scroll down to view the current & upcoming film festivals and series, don't forget to save the film dates!

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TOSCA'S KISS
7:30 pm June 3
“Touching and exhilarating …the ending is inspired.” - Walter Goodman, The New York Times

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Daniel Schmid’s cult classic introduces us to the inhabitants of the world’s first nursing home for retired opera singers, founded by Giuseppe Verdi, whose opera Falstaff is part of SFO’s 2008 summer season, in 1896. It’s a touching and often hilarious film on aging and the power of music to inspire. (Italy/Switzerland, 1984, 87m, 35mm, in Italian w/ English subtitles)

FARINELLI
7:30 pm June 24
Winner, Berlin Film Festival
“A drama of extraordinary complexity, rich in meaning … a triumph of taut control and superb structuring.” - Kevin Thomas, L.A. Times

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BEAU TRAVAIL
7:30 pm July 1
“Has the sweep and esthetic power of a full-length ballet.” - Stephen Holden, The New York Times

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Inspired by Billy Budd—and programmed here in honor of SFO’s 2008 production of Britten’s adaptation of Melville’s novel—this film is the most provocative and accomplished yet by French director Claire Denis (Chocolat, I Can’t Sleep, Nenette and Boni). The action unfolds against stunning East African landscapes, as a small troupe of French Foreign Legion soldiers exercise a hypnotically choreographed routine of drills and mock battles. Nearly free of dialogue, Beau Travail unfolds with the suspense of a Greek tragedy and the precision of the finest cinema. (France, 1999, 90m, 35mm, in French w/ English subtitles)

KENNETH BRANAGH'S THE MAGIC FLUTE
U.S. Premiere!!
July 6, Film & gala reception, 4:30 pm | Includes post-film discussion w/ star Joseph Kaiser | refreshments | $100
Screening only, 7:45 pm | Includes introduction by Joseph Kaiser | $15
“… much spectacle and entertainment to offer … high-minded and yet accessible.” - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

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Kenneth Branagh’s spectacular, epic interpretation of Mozart’s classic opera begins on the eve of the first global war. Tamino (played by Kaiser, star of SFO’s 2008 Adriana Mater) sets forth on a perilous journey in pursuit of love, light and peace in a world afflicted by darkness, death and destruction. Rescued from certain death by a trio of field nurses, he is sent on a mission to rescue Pamina, the lovely daughter of the Queen of the Night, from the dark lord, Sarastro. Branagh’s musical adventure celebrates this pair of young lovers as they determine the fate of nations and the lives of millions. (U.K., 2007, 135m, 35mm)

SAVE THE DATES!

ARTSCREEN
Each film introduced by an artist or historian. Series tickets available: $40 members/$45 nonmember, includes admission for all 8 films

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COOL SCHOOL
Story of the Ferus Gallery 6 pm Monday, June 16, 2008
“The definitive document of art in this era.” - Ain’t It Cool News

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It’s the story of how L.A. learned to love modern art, an object lesson in how to build an art scene from scratch … and what to avoid in the process. Morgan Neville’s film focuses on the seminal Ferus Gallery, which groomed a loose band of idealistic beatniks— Ed Kienholz, Ed Ruscha, Craig Kauffman, Wallace Berman, Ed Moses, Robert Irwin—into a coterie of competitive, often-brilliant artists. (U.S., 2008, 86m, DVCam, Arthouse Films)

A WALK IN THE SEA
Danny Williams & the Warhol Factory, Winner, Berlin Film Festival
6 pm Monday, June 23, 2008; 10:30 am Saturday, June 28
“Captivating, astute and artful” - Premiere

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In 1966, Esther Robinson’s uncle Danny Williams—a promising filmmaker and Andy Warhol’s lover—disappeared mysteriously. Some 40 years later, she discovers 20 of his never-before-seen films, all made at Warhol’s Factory, and with subjects including Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Paul Morrissey and the Velvet Underground. Walk goes beyond the icons to dismantle the Warhol myth-making machine, providing insights into the human costs of an artistic empire. (U.S., 2006, 90m, DVCam, Arthouse Films)

