This past weekend marked the 20th anniversary of the Sacramento International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (SIGLFF) at the Crest Theatre. The festival ran selected film series each evening from Thursday to Saturday. Founder Alan Cole started the project in 1992 as a student-run film festival that received support from Sacramento State University, Gay and Lesbian Alliance students with grant funding from Associated Students Inc. , which is a official governing body which operates the sponsorship of programs and services to CSUS students. A bevy of sponsors and volunteers support the board of directors, programming and gala committees to prepare and organize the annual festival that takes p

Programming a film festival is an odd and varied process. Some events go out and pro-actively seek the best films that they can find, in an extensive search process – and we see this approach in such local great events as the Sacramento Jewish, French, Japanese, and Gay and Lesbian Film Fests. Other events are submission-based: A call for films is distributed, and filmmakers from a given area submit their works in the hopes of making it to the top of the pile. This latter approach, perhaps best exemplified on a grand scale by the Sundance Film Festival, is also used (on a more modest level) by the Sacramento Film & Music Festival and that given area is the entire world. This year, films

The Sacramento French Film Festival will celebrate its 10th year in June 2011 and has just unveiled its exhilarating film selection and its inspired and original poster created, as were the nine previous SFFF posters, by talented Sacramento photographer Kent Lacin. See the complete poster collection here. To be held June 17-26, 2011 at the Crest Theatre in Downtown Sacramento, the 10th Sacramento French Film Festival will present nine new premieres, two Saturday Midnight Movies, three classics, and one Short Film Program. This year the SFFF is also introducing a new category, entitled "The One That Almost Got Away" and aimed to highlight recent films that the SFFF team wished to show in p

“Cast & Crew Call” from ACCESS SACRAMENTO 2011 “A Place Called Sacramento” Film Project Wednesday May 18 from 6 – 9 PM “Make a Movie This Summer” -- All Are Invited For the Twelfth year, Access Sacramento launches “A Place Called Sacramento” (PCS), a scriptwriting and short film production project for local writers and producers. PCS challenges local scriptwriters to write ten-minute scripts about the people, places, and events that make our community such a unique place to live (details and past films on-line at www.AccessSacramento.org). Script evaluation and judging have been completed. Dozens of scripts have been reviewed by local professionals and ten have been selected for producti

2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the passing of French icon Serge Gainsbourg, who died of a heart attack on March 2, 1991. Born in 1928, Gainsbourg would have turned 82 this year. To honor his memory, the Sacramento French Film Festival, Record Club and The Verge Center for the Arts are hosting a tribute party. It all starts at 8pm on Saturday April 2nd at the Verge Gallery and will feature music videos, film clips, live tribute bands and music by DJ’s Christophe and Roger. Twenty years after his death Serge Gainsbourg is still considered one of the world's most influential popular musicians. If you are not already familiar with his music, it’s not too late to get to know him. He is bes

For the Sacramento French Film Festival, 2011 is a milestone year: one of the most acclaimed film festivals in town will celebrate its 10th year. This special anniversary will be held at the Crest Theatre on June 17-26 but the team of the SFFF has planned other events to make 2011 the year of French cinema in Sacramento and it all starts this month with a prestigious and one-of-a-kind “Cinema-Concert”, featuring a silent comedy with live orchestra. On January 29th and 30th, The SFFF will bring to Sacramento the North-American Premiere of Un Chapeau de Paille d'Italie (An Italian Straw Hat), directed by renowned French filmmaker René Clair, with a new musical score. For this first-time eve

Access Sacramento has been challenging script writers to show what Sacramento is about in 10-minute films for more than a decade. On Oct. 3 the organization will be holding their 11th annual film festival, “A Place Called Sacramento” at the Crest Theatre. Access Sacramento is a nonprofit public-service organization in Sacramento. “Our mission is to give voice and help all Sacramento County residents to tell their story by using state-of-the art technology,” said Ron Cooper, Access Sacramento executive director. Of the 45 films submitted, a panel of judges chose the 10 that best represented Sacramento. The film festival will present nine of the original films. Access Sacramento lost con

 The Sacramento Japanese Film Festival closed its run of Japanese cinema Sunday with Tetsuya Nakashima’s “Memories of Matsuko,” a brilliant and terrible film that told the life story of a woman named Matsuko, played by Miki Nakatani, destined for sadness and exile. The film acted as a sort of melting pot of genres, the cinematography being reminiscent of Japanese big-budget cinema and also a touch of Baz Lurhmann thrown in for color and majesty. “Memories” opens with a young man named Sho, played by Eita, talking about the nature of life and the struggles and dreams of individuals. Spasmodic words flash across the screen throughout the movie, eerily stamping key words like ‘dream,’ ‘love

