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Wednesday, April 29, 2015

THE 58TH SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
So Far, A Festival Fantastic In San Francisco

Filmmaker Liz Garbus thanks the Castro Theatre audience last week in San Francisco. SF Film Society Executive Director Noah Cowan looks on.  Universal Pictures
       
by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW                                           
Wednesday, April 29, 2015

SAN FRANCISCO

 The 58th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival has been a lively, exciting experience thus far.  This year’s Festival, running through May 7, this latest edition of the Americas’ longest-running international cine fest is offering illuminating and promising films.

Amidst organ-playing in the ever-grand Castro Theatre, a palatial space serving organic popcorn, the Festival kicked off in high spirits last Thursday night.  That night the ubiquitous documentarian Alex Gibney presented his “Steve Jobs: The Man In The Machine”, a probing, incisive and thought-provoking look at the late iconoclastic Apple maverick and CEO.  San Francisco Film Society festival programmer Rachel Rosen jokingly asked the capacity audience to turn off its Apple Watches (which, coincidentally would be issued by Apple the next day.)

 “Steve Jobs” raised great questions about why Mr. Jobs gained a such deep mourning amongst billions of complete strangers in death in 2011 - particularly as many Apple-siders knew of the late creator’s penchant for nastiness, anti-social behavior and downright meanness and contempt toward those around him.  Mr. Gibney joked a lot afterwards, citing that his own iPhone was the basis for his idea to do the documentary on Mr. Jobs.  The prolific filmmaker compared Mr. Jobs to James Brown, mentioning that both were highly-skilled “performers” who needed a team of excellent people around them, yet gave that team very little if any credit at all for their talent, hard-work and endeavor.

 The roof of the Castro Theatre just about flew off on Friday night with the arrival of the Nina Simone estate-backed documentary “What Happened, Miss Simone?”, a scintillating, honest and dedicated look at the High Priestess of Soul.  Riveting, passionate and beautiful, Liz Garbus’s documentary is the definitive film on Nina Simone.  This absolute must-see rocked the audience into prolonged standing ovations on Friday night. 

Tavis Smiley literally got on his hands and knees in praise of Ms. Garbus, with whom he discussed the documentary and the processes behind it.  There is never-before-seen footage, candid thoughts and expressions from both Ms. Simone and her daughter Lisa.  “Miss Simone” covers Nina from top to bottom.  No stone is left unturned.  More people appeared to be in attendance than on opening night.  Ms. Garbus spoke about what Ms. Simone meant to millions in the midst of a fluid civil rights movement and a hostile backlash in the United States, one that led her to depart the country for the African continent and later to France, where she revived a flagging career.

 “What Happened, Miss Simone?” is a quote by Maya Angelou in response to the singer-songwriter-musician’s overnight disappearance from the popularity landscape in America.  This documentary is a sure-fire eye-opener, one that will shed a lot of light on things that even the die-hard Nina Simone fan was unaware of.  Ms. Garbus’s film, which debuted at Sundance in January, is the film of the Festival so far.

 One of the feature films that played to a lukewarm audience at the Kabuki Theater over the weekend was “Sand Dollars” ("Dólares De Arena"), with Geraldine Chaplin and Yanet Mojica.  This film, from Latin America, boasts characters who speak three languages.  Directed by Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán chronicle the intimate three-year relationship between a rich, septuagenarian white woman from France and an early 20-something African woman from the Dominican Republic.  Sounds and visions overshadow any words spoken in this moody, cool drama.  There's effective work from both Ms. Chaplin and Ms. Mojica. 

In “Sand Dollars” candid shots of Ms. Chaplin fill the frame but there are barriers to entry to a deeper investigation of at least one character.  Despite its shortcomings, the film is worth watching for its casual yet committed exploration of race, sex, gender, colonialism, love and economics.


Yanet Mojica as Noeli and Geraldine Chaplin as Anne in "Sand Dollars".  Courtesy SFFS 

David Thomson, the British Bay Area-based film critic and historian held court on Saturday just prior to Stevan Riley’s documentary “Listen To Me Marlon”, a new documentary on Marlon Brando.  (At times resonant, Mr. Riley’s film has private audio recordings by the famed actor.)  Mr. Thomson spent 30 minutes talking about Mr. Brando’s all-too-brief theater career as well as his economic deal-making in movies, which curtailed him (notably “The Godfather”.) 

Mr. Thomson’s pre-film monologue was actually better than much, if not all, of Mr. Riley’s film, though Mr. Brando’s recordings and quotes provided entertainment and meaning, sparking what was otherwise a droning, repetitive documentary told solely in the actor-activist’s voice.

 After Richard Gere was the center of attention on Sunday night, Monday evening saw a second screening of “The Dark Horse”, a fine film from New Zealand based on a true story about a homeless bipolar chess master who inspires a group of poor kids to be chess champions.  James Napier Robertson's film is especially good in its second hour and features Cliff Curtis, excellent in the title role.  Good performances overall keep the film from being dull, despite some of the clichés and formulaic arcs that one might expect in such films. 

There’s so much more to come at the 58th S.F. International, and much to be impressed by so far.

Excerpt video: Opening Night at SFIFF58 - Thursday, April 23, 2015



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