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Home
Essential SF: Canyon Cinema
Michael Fox
Oct 26, 2011For 50 years, Canyon Cinema has provided crucial support for a fertile avant-garde film scene.
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In Depth
Essential SF: Canyon Cinema
Michael Fox
Oct 26, 2011For 50 years, Canyon Cinema has provided crucial support for a fertile avant-garde film scene.
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November 3, 2011
Essential SF: Canyon Cinema
Michael Fox
Oct 26, 2011For 50 years, Canyon Cinema has provided crucial support for a fertile avant-garde film scene.
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October 28, 2011
Essential SF: Canyon Cinema
Michael Fox
Oct 26, 2011For 50 years, Canyon Cinema has provided crucial support for a fertile avant-garde film scene.
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Events
'A Sixth Part of the World'
Sep 21, 2011Dziga Vertov completed the epic documentary 'A Sixth Part of the World' after his ejection from the Cold War-era Soviet documentary film unit Sovkino. The breathtaking and broad-reaching doc, praised by revered experimentalist Chris Marker, screens Wednesday as part of PFA's annual avant-garde film program Alternative Visions. More info at bampfa.berkeley.edu.
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September 20, 2011
'A Sixth Part of the World'
Sep 21, 2011Dziga Vertov completed the epic documentary 'A Sixth Part of the World' after his ejection from the Cold War-era Soviet documentary film unit Sovkino. The breathtaking and broad-reaching doc, praised by revered experimentalist Chris Marker, screens Wednesday as part of PFA's annual avant-garde film program Alternative Visions. More info at bampfa.berkeley.edu.
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Home
Burroughs’ Story Still Stranger than Fiction
Dennis Harvey
Mar 11, 2011A new Burroughs documentary revisits a familiar story, but delivers fresh insight.
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March 17, 2011
Burroughs’ Story Still Stranger than Fiction
Dennis Harvey
Mar 11, 2011A new Burroughs documentary revisits a familiar story, but delivers fresh insight.
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Reviews
Burroughs’ Story Still Stranger than Fiction
Dennis Harvey
Mar 11, 2011A new Burroughs documentary revisits a familiar story, but delivers fresh insight.
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February 17, 2011
On the Making of 'Crooked Beauty'
Ken Paul Rosenthal
Feb 15, 2011A filmmaker delves deep into the process of embodying 'madness' in movie form.
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First Person
On the Making of 'Crooked Beauty'
Ken Paul Rosenthal
Feb 15, 2011A filmmaker delves deep into the process of embodying 'madness' in movie form.
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Home
On the Making of 'Crooked Beauty'
Ken Paul Rosenthal
Feb 15, 2011A filmmaker delves deep into the process of embodying 'madness' in movie form.
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December 9, 2010
Essential SF: Anne McGuire
Sean Uyehara
Dec 6, 2010San Francisco has not quite been the same since it began experiencing the cinema/performance antics of an uncontainable Anne McGuire.
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Home
Essential SF: Anne McGuire
Sean Uyehara
Dec 6, 2010San Francisco has not quite been the same since it began experiencing the cinema/performance antics of an uncontainable Anne McGuire.
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In Depth
Essential SF: Anne McGuire
Sean Uyehara
Dec 6, 2010San Francisco has not quite been the same since it began experiencing the cinema/performance antics of an uncontainable Anne McGuire.
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November 3 2010
Essential SF: Anne McGuire
Sean Uyehara
Dec 6, 2010San Francisco has not quite been the same since it began experiencing the cinema/performance antics of an uncontainable Anne McGuire.
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Home
Radical Light: 'A Haven for Radical Art and Experimental Film and Video'
Steve Anker
Nov 19, 2010Pacific Film Archive offers the second of three excerpts from its monumental work, 'Radical Light.'
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In Depth
Radical Light: 'A Haven for Radical Art and Experimental Film and Video'
Steve Anker
Nov 19, 2010Pacific Film Archive offers the second of three excerpts from its monumental work, 'Radical Light.'
