Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival is the longest-running film festival in the Americas, and this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. Held each spring for two weeks, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in the country's most beautiful city, featuring some 200 films and live events with more than 100 filmmakers in attendance and nearly two dozen awards presented for cinematic excellence.

50 Years of SFIFF

INTERNATIONAL ONLINE
PRESENTED BY JAMAN April 26 - May 10, 2007

Designed by SFFS and Jaman, International Online is a new concept in the online presentation of Festival films. International Online will offer screenings of a selection of five to eight SFIFF50 films at better-than-DVD quality. The films selected will be available worldwide for download to a limited number of viewers during an exclusive window of time following their SFIFF theatrical screenings.

SFIFF will use International Online to share films from the vibrant San Francisco Bay Area film and media scene with Festival fans across the country and around the word.



Watch these films in The International Online:

Enjoy these incredible San Francisco International Festival films from your personal computer or home entertainment system through Jaman's high-resolution movie download service and film community.

To watch these films:
1. Register for Jaman
2. Download the Jaman Player
3. Films are available on a first come, first served basis for 100 downloads for 24 hours after their last screening at the Festival.

In the mean time, enjoy other world-class, award-winning films here.

	All In This Tea No longer available for download US Premiere DIR: Les Blank, Gina Leibrecht (USA, 2006, 70min.) This absorbing documentary follows adventurer and world-renowned tea importer David Lee Hoffman as he travels through China in pursuit of the best handcrafted teas. After seeing this film, you'll never drink a cup of tea the same way again.
	Key Of G No longer available for download North American Premiere DIR: Robert Arnold (USA, 2006, 59 min.) (Not available in the United States and Canada) Robert Arnold’s moving documentary chronicles the life of a developmentally disabled 22-year-old who has difficulty integrating what he hears, sees and feels because the two halves of his brain do not communicate well. With short Outsider: The Life and Art of Judith Scott.
Carved Out of Pavement: The Work of Rob Nilsson On April 28, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival will present an intimate evening with filmmaker Rob Nilsson where he will discuss his filmmaking style and show excerpts from several works-in-progress. Here’s a terrific opportunity to see four complete films from the Nilsson oeuvre.
"Film should be a search, an investigation of things you find fascinating and pertinent," says Nilsson. “But I don’t see it in most of American cinema. It’s either about genres, or it’s about stars, or it’s about goofy little stories that are meant to entertain. . . . I can’t entertain anybody. I can hardly entertain myself. All I can do is follow my passions." For 30-odd years Nilsson has been doing just that.
The San Francisco Film Society is pleased to present this quartet of films from his Direct Action World Cinema series which brings together four critical ingredients transplanted to communities in different parts of the world. Firstly, Direct Action Cinema is a method of creating drama from character and circumstance seeking emotional depth and street level authenticity. Secondly, it employs an ensemble of committed actors for each production. It utilizes digital technology for the production, marketing, distribution, and exhibition of high quality feature films at a fraction of industry costs. Finally, the Direct Action film intends to be a more efficiently produced and personally meaningful cinema that speaks from the human heart. Winter Oranges (73 minutes, 2000) No longer available for download Winter Oranges is set on a small island off the coast of Hiroshima and about a local resident torn between a desire to move to Tokyo and work in the theatre or stay on the island with his wife who is expecting their first child. Samt (72 minutes, 2001) No longer available for download Samt was shot in Jordan in collaboration with ZENID, a Jordanian social development institute run by Farah Daghistani. It concerns a modern young woman named Ashtar who wishes to attend a youth conference and lies to her father in order to do so. In a broader context, it studies the role of women in Jordanian society. Security (81 minutes, 2005) No longer available for download Security is made for the Pacific Film Archive with the help of UC Berkeley students and is about the murder of a street person. The work leads to a broader exploration of the violence in Iraq and the nature of security in an insecure world. Opening (85 minutes, 2006) No longer available for download Opening is an ensemble piece shot in three days about a diverse group of people confined to a Kansas City art gallery when tornadoes hit the city. Questions about art and its importance to particular communities are raised and explored.

SFIFF/Dialogues
No Snacking Allowed: Online Strategies for Meaningful Films.
FREE ADMISSION
Sunday, May 5, 4:00 pm Sundance Cinemas Kabuki

The Internet is great for snack video, self-promotion and porn. Its worth as a powerful platform for global distribution and monetization of meaningful short and feature-length independent and international films, however has no been fully measured. Panelists Carlos Montalvo of Jaman, Jonathan Marlow of GreenCine and others will discuss the ways in which serious filmmakers might find audiences, realize revenue and manage their portfolio of rights online. Moderated by Joaquin Alvarado, SFSU Institute for Next Generation Internet.

Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award Heddy Honigmann Presented by Jaman Tuesday, May 1, 8:00 pm Sundance Cinemas Kabuki This award honors the lifetime achievement of a filmmaker whose work is crafting documentaries, short films, animation or work for television. Inventive visionary filmmaker Heddy Honigmann, recipient of this year’s Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award, will engage in an onstage interview with film writer John Anderson and present her latest work, Forever.