56th SFIFF Press Conference

This morning the San Francisco Film Society held a press conference in the Crown Room of the Fairmont Hotel to announce the programming for the 56th San Francisco International Film Festival, running April 25 - May 9. Ted Hope, who took over as Executive Director last year, said San Francisco now feels like home. Programmers Rachel Rosen, Rod Armstrong, Sean Uyehara, & Audrey Chang efficiently ran through their lists of festival highlights. Though the festival is not programmed thematically, Ms. Rosen noted that "an unintentional local angle emerged." Opening night film What Maisie Knew, the centerpiece documentary Inequality for All, & the closing night film Before Midnight all have Bay Area connections.

Philip Kaufman, Stephen Soderbergh, William Friedkin, Julie Delpy, Richard Linklater, independent filmmaker Jem Cohen, & Finnish film curator & director Peter von Bagh are scheduled to appear in person. Rick Prelinger will present No More Road Trips?, a show of found footage for which the audience provides the soundtrack. Experimental musician Mike Patton & 3 percussionists will provide live accompaniment to Waxworks, a 1924 German Expressionist silent film starring Emil Jannings & Conrad Veidt.

The programmers noted many documentaries, including Google and the World Brain, Good Ol' Freda, about the Beatles' secretary, Deceptive Practice, about magician Ricky Jay, & Twenty Feet from Stardom, about backup singers. There's also a program of 3 early Les Blank films. Mr. Armstrong pointed out the longest films in the festival: The 5-hour Penance & the 316-minute Eight Deadly Shots.

George Gund III, the festival's major donor & longtime chair of the board of directors, passed away this year & is being honored with a screening of the Czech epic Marketa Lazarova. Byzantium & The Spectacular Now are added screenings not in the printed program. A press conference attendee took advantage of the Q&A to plug the Oakland International Film Festival, which starts this week. Mr. Hope added that the Bay Area hosts 80 film festivals a year.

§ 56th San Francisco International Film Festival
April 25 - May 9, 2013
Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, New People Cinema and the Castro Theatre in San Francisco
Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley