57th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival

A new director, digital exhibition and movies without a clear national identity are novel features of the 57th edition of the International Film Festival in San Francisco starting on April 24.

Noah Cowan, associated with the renamed Toronto International Film Festival, Canada, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the Americas, is the new director of the San Francisco Film Society, the association organizing the festival.

“The multitude of film festivals in San Francisco reveal the love for cinema here,” Cowan said during the presentation of the festival on April 1.

Rachel Rosen, director of programming, expressed at the press conference how the times of celluloid film are almost over. “The world today is digital,” she said.

While film production has been done in video instead of celluloid for years now, the exhibition of films was reluctant to adopt the new technology given the technological investment required by theaters.

But it is here now. Almost all of the more than 150 movies that will be shown at the Sundance Kabuki, New People and Castro theaters in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley in the course of two weeks, will be displayed without using a 35mm projector. This will also be the case with the long-awaited restoration of “Manila in the Claws of Light” (1975), a masterpiece from Filipino filmmaker Lino Brocka.

While the festival this year reflects this renewal in exhibition modes, the programming of the festival continues the same formula, which has worked over the years to attract diverse audiences alike.

“Being an international festival, it is important to have representation from all over the world,” said Rod Armstrong, programmer for Latin American films.

This year, the festival premieres a ‘World Cinema Spotlight’ section, which has been dedicated to Latin American cinema.
“It is really strong now,” Armstrong said, referring to filmmaking in Latin America nowadays.

Armstrong stressed the merit of such productions as the film “Bad Hair” by Venezuelan Mariana Rondon. “It is difficult to start with no state support,” Armstrong said of making movies in the South American country.

Another woman, Claudia Sainte- Luce, is the director of “The Amazing Catfish,” which comes with high expectations given the good reviews received at other festivals.

In the line of novelties, it is worth mentioning “All About the Feathers,” the first film by Central American filmmaker Neto Villalobos. “In 57 years of festival it is the first time we have a film from Costa Rica,” Armstrong said.

“Manos Sucias”, a co-production between the United States and Colombia, was filmed in Colombia by a director from New York and reflects the current trend of transactional cinema which Rosen refers to as “the nomadic style of filmmaking.”

Filmmakers currently film more and more abroad with money from different countries, making it difficult to classify films.

In another vein, it is worth mentioning the latest production of Filipino director Lav Diaz, “Norte, the End of History.” Those who did not get enough with the nine-hour-long “Death in the Land of Encantos,” (2007) will enjoy this film that spans more than four hours.

Festival organizers expect 200 guests including filmmakers and people related to the world of cinema in general.

The 57th International Film Festival in San Francisco will take place from April 24-May 8.

For detailed information, visit: www.sffs.org/festival/home

—Translation Alfonso Agirre