Releases
56th San Francisco International Film Festival to Present 'Waxworks' with Mike Patton, Scott Amendola, Matthias Bossi and William Winant
World Premiere of New Original Score to Classic German Expressionist Film, Live at the Castro Theatre May 7; Tickets Now On Sale to SFFS Members
2/26/2013
The 56th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 25–May 9) today announced an annual programming highlight and audience favorite, the presentation of a silent film accompanied by live performance by contemporary music artists. This year’s program features the sonic talents of multi-instrumentalist Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Peeping Tom) and percussionists Scott Amendola (Scott Amendola Trio, Nels Cline, Jeff Parker, Charlie Hunter), Matthias Bossi (Sleepytime Gorilla Musem, The Book Of Knots, Skeleton Key, Fred Frith) and William Winant (John Cage, Mr. Bungle, John Zorn, Lou Reed, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Jim O’Rourke), who will join forces exclusively to perform a new original score to Paul Leni’s classic 1924 silent film Waxworks live at the historic Castro Theatre on Tuesday, May 7 at 8:30 pm.
As has become a celebrated tradition, SFIFF again unites vital contemporary musicians with classic silent film. Former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton and three percussionists—Scott Amendola, Matthias and William Winant—team to create an original score for the classic German expressionist film Waxworks that they will present in a live world premiere. This powerhouse ensemble will meet another in the three bona fide stars of the silent era united in the film—Emil Jannings, Werner Krauss and Conrad Veidt—who are featured in tales that are inspired by a creepy wax museum and crafted by a starving poet hired to create stories about exhibits on the Caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid (Jannings); serial murderer Jack the Ripper (Krauss) and Russia’s first tsar, Ivan the Terrible (Veidt). Director Paul Leni was originally a set designer and deeply influential in creating the expressionist disposition towards visualizing twisted and gorgeous subjective states in the film’s environments. Patton, Amendola, Bossi and Winant’s genre-busting approach will reanimate Waxworks and provide a musical landscape for its horror, humor and fantasy—not to mention its anachronistic treatments of race, gender and culture.
“This combination could yield any musical style you can imagine,” said San Francisco Film Society Programmer Sean Uyehara. “Mixing three percussionists of wildly divergent styles—Amendola with his penchant for loops and electronics, Bossi with his ferocious, heavy sound and Winant who can literally do anything percussive—with the magnetic, brutal vocalizations of Mike Patton will be ear-opening. What you can expect is something fun, loud, smart and LOUD.”
Tickets $22 for SFFS members, $27 for the general public. Box office now open for SFFS members online at sffs.org. Box office opens February 28 for the general public.
In recent years the San Francisco Film Society has presented these works—many of which were commissioned as world premieres—at the San Francisco International Film Festival: Buster Keaton Shorts with Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs); Claire Denis Film Scores 1996–2009 with Tindersticks; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Stephin Merritt; The Lost World with Dengue Fever; The Golem with Black Francis; The Phantom Carriage with Jonathan Richman; Heaven and Earth Magic with Deerhoof; Street Angel with American Music Club; Sunrise with Lambchop; A Page of Madness with Superchunk; Jean Painlevé: The Sounds of Science with Yo La Tengo; and Tom Verlaine: Music for Film.
For tickets and information visit sffs.org/Exhibition/SF-International-Film-Festival.
To request interviews or screeners contact your SFIFF publicist.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
56th San Francisco International Film Festival
The 56th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 25–May 9 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre and New People Cinema in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 in attendance.
San Francisco Film Society
Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services. SFFS is headed by Executive Director Ted Hope with the programmatic leadership of Director of Programming Rachel Rosen, Director of Filmmaker360 Michele Turnure-Salleo and Director of Education Joanne Parsont.
The Film Society presents more than 100 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of more than 100,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 10,000 teachers and students. Through Filmmaker360, the Film Society’s filmmaker services program, essential creative and business services, and funding totaling millions of dollars are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.
For more information visit sffs.org.
###
As has become a celebrated tradition, SFIFF again unites vital contemporary musicians with classic silent film. Former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton and three percussionists—Scott Amendola, Matthias and William Winant—team to create an original score for the classic German expressionist film Waxworks that they will present in a live world premiere. This powerhouse ensemble will meet another in the three bona fide stars of the silent era united in the film—Emil Jannings, Werner Krauss and Conrad Veidt—who are featured in tales that are inspired by a creepy wax museum and crafted by a starving poet hired to create stories about exhibits on the Caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid (Jannings); serial murderer Jack the Ripper (Krauss) and Russia’s first tsar, Ivan the Terrible (Veidt). Director Paul Leni was originally a set designer and deeply influential in creating the expressionist disposition towards visualizing twisted and gorgeous subjective states in the film’s environments. Patton, Amendola, Bossi and Winant’s genre-busting approach will reanimate Waxworks and provide a musical landscape for its horror, humor and fantasy—not to mention its anachronistic treatments of race, gender and culture.
“This combination could yield any musical style you can imagine,” said San Francisco Film Society Programmer Sean Uyehara. “Mixing three percussionists of wildly divergent styles—Amendola with his penchant for loops and electronics, Bossi with his ferocious, heavy sound and Winant who can literally do anything percussive—with the magnetic, brutal vocalizations of Mike Patton will be ear-opening. What you can expect is something fun, loud, smart and LOUD.”
Tickets $22 for SFFS members, $27 for the general public. Box office now open for SFFS members online at sffs.org. Box office opens February 28 for the general public.
In recent years the San Francisco Film Society has presented these works—many of which were commissioned as world premieres—at the San Francisco International Film Festival: Buster Keaton Shorts with Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs); Claire Denis Film Scores 1996–2009 with Tindersticks; 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Stephin Merritt; The Lost World with Dengue Fever; The Golem with Black Francis; The Phantom Carriage with Jonathan Richman; Heaven and Earth Magic with Deerhoof; Street Angel with American Music Club; Sunrise with Lambchop; A Page of Madness with Superchunk; Jean Painlevé: The Sounds of Science with Yo La Tengo; and Tom Verlaine: Music for Film.
For tickets and information visit sffs.org/Exhibition/SF-International-Film-Festival.
To request interviews or screeners contact your SFIFF publicist.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
56th San Francisco International Film Festival
The 56th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 25–May 9 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre and New People Cinema in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 in attendance.
San Francisco Film Society
Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services. SFFS is headed by Executive Director Ted Hope with the programmatic leadership of Director of Programming Rachel Rosen, Director of Filmmaker360 Michele Turnure-Salleo and Director of Education Joanne Parsont.
The Film Society presents more than 100 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of more than 100,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 10,000 teachers and students. Through Filmmaker360, the Film Society’s filmmaker services program, essential creative and business services, and funding totaling millions of dollars are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.
The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.
For more information visit sffs.org.
###