Category: Festivals

The SF Jewish Film Festival turns 36 (double chai)

~ Lincoln Spector

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival turns 36 this year with 68 films (more than 50 of them features) from 16 countries. The films and presentations include comedies from Argentina and California, several coming-of-age dramas--including one about an Iranian family in Israel, a new TV series from the creator of Arab Labor, a Freedom of … Continue reading The SF Jewish Film Festival turns 36 (double chai)

Spellbound with music: Surviving and enjoying the 2016 San Francisco Silent Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

Nothing really beats the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. For three days (plus an opening night), you're immersed in an art form that was born, matured, reached extraordinary heights, and then suddenly died--all within the space of 20 to 40 years (depending on how to you define its birth and death). All told, this year's … Continue reading Spellbound with music: Surviving and enjoying the 2016 San Francisco Silent Film Festival

Frameline Preview: Revolutionary lesbians, the right to marry, and the subject of divorce

~ Lincoln Spector

I've managed to review three films that will screen at the upcoming Frameline LGBTQ film festival. Here's what I thought about them, in order of quality. A- Summertime New love overwhelms with joy and energy, but keeping that love in the closet sickens and distorts the romance. In 1971, Paris bursts with revolution--sexual and otherwise--but … Continue reading Frameline Preview: Revolutionary lesbians, the right to marry, and the subject of divorce

Thursday: The last day at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

I saw two movies on the last day of this year's San Francisco International Film Festival. The first one was directed by someone named Ross. The second by someone named Moss. Neither of them was a loss. Frank & Lola I saw this at the New Mission, and thankfully, it was in the big, downstairs … Continue reading Thursday: The last day at this year’s San Francisco International Film Festival

Visiting North Korea and Afghanistan: Wednesday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

I've really come to hate the upstairs theaters at the New Mission. The number of decent seats are in the single digits--and for the festival, most of them are reserved. The front row is so close it can induce headaches--even for me. If you don't want to sit that close, and you weren't one of … Continue reading Visiting North Korea and Afghanistan: Wednesday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

Salt Flats and Music: Tuesday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

I saw two films, both documentaries, at the San Francisco International Film Festival on Tuesday. One was about the world coming to a previously isolated stretch of Bolivia. The other was about music of the world. B+ Salero Before the screening, Director Mike Plunkett told us that the film was "a passion project of mine. It … Continue reading Salt Flats and Music: Tuesday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

Live Music for the Undead: Monday at the San Francisco International Film Festival

~ Lincoln Spector

I only went to one San Francisco International Film Festival event on Monday, and that was Carl Theodore Dreyer's 1932 classic, Vampyre, with musical accompaniment by Mercury Rev and Simon Raymonde. It was at the Castro. Vampyre belongs on any list of great horror films. Todd Brown's Dracula, made the previous year, is stagy and … Continue reading Live Music for the Undead: Monday at the San Francisco International Film Festival