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Events
San Francisco Irish Film Festival
Sep 22, 2011Founded in 2003, The San Francisco Irish Film Festival opens this Thursday at the Roxie. Highlights include Colm Meany's turn in the charming 'Parked,' a closing night screening of 'Once' follow-up 'Swell Season,' and revival screenings of 'In the Name of The Father' and 2008 Cannes Golden Camera winner 'Hunger.' More info sfirishfilm.com.
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September 20, 2011
San Francisco Irish Film Festival
Sep 22, 2011Founded in 2003, The San Francisco Irish Film Festival opens this Thursday at the Roxie. Highlights include Colm Meany's turn in the charming 'Parked,' a closing night screening of 'Once' follow-up 'Swell Season,' and revival screenings of 'In the Name of The Father' and 2008 Cannes Golden Camera winner 'Hunger.' More info sfirishfilm.com.
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Home
‘Aurora’ Startles, Subtly
Dennis Harvey
Sep 15, 2011Unhurried, character-driven story demonstrates the filmmaking finesse that’s brought Romanian cinema to the fore. Though it had made an occasional international impression before—notably with a long history of Cannes entries and prize winners—few could have anticipated the splash Romanian cinema would create in the last few years. Or that the attention paid it would bring a number of often long, difficult, obtuse movies out of their usual habitat (the festival circuit) into theaters around the world. The collapse of Communism and execution of Romania's quarter-century dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989 freed the filmmaking industry from strict governmental control and propagandic content. But it took until the middle...
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September 15, 2011
‘Aurora’ Startles, Subtly
Dennis Harvey
Sep 15, 2011Unhurried, character-driven story demonstrates the filmmaking finesse that’s brought Romanian cinema to the fore. Though it had made an occasional international impression before—notably with a long history of Cannes entries and prize winners—few could have anticipated the splash Romanian cinema would create in the last few years. Or that the attention paid it would bring a number of often long, difficult, obtuse movies out of their usual habitat (the festival circuit) into theaters around the world. The collapse of Communism and execution of Romania's quarter-century dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989 freed the filmmaking industry from strict governmental control and propagandic content. But it took until the middle...
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Home
‘Aurora’ Startles, Subtly
Dennis Harvey
Sep 15, 2011Unhurried, character-driven story demonstrates the filmmaking finesse that’s brought Romanian cinema to the fore. Though it had made an occasional international impression before—notably with a long history of Cannes entries and prize winners—few could have anticipated the splash Romanian cinema would create in the last few years. Or that the attention paid it would bring a number of often long, difficult, obtuse movies out of their usual habitat (the festival circuit) into theaters around the world. The collapse of Communism and execution of Romania's quarter-century dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989 freed the filmmaking industry from strict governmental control and propagandic content. But it took until the middle...
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September 15, 2011
‘Aurora’ Startles, Subtly
Dennis Harvey
Sep 15, 2011Unhurried, character-driven story demonstrates the filmmaking finesse that’s brought Romanian cinema to the fore. Though it had made an occasional international impression before—notably with a long history of Cannes entries and prize winners—few could have anticipated the splash Romanian cinema would create in the last few years. Or that the attention paid it would bring a number of often long, difficult, obtuse movies out of their usual habitat (the festival circuit) into theaters around the world. The collapse of Communism and execution of Romania's quarter-century dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989 freed the filmmaking industry from strict governmental control and propagandic content. But it took until the middle...
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Home
Jean-Luc Godard Sets Course for Adventure
Robert Avila
Sep 1, 2011The first feature to play SFFS | New People Cinema, Godard's ‘Film Socialisme’ is both poetic rumination and urgent intervention.
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Reviews
Jean-Luc Godard Sets Course for Adventure
Robert Avila
Sep 1, 2011The first feature to play SFFS | New People Cinema, Godard's ‘Film Socialisme’ is both poetic rumination and urgent intervention.
