DECEMBER
Friday 6
Cine Club @ SF Art Institute (800 Chestnut Street)
Federico Fellini's AMARCORD (1973, Italy)
Fellini’s glorious tribute to his childhood, full of evocative atmosphere and delightful imagery, recreates life in a small Italian town through the eyes of an attentive adolescent boy. Every episode with his family, his mischievous friends and the eccentric townspeople is positively magical.
Why we show this film:
Amacord is one of Fellini’s most popular works, capturing much of the awe and wonder of life in a small Italian town with all the colorful characters in place just the way a teenage boy might remember. It’s not as aggressively bizarre as some films he made, but its rich imagery, honestly shaped scenes and big splashes of film magic make it a milestone of his later films.
About the director:
Federico Fellini is one of a handful of directors who define 20th Century film in. He began his career as an artist and during the early 40’s wrote a number of radio and film scripts while assisting an actor friend's traveling theater company. At the end of the war they opened the Funny Face Shop, an arcade for American soldiers that made portraits, photos, and voice recordings for the folks back home.
One day director Roberto Rosselini brought Fellini in on collaboration for the script for Open City, and he followed this with work on Paisan, both sterling film classics. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts on his own, Fellini directed Il Vitelloni (the Loafers) which brought him great success. He followed this with one triumph after another including La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, and La Dolce Vita. Out of his work emerged a new style which announced itself with 8 ½—a theme driven, plot-less film filled with atmosphere, color and astounding characters and flights of fantasy. From this the adjective “felliniesque” has entered our vocabulary.
Saturday 7
Art Saturday @ A Day Of Silents
A full day of silent films! Join us and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival at the Castro Theater for any of the silent films (with live musical accompaniment!) that we’ll be attending:
3:15pm - Woman with a Movie Camera: The Films of Alice Guy Blaché
5:00pm - The Marriage Circle
8:00pm - The Phantom of the Opera
Click the links above to learn more about each program. We’ll break for dinner between the 2nd and 3rd films!
Join us for one or all of them! Email Isaiah at isaiah@artandfilm.org to reserve tickets.
Art Saturday lunches are generously sponsored by Mission AOC I, LLC.
Friday 13
Cine Club @ SF Art Institute (800 Chestnut Street)
Charles Chaplin’s CITY LIGHTS (1931, USA)
This film is generously sponsored by Judy Curtis and Kent Sokoloff.
Chaplin’s loveable Little Tramp falls in love with a blind girl; a simple enough story but in the hands of a great comedian like Chaplin it rises to become one of the greatest films of all time, full of chaos and laughter. Though made after sound films became common, this silent film won the hearts of audiences worldwide.
Why we show this film:
Does anyone need an introduction to Charlie Chaplin, the creator of and star of any number of silent comedies? He began in English vaudeville, came to America and got his start in Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops slap-stick capers. He quickly rose to the top of the heap by writing, starring in and directing his own films. His brilliance was in mime, invention and physical action. When sound entered the film landscape, he rebelled. He produced two silent films, Modern Times and City Lights using “sounds” and music (he was also a composer who wrote his own music) but no dialogue. They are among his finest.
About the director:
Chaplin grew up poor on the streets of London, but by his mid twenties his “Little Tramp” had made him one of the most famous and wealthiest actors in the world. He founded United Artists Studio with Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Later in life Chaplin married Oona, the daughter of Nobel playwright Eugene O’Neil. Chaplin was socialist in his politics and very anti-war, for which he was hounded from the United States. He and his (much younger) wife escaped to a castle in Switzerland and produced eight children, many who become actors, directors, writers and painters.
Saturday 21
Art Saturday @ Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
11 am Meet at Yerba Buena Gardens outside YBCA
11:15 Tour the new show The Body Electric.
1 pm We’ll treat you to lunch in or near Yerba Buena Gardens
Art Saturday lunches are generously sponsored by Mission AOC I, LLC.