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14TH ANNUAL FILM ARTS FESTIVAL OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA
(November 4-8, 1998)
Schedule
Castro Theatre, Roxie Cinema, SF Main Library, Asian Art Museum
(November 4-8, 1998)
Schedule
Castro Theatre, Roxie Cinema, SF Main Library, Asian Art Museum
Wednesday, November 4, Castro Theatre
6 pm
Champagne Reception
The Film Arts Festival of Independent Cinema celebrates its 14th year of presenting the ever-expanding output of the Northern California independent film and video community. The festival kicks off with a champagne reception sponsored by Korbel on the mezzanine of the Castro Theatre. Space is limited, if you wish to attend, purchase your tickets well in advance.
8 pm
Opening Night
Drylongso (ordinary) by Cauleen Smith
El Corrido de Cecilia Rios by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
Thursday, November 5, Roxie Cinema
6pm
Boom Boom
From a welterweight champion of the world to former members of the Black Panther Party, this program combines the strength of tough women who fight the system (personal, governmental and social) with the unique spirit of the East Bay.
Red Rain by Laura Plotkin
Still Revolutionaries by Sienna McLean
8 pm
The Story of Mothers and Daughters
The Story of Mothers and Daughters by Gary Weimberg, Catherine Ryan and Judith Leonard
Why Has a Long Tale by Becky MacDonald
10 pm
Stripped and Teased
Stripped and Teased: Tales from Las Vegas Women by Amie Williams
My Life in the Bathtub by Melanie Wilbur
Luv Is... by Nina Paley
Friday, November 6, San Francisco Main Public Library
12 noon
No Place Like Home
Loners on Wheels by Susan Morosoli
Recollections by Jess Zanziger
Friday, November 6, Roxie Cinema
6 pm
Tried and Punished
Five short takes on retribution. With a combination of raw, jangling energy, sly wit and steady nerves, these films look humanity straight in the eye and expose the violence, ignorance and frailty of a world slouching toward the millennium.
Parental Guidance by Richard Walsh
2:08 AM by Ian Olds
Greenwood County by Shaun Peterson
Waiter Duty by Jason Wolos
Le Rve de la Mer by Michael Derrossett
8 pm
Loves Me, Loves Me Not
A groovy kind of love as expressed through the eyes of a starstruck teen in 1967, a pregnant dog, a lovelorn clay comedian, the cells of the body and others who feel all the aching beauty and torment that this one emotion seems to inspire in artists of every stripe.
Daydream Believer by Kelly Peeples
A Pregnant Moment by Jay Rosenblatt and Jennifer Frame
Goodnight, I Love You by Gordon Thomas
chemistries by Daven Gee
Picture Time by Anton Herbert
Grapes: A Love Story by Jesse Spencer
Sex Pudding by Dan McHale
From the Heart by Charlie Camfield
10 pm
Fishing with Gandhi
Fishing with Gandhi by Gabe Weisert
Midge by Christian Bruno
Saturday, November 7, Roxie Cinema
12 noon
Open Screen
2pm
El Dorado
El Dorado by Frank Green
Drawbridge by Will Zavala
4 pm
Afterschool Special
The shorts in this collection are made with equal parts wonder and warmth, as they consider a grown-up world from a child's point of view.
The Face by Iain McCaig, Jill Jurkowitz and Allison Chase
The Tragedy of Samantha Biggle and the Twins by Lauren E. Himmel
Robber by Karen Aschenbach
Myself, Portrait by Christine Lee
6 pm
Out-Of-Towners
Our annual film festival tribute to a smattering of Film Arts Foundation's non-Northern California members. With so many great films coming in from all regions, it is a shame we only have space for these few, but lucky that we do, as they offer a healthy counterpoint to our locals-only lineup. The program, curated by one-time SF and now LA filmmaker Greg Sax (27, 28), offers vibrant proof that there is a there there! These (mostly women) makers are aggressively creative and self-assured. Look for the overflow from this show to turn up in our regular programming.
