Mar 2, 2016
Festival
San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society will present the Mel Novikoff Award to international art-house cinema sister companies Janus Films and the Criterion Collection at the 59th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 21-May 5). The award presentation will take place on Saturday April 30, 3:00 pm at the Castro Theatre, and will feature an onstage conversation with partners Peter Becker and Jonathan Turell of Janus Films and the Criterion Collection, followed by a screening of Criterion’s most recent restoration, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Blood Simple (1984). The Coen brothers are expected to attend and participate in the onstage presentation.
“By insisting on the highest quality for both theatrical and home exhibition, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection have gone beyond honoring great films and filmmakers—they’re doing more than any other contemporary company to make cinephilia sexy again,” said Rachel Rosen, San Francisco Film Society’s director of programming. “Their painstaking restoration of Blood Simple, a film that Mel Novikoff also championed, is a great illustration of how deserving they are of this award.”
When the classically situated, dual-faced logo of Janus Films appears onscreen, cinephiles know they are in for a treat. Founded in 1956 as a theatrical distribution company dedicated to bringing the best of international art-house cinema to US audiences, Janus has presented seminal works by Antonioni, Eisenstein, Bergman, Fellini, Kurosawa, Truffaut and Ozu. Similarly for the home viewer, the elegant rounded C (reminiscent of a reel of film) of Janus’s sister company the Criterion Collection signals equivalent outstanding quality and curatorial expertise. Since 1984, Criterion has issued a continuing series of important films in editions that offer the highest technical quality and award-winning accompanying supplements, pioneering the letterboxing standard and the craft of audio commentary. To date, more than 150 filmmakers have contributed to Criterion’s library of director-approved DVDs, Blu-ray discs and laserdiscs, making it the most significant archive of contemporary filmmaking available. Together, Janus Films and the Criterion Collection represent the best cinematic education any film lover can obtain.
The award, named for pioneering San Francisco art and repertory film exhibitor Mel Novikoff (1922–1987), acknowledges an individual or institution whose work has enhanced the filmgoing public’s knowledge and appreciation of world cinema. The Coens’ Blood Simple has a special tie to the late Novikoff, who championed the film upon its initial release and committed to exhibiting it in his San Francisco cinemas and making it a success. The filmmaking duo even named a character in their recent film Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)—the colorful owner of Davis’s small record label—after the legendary San Francisco figure.
Blood Simple
The Coen brothers began their brilliant career with this masterful modern noir about a Texas bar owner who hires a private detective to procure evidence that his beautiful wife Abby (a riveting Frances McDormand) is having an affair. Nothing is simple in this tightly plotted crime drama, but there will be blood.
Previous recipients of the Mel Novikoff Award are Lenny Borger (2015), David Thomson (2014), Peter von Bagh (2013), Pierre Rissient (2012), Serge Bromberg (2011), Roger Ebert (2010), Bruce Goldstein (2009), Jim Hoberman (2008), Kevin Brownlow (2007), Anita Monga (2005), Paolo Cherchi Usai (2004), Manny Farber (2003), David Francis (2002), Cahiers du Cinéma (2001), San Francisco Cinematheque (2001), Donald Krim (2000), David Shepard (2000), Enno Patalas (1999), Adrienne Mancia (1998), Judy Stone (1997), Film Arts Foundation (1997), David Robinson (1996), Institut Lumière (1995), Naum Kleiman (1994), Andrew Sarris (1993), Jonas Mekas (1992), Pauline Kael (1991), Donald Richie (1990), USSR Filmmakers Association (1989) and Dan Talbot (1988).
The Mel Novikoff Award Committee members are Francis J. Rigney (chairman), Rachel Rosen (ex officio), Helena R. Foster, Maurice Kanbar, Philip Kaufman, Tom Luddy, Gary Meyer, Anita Monga, Janis Plotkin and Peter Scarlet.
Tickets to An Afternoon with Janus Films and the Criterion Collection are $13 for SFFS members, $15 for the general public. Box office opens March 1 for members and March 3 for the general public, online at sffs.org.
For general information visit festival.sffs.org.
To request interviews or screeners, contact your Festival publicist.
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.