. “Volunteers have been working with historical materials for over ten years to amass the resources now available on the Web site. It’s been thrilling to uncover these treasures, but the real payoff comes now when we share them with fans and friends of SFIFF.”

The Festival’s history site—accessible via the Film Society home site, at www.sffs.org—will serve as an encyclopedic resource of information on films screened at past Festivals. It features a searchable list of more than 5,700 titles, most accompanied by program notes, film stills and credits. A resource for film lovers and history buffs, the Web site also invites visitors to contribute to the historical record by submitting anecdotes about their experiences at the Festival; these stories will later be featured on the site as part of the Collective Memory pages.

The San Francisco Film Society, presenter of the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 26 –May 10, 2007), is a nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to celebrating international film and the moving image.