GR Film Buffs

Trina Lopez, an award-winning filmmaker talks tonight before a screening of her 2005 documentary, “A Second Final Rest: The History of San Francisco’s Lost Cemetaries.”

The event is free and open to anyone, just call ahead to reserve your spot: 415.422.5178

You can be sure there will be a mix of film reviewers and cinema geeks, on the edges of their seats to see such a revealing film about the murky, covered-up past of the foggy city.

I haven’t seen it yet, but here’s what the reviewers are saying so far:

“The film takes a pensive yet revealing look at why one of the world’s most famous cities has virtually no sites set aside for its deceased, and how it systematically eliminated graveyards from the urban landscape. The film concentrates on the “Big Four” cemeteries:  Odd Fellows’, Masonic, Laurel Hill, and Calvary located in the Inner Richmond area of San Francisco. Built on the site of three of the “Big Four” cemeteries, this is an essential history of the University of San Francisco’s grounds…”

Awards: Best Historical Documentary at the 2005 San Francisco Women’s Film Festival and Best Documentary Feature at the 2005 Arizona International Film Festival in Tucson.

Come to USF Main Campus at Kalmanovitz Hall outdoor amphitheater - (Entrance is on Fulton St. between Clayton and Parker) at 7pm tonight for the free screening.

(Milky Way, A Via Lactea)

The 12th International Latino Film Festival is in its first weekend here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Be sure to make your way to this terrific display of tales from all over the world - a Bolivian mother living in Israel, (Working Mom); a vibrant story of two lives coming together on the streets of Sao Paulo (Milky Way); crazy, unforgiving love (Lovesickness);

a touching look at globalization (Sleep Dealer).

Check the schedule online and search by filmmaker, country or type - there’s lots of documentaries, short films and features to see and to share with friends.

Filmbuffs has been computerbuffs and winebuffs of late, traveling for research and writing and not doing much in the way of video explorations. Please pardon the delay while we regroup here and we’ll be back with the best of the best in go-get-em indie reels before you know it.

In the mean time, take my seat to the Annual Arab Film Festival , that starts Tomorrow! There are still tickets for opening night, which features the newest from Moroccan director Daoud Aoulad-Syad, “Waiting for Pasolini.” It all goes down at 6pm at the Castro Theater in San Francisco, October 16.

Two that I am particularly clued in to are Out of Coverage (Oct. 19, Camera 12 Cinema, San Jose, 9p) and Young Lady and the School (Clay Theater Oct. 17, 4p and 4 and 6:30p on Ot 18, same location). Slingshot HIp Hop looks groovy to say the least, Oct. 24 at 7pm at Berkeley’s Shattuck Cinemas. One more - Paloma Delight, at Oakland’s Parkway Theater Oct 23, 9p delves into creative ways to be a career woman (in some sense) under strict Algerian rules.

There’s info on all the films and a full schedule here, so while you are waiting for more reviews from GR Filmbuffs, go see a show and get under the skin of the beautiful, mystifying and opften misunderstood Arab world.

SF360 Film+Club, a monthly social screening series, returns on Thursday, August 28, at 7:30 pm at Mezzanine (444 Jessie Street at Mint)!

How do you react to life’s ups and downs? Do you face your lows with a slide in to the darkness of anger?  On the other hand, do you just do a little dance around to have a good time?

Here in these short flickers you get to see both sides together.

Carson Mell’s outrageous movies sandwich the song and the bleeding heart, cataloging human interaction and unimaginable new species. But we’re suckered in, and we can’t get enough. As we watch, we even think in animation.  He paints a portrait, hanging in the family room with what is left from the 70’s stringing into the grand style here in 2008.  The wrinkle in time breaks us free from previous assumptions.  The seriously funny, or funnily serious films are worth tracks to the Mezzanine, where you can shill before and after, laughing that the future is now.

You’ll see a collection of writer/filmmaker Carson Mell’s short films, in addition to a reading from his new book, “Saguaro: The Life and Adventures of Bobby Allen Bird,” to the backdrop of his fathers vintage New York city footage. Wax creative with the truly unique talent on August 28 at 7:30pm.

THE LIST!
The Writer
Chonto
Reading with NY footage
Sincere Blues
Devil in Denim
Rodericks 1
Cold Operator
Field Notes

Oakland and San Francisco contributor Maria Pecot has been a part of Christorpher Coppola’s PAH Project (Project Accessible Hollywood) this exciting week, and now we finally get to see her stuff. Join up for the screening tonight at 7pm at Roxie Theater, Castro, SF or go online to see the flick and vote for it!

Listen to gun stories from Oakland to better understand the climate of gun violence, so we can all move forward toward more peaceful streets.

http://www.peacheschrist.com/mmass/index.html
Perrin says:
Last Saturday I donned my NightOwl gear and met with Peaches Christ, a drag queen of breathtaking beauty, who knows how to put on a good show.

The pre-movie show was a full-on stage production of Barberalla, staring a Bear and Peaches Christ herself! It spanned the entire film and dubbed, with great costumes including a strange hair sculpture and eerie replicas of Barberellas skimpy space-age costumes.

