SFFILM Exclusive

Maria Manetti Shrem is an entrepreneurial force whose legacy spans fashion, fine art, film, and so much more. She’s pursued many lives-worth of visions, most recently establishing the Maria Manetti Shrem Award for Acting as part of a new partnership with us here at SFFILM. This honor recognizes the 360-degree dedication that actors give to their crafts, developing their characters and themselves along the way, all in pursuit of sharing something transformative with the world. Today, Maria and Jan, her husband, continue to bring energy to a number of channels and causes, as founders of the UC Davis Museum of Contemporary Art and supporters of over 30 charities. Maria and Jan currently reside in San Francisco, which makes this following Q&A that much closer to home.

Do you recall when you were introduced to SFFILM? What was your first SFFILM experience?

The first time I attended SFFILM was 20 years ago. I have admired their organization and their devotion to movies. I loved meeting and talking with Jeremy Irons. “The House Of The Spirit” is one of my favorite movies.

SFFILM’s acting award was first established in 1996 and has honed iconic performances from recipients including Glenn Close, Adam Driver, Richard Gere, Oscar Issac, Robin Willliams, and Amy Adams, among many others. What does this particular honor signify to you and your love of film and acting? What do you hope to carry on with this new title?

I love movies. Actors in the end are who make them memorable. No matter if they play evil or good people. We are enchanted by those characters–their words, their faces, their moves, their attitude, their walk, their gazes, their silence. I want to support the festival naming this specific award to raise attention and awareness on such a difficult job. Actors must be resilient dreamers as I am still.

Why did you decide to champion the Award for Acting, specifically, alongside SFFILM? How does it fit alongside your other work?

Last year, during the SFFILM’s Awards Night, I realized that this very specific award didn’t have a supporting name yet. So, I thought I had a chance to contribute to one of the oldest festivals in the Nation, and specifically the film festival of my city, San Francisco, adding my name to such a special job. Actors deliver moods, values and feeling alongside their own glamour. My whole life’s job was in fashion. I have always dealt with elegance and beauty.

How exactly, or in what ways, does the Award “provide support to a vital cinematic arts organization whose work invests in the storytellers of tomorrow”?

I hope to contribute to raise some national and international attention to SFFILM, helping to build long-term brand awareness, and to support the educational values that SFFILM brings to the SF Bay Area community.

You’re building community all over—at Met Opera, at UC Davis, at SF Opera, at KQED, at Festival Napa Valley, at UCSF, at CPMC, at SFFILM to mention a few—what do you hope is your greatest legacy in doing so?

I want to give with my warm hands, and not with cold ones after passing. I have always said that for me there are three stages in life: education; hard work; and if success brings prosperity and wealthy, to eventually give back. I support all three stages by fostering educational programs, talents in science, health, opera, and the arts; and by inspiring other wealthy people to give now to help others, and to motivate the youth to fulfill their own dreams.

How have you personally been impacted by cinema, theatre, acting and the film community?

I love movies, and particularly the old Italian cinema masters such as Fellini, De Sica-Zavattini, Rossellini, Pasolini, Visconti, Zeffirelli, and some of their main actors such as Sophia Loren (a very dear friend of mine), Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti, Claudia Cardinale, Anna Magnani, etc. I love cinema in general and the kind of stories filmmakers tell us sharing knowledge, values and dreams, principles, and ideas to fight for. I was born romantic, but movies made me more passionate. That’s why I love romantic movies.

SFFILM’s Awards Night is one of the most star-studded and important nights in cinema throughout the year. Is there a memory that stands out most to you?

Meeting actors and directors is very exciting and rewarding for me. Recently, I enjoyed so much having dinner and talking with Michelle Yeoh and Sandra Oh. Truly two versatile professionals who inspire us.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

Thank you for joining us for the 65th San Francisco International Film Festival! What a joy it was to welcome people back to the movies for the first in-person Festival since 2019. The sense of community created in these shared spaces is unparalleled, and we were delighted that so many of you chose to spend your time with us.

Over the course of 11 wonderful days SFFILM brought compelling, fresh, and not-to-be-missed films from around the world to the San Francisco Bay Area. Together with over 100 partners, we were able to create screenings, conversations, activations, and events that connected filmmakers with you—passionate film lovers, and our most valued audiences. And you helped to welcome all of our visiting filmmakers and talent with warmth, curiosity, and intelligence as they bared their latest work on the big screen.

 
With 130 films from 56 countries presented in 44 different languages, our Festival had something for everyone! About 56% of films in our lineup were directed by women and 52% were directed by BIPOC filmmakers. Nearly 200 special guests came to the Bay Area, including filmmakers, documentary film subjects, guest moderators, actors, screenwriters, and so many more.

