SPECIAL EVENTS
SFFS Film Arts Forum—Thinking Outside the Doc Box
Monday, February 8, 7:30 pm
Monday, February 8, 7:30 pm
SF360 FILM+CLUB
A Sneak Preview of a Film About Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields
Sunday, February 28, 8:00 pm, doors 7:00 pm
Sunday, February 28, 8:00 pm, doors 7:00 pm
Releases
52nd San Francisco International Film Festival to Close with Unmade Beds by London-Based Argentine Director Alexis Dos Santos
Latin American New Wave Sensibility Infuses Story of Youthful Awakening and Intertwining Fates
3/2/2009
San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco International Film Festival (April 23–May 7, 2009) will wrap with the West Coast premiere of Alexis Dos Santos’s strikingly original second feature, Unmade Beds (England, 2008), at 7:00 pm, Thursday, May 7, at the Castro Theatre, San Francisco’s landmark movie palace. Director/writer Alexis Dos Santos is expected to attend, along with lead actors Déborah François and Fernando Tielve. A celebration at 9:30 pm at Mezzanine will make sure the 52nd International has a rousing close.
When a wide-eyed young Spaniard arrives in London searching for the father who abandoned him at birth, he lands in the creative hotbed of an underground squat filled with a multicultural collective of expats and colorful free spirits. The squat is also home to a beautiful Belgian haunted by memories of a recent failed love affair and seeking to restore her faith in romance. Separately they pursue momentous encounters and romantic adventures in an exquisitely tender tale of modern youth adrift in a foreign city.
The lively, romantic spirit of Unmade Beds is reminiscent of the playful spontaneity of the films from the French New Wave. Dos Santos’s lush story of youthful awakening is pushed along by a fresh and upbeat soundtrack, a vibrant environment, a stream-of-consciousness mood collage and subtle slapstick. Following the director’s excellent debut with Glue (2006), this winning second film’s effervescent spirit and unique sensibilities signal the beginning of a bright filmmaking career. Written by Alexis Dos Santos. With Déborah François, Fernando Tielve, Michiel Huisman, Iddo Goldberg, Richard Lintern.
“I love this beautiful, lyrical film,” said Graham Leggat, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society. “It’s sweet and tender and poetic and at the same time smart and technically sophisticated as a piece of filmmaking.”
At 9:30 pm the Closing Night party kicks off at Mezzanine, located at 444 Jessie Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets. Partygoers will celebrate the culmination of SFIFF52 with exotic drinks, delicious hors d’oeuvres and hot music.
Admission for the Closing Night film and party is $75 for the general public and $60 for San Francisco Film Society members; VIP tickets are $125. Film-only tickets are $25 for the general public and $20 for SFFS members.
The San Francisco Film Society
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.
The 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.
When a wide-eyed young Spaniard arrives in London searching for the father who abandoned him at birth, he lands in the creative hotbed of an underground squat filled with a multicultural collective of expats and colorful free spirits. The squat is also home to a beautiful Belgian haunted by memories of a recent failed love affair and seeking to restore her faith in romance. Separately they pursue momentous encounters and romantic adventures in an exquisitely tender tale of modern youth adrift in a foreign city.
The lively, romantic spirit of Unmade Beds is reminiscent of the playful spontaneity of the films from the French New Wave. Dos Santos’s lush story of youthful awakening is pushed along by a fresh and upbeat soundtrack, a vibrant environment, a stream-of-consciousness mood collage and subtle slapstick. Following the director’s excellent debut with Glue (2006), this winning second film’s effervescent spirit and unique sensibilities signal the beginning of a bright filmmaking career. Written by Alexis Dos Santos. With Déborah François, Fernando Tielve, Michiel Huisman, Iddo Goldberg, Richard Lintern.
“I love this beautiful, lyrical film,” said Graham Leggat, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society. “It’s sweet and tender and poetic and at the same time smart and technically sophisticated as a piece of filmmaking.”
At 9:30 pm the Closing Night party kicks off at Mezzanine, located at 444 Jessie Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets. Partygoers will celebrate the culmination of SFIFF52 with exotic drinks, delicious hors d’oeuvres and hot music.
Admission for the Closing Night film and party is $75 for the general public and $60 for San Francisco Film Society members; VIP tickets are $125. Film-only tickets are $25 for the general public and $20 for SFFS members.
The San Francisco Film Society
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.
The 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.
