January Film Festivals in the Bay Area

~ Lincoln Spector

At least two film festivals will play the Bay Area in January, both at the Castro Theater.

First off is the modest German Gems, which will take over the Castro for one day–Saturday, January 14–to screen five German features. The films include a documentary on nuclear power, a missing-person psychological thriller, and a drama about Freud. After playing the Castro, German Gens will move up the coast to Point Arena, to reprise three of those pictures on Sunday, the 15th.

Less than a week later, the tenth annual edition of Noir City opens its 10-day run. Perhaps because of that nice, round number, this year’s festival lacks a coherent theme like last year’s "Crazy" or 2010’s “Newspaper Noir.” Instead, they’re promising us "a 10-day extravaganza featuring San Francisco treats, a Dashiell Hammett marathon, freshly preserved 35mm rarities, by-popular-demand encore screenings, surprises galore, and super special guest star ANGIE DICKINSON!" It also contains a surprisingly large number of well-known movies, including Dark Passage, Point Blank, Laura, Unfaithfully Yours (yes, the Preston Sturges comedy), and two versions of The Maltese Falcon.

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Published by Lincoln Spector

Lincoln Spector writes about cinema, technology, and cinema technology. From 1986 through 2008, he wrote Gigglebytes, the first technology-oriented humor column. From 1977 through 2016, he wrote PC World's Answer Line column and blog.