Light by Viktoria Oversovszky
Diary of a Midlife Crisis by Judy Fiskin
Lucy's Dream by Relah Eckstein
Double D by Laura Bennet
Sombra by Robin Larsen
The Oldest Tree by Dale Elrod
burnt by Holger Gruss and Vera Sander
8 pm
Jeepers Creepers
Short horror movies that spin quiet and personal tales of mystery, madness and love gone wrong. The show includes hints of Mario Bava, shades of Nancy Drew, and samplings of David Lynch all wrapped up in neat little packages that, when unspooled, create a dark chaos all their own.
Come to Venus Melancholy by Mark Bowen
The Slow Escape by Sativa Peterson
Pink Octopus by Ryan Sage
The Trap by Lisset Barcellos
Lesson 9 by Mark Taylor
When I Was by Jennifer Wallis
Condor: A Film from California by James T. Hong
10 pm
Burning Man
Burning Man: Where's the Fire? by Fernando J. Velasquez and Herb Bennett
Malfunction by Astrid Cravens and Billy Greene
Sunday, November 8, Roxie Cinema
12 noon
Vanishing Line
The Vanishing Line by Maren R. Monsen, MD
Full Circle by Yasha Aginsky
2 pm
Lez Beings
An unusual program for the Film Arts Festival. We try our damnedest to mix things up as best we can, but these wild stories of lesbians run amok, culled from a surprising number of new dyke works, just would not be integrated. These films and videos are fiercely individualistic, showing sides of grrrl-culture that are surprising, hilarious and in-your-face.
Scent uVa Butch by Shoshana Rosenfeld
Sleep Come Free Me by Laurie Schmidt
And Then the Dog Came Over by Rebekah Sitty
Tomboy by Donna Carter
The Sacred Heart by Natalija Vekic
4 pm
The Road
Whether exploring the texture of the streets themselves or the places where they lead, these shorts tell the many divergent stories of the people and sites that populate them.
No U Turn by Scott Gerow
Special by Ray Rea
Sweep by Mark Street
Point Street Bridge by Perry T. Hallinan
The Paradise of Her Memory by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
Blue Diary by Jenni Olson
Rebellion by Flash
6 pm
Mavericks
Mavericks by Lili Schad and Grant Washburn
The Glacier Blues by Michael Rosas-Walsh
8 pm
Bop City
The Legend of Bop City by Carol P. Chamberland
Sunday, November 8, Asian Art Museum
4:00 pm
Sing Faster
Sing Faster by Jon Else
6pm
Regret to Inform
Regret to Inform by Barbara Sonneborn
Han Chee (Sweet Potato) by Jean Cheng
Saturdayday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15, San Francisco Art Institute
7 pm
1998 Phelan Art Awards in Filmmaking
Reception, screening and award presentation
in honor of Chick Strand
JUST ADD WATER
Northern California has more active ingredients for independent film and video making than anywhere else in the world, and the mad geniuses to fuse them into wondrous works of art. This year the setting could not have been more perfect. With the wind and rain pelting the roof and rattling the windows, it is easy to imagine the artist, accompanied by the occasional thunderclap, turning his or her basement into a film set, or editing room into a laboratory.
The films and videos contained in these pages (the 21 programs crammed into 5 days in early November) represent a mad rush to invention that is particular to this part of the world.
The Film Arts Festival of Independent Cinema bubbles over with the creativity and ingenuity of a region that is famous for the prodigious output of its media makers.
Here you will find short experiments, tall tales, and documentaries of all shapes and sizes, not to mention a number of hybrids stitched together from parts of each. Jointly they render an image of a diverse and inventive place made up of light things and dark ones, easy fantasies and hard truths. Many of the works will receive their debut screenings here before they are unleashed on an unsuspecting planet. Come and see the products of this wild activity. Experience first-hand the unexpected.
Mark Taylor
Festival Director