Mar 29, 2016
Artist Development
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society announced today that the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival‘s lineup will include a record number of films that have received support by the Filmmaker360 program. The supported films to screen 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.
Guetty Felin’s Ayiti Mon Amour was developed as the director took part in the SFFS FilmHouse Residency program; Maris Curan’s Five Nights in Maine was awarded a SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant for production; and Amanda Micheli’s haveababy was enrolled in the SFFS Project Development program. Mike Plunkett’s Salero, Moby Longinotto’s The Joneses and Mike Day’s The Islands and the Whales were Documentary Film Fund winners in 2012, 2014 and 2015 respectively. The Fixer, by Ian Olds was supported by the Filmmaker360 program throughout its development and production, receiving the SFFS / Hearst Screenwriting Grant, and several SFFS / Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants.
“The San Francisco Film Society is a significant player in the funding of independent film, making the bay area a cultural hub for filmmaking” said Michele Turnure-Salleo, Director of the Filmmaker360 program. “As the Festival is engaging with the city in new ways, we are excited to have a record number of Filmmaker360 projects to share with the perceptive and curious Bay Area audiences.”
Filmmaker360, the San Francisco Film Society’s filmmaker support program, is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the United States, dispersing nearly $1 million annually across various programs to incubate and support innovative and exceptional films. Filmmaker360’s activities focus on career sustainability for independent filmmakers, and its diverse initiatives offer unparalleled assistance and opportunities designed to foster creativity and shepherd important projects toward completion. Services offered by Filmmaker360 include cash grants, consultation services, project development and fiscal sponsorship, FilmHouse residencies offering free office space to filmmakers in any stage of production, and much more. For more information visit sffs.org/filmmaker360.
SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY-SUPPORTED FILMS AT SFIFF59
Ayiti Mon Amour, directed by Guetty Felin
A chorale for several voices in the wake of the Haiti earthquake, this poetic and visually stunning work tracks several characters, including a teenager studying Japanese who is bullied for being light-skinned and a writer and his muse who are grappling with their identities. As the restless camera finds beauty amid the quotidian and radio broadcasts grapple with rebuilding, the film dedicates itself to the restless and resilient souls who populate this culturally rich island nation.
· SFFS FilmHouse Residency, 2013-2015 (more info)
Five Nights in Maine, directed by Maris Curan
Thrown into a shocked daze of mourning by his wife’s death, a new widower (David Oyelowo) attempts to snap himself out of his inertia with a visit to his hostile, cancer-stricken mother-in-law (Dianne Wiest). Terrific performances by the two leads and Rosie Perez, as Wiest’s caregiver, make the film a master class in mood and tension.
· Spring 2014 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant recipient: $60,000 for postproduction (more info)
The Fixer, directed by Ian Olds
After fleeing his home in Afghanistan, military interpreter and budding reporter Osman finds himself amidst the bohemians and low-rent criminals of rural Sonoma County (including a long-haired James Franco). When a local backwoods gangster turns up dead, he searches for the prime suspect while navigating unfamiliar terrain and nursing culture shock. Unpredictable, ominous, yet surprisingly funny, The Fixer deftly weaves disparate tones to create a vivid, lived-in portrait of a California rarely seen in film.
· 2011 SFFS / Hearst Screenwriting Grant recipient: $15,000 for screenwriting (more info)
· Fall 2013 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant recipient: $25,000 for packaging (more info)
· Spring 2014 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant recipient: $18,000 for pre-production (more info)
· Spring 2015 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant recipient: $75,000 for production (more info)
· Fall 2015 SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant recipient: $75,000 for post-production (more info)
haveababy, directed by Amanda Micheli
Amanda Micheli’s stirring and suspenseful documentary follows several aspiring parents who desperately want to have a baby but are struggling with infertility and the high cost of treatments. They place themselves in the hands of Las Vegas doctor Geoffrey Sher and his annual contest offering a prize of a free round of in-vitro fertilization treatments-with no guarantee of pregnancy. A rollercoaster of hope and despair awaits them all.
· Enrolled in the SFFS Project Development program (more info)
The Islands and the Whales, directed by Mike Day
Small fishing communities of the Faroe Islands, an isolated Nordic archipelago in the North Atlantic, endure an uneasy period of transition as disparate global pressures-including animal rights activism, plummeting wildlife populations and mercury crawling up the ocean food chain-threaten traditional hunting and fishing practices. Graphic hunting scenes in this vivid documentary are interspersed with portraits of irascible community members who are resistant to change, all amid a landscape of eerie, solitary beauty.
· 2015 Documentary Film Fund recipient: $35,000 for postproduction (more info)
The Joneses, directed by Moby Longinotto
Filmmaker Moby Longinotto’s fascinating, thoroughly candid documentary invites audiences to pull up a chair at the never-dull family table in a Mississippi trailer park home. Everything is on the menu: dashed dreams, seething resentments, sexual awakenings and dollops of unconditional love. Overseeing all the tumult is unflappable, 73-year-old transgender matriarch Jheri Jones, whose dedicated ministrations keep her family going.
· 2014 Documentary Film Fund recipient: $30,000 for postproduction (more info)
Salero, directed by Mike Plunkett
Moises Chambi Yucra and his family stand at the crossroads of time. For generations, they have has made a humble living harvesting salt from Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, but beneath Uyuni sit massive amounts of lithium, a mineral instrumental in powering smartphones and electric vehicles. With stunning cinematography that captures both the vibrancy and the solitude of the land and life, director Mike Plunkett captures the final days of an age-old way of life.
· 2012 Documentary Film Fund recipient: $20,000 for postproduction (more info)
In addition to these seven features, there are two short films made by SFFS-supported filmmakers playing in the Shorts 1 Program. Documentary short film In Attla’s Tracks was directed by FilmHouse resident Catharine Axley and narrative short film Someone is Happy Somewhere was directed by Alvaro Furloni and Mario Furloni, both current FilmHouse residents.
For general information visit festival.sffs.org.
To request interviews or screeners, contact your Festival publicist.
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/press.
59th San Francisco International Film Festival
The 59th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 21-May 5 at the Castro Theatre, the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission, the Roxie Theater and the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco and BAMPFA in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, SFIFF is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring nearly 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards with nearly $40,000 in cash prizes and upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests.