I might as well admit it. This somewhat fake conversation was inspired by the opening pages of the long deceased IFCRant magazine. I always enjoyed that bit, usually more than the pages that followed.

Regardless, there was some hope that folks would mention the films they were looking forward to seeing in this space. I'll start. There is a new Raúl Ruiz film in the program that I'll anxiously attend next Friday at noon - Le domaine perdu. I adore his work, even the uneven ones.

If these two were practicing self-parody, then posting this snide trifle would at least have the dignity of failed execution. The dialogue reeks of cognoscenti posturing and oneupmanship-- how else to understand the eager volunteering of his fearsome walk-out response to the Aussie film? Please: no more waspish whining from people who are entitled to see movies the rest of us won't get to watch, even when they're good.

Actually, I'm hoping we can make this a regular feature.

More to the point of your complaint, though, SFIFF is a festival that happens to be open to the public. In fact, you may have noticed we've been actively encouraging people to attend this one and many, many festivals, large and small, around the world for some time now. I don't see how entitlement figures into it.

"Snide trifle" is a distinct improvement over my intentions. Thanks ever-so-much for the compliment. As for entitlement, you'll have your chance to see Look Both Ways when it's released in this country by Kino later this year.

Regardless, it appears that you're confusing "highly refined taste" with an opinion. I didn't realize that there was a moratorium on the latter.

I'm afraid I lean towards jbw's opinion, and I was a participant! However, jbw is taking seriously what was at most a slight footnote. There was no oneupmanship involved, just some late-night, drowsy conversation.

I'd say any reader could tell in the first sentence if they were going to find the whole thing obnoxious, and move on rapidly to other things. And Marlow's right, these are just his honest opinions of films that people here are deciding whether or not to see at the fest.

I'd like to see some rebuttals of his rudely stated opinions (really!). I know there are people out there who have seen and liked The Wayward Cloud...speak up...

Cool. Perhaps all this negativity will prevent some of these films from selling out before I get around to buying my tickets. Or if not, at least keep the rush lines small.

I doubt that my comments will have much impact on ticket sales. Furthermore, I was much kinder than the SFBG about the titles at SFIFF. Their review of the opening night film, for instance, was fairly brutal. It won't stop me from seeing it, though.

When I grow up, I want to be as rude and opinionated as Jonathan Marlow. 8^)

You realize, of course, that now I HAVE to see "Look Both Ways", whether I intended to or not.

What I liked about "House of Sand" is how much it demands of the audience, in patience, in accepting the convention of the two lead actresses leapfrogging generational portrayals. I remember even thinking momentarily, "Couldn't they have found two actresses that look more like mother and daughter?" and then discovering they were mother and daughter. Ack!

At the screening of "Iraq in Fragments" several folks there were complaining about how they expected more, how Longley didn't know what to do with his footage, blah blah blah, and here I felt he avoided the war documentary altogether to render a human face on a much-maligned people, factioned amongst themselves.

Your comment about what Tilda will be wearing at the State of Cinema address has suddenly made me extremely self-conscious about what *I* will be wearing!! ;^)

Thanks for the comments. It adds to the buzz. Hey Jonathan, when am I going to get my Grace Chang dvd back? I promised a friend he could see it before "Wayward Cloud."

THE WAYWARD CLOUD was one of my favorite films of 2005 (it played here in NZ at the film fest last July). Without trying to spoil too much, the ending takes the whole movie to another level, one which caused a few walkouts but for me added a rich layer of depth retrospectively to the entire movie. I've seen five Tsai movies, and this is the first one that really knocked it out of the park for me.

EXECUTIVE KOALA is an awesome name for a film. I'm jealous.

If I weren't on the other side of the world, I wouldn't miss a night with Werner Herzog for love or money.

Rude? Me? Opinionated? Definitely. As for the Grace Chang disc, I could put it in the mail before I disappear for the opposite coast. I'd need an address, of course...

if i may... i'd like to offer a defense of cartography of ashes. i've only seen a bit of the film so far, but what i've seen so far is very cool -- elegant storytelling, nice f/x with footage from the library of congress. it's probably going to be incredibly crowded at the fire tower - i think they're limiting the audience size; and it's free - so, because i want to squeeze my own self in there, i'm not suggestion any fence-sitters go. however, i don't want the filmmaker unfairly tarred in these pages, either...

