The Crocker Art Museum will host a screening of “Sickert vs. Sargent: Britain’s Masters of Modern Art,” on Thursday, Aug. 25, at 6 p.m. A documentary profiling Walter Sickert and John Singer Sargent, this film details the fierce competition that raged between the artists and the legendary work that was created as a result of the rivalry. The film is free with Museum admission. “Sickert vs. Sargent” was written and directed by renowned British art critic Waldemar Januszczak. The film takes viewers on a journey through the life and art of two of the most influential artists in Britain, highlighting inspirational locations, and featuring their working studios. “Sickert vs. Sargent” also feat

The Saturday lineup at the 12th annual Sacramento Film & Music Festival includes 28 films spread over 14 hours of programming, the Sacramento Bee Fashion Challenge results, and a live performance by alumni-musician Stephan Nance.  The films include a full length musical about a reluctant monster, 16 films from some of the best student filmmakers in the world, and several short films from Sacramento-based filmmakers.  And at 7pm, the Festival hosts "Hollywood to Dollywood" and filmmakers Gary and Larry Lane.  This is the fourth festival of 21 who currently have scheduled screenings of this highly sought after independent documentary and the brothers are in town for approximately 12 hours be

Just a week ago, the Sacramento Press reported on a local documentary about youth homelessness and on Thursday, "Beautiful Youth" screened for a packed house as part of the Sacramento Film & Music Festival SummerFEST.  The Festival contacted the filmmakers as a result of that article and, given only a week of lead time, the size of the audience was both noteworthy and a testament to the interest in the topic.  The film itself has a running time of 47 minutes and was followed by a Q&A session with filmmakers Jennifer Lystrup and Mackenzie Long which lasted equally long.  Even more remarkable, almost the entire audience stayed throughout the post-screening discussion and asked questions of b

Vincent Falk’s got eye issues, Freudian parent problems and a very interesting taste in suits. But how did these characteristics evolve into Falk’s passion for spinning atop Chicago bridges for passing tour boats below? “Vincent: A Life in Color,” is an award winning documentary by Jennifer Burns that intended to find out.  Falk is deemed legally blind and has had glaucoma since he was a child. He was abandoned at birth and lived in an orphanage until he was eight. Despite less than ideal circumstances, Falk refused to let his trials define him. In High School, Falk was part of the National Honor Society, the chess club, the debate team, and the diving team. He’s a college graduate, us

Robert Ebert said it was “one of the best documentaries of 2010,” and the film's been riddled with wreaths of festival awards ever since. “Vincent: A Life in Color,” is the story of a man who's legally blind, one that wears colorful suits and spends his days spinning atop Chicago bridges for passing tour boats below. Vincent Falk's been nicknamed “fashion man, river-ace, Vince, the suit guy and the Where’s Waldo of Chicago.” Whoever this guy actually is, the documentary intended to find out. The film follows Falk over the course of one boating season in order to, according to the film’s website, “unravel the mystery that surrounds him.” “Vincent: A Life in Color,” is showing this Sunda

After two long years of tilling, sowing and watering the fields, Documentary Foundation, a local film organization, will finally be able to reap the rewards of its labor, making its debut at the prestigious Silverdocs Film Festival in Washington, D.C., on June 19. Producer of the film and Managing Director for Documentary Foundation Keith Ochwat said he and Creative Director Christopher Rufo grew up in Sacramento.  When they got into film after college, they realized that the city had a lot to offer and they wanted to contribute to that as much as possible, especially with the next generation. As a result, the nonprofit Documentary Foundation was born in 2007.   Based in Midtown, its mis

The civil rights movement of the 1960s is often viewed as centralized in the South, but blacks in Sacramento faced similar challenges, and a KVIE documentary tells those stories. “It was just a really horrific time in Sacramento,” said Bryan Shadden, a producer at KVIE who worked on the film, “African Americans in California’s Heartland: The Civil Rights Era.” The documentary first aired four years ago, but is being shown again Feb. 17 to coincide with Black History Month. Shadden worked on a story about busing African-American students out of Oak Park after Stanford Junior High School burned in 1963. Students were bused to almost all-white schools in an effort to integrate the races.

