CBTB was programmed by Sean Uyehara with assistance from Audrey Chang, who described their premier foray saying, "The Bay Area is a well-known epicenter for documentary, short and experimental filmmaking, so we knew that we would have a wealth to choose from in those disciplines. We also discovered that narrative filmmaking is expanding its foothold here. These films present a snapshot of the diversity, breath and artistry of Bay Area filmmaking in this moment in time and place."
From 1984 to 2005, Film Arts Foundation programmed the Bay Area's most dynamic showcase of local independent filmmaking with its Festival of Independent Cinema. The Film Society continues the tradition of showcasing entertaining, dramatic and courageous work from one of the most dynamic independent film communities in the country. This is by no means new territory for the Film Society, which has long celebrated films produced in the creative heart of the West, given Golden Gate Awards to Bay Area documentaries and shorts, and three years ago inaugurated a dedicated Cinema by the Bay section in the San Francisco International Film Festival. The most recent edition of the International featured 22 local narrative and documentary feature and short films, capping a total of 113 local films showcased over the past five years. With the advent of Cinema by the Bay, the Film Society will provide Bay Area audiences the opportunity to focus their attention solely on the engaged and eclectic nature of the region's film cultures.
Thursday, October 22
Temple Nightclub & Prana Restaurant, 540 Howard Street
8:00 pm Opening Celebration
An eclectic, exuberant and edifying evening of short film and video screenings, multimedia performances, live music and collegial carousing at one of San Francisco's hippest and most socially and environmentally responsible venues. Eric Landmark will narrate his video about the existential dilemmas posed by the vintage video game Asteroids. Lucas Murida, representing The Thing Quarterly, will predict the future while Wholphin DVD will screen new shorts by cutting-edge filmmakers including Spike Jonze and Lance Bangs. Amy Hicks will present her wonderful cut-out animations and the Sk8 Sisters will sing songs about homesteading. The art collective I, Daughter of Kong will present compelling evidence for the existence of King Kong and Fay Wray's furry love child. Husband and wife team Kathleen Quillian and Gilbert Guerrero will offer a masterful animation/VJ set. The band Work will present its score to original animation by Keturah Cummings, and T.I.T.S. unveils music composed for Daisies by avant-garde Czech filmmaker Vera Chytilová. The evening will come to a raucous close with a set of video mash-ups by Club Bootie resident DJs Adrian and the Mysterious D.
Friday, October 23
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 700 Howard Street
7:30 pm Cinema by the Bay copresents: After Day Comes Night & After That, Day Comes Again: A Tribute to Chick Strand
Presented by San Francisco Cinematheque in association with Canyon Cinema. Introduced by Irina Leimbacher, Steve Anker, Dominic Angerame and other guests to be announced.
"Chick Strand was a longtime advocate of the art of avant-garde filmmaking and an inspiration to more than two generations of filmmakers. Canyon Cinema -- a San Francisco-based filmmakers' cooperative specializing in the distribution of avant-garde and experimental film -- was born in 1961 when Strand and Bruce Baillie began to show films outdoors in Canyon, California. Strand's spirit lives on today with the continued growth of both Canyon Cinema and San Francisco Cinematheque. Both organizations have flourished over the past 48 years, a testimony to the passion and dedication of Chick Strand. Tonight's program will include several of her films, including By the Lake,Artificial Paradise, Coming Up For Air, Loose Ends andCartoon le Mousse." --Dominic Angerame, Curator.
Saturday, October 24
Landmark's Clay Theatre, 2261 Fillmore Street
2:00 pm Shorts Program: The Bay in Depth
The Bay Area has long been a hotbed of short film production. Featuring works by several of our most compelling filmmakers, this program is a testament to the incredible depth and breadth of America's film and media frontier: All Animals (Robert Arnold, Cynthia Mitchell 2009, 16 min); Chromatic Cocktail Extra Fizzy (Kerry Laitala 2009, 9 min); From Saturday to Sunday (Natalija Vekic, Christian Bruno 2008, 4 min); I Can See Everything (John Haptas, Kristine Samuelson 2008, 5 min); Lost in the Flood (Doug Katelus 2009, 11 min); Seven after Eleven (Christina McPhee 2008, 8 min); Sparkle Plenty (Kerry Laitala 2008, 6 min); The Unmaking of I Am a Sex Addict (Caveh Zahedi 2009, 6 min). TRT 65 min.
4:15 pm Sons of a Gun
Rivkah Beth Medow, Greg O'Toole, 2009
Notions of family and dysfunction often go hand in hand, but never so vividly as in this compelling and unsettling documentary in which Larry Bobbit, an ex-LAPD hostage negotiator and surrogate dad to three middle-aged schizophrenic men, struggles to keep his family together. They've been evicted from their home and are forced to move into a cramped hotel in Alameda when things start to unravel. For 20 years, Larry has been able to provide for his "sons," but as the stresses from being uprooted build, so does Larry's intake of alcohol. Sons of a Gun is an incisive document on society's inability to accommodate mental illness and a fascinating window into the enduring bond between four unique and resilient individuals. Photographed by Rivkah Beth Medow, Greg O'Toole. 75 min.
6:30 pm Why Isn't Chris von Sneidern Famous?
Kathleen McNamara, 2009
Why do some artists garner mass adulation while others remain only cult heroes? Director Kathleen McNamara attempts to answer these questions in the aptly named, intimate portrait Why Isn't Chris von Sneidern Famous?After hearing von Sneidern -- known to his followers as CVS -- perform at Mission District hotspot Bruno's, McNamara began her quest and ended up following CVS for four years, capturing candid and funny interviews and engaging performances. Her film doesn't shy away from the poignant questions of offstage life, as CVS confronts middle age and attempts to reconcile his current station with the grand visions he and others continue to hold for him, even as dreams of rock and roll stardom begin to slip away. Photographed by Lise Swenson. 76 min.
