In 1968, twenty-year old Sheila Ganz was raped, became pregnant and unwillingly relinquished her newborn daughter for adoption. Twenty years later, she became an adoption reform advocate and began her first film, UNLOCKING THE HEART OF ADOPTION. The film chronicles the chilling, first person stories of adoptees, birthparents and adoptive parents in same race and transracial adoptions. These stories run the emotional gamut, from Hollywood-style "happy endings" to heart breaking tragedy, with bittersweet personal stories and fascinating historical background in between. From the Orphan Trains to the sealing of adoption records, to the current civil rights reforms for adoptees now being sought, UNLOCKING THE HEART OF ADOPTION proffers a brave, activist agenda through a deeply personal lens.
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Co-Presented by Post Adoption Center for Education & Research

In 1995, an unemployed plumber from outside San Diego stole a tank and ran amok through his suburban hometown of Claremont, California. CUL DE SAC: A SUBURBAN WAR STORY chronicles the extraordinary tank rampage while it examines the socio-economic demise of a suburban landscape. Using news footage and extensive interviews, the film investigates a dramatic act of isolated rage and reveals the complicated relationship of the irrational act of one man to the decay of American community. Preceded by MIXED FEELINGS, an unexpected and revealing portrayal of the architectural and cultural relationship between San Diego and its urban neighbor, Tijuana. Sponsored by: Landmark Theaters ORDER TICKETS NOW

Co-presenter : San Francisco Urban Research and Planning Association (SPUR)

These new narrative shorts are inspired by classic, Hollywood-style filmmaking. While each film has it's own distinct story and visual template, they all offer a rich, character-driven drama, most with lush 35mm cinematography and each one, an authentic, directorial voice. Jonathon Olives Recital is the story of an embarrassed young boy who seeks solace in a bathroom stall; The Three-Cornered Hat by Tony Liano tells the tale of a wacky, postmodernist encounter between a man and a Spanish pirate he discovers digging a hole in his lawn; Aarion Tudisco and Stokes McIntyre teamed up to make Capri, a sumptuous rendering of classic film noir and the story of a strange and mysterious three-way tryst fraught with jealousy, betrayal and mistaken identity; Pushing the Envelope, by LA-based filmmaker Suny Behar, tells of the emotional journey of a lonely man who takes “"going postal"” in a completely new direction; Andre Sevigny's Easy Pickings is a spirited ensemble drama featuring a feisty, old Cajun woman and her card-playing posse of senior citizens tangling with an attempted robber who gets way more than he bargained for; and finally, in Beauteous, by Giovanna Chesler, a young woman reckons with the fervor of her adolescence as she discovers her sexual identity amidst a race for high school prom queen. ORDER TICKETS NOW

Co-presenter : Theatre Bay Area