Key Events of 50th SFIFF Announced at Sundance

Fog City was a few bioregions away from Park City last night, but for a few hours, the two felt utterly entwined as San Francisco Film Society Executive Director Graham Leggat introduced thawing cinephiles at the Sundance Film Festival to some key events at the upcoming 50th SF International Film Festival. The stage was Buona Vita Ristorante, where a few anniversaries were being celebrated: the SFFS’s 50th and indieWIRE’s 10th. (SF360.org is a co-publication of the SF Film Society and indieWIRE.) The first announcement: SF Int’l will world premiere Gary Leva’s “Fog City Mavericks” April 29th. The documentary about the SF Bay Area’s unique film achievements will feature a Q&A with George Lucas, the festival’s first (and only) Irving “Bud” Levin Award recipient, and several other filmmakers included in the film.

The documentary is said to explore the way SF Bay Area’s filmmakers reflect the indie spirit of the City’s innovators and bohemian experimenters.

Also announced: The 50th SF International will be collaborating with Jaman, a new online community for world cinema, to present “The International Online,” to offer online screenings of a select portion of the festival’s feature films. Headquartered in SF, Jaman.com, Inc., has built a social network for people to enjoy and discuss world cinema with better-than-DVD quality broadcasts over the Internet.

Said Leggat in the SF Film Society’s release on the partnership, “For the past 50 years, the International has been bringing the world to san Francisco. Now, The International Online will bring our films and filmmakers to the world.”

Bay Area Video Coalition’s Wendy Levy reminded us of the organization’s amazing $450,000 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant for its Producers Institute for New Media Technologies. BAVC, along with San Francisco State University Institute for Next Generation Internet, Yahoo! Video, SF360.org, and blogads.com, co-presented the party.