SONGWRITER DIANE WARREN IS RELENTLESS

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An interview with Film Director Bess Kargman

By Noma Faingold

(July 18, 2024)

Director Bess Kargman knew going in that prolific songwriter Diane Warren, the subject of her latest documentary, doesn’t fully trust anybody. “It’s not in her nature,” Kargman said. “The biggest challenge was earning her trust. I had to navigate when to push her. She would get really anxious sitting in a chair too long and being away from her work.”

Diane Warren: Relentless screens on August 3, at 3:30 p.m., at the Piedmont Theatre, (4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland) during the 44th Annual San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, July 18-August 4. Complete Festival Information and tickets.

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CULINARY FILM FARE AT SEATTLE’S 50TH FEST

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By Vince Keenan 

(May 22, 2024)

(Editor’s note: As people increase their frequency of going out to entertainment, most events that went virtual during Covid have returned to in-person presentations, including film festivals. The Seattle International Film Festival has programmed a number of their in-person selections for streaming through May 27 so that people not in the Seattle area can discover them.  Film lover and mixologist Vince Keenan writes about four Eat & Drink Films he saw at the festival.)

50th Seattle International Film Festival May 9–19, 2024

The Seattle International Film Festival has always offered a robust selection of movies about food and drink, “Culinary Cinema” being one of its staple programs. It continues the tradition in its fiftieth anniversary season. Several of the relevant titles are programmed in categories related to location—the Pacific Northwest and the Iberian Peninsula—which is only fitting, as the films all touch on and expand the concept of terroir. Continue reading →

LIVE CINEMA by Pamela Gentile

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Live Cinema is the contemporary revival of experiential cinema with a live element.
Celebrating her fortieth year shooting major film festivals in San Francisco and beyond, Gentile shares her love of world cinema, her capture of silver screens with live musical accompaniment that exemplifies and preserves the inimitable cinematic theater experience.

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SILENTS PLEASE-WITH SOUND

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By Gary Meyer.   (April 9, 2024)

The past several years, after the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, many of the attendees compare notes and proclaim the just completed Festival the best ever. Looking at the 2024 schedule I have a hunch that could be said again.

Starting Wednesday, April 10 at the Palace of Fine Arts with a stunning Technicolor restoration of the Douglas Fairbanks swashbuckler THE BLACK PIRATE with live musical accompaniment by the Donald Sosin Ensemble, the Festival will offer 22 programs through Sunday, April 14 featuring popular stars including Clara Bow, Laurel and Hardy, Norma Talmadge, Buster Keaton, Brigitte Helm, and Harold Lloyd. Some big names may be in established classics, but others are in previously “lost” movies or those only available in poor quality prints before these screenings. Continue reading →

MOREAU AND THE AUTEURES INVADE THE ROXIE

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MCP’s Unique Look at Gender Issues in Classic French Film

OWEN FIELD (interviewing Phoebe Green and Don Malcolm)

(March 28,2024)

In the midst of its long-running rare French noir series (that will exceed 150 titles screened when it concludes this fall), Midcentury Productions has opened the door to an entirely other aspect of classic French cinema: what we might call “the battle of the sexes.”  It’s a rich area, because that battle is still going on—particularly in America, with reproductive rights suddenly front and center.

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Champagne Biopic “Widow Clicquot” opens Sonoma International Film Festival’s Tasty Program

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By Geneva Anderson

(March 16, 2024)

Haley Bennett rises to become the Grand Dame of Champagne  in Thomas Napper’s “Widow Clicquot”

The Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF27) is just around the corner, March 20-24.  Set in the heart of the wine country, with a program that emphasizes film, food, wine, parties, and community engagement, SIFF has twice been voted one of the 25 coolest festivals in the world by MovieMaker magazine.  SIFF27 showcases 43 narrative and 16 documentary features plus 48 shorts from over 25 countries. Continue reading →

Why December 4th is the Date To Reintroduce Yourself To… THE LOST CONTINENT OF CLASSIC FRENCH FILM NOIR

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By Owen Field

(Including fragments of an interview with Midcentury Productions’ Don Malcolm.) (November 30, 2023)

THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT is one of the world’s best-kept open secrets, spilling out a world of film noir—or, more accurately, perhaps, a “lost continent” that has been relentlessly explored at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco since November 2014.

Lino Ventura in WITNESS IN THE CITY (UN TEMOIN DANS LA VILLE)

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Fabulous Food and Film Await at CAAMFest 2023

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By Geneva Anderson

(May 12, 2023)

 

When it comes to Asian-focused cinema, nothing beats the Bay Area’s CAAMFest.  The 11-day festival, which prides itself on culturally relevant stories that you won’t see anywhere else, offers 55 events grouped under film, music, food, and ideas.  For the first time since 2019, CAAMfest will be a fully in-person experience and the programming reflects the reality that people have been changed by the pandemic; that they think, feel and engage differently. Browse the program and let yourself be moved by the call to gather and “to lift each other up after in the audacity of our stories.”  

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Shining the Light on Celebrity Chefs and Legendary Wine Country Women at the Sonoma International Film Festival  

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By Geneva Anderson

(March 21, 2023)

Long known for its culinary and wine films and now, its celebrity chef events, the 26th Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF), March 22-26, finds magic in its combo of film, food, wine, parties and its gorgeous wine country setting.  This year’s edition offers 110 films from 32 countries, one world premiere and eight U.S. premieres.  SIFF has always excelled at bringing audiences great stories, especially dramas that find their resolution in working together in a food, wine, or vineyard setting. Its two celebrity chef dining experiences are luxurious splurges that enliven the whole festival experience: the annual Chefs & Shorts dinner and Joanne Weir’s luncheon.

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I Didn’t See You There

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By C.J. Hirschfield

(Updated January 9, 2023)

A monument to circus showman P.T. Barnum stands in Reid Davenport’s hometown of Bethel, Connecticut. “He got a pedestal,” says the director of I DIDN’T SEE YOU THERE, the new documentary that premiered at the 65th SFFILM Festival, while the disabled filmmaker’s perspective is from the sidewalk. The film, a meditative and personal feature that invites the viewer to see the world through his eyes—and at his level– often refers to the corrosive legacy of Barnum’s freak shows and how society relates to those who are different.

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They Were Calling It the Twentieth Century

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An excerpt from Dana Stevens’ “CAMERA MAN”

(Greatly updated December 3, 2022)

In this genre-defying work of cultural history, the chief film critic of Slate places comedy legend and acclaimed filmmaker Buster Keaton’s unique creative genius in the context of his time.

Buster Keaton will be celebrated at the Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive during the month of December, 2022. Starting Sunday, December 4 with SHERLOCK JR. and two shorts and continuing through Wednesday, December 21, five features and 15 shorts will be screened with musical accompaniment. Author Dana Stevens will introduce several programs. Continue reading →