R E P O R T

WRAP
R E P O R T
58TH SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
15
DAYS
OF
FILMS,
C O N V E R S AT I O N S
AND
( APRIL 23–MAY 7 )
C E L E B R AT I O N S
The 58th San Francisco International Film Festival took place from April 23 to May 7, 2015, bringing two weeks of cinematic excellence
to Bay Area audiences. The longest-running film festival in the Americas enjoyed a banner year of brilliant films, fantastic events and live
presentations, including memorable tributes to cinema’s brightest luminaries. This year the Festival awarded nearly $40,000 in prizes
to emerging filmmakers from 13 countries. Thanks to its unique programming choices and always-enthusiastic festival community,
SFIFF58 sold out 114 screenings throughout its two-week run. Of particular popularity were the screenings and events featuring attending
filmmakers, and the Festival was proud to welcome a record number of guests to the San Francisco to engage with audiences through indepth post-screening Q&As.
67 35 79
Narrative
features
Documentary
features
Short
films
253
183
screenings
films
47
countries
Over
315
filmmakers and
industry guests from
over
15
countries
What an exhilarating time for audiences and programmers alike. Over the past two weeks,
we welcomed guests from all over the world, celebrated storytelling in its many vibrant forms,
and piloted innovative ideas to enhance the festival experience. We are especially proud of the
series of dynamic expanded conversations using film as a conduit to discuss the key issues
and obsessions of contemporary culture. The programming team, led by Rachel Rosen, and I
are grateful our sophisticated Bay Area audiences have embraced these exciting changes.
—Noah Cowan,
SFFS Executive Director
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1: Guillermo del Toro, recipient of the Irving M. Levin Directing Award
2: Isabella Rossellini, subject of Isabella Rossellini’s Green Porno Live!
Numerous guests graced the stage during SFIFF58, starting
3: Ryan Phillippe and Breckin Meyer, stars of 54: The Director’s Cut
on Opening Night with Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
director Alex Gibney and continuing throughout the 15-day event.
Scores of Festival screenings featured actors and filmmakers
who participated in on-stage introductions and Q&A sessions
with SFIFF audiences; these guests included Guillermo del Toro,
Film Society Awards Night, the fundraising gala co-chaired
Richard Gere, Jonathan Gold, Miranda July, Guy Maddin, Bob
by Christine Aylward, Heidi Castelein and Victoria Raiser,
Mankoff, Breckin Meyer, Oren Moverman, Stanley Nelson, Ryan
honored four world-class film talents at The Armory on April
Phillippe, Shira Piven, Isabella Rossellini, Winona Ryder, Paul
27. Honorees were Guillermo del Toro, recipient of the Irving
Schrader, Jason Schwartzman, Jason Segel, Claressa Shields,
M. Levin Directing Award, presented by Edgar Wright; Richard
Gaspard Ulliel, and Alex Winter among many others.
Gere, recipient of the Peter J. Owens Award for acting, presented
by director and producer Francis Ford Coppola; Paul Schrader,
recipient of the Kanbar Award for excellence in storytelling,
presented by producer Alan Poul; and Maurice Kanbar, recipient
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of the George Gund III Craft of Cinema Award, presented by
Governor Jerry Brown. A hilarious, yet tender memorial for
Robin Williams was presented by Christopher Columbus. Film
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1: Jason Schwartzman, star of 7 Chinese Brothers
2: Alex Gibney, director of Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
Society Awards Night was proudly sponsored by NET-A-PORTER.
3: Winona Ryder, star of Experimenter
COM, the world’s premier online luxury fashion destination.
4: Jason Segel, star of The End of the Tour
Additional award recipients who were honored during the
Festival included renowned observational filmmaker Kim
Longinotto, who received the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision
Award; and film scholar and translator Lenny Borger, who was
awarded the Mel Novikoff Award.
The Festival’s Big Nights continued successfully with the Bay
Area premiere of the Centerpiece film, The End of the Tour,
featuring a Q&A with director James Ponsoldt and actor Jason
Night screening of Experimenter, attended by director Michael
Almereyda and actor Winona Ryder.
Other notable personalities spotted attending SFIFF festivities
included actor Delroy Lindo, actor Keanu Reaves, artist Boots
Riley and actor Marisa Tomei, among many others.
