FILM SOCIETY CINEMA
FILM SOCIETY CINEMA
FILM SOCIETY CINEMA
FILM SOCIETY CINEMA
FILM SOCIETY CINEMA
FILM SOCIETY CINEMA
FILM SOCIETY CINEMA
FILM SOCIETY CINEMA
Past FilmHouse Residents
SFFS FilmHouse Residencies program, developed in partnership with the San Francisco Film Commission and launched in November 2008, supports local independent filmmaking by making office space available free of charge for six-month residencies to independent filmmakers actively engaged in various stages of film production. The newest recipients are working in many different styles and genres and in all stages of production. FilmHouse, part of the Film Society's expanding filmmaker services, functions as a vibrant workshop and community-builder for local filmmakers of all stripes.
FALL 2010 RECIPIENTS
John Cavalli, production, animated series
The Adventure of Ginger and Pickles is a stop-motion animated program about a gingerbread girl, Ginger Smacks, and a pickle, Professor Picklepants, who work in a variety of highly specialized temporary assignments in an alternative food-themed version of San Francisco. Their smorgasbord of assignments includes stints as astronauts, game show hosts, food critics and, in this first episode, major league baseball players for the Pittsburger Pirates. johnnyunderscore.com
Hayley Downs and Julie Kahn, postproduction, feature documentary
Swamp Cabbage is a dark and sweaty documentary about Hayley Downs, a half-“Cracker”—in Florida, a term of pride referring to the descendants of early pioneers known for their ability to survive in the treacherous wilderness—stuck in Brooklyn who discovers that the bizarre backwoods-meets-suburbia childhood she left behind is actually the key to her own survival. swampcabbagemovie.com
Lisa Fruchtman, postproduction, feature documentary
Sweet Dreams follows the 62 members of Ingoma Nshya, Rwanda’s first and only women’s drumming troupe, who have come from both sides of the 1994 Rwandan genocide to find a haven in which they feel both safe and empowered. Now, with the help of two young American entrepreneurs, they are moving toward improving their economic future by opening Inzozi Niza (sweet dreams)—Rwanda’s first-ever local ice cream shop—embarking on a remarkable experiment in economic and emotional recovery.
Jim Granato, outreach/distribution, feature documentary
D tour is a feature-length documentary about indie rock drummer Pat Spurgeon who struggles with kidney disease while fulfilling his dreams as a musician. As his band starts to take off, he takes his dialysis with him on the road and starts the difficult quest to find a potential living donor. A rock-and-roll film about life, death and bodily functions, D tour addresses issues regarding the U.S. health care system, lack of affordable insurance and the importance of organ donation. dtourmovie.com
Scott Kirschenbaum, postproduction, feature documentary
You’re Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t is the invigorating first-person account of Lee Gorewitz’s life inside the Traditions Alzheimer’s & Other Dementia Care Unit at the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living in Danville, California. A total immersion into the fragmented day-to-day experience of the disease, the film reveals Gorewitz’s penetrating ruminations and charismatic vitality, challenging our preconceptions of illness and aging. threebagelsunday.com
Ross McDonnell and Carter Gunn, postproduction, feature documentary
Good Robot is a documentary film that aims to capture a new era in the relationship of humans and machines. Good Robot will explore the social impact the field of modern robotics in medicine, in the military and in the commercial market around the world. As machines become integrated in our lives, the film asks the questions about the places they will take, the morality of their use and whether there is a line we can cross. rossmcdonnell.com
Miles Montalbano, preproduction, feature narrative
A Human Certainty is a contemporary neorealist fable in which a young working-poor couple foresee a bleak future for themselves in the midst of a worsening economic crisis and make a lovers’ suicide pact. They check into a cheap hotel with one month’s rent and a vow to spend their last days full of carefree passion and romance. Their love is finally allowed to grow and blossom, but when the month inevitably ends, they must face the irrevocable finality of their decision. grayeminencefilms.com
FALL 2010 RECIPIENTS
John Cavalli, production, animated series
The Adventure of Ginger and Pickles is a stop-motion animated program about a gingerbread girl, Ginger Smacks, and a pickle, Professor Picklepants, who work in a variety of highly specialized temporary assignments in an alternative food-themed version of San Francisco. Their smorgasbord of assignments includes stints as astronauts, game show hosts, food critics and, in this first episode, major league baseball players for the Pittsburger Pirates. johnnyunderscore.com
Hayley Downs and Julie Kahn, postproduction, feature documentary
Swamp Cabbage is a dark and sweaty documentary about Hayley Downs, a half-“Cracker”—in Florida, a term of pride referring to the descendants of early pioneers known for their ability to survive in the treacherous wilderness—stuck in Brooklyn who discovers that the bizarre backwoods-meets-suburbia childhood she left behind is actually the key to her own survival. swampcabbagemovie.com
Lisa Fruchtman, postproduction, feature documentary
Sweet Dreams follows the 62 members of Ingoma Nshya, Rwanda’s first and only women’s drumming troupe, who have come from both sides of the 1994 Rwandan genocide to find a haven in which they feel both safe and empowered. Now, with the help of two young American entrepreneurs, they are moving toward improving their economic future by opening Inzozi Niza (sweet dreams)—Rwanda’s first-ever local ice cream shop—embarking on a remarkable experiment in economic and emotional recovery.
Jim Granato, outreach/distribution, feature documentary
D tour is a feature-length documentary about indie rock drummer Pat Spurgeon who struggles with kidney disease while fulfilling his dreams as a musician. As his band starts to take off, he takes his dialysis with him on the road and starts the difficult quest to find a potential living donor. A rock-and-roll film about life, death and bodily functions, D tour addresses issues regarding the U.S. health care system, lack of affordable insurance and the importance of organ donation. dtourmovie.com
Scott Kirschenbaum, postproduction, feature documentary
You’re Looking at Me Like I Live Here and I Don’t is the invigorating first-person account of Lee Gorewitz’s life inside the Traditions Alzheimer’s & Other Dementia Care Unit at the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living in Danville, California. A total immersion into the fragmented day-to-day experience of the disease, the film reveals Gorewitz’s penetrating ruminations and charismatic vitality, challenging our preconceptions of illness and aging. threebagelsunday.com
Ross McDonnell and Carter Gunn, postproduction, feature documentary
Good Robot is a documentary film that aims to capture a new era in the relationship of humans and machines. Good Robot will explore the social impact the field of modern robotics in medicine, in the military and in the commercial market around the world. As machines become integrated in our lives, the film asks the questions about the places they will take, the morality of their use and whether there is a line we can cross. rossmcdonnell.com
Miles Montalbano, preproduction, feature narrative
A Human Certainty is a contemporary neorealist fable in which a young working-poor couple foresee a bleak future for themselves in the midst of a worsening economic crisis and make a lovers’ suicide pact. They check into a cheap hotel with one month’s rent and a vow to spend their last days full of carefree passion and romance. Their love is finally allowed to grow and blossom, but when the month inevitably ends, they must face the irrevocable finality of their decision. grayeminencefilms.com