The San Francisco Film Commission is pleased to announce that two graduates of the FilmHouse Residency program, a partnership shared by the San Francisco Film Commission and San Francisco Film Society, have been selected for the prestigious Sundance Film Festival 2011.
FilmHouse awards local filmmakers Residencies, granting free office space for six-month intervals. Projects at all levels of production, from writing through postproduction and marketing are awarded. Additionally, all mediums are eligible, from documentaries to animations and beyond. Parameters of the project remain fluid and adaptable to meet the needs of SF Film making community.
This year, two filmmakers from the inaugural class of Residents were selected for the Sundance Film Festival, 2011. The festival kicked off January 20th and continues through January 30th in Park City, Utah.
Tiffany Shlain, has been selected for two projects: “Short Film Yelp: With Apologies to Allen Ginsberg’s Howl” and in the US Documentary Competition: “Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death and Technology,” – linking “major issues of our time – the environment, consumption, population growth, technology, human rights, the global economy – while searching for (Shlain’s) place in the world…”
Additionally, Yoav Potash has been selected for the US Documentary Competition for his film “Crime After Crime” – a piece challenging traditional law and views towards domestic violence, and celebrating a California law allowing incarcerated domestic violence survivors to reopen their cases. “The spirit, fortitude and love, all three characters (featured in the film) marshal in the face of this wrenching marathon, is nothing short of miraculous as they battle a warped criminal – justice system and test weather it is beyond repair.”
“This important story of two Bay area attorneys, Nadia Costa and Joshua Safran, who volunteer selflessly and tirelessly incarcerated Debbie Peagler’s freedom, is being delivered to both