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September 1, 2011
Jean-Luc Godard Sets Course for Adventure
Robert Avila
Sep 1, 2011The first feature to play SFFS | New People Cinema, Godard's ‘Film Socialisme’ is both poetic rumination and urgent intervention.
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Home
SFIFF Brings in Burlesque as Closer
Stephanie Rosenbaum
May 4, 2011Cabaret New Burlesque gets the French art-house treatment with ‘On Tour.’
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May 5, 2011
SFIFF Brings in Burlesque as Closer
Stephanie Rosenbaum
May 4, 2011Cabaret New Burlesque gets the French art-house treatment with ‘On Tour.’
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Reviews
SFIFF Brings in Burlesque as Closer
Stephanie Rosenbaum
May 4, 2011Cabaret New Burlesque gets the French art-house treatment with ‘On Tour.’
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March 15, 2011
‘Heartbeats'
Mar 18, 2011Xavier Dolan’s ‘Heartbeats,’ the 2010 Winner of Un Certain Regard Youth Prize at Cannes International Film Festival, opens at Landmark Theatres in San Francisco and Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas. The film follows two best friends and their attempt to attain the affection of a charming man they’ve just met. More at landmarktheatres.com.
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February 10, 2011
Im Sang-soo Re-hires a Troubling 'Housemaid'
Adam Hartzell
Feb 8, 2011A South Korean classic is re-envisioned.
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Home
Im Sang-soo Re-hires a Troubling 'Housemaid'
Adam Hartzell
Feb 8, 2011A South Korean classic is re-envisioned.
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Reviews
Im Sang-soo Re-hires a Troubling 'Housemaid'
Adam Hartzell
Feb 8, 2011A South Korean classic is re-envisioned.
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Home
De Oliveira's 'Angelica' Balming, Enlivening
Dennis Harvey
Jan 7, 2011'The Strange Case of Angelica' finds Manoel de Oliveira, at 102 years old, in fine form.
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January 13, 2011
De Oliveira's 'Angelica' Balming, Enlivening
Dennis Harvey
Jan 7, 2011'The Strange Case of Angelica' finds Manoel de Oliveira, at 102 years old, in fine form.
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Reviews
De Oliveira's 'Angelica' Balming, Enlivening
Dennis Harvey
Jan 7, 2011'The Strange Case of Angelica' finds Manoel de Oliveira, at 102 years old, in fine form.
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Home
Assayas Recreates Revolution with 'Carlos'
Max Goldberg
Nov 5, 2010Olivier Assayas's 'Carlos' chases after a notorious phantom. Since premiering out of competition at Cannes, nearly all the write-ups of Olivier Assayas’s Carlos have located the film amidst the post–War on Terror flurry of dramatizations of the self-styled revolutionaries of the 1960s and ’70s (e.g. Che, United Red Army, The Baader Meinhof Complex and locally produced documentary The Weather Underground). This is as it should be: it’s often noted that Assayas wrote for Cahiers du Cinéma before he became a filmmaker, but more than his other movies Carlos works as criticism. In particular, it’s clear that Assayas is having....
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November 4, 2010
Assayas Recreates Revolution with 'Carlos'
Max Goldberg
Nov 5, 2010Olivier Assayas's 'Carlos' chases after a notorious phantom. Since premiering out of competition at Cannes, nearly all the write-ups of Olivier Assayas’s Carlos have located the film amidst the post–War on Terror flurry of dramatizations of the self-styled revolutionaries of the 1960s and ’70s (e.g. Che, United Red Army, The Baader Meinhof Complex and locally produced documentary The Weather Underground). This is as it should be: it’s often noted that Assayas wrote for Cahiers du Cinéma before he became a filmmaker, but more than his other movies Carlos works as criticism. In particular, it’s clear that Assayas is having....
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November 2, 2010
French Cinema Now Continues
Nov 2, 2010The SFFS fall festival of French cinema continues at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema. Abbas Kiarostami’s ‘Certified Copy,’ starring Juliet Binoche (in a role that won her a best actress prize at Cannes) closes the festival. More at sffs.org.