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November 24, 2010
Radical Light: 'A Haven for Radical Art and Experimental Film and Video'
Steve Anker
Nov 19, 2010Pacific Film Archive offers the second of three excerpts from its monumental work, 'Radical Light.'
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Home
Radical Light: 'A Haven for Radical Art and Experimental Film and Video'
Steve Anker
Nov 19, 2010Pacific Film Archive offers the second of three excerpts from its monumental work, 'Radical Light.'
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In Depth
Radical Light: 'A Haven for Radical Art and Experimental Film and Video'
Steve Anker
Nov 19, 2010Pacific Film Archive offers the second of three excerpts from its monumental work, 'Radical Light.'
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November 24, 2010
Radical Light: 'A Haven for Radical Art and Experimental Film and Video'
Steve Anker
Nov 19, 2010Pacific Film Archive offers the second of three excerpts from its monumental work, 'Radical Light.'
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Home
Essential SF: Marlon Riggs
Dennis Harvey
Nov 15, 2010From 'Tongues Untied' to 'Black Is.....Black Ain't,' Marlon Riggs' art was a series of radical acts that were both overdue and ahead of their time. Two decades ago, in post-Reagan America, the arts were under fire—one lit by a very particular religious right match. Feeling the heat was the National Endowment for the Arts, a then 25-year-old institution already pretty pitifully funded by comparison with most other developed nations’ governmental arts support. But the small portion of NEA grants that helped avant-garde or otherwise edgy art—as opposed to, say, the local Gilbert & Sullivan society or annual craft fair—provided plenty of opportunities...
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November 3 2010
Essential SF: Marlon Riggs
Dennis Harvey
Nov 15, 2010From 'Tongues Untied' to 'Black Is.....Black Ain't,' Marlon Riggs' art was a series of radical acts that were both overdue and ahead of their time. Two decades ago, in post-Reagan America, the arts were under fire—one lit by a very particular religious right match. Feeling the heat was the National Endowment for the Arts, a then 25-year-old institution already pretty pitifully funded by comparison with most other developed nations’ governmental arts support. But the small portion of NEA grants that helped avant-garde or otherwise edgy art—as opposed to, say, the local Gilbert & Sullivan society or annual craft fair—provided plenty of opportunities...
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Festivals
Frameline's History Lessons
Max Goldberg
Jun 24, 2010Frameline34 brought together a wide array of programs following the retrospective impulse.
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News & Blogs
San Francisco Habitue John Waters Offers Role Models
Michael Fox
Jun 10, 2010With a new book, gallery exhibition, appearances on local radio and stages, John Waters is quickly becoming a Bay Area fixture, a welcome addition to the film and cultural landscape.
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Reviews
Conner Forever Moving Forward
Dennis Harvey
May 10, 2010Bruce Conner, the sculptor, painter, photographer and filmmaker who loomed large in the Bay Area's shifting avant-garde currents for 50 years, resurfaces with Three Screen Ray.
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Reviews
Conner Forever Moving Forward
Dennis Harvey
May 10, 2010Bruce Conner, the sculptor, painter, photographer and filmmaker who loomed large in the Bay Area's shifting avant-garde currents for 50 years, resurfaces with Three Screen Ray.
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Festivals
SFIFF53 Reports: The Butcher Block; Opening Night
SF360
Apr 24, 2010To be from the Bay Area and called The Butcher Brothers might mean you get mixed up with purveyors of grass fed meats.
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Reviews
The Roxie's New Leadership
Michael Fox
Apr 21, 2010The Statton era has begun. Kate and Chris Statton have officially assumed the positions of co-executive directors of the venerable Mission District cinema.
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Q & A
'Utopia' in San Francisco
Susan Gerhard
Apr 18, 2010I found Sam Green deep in preparation, but he found time to walk me through the greatest dreams and worst nightmares of the 20th century.
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Festivals
SFIFF53: Ephemeral Film and Music, Live & Onstage
Marc Capelle
Apr 14, 2010If you imagine the S.F. International Film Festival as an circus tent, with Opening and Closing nights the main supports, the other tent poles are interactive live experiences.