Segel. The festivities ended on a high note with the Closing
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PAT MAZZERA
1: Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari and Claressa Shields, codirectors and subject of T-Rex
2: Scott Dulson and Carol Cooke, editor and producer of Cailleach
Nearly $40,000 in prizes was awarded by Golden Gate Awards
juries at SFIFF this year. The Festival’s Golden Gate Awards
were presented on Wednesday, May 6 at Rouge | Nick’s Crispy
Tacos. Nine films were in juried competition for the $10,000
Golden Gate New Directors Prize, given to a first-time narrative
filmmaker whose work exhibits a unique artistic sensibility. The
jury, composed of producer and BFI Senior Production Executive
Lizzie Francke, writer and filmmaker Ryan Fleck and producer
Laura Wagner, selected Laura Bispuri’s Sworn Virgin (Italy/
who presented the Golden Gate Award for Documentary Feature
Switzerland/Germany/Albania/Kosovo). $15,000 went to winners
to Western (USA) by Turner Ross and Bill Ross IV. Special jury
in two categories in the Documentary Feature Competition:
recognition was given to Laurent Bécue-Renard’s Of Men and
Documentary Feature ($10,000) and Bay Area Documentary
War (France/Switzerland). The jury presented the Golden Gate
Feature ($5,000). The Golden Gate Award Documentary Feature
Award for Bay Area Documentary Feature to Very Semi-Serious
competitions jury was comprised of filmmakers Kristine
(USA) by Leah Wolchok and honored T-Rex (USA) by Drea Cooper
Samuelson and Robert Greene, and journalist Susan Gerhard,
and Zackary Canepari with special recognition.
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The Golden Gate Award Short Film jury consisted of filmmakers Grace Lee and Jonathan Duffy
and curator Liz Keim, who awarded $9,000 in cash prizes. Best Documentary Short was given
to Rosie Reed Hillman’s Cailleach (Scotland). The Best Narrative Short was awarded to Una
Gunjak’s The Chicken (Germany/Croatia). The prize for Best Bay Area Short went to The Box
(USA) by Michael I Schiller, who in his acceptance speech noted the honor of bringing to light his
subject: teens in solitary confinement in the United States. The award for Best Animated Short
went to A Single Life (Netherlands) by Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins, Job Roggeveen, and the
GGA for New Visions Short was given to Jonn Herschend’s Discussion Questions (USA).
The Family Film jury was comprised of Arts Education consultant Amy Balsbaugh, third grade
teacher at Grattan School Susan DesBaillets, and Head of Education and Community Programs
at The Walt Disney Family Museum Hillary Lyden, who awarded Best Family Film to The Story of
Percival Pilts (Australia/New Zealand) by Janette Goodey and John Lewis. Honorable Mentions
were given to James Ford Murphy’s Lava (USA) and Yulia Aronova’s One, Two, Tree (France/
Switzerland). The Youth Works jury was comprised of local high school students Diana Garcia,
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Ramses Mosley-Wise and Sean Rossiter, with adult supervisor Lisa Landi, producer of Film
School Shorts at KQED. The Golden Gate Award for Youth Work went to Two and a Quarter
Laura Bispuri and Flonja Kodheli, director and star of Sworn Virgin
Minutes by Joshua Ovalle (USA), which received a $1,000 cash prize, including $500 donated
by KQED. Honorable Mention was given to The Off / Season, Lance Oppenheim (USA), which
received a $250 cash prize donated by KQED.
The SFIFF58 Audience Awards gave festival-goers the opportunity to select their favorite
narrative and documentary feature. The Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went
to James Napier Robertson’s The Dark Horse (New Zealand), with Anna Muylaert’s The
Second Mother (Brazil) also tallying high votes from filmgoers. The Audience Award for Best
Documentary Feature was a tie, given to Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari’s T-Rex (USA) and
Jason Zeldes’ Romeo is Bleeding (USA), with Liz Garbus’ What Happened Miss Simone? (USA)
also scoring well with SFIFF audiences.
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L I V E & O N STAG E A N D
SPECIAL EVENTS
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1: Lenny Borger, recipient of the Mel Novikoff Award
2: Kim Longinotto, recipient of the Persistence of Vision Award
3: Kronos Quartet, performers of Kronos Quartet Beyond Zero 1914–1918
This year’s Live & Onstage program presented festival gems,
including a double dose of an audience favorite—pairing live
music by contemporary musical talents with film projection. On
May 5, Cibo Matto performed a new score to a selection of films
curated by Programmer Sean Uyehara in collaboration with
the band, engrossing audiences in the historic Castro Theatre.