With family and friends in attendance, 40 aspiring high school filmmakers debuted their documentary shorts at the second annual Documentary Foundation Film Festival Sunday. The Sacramento student filmmakers covered a multitude of issues including racism in high school, legalization of marijuana, pink-slipped teachers and prisoner work programs in Folsom Prison. The program is taught by Sacramento native documentary filmmakers Keith Ochwat and Christopher Rufo and sponsored by KVIE. The duo created the Documentary Foundation student program as a means to inspire future generations of documentary filmmakers. "There are so many issues that affect peoples' lives," Ochwat said. He spoke of th

This fall the Crocker Art Museum will host a daylong festival of contemporary films by female directors exploring the roles of Japanese and Japanese American women. Held to coincide with the Crocker’s exhibit of contemporary ceramics by Japanese women, Soaring Voices, the festival will include four film screenings at the Guild Theater, located at 2828 35th Street, on Saturday, October 17. Local filmmakers, artists and scholars will introduce and offer insight on each film. “Soaring Voices tells the story of Japanese women breaking into the male-only ceramic world, and these films expand on that story by looking at the position of women in Japanese society as a whole,” commented Christian

There is no place like home, and that is exactly what 12 local filmmakers will prove at the 10th annual "A Place Called Sacramento" film festival hosted by Access Sacramento. PCS challenges local filmmakers to write a 10-minute script about the people, places and events that define our community. "The idea of telling a story and making a movie is, in some ways, the great American novel," said Ron Cooper, executive director of Access Sacramento. "For many, making a film is a lifelong ambition. They just need an outlet to succeed." And that outlet is being provided by Access Sacramento. Each year, Sacramentans have a unique opportunity to submit their original work to Access Sacramento, a

The ninth annual TRASH FILM ORGY series is halfway done, with three weeks remaining in this year's blood-soaked rock & roll monster extravaganza! If you haven't had a chance to visit this year's TFO, you already missed FLASH GORDON, SATAN'S CHEERLEADERS and CHOPPING MALL...but it's not over yet! This week's offering is the original theatrical version of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER! If you haven't been to the Trash Film Orgy before, it is more than just a movie--it is a whole experience! The "Trash Action Sideshow" features fun activities in the lobby, the "Retro-Trash Lounge" features entertaining artifacts from RETROCRUSH.COM, and pre-show and intermission on-stage performances and contests

This weekend a little piece of the huge Japanese culture will be brought to Sacramento during the 5th Annual Japanese Movies at the Crest film festival. The two-day festival, first started in 2005, will screen one film on Friday, May 15 and four others on Saturday, May 16. The event is being sponsored by the Sacramento Japanese United Methodist Church (SJUMC) and will be featuring a variety of films, spanning not only the decades but the genres as well, from an award-winning anime film to a PBS World War II documentary. "[The festival] started because Japanese film is an international influence in cinema and the best of current Japanese films are not screened in Sacramento, " said Barbar

With only one film down, and 120 to go, the Sacramento International Film Festival is still going strong until April 5 at a staggering five different locations. Whether it is exposing local filmmakers to the world, or exposing filmmakers from around the world to locals, the Sacramento International Film Festival has something for everyone. "I'd have to say both are important. It's good to have Sacramentans see different cultures and ways of living. Sacramento has been known as 'Cow Town,' so it's also a plus to expose our filmmakers to the world," said Administrative Director Patricia Collins. Collins, a jane-of-all-trades for the festival for the last three years, handles everything fr

This week is filled with laughter, song and dance! Not to mention a handful of highly successful people to spend your time with. Whether you're looking to get out and be active or just sit back and enjoy the show, this week in Sacramento there is an event that is likely to peak your interest. Depending on your interests, you may not even have to bring your wallet to do something different! Week 12: March 24-30 Tuesday: 4th Tuesday Films Every fourth Tuesday of the month a film is featured which addresses peace, justice, and sustainability in the world or how it can be threatened. This weeks feature film is White Light, Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where filmmak

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 and the local filmmakers involved. The living dead recently took over Sacramento’s Movies on a Big Screen building and local filmmakers just happened to be there to capture the nightmare.The result? A film entitled “Dead Exit.”   About Dead Exit: The reanimated infestation has reached a crisis point, overwhelming both local law enforcement and federal agencies. Designated evacuation and quarantine sites, known as "green zones," were developed to pro

Sacramento's premier venue for film festivals did it again, as more than a thousand people showed up at The Crest Theatre to attend the two-day Jewish Film Festival. The 12th annual Spring festival held unique, humorous and powerful films from around the world that focus on the Jewish experience. This year's festival, Saturday Feb. 7 and Sunday Feb. 8, was once again run by festival cofounders Margi Park-Landau, volunteer coordinator and Sid Heberger, Crest Theater manager. The Sacramento Friends of the Jewish Film Festival, a 60-member group, supported the festival, helped to "bring things that we might not be able to have just on ticket sales alone," Heberger said. Saturday night at 7