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Home
A Family Implodes in Biting 'Dogtooth'
Dennis Harvey
Sep 3, 2010A Greek film incriminates the viewer.
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Reviews
A Family Implodes in Biting 'Dogtooth'
Dennis Harvey
Sep 3, 2010A Greek film incriminates the viewer.
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News & Blogs
Festivals from Cannes to Marfa, San Francisco Filmmakers Reporting
Emile Bokaer, Cynthia Mitchell
May 21, 2010Bay Area filmmakers report back from film festivals far (Cannes) and wide (Marfa).
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News & Blogs
Festivals from Cannes to Marfa, San Francisco Filmmakers Reporting
Emile Bokaer, Cynthia Mitchell
May 21, 2010Bay Area filmmakers report back from film festivals far (Cannes) and wide (Marfa).
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News & Blogs
IndieWIRE: Kiarostami's Letter at Cannes
May 18, 2010A letter from Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami speaks out against Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Cutlure and in solidarity with detained director Jafar Panahi.
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Festivals
SF Indiefest at Twelve
Matt Sussman
Feb 4, 2010It s a strange time for independent film, with scaled-back specialty divisions and online self-distribution, but SF Indiefest remains a champion of the unsung and un-buzzable.
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Reviews
'Fish Tank's Essex truth
Dennis Harvey
Jan 28, 2010Writer-director Andrea Arnold created a stir with her first feature Red Road, but her new film is arguably an even stronger work.
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Reviews
Lee, Schamus and Woodstock
Dennis Harvey
Aug 27, 2009The release of Woodstock provides an opportunity to look back on Ang Lee and Schamus's very impressive, diverse screen resume.
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In Production
The horror, the horror: 'Tweaker With an Axe'
Michael Fox
Jul 1, 2009An interview with Flynn Witmeyer about his debut feature Tweaker With an Axe, and the desire to make genre films—horror or sci-fi or fantasy—that incorporate gay and lesbian characters.
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Reviews
Suspense, Stillness and Beauty in 'Three Monkeys'
Dennis Harvey
Jun 26, 2009Turkey may be lonely, but it is indeed beautiful in Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Three Monkeys.
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Festivals
Bruce Goldstein: From NY to SF to 'Con'
Judy Stone
May 17, 2009Bruce Goldstein recalls his adventures in film land as he prepares to host the Con Film Festival at the Film Forum in New York.
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Festivals
Bruce Goldstein: From NY to SF to 'Con'
Judy Stone
May 17, 2009Bruce Goldstein recalls his adventures in film land as he prepares to host the Con Film Festival at the Film Forum in New York.
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Reviews
'Silent Light' and Shattered Landscapes
Max Goldberg
Feb 27, 2009Carlos Reygadas' third film is an unmistakably serious work, emblematic of the kind of brooding, large-canvas filmmaking which has become a rarity.
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Reviews
Terence Davies' 'Of Time and the City' is Poetic, Personal
Dennis Harvey
Feb 10, 2009Davies' latest film recalls his earlier autobiographical narratives, but is also unlike anything he has done before, being nonfiction.
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Reviews
Kiarostami Firsts, Plus "Five"
Judy Stone
Feb 26, 2008Fresh insight into the Iranian director is offered in a remarkable DVD featuring Five, an experimental, meditative film set on the shores of the Caspian.
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Q & A
Cristian Mungiu's 24 Hours of "4 Months, 3 Weeks"
Howard Feinstein/indieWIRE
Feb 4, 2008The Romanian film takes place over 24 hours in a provincial town in 1987 before Ceaucescu was deposed.
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News & Blogs
'Her Name is Sabine' With SF360 Movie Night
Susan Gerhard
Nov 29, 2007The entire Bay Area is invited to watch a film simultaneously in the comfort of home, and the selection is a delicate and heartfelt depiction of the director's autistic sister.