swore audiences to secrecy with her New Society event, co-
On May 6, local favorites Kronos Quartet played Aleksandra
presented by SFMOMA. Welcome, Space Brothers: The Films
Vrebalov’s haunting composition, originally commissioned for
of the Unarius Academy of Science with Jodi Wille brought one
their performance, with films of original 35mm nitrate footage,
of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the festival for cinema lovers
pieced together by Bill Morrison in a unique visual exploration of
and the sartorial alike, as Cinefamily LA programmer Jodi Wille
World War I from footage that has never been viewed by modern
introduced San Francisco audiences to the films of the Unarius,
audiences. Visionary Douglas Trumbull delivered the much-
joined onstage by members of the Unarius Academy.
anticipated State of Cinema address, introducing audiences to
the immersive cinema experience of the future. Miranda July
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The Live & Onstage program also included Boomtown: Remaking San Francisco, addressing the
ever-shifting economy of San Francisco through a variety of perspectives. Audiences absorbed
Tim Redmond’s housing crisis analysis, chanted along with Black Lives Matter protestors,
watched works in progress The Last Black Man in San Francisco (Joseph Talbot) and Never
a Cover (Susie Smith, Lauren Tabak), enjoyed Sutro Tower: From Eyesore to Icon (Elisabeth
Spencer) and West is San Francisco: A Symphony in Kodachrome (B. Berzins, Jim Granato,
Nicole Minor, Doug Schultz, Anjali Sundaram and Phoebe Tooke), and witnessed nostalgia for
the shifting cityscapes in Vero Majano’s storytelling over Mission archival footage and Jenni
Olson’s narrative over San Francisco images in clips from The Royal Road.
1: Melonie Green and Melorra Green, participants in Boomtown: Remaking San Francisco
2: Jodi Wille, curator of Welcome Space Brothers: The Films of the Unarius Academy of Science
3: Paul Schrader, recipient of the Kanbar Storytelling Award
4: Cibo Matto, performers of Cibo Matto New Scene
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C O L L A B O R AT I O N S SFIFF proudly teamed with several organizations on substantive
programming collaborations, including the Telluride Film Festival
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1: Nansun Shi, producer of The Taking of Tiger Mountain
2: Stanley Nelson, director of The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
3: Rachel Kushner, guest speaker for Wanda
(to present Stanton Kaye’s Brandy in the Wilderness and Barbara
Loden’s Wanda, SFMOMA (co-presenting partner for Miranda
July’s New Society), Alamo Drafthouse (guest curators of the Dark
Wave section), California College of the Arts (series producer
for Cinema Visionaries: Alex Gibney) and long-standing partner
Pacific Film Archive (guest curators of Nothing But a Dream:
Experimental Shorts). Taking the audience experience beyond
the traditional festival filmmaker Q&A session, the San Francisco
Film Society programmed enhanced screenings collaborating
with luminary figures from many of the Bay Area’s key culture,
technology and civic institutions—plus several notable out-of-
guided discussions, and in-depth analyses. Representatives of
such groups as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights
Watch and the Black Panther Party, and iconic individuals like
Rachel Kushner, Nansun Shi and David Thomson, joined SFIFF
filmmakers and programmers to explore the issues in a wide
variety of Festival films.
town guests. These screenings included special introductions,
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C I N E M A BY T H E B AY SFIFF58 featured 13 shorts and 12 feature-length films from local talent or about the area across
Festival sections. Among the Bay Area features were Advantageous by Jennifer Phang, How to
Smell a Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock in Normandy by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht, Quitters
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by Noah Pritzker, Romeo Is Bleeding by Jason Zeldes, and The Royal Road by Jenni Olson. Bay
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Area shorts were also abundant and included: Hotel 22 (Elizabeth Lo), Time Quest (John Dilley),
Tradesman’s Exit (Tom E. Brown), The Box (Michael I Schiller), Blackout: John Burris Speaks
(Terence Nance), The Boombox Collection: Boots Riley (Mohammad Gorjestani), Discussion
Questions (Jonn Herschend), A Long Way from Home (Jay Rosenblatt), Lava (James Ford
Murphy), My Big Brother (Jason Rayner), Not Just a Tree: Friends of the Urban Forest (Reyna
Colt-Lacayo, Marwaun Brooks, Walden Smith, Mauricio Romero), Stranded (Clio Gevirtz), Under
the Heat Light an Opening (Zachary Epcar) and Ed & Pauline (Christian Bruno, Natalija Vekic).
