52nd San Francisco International Film Festival, April 23- May 7, 2009

It’s film festival season again and nothing beats the San Francisco International Film Festival, which offers an exceptional program of global cinema—151 films from 55 countries in 34 languages with 54 West Coast, 9 North American, and 1 global premiere.  Fortunately, a number of angels stepped up with generous financial sponsorship so the economic crisis would not impact this year’s 15 day festival which draws over 75,000 people.  I am especially attached to SFIFF because the programming is wonderfully diverse offering narrative features, feature documentaries, works from new directors, and shorts from all over the world that can loosely be divided into over 20 causes- the arts, environment, health, family issues, world culture, war, youth, and Cinema by the Bay (locals).  All screenings include engaging Q&A with the directors, actors, and film crews. The festival takes place in San Francisco (Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Castro Theatre, and Landmark’s Clay Theatre) and Berkeley (Pacific Film Archive).  Most of these films sell out, so buy your tickets in advance.

Here are my must-see flics, biased by my heavy interest in global politics, environmental concerns and penetrating storytelling.  I will be posting full reviews of several of these films in coming days.

 “A Sea Change”: Dir. Barbara Ettinger (USA 2009, 84 min)   Did you happen to read Elizabeth Kolbert’s penetrating article “The Darkening Sea” in the New Yorker? (PDF) Norwegian grandfather Sven Huseby and his wife, director Barbara Ettinger were so impacted by Kolbert’s findings that they spent two years traveling all over the world and documenting the scientific impact of ocean acidification on sea life.  The urgent and accessible message delivered by Huseby is that we have reached a turning point: CO2 is acidifying our oceans and this is going to dramatically alter life on our plant for coming generations.  Ocean acidification is the flip side of global warming and if you have children, grandchildren or any investment in life as we know it continuing on this planet, this is a must-see film.  This is our generation’s legacy and we need to both inform and change things now.  Screens: Sat April 25, 3:45 pm, Mon April 27, 6:15 pm, Thurs April 30, 1:30 pm, all at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

A special forum “Ocean Acidification: Imagining a World Without Fish” will take place Saturday April 25, 5:45 pm, following the screening with several of the experts featured in the film present to discuss the latest findings.

“The Reckoning”: Dir. Pamela Yates (USA, 2008, 95 min)  The ICC (International Criminal Court) was set-up by 108 countries in response to repeated crimes against humanity.  This riveting documentary sheds light on this important permanent international tribunal that has been established to try individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide regardless of their power or influence and to punish them.  The film is the story of the ICC’s first six tumultuous years: it follows the dynamic ICC prosecutor Luis Ocampo for three years, across 4 continents as his team doggedly pursues Lord’s resistance Army leaders in Uganda, tries Congolese war lords, presses the U.N. Security Council to indict Sudan’s president for the Darfur massacres, and tackles Columbian criminals…the film is spoken in 6 languages.  The film will inspire and inform…no matter how painful, coming to terms with painful history is the best way for our civilization to heal and move forward.  Screens: Sun May 3, 5:30 pm at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Tues May 5, 6:00 pm, at PFA and Wed May 6, 6:15 pm at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

“Speaking in Tongues”: Dir. Marcia Jamel, Ken Schneider (USA 2009, 60 min)   Is America’s commitment to remaining an “English-only” nation a wise course in an increasingly interconnected world?   So far, thirty-one states have voted to make English their official language and even in liberal Palo Alto, a Mandarin language immersion program was viewed as extremely controversial and nearly stopped.  “Speaking in Tongues” explores bilingual language immersion through the compelling stories of four San Francisco public schoolchildren enrolled in Chinese and Spanish language-immersion programs.  The children enter immersion programs for different reasons and while they grow impressively at ease with the portal language offers, becoming impressive global citizens and much better students, their parents argue.  Screens: Sun April 26, 3:15 pm, Sat May 2, 11;45 am and 3:30 pm, Thurs, May 7, 2:30 pm, all at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

“Oblivion”: Dir. Heddy Honigmann (Netherlands, 2008, 93 min)   Set in the forgotten city of Lima, Peru, we meet some of the city’s residents, real characters, who use poetry, escapism, humor and creativity to battle “el olvido” oblivion, that results from being the disempowered citizens of an impoverished country that has been largely forgotten by the modern world.  Filmmaker Heddy Honigmann who received the SFIFF 2007 Persistence of Vision Award was born in Peru and returns to this forsaken country to explore its dispossessed citizens, capturing them in their victory as well as despair but never ever defeat.   The wisdom and sage humor in this film directed against its politicians and life itself makes it well worth seeing.  Screens: Sat April 25, 4:15 pm at PFA, Sun April 26, 6:30 pm, Tuesday April 28, 12:30 pm and 3:15 pm, all at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.

“The Other One”: Dir. Patrick Mario Bernard, Pierre Trividic (France 2008, 97 min)     Forty-seven year-old social worker Anne-Marie is newly single after an amicable break with her (much) younger lover, Alex, whom she encouraged to find someone more appropriate for the long-term.  He takes her advice but her replacement turns out to be another older professional woman rather than the gorgeous creative model-type that Anne-Marie imagined he should be with.  What starts off as mild curiosity about the other woman morphs into out of control jealousy and a meltdown.  Screens: Friday May 1, 4:15 pm, Sun May 3, 9:30 pm, Wed May 6, 6:00 pm, all at the Clay Theatre.

Each year the festival asks a culturally prominent public figure to address pressing issues in contemporary cinema.  Mary Ellen Mark, voted by the readers of American Photo as the most influential woman photographer of all time, will deliver the 2009 State of Cinema address on Sunday May 3, 3 pm, at the Sundance Kabuki Theatres, giving a tour of her film-set images and discussing the legendary figures in her famous frames as well.  She will also show us her photo essay “Twins.”

SFIFF52 tickets:  available at www.sffs.org , or by phone (925) 866-9559 or in person at the main ticket outlet, Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.  Price $12.50 general public.

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