SFIFF58—MICHAEL HAWLEY ANTICIPATES THE AWARDS & SPECIAL EVENTS
A seemingly revitalized San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) unveiled the line-up for its 58th edition at a press conference last week. Duly impressive in both breadth and imagination,...
View ArticleSFIFF58—MICHAEL HAWLEY ANTICIPATES FRENCH CINEMA
I arrived at the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) press conference two weeks ago and immediately flipped through the catalogue, noting a prodigious number of must-see films that were...
View ArticleTHE CROW FURNACE (2015)—The Evening Class Interview With Dolissa Medina
Dolissa Medina and I first met during our involvement with the Galería de la Raza's (Re)Generation Project, founded by Amalia Mesa-Bains in 1995 to facilitate the involvement of the next generation of...
View ArticleBOOK EXCERPT—THE NOIR WESTERN: Darkness on the Range, 1943-1962 by David Meuel
Timing is everything. No less than a week after Joel Shepard gave a heads-up that he had scheduled a series of western noir double-bills during the month of April ("Dark Horse: Film Noir Westerns"), I...
View ArticleSFIFF58—MICHAEL HAWLEY ANTICIPATES ASIAN CINEMA
Once upon a time, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) was the principle way Bay Area movie lovers kept up with Asia's key filmmakers. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Apichatpong...
View ArticleSFIFF58—MICHAEL HAWLEY ANTICIPATES .CINEMA OF THE AMERICAS
After three weeks of anticipation, the San Francisco International Film Festival's 58th edition is set to take off tomorrow night. Thus far, The Evening Class has checked out the awards and special...
View ArticleMING STUDIOS: TRACES—The Evening Class Interview With Marijn van Kreij and...
Photo: Matthew WordellAs a younger man during the so-called "Mens Movement", I attended several seminars with poet Robert Bly who—at a seminar entitled "Leaping Between the Horns of the Bull"—likened...
View ArticleA RARE NOIR IS GOOD TO FIND—"Japon Negro" Triple-Bill
"I've no use for the dawn. I love these evil nights."—Seiko (Pale Flower, 1964).In his program notes for the upcoming Roxie Theatre international noir series "A Rare Noir Is Good To Find", Donald...
View ArticleCLUB SANDWICH (2013)—The Fandor / Keyframe Interview with Fernando Eimbcke
My thanks to Jonathan Marlow at Fandor and Susan Gerhard at Keyframe for inviting me to interview Fernando Eimbcke during the 2014 edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), when...
View ArticleTALL AS THE BAOBAB TREE (2012)—The Fandor / Keyframe Interview with Jeremy...
My thanks to Jonathan Marlow at Fandor and Susan Gerhard at Keyframe for publishing my conversation with filmmakers Jeremy Teicher and Alexi Pappas during the 2013 edition of the San Francisco...
View ArticleTHROWBACK THURSDAY—The Greencine Interview With Herschell Gordon Lewis
(Originally published on the Greencine website, February 2007.)These days Herschell Gordon Lewis has made a pretty penny for himself as a direct communicator—one might say a "shining light"—in the...
View ArticleA RARE NOIR IS GOOD TO FIND—"Japon Negro" Triple-Bill
"I've no use for the dawn. I love these evil nights."—Seiko (Pale Flower, 1964).In his program notes for the upcoming Roxie Theatre international noir series "A Rare Noir Is Good To Find", Donald...
View ArticleCLUB SANDWICH (2013)—The Fandor / Keyframe Interview with Fernando Eimbcke
My thanks to Jonathan Marlow at Fandor and Susan Gerhard at Keyframe for inviting me to interview Fernando Eimbcke during the 2014 edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF), when...
View ArticleTALL AS THE BAOBAB TREE (2012)—The Fandor / Keyframe Interview with Jeremy...
My thanks to Jonathan Marlow at Fandor and Susan Gerhard at Keyframe for publishing my conversation with filmmakers Jeremy Teicher and Alexi Pappas during the 2013 edition of the San Francisco...
View ArticleTHROWBACK THURSDAY—The Greencine Interview With Herschell Gordon Lewis
(Originally published on the Greencine website, February 2007.)These days Herschell Gordon Lewis has made a pretty penny for himself as a direct communicator—one might say a "shining light"—in the...
View ArticleDARK STAR: H.R. GIGER'S WORLD (2014)
The dark brilliance of H.R. Giger's visionary imagination is undisputed. Catapulted into international fame for his contributions to the visual effects and creature concepts of Ridley Scott's Alien...
View ArticleSFIFF58—HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK ONE
After a few unsettling years of deaths and other curve balls, the San Francisco Film Society's 58th edition of the San Francisco International Film Festival regained its standing as one of the...
View ArticleSFIFF58—HIGHLIGHTS FROM WEEK TWO
Responding to his first edition at the helm of the San Francisco International Film Festival, Executive Director Noah Cowan asserted, "We are especially proud of the series of dynamic expanded...
View ArticleSFIFF58—MICHAEL HAWLEY WRAPS UP WEEK ONE
As all good things must come to an end, so it goes with the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF58). This year's event was one of the most extraordinary I've experienced in four...
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