Exhibition | Fiscal Sponsorship | Resources

2009 SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Highlighted film titles link to SFIFF pages that contain film synopses, credits, print sources, running times, countries of origin and ticket purchase links.

Go Go 70s
Based on the story of real-life ’70s rock group the Devils, Go Go 70s is a worthy addition to the recent canon of Korean films that re-evaluate the country’s history from authoritarian rule to civilian democracy in the late 20th century.
SFFS Exhibition: 2009 SFIFF
Attendance: 413


PAST EXHIBITIONS

Highlighted film titles link to SFIFF pages that contain film synopses, credits, print sources, running times and countries of origin.

American Blackout
Ian Inaba’s American Blackout is a stylish, intelligent and provocative documentary that looks at the historic and systematic disenfranchisement of the Black vote through the lens of the political career of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia).
SFFS Exhibition: 2006 SFIFF
Attendance: 449
Youth Ed Attendance: 57
Website: http://www.americanblackout.com/
 
Another Man’s Garden
Sofia, a young girl in Mozambique who is studying to be a doctor, finds that her professor wants more from her than hard work.
SFFS Exhibition: 2007 Youth Ed
Attendance: 72
 
Ask Not
November 2008 will mark the 15th anniversary of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy with very little to celebrate.
SFFS Exhibition: 2008 SFIFF
Attendance: 495
Youth Ed Attendance: 16
Website: http://www.asknotfilm.com/
Co-presenter: San Francisco LGBT Community Center

Chisholm ’72: Unbought & Unbossed
It is astounding as a contemporary viewer to witness the audacious feat that an African American woman dared to do 32 years ago.
SFFS Exhibition: 2004 SFIFF
Attendance: 390
Website: http://www.chisholm72.net/home.html
 
The Dignity of the Nobodies
This is activist cinema at its best: passionate, informative and uncompromising.
SFFS Exhibition: 2006 SFIFF
Attendance: 693
 
Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
Lolis Eric Elie, the award-winning New Orleans newspaperman who wrote, produced and narrates this deeply felt documentary, takes us on a tour of the city—his city…
SFFS Exhibition: 2008 SFIFF
Attendance: 949
Youth Ed Attendance: 74
Website: http://www.tremedoc.com/
Co-presenter: Museum of the African Diaspora
 
Flow: For Love of Water
Water is the very essence of life, sustaining every being on the planet. This film confronts the disturbing reality that our crucial resource is dwindling and greed just may be the cause.
SFFS Exhibition: 2008 SFIFF
Attendance: 746
Youth Ed Attendance: 22
Website: http://www.flowthefilm.com/
 
Home of the Brave
The price of social commitment, not just to oneself but to the generations that follow, is compassionately explored in Paola di Florio’s film.
SFFS Exhibition: 2004 SFIFF
Attendance: 389

The Orange Revolution
“It’s exhilarating to watch what happens when ordinary people... recognize their own power and decide to take action,” says Steve York, director of this politically charged documentary.
SFFS Exhibition: 2007 SFIFF
Attendance: 387
Youth Ed Attendance: 71
Website: www.orangerevolutionmovie.com/
 
Pursuit of Equality
On February 12, 2004, the City of San Francisco made history by issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Led by Mayor Gavin Newsom, the city continued to marry gay and lesbian couples until the California Supreme Court issued an immediate halt on March 11, 2004.
SFFS Exhibition: 2005 SFIFF
Attendance: 1319
Youth Ed Attendance: 15
Website: www.pursuitofequality.com/
 
Secrecy
In today’s wired world most of us enjoy the luxury of free flowing information 24 hours a day. So why does the United States government spend more time and money than ever before making sure we don’t have access to certain information?
SFFS Exhibition: 2008 SFIFF
Attendance: 629
Youth Ed Attendance: 93
SFFS Focus Attendance: 383
Website: www.secrecyfilm.com/

Standard Operating Procedure
In his Oscar-winning documentary The Fog of War, Errol Morris focused on the tragedies of conflicts past; in his new film, he turns his attention to the most recent, Iraq, using one moment—the Abu Ghraib prison scandal—to reflect on an entire military and political culture. It’s been nearly five years since photos emerged of black-hooded, handcuffed and naked prisoners being humiliated by American soldiers.
SFFS Exhibition: 2008 SFIFF
Attendance: 576
Website: www.sonyclassics.com/standardoperatingprocedure/

Strange Culture
Everything changed for conceptual artist Steve Kurtz on the morning of May 11, 2004, when he awoke to discover that his 45-year-old wife, Hope, had died in her sleep.
SFFS Exhibition: 2007 SFIFF
Attendance: 678
Youth Ed Attendance: 61
Website: www.strangeculture.net/
 
The Twelve Disciples of Nelson Mandela
In this tribute to his late stepfather, B. Pule Leinaeng (“Lee”), filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris weaves a riveting exploration of family, exile and home.
SFFS Exhibition: 2006 SFIFF
Attendance: 435
Youth Ed Attendance: 21
Website: www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/twelvedisciples/
 
Unprecedented
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election is the riveting story about the battle for the Presidency in Florida and the undermining of democracy in America.
SFFS Exhibition:
2008 Youth Ed Attendance:188
Website: www.unprecedented.org/
 
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts
Spike Lee’s epic documentary on the impact and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is a transcendent prayer for salvation.
SFFS Exhibition: 2007 SFIFF
Attendance: 1353
Youth Ed Attendance: 234
Website: www.hbo.com/docs/programs/whentheleveesbroke/
 
Workingman's Death
Michael Glawogger (Megacities, SFIFF 1999) wonders if, in the digital age, heavy manual labor is disappearing, or maybe just becoming invisible.
SFFS Exhibition: 2006 SFIFF
Attendance: 577
Website: workingmansdeath.com/about_en.html
 

FISCAL SPONSORSHIP

HIghlighted film titles link to sffs.org "Current Projects" pages, alphabetically listing SFFS fiscally sponsored films, containing synopses and website links where available. Below each title is the filmmaker's name.

Behind the Velvet Curtain (Supreme Court)
Robert H. Martin

Kaddish In Shanghai
Chad Grochowski

Meet Mary Pleasant
C. Susheel Bibbs

Raging Grannies
Pam Walton

Taylor’s Campaign
Richard B. Cohen

Traces of the Trade
Katrina Browne


RESOURCES

The following list of resources offers interested audience members more information and ways to become involved in Civil Liberties.

California Innocence Project

Civil Rights Organization

Lambda Legal

Museum of African American History

NAACP

National Center for Lesbian Rights

National Institute of Justice

Network to Freedom

Youth Community Action