24 minutes with “Berlin & Beyond’s” Sophoan Sorn

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An interview by Geneva Anderson.     (March 16, 2026)

Sophoan Sorn. Festival director of Berlin & Beyond at the Castro Theater which screens three German dramas on March 19.   Image: Sophoan Sorn

The Berlin & Beyond film festival (B&B) (March 19-23) will celebrate its 30th anniversary in style, with Opening Night at revamped Castro Theater on March 19.  The evening unfolds with Ido Fluk’s drama, “Köln 75,” the exhilarating back story to Keith Jarrett’s famously improvised 1975 piano concert, along with a special Opening Ceremony and tribute to actor Mala Emde, who stars in the film. Continue reading →

Noir City 23 to The Rescue!

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Anticipating This Year’s Music-Themed Fest With Delight

by Meredith Brody.  (January 13,2026)

I love Eddie Muller’s Noir City film festivals; I don’t think I’ve missed a one since his first edition in Los Angeles at the American Cinematheque in 1999, four years before SF’s first Noir City.

I start out perusing the list of 24 films (paired in a dozen double bills) in my usual somewhat-blinkered and mildly narcissistic fashion: which ones are new to me? Since I’ve been seeking out film noir since before I went to college, and my first post-college publication in book form was in Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward’s first “Encyclopedia of Film Noir” back in 1979, it’s not totally a surprise that there are only two that qualify: the British Face the Music aka The Deadly Glove (1954), and The Crimson Canary (1945), neither of which I’ve even heard of.

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SECRETS FROM THE MOVIE SET

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An Interview with Producer Paul Zaentz

By Gary Meyer

(updated November 21, 2024)

34 Oscar nominations.

22 Wins including 3 Best Pictures.

That is only a fraction of the awards the Bay Area ‘s Saul Zaentz won for the terrific movies he brought to the international big screen.

The Berkeley FILM Foundation and the California Film Institute presented the Saul Zaentz Film Celebration, an event honoring the legacy of the legendary independent film producer, November 15-17, 2024, at the Smith Rafael Film Center in San Rafael, California.

Amadeus shows at Davies Hall with the SF Symphony the score live on  music. on Nov. 29-30, 2024. Tickets and info here.

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