49th San Francisco International Film Festival Enjoys Banner Year

15-day Festival Raises the Bar with Attendance Reaching Above 80,000; Doubling the Number of Sold-Out Screenings; Increasing Citywide Support; Offering New Platforms and Screening Award-Winning Films

May 5, 2006

The San Francisco Film Society closes the 49th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 20 – May 4), with several entries for the record books. The 49th International attracted upwards of 82,000 festivalgoers, more than doubled the number of sold-out screenings and markedly increased sponsorship and citywide support.

“We’re very gratified to say that by all accounts this has been a brilliant Festival,” said Graham Leggat, Film Society executive director. “Both our audiences and our visiting filmmakers have expressed extraordinary appreciation not only for our films and special events but also for each other. The International truly is an exceptional place to discover and celebrate the finest in world cinema.”

Audiences Line Up at the Box Office
Sold-out screenings increased by more than 100 percent over last year with 60 screenings selling out. Live & Onstage programs were again well received with a sold-out Castro Theatre applauding as Werner Herzog received the 2006 Film Society Directing Award. Festivalgoers also got on board for year-round programs by signing up or renewing their membership with the San Francisco Film Society, thereby contributing to a 30 percent increase in membership since October of 2005. The Festival also extended its audience reach by selling out shows at several Satellite venues including BAYCAT, BoCA, Edinburgh Castle, El Rio, Intersection for the Arts, Porchlight and SFFD Fire Station #7.

Citywide Support
The city of San Francisco supported the International in a grand way from Mayor Gavin Newsom speaking at Opening Night to local businesses stepping forward to offer their goods and services. The Festival welcomed more than 50 local restaurants, 20 hotels and three airline partners to the list of sponsors who helped support with hospitality. Sponsorship revenue for the 49th International saw an overall year-over-year increase of 41 percent with 29 percent coming from new partnerships.

To assist in the promotion and presentation of this year’s Festival, more than 30 community organizations copresented programs during the Festival. The citizens of San Francisco also showed their support with more than 600 volunteers coming to work 1,500 shifts during the run of the Festival. In addition, the Citizen Media Press Corps, comprised of more than 20 outlets, reported on the happenings of the Festival via weblogs, photoblogs, podcasts and videoblogs.

New Platforms for Discussion
The International hosted a number of SF360 panels and discussions intended to showcase the vitality of the Bay Area film and media community. These events included the announcement of the Fall 2006 launch of the San Francisco International Animation Festival and Market and Digital Media Conference as well as provocative discussions with industry leaders in a variety of fields. Select local and visiting filmmakers also shared their experience and expertise at three SF360 Live @ The Apple Store presentations. These discussions continued via the social networking component of SF360.org, the online publication copublished by the San Francisco Film Society and indieWIRE, which also provided in-depth coverage of the events and programs for the 49th San Francisco International Film Festival.

Bringing the World to San Francisco
The International welcomed some 200 Festival guests including directors, actors, musicians, film crews and jury members representing more than 25 countries. This year 14 consulates and cultural institutions sponsored international filmmaker participation by underwriting filmmaker travel from their respective countries. A greater number of filmmakers participated in the Schools at the Festival program this year, with 15 visiting schools to discuss their craft in classroom settings. In addition, the Schools at the Festival program brought more than 3,000 local school children to Festival screenings.

Star-Studded Nights
Film Society Awards Night, the San Francisco Film Society’s premier fundraising event, honored three world-class film talents and raised 40 percent more funds over last year to benefit the Film Society’s Education Program. Honorees included international award-winning director Werner Herzog who received the 2006 Film Society Directing Award; Ed Harris, recipient of the Peter J. Owens Award for his achievement in acting; and French film legend Jean-Claude Carrière who received the second annual Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting.

Innovative filmmaker Guy Maddin, who was honored with the Persistence of Vision Award, mesmerized audiences with his provocative storytelling and inimitable filmmaking. The State of Cinema Address presented by the stunning and spectacular Tilda Swinton wowed a capacity crowd. (The transcript is available in its entirety online.) Lucy Gray’s photocollages of Tilda projected outdoors on the North and South sides of City Hall added evening sparkle during their five-day run.

Award-Winning Films
The San Francisco International Film Festival, committed to celebrating the art of the moving image, has presented the best in world cinema since 1957. In 2006, the International presented more than 200 films from some 40 countries.

The SKYY Prize, established in 1997 by the Festival and premier sponsor SKYY Vodka, includes a $10,000 cash award and recognizes a first-time feature filmmaker whose film exhibits unique artistic sensibility. This year’s SKYY jury, “bowled over by the mature cinematic vision of this first-time director and the impressive cinematic feats he accomplished with a borrowed video camera,” selected Ying Liang’s Taking Father Home (China) as the winner of the 2006 SKYY Prize, also giving a nod to Ryan Fleck’s Half Nelson as “one of the most exciting American independent film debuts in years.”

The FIPRESCI jury, composed of three journalists from the renowned international organization of film critics, selected Half Nelson as the FIPRESCI prize winner because of “its penetrating portrayal of a man in crisis and of the importance that one friendship has on his life.” The Virgin Megastore Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Sarah Watt’s Look Both Ways (Australia). The Virgin Megastore Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Encounter Point (USA) directed by Ronit Avni and Julia Bacha.

The Golden Gate Awards got underway with an honorable mentioned given by the jury to filmmakers Sacha Mirzoeff and Bettina Borgfeld for “their diligent and dexterous storytelling” in Shooting Under Fire. Golden Gate Awards were presented to: Michael Glawogger’s Workingman’s Death, which won Best Documentary Feature for its “breathtaking visuals and insightful representations of the global interconnectivity and humanity of hard work;” Stanley Nelson’s Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple which “sheds new light on a historic event with powerful interplay of interview and archival images and sound” for Best Bay Area Documentary Feature; Sam Green’s lot 63, grave c, Best Documentary Short; Karina Epperlein’s Phoenix Dance, Best Bay Area Documentary Short; Olivo Barbieri’s site specific_Las Vegas 05, New Visions; Sebastián Alfie’s Love at 4 PM, Best Narrative Short; Natalija Vekic’s Lost & Found, Best Bay Area Non-Documentary Short; and Bruce Alcock’s At the Quinte Hotel, Best Animated Short. The Golden Gate Award in the Youth Works category went to Karen Lum’s Slip of the Tongue and Cristine Spindler’s Sirah was named Best Work for Kids and Families.

This year’s awards in the television categories went to Shui-Bo Wang’s They Chose China for Best Documentary Long Form, Celia Carey’s Thornton Dial for Best Documentary Short Form, Samir Nasr’s Seeds of Doubt for Best Narrative Long Form and Elanna Allen’s Bing Can Sing for Best Narrative Short Form.

The San Francisco Film Society is a nonprofit arts and educational organization dedicated to celebrating international film and the moving image.