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alcofribas/thing/films/festivals/2002/san_francisco

i was a little harried this festival. i'm working farther away and i've got a cell phone, work trouble and family trouble. actually the traffic turned out ok, except for the night when they closed 880 and all four lanes had to take an exit and get on the entrance across the road to get around some work on an overpass. my work is one of those places where they expect you to be working all the time and all that. at least my boss let me take a couple days of vacation. he was always good about that. this was the first sf festival after the two artistic directors left. peter scarlet went to the cinematheque francaise, though i read in the last cahiers du cinema that he was forced to resign or something, and rachel rosen went to an independant film festival in los angeles. without them, things seemed a little flat, starting from the preview night where they introduced the schedule. some of the old staff were still around anyways, and maybe the new people will have better luck next year? anyways, it's a shame that they're gone, especially rachel, since i guess i wouldn't know, but when peter left for what looked like something better, i figured she'd be taking over.

here's what i went to. usually i'd write a bit more, but somehow after this festival it didn't happen. i don't think i wrote notes on many of these. maybe later.

saw

thursday, april 18

had a pass for the opening night film, but a lot of work to do, and i ended up staying late.

friday, april 19

pier paolo pasolini e la ragione di un sogno (2001) laura betti

late in traffic, i liked the footage of pasolini a lot. there were a lot of images, some from his movies, and others from i don't know where, but i wish i did. i loved laura betti in pasolini's and fellini's films. hadn't realized that she was the guy's mom in catherine breillat's à ma soeur. not that that came up in the movie. i liked his interview with the genoese football team and when he talked about his dad. after the movie, sergio citti and david grieco answered some questions about pasolini. the audience had some trouble getting something interesting going. a lot of us didn't know too much about his life.

veloma (2001) marie de laubier

with marie de laubier.

beautiful film. shots on the sailboat in the waves were very strong. contrast between the waves and the people in the city streets. de laubier said she didn't want you to judge the man for faking his death, splitting on his kid. people in the audience disagreed.

ichi the killer (2001) takashi miike

beautiful but super-gross. amazing, ridiculous yakuza horror story. a little too much psycho whatever.

saturday, april 20

canyon cinema selections

with directors al avarez, david sherman and people from canyon cinema

really a pleasure to see these works. i'd like to see regular screenings from canyon at yerba buena.

taxi para 3 [taxi for three] (2001) orlando lübbert

with orlando lübbert

from chile.

pistol opera (2001) seijun suzuki

super fancy stylized cinematography. liked the pacing, the mythic story, the fights.

may (2002) lucky mckee

this was funny, maybe a little clumsy. i would have made all the kids goths, and dressed them up pretty. liked angela bettis, not the shaking doll.

sunday, april 21

pasolini's four comic shorts (1962-69) pier paolo pasolini

with sergio citti and david grieco

these were funny, all from italian movies in the 60's where they spliced together works by a few directors around the same themes. the most amazing was 'la ricotta' with orson welles and laura betti from the film 'rogopag'. you can find it on vhs. my other favorite was 'che cosa sono le nuvole?' from 'capriccio all'italiana' with ninetto davoli, toto and laura betti playing marionettes used in a production of othello.

decasia (2002) bill morrison

liked these images of destroyed and decaying film. well matched to the score.

xiari nuanyangyang [i love beijing] (2000) ning ying

this was pretty good. liked the city, the cab driver's barracks, the tv personality, the student.

divoké vcely [the wild bees] (2001) bohdan sláma

with bohdan sláma

this was sort of like watching one of those cute films about quirky locals in small town britain, except that it was filmed in sudetenland. i liked it. liked the beginning with the women who just wanted to drink and play cards all day instead of working in the fields.

monday, april 22

inch'allah dimanche [inch'allah sunday] (2001) yamina benguigui

well, yes, i liked this...

qianxi manbo [millenium mambo] (2001) hou hsiao-hsien

ok, this was interesting...

tuesday, april 23

je rentre à la maison [i'm going home] (2001) manoel de oliveira

i liked this a lot.

the green cold/the mirror of the soul (2002) nasser saffarian

wednesday, april 24

good husband, dear son (2001) heddy honigmann

interviews with survivors of the civil war in a small town in bosnia.

vivante (2001) sandrine ray

with sandrine ray

thursday, april 25

porto de minha infância [oporto of my childhood] (2001) manoel de oliveira

karmen geï (2001) josef gaï ramaka

stalin: red god (2001) frederick baker

with frederick baker

secret ballot (2001) babak payami

with babak payami

fatma (2001) khaled ghorbal

with khaled ghorbal

friday, april 26

la perdición de los hombres [the ruination of men] (2001) arturo ripstein

saturday, april 27

[warm water under a red bridge] (2001) shohei imamura

what these ashes wanted (2001) philip hoffmann

with philip hoffmann

[all about lily chou-chou] (2001) shunji iwai

with shunji iwai

lots of soft-focus and kid on power trips. i liked how the internet chat was incorporated.

derrida (2002) kirby dick, amy ziering kofman

with kirby dick, amy ziering kofman, and jacques derrida

sunday, april 28

los inundados (1961) fernando birri

with fernando birri

yes, this was funny, and political and when would i ever get to see it again?

in praise of love (2001) jean-luc godard

monday, april 29

china 21 (2001) ruby yang

with ruby yang

l'afrance (2001) alain gomis

diaries of vaslav nijinsky (2001) paul cox

with paul cox

um, i wish i'd spent more time on my homework before i got into this festival. i'd had no idea that this was directed by paul cox and that he'd directed vincent and so many other films. i didn't know much about nijinsky's years in switzerland. i have a secret love for derek jacobi's voice.

tuesday, april 30

go (2001) isao yukisada

wednesday, may 1

memory arcade - selections by the sf cinematheque and the pfa

with directors sandra davis, ernie gehr and brett simon

thursday, may 2

hollywood ending (2002) woody allen

with actors george hamilton, mark rydell, tiffani-amber thiessen, and barney cheng

not sure why i went to this? so george hamilton could direct his charm my way? oh well. i liked deborah messing, and the scene where tiffani-amber thiessen tries to seduce woody allen by putting his hand on her armpit.

waiting to see in general release? (or maybe not?)

links

san francsico film society