We issued more than 23,000 film and event tickets to attendees from the Bay Area and beyond. A number of events went to rush or sold out completely, including our tribute to the legendary Michelle Yeoh in conversation with Sandra Oh. The talk culminated in a Whitney Houston dance party and even ended up trending on Twitter.

Our presentation of Music + Film: 32 Sounds also found guests dancing in the aisles, and at another point during the Festival, Linoleum director Colin West and star Jim Gaffigan united the audience in doing “the wave” during their introduction for their award-winning film. Following a screening of Marcel The Shell With Shoes On, actress Jenny Slate fielded questions from a full house of adoring and emotional fans at the Castro.

These are just a few of the magical moments that we were thrilled to share with you. And there’s much more to come. Keep an eye on your inbox for news about Youth Filmmaker Camp in July and Doc Stories in November. In the meantime, be sure to follow @SFFILM on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

Back together at the Castro Theatre. Photo by Pamela Gentile.

As we close out 2021 I am filled with immense optimism and much gratitude for the resiliency of the power of film. This faith comes from seeing our wonderful audiences returning to theaters; it comes in the form of filmmakers creating new work; it comes in the gathering of community to celebrate, advocate for, and champion our artists and their work. If last year was about being knocked off our feet, 2021 was a year where we got back up and leaned into the blustery crosswinds of figuring out a new normal together.

First, this meant continuing and improving the online iterations of how we gather throughout the first half of the year — our SFFILM Festival drive-in, live online events and talks, the streamed films, and a robust online Education series for students and teachers.

Photos by Pamela Gentile.

Next, it meant providing resources in the form of residencies, granting, and fellowships all from a distance. This year brought new cohorts of supported filmmakers through our SFFILM Rainin Grants and SFFILM Rainin Filmmakers with Disabilities Grants, Dolby Institute Fellowships, our New American Fellowship, Sloan Science in Cinema Fellowships and Sloan Stories of Science Development Fund recipients , and soon-to-be announced Documentary Film Fund recipients and upcoming class of FilmHouse Residents.

We also got to pilot a new initiative. Inspired by our FilmHouse residency for working filmmakers, we launched a Youth FilmHouse Residency focusing on students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a person of color in grades 9–12 intent on exploring a career in film.

2021 Youth FilmHouse Residency

Most recently, after 18 months of distancing, we set forth a campaign to bring people back into theaters this fall. We were thrilled to find many audience members entrusting their first back-in-theater experiences with us and embracing the community that we all missed being around. These first forays back to in-person gave us hope and a bit of confidence starting with our SF Honors event with Siân Heder’s CODA to our fall documentary showcase Doc Stories. We held our annual fundraiser Awards Night in person to celebrate the wonderfully talented directors Jane Campion, Reinaldo Marcus Green, and Maggie Gyllenhaal along with brilliant actor Oscar Isaac.

Filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal accepting the Kanbar Award for Storytelling at Awards Night. Photo by Tommy Lau.

Jane Campion and Francis Ford Coppola, photo by Pamela Gentile.

Director Siân Heder received SF Honors for her film CODA in August. Photo by Pamela Gentile.

Director Reinaldo Marcus Green, Executive Director Anne Lai, actor Jon Bernthal, and Director of Programing Jessie Fairbanks at SFFILM Awards Night.

Directors Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill at Doc Stories. Photo by Pamela Gentile.

Oscar Isaac accepting the SFFILM Award for Acting on Awards Night. Photo by Pamela Gentile.

Director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks at Doc Stories. Photo by Pamela Gentile.

Generous donors at SFFILM Awards Night. Photo by Drew Altizer Photography.

And just last weekend, we celebrated our Education’s 30th Anniversary with free access to families and audiences to see three special screenings at the Castro, capped by West Side Story and the irrepressible Rita Moreno.

EGOT and Icon Rita Moreno! Photos by Pamela Gentile.

Photo by Pamela Gentile.

I say all this not to prove how much we did, but to remind us that we are not alone in this year of navigating the new normal. It is through the ingenuity, passion, and tenacity of our staff, our board, and our community of filmmakers sharing new work and audiences eager to receive it, that we are able to accomplish any one of these things. We love nothing less than to roll up our sleeves and solve the unique challenges presented at every turn, and help each other stay standing in the year that 2021 has been.

If there is any silver lining to the past year, we have gotten much better at not taking anything for granted. This includes you as part of our community. We can’t wait to see you in the new year.

