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2020 Festival

Festival Staff

Thank you to all of our amazing colleagues who worked so diligently to prepare for the 2020 SFFILM Festival!

Artist Development

Sofia Alicastro, Artist Development Manager: Filmmaker Programs
Sophie Gunther, Artist Development Manager: Film Funds
Lauren McBride, Artist Development Department Lead
Rosa Morales, Artist Development Senior Coordinator
Eva Perez, Artist Development Intern
Regina Tsasis, Invest Coordinator
Belal Wahab, Artist Development Intern

Communications

Erika Arnold, Communications Coordinator
Ian Erlich, Communications Intern
Pam Grady, Festival Copy Editor
Camille Gwise, Festival Graphic Designer
Justine Hebron, Director of Marketing
Steve Indig, Publicist
Lisa Klien, Communications Project Manager
Dylan Levy, Press Office Coordinator
Amy Matthews, Graphic Designer
Matt Mazur, Publicist
Bill Proctor, Director of Communications
Nicole Tallon, Digital Strategy Manager

Development

Joshua Alejandres, Membership Intern
Syrena Bui, Strategic Partnerships Intern
Carrie Cottini, Deputy Director of Development
Zoe Halsne, Development & Membership Associate
Mitchell Montgomery, Strategic Partnerships Coordinator
Tiffany Rapp-Sekine, Associate Director of Strategic Partnerships
Kirsten Strobel, Director of Advancement
Daniyel Turner, Festival Partnerships Associate
Atlee Webber, Institutional Giving Manager

Education

Samantha Carlson, Filmmaker School Visit Coordinator
Maddy Leonard, Education Program Coordinator
Jeanette Paak, Youth Education Intern
Keith Zwölfer, Director of Education

Executive

Nina Garay, Board & Executive Coordinator
Anne Lai, Executive Director
Elizabeth O’Malley, Managing Director

Guest Office

Livia Campos de Menezes, Guest Office Coordinator
Estefania Fernandez, Guest Office Coordinator
Tess Howell, Guest Office Coordinator
Anna Kojevnikov, Guest Office Manager
Alyssa Ludwig, Guest Office Coordinator
Christl Stringer, Guest Office Assistant

Operations

Natalia Arevalo, Operations Coordinator
Keith Cowling, Director of Finance
Angy Fonseca, Production Manager
Jarred Gregory-Grimes, Office Manager
Brooke Griffin, Systems & Finance Manager
Jasiri Jenkins-Glenn, Transportation Manager
Jordan Menashe, Operations Manager
Daniel Perea, Operations Intern
Briana Pike, Events Associate Producer
Zoe Reiniger, Senior Producer, Events & Special Programs
Lauren Skager, Theater Operations Assistant Manager
Joey Smith, Tech & Media Coordinator
Orli Spierer, Volunteer Manager
Julie Stallone, Tech & Media Manager
Ilse Ybarra, Festival Events Producer
Ben Ziemke, Theater Operations Manager

Programming

Rod Armstrong, Associate Director of Programming
Audrey Chang, Associate Programmer / Golden Gate Awards Manager
Jesse Dubus, Print Traffic Manager
Joseph Flores, Programming Coordinator
Amanda Salazar, Programmer
Rachel Rosen, Director of Programming

Films in Competition

Presented at the Festival since its inaugural year in 1957, the Golden Gate Awards (GGAs) are among the most significant honors for emerging global film artists in the United States. Prizes are traditionally awarded in 11 narrative, documentary, and short film categories and total nearly $40,000. The 2020 GGA competition has been canceled along with the Festival.

