The March/April issue of Release Print constitutes Film Arts Foundation’s valentine to the Bay Area film community. Boasting dozens upon dozens of homegrown events anchored by a few of the country’s most visible festivals, San Francisco has slowly but surely evolved into the quintessential festival town. No place outside of New York comes close to matching our bounty. To help you claim your hometown bragging rights, Release Print will be publishing a suite of articles on our year-round festival scene this month, including the San Francisco Film Festival Guide, an indispensable list of festivals organized by month with submission dates, contact information, and programming descriptions. To get the whole enchilada, join Film Arts Foundation to get your subscription to Release Print.
(compiled by Marcia Scott)
Note [from Release Print]: We have attempted to include, without discrimination, all of the festivals within the San Francisco-Berkeley-Oakland triangle and a few other regional offerings that are either too well established or unique to exclude. For space reasons, some festivals for whom San Francisco is just one stop on a larger tour are excluded, as are film series.
January
California Independent Film Festival
Lunafest
Noir City Film Festival
February
San Francisco Independent Film Festival (SF Indiefest)
March
Cinequest Film Festival
San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival
San Francisco Ocean Film Festival
April
Sonoma International Film Festival
San Francisco International Film Festival
Tiburon International Film Festival
May
CounterCorp Anti-Corporate Film Festival
San Francisco Greek Film Festival
June
Frameline Film Festival
San Francisco Black Film Festival
San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival
SUPERFEST International Disability Film Festival
Queer Women of Color Film Festival
July
Another Hole in the Head: 8 Nights of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror
Frozen Film Festival
International Working Class Film and Video Festival/LaborFest
San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
San Francisco Silent Film Festival
August
Brainwash Movies Drive-In/Bike-In/Walk-In Movie Festival
San Francisco Underground Short Film Fest
September
Iranian Film Festival
Oakland Underground Film Festival
San Francisco Irish Film Festival
San Francisco International Short Film Festival (SF Shorts)
October
Arab Film Festival
Berlin & Beyond
Danville International Children’s Festival
EarthDance Environmental Film Festival
Italian Film Festival
San Francisco Doc Fest
United Nations Association Film Festival
November
American Indian Film Festival
Bicycle Film Festival
San Francisco Animation Festival
Mill Valley amps up the star wattage in its annual mix of local, international titles.
Berkeley-programmed Festival is a favorite for cinephiles; features Caetano Veloso as 2011 Guest Director.
Jason Wolos builds a drama about family and food with a few key ingredients.
SF Silent Film Festival's Winter Event offers financial dramas that speak volumes.
Sean Uyehara: "If you wanted, you could say that Calvin Lee Reeder channels the love child of Dario Argento and Maya Deren..."
Noir City 9's "madness" theme means a few more gothic titles and a fresh context to appreciate noir’s signature motifs.
The Rights Workshop offers timely advice on clearing music rights pre-Sundance.
Bay Area filmmakers find a platform at the Mill Valley Film Festival.