Sep 13, 2011
SFFILM
The San Francisco Film Society will celebrate the official Grand Opening of San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema, 6:00 pm, September 22 at the New People building, 1746 Post Street (Webster/Buchanan). This free open house reception will give members of the public an opportunity to see the theater in action, as well as to interact with Film Society staff and fellow Bay Area film lovers.
At this historic celebration, leaders from the Japanese American community, representatives of the San Francisco consular corps and members of the Bay Area film community will join San Francisco officials, Seiji Horibuchi of New People and Film Society staff and board of directors in a ribbon cutting ceremony at 7:15 pm with a toast to christen the new theater, accompanied by a Taiko drum performance.
Throughout the evening, in the theater, a series of shorts from the San Francisco Film Society’s past and upcoming presentations will screen including Brent Hoff’s Crying Contest, Adam Keker’s On the Assassination of the President, Barry Jenkins’ 24th Street, Nagi Noda’s Yuki-Sentimental Journey and Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stärne Nilsson’s Woman and Gramophone.
A highlight of the theater program will be live musical performances accompanied by video by avant-jazz guitarist Ava Mendoza and singer/songwriter Mark Eitzel of American Music Club with multi-instrumentalist Marc Capelle playing for a selection of film clips.
Beer and wine will be available for purchase, in addition to Filipino street food from chef Tim Luym’s WOW Silog Truck and Blue Bottle Coffee and snacks from the New People Cinema Café. DJ Bald Elvis will be spinning tunes throughout the night.
SFFS | NPC, the supremely stylish state-of-the art 143-seat theater in Japantown now serves as home to the Film Society’s acclaimed exhibition, education and filmmaker services programs and events on a daily year-round basis. The adventurous Film Society programming that brings Bay Area audiences the best in indie, international and documentary film-notably during its beloved annual San Francisco International Film Festival-and a full range of exciting panels, educational classes, workshops and filmmaker services events will be concentrated in San Francisco’s most up-to-date and technically perfect film theater.
The schedule at San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema will include a substantial portion of the SFFS Fall Season of festivals and one-time events, select KinoTek programs and recurring thematic programming, as well as provide the space to develop new programming initiatives.
An integral part of the New People building-the cutting-edge four-story building devoted to contemporary Japanese art, fashion, food and design that opened in 2009-the theater features the finest analog and digital equipment, perfect sight lines and immersive THX-certified surround sound. Amenities in the surrounding neighborhood include plentiful parking and numerous restaurants.
Visit sffs.org for complete up-to-date San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema program details.
Upcoming programs at San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema
Opens September 16: Aurora Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu destroys all notions of crime as entertainment in this painstakingly realistic anatomy of a crisis, delivering a chilling character study of an ordinary person driven to extremes.
September 23-25: Hong Kong Cinema New in 2011, presenting recent works from one of the world’s most exciting film industries.
September 26: The Disappearance of McKinley Nolan Private McKinley Nolan vanished 40 years ago on the Cambodian frontier. In 2006, his younger brother travels from rural Texas to Vietnam to try to unravel the story in this moving documentary.
September 27: Film Arts Forum: The Sound of Cinema A panel discussion and networking event offering insight and expertise on sound design in film.
September 28-29: Shaolin With a superstar cast including Andy Lau, Jackie Chan and Nicholas Tse and a group of real Shaolin monks, this is an action-packed story of a ruthless warlord’s rehabilitation through Buddhist practice.
Opens September 30: Passione John Turturro’s tuneful exploration of the musical roots and traditions of Naples, Italy, as well as its influence on the rest of the world.
October 9: An Evening with Susan Orlean and Rin Tin Tin Orlean celebrates the publication of her new book Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend with an illustrated introduction to Rin Tin Tin’s career and a screening of his greatest silent film, Clash of the Wolves.
October 14-16: Taiwan Film Days A showcase of the best contemporary Taiwanese cinema.