Think Kink: San Fran Hosts CineKink Film Fest Tour

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Thursday, 19 November 2009 00:27

Written by Frank Lovece

Following its February premiere in New York City, the CineKink NYC Festival heads to the city by the sea, San Francisco, for  a weekend of what it calls "sex-positive and kink-friendly depictions in film and television", at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street (at Third).

With "offerings drawn from both Hollywood and beyond, with works ranging from documentary to drama, camp comedy to hot porn, mildly spicy to quite explicit," the fest (running from Nov. 19-21) to opens with A. Benjamin's 46-minute documentary Kinky (Nov. 19th, 7 p.m.), about African-American race and sexuality issues in the world of bondage, fetish and BDSM. Screening with it is the documentary short BDSM: It's. Not What You Think.

At 9 p.m., the festival screens the shorts program Whips & Restraint, featuring the pieces Gravuren Desade, Butler in the Closet, 20 Licks, Valley of the Dommes, Serving Madame Gina and Kink, Inc.

Night two opens at 7 p.m. with the shorts program Lipsticks & Crinoline, featuring Miss Jezebel's Feathers, Dorian: A Picture, Pritch and Panch Do... The Cinderfella Experience at Miss Vera's Finishing School and The Tour De Pants. At 9 p.m. is a companion shorts program, "Wanton Female Desire," with the films Teat Beat of Sex: 8-11, My Favorite Time of the Day, Barcelona Sex Project: Irina, Case 1112: Forty Is the New 14, Strap On Motel and Matinee.

On Saturday night at 7 p.m. is James Westby's 2008 comedy feature The Auteur (above), winner of the Audience Choice Award for Best Narrative Feature. A mockumentary set in the world of adult film, it follows a renowned porn director who has arrived in Portland, Ore., to receive a Lifetime Achievement award at a film festival. Screening with it is the darkly comic short Je Dis Non, Ali.

Closing out the festival at 8 p.m. is Best of CineKink/2009 Shorts Sampler. The program includes At the Porno Shop, Teat Beat of Sex: 8-11, Un Piede di Roman Polanski, Erotic, Belle de Nature, Rubberheart and Kink, Inc.

CineKink 2010's final Call for Entries is December 4th and the next CineKink NYC, the annual festival, takes place
from February 16-21, 2010 in New York City.

More info/tickets: http://www.cinekink.com/tour/sf

CineKink Festival
from Nov. 19-21
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street (at Third)
San Francisco, CA

Starz Denver Film Festival 2009 Now in 32nd Year

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 16 November 2009 02:16

Written by Brad Balfour

After a year of turmoil following staff shakeups and a reduction in its operating hours, no one was sure how all the changes with the Denver Film Society (DFS) would affect the long-running Starz Denver Film Festival. What could have been a huge disaster for the fest eventually resulted in a strong comeback for this year's 11-day long event.

In its 32nd year, the Starz Denver Film Festival makes its big return on Nov. 12th lasting through Nov. 21, 2009. The DFS will be hosting panels with filmmakers, an award presentation, and most notably, screening some of the standout films of 2009. The main venues where the screenings will be taking place are the Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, SFC Theatres 5–12 and the Vuka Theatre in Denver, Colorado.

Opening the festival this year is the Sundance award-winning Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. The actress playing the title role, Gabourey Sidibe, will be in attendance. This is a breakout part for a woman from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and her performance is worthy of celebration.  Along with "Gabby" on the Red Carpet will be Denver's very own Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, two of the film's producers, as well as director Lee Daniels. This is one opening night that will a memorable event for sure.

The festivall's centerpiece, The Big Night Feature, is The Last Station, directed by Michael Hoffman, about two romances, starring Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti and James McAvoy.

The Closing Night film will be The Young Victoria, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, starring Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend and Miranda Richardson.

A highlight of the documentaries the festival is screening will be Convention, directed by AJ Schnack -- a breathless, comprehensive look behind the scenes at the 2008 Democratic National Convention held in Denver.

Ernie Gehr, the New York-based experimental filmmaker, will be the recipient of the 2009 Stan Brakhage Vision Award during the program, An Evening with Ernie Gehr. Gehr's program will include the premieres of his three most recent short films.

The Maysles Brothers Award for the Best Documentary is awarded annually by Albert Maysles, in recognition of a feature-length, non-fiction film without U.S. distribution. This year’s entries include:

 American Faust: From Condi to Neo-Condi, a scathing documentary portrait of former Secretary of State (and University of Denver alumna) Condoleezza Rice by British filmmaker Sebastian Doggart. 

My Neighbor My Killer, director Anne Aghion’s documents the excruciating process of reconciliation between Tutsis and Hutus following the slaughter of more than half a million people in the 1994 genocide.



Among the awards being presented this year will be the 2009 Mayor's Career Achievement Award for Acting to actor-director Ed Harris (The Right Stuff, Places in the Heart, Appaloosa), and Tony-and Emmy-award winning actor Hal Holbrook will receive the 2009 Excellence in Acting Award following a screening of his new film,That Evening Sun,. His wife, co-star Dixie Carter, will also be present for the award presentation.

