Welcome to the 2018 SFFILM Festival

Welcome to the 61st San Francisco International Film Festival! This is both a challenging and inspiring moment to be a part of global film culture. The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have prompted a great deal of much-needed self-reflection in our community as well as a new focus on positive change. We are inspired to redouble our efforts in support of films and filmmakers creating that change in this country and beyond.

We’ve done a lot of thinking recently about how SFFILM serves our community and our shared values. This has led us to comprehensively re-examine how SFFILM’s key activities across film exhibition, media education, and artist development can best drive our vision of a progressive film culture. Evidence of our new strategic path can be seen throughout this Festival program — in the incredible diversity of talent behind many of our most prominent films this year; in the special programs we’ve designed to interrogate our current social realities; and in the artist talks, live presentations, and collaborative film-and-conversation events that make the Festival a distinctive collective experience.

There is no doubt that the future of the film community we envision lives with today’s youth. With this in mind, we have taken strides to significantly enhance the resources and programs available through SFFILM Education, with expanded opportunities for schools, families, and educators both “live” in San Francisco and digitally across the country through new online platforms. These programs will specifically confront the challenges of media learning around critical social issues that are so often obfuscated by the current breakdowns in our national conversation.

Perhaps the most palpable and direct change this organization creates can be felt in our artist development initiatives known collectively as SFFILM Makers. A national powerhouse of granting and residency programs, SFFILM Makers has supported several films in this year’s Festival lineup and scores of others through creative behind-the-scenes assistance that hits every stage of the filmmaking process. Our new strategic plan has us significantly increasing SFFILM Makers’ size and reach in the years to come, harnessing local financial and intellectual resources to champion the values of the Bay Area by making powerful films that tell globally meaningful stories.

All of this work comes together every year at the Festival. It is an occasion for our community to unite in celebration of film, and to renew our commitment to supporting our artists, our young people, and our allies nationally and abroad. While we must acknowledge this moment of difficult reckoning, let’s make this year’s event a call for thoughtful investment — in spectacular art, in meaningful action, and in our fundamental belief in the possibility of change.

Thank you — and enjoy the movies!

Noah Cowan