It was my first time at a midnight mass, but mid-night mass veteran and fellow cult film fan Sugar Jet Girl told me what to expect. For the last 11th seasons of midnight mass, actors, actresses and directors with cult followings have been cameoing on Peaches set, introducing the films or participating in the pre-show skits. (John Waters was there in years past, and y’all know how I feel about him)

When the movie finished at 3:30AM the theater emptied out, I felt like I was waking up from a very long dream about space travel and lava lamps. We filed out past Peaches Christ, who was reclining in a director’s chair by the front door, waving goodbye and signing autographs.
I would go back next week for Pee-wees Big Adventure but I’ll be in Turkey. O-well. I’ll be back in time for the last show of the season, San Francisco’s Underground Short Film Festival which is Aug 22 and the only film festival in town to open with a live rock show.

Tonight, the 12th, thru the 15th there are loads more fabulous films to see at five SF locations. Check out Land of Promise: The Story of Allensworth, at the Museum of the African Diaspora tonight at 5:30p, or King of the Evening at Sundance Cinemas at 8p. Pinned as a “strangers struggling to get through tough times” period flick, this “outstanding film” (-Gail Choice for Our Weekly) dives into the gap between values of spirit and character, and the worth of material things. Land of Promise, a 27-minute documentary, is made my Bay Area locals, documenting the little-known all-black California town: Allensworth. Go back in time or travel off the beaten path with a night of cinema at the 10th annual SF Black Film Festival.

Ilsa for GR Filmbuffs:

I headed out to the annual SuperFest, the wonderful disability film festival, this time to see Multiple, a film that delves into the realities of living with Multiple Sclerosis in an un-close-and-personal sort of way.

Multiple strides forward with an important story of Alison Peebles and the facts of M.S. It is indigo secrets behind blue bars that seem to say, this subject will not be discussed. Her M.S. condition can no longer be hidden from the world now that her legs turn out. She is stumbling and falling as well as her increased fatigue being more difficult to hide. People notice.

We get a chance to face the facts of our own disabilities and the compound fears of what will happen to us when people find out we are not perfect. This is a beautifully constructed autobiographical revelation into an unknown neurological disease. I knew nothing about Multiple Sclerosis. Seeing the animation of the of the concrete heaviness in the shoes as image of nails being pounded into the ground to limit mobility was my first real understanding of the words I heard over the years. The sliver barbed wire spreading over and digging into the hands as Alison struggles to put on an earing gave me such a clear understanding that words never ever explained satisfactorily.

What do each of us have to give up as we grow and change is a constant thread in our adventure called Life.

This is also a story of Woman and Shoes as well. We each have shoes for every occasion and every emotional corner of our selves. Out go the shoes never to return to their place in her closet. Glamour and dancing as well as the sheer appeal of the high heal for the opposite sex is highlighted as a very red pair of shoes sprouts teeth and attacks the ‘trainers’ walking shoes. As the body changes adjustments have to be made.

We find out that aside form film and T.V. work she has an acting company in Scotland which is presenting a play called S.M./ M.S. the play is about a sadistic-masochism dominatrix who has multiple sclerosis. With the theatrical company is the amazing place where her strength and grace comes through on the screen. Alison takes a trip home for some enforced relaxation after 6 years of solid working life. Enforced relaxation is the back step to her first episode with being unable to tell her feet to move from one place to another. It is a moving return to square one in the progressive game we share.

This is a compelling story of bravery and action against many odds.

Perrin says:
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at Sundance this year, Trouble the Water is playing tomorrow @ 4:30 at the Harvard Exit Theater. I will be there, trusting that directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal can fill in the blanks about Hurricane Katrina’s ugly aftermath.

The Filmmakers at Sundance

With first-person storytelling, their efforts to shed light onto the nightmare-like news-coverage of the New Orleans tragedy has been greatly appreciated by audiences around the country.

The results are in from SIFF and IndieFlix’s collaborative competition, MyFestival, which drew thousands of online visitors. The Feature Film Winner is Perfect Sport, about girls and boys wrestling on Vashon Island, and the Short Film Winner is Robbie’s Withdrawal, about a baby.
The special recognition films are Eternal City and Hot Wind: America’s Fallout Casualties.

Join me at the Harvard Exit Theatre on Sunday June 15th @ 6:30 in celebrating these local talents.
807 E Roy St Seattle, WA 98102 (206) 323-8986 www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/Seattle/HarvardExitTheatre.htm

Film Info:
Perfect Sport, directed by Anthony O’Brien (USA, 2008)
Beautifully shot on 35mm on Vashon Island, Washington, local writer/director Anthony O’Brien takes high school drama to the mat. He stars as high school wrestler Lee Bishop who must compete against his sister Tina’s natural talent when she decides to join the boy’s team, before personal demons and bigger issues threaten to destroy him. Directed by Anthony O’Brien. Also starring Jessica Rose (Lonelygirl15) and Harvey Keitel’s daughter Stella.

Robbie’s Withdrawal, directed by John Burish (USA, 2008)
When Marcus backs out of Robbie’s big day with the baby, she’s forced to go it alone.

For more information on SIFF MyFestival or the winning films, you can contact the SIFF Press Office at 206.254.9240 or go to www.myfestival.indieflix.com