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Festivals
San Francisco International Film Festival's 53rd Edition
Susan Gerhard
Mar 30, 2010Director of Programming Rachel Rosen and programmers Rod Armstrong, Audrey Chang and Sean Uyehara shared thoughts on 177 films from 46 countries.
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Reviews
San Francisco Cinematheque's Spring Action
Max Goldberg
Feb 10, 2010The spring edition of the Cinematheque calendar is making the rounds, and my copy is dog-eared with wishful thinking. Grab your datebook for a rundown.
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Q & A
Scott MacDonald on Art in Cinema at SFMoMA
Max Goldberg
Feb 7, 2010The film historian looks back at Frank Stauffacher's seminal mid-century series, which hatched a Bay Area avant-garde.
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Q & A
Scott MacDonald on Art in Cinema at SFMoMA
Max Goldberg
Feb 7, 2010The film historian looks back at Frank Stauffacher's seminal mid-century series, which hatched a Bay Area avant-garde.
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Festivals
Nao Bustamante's 'Silver and Gold' in Park City
Glen Helfand
Jan 19, 2010The late, great Jack Smith was all about the strange sway classic Hollywood movies, particularly obscure stars and low-budget yet opulent art direction, have had on us.
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Q & A
Steven Severin On His Silent Spring
Michael Read
Jan 8, 2010Once known primarily as the co-founder and bassist of the influential punk band Siouxsie and the Banshees, Steven Severin now follows his muse in many directions.
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Reviews
3D Reloaded: Where Does 3D Go From Here?
Sean Uyehara
Dec 27, 2009The release of Avatar puts a fitting capstone on a frenzied campaign by studios to reintroduce stereoscopic 3-D to audiences in 2009.
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Q & A
Catherine Galasso's 'Lightning Never Strikes the Same Place Twice'
Michael Fox
Dec 7, 2009Catherine Galasso talks about her performance piece Lightning Never Strikes the Same Place Twice, which features dance, theater and projected video.
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Q & A
Russell Merritt at the SF International Animation Festival
Sura Wood
Nov 9, 2009A conversation on Walt Disney's Alice Comedies with a lively raconteur and Professor of Film Studies at UC Berkeley.
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Reviews
Remembering Chick Strand
Max Goldberg
Oct 23, 2009Chick Strand, a crucial pioneer of West Coast experimental cinema, died July 11 at 78.
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Reviews
Remembering Chick Strand
Max Goldberg
Oct 23, 2009Chick Strand, a crucial pioneer of West Coast experimental cinema, died July 11 at 78.
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Festivals
SFFS's Debut Cinema by the Bay
Robert Avila
Oct 22, 2009A new, four-day showcase of local filmmaking doubles as a forum for the region's influence as subject and setting for filmmakers beyond the bay.
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Festivals
SFFS's Debut Cinema by the Bay
Robert Avila
Oct 22, 2009A new, four-day showcase of local filmmaking doubles as a forum for the region's influence as subject and setting for filmmakers beyond the bay.
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In Production
Anne, Anne, Anne: McGuire Comes Alive
Michael Fox
Oct 20, 2009Anne McGuire finds the beauty in the strange, and the strangeness in the beautiful. That's not perversity, people; that's poetry.
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Reviews
San Francisco Cinematheque Fall Program Underway
Max Goldberg
Oct 3, 2009A year after Jonathan Marlow took the helm as executive director, the organization is showing fresh signs of life.
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Festivals
Frameline33: Icons and Unsung Heroes
Matt Sussman
Jun 25, 2009A festival full of drama finds no more emotional screening than the homophobia-in-sports double bill of Training Rules and Claiming the Title: Gay Olympics on Trial.
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Q & A
Lawrence Jordan: to Infinity and Beyond
Sean Uyehara
Jun 1, 2009Leading light of avant-garde cinema Lawrence Jordan speaks on the occasion of his Gallery Extraña show and his 75th birthday.
