Apr 1, 2014
Artist Development
The 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 24-May 8) has announced its annual Late Show program, a hand-selected quartet of this year’s most enigmatic and exciting international features with a midnight-movie sensibility. This year’s offerings-James Ward Byrkit’s super-indie brainteaser Coherence, South Korean cabin thriller Intruders, Ti West’s Jonestown-inspired The Sacrament and Hong Kong police action spectacle Firestorm–bring paranoia, politics and plastic explosives to the party, detonating worlds both personal and public.
“In this year’s Late Show mayhem, a comet wreaks havoc, a utopian cult runs amok, a drug dealer from mainland China takes Hong Kong by storm and a Korean screenwriter is overtaken by unwanted guests,” said programmer Rod Armstrong. “Providing chills and spills alongside a thread of blackly comic moments and intelligently plotted scenarios, these four films will make staying up late very worthwhile.”
Coherence, James Ward Byrkit (USA 2013)
Four couples gather for a dinner party on a night that coincides with a comet passing overhead. Repercussions straight out of The Twilight Zone ensue as relationships begin to shift amid the chaos. Coherence soon takes a turn for the delightfully weird and brain-busting-resulting in one of the best low-budget sci-fi films in years. Coherence screens Friday April 25 at 9:45 pm and Tuesday April 29 at 9:45 pm at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.
Firestorm, Alan Yuen (Hong Kong/China 2013)
Police Inspector Liu (Andy Lau) assembles a crack team to bring down a racketeer from the Chinese mainland in this Hong Kong blockbuster. In the process, he is forced to question old loyalties and his own principles. Featuring top-notch action sequences-including a fiery shoot-out on the streets of Hong Kong’s Central district–Firestorm is an action movie that doesn’t hold back its ammunition. Firestorm screens Saturday May 3 at 10:30 pm at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.
Intruders, Noh Young-seok (South Korea 2013)
Against a backdrop of politics and paranoia comes this humorous and suspenseful story of a blocked Korean screenwriter holing up in a remote cabin to finish his latest script. As the young scribe attempts to work, he is beset by a variety of distressing interruptions, including the discovery of a dead body. Intruders screens Friday May 2 at 9:45 pm; Wednesday May 7 at 9:30 pm and Thursday May 8 at 5:30 pm at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.
The Sacrament, Ti West (USA 2013)
A chilling examination of religious fanaticism starring Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz and AJ Bowen, Ti West’s new film tells the story of a camera crew reporting on a utopian commune operating in a remote location outside the United States. The Sacrament screens Saturday April 26 at 11:45 pm and Monday April 28 at 9:00 pm at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas.
For tickets and information visit festival.sffs.org.
To request interviews contact your Festival publicist.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.
57th San Francisco International Film Festival
The 57th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 24-May 8 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Castro Theatre and New People Cinema in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and nearly $40,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 65,000 in attendance.