Warmly,
Anne

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

While the new year kicks the 2022 film festival season into high gear, the SFFILM Programming team has been hard at work since last fall screening and inviting films to the 65th San Francisco International Film Festival, which takes place April 21 through May 1 in the Bay Area. SFFILM has revamped the screening process for submissions, and assembled a team of curators made up of longtime SFFILM staffers and experienced newcomers to the organization.

“I am elated to share the news about the programming collective for 2022 who will curate the line-up for the festival this year. We started the process back in May 2021, revising the pre-screening committee with an open call for participants and received nearly 300 applications. Joining long standing SFFILM screeners, we welcomed roughly 70 new individuals to the committee who bring a variety of experiences to the submission process,” shared Director of Programming, Jessie Fairbanks. “This fall we restructured the programming team, bringing together a collection of seasoned curators to partner with Rod Armstrong and myself, as we craft a festival program that celebrates the creative ambition and transformative power of cinema. This is such a dynamic group and it has been a real pleasure to work with each individual.”

The team is grounded in the longevity and community of SFFILM through veterans like Rod Armstrong and Joseph Flores and new staffers like Jordan Klein, and is growing with leadership from Jessie Fairbanks. Our Festival programmers are all experienced filmmakers, curators, educators, and organizers. Please take a look at their work and get ready for the program announcement on March 30. We can’t wait to share it with you.

Jessie Fairbanks, Director of Programming

Born and raised in California, Jessie began her career producing documentaries and clip television for national networks. She spent a decade in NYC producing large scale events, festivals, and creative projects for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Tribeca Film Festival, New York Film Festival, HBO, The Documentary Group, David Byrne, and Google.

Prior to becoming the Director of Programming for SFFILM, Jessie spent 14 years curating for DOC NYC, Tribeca Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, MountainFilm and others.

Jessie is a voting member of Cinema Eye Honors, screens for Sundance, and is a grant evaluator for Chicken & Egg Pictures. She served on the Board of Directors for the Chicago Underground Film Festival and Independent Film Alliance for several years, as well as numerous film festival juries and selection committees.

Rod Armstrong, Associate Director of Programming

Rod Armstrong was a cinephile before he could drive, highlighting all of the foreign films coming to the San Diego area and cajoling his parents to chauffeur him to local arthouses. The passion turned into a career with Reel.com, a website with a wide array of editorial content about films. Rod began as a contributing editor and wrapped up his work there as Director of Content. Having long been interested in the endeavors of SFFILM, Rod began in 2003 in the publicity department. Later that year, he joined the Programming team and has been there ever since. Though Rod’s interest in film is broad and omnivorous, his greatest passion, harking back to those teenage years without vehicular transportation, remains international narrative cinema.

Joseph Flores, Programming Manager

Joseph Flores brings a wealth of experience to SFFILM in working within the Bay Area nonprofit media arts scene. As the organization embarks on a new journey at the familiar surroundings of 9th Street, Joseph has literally come full circle as that’s where he began his career having previously worked as an Office Manager during his stint at the Center for Asian American Media (formerly NAATA). Since then, he was fortunate enough to have caught on to SFFILM as a coordinator while preparing for its 50th Anniversary and has since worked within the Programming Department in different capacities. Joseph currently oversees the departmental interoffice systems as the Programming Manager and also handles the Call for Entries submission process for the SFFILM Festival.

Jordan Klein, Programming Coordinator

A film lover and filmmaker at heart — Jordan Klein graduated from UC Berkeley and got his start as assistant to the legendary film producer Fred Roos (Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Lost in Translation), marking the beginning of his career within the film industry in Los Angeles. He served on numerous productions in mediums ranging from feature film, television, commercials, short films, and music videos. His foundational working experiences helped facilitate his transition to being a production coordinator and administrative assistant to the president of film and television at PRG (Production Resource Group), a multinational company providing lighting and audio solutions to film productions and live concerts for renowned music artists around the globe. Eventually returning to both film production and the San Francisco Bay Area, Jordan boarded both independent productions with the likes of American Zoetrope (Love is Love is Love) and major studio productions with Warner Brothers (The Matrix Resurrections) and Marvel Studios (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). Jordan’s deep passion, love and commitment towards cinema brought his heart to a home at SFFILM as their Programming Coordinator.

Amber Love, Festival Programmer — Features & Shorts

Amber Love is a festival programmer and filmmaker based in Chicago. She has been a programmer with the New Orleans Film Festival since 2016, and alongside programming has helped run many NOFF filmmaker development programs. Amber joined the SFFILM Festival programming team for the 2021 edition of the festival. Her own work has premiered at the Camden International Film Festival, played Indie Memphis and the Milwaukee Film Festival, and has been supported by NeXt Doc, the Tribeca Film Institute, the Sundance Institute, and Union Docs.