The 12th annual Sacramento Film & Music Festival and first ever WinterFEST kicked off Saturday at the historic Crest Theatre. The festival runs through Martin Luther King Day on Monday, when winners of the audience choice awards will be announced. Although the festival is largely international in scope, with 31 films representing nine countries, the focus this winter has largely been on documentaries from Northern California, such as Saturday’s “Painting Bolinas”, Sunday's "My Brother Mike" and Monday’s documentary feature “Sowing the Seeds of Justice,” about Cruz Reynoso, California's first Chicano Supreme Court Justice and member of the UC Davis law faculty. “With the dates coinciding

A sunny day on the grassy playground, family gatherings around the table, an empty house, Our Lady of Guadalupe – these are just some of the vivid imagery captured by children of migrant agricultural workers temporarily living in Yolo County. Each of these photographs tells the untold story of migrant children – their fears, hopes and dreams as they migrate with their families from season to season, farm to farm. A Través de Mis Ojos (Through My Eyes), sponsored in part by The Latino Legislative, Caucus Foundation and Spanglish Arte, is a collection of 48 intimate photographs featured from Dec. 10 through Friday at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Sacramento (CCAS). Viewers of the exhi

Comedian Keith Lowell Jensen wanted to make a film about panhandling. So he did. “It’s very much a comedy,” Jensen said. “There is a lot of humor, but the panhandlers are never the butt of the joke.” The DVD release is on Nov. 4 at 8 p.m. at the Crest Theatre at 1013 K Street. Admission is $15 and a copy of the DVD will be included. “We’ve all heard the urban legend of the panhandler hopping in his nice car and making his way to a comfortable home after a day of begging on the freeway off-ramp,” said Jonathan Morken, producer at Apprehensive Films. Jensen decided to find out just how hard it really is to make money being a panhandler. He spent countless hours employing every imaginable

If you missed the last screening of The Next American Dream, you'll have another chance to see the film this weekend.  This documentary and dialogue-driver about revitalizing America's urban cores will be showing for free in front of the MARRS building on Saturday evening. When:  Saturday Oct. 2, 6:30-8.  Screening will begin at 7pm Where:  In front of MARRS, 1050 20th Street Cost:  Free Sacramento stands poised for a 21st century transformation.  Come and join the discussion about shaping our city's future!

Applause filled The Crest Theatre Thursday night when a scene from the documentary “The Next American Dream” displayed an enormous tractor claw demolishing a freeway overpass. The scene symbolized an end to urban sprawl, its destructive effects on nature and its seeming lack of forethought in urban planning. No one specific group, organization or political party took responsibility for the showing of the film. Instead, it was communicated to the audience that the film was being brought to the Crest by a group of people who call Sacramento home. Dustin Littrell, a local architect and designer, ambiguously revealed that the idea for showing the film in Sacramento began among “a group of ca

The Next American Dream Is Sacramento Ready?   We used to get dressed up to go “downtown.” It was an occasion. It was the place to be. It was the energy of every growing city. But times changed.   Suburbia was born. And we deserted downtown.   It’s time to rebuild our urban cores. Does Sacramento have the will to rebuild?   Please join us at the Crest Theatre for a screening of The Next American Dream, a documentary film about a downtown coming back to life.   Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010 Social Hour – 5 to 6 p.m. Screening – 6 to 7:00 p.m. After-Party – Social Nightclub (10th & K)   Please click on the link below to confirm your attendance! http://thenextamericandream.