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Q & A
Lawrence Jordan: to Infinity and Beyond
Sean Uyehara
Jun 1, 2009Leading light of avant-garde cinema Lawrence Jordan speaks on the occasion of his Gallery Extraña show and his 75th birthday.
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Reviews
SFIFF52 Blogs: Wilkerson's Proving Strong
David Winks Gray
May 2, 2009On May Day Eve, Travis Wilkerson performed Proving Ground, probably the first multimedia Leninist rant to have ever graced the Sundance Kabuki.
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Reviews
SFIFF52: Chris Felver's "Ferlinghetti" Captures an Icon
David Winks Gray
Apr 26, 2009Chris Felver traces the life of antiauthoritarian Lawrence Ferlinghetti, owner of City Lights Books, from his days as a Navy serviceman in World War II through the landmark First Amendment trial in Ferlinghetti.
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Reviews
Box set "Treasures" unearths buried avant-garde
Michael Fox
Apr 2, 2009National Film Preservation Foundation, Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986, is a splendid package of 26 films, drawn from New York and San Francisco.
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Reviews
Box set "Treasures" unearths buried avant-garde
Michael Fox
Apr 2, 2009National Film Preservation Foundation, Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film, 1947-1986, is a splendid package of 26 films, drawn from New York and San Francisco.
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Festivals
SF International Film Festival Lineup
Susan Gerhard
Mar 31, 2009The two weeks of programs offers 151 films from 55 countries, awards and prices, and a wide array of San Francisco talent, from legendary names to the fledgling artists.
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Reviews
Back to Nature with Ben Rivers
Dennis Harvey
Mar 27, 2009Ben Rivers makes his Bay Area debut this week presenting in person two programs, both providing a slightly dislocative experience at once tranquil and sinister.
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Reviews
William Kentridge at SFMOMA
Robert Avila
Mar 25, 2009The films of William Kentridge make up a significant and absorbing part of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art enthralling survey of recent work by the acclaimed South African artist
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In Production
Sam Green's Utopian Experiment
Michael Fox
Mar 18, 2009Sam Green talks about his latest project, an experimental documentary where the stories tease out, in more of an emotional way, ideas about hope and imagination of the future
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Popular
Sam Green's Utopian Experiment
Michael Fox
Mar 18, 2009Sam Green talks about his latest project, an experimental documentary where the stories tease out, in more of an emotional way, ideas about hope and imagination of the future
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Reviews
Strand Releasing Turns 20
Dennis Harvey
Feb 26, 2009Twenty years after its founding, Strand Releasing remains an active, irreplaceable and distinctive presence on the U.S. distribution scene.
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Q & A
SF Cinematheque: New Year, New Direction
Susan Gerhard
Feb 2, 2009SF360.org joined in on a conversation about Cinematheque's past and present when Steven Jenkins lunched with Jonathan Marlow at Caffe Centro.
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Q & A
SF Cinematheque: New Year, New Direction
Susan Gerhard
Feb 2, 2009SF360.org joined in on a conversation about Cinematheque's past and present when Steven Jenkins lunched with Jonathan Marlow at Caffe Centro.
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Reviews
Warhol's Screen Tests Get Dean & Britta Treatment
Dennis Harvey
Feb 2, 200913 Most BeautifulÉSongs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests offers a cherry-picking of the famous Warhol reels accompanied by live original-soundtracking.
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Reviews
Essay Films at the Pacific Film Archive
David Winks Gray
Jan 30, 2009The PFA's series of "essay films," a collection of diverse work, offers the viewer an opportunity to adapt to the peculiar tone of these films.
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In Production
A Composer Almost Ready for His Close-Up
Michael Fox
Jan 23, 2009Michael Fox looks behind the scenes of a film on the maverick Seattle composer-performer-inventor Trimpin.
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Reviews
'Scott Walker: 30 Century Man'
Dennis Harvey
Jan 21, 2009In this documentary, Walker tells the tale of his delayed popularity the ever-more adventurous music with which he feeds his latterday cult.