Kristal Sotomayor, Festival Programmer — Features

Kristal Sotomayor (they/she) is a bilingual Latinx programmer, film critic, and filmmaker based in Philadelphia. They serve as the Awards Competition Manager for the IDA Documentary Awards, the world’s most prestigious event dedicated to the documentary genre. Kristal also serves as the Programming Director for the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival. They are a 2021 Film Festival Leadership Lab Fellow. In the past, they have assisted with curation for the “Spotlight on Documentaries” at IFP Week and the award-winning PBS documentary series POV | American Documentary. Kristal writes the Latinx cinema column “Cine alzando voz” for the film journal cinéSPEAK. Currently, they are working on Expanding Sanctuary, a documentary about the campaign led by the Latinx immigrant community in South Philadelphia to limit police surveillance. They are also developing a docu-animation film Alx Through the Labrinyth that takes a dive into the nonbinary Latinx Alice In Wonderland-like reality of contracting COVID-19.

Lindy Leong, Festival Programmer — Features

Lindy Leong is the Senior Film Programmer at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, presented by Visual Communications, the first non-profit organization in the nation dedicated to the honest and accurate portrayal of the Asian Pacific American peoples, communities, and heritage through the media arts. As a cultural worker, she is deeply committed to the development, inclusion, and presentation of BIPOC stories and storytelling on-screen and throughout the film and media industries. She is a proud member of A-Doc and Brown Girls Doc Mafia. In her other professional lives, she is a film and media educator, arts administrator, and audiovisual archivist. She co-chairs the annual conference for the Association of Moving Image Archivists, a nonprofit international association dedicated to the preservation and use of moving image media.

Céline Roustan, Festival Programmer — Shorts

Céline Roustan has been a curator and champion of short films for half a decade working for the popular website Short of the Week, passionately promoting directors and their respective films. Having worked in the programming departments at a host of international festivals including the Palm Springs International ShortFest, SXSW, TIFF, she also brings short films to audiences and guides filmmakers toward their paths of further success as a release strategy consultant. On the feature front, Céline has been serving as the Africa & the Middle East programmer for the Palm Springs International Film Festival since 2019.

We can’t wait to welcome you back to the movies! The 65th SFFILM Festival takes place April 21–May 1 at venues across the Bay Area including the historic and beloved Castro Theatre!

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

SFFILM’s leadership roster received a special addition this fall with Masashi Niwano joining as the Director of Artist Development. Niwano will lead the team elevating and supporting filmmakers from around the world in both fiction and non-fiction realms through direct artist grants, fellowships, residencies, and tailored mentorship. Under the banner of SFFILM Makers, he will help to advance the health and diversity of the independent film arena with a focus on the vibrant community of filmmakers in the Bay Area.

“I am thrilled to welcome Masashi, who brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to SFFILM. He is a thoughtful champion for emerging voices and a passionate advocate for building connection and community with and among filmmakers,” said SFFILM Executive Director Anne Lai. “We look forward to having his invaluable perspective in our commitment to the regional and national film landscapes.”

For over a decade, Masashi Niwano was the Festival & Exhibitions Director at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), the US’s largest media arts organization that amplifies Asian and Asian American storytelling. Prior to his time with CAAM, he was the Executive Director of the Austin Asian American Film Festival (AAAFF). He is a Bay Area native who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Film Production from San Francisco State University.

“SFFILM is truly the gem of the San Francisco Bay Area film scene, and I’m so honored to join them,” said Niwano. “I look forward to collaborating directly with filmmakers to accomplish their visions and dreams, and have their work seen all over the world.”

Masashi has been a jury member or panelist at dozens of prestigious festivals including Sundance Institute, The Gotham (formerly IFP), International Development Association (IDA), New Orleans Film Festival (NOFF) and FRAMELINE LGBTQ+ Film Festival. He has also participated in various industry conversations with leading media entities including AT&T, XFINITY, WarnerMedia, and HBO. He is an active advisory board member for Firelight Media’s William Greaves Fund. Masashi’s life mission is to support diverse media-making communities, especially filmmakers from historically under-served communities.

He has been featured on NPR, CBS Sunday Morning, SF Chronicle, Deadline, and Colorlines. He lives in San Francisco with his partner and adorable cat, Morvey. In his spare time, he enjoys sewing bow ties, tending to his veggie garden, and cooking Japanese-inspired dishes.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.