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Festivals
Telluride in Transition
Michael Fox
Aug 29, 2007An intimate four-day buffet of tributes, premieres, restorations, and revivals laid out in the Colorado mountains, Telluride is an oasis for film lovers.
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Reviews
Laurent Tirard on "Moliere"
Erica Abeel/indieWIRE
Aug 3, 2007Tirard takes an ingenious tack in conjuring the creative evolution of France's master of satiric comedy.
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Festivals
The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
Michael Fox
Jul 19, 2007Savvy moviegoers outside the target demographic have learned to scout the niche fests' programs for films that premiered to raves at Berlin or Cannes.
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Festivals
Meet the Jury/A Palme d'Or 20
Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE
May 18, 2007No sooner does the Festival de Cannes open than attendees start buzzing about the potential award-winners.
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Festivals
Meet the Jury/A Palme d'Or 20
Eugene Hernandez/indieWIRE
May 18, 2007No sooner does the Festival de Cannes open than attendees start buzzing about the potential award-winners.
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Reviews
"Zidane: A 21st-Century Portrait"
Susan Gerhard
May 17, 2007Not even widely released yet in the States, Philippe Parreno and Douglas Gordon's "ZidaneÉ" has already been considered a portrait of the century.
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Reviews
A "Flanders" Reader
Michael Guillen
May 6, 2007As Bruno Dumont's Flanders navigates festival waters, it's been leaving behind a noticeable wake.
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Festivals
SFIFF50
Dennis Harvey
Apr 26, 2007A decade might be long enough in dog years, but in film festival terms it takes a bit more time to impress.
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Reviews
The Eye Candy of 'Tears of the Black Tiger'
Dennis Harvey
Feb 6, 2007Tears of the Black Tiger is Thai eye candy, an exercise pastiche where color just about leaps off the screen, and a star-crossed love story.
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Reviews
The Breno Mello of "Black Orpheus"
Susan Gerhard
Jan 3, 2007The 1959 reworking of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is a bossa nova adventure through Brazilian Carnival, with actor Breno Mello as the black Orpheus.
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Festivals
San Francisco International Animation Showcase
Johnny Ray Huston
Oct 12, 2006San Francisco Film Society programming associate Sean Uyehara has pulled off a feat with the opening program for the first San Francisco International Animation Showcase.
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Festivals
Mill Valley Film Festival 2006
Dennis Harvey
Oct 5, 2006By the youth-rhetoric standards of another era, this is the last year we can trust the Mill Valley Film Festival. Next year, it turns 30.
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Q & A
John Cameron Mitchell's long "Shortbus" ride
Susan Gerhard
Oct 2, 2006John Cameron Mitchell's latest film: A bright, sexually explicit ensemble piece featuring American friends and acquaintances who might have made good primetime TV.
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Festivals
Telluride Film Festival 2006
Hilary Hart
Sep 5, 2006A longtime seasonal staffer recounts her experience and highlights at the '06 fest.
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Q & A
Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga on the Weight of Words
Michael Fox
Jul 24, 2006Arriaga, who authored Amores Perros, 21 Grams, and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, discusses working in collaboration and across mediums.
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Q & A
Best of Balboa
Susan Gerhard
Jul 7, 2006We checked in with Gary Meyer to find out what films have rocked the 1926 foundations of the Balboa in the past six years.
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Q & A
Jesse Ficks and "Midnites for Maniacs"
Max Goldberg
Jun 5, 2006Film programmer Jesse Hawthrone Ficks talks about the enduring appeal of midnight movies.
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Festivals
Cinephiles and Oenophiles: Sommelier Pairings for Sonoma Valley Fest
Miriam Wolf
Apr 7, 2006You can sunbathe topless at Cannes and ski at Sundance, and drink your fill of fine wine at the Sonoma Valley Film Festival.
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Q & A
Nothing and Everything Sacred in Reygadas' Films
Susan Gerhard
Mar 27, 2006Filmmaker Carlos Reygadas discusses his life and work upon the release of his second film, Battle in Heaven.
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