San Francisco International Film Festival Celebrates 50 Years
Special Festival Programs Include Five-0 Storytelling Event with Tales of Festivals Past
April 3, 2007
San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco International Film Festival (April 26 – May 10) reaches a remarkable milestone this spring, becoming the first film festival in the Americas to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Over the past 50 years, SFIFF has shown roughly 5,700 films from 150 countries to an audience of two million film lovers. To commemorate being the first to fifty, the San Francisco Film Society has a number of special programs lined up for the 2007 International, in addition to an expanded main program of screenings and events. These special programs will celebrate the Festival’s history, the city of San Francisco, and films and filmmakers from around the corner and around the globe that make the Festival possible.
“It’s an extraordinary thing to be able to say that no film festival in the Americas has done as much for its city and for world cinema for as long as the International,” said Graham Leggat, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society. “The Film Society staff and board of directors are very proud to be the standard bearers of this extraordinary tradition of innovation and excellence and very grateful for all the encouragement our audiences and supporters have given us over the years.”
Five-0: Stories and Images from 50 Years at the International
The San Francisco Film Society will showcase a special one-time-only storytelling event during SFIFF50. Dubbed Five-0: Stories and Images from 50 Years at the International and copresented by Porchlight (San Francisco’s acclaimed nonfiction storytelling series), the event will be a celebration of the Festival’s history. Cohosted by Leggat with Porchlight’s Beth Lisick and Arline Klatte, the event will consist of true stories of the Festival’s greatest moments told in-person by Festival aficionados and alumni, along with photo montages, film and video footage and vintage Festival trailers. Five-0 takes place Tuesday, May 8 at the Sundance Cinemas Kabuki.
Pather Panchali Returns
Acclaimed Indian director Satyajit Ray’s film Pather Panchali, a wonderful coming-of-age story about a young Brahmin boy living in a village in Bengal, was among the 15 films that played in the first San Francisco International Film Festival in 1957. It earned Ray the Festival’s first prestigious Golden Gate Award for Best Director and Best Film, and the Festival honored Ray in 1992 with the Akira Kurosawa Award for lifetime achievement in directing. To date, no other film director has had more films in the Festival that Ray; his count is 13. To celebrate the film and the impact Ray has had on SFIFF, the Festival will show Pather Panchali on April 29 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Happily Ever After: Snow White at 70
Another classic film returns to SFIFF this year, as the Festival celebrates the 70th anniversary of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In honor of this milestone and to pay homage to Walt Disney’s connection to the International, SFIFF will present a special screening of the film on Saturday, May 5 at 10:00 am at the Sundance Cinemas Kabuki. The Festival is honored to have been the location of what is believed to be Disney’s last public appearance: Snow White was shown at the 1965 Festival and Disney, who was also presented with the Native Son award, was there to talk about the making of the film. A sparkling new print has been struck specially for SFIFF50, making this even more of a special event for families.
The True Story of the World: On the Road at 50
Both SFIFF and Jack Kerouac’s On the Road celebrate 50-year anniversaries this year; the former honors the latter with a portmanteau program of readings, testimonials and images honoring the original Beat icon. Peter Coyote, Michael McClure, Diane DiPrima and others will join the celebration on Monday, April 30 at the Sundance Cinemas Kabuki.
George Lucas to Receive One-Time-Only Irving M. Levin Award
Another special event at SFIFF50 is the presentation of the one-time-only Irving M. Levin Award to legendary filmmaker George Lucas. The award, named in honor of the Festival’s founder, will be presented to Lucas at Film Society Awards Night at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on May 3. Director Spike Lee, actor Robin Williams and screenwriter Peter Morgan will also be honored at the gala fundraiser for the Film Society’s Education Program.
World Premiere of Fog City Mavericks
Prior to receiving the Levin Award, Lucas will join several of the celebrated filmmakers that call the Bay Area home at the world premiere of Gary Leva’s documentary Fog City Mavericks on April 29 at the Castro Theatre. With more than two dozen on-camera interviews and rare archival footage, Leva’s film chronicles the amazing past 40 years of the lives and work of the Bay Area’s best-known filmmakers. At this historic event, a Who’s Who of Bay Area filmmakers will take to the Castro stage. Expected guests include Dominic Angerame, Brad Bird, Chris Columbus, Peter Coyote, Pete Docter, Philip Kaufman, John Korty, George Lucas, Rob Nilsson, Matthew Robbins, Andrew Stanton, Robin Williams and Saul Zaentz. This event is underwritten by Macy’s West. Additional support provided by the San Francisco Film Commission.
History Web Site
To commemorate 50 years of Festival history, the San Francisco Film Society has launched a Web site (http://history.sffs.org) chronicling the event’s evolution from its inception in 1957 to this year’s golden anniversary. Showcasing a trove of priceless archival materials, the History site features audio and video podcasts of film luminaries including Jacques Tati, Shelley Winters, Clint Eastwood and Dolores del Rio; interviews with former Festival staff and affiliates; a photo gallery of rarely seen images from Festivals past and a gallery of exceptional photographs by Pamela Gentile and other sharp-eyed SFIFF shooters; and incisive articles on great Festival moments from Truman Capote’s appearance in 1974 to a press conference with Liv Ullman. In addition, the site functions as an encyclopedia of information all the films screened over the years, most accompanied by program notes, film stills and credits, making it an excellent resource for historians and film buffs alike.