Michael, I just realized that I have your address. Shall I send it along accordingly? As for Cartography of Ashes, Ms. G, I am absolutely looking forward to it. Despite my comments above, this is precisely the sort of work that gets me to the front of the line.

I'll be posting a few of my own "trifle" reflections on the SFIFF here soon, too - not sure I'll be able to get to as many of these films as I'd like, but enough to form some sort of opinion, or not. First off the bat: a glimpse at two interesting films de Mexico.

I have to see Executive Koala, too, though I worry I'll be let down after anticipating the title...

I'll be forming my own opinion of Look Both Ways, because now I'm really intrigued after Jonathan's response, and then my Dad saw it at the Auckland Film Fest when he was visiting NZ last year and thought it was pretty good. It doesn't have people wearing Koala heads, however.

I just hope people in the Bay Area can go to these films and give us their own responses, on their blogs, or here... And then of course the hope is the best of the fest makes it to your part of the world, too, if you're not here.

Craig

PS: Don't forget TURNABOUT (http://fest06.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=94)
The "re-discovered" and neglected screwball comedy that UCLA's Film & Television Archive has helped bring back to life.

Hello, this message is for people out there who may have stayed away from the Cartography of Ashes premiere last Friday thinking the event to be pretentious. As the filmmaker and producer of this event, I'm puzzled yet amused that a free outdoor screening open to the public would be perceived to be pretentious. Is it the subject matter itself or the chosen venue for the premiere?

In my defense, I must say that the destruction of San Francisco by earthquake and fire 100 years ago this month was an incredibly epic event, and when I conceived this project 4 years ago, it only felt fitting to present the film on an equally epic scale in a venue that honored the memory of those people who fought to save this city.

Throughout the process of the film's creation, "Cartography of Ashes" has drawn alliances with multifaceted partners -- the San Francisco Fire Department (a good group of vey unpretentious people), disaster preparedness advocates like the NERT program, fire protection engineers, and many community-minded arts organizations such as the Oakland Museum of California and Intersection for the Arts. I myself live in the Mission District where this film premiered, and from the get go, my only intention was to create a memorable experience where San Franciscans and others could have an opportunity to experience their history in a unique format. As they say, those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.

Then Katrina happened, and as I witnessed the utter destruction of another incredibly unique and beautiful American city, this film took on an entirely different dimension for me. Horrific and haunting, the past and the present have overlapped, and I do believe it is the artist's role to help us make sense of it all. I will make the film available for viewing to any community group for free, and I hope "Cartography" can be used to raise awareness about the need for not only disaster preparedness, but just getting out to meet your neighbor. And that is what a free outdoor art event can do.

For the 300 or so people who turned out for the screening on Friday night, I thank you for coming. Mission hipsters, firefighters, families, tourists -- I saw many types of faces in the dark and I hope you experienced something special.

For those who missed the show, come to another free screening at the SF International this Monday April 24 at 12:45 pm and make up your own mind. I will be happy to discuss any issues that the film raises for you, and I think you will find me to be quite unpretentious.

All the best,
Dolissa Medina
Director/Producer
"Cartography of Ashes"
www.ashes06.org

There is no reason to be puzzled about the earlier comments. The only "pretentious" thing about your film was the description that someone (I don't have a copy here or else I would attribute it) crafted for the catalog. Regardless, the whole point of mentioning it at all was to encourage people to see it. It might strike you as an odd strategy to say something seemingly negative in order to produce a positive result but I wager that three-hundred folks, even for a free screening, is a fairly impressive figure for a project of this sort.

I only wish that I could've been one of the people there to see it. I'm in Boston, presently.

And as one of those (briefer than I would've wished) there on Friday let me say kudos to you and those others who arranged the program - it really was something special. Thanks for coming up with the idea.

A few more in-depth thoughts on the festival coming tomorrow. Nicely programmed so far... (if only Japantown wasn't such a damned mess the first weekend. All the more reason to give kudos to the fest for at least branching out to these satellite type events in other parts of the city, particularly on the first weekend when there are conflicts. Less conflicts as the fest continues...)

Craig of GC

As for Cartography of Ashes, I did say that I liked the sound of the film itself. Perhaps Jonathan will be tempted to screen it as part of one of GreenCine's YBCA screenings, filmmaker in attendance...we were recent early AM participants at the centennial, and later at Cody's Books.