Closing Night: The Green Fog — A San Francisco Fantasia with Kronos Quartet

The Festival closes with an original commission in celebration of its 60th anniversary when the world-renowned Kronos Quartet performs a new score by composer Jacob Garchik to accompany a visual collage by cultural iconoclast Guy Maddin and codirectors Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson.

Maddin, working with his Forbidden Room collaborators, set himself the challenge to remake Vertigo without using footage from the Hitchcock classic, creating a “parallel-universe version,” in his words. Using Bay Area footage from a variety of sources—studio classics, ‘50s noir, experimental films, and ‘70s prime-time TV—and employing Maddin’s mastery of assemblage, the result exerts the inexorable pull of Hitchcock’s tale of erotic obsession while paying tribute to our fair city.

Composer Jacob Garchik fashions a score that converses with Maddin and Johnson’s irreverent and loving footage to create a distinctive musical extravaganza. San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet has combined a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to continually re-imagine the string quartet experience for more than 40 years. They have collaborated with recording artists including Paul McCartney, Laurie Anderson, Patti Smith, and David Bowie. Co-commissioned by Stanford Live.