Mar 30, 2010
Festival
The 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival (April 22-May 6) will present four local films in the Cinema by the Bay section. The films employ a variety of genres and forms to tell singular stories. The San Francisco Bay Area has long been a center of filmmaking innovation, and SFIFF53 is proud to present this section showcasing the current work of local filmmakers.
Empire of Silver (China/Taiwan/Hong Kong 2009), a narrative feature film from director Christina Yao, first screens Sunday, April 25 at 12:45 pm at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. In this lush epic, Palo Alto-based filmmaker Christina Yao tells a story both timely and timeless: a tale of love, succession and compromised ideals that chronicles the lives of a powerful family of Shanxi bankers during the waning years of the Qing Dynasty. Downright Shakespearean in theme, it details a little-known piece of Chinese history, while offering parallels to the current financial crisis with its shadowy world of unscrupulous market fixing and backroom deals. Empire of Silver will also screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas at 9:00 pm, Saturday, May 1.
Morning (USA 2009), a narrative feature film from Leland Orser will have its world premiere Monday, April 26 at 6:15 pm at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. A married couple reels off into separate byways of grief after the death of their child in this powerfully acted, carefully observed and consistently surprising exploration of loss and endurance from actor-turned-writer/director Orser, playing opposite real-life wife Jeanne Tripplehorn. Morning will also screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas at 1:45 pm, Wednesday, April 28 and Wednesday, May 5 at 3:45 pm.
The Practice of the Wild (USA 2010), a documentary feature film from director John J. Healey will have its world premiere Monday, May 3 at 6:45 pm at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. Thoughtfully attuned to the cycles of nature and the transcendent power of the written word, this warm portrait of Beat poet Gary Snyder and his cantankerous compadre Jim Harrison intertwines Bay Area bohemia, Zen Buddhism and musings on ecology and spirituality with the complex simplicity of a perfectly crafted stanza. The Practice of the Wild will also screen at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas at 1:30 pm, Wednesday, May 5.
Seducing Charlie Barker (USA 2009), a narrative feature film from director Amy Glazer screens Sunday, May 2 at 6:30 pm at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. A talented, out-of-work Manhattan actor being supported by his stern wife gets more than he bargained for when he meets an ambitious but vapid young temptress. This cutting satire mercilessly skewers the ruthless politics and utter loss of dignity that often goes hand in hand with art. Seducing Charlie Barker will also screen at Landmark’s Clay Theatre at 6:45 pm, Tuesday, May 4.
There are numerous Bay Area films and programs playing in other sections of the Festival.
The International’s Cinema by the Bay section celebrates films produced in the creative heart of the West. SFIFF53 is proud to showcase the established and emerging talent in the Bay Area, continuing the Festival’s longstanding tradition of culling the fertile local scene to present cinematic gems on their hometown screens. In October 2009, the San Francisco Film Society presented the inaugural Cinema by the Bay festival, a three-day series showcasing local works as part its expanded fall season.
For tickets and information, go to www.sffs.org or call 925-866-9559.
For interviews contact hilary@sffs.org
For photos and press materials visit sffs.org/pressdownloads.