More February Film Festivals

~ Lincoln Spector

Last week, I told you about three film festivals running in February. Here are three more.

Modern Cinema

SFMOMA, February 1 – 18 (only Fridays and weekends)

Both SFMOMA and SFFILM, the two organizations behind this event, call this a film series. But when a series allows you to see eight feature films in three days, that’s a festival in my book.

This time around, Modern Cinema focuses on Claire Denis, an auteur whose work, I must confess, I have yet to discover. Amongst her films on the program: Friday Night, Chocolat, Trouble Every Day, White Material, and her latest, Let the Sunshine In.


Let the Sunshine In

But Modern Cinema isn’t sticking entirely to Denis’ work. Other classics in the festival include Down by Law, Paris, Texas, Wings of Desire, Late Spring, and two films on my A+ list: Ran and Lawrence of Arabia.

WinterFest

Vogue & Alamo Drafthouse New Mission, February 10 – 11

The Jewish Film Institute has its big event, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, in the summer. But in the cold winds of February, they put on a short, weekend-long festival.

This year, Saturday’s films will screen at the Vogue. Sunday, the New Mission.


An Act of Defiance

I haven’t seen a single film that will screen. The only one I’ve even heard of is the documentary Arthur Miller: Writer, which played at the Doc Stories festival last November. Among the others ones that look promising are Humor Me, An Act of Defiance and Seeing Allred (by the director of the wonderful Hava Nagila: The Movie).

Children’s Film Festival

Chabot Space & Science Center, February 23 – 25

Here’s a festival for a very young demographic. It’s not big on feature films, and the only title I recognized is The Breadwinner, which is currently in theaters. Other features include Meerkat Moonship and A Film of Cinema. Mostly, the festival has shorts for different age groups, along with programs titled Octopus News, How Do They Do That?, and Tales for the Harry Potter Fan.

This appears to be a very interactive film festival. In addition to screenings, there’s a hands-on animation workshop. The films your kids create will be screened at the festival.

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.