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In Production
'Tongues' Cracks the Language Barrier
Michael Fox
Jan 13, 2009The forthcoming film Speaking in Tongues follows four diverse local public-school students enrolled in language-immersion programs.
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In Production
Kroot's Planet Kuchar
Michael Fox
Nov 25, 2008Bay Area filmmaker Jennifer Kroot talks about her inspiration to make a documentary on legendary, underground filmmaking twins George and Mike Kuchar.
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Q & A
Scott MacDonald's 'Canyon Cinema' Book--Both History and How-to
Michael Fox
Nov 17, 2008Scott McDonald's Canyon Cinema: The Life and Times of an Independent Film Distributor, details the formation of the revered Bay Area artists' collective in the early 1960s.
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Reviews
'Christmas on Mars' Non Halloween
Dennis Harvey
Oct 30, 2008Wayne Coyne's Flaming Lips movie extends a long, lately rising number of narrative features made by musicians.
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Q & A
Susan Oxtoby and the Pacific Film Archive
Michael Fox
Oct 24, 2008The PFA senior curator talks about her cinematic influences, curating in Canada and the U.S., and recent additions to the world of film.
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Reviews
The Cosmic Dance-Floor of Arthur Russell
Amy Taubin
Sep 16, 2008Matt Wolf's biodoc is a remarkably affecting portrait that's a remembrance for those who knew the composer/vocalist/cellist and an introduction for potential fans.
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Q & A
Ariella Ben-Dov's Madcat Archives
Matt Sussman
Sep 14, 2008What do women want to watch? With Diane English’s recent unfunny and product placement-filled re-make of The Women hitting theaters last week, Hollywood’s answer, predictably, is more of the same.
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Q & A
Ariella Ben-Dov's Madcat Archives
Matt Sussman
Sep 14, 2008What do women want to watch? With Diane English’s recent unfunny and product placement-filled re-make of The Women hitting theaters last week, Hollywood’s answer, predictably, is more of the same.
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Q & A
Canyon Cinema's Dominic Angerame
Erika Young
Aug 4, 2008A conversation with the executive director of an experimental/avant-garde film distribution company, who both runs a profitable business and creates dynamic art.
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Q & A
Canyon Cinema's Dominic Angerame
Erika Young
Aug 4, 2008A conversation with the executive director of an experimental/avant-garde film distribution company, who both runs a profitable business and creates dynamic art.
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Festivals
SFIAF: 'Mordake' and Week Two -- Reviewed, Previewed
Robert Avila
May 28, 2008Composer Erling Wold's solo chamber opera enjoys a thrillingly intimate world premiere this week under the banner of the San Francisco International Arts Festival.
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Q & A
SFIFF51: Craig Baldwin Shoots the Moon, and the Desert
Michael Fox
Apr 18, 2008The Mission filmmaker has slaved in the underground for some three decades, a guide and shaman for other artists working on the fringes.
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Q & A
SFIFF51: Craig Baldwin Shoots the Moon, and the Desert
Michael Fox
Apr 18, 2008The Mission filmmaker has slaved in the underground for some three decades, a guide and shaman for other artists working on the fringes.
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Q & A
Thomas Beard exposes "Live Cinema"
Michael Fox
Apr 7, 2008Bodies of work have emerged from the intersections of performance, film and electronic art. Cinematograph 7ÑLive Cinema: A Contemporary Reader, edited by Thomas Beard's provides thoughtful writing on the subject.
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Reviews
Phil Chambliss, Arkansas Auteur
Dennis Harvey
Nov 15, 2007Meet Phil Chambliss, a 54-year-old, recently retired gravel pit nightwatchman who makes what might be termed cinematic folk art.
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Q & A
Irina Leimbacher and Konrad Steiner on "kino21"
Max Goldberg
Aug 13, 2007The co-programmers discuss their newest endeavor, though those already from the Bay Area will be familiar with their work at S.F. Cinematheque.