1: Donté Clark, subject of Romeo Is Bleeding
2: Natalija Vekic and Christian Bruno, codirectors of Ed & Pauline
3: The cast and crew of Advantageous
4: Noah Pritzker, director of Quitters
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1: Lily Zhang, subject of Top Spin
2: Students at a screening of The Story of Percival Pilts
SFFS Education’s Schools at the Festival (SATF) program, run by Youth
3: A school visit with the Aria for a Cow team
Education Manager Keith Zwolfer, welcomed more than 4,450 students
(ages 6–18) and teachers from schools across the Bay Area attending
17 screenings of feature films and shorts programs over the course
of the two-week Festival. Each screening included Q&A discussions
with filmmakers and special guests. Twenty-six local and international
guests (screenwriters, producers, directors, actors and animators)
also discussed their films and craft in Bay Area classrooms during
SATF’s 20 school visits, reaching an additional 1,176 elementary,
middle and high school students and educators. Celebrating its 25th
year, SATF aims to develop media literacy, broaden insights into other
cultures, enhance foreign language aptitude, develop critical thinking
skills and inspire a lifelong appreciation of cinema.
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MASTER CLASSES
1: Pixar’s James Ford Murphy and Greg Dykstra with the participants of the Festival’s Master Class
Discovering Characters in Pixar’s Lava: A Sculpting Workshop for Kids
SFIFF58 featured three Master Classes with film professionals
and industry leaders. The San Francisco Film Society joined
2: A young participant at the Festival’s Master Class Discovering Characters in Pixar’s Lava: A
Sculpting Workshop for Kids
California College of the Arts in presenting Cinema Visionaries:
3: Alex Gibney, director of Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
Alex Gibney, an engaging conversation with the director of
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine. In Designing Interactive
Narratives, Ben Adair of Detour, Michael Epstein of Walking
Cinema and Eli Horowitz explored how three unique approaches
to interactive video, audio events and writing harness the powers
of cutting-edge media technologies and the ingenious strategies
of forward-thinking artists to produce nimble, immersive,
site-specific story worlds. At The Walt Disney Family Museum,
Pixar Animation Studios director James Ford Murphy and Pixar
sculptor Greg Dykstra presented Discovering Characters in
Pixar’s Lava: A Sculpting Workshop for Kids, where participants
aged 8–15 created their own volcanic characters.
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SFIFF58 SCREENING
AT H O M E The San Francisco Film Society launched the SFIFF Online
Screening Room, which provides an opportunity for SFFS
members to stream select feature and short films free of charge
for a limited time. Through this pilot program made possible by
technology partner FORA.tv, the SFIFF Online Screening Room
offers 14 feature films and 11 shorts from the official SFIFF58
lineup. Each film became available to stream online starting the
day of its final Festival screening, and remained online through
June 7. SFIFF ticket buyers who are not yet members had an
opportunity to access a curated set of short film content to try
out the site. Visit watch.sffs.org for more information.
1: A scene from Black Coal, Thin Ice
2: A scene from T-Rex
3: A scene from Western
4: A scene from Beats of the Antonov
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FILMMAKER360
SFIFF58 featured a number of films supported by the Film
Society’s Filmmaker360 program. The supported films that
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1: Bob Mankoff and Leah Wolchok, subject and director of Very Semi-Serious
2: Kris Swanberg, director of Unexpected
3: Jason Zeldes, director of Romeo Is Bleeding
screened as part of this year’s Festival represent each of the
several ways in which the San Francisco Film Society provides
funding and creative services for independent film projects from
around the globe as part of its year-round filmmaker services
programs. Six SFFS-supported films hit Bay Area screens for
the first time at the Festival and were lovingly received by local
audiences, including a number that already garnered much
acclaim on the global festival circuit, and a world premiere.
Jennifer Phang’s Advantageous and Leah Wolchok’s Very SemiSerious were developed as the respective directors took part
Bill Ross IV’s Western and Jenni Olson’s The Royal Road were
part of the SFFS Project Development program; Unexpected by
Kris Swanberg was awarded a SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant
for postproduction in the fall of 2014; and Romeo is Bleeding by
Jason Zeldes was a 2014 Documentary Film Fund winner.
in the SFFS FilmHouse Residency program; Turner Ross and
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SPONSORS AND
PA R T N E R S 2
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1: Film Society Awards Night at the Armory
2: Sven Hansen-Løve, star of Eden
3: Closing Night Party at Mezzanine
Among SFIFF58’s 135 plus sponsors, leading partners were
Rdio, RBC Capital Markets, Blue Angel Vodka, the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Bank of the West, TV5 Monde,
the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office San Francisco, the
San Francisco Film Commission, Dolby, the French American
Cultural Society, and the Consulate General of France in San
than 30 restaurant, beverage and food sponsors supported the
Francisco. NET-A-PORTER.COM generously sponsored the 2015
Festival, technical companies provided essential equipment,
Film Society Awards Night Gala. Pereira O’Dell is the Festival’s
media partners promoted programming, numerous consulates
creative agency partner, Muse Brands is its design partner and
and cultural organizations helped bring in special guests, and
its website is powered by Ingeniux. Media sponsors included
hundreds of guest rooms were donated by hotel properties
7x7 and SF Weekly. Joie de Vivre Hotels and Resorts provided
throughout San Francisco for Festival filmmakers.