    Disclaimer: the contributor of this and his wife run Movies on a Big Screen, Sacramento’s weekly screening series of documentaries, general independent film, classics and cult titles. The following is blatant self-promotion of a MOBS event . On Sunday, April 11, 2010, at 4:00 PM, Movies on a Big Screen will present Race to Nowhere, a feature length documentary examining pressures faced by children and teens in today’s achievement-obsessed culture. Director Vicki Abeles will be in attendance for a discussion and Q&A. The film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October, 2009 and has been screening around the country in theaters, cultural centers and schools. About the fi

Disclaimer: the contributor of this and his wife run Movies on a Big Screen, Sacramento's weekly screening series of documentaries, general independent film, classics and cult titles. The following is blatant self-promotion of a MOBS event. On Sunday, March 14, 2010, Movies on a Big Screen is teaming up with the Sacramento Historical Society to present, Meet Mary Pleasant. The filmmaker, Susheel Bibbs, will be in attendance to speak following the film. The film begins at 7:30 PM, and the screening will take place at The Guild Theater, which is located at 2828 35th St, Sacramento. Admission is $5.00. About Meet Mary Pleasant: A unique, historical, performance documentary, unfolds the sag

  Disclaimer: the contributor of this and his wife run Movies on a Big Screen, Sacramento’s weekly screening series of documentaries, general independent film, classics and cult titles. The following is blatant self-promotion of a MOBS event. On Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 7:30 PM, Movies on a Big Screen will be presenting the documentary, Independents: A Guide to the Creative Spirit and director Chris Brandt will be in attendance for a Q&A. Additionally, local comic book artists, along with local artist, Skinner (who’s short film will also be shown) are scheduled to be there. See the end of this "article" for the full line-up of who's currently scheduled. This will all take place at Th

Disclaimer: the contributor of this and his wife run Movies on a Big Screen (MOBS), Sacramento’s weekly screening series of documentaries, general independent film, classics and cult titles. The following is blatant self-promotion of MOBS events. Here's a look at the next six weeks at Movies on a Big Screen.  There's lots of stuff here, so dig through it all - then get out and see something!  We've even included some "special" Valentine's Day-themed programming!   January 24, 2010 7:30 pm MOBS at The Guild, 2828 35th St, Sacramento (corner of 35th & Broadway) Admission: $5.00 Trust Us, This is All Made Up Some foolishly believe that "improvising" is simply "making things up." To a de

Disclaimer: the contributor of this and his wife run Movies on a Big Screen, Sacramento’s weekly screening series of documentaries, general independent film, classics and cult titles. The following is blatant self-promotion of a MOBS event. On Sunday, September 20, 2009 at 7:00 PM, Movies on a Big Screen will be presenting the documentary, “Overdrawn,” and filmmaker Karney Hatch will be in attendance for a Q&A. For those who are unable to attend on Sunday, the film will also be presented on Friday, September 18, 2009 at 7 and 9:30 PM (although Karney Hatch will not be attending the Friday screenings). About the film: A feature-length documentary film exploring the predatory lending prac

Disclaimer: the contributor of this and his wife run Movies on a Big Screen, Sacramento's weekly screening series of documentaries, general independent film, classics and cult titles. The following is blatant self-promotion of a MOBS event in conjunction with Sacramento's CLUCK (Campaign to Legalize Urban Chicken Keeping). On Friday, August 7, 2009, at 7:00 PM and 9:30 PM and on Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 7:00 PM, Movies on a Big Screen, in association with CLUCK, will be presenting, "Mad City Chickens."  Filmmakers Tashai Lovington and Robert Lughai will be in attendance on Friday night only. Also on Friday night only - a raffle for a chicken coop! And since raising chickens in the city o

Celebrating its 10-year anniversary, the Sacramento Film and Music Festival opens its doors again Friday night at the Crest Theatre on 1013 K st. The 10-day event features films of all topics ranging from amateur to professional quality created by people from and outside the city of Sacramento. "It's not seen as a particular type of film festival, such as the gay and lesbian festival or the French festival," said Sid Heberger, manager of the Crest Theatre. "It encompasses all types of films and genres from horror to documentaries, to short films and features and competitions specifically for this festival." Founded in 2000 by current co-director Nate Schmel and now Los Angeles film edit