Mar 29, 2016
Artist Development, Festival
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society has announced its Dark Wave program for the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21–May 5), guest curated and co-hosted for the second year by the Alamo Drafthouse’s curatorial team. The Dark Wave program serves up late-night celebrations of independent and international horror and sci-fi films, thrillers, gangster flicks and pitch-black comedies for festival-goers who want to take a walk on the dark side of cinema.
This year’s offerings include Eiichirô Hasumi’s Assassination Classroom, a visually inventive and utterly bonkers Japanese action comedy; The Greasy Strangler, Jim Hosking’s goopy gross-out that follows a slimy, inhuman maniac; Trivisa, Frank Hui, Jevons Au and Vicky Wong’s thrilling caper reminiscent of the best in the genre’s heyday; and Under the Shadow, a shiveringly good ghost story by Babak Anvari that also serves as a political allegory.
“Tim League and his Drafthouse team are experts in this arena,” said San Francisco Film Society director of programming Rachel Rosen. “We love working with them and we’re happy to put this part of the programming in their expert hands, and to be able to present it at the New Mission.”
SFIFF59 will present its Dark Wave program at the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission, which combines dinner, drinks, films and events, all under one roof.
“In just four films, this year’s Dark Wave program showcases a vast array of the most crazy, unique and heart-pounding new films on the planet,” said Alamo Drafthouse CEO & Founder Tim League. “As the newest cinema in the San Francisco film community, we couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this venerable festival.”
SFIFF59 DARK WAVE LINEUP
Assassination Classroom, Eiichirô Hasumi (Japan 2015)
A tentacled alien offers humans a deal: He will postpone destroying Earth if authorities will allow him to teach a junior high class in which the lesson plan includes tutoring his students on how they can kill him before he rains down destruction on the planet. So begins the weirdest and most wonderful school year in this visually inventive, utterly bonkers cinematic treat. Assassination Classroom screens Saturday April 23, 11:00 pm, and Wednesday April 27, 10:00 pm, at Alamo Drafthouse New Mission.
The Greasy Strangler, Jim Hosking (USA 2015)
A man runs a walking disco tour with his browbeaten son. Meanwhile, a slimy, inhuman maniac stalks the streets of their town. See the film The Daily Beast’s Jen Yamato called the best film of Sundance, “the entry that woke audiences up by waterboarding them with a metaphorical vat of maniacal, putrid grease.” San Francisco, let’s get greasy! The Greasy Strangler screens Friday April 22, 11:30 pm, and Monday April 25, 9:15 pm, at Alamo Drafthouse New Mission.
Trivisa, Frank Hui, Jevons Au, Vicky Wong (Hong Kong/China 2016)
On the eve of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the British to the Chinese, three legendary criminals-each with his own colorful past-may team up for the biggest caper of their careers, if any of them survives long enough to actually pull it off. The filmmakers’ sharp eye for detail and a terrific attention to time and place create a Hong Kong crime thriller reminiscent of the best of the genre’s heyday. Trivisa screens Saturday April 30, 11:30 pm, at Alamo Drafthouse New Mission.
Under the Shadow, Babak Anvari (UK/Jordan/Qatar 2016)
Babak Anvari’s debut feature is a shiveringly good ghost story set in a Tehran apartment building in the waning days of the Iran-Iraq War. Focusing on a woman forbidden by the government to pursue her medical career and her daughter who is perhaps pursued by a djinn, it’s a rare and refreshing example of a horror film and political allegory that doesn’t need to spill blood to be truly scary. Under the Shadow screens Friday April 29, 11:30 pm, and Sunday May 1, 10:00 pm, at Alamo Drafthouse New Mission.
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.