substantial support as the festival’s Premier Hotel Sponsor. More
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PRESENTING SPONSORS
WORLD CINEMA SPOTLIGHT SPONSOR
OFFICIAL VODKA
MUSIC IN FILM SPONSOR
OPENING NIGHT SPONSOR
CONTEMPORARY FRENCH CINEMA SPONSORS
PA R T N E R S P O N S O R S
C H A M P I O N PA R T N E R
PRESENTING MEDIA
SPONSORS
P R E M I E R H OT E L S P O N S O R
SUPPORTING SPONSORS
Landmark’s Clay Theatre | The Fillmore Center
The North Face Corte Madera | The North Face Palo Alto | The North Face San Francisco | ZAP Zoetrope Aubry Productions
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C R E AT I V E S P O N S O R S
P R O M OT I O N A L S P O N S O R S
AGENCY PARTNER
Clear Channel
JB Imaging
National Promotions & Advertising
Titan
DESIGN PARTNER
H OT E L S P O N S O R S
M E D I A PA R T N E R S
48Hills
C Magazine
dot429
Hecho en California con Marcos y Isabel, KIQI 1010 am
KFOG 104.5
KGO 810
KQED Public Broadcasting
San Francisco Examiner
San Francisco Magazine
SF Evergreen
SF Station
The California Sunday Magazine
UpOut
The Fairmont San Francisco
Galleria Park Hotel - a Joie de Vivre Hotel
Hilton San Francisco Financial District
Hotel AbRi
Hotel Carlton - a Joie de Vivre Hotel
Hotel Kabuki - a Joie de Vivre Hotel
Hotel Majestic
Hotel Rex - a Joie de Vivre Hotel
Hotel Zetta
Inn at the Presidio
Laurel Inn - a Joie de Vivre Hotel
Mystic Hotel
Nob Hill Inn
Phoenix Hotel - a Joie de Vivre Hotel
San Francisco Marriott Marquis
Serrano Hotel R E STAU R A N T S , C AT E R E R S & FO O D P U RV E YO R S
1601 Bar & Kitchen
Amber India
Azucar Lounge
Bar Agricole
Bitchin’ Baklava
Bumzy’s Cookies
Chaya Brasserie
Chino
Cotogna
Dandelion Chocolate
Destino
Divine Chocolate
EuroBistros
Food Should Taste Good
James Standfield Catering
Justin’s Nut Butter
Kettle Brand
Little Skillet
L’Osteria Del Forno
LUNA
Market Bar
Numi Tea
Peter’s Kettle Corn
Poesia Osteria Italiana
Presidio Social Club
The Corner Store
The Taco Shop at Underdogs
True Story Foods
Vermont Smoke & Cure
Wing Wings
F E ST I VA L E V E N T PA R T N E R S
Casa Sanchez
El Porteno Empanadas
Gaspar
Judy’s Breadsticks
La Mediterranee
Photo-matica
Reserve
Sol Food
Trou Normand
BEVERAGE SPONSORS
TECHNICAL SPONSORS
EVENT VENUES
Brickley Production Services
Dream Dynamic
Flying Moose Pictures
got light.
Holzmueller Productions
McCune Audio / Video / Lighting
RF Audio
Tekamaki
Video Equipment Rentals (VER)
The Armory Community Center
The Battery
El Cerrito High School
Madame Tussauds
Mezzanine
Monarch
Rouge | Nick’s Crispy Tacos
The Walt Disney Family Museum
C O N S U L AT E S & C U LT U R A L I N ST I T U T I O N S
T R AV E L & T R A N S P O R TAT I O N PA R T N E R S
Consulate General of France in San Francisco
Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest in San Francisco
Consulate General of Mexico in San Francisco
French American Cultural Society
Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office
Italian Cultural Institute
Trade Commission of Chile in Los Angeles - ProChile
UniFrance
AeroMexico
The Fillmore Center
Thrifty Car Rental
Volaris
Blue Angel Vodka
Cumaica Coffee
Fort Point Beer Company
Francis Ford Coppola Winery
U.S. Pure Water
VO LU N T E E R & H O S P I TA L I T Y S P O N S O R S
Bi-Rite
Fitness SF
Kabuki Springs & Spa
Le Central Bistro
Lumio
Mission Cliffs
National Holistic Institute
Noah’s New York Bagels
We Love Jam
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