Film Season Is Now! 58th San Francisco Int'l. Film Festival - April 23rd - May 7th

The 58th San Francisco Int'l. Film Festival is taking place right now and running through May 7th.  I must say, this year's selection of films is the best I've seen in several years and I have more than 12 on my radar to see.  I am hopeful I will make at least half of them as this is a very robust effort on my part.  I am thrilled about the diversity in programming and applaud the SFIFF team for their selections this year.  From Nina Simone to an intimate evening in conversation with stellar actor Richard Gere, bouncing between the Kabuki and Castro Theaters is well worth the ride.

Opening night on April 23rd with the screening of Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (Doc) did not disappoint. Director and Oscar-winner Alex Gibney was brilliant in not just pulling together such an amazing story around the build-up of how many people live now, iLife, but the sprinkles of Jobs' life showing the audience how many strived to understand a man who was a volatile enigma even to those closest to him during most of his life as a tech giant.  Even to the point of, in the early days when he was worth $200M, only agreeing to pay $500/month in child support to the mother of his first born. How did a man who so valued enlightenment as he practiced Zen, act in often brutal self-interest when it came to work and family?  After seeing this film I was definitely convinced that people did not fall in love with Steve Jobs, but rather the products he created that enhanced and changed lives forever.

In Conversation With Richard Gere - Screening: Time Out of Mind.  On April 26th, the long lines of admirers started to form close to 2 hours before the highly anticipated arrival of Richard Gere at the Castro Theater, for what we all knew would be one of the most engaging conversations with an actor we would have in San Francisco. The evening with Mr. Gere, preceding the film screening of 'Time Out of Mind', was funny, enlightening, bold and above all genuine.  He remains, by far An Officer and a Gentleman we loved so much on screen over 20 years ago.  Richard has been a Buddish since his 20s and he came to learn about this religion while going through growing pains and wanting to have a deeper understanding of his place in this life.  He found comfort and answers for his life in the study of Buddism and Zen, and at 65 years old it remains a strong force in his life.  One thing Mr. Gere made clear, was that on the many occasions he has been with Dalai Lama, they have never talked about films.  A huge 'aaaahhhaaa' moment for the audience. Imagine that!  My favorite part of Richard's interview was when he mentioned that when searching for media consultants and interviewing many who represented high profile Democrats, he says, 'there was something unreliable about them'.  The crowd burst into laughter and as a media professional, I definitely 'got it'.  Mr. Gere went on further to say, that Roger Ailes was a solid in that area.

The film Time Out Of Mind is was about a homeless man trying to figure out how to pass the time when you have nowhere to go? How to get identification when you have none to start with? Disheveled and red-faced, George Hammond (Richard Gere) wanders New York’s cold streets, facing these questions The film exposes the bureaucracy of social services and a stirring glimpse into the lives of those on the margins.

 

Yves Saint Laurent - Wow! I was really and very much expecting to see much more glamour, fashion and couture, but the film was largely about the 'dark side' of the legendary Yves Saint Laurent.  Fashionistas, like myself, are very much aware of the drugs and alcohol abuse, which is somewhat common in the industry, so I was very hopeful that we would have an opportunity to see much more of the creative process, the design mind behind the genius designer and have take-a-ways to use in the field.  But watching a dog eat pills that accidentally made their way to the floor and watching that dog go into overdose and die was heart wrenching.  From a production perspective, film well done.  In the area of content, would have enjoyed seeing so much fashion.

There are a ton more films showing through May 7th so get your tickets NOW!  Purchase here: SFIFF

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“Head of Passes” Debuts at the Berkeley Rep - Running through May 24th

On Friday, April, 17th every seat at Berkeley’s Repertory Theatre (BRT) Thrust Stage was occupied when the West Coast premiere of the play “Head of Passes” debuted.  The theatre was absolutely packed and the audience was mesmerized.

Head of Passes, written by playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by writer Tina Landau, both ensemble members at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, together, gave the crowd more than they expected, which included an array of emotions ranging from despair, angst, sadness, and surprisingly, a good dose of laughter.

McCraney, a MacArthur “Genius” Award winner, told a poignant and poetic story about the journey of family, faith, trials and tribulations. “It is a story about someone’s personal faith and how they use it as an aperture or a guide to try and understand the many, sometimes fraught, sometimes beautiful, often chaotic events in our lives,” said McCraney.

BRT’s Michael Leibert Artistic Director Tony Taccone acknowledged that Tarell is a wonderful writer ‘who we’ve been yearning to work with for a long time’. Head of Passes chronicles a day in the life of this African American family that has to endure an unbearable amount of suffering,” said Taccone.  “It’s not about insurmountable loss but incomprehensible loss and unrelenting faith.”

What captivated the audience more than the play itself was the compelling and stellar performance by Cheryl Lynn Bruce, who played Shelah in the production.  “Shelah’s family gathers on a stormy night for her birthday, bringing ghosts and secrets of the past with them.”

“As her roof buckles under the weight of the rain, Shelah’s convictions begin to wash away, leaving her to excavate the truths buried below.” Bruce solely completed the last 30 minutes of Head of Passes as she poured out the pain, agony, and unyielding faith of her family’s lives.

At its world premiere in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune raved that “McCraney writes the richest dialogue of any scribe of his generation…it is the well-worth-seeing, must-be supported work of a extraordinary gifted and ambitious writer.  And the Chicago Now lauded Head of Passes as ‘a heart-wrenching, thought-provoking, and soul-stirring experience’.

McCraney’s plays include The Brothers Size, In the Red and Brown Water, and Marcus: Or the Secret of Sweet.  His other plays include Choir Boy and Wig Out!

Other cast members in Head of Passes are Francois Battiste (Aubrey), Johnathan Burke (Crier), James Carpenter (Dr. Anderson), Brian Tyree Henry (Spencer), Sullivan Jones (The Angel), Nikkole Salter (Cookie), Kimberly Scott (Mae) and Michael A. Sheppard (Creaker).

Head of Passes runs through Sunday, May 24, 2015. Individual tickets start at $29 and can be purchased by phone at (510) 647-2949 or online at berkeleyrep.org.

Written by: C.L. Williams