SFFS educates, entertains and enriches a wide and diverse range of audiences with programs and events in four core areas: Internationalism, Education, Citywide Outreach and Exploring New Media.

FEBRUARY

February 27–March 5
SFFS SCREEN
Silent Light
A story of love, family and adultery in a Mennonite community in northern Mexico from a director making a giant leap into the first rank of world cinema.

MARCH

March 2
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Panasonic HVX200 HD Camera Orientation
7:00 pm Take an in-depth look at the Panasonic HVX200 HD camera. Get tips on which recording format to shoot in, using filters with HD, and on-set usage and protocol.

March 4
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Fiscal Sponsorship Orientation
7:00 pm Whether you are a filmmaker with a seed of an idea, heading into production, have just finished your rough cut or are putting your distribution strategy into action, fiscal sponsorship can help you access much-needed funds from foundations and individual donors.

March 6–12
SFFS SCREEN
Examined Life
Eight contemporary philosophers including Cornel West, Slavoj Žižek and Judith Butler freely expound on heady matters as they walk, talk and engage directly with the everyday world around them.

March 7
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
How To Ask People for Money
10:00 am This class covers a lively, hands-on process to help filmmakers craft the messages and tools they need to approach individual donors.

March 8
MEMBER SCREENING
7:00 pm Sin Nombre
A social-political thriller in the tradition of American film noir, Sin Nombre is set on the border, where Mexico becomes the crucible and the fearsome gangs of today’s Mexican countryside, the gauntlet, to freedom. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga expected to attend. Tickets are free for valid year-round Film Society members. RSVP to members@sffs.org. Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinemas

March 11
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Pitch Masters
7:00 pm Pitch Masters presents a series of techniques to condense stories and projects to their most essential and exciting elements in preparation for sharing them with potential collaborators and funders.

SF360 FILM+CLUB
Handmade Nation
7:30 pm Handmade Nation documents a movement of artists, crafters and designers that imbue traditional handiwork techniques with a punky do-it-yourself ethos informed by modern aesthetics, politics, feminism and art.

March 17
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Sound Essentials
7:00 pm In this hands–on class students will learn about techniques, devices and strategies for recording and shooting, as well as for postproduction recording solutions.

March 18
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Film Criticism
7:00 pm This class introduces students to some of the major rubrics of film criticism and will provide a foundation for gleaning specific reasons behind critical responses to films.

March 21
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Race in Animation
7:00 pm This class investigates suppressed historical and contemporary cartoons, deconstructing their meaning and uncovering their cultural and historical contexts.

March 24
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
The Aesthetics of Editing
7:00 pm What’s your story and how should you tell it? This class examines the many elements that editors must keep in mind when cutting a film.

March 28
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Lighting Essentials
7:00 pm Ideal for beginning cinematographers, lighting designers and directors, this illuminating class will provide students with a hands-on understanding of basic lighting techniques and theory.

APRIL

April 4
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Producing and Directing Documentaries
10:00 am This two-day intensive workshop covers primary issues involved in producing and directing a documentary.

April 8
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
San Francisco: The Movie
7:00 pm This definitive presentation of San Francisco's cinematic persona explains why it's one of the most intensely filmed and meaningful locations in film history.

April 7
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
The Tribe: A Case Study
7:00 pm Tiffany Shlain will present a case study of The Tribe and lead a brainstorming session on innovative methods filmmakers can utilize to reach widespread audiences with their own projects.

FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Grant Writing and Film Budgeting Essentials
7:00 pm Learn the basics of budgeting for documentary or narrative films while exploring the differences between above-the-line, preproduction, production, postproduction, marketing and distribution costs.

April 13
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Structuring the Character-Driven Documentary
7:00pm This acclaimed, information-packed weekend seminar will reveal the essential building blocks of an engaging, plot-driven documentary.

April 18
FILMMAKER EDUCATION
Red One Camera Orientation
7:00 pm Learn all about the Red One Camera through prep, production and conversion of RAW master files to several formats needed for postproduction.

April 23–May 7
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 52
The 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 23–May 7, 2009. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in the country’s most beautiful city.

April 26
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 52
Le Amiche
A new, digitally restored print of Michelangelo Antonioni’s early gem Le Amiche will be screened as part of the Cinema Visionaries Program.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 52
A Woman Under the Influence
A new print of John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence—a key film of the early 1970s—will be screened as part of the Cinema Visionaries Program.

April 28
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 52
Ferlinghetti
This portrait of poet and City Lights co-founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti traces a legendary and remarkably influential literary life.

April 30
FILM SOCIETY AWARDS NIGHT
6:00 pm VIP cocktail reception with celebrity guests
7:00 pm Dinner and awards program
Westin St. Francis Hotel, Grand Ballroom

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 52
Ferlinghetti
This portrait of poet and City Lights co-founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti traces a legendary and remarkably influential literary life.

MAY

May 5
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 52
The Lost World with Dengue Fever
8:00 pm The pairing of live music with an iconic silent film is a highly anticipated SFIFF tradition. This year genre-busting pop band Dengue Fever plays music composed for Harry Hoyt’s classic 1925 film The Lost World.

May 6
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 52
Ferlinghetti
This portrait of poet and City Lights co-founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti traces a legendary and remarkably influential literary life.

May 7
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 52
Unmade Beds
The youthful, sensuous and beautifully assured second feature from Argentine filmmaker Alexis Dos Santos is an enveloping tale of two solitary ex-pats, wayward young souls crossing paths in the cosmopolitan art-rock entrepot of a sprawling East London squat.

BUY TICKETS TO SFFS SCREEN

For event updates, sign up for eNews.

Read about French Cinema Now

Read about San Francisco International Animation Festival

Read about New Italian Cinema

Read about Quebec Film Week