Goings on. SF.

Planning is at its weakest this weekend as several film festivals descend on the city (or end in the city) for their annual events. The SF International South Asian Film Festival (including at least two remarkable films - Ritwak Ghatak's fantastic Jukti Takko aar Gappo and the Bollywood extravaganza Main Hoon Na, starring the great Shahrukh Khan) at the Castro (Saturday) and the Roxie (Sunday); the inspired Cinemexico series begins at the Pacific Film Archive; the American Indian Film Festival continues at the Galaxy and the Palace of Fine Arts; the Latino Film Festival moves to the Lark Theatre and elsewhere for another week; Godzillafest opens at the Castro next Wednesday (more about that next week).

If that weren't enough, two higher-profile events additionally begin in the days ahead.

New Italian Cinema returns for its ninth year, produced as always in association with the San Francisco Film Society (as a companion to its better-known SF International Film Festival). The boot-shaped showcase launches Sunday with Lina Wertmüller's latest, the oddly named Too Much Romance… It's Time for Stuffed Peppers. In her hands, and with a cast consisting of F Murray Abraham and the wonderful Sophia Loren, this Romance should make for a terrific opening night. Over the subsequent seven days, the fest serves that great role of offering a cinematic collection that will not likely grace local screens again, including more than a half-dozen works by first- and second-time directors. Like its sibling, though, the series relies too much on the Kabuki - in this case, its sole venue.

Meanwhile, in a culture fascinated by the symbolic significance of numbers, anniversaries carry deep psychological meanings that are otherwise unwarranted. Take, for instance, the Film Arts Foundation’s Film Arts Festival, founded in 1984. This year marks its 20th annual event, giving the multi-talented Gail Silva and the staff of FAF special reason to celebrate.

One week prior to the festival proper, Philip Kaufman convened an audience at the grand Castro Theatre for an evening of sights and sounds from a career (ideally) not quite half-finished. The festival officially kicks off tonight, November 11, at Mighty with the so-called "Redeclaration of Independents." The usual (and deserving) suspects will be honored for their achievements in film and, consequentially, their decision to remain in Northern California - documentary filmmaker Lourdes Portillo, media archaeologist Craig Baldwin and "non-fiction cultural historian" turned "biting satirical narrative filmmaker" Terry Zwigoff.

This is a film festival, right? There are a few of those, too. Firstly, the feature IPO with a premise that was stale before the camera started rolling (or, since this is video, "pixilating"). Not satisfied with a single simple cliché, the filmmakers add a half-dozen more to the mix. Fortunately, the performers take this material and elevate it to several sincerely inspired moments, making the film considerably better than many similar efforts. Folks that missed Girl Trouble at the aforementioned SFIFF have another opportunity to miss it at FAF. That would be a shame because the documentary deftly follows three young women as they work their way through the juvenile justice system in San Francisco.

Three is also the number of days worth of screenings in this brief event, with Saturday almost entirely devoted to short films (four programs, back-to-back). In addition to works partially funded by the Film Arts Fund for Independent Cinema (Push Button, The Keep and Fabrication among them), FAF includes recent shorts from Michael Wilson (not the Mike Wilson that made Michael Moore Hates America - this Mr. Wilson is an unusually skilled filmmaker), Rock Ross and Kerry Laitala. These individuals carry on a tradition of unconventional work in a city that can produce uniquely different visions, from George Kuchar to Francis Coppola (with Jim Mitchell somewhere in between).

Posted by dwhudson at November 11, 2004 1:52 PM