9:00 pm Sorry, Thanks
Dia Sokol, 2009
Max glides through his days with a phlegmatic irony that would make even the hippest hipster cringe. Not always the most sensitive guy, he decides to cheat on his girlfriend with someone who has just gone through a brutal breakup. Thus begins Max's shallow odyssey of modest self-discovery. Naturally, this story is set in the Mission and stars Wiley Wiggins, who made a name for himself with a memorable turn as a put-upon teen in Richard Linklater'sDazed and Confused. This directorial debut by Dia Sokol (producer of mumblecore auteur and costar Andrew Bujalski's Beeswax) features wonderfully deadpan and honest performances and a number of hilarious -- if dark and often sad -- situations. Aimless men and women take heed: One day you may have to face yourself, and your day of reckoning may be funny-to everyone but you. Written by Dia Sokol, Lauren Veloski. Photographed by Matthias Grunsky. With Wiley Wiggins, Kenya Miles, Andrew Bujalski, Ia Hernandez. 92 min.
Sunday, October 25
Landmark's Clay Theatre, 2261 Fillmore Street
11:30 am FilmHouse Presents
A unique opportunity to get a sneak preview of some of the diverse and dynamic work being created by residents of the San Francisco Film Society's FilmHouse program, with filmmakers in attendance. This work-in-progress salon features current and past FilmHouse residents who will introduce and screen short selections from their works. Following each screening, SFFS Filmmaker Services Manager Michele Turnure-Salleo will moderate an in-depth Q&A discussion between filmmakers and the audience. This event provides an opportunity for filmmakers to engage with the public at an early stage in their projects' development and for the public to gain insight into the creative process of filmmaking. Free. FilmHouse Presents is generously supported by the San Francisco Film Commission.
2:00 pm Ghostbird
Scott Crocker, 2009
Once among the world's most spectacular birds, the ivory-billed woodpecker disappeared from the swamplands of southeastern America in the 1940s. Still, some diehard bird watchers adopted the bird as their very own Sasquatch and refused to believe that it was indeed extinct. When a kayaker claimed to have spotted an ivory-billed in Brinkley, Arkansas, some of the nation's top ornithologists launched a yearlong expedition and ultimately upgraded its status from extinct to critically endangered. Brinkley instantly became a must-visit destination for birders worldwide, and it wasn't long before the townspeople capitalized on their good fortune by touting souvenirs, haircuts and anything else that could be deemed ivory-billed. But what if the bird is extinct after all? Scott Crocker's documentary taps into the science and eccentricities of the birding world, exposing the ironies of people's relationship to the environment and each other. Photographed by Damir Frkovic. 85 min.
4:30 pm Shorts Program: It's All True
It's no secret that over the years San Francisco has produced some of the world's most compelling nonfiction films. Whether straight-ahead documentaries, experimental works or fiction/nonfiction hybrids, these shorts reveal Bay Area filmmaking at it best and most diverse: Canada (Anjali Sundaram, 2007, 9 min); Close to Home (Theo Rigby, 2008, 6 min); Four Questions for a Rabbi (Jay Rosenblatt, Stacey Ross, 2008, 11 min); The Old Spaghetti Factory (William Farley, Mal Sharpe, Sandra Sharpe, 2000, 28 min); Vivid Dreams (Jim Granato, 2008, 5 min); A Young Couple (Barry Jenkins, 2009, 13 min). TRT 72 min.
6:30 pm Etienne!
Jeff Mizushima, 2009
Richard, a rudderless albeit charming young San Francisco hotel worker, spends his quality time taking care of his beloved dwarf hamster Etienne. He dotes on his animal companion with an earnest love that borders on pathology. During a routine checkup, Richard learns that Etienne has terminal cancer. The veterinarian recommends euthanasia, but Richard decides to take Etienne on a bicycle trip down the California coast for one last adventure. Meanwhile, Elodie, a student at UC Santa Cruz, is dealing with a crushing breakup and is on her way to the City. How their stories intersect slyly reveals the film's precarious underlying tensions, between camp and melodrama. Written by Jeff Mizushima. Photographed by Tim van der Linden, Eric Kim, Jeff Mizushima. With Richard Vallejos, Megan Harvey, Molly Livingston, Matt Garron, Caveh Zahedi. 88 min.
9:00 pm The Anne McGuire Show
There's the woman who stalked Joe DiMaggio while making an experimental video. And there's the artist who perfected the genre of disaster deconstruction. And there's also the woman who uses a man's name while belting out torch songs. Only one figure can be quite so hilarious and incisive: San Francisco's own Anne McGuire. In this live variety show, McGuire's rare genius will be on full display as she draws from her extensive catalogue for an eclectic and pleasurable evening featuring some of her most famous videos, live performances, recent works, a guest MC and several surprises. With her collaborator, the electronic artist Wobbly, McGuire has long enthralled and entertained audiences with her lounge-lizard persona, Freddy McGuire. Expect an appearance by Freddy and a special rendition of the notoriously close-to-home "I Am Crazy and You're Not Wrong."
Film tickets $10 year-round SFFS members, $12.50 general, $11 seniors, students and persons with disabilities;Fall Season CineVoucher 10-Packs $90 SFFS members, $115 general; Opening Night Celebration $12 SFFS members, $15 general; A Tribute to Chick Strand $6 SFFS/SFC members, $10.00 general. Tickets available online at www.sffs.org, by calling 925.866.9559 or by faxing 925.866.9597. Advance tickets for A Tribute to Chick Strand are available only at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at www.ybca.org or by calling 415-978-ARTS. Open September 15 for SFFS members and September 18 for the general public.
Full schedule and information: www.sffs.org.
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