The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) opens this week, running from April 21st through May 5th. This year’s edition, the 54th annual (making it the longest running film festival in the Americas) will screen around 190 films, encompassing features, documentaries, and shorts. More than 100 filmmakers are expected to attend.
Highlights of this year’s festival include the presentation of the Founder’s Directing Award to Oliver Stone and the Kanbar Award (for excellence in screenwriting) to Frank Pierson. The award is named for Maurice Kanbar, a noted member of the board of directors of the San Francisco Film Society and a staunch supporter of independent film.
Stone is one of the most polarizing figures in filmmaking, and the director (and writer) behind such seminal moments in cinema as "Platoon," "Wall Street," and "Natural Born Killers."
Pierson first came to the attention of movie goers with his first feature screenplay for “Cat Ballou,” which he co-wrote, in 1965. Pierson also co-wrote “Cool Hand Luke” (1967), which brought him an Oscar nomination, and wrote the screenplay for the late Sidney Lumet’s “Dog Day Afternoon” in 1975. Pierson won an Academy Award for his efforts.
Past winners of the Kanbar Award include James Schamus (2010), James Toback (2009), Robert Towne (2008), Peter Morgan (2007), Jean-Claude Carriere (2006), and Paul Haggis (2005).
In addition to the slate of Golden Gate Awards to be presented to films and filmmakers at the conclusion of the festival, other awards to be presented at SFIFF include Midnight Awards for Clifton Collins Jr. and Zoe Saldana; Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award to Matthew Barney; and the Novikoff Award to Serge Bromberg.
The list of Official Selections for this year’s SFIFF:
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
“Better This World,” Kelly Duane de la Vega, Katie Galloway, USA 2011
“Cinema Komunisto,” Mila Turajlic, Serbia 2010
“Crime after Crime,” Yoav Potash, USA 2011
“Detroit Wild City,” Florent Tillon, France/USA 2010
“Foreign Parts,” Véréna Paravel, J.P. Sniadecki, USA 2010
“The Good Life,” Eva Mulvad, Denmark 2010
“The Green Wave,” Ali Samadi Ahadi, Germany/Iran 2010
“Marathon Boy,” Gemma Atwal, England/USA/India 2010
“The Pipe,” Risteard Ó Domhnaill, Ireland 2010
“Position among the Stars,” Leonard Retel Hemrich, Netherlands 2010
“The Redemption of General Butt Naked,” Eric Strauss, Daniele Anastasion, USA 2010
“The Tiniest Place,” Tatiana Huezo, Mexico 2011
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS
“The Home Front,” Phie Ambo, Denmark 2010
“Into the Middle of Nowhere,” Anna Frances Ewert, England 2010
“Library of Dust,” Ondi Timoner, Robert James, USA 2011
NARRATIVE SHORTS
“Aglaée,” Rudi Rosenberg, France 2010
“Bitch Rabbit,” Guérin Van De Vorst, Belgium 2010
“Blokes,” Marialy Rivas, Chile 2010
“God of Love,” Luke Matheny, USA 2010
“Machines of the Working Class,” James Dastoli, Robert Dastoli, USA 2010
“Noreen,” Domhnall Gleeson, Ireland 2010
“The Strange Ones,” Christopher Radcliff, Lauren Volkstein, USA 2011
“Young Dracula,” Alfred Seccombe, USA 2010
WORKS FOR KIDS AND FAMILIES
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore,” William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg, USA 2010
“Play by Play,” Carlos Baena, USA 2010
“The Snowman,” Kelly Wilson, Neil Wrischnik, USA 2010
“Specky Four Eyes,” Jean-Claude Rozec, France 2010
ANIMATED SHORTS
“Dromosphere,” Thorsten Fleisch, Germany 2010
“The External World,” David O’Reilly, Ireland 2010
“Get with the Program,” Jennifer Drummond Deutrom, USA 2010
“Once it started it could not end otherwise,” Kelly Sears, USA
“Pixels, Patrick Jean,” France 2010
“A Purpleman,” Ryu Jin-young, Yoo Jin-young, Kim Tak-hoon, South Korea 2010
NEW VISIONS
“All Flowers in Time,” Jonathan Caouette, Canada 2010
“Chromatastic,” Kerry Laitala, USA 2010
“Coming Attractions,”Peter Tscherkassky, Austria 2010
“Lost Lake,” Zackary Drucker, USA 2010
“Self Portrait as a PowerPoint Proposal for an Amusement Park,” Jonn Herschend, USA 2010
“Tourist Trap,” Skye Thorstenson, USA 2010
YOUTH WORKS
“2 AM,” Joseph Procopio, Canada 2010
“Escape from Suburbia,” Mayana Bonapart, USA 2010
“Flags,” Mattan Cohen, USA 2010
“India Export,” Raphael Linden, USA/India 2010
“The Math Test,” Sam Rubin, USA 2010
“Z-Man,” Nat Talbot, USA 2010