SDFF presents Festival de Cine Mexicano, a showcase of Mexico's most recent and influential films. This year, eight new films, as well as a number of directors from Mexico will be showcased in Denver.

Included are: 

Caja Negra (Black Box), directed by Luis Ortega, a psychological thriller about a secret organization that plots to kill a political candidate, using a dying man as its unwilling assassin.

 Norteado (Northless), Oaxacan-born director Rigoberto Perezcano's first feature, about a young man’s repeated, futile attempts to cross the U.S. border which puts him on the verge of giving up. 

La Ultima y Nos Vamos (One for the Road), about three young men in Mexico City who discover an entirely new world. Director Eva López-Sánchez based her drama on the real-life experiences of her coauthor, Alfredo Mier y Terán.

For more information, visit www.denverfilm.org.

New Italian Cinema in San Francisco

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

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Published on Monday, 16 November 2009 01:20

Written by Lynne E Shannon

New Italian Cinema Returns for the 13th Triumphant Year in San Francisco at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema, November 15–22, 2009.

The mainstay of New Italian Cinema is the competitive section featuring seven films by emerging directors. NIC opens with a three-film tribute to director Marco Risi, one of Italy's most celebrated filmmakers and closes with Marco Bellocchio's latest tour de force, Vincere, an operatic take on the true story of Mussolini's first wife and their secret child.

“The 2009 New Italian Cinema festival offers yet another provocative, yet often light-hearted, lineup of recent works by up-and-coming directors,” said Film Society programmer Rod Armstrong. “This year's edition covers issues of local politics, father-son relationships, romantic conundrums and mafia depredations.

The New Italian Cinema Events (NICE) organization in Florence—working with selection committee members Rod Armstrong and journalists Deborah Young and Barbara Corsi—chose the best Italian entries from the year's major European film festivals to present in the 2009 New Italian Cinema competition. Most filmmakers are expected at the Embarcadero for Q&As with the audiences. The NICE City of Florence Award will be decided by audience ballot and announced at the Closing Night Award presentation following the screening of Vincere.

The Opening Night presentation is the West Coast Premiere of Fortapàsc, directed by Marco Risi, who will be presernt.  The film relays the account of Neapolitan journalist Giancarlo Siani, who was murdered in 1985 for his reporting on the local crime organization, the Camorra. Risi's fast-paced, coolly observational drama pays tribute to Siani's life and reportage by detailing the events leading up to his death. With Libero de Rienzo, Valentina Lodovini, Massimiliano Gallo, Michele Riondino and Ernesto Mahieux.

Following the opening night film is Marco Risi in Retrospect, featuring films that show the broad range of Risi's talent, from gritty drama to female-focused farce. Films include: Three Wives (Tre mogli), a farcical road-trip movie about three women from different socioeconomic classes who chase their husbands across Argentina, where the men have fled after they rob an Italian bank, starring Francesca d'Aloja, Iaia Forte and Silke Klein. Boys on the Outside (Ragazzi fuori) is Risi’s hard-hitting story of crime and joblessness among Palermo youth who leave a juvenile reformatory and try to reenter society. Featuring stunning performances by several nonprofessional actors. With Francesco Benigno, Maurizio Prollo, Alessandro di Sanzo, Roberto Mariano.

Also included in the program are City of Florence Award Competition Films, many of which are having North American premieres. Among them are:

The Sicilian Girl (La siciliana ribelle), directed by Marco Amenta who will be in attendance. The film is about 17-year-old Rita Atria, who visits a tireless anti-Mafia judge to denounce the organization responsible for the murders of her father and brother. With Veronica d'Agostino, Gérard Jugnot, Miriana Faja.

The North American Premiere of Ex, directed by Fausto Brizzi, who will also be in attendance. This mostly comic study focuses on six different couples and the ups and downs of their relationships. With Claudio Bisio, Alessandro Gassman, Cécile Cassel, Nancy Brilli, Cristiana Capotondi.

The House in the Clouds (La casa sulle nuvole), also a North American Premiere, directed by Claudio Giovannesi who also will attend. Two brothers of different temperaments attempt to come to terms with their irresponsible and self-absorbed parents in this intimate family drama. With Emanuele Bosi, Adriano Giannini, Emilio Bonucci.

Another North America Premiere is Different from Whom? (Diverso da chi?), with director Umberto Carteni attending. Carteni's comedic debut concerns a gay man whose life is complicated when he runs for office in a right-wing town. With Luca Argentero, Claudia Gerini, Filippo Nigro.

The Closing Night film is the West Coast Premiere of Vincere, Marco Bellocchio's latest masterpiece about the life of Ida Dalser, the mother of Benito Mussolini's only acknowledged illegitimate child. With Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Filippo Timi, Fausto Russo Alesi, Corinne Castelli.

New Italian Cinema is presented in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, San Francisco under the auspices of the Consulate General of Italy.

Full schedule and information: www.sffs.org.