THE UNIVERSE OF KEITH HARING
6 pm Mon., June 30, 2008; 10:30 am Sat., July 5

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Christina Clausen’s film offers an intimate portrait of world-renowned artist whose mantra was that “Art is for everyone!” With interviews and archival footage of Jeffrey Deitch, Kim Hastreiter, Grace Jones, Madonna, Yoko Ono, David LaChapelle, Kenny Scharf, Andy Warhol and Ann Magnuson, along with audio excerpts with Haring himself, this is an unforgettable portrait of, as Artforum put it, “the Degas of the b-boys.” (U.S., 2008, 82m, DVCam, Arthouse Films)

Coming in July Painters Painting: NY Art Scene - 1940-1970 (July 7, 12) • Next: A Primer on Urban Painting (July 14) • Black, White & Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff & Robert Mapplethorpe (July 21, 26) • Obscene: A Portrait of Barney Rosset & Grove Press (July 28)

BEAUTIFUL LOSERS
Starts, July 2, 8PM Director Aaron Rosa and producer Arlo Rosner in person!

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In the early 1990s, a loose-knit group of like-minded outsiders found common ground and, rooted in the DIY subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip-hop & graffiti, began making art and fashion that reflected the lifestyles they led. New Mexico-native Aaron Rose's film celebrates the spirit behind one of the most influential cultural movements of a generation. Subjects include Shepard Fairey, Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, Barry McGee, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Harmony Korine, Stephen Powers, Geoff McFetridge, Thomas Campbell and Ed Templeton. (U.S., 2008, 90m, 35mm)

PAINTERS PAINTING: NY ART SCENE - 1940-1970
6 p.m. Monday, July 7; 10a Saturday, July 12

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In the late 1960s, the legendary documentarian Emile De Antonio began shooting what was to become the definitive documentary on the New York School painters. Since its release, however, this film has remained nearly impossible to see. This newly remastered and restored version features footage of a Who's Who of the New York art scene including Andy Warhol, Leo Castelli, Helen Frankenthaler, Henry Geldzahler, Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, Willem de Kooning, Robert Rauschenberg, Barnett Newman, Hans Hofmann, Jules Olitski, Philip Pavia, Larry Poons, Robert Motherwell and Kenneth Noland. The New York Times called it "a great big, cheerfully uncritical hug of a movie."
(U.S., 1973, 116m, 35mm, Arthouse Films)

NEXT: A PRIMER ON URBAN PAINTING
6 p.m. Monday, July 14

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Pablo Aravena's documentary explores graffiti-based visual art as a world culture. The filmmaker profiles the art form in nine countries including USA, Canada, France, Holland, Germany, England, Spain, Japan and Brazil, weaving together combination of verite-style footage with interviews with painters, “writers”, designers, documentarians and other participants within the subculture. Next conveys the dynamism and creative brilliance of this important emerging artistic movement.
(U.S., 2005, 95m, DVCam, Arthouse Films)

BLACK, WHITE & GREY: A PORTRAIT OF SAM WAGSTAFF AND ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE
6 p.m. Monday, July 21; 10:30a Saturday, July 26

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Sam Wagstaff’s story is one of personal transformation—from conservative, starchy, Yale-educated preppy to downtown habitué, hipster and experimenter. Both he and the artist Robert Mapplethorpe enabled each other to discover different parts of themselves—both men encouraged the other to mine new territory in the arts and in their personal lives as well. Wagstaff’s death from AIDS, in 1987, and later Mapplethorpe’s, in 1989, marked the end of an era. James Crump's Black White + Gray reveals the powerful troika these two men formed with Patti Smith, and the influence their collective work continues to have over present-day art and culture.
(U.S., 2007, 78m, DVCam, Arthouse Films)

OBSCENE: A PORTRAIT OF BARNEY ROSSET AND GROVE PRESS
6 p.m. Monday, July 28

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One of the greatest American publishers of the twentieth century, and perhaps the most influential cultural figure you've never heard of, Barney Rosset and his Grove Press and Evergreen Review, fought decisive battles, including many before the state and federal supreme courts, defeated legal censorship, and opened American life to new and dangerous currents of freedom. But Rosset’s public fight against hypocrisy and injustice is inextricable from his tumultuous personal life: the same unyielding, quixotic, restless energy that upended centuries of law brought Rosset perilously close to destruction. Neil Ortenberg and Daniel O'Connor's film includes music by Dylan, the Doors, Patti Smith, X and Warren Zevon.
(U.S., 2006, 90m, DVCam, Arthouse Films)