SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 55 Announces Complete Program

North American Premieres
The Anabasis of May and Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi, and 27 Years Without Images
Cherry
A Secret World
Winter Nomads

U.S. Premieres
Back to Stay
The Exchange
In My Mother’s Arms
Meanwhile in Mamelodi
Only the Young
People Mountain People Sea
Summer Games
Browse the full public program info at festival.sffs.org 

SFIFF55 by the Numbers:
174 Films
225 Filmmakers and Industry Guests Expected
45 Countries Represented
72 Narrative Features
33 Documentary Features
69 Shorts
4 World Premieres
4 North American Premieres
7 U.S. Premieres
55 Women Directors
41 Languages

Highlights from today’s press conference included these announcements:

The 2012 Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting will go to David Webb Peoples, who will be honored with an onstage tribute and a screening of his acclaimed neo-Western Unforgiven.

The Festival’s Centerpiece screening will feature Lynn Shelton’s endearing relationship comedy Your Sister’s Sister. Shelton is expected to attend.

SFIFF will close with Ramona Diaz’s stirring documentaryDon’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey, about the band Journey and their Filipino lead singer Arnel Pineda. Diaz and Pineda are expected to attend the Closing Night screening at the Castro on May 3.

The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 19 – May 3 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre, SF Film Society Cinema and SFMOMA in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards and $70,000 in cash prizes, upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests and diverse and engaged audiences with more than 70,000 people in attendance.

Building on a legacy of more than 50 years of bringing the best in world cinema to the Bay Area, the San Francisco Film Society is a national leader in exhibition, education and filmmaker services.

The Film Society presents 365 days of exhibition each year, reaching a total audience of 130,000 people. Its acclaimed education program introduces international, independent and documentary cinema and media literacy to more than 15,000 teachers and students and presents 100 classes and workshops annually. Through Filmmaker360, the Film Society’s filmmaker services program, essential creative and business services and funding totaling millions of dollars are provided to deserving filmmakers of all levels.

The Film Society seeks to elevate all aspects of film culture, offering a wide range of activities that engage emotions, inspire action, change perceptions and advance knowledge. A 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, it is largely donor and member supported. Patronage and membership provides discounted prices, access to grants and residencies, private events and a wealth of other benefits.