49th San Francisco International Film Festival Feeds The Mind With Seminars, Discussions And Book Signings

Programs to Include SF360 Panels, a Special Writing Seminar with Bent Hamer and Jim Stark and a Series of Book Talks and Signings with Leading Film Industry Professionals

March 28, 2006

San Francisco, CA—The 49th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 20–May 4) has announced an exciting addition to its traditional Festival lineup with House 2, a program in which filmmakers and festivalgoers are invited to drop in and discover the latest in art, media and technology with leading experts in these fields.

Graham Leggat, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society, explains, “House 2 is a salon-type environment in which we host panels and Q&As, present authors and filmmakers and stage book signings amid and between our many superb film screenings. It’s an added texture, provided free of charge*, to festivalgoers.”

*Unless otherwise noted, all events take place in Kabuki House 2, free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis.

SF360 PANELS
As part of its new SF360 initiatives, SFFS presents a series of provocative panels about the various innovative ways in which the Bay Area is exploring America’s newest film and media frontiers.

SF Supercollider: Animation, Digital Media, Broadband and SFX
When: Monday, April 24 at 3:30 pm
Where: Kabuki House 2
Price: Free
Following a press conference on the upcoming SF digital media events slated for October 11-15, 2006, including the SFFS International Animation Festival and Market and Digital Media Conference, panelists will discuss the way in which the Bay Area has become a crucible for the newest kinds of visual media. Moderated by Karen Schwartzman, San Francisco Film Society.

The Revolution, Now Playing: Film as a Tool for Social and Political Change
When: Saturday, April 29 at 2:00 pm
Where: Kabuki House 2
Price: Free
New technologies are enabling and empowering new variations in political and social organizing like flash mobs, blogs and issues-oriented DVD clubs. This energetic panel of activists and filmmakers will discuss current and future ways in which film and media can be used to effect meaningful change. Moderated by Susan Gerhard, SF360.org.

Transformation Nation: New Leaders in Convergence Technology
When: Sunday, April 30 at 12 noon
Where: Kabuki House 2
Price: Free
Technology is rapidly altering the mass entertainment landscape, radically disrupting the way film and media is produced, distributed and consumed. The Bay Area is playing a world-leading role, not just in the tech powering this transformation, but also in new ways of creating and delivering content. SFFS has brought together leading players from the entertainment and technology industries to discuss new platforms, new work and new audiences. Moderated by William R. Hearst III, SFFS Board of Directors.

BOOK TALKS AND SIGNINGS
A series of illuminating talks and discussions with authors, filmmakers, artists and industry professionals. Authors’ books will be available for purchase and signing.

Celluloid San Francisco: The Film Lover’s Guide to Bay Area Movie Locations
By Will Shank and Jim Van Buskirk
When: Monday, April 24 at 6:15 pm
Where: Kabuki House 2
Price: Free
Featuring maps, movie stills and contemporary and archival photographs, Celluloid San Francisco is a comprehensive guide to locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area used in hundreds of classic (and not-so-classic) films and television series. Presented by Shank and Van Buskirk.

Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World
By Judy Stone
When: Monday, May 1 at 5:30 pm
Where: Kabuki House 2
Price: Free
Author and journalist Judy Stone will discuss her latest book, a collection of her interviews with directors and writers, ranging from Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami to Zacharias Kunuk, the pioneer Inuit filmmaker, from poet/essayist Czeslaw Milosz to provocateur Kathy Acker.

I Wake Up Screening: What to Do Once You’ve Made That Movie
By John Anderson and Laura Kim
When: Tuesday, May 2 at 5:45 pm
Where: Kabuki House 2
Price: Free
John Anderson, chief film critic at Newsday, and Laura Kim, executive vice president of marketing and publicity for Warner Independent Pictures, discuss their book which tells emerging filmmakers how to (and how not to) get their movies talked about, written about, sold and seen. The authors’ advice is supported by insightful interviews with more than 60 top industry insiders, all offering priceless behind-the-scenes tips and tricks.

SPECIAL SEMINAR

Adapting Literary Work for the Screen
In association with 826 Valencia
When: Sunday, April 30 at 3:00 pm
Where: Kabuki House 5
Price: Film and Seminar $30 public/$25 SFFS members
Writer/director Bent Hamer and writer/producer Jim Stark will speak with author Stephen Elliot about the process of adapting literary work for the screen, following the Festival screening of Factotum.  Topics in this special edition of the 826 Seminars for Adults include the challenges of adapting Charles Bukowski, writing roles for specific actors, working collaboratively and much more.  The seminar is produced by 826 Valencia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

Additional House 2 event information will be announced prior to and during SFIFF 49.  Details announced at the Kabuki 8 Theatres, via email bulletin and via www.sffs.org

Founded in 1957, the vanguard San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. Held each spring for two weeks, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in the country’s most beautiful city, featuring some 200 films and live events with more than 100 filmmakers in attendance, presenting some 22 awards and attracting a diverse audience of nearly 80,000 people.

The 49th International runs April 20–May 4, 2006 at the Kabuki 8 Theatres, the Castro Theatre 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, as well as several smaller venues. To purchase tickets and for ticket information log on to www.sffs.org, call 925.866.9559 or visit the Main Ticket Outlet at the Kabuki 8 Theatres (1881 Post Street) or the Satellite Ticket Outlet at Virgin Megastore (2 Stockton Street). For additional information log on to www.sffs.org or call 415.561.5000.

San Francisco Film Society, presenter of the flagship SFIFF, is a nonprofit arts and educational organization dedicated to celebrating the world of film and media in all its glorious forms. In early 2006 the Film Society unveiled SF360, a broad-spectrum series of initiatives designed to showcase the extraordinary vitality, variety and innovation of the San Francisco Bay Area film and media scene, including www.sf360.org, SF360 San Francisco Movie Night, SF360 InSchool Cinemas and the SF360 Festival of Festivals.

The Film Society will present the first annual San Francisco International Animation Festival from October 11–15, 2006 and a new SF International Youth Media Festival in 2007.

First to 50: SFIFF will hold its landmark 50th anniversary in April 2007.