Festival:
The 60th annual San Francisco International Film Festival
Dates:
April 5-19
About:
Approximately 150 films, including more than 30 documentaries:
Among the ten titles vying for the Golden Gate Documentary Feature Award are two world premiere: Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander and Tamir Elterman’s MUHI – GENERALLY TEMPORARY (pictured), about a Palestinian toddler and his grandfather stuck in limbo in an Israeli hospital; and Jeff Unay’s THE CAGE FIGHTER, which follows a family man as he secretly trains for an MMA match. Remaining competition titles have been culled from other noteworthy festivals, and include Sundance winner THE FORCE, Pete Nicks’ look at the scandal-ridden Oakland Police Department; and DONKEYOTE, Chico Pereira’s charming portrait of a Spanish man’s quixotic quest.
The Masters section also features a world premiere – Thomas Riedelsheimer’s LEANING INTO THE WIND – ANDY GOLDSWORTHY (pictured), the filmmaker’s latest collaboration with the British environmental artist – in addition to such recent work as Barbara Kopple’s Sundance-debuting THIS IS EVERYTHING: GIGI GORGEOUS, about the famed YouTube celebrity’s transition.
Global Visions offers a number of docs, including Jean-Stéphane Bron’s institutional portrait, THE PARIS OPERA, and Lu Chuan’s Disneynature doc BORN IN CHINA (pictured); as does the Marquee Presentations section, with David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg’s BILL NYE: SCIENCE GUY, a candid profile of the science advocate; Vanguard, offering work such as Jem Cohen’s city film, WORLD WITHOUT END (NO REPORTED INCIDENTS); and Special Events, presenting the world premiere of Jeff Adachi and Jim Choi’s DEFENDER, about an SF Public Defender as he takes on a high-profile case involving racial bias.
what (not) to doc 