2020 Golden Gate Awards Official Selections

Documentary Feature

Acaså, My Home
Radu Ciorniciuc, Romania/Germany/Finland

Collective
Alexander Nanau, Romania/Luxembourg

The Iron Hammer (Bay Area)
Joan Chen, USA/China/Italy

The Last Autumn
Yrsa Roca Fannberg, Iceland

Mayor
David Osit, USA/UK/Palestine

143 Sahara Street
Hassan Ferhani, Algeria/France

River City Drumbeat (Bay Area)
Marlon Johnson, Anne Flatté, USA

Saudi Runaway
Susanne Regina Meures, Switzerland

Some Kind of Heaven
Lance Oppenheim, USA

Time
Garrett Bradley, USA

New Directors Prize

Abou Leila
Amin Sidi-Boumédiène, Algeria/France/Qatar

Farewell Amor
Ekwa Msangi, USA

The Fever
Maya Da-Rin, Brazil/France/Germany

Freeland (Bay Area)
Mario Furloni, Kate McLean, USA

Lucky Chan-sil
Kim Cho-hee, South Korea

Miss Juneteenth
Channing Godfrey-Peoples, USA

Valley of Souls
Nicolás Rincón Gille, Colombia/Belgium/Brazil/France

Workforce
David Zonana, Mexico

You Will Die at Twenty
Amjad Abu Alaia, Sudan/France/Egypt/Germany/Norway/Qatar

Zana
Antoneta Kastrati, Albania/Kosovo

Animated Short

Daughter
Daria Kashcheeva, Czech Republic

Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad
Camrus Johnson, Pedro Piccinini, USA

Grandad was a romantic
Maryam Mohajer, UK

I Bleed
Tiago Minamisawa, Bruno H. Castro, Guto BR, Brazil

Memoirs of Vegetation
Jessica Oreck, USA

Metro6 (Bay Area)
Geoff Hecht, USA

Pantyhose
Lydia Ricci, USA

Purpleboy
Alexandre Siqueira, Portugal

Wong Ping’s Fables 2
Wong Ping, Hong Kong

Yes People
Gísli Darri Halldórsson, Iceland

Documentary Short

Abuelos (Bay Area)
Rodrigo Reyes, USA

Betye Saar: Taking Care of Business
Christine Turner, USA

Lichen
Lisa Jackson, Canada

Loch Ness Swim (Bay Area)
Sean Gillane, USA/UK

One Thousand Stories: The Making of a Mural (Bay Area)
Tasha Van Zandt, USA

That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore
Hannah Currie, UK

Family Films

Broken Bird
Rachel Harrison Gordon, USA

Día de la Madre
Ashley Brandon, Dennis Hohne, USA

Elephant in the Room
Brian R. Scott, USA

For Estefani
Jordan Bruner, USA

The Fox & The Pigeon
Michelle Chua, Aileen Dewhurst, Canada

Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad
Camrus Johnson, Pedro Piccinini, USA

Loop (Bay Area)
Erica Milsom, USA

Magic of Chess
Jenny Schweitzer Bell, USA

Matches
Géza M. Tóth. Hungary

Pangu
Shaofu Zhang, USA/China

Puddles
Zach Parrish, USA

Narrative Shorts

Basurero
Eileen Cabiling, Philippines

The Devil’s Harmony
Dylan Holmes Williams, UK

Island Queen
Zackary Grady, Jenn Harris, USA

Matriochkas
Bérangère McNeese, Belgium

Stay Awake, Be Ready
Pham Thien An, Vietnam

Sticker
Georgi M. Unkovski, Macedonia

New Visions

How a Sprig of Fir Would Replace a Feather
Anna Kipervaser, USA

Reverse Shadow
Janie Geiser, USA

Serial Parallels
Max Hattler, UK

Spit on the Broom
Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, USA

Standing Forward Full
Alee Peoples, USA

Stream (Bay Area)
Diana Sánchez Maciel, Mexico/USA

Under the paving stones, the beach
Amanda Katz, USA

Vever (for Barbara)
Deborah Stratman, USA/Guatemala

Youth Works

Chasing Normality
Madison Empalmado, USA

Coffee Cart (Bay Area)
Catherine Lu, Alexandra Knopf, USA

Diamond Game
Nolan Hieu Trifunovic, USA

Early Works
Ethan Ross, UK

Fishy (Bay Area)
Ashley Cai, USA

Indian Gold (Bay Area)
Viggo Williams, USA

Jimmy Qirqqut – Gjoa Haven Elder
Kadence Kikoak, Canada

Longer Nights
J Frisch-Wang, Germany

No Fan of Andy
Kai Tomizawa, USA

Passenger
Cal Viet Thacher, USA

Shotgun
Grace Gallagher, USA

Symmetry
Robert Plaza, Australia

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