San Francisco, CA – The 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival (April 23–May 7) will present five panels to generate conversation and provide a forum for new ideas in the Bay Area and beyond. Additionally, three Chronicle Chats, which pair San Francisco Chronicle writers with Festival filmmakers for in-depth Q&A discussions, will follow select film screenings in House 2 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

Forums at the Festival will kick off with Ocean Acidification: Imagining a World Without Fish, Saturday, April 25, 5:45pm, Sundance Kabuki Cinema, following the 3:45 pm screening of A Sea Change. Director Barbara Ettinger and producer Sven Huseby will converse with several of the experts featured in their documentary. This panel discussion will focus on what is being done by scientists, activists and entrepreneurs to confront the challenge of ocean acidification and CO2 emissions, and what is at stake if these collective efforts are not successful. Panelists include Barbara Ettinger, producer/director, A Sea Change; Sven Huseby, subject and producer of A Sea Change; Miyoko Sakashita, environmental lawyer, Center for Biological Diversity. Other panelists to be announced. Free admission.

The Real Mad Men will take place Sunday, April 26 at 2:45 pm at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. Advertising industry Hall of Famers known for their singular innovation, brilliance and charisma will present their seminal campaigns, followed by an in-depth discussion and Q&A as a companion event to Festival film Art & Copy. Panelists include Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein, cochairmen and creative directors of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Other participants to be announced. This panel will follow the 12:15 pm screening of Art & Copy. Tickets for The Real Mad Men are $10.00 San Francisco Film Society members/$11.00 seniors, students and persons with disabilities/$12.50 general.

Truth, Youth and New Muslim Cool, will take place Sunday, April 26 at 5:15 pm at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, following the 3:00 pm screening of New Muslim Cool.  American Muslims, who now number over six million, are one of the country’s youngest and most diverse populations. Yet media coverage of Muslims has largely focused on the aftermath of 9/11 and accusations of extremist activities. How can filmmakers cut through the media stereotypes to capture truthful and authentic stories of a community that remains little known to most Americans? How are generational shifts and youth movements shaping the way Muslims in America see and present themselves? Panelists include Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, producer/director, New Muslim Cool; Hamza Pérez, artist, community activist and subject of New Muslim Cool; Yahsmin Binti BoBo, cofounder and contributing editor, Illume Magazine; and Munir Jiwa (moderator), founding director, Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. Other participants to be announced. Free admission. 
 
Saturday, May 2 at 2:30 pm, at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas the panel Youth Make Media, Incite Change will follow the 12:00 pm screening of Youth Bring the Truth, a program of ten short films made by filmmakers under the age of 18. Immersed in a media-saturated world, today’s young people are doing more than just chatting online and playing video games. Many are creating their own media to address social issues and effect change. How empowered do they feel? What kind of impact are they having? Who are their audiences? Have their films changed people’s impressions of today’s youth? Join youth media makers and professionals from Adobe Youth Voices, Bay Area Video Coalition and others in an inspiring discussion about young people using media to make a real difference. Moderator and participants to be announced. Sponsored by Adobe Youth Voices. Free admission.

Sunday, May 3 at 6:00 pm at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas a panel of distinguished critics will tackle the urgent topic of changes in media outlets and film criticism. A Critical Moment follows the 3:45 pm screening of Gerald Peary’s For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism. As daily newspapers downsize, the most prominent voices in film criticism are disappearing, replaced by the democratizing discourse of the Internet. What will the future of criticism look like in the blog-and-Twitter era? This panel looks at both the crisis and opportunities brought about by the transformation in written media content and delivery—the effects on audiences, on the art itself and on the people who have been practicing film criticism professionally for the past decades. Panelists include John Anderson, critic and feature writer (Variety, Washington Post, New York Times) and author of Sundancing; David D’Arcy, critic (Screen International, GreenCine and formerly National Public Radio); Jonathan Curiel, critic and journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle and author of Al’ America; Dennis Harvey, critic (Variety, San Francisco Bay Guardian and SF360.org); Gerald Peary, critic (Boston Phoenix and Los Angeles Times), filmmaker (For the Love of Movies); Mary F. Pols, critic (Time.com and, formerly, Contra Costa Times); B. Ruby Rich, critic (Sight and Sound, Guardian UK) and author of Chick Flicks and professor in the Community Studies Department at University of California Santa Cruz; Susan Gerhard (moderator), critic (Cinema Scope, indieWIRE and GreenCine) and editor of SF360.org. Other participants to be announced.

Finally, the popular Chronicle Chats are back for their third year. San Francisco Chronicle writers will sit down with filmmakers for three in-depth Q&A discussions following select film screenings. Check www.sffs.org for updated info.

San Francisco Film Society
The San Francisco Film Society is a nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to celebrating the world of film and media in four core areas: Internationalism and Cross-Cultural Exchange; Educating and Inspiring Bay Area Youth; Showcasing Bay Area Film Culture; and Exploring New Media.

SFFS shows the best of world cinema year-round on its SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas and presents the San Francisco International Animation Festival, New Italian Cinema and French Cinema Now annually in the fall. In all, the Film Society presents more than 300 days of programming each year, reaching a total audience of more than 100,000 people. Its acclaimed youth education program introduces international cinema and media literacy to more than 7,000 teachers and students annually.

The Film Society publishes a daily online magazine, SF360.org, with broad-ranging news and features on Bay Area film culture and provides crucial support to the Bay Area filmmaking community through SFFS filmmaker services including grants & residencies, fiscal sponsorship, production assistance and development, networking and conference events, and professional-level filmmaker classes and workshops.

52nd San Francisco International Film Festival
The 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 23–May 7, 2009 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre and Landmark’s Clay Theatre in San Francisco; and the Pacific Film Archive Theater in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in the country’s most beautiful city, featuring 25 juried awards, 200 films and live events with upwards of 100 participating filmmakers and diverse audiences of 75,000+ people.

For tickets and information, go to www.sffs.org or call 925-866-9559.


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