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Festivals
San Francisco Black Film Festival
Dennis Harvey
Jun 7, 2007Nine years' vintage makes the SFBFF a newcomer by Bay Area standards. In terms of programmatic diversity and premieres, it's got old-soul depth.
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Q & A
Kerry Laitala and Her New "Muse"
Katherin McInnis
Apr 25, 2007The artist's filmsÑsensual, intricate, tactileÑare a magical combination of optical artistry, snippets of forgotten films, and bits of lace, tape, and glitter.
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Q & A
Weerasethakul Talks Hospitals, Aerobics, and a Boy From Mars
Johnny Ray Huston
Apr 9, 2007One of Apichatpong Weerasethakul Ôs goals as a filmmaker is to simply show what he likes, and what he likes to see.
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Reviews
"Alternative Visions" at the PFA
Johnny Ray Huston
Feb 15, 2007The Pacific Film Archive's standing as a cinema-centric educational institution brings the avant-garde into conversation with a broad program of film history.
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Reviews
"Alternative Visions" at the PFA
Johnny Ray Huston
Feb 15, 2007The Pacific Film Archive's standing as a cinema-centric educational institution brings the avant-garde into conversation with a broad program of film history.
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Reviews
James Broughton, and a DVD Eden
Robert Avila
Dec 20, 2006The product of a true cinematic innovator and gloriously individual poet, Broughton's film work remains much too idiosyncratic to be deconstructed,
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Q & A
James T. Hong on Heidegger, Hitler, and His New Film
Cheryl Eddy
Dec 18, 2006San Francisco artist James T. Hong is currently working on a documentary, tentatively titled New History Zero, which explores his interest in revisionist World War II history.
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Reviews
Nathaniel Dorsky's Secret World
Michael Fox
Dec 5, 2006Song and Solitude, is a twilight sojourn to a secret world much like our own, rendered with profound patience and a hint of wistfulness.
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Reviews
Nathaniel Dorsky's Secret World
Michael Fox
Dec 5, 2006Song and Solitude, is a twilight sojourn to a secret world much like our own, rendered with profound patience and a hint of wistfulness.
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Reviews
Things You May or May Not Know About Miranda July
Johnny Ray Huston
Oct 19, 2006For close to a decade now, Miranda July has been exploring and often crossing the traditional boundaries between life and the movies.
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Q & A
Poetic Terrorism and Wholphin #2
Sean Uyehara
Oct 17, 2006When Brent Hoff was checking into a hotel for a film festival, the concierge thrust a business card into his hand, “Remember me next time you’re casting a film." So he asked the biggest directors he knows to cast the concierge in a series of short films.
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Reviews
City Poet Bruce Baillie Returns
Johnny Ray Huston
Oct 10, 2006When onlookers or bystanders disparagingly refer to experimental film as torturous or a bore, it’s a safe bet that they’ve never seen anything by Bruce Baillie.
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Reviews
Another Other Cinema, Now on DVD
Johnny Ray Huston
Sep 20, 2006Craig Baldwin and Noel Lawrence bring their brand of smart, quirky, avant-garde and political programming into the home.
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Festivals
Ariella Ben-Dov on View-Mastery and "Women's Work"
Susan Gerhard
Sep 11, 2006The founder of the Madcat International Film Festival talks about the 2006 lineup.
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Festivals
ZeroOne Through Ten
Susan Gerhard
Aug 4, 2006The List: ZeroOne San Jose Global Festival of Art on the Edge presents an array of = augmented realities, artificial intelligences, and interactive pieces.
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Q & A
Matthew Barney, "Drawing Restraint"
Glen Helfand
Jun 19, 2006Matthew Barney: Drawing Restraint opens at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Barney talks to SF360 about his film and gallery project.
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Q & A
New Executive Director of S.F. Cinematheque on Experimental Film
Michael Fox
May 29, 2006Newly appointed S.F. Cinematheque executive director Caroline Savage discusses the state of experimental film.
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Q & A
Choose Your Words
Robert Avila
Apr 27, 2006Memorize these words that supposedly can bring you under government scrutiny when said over the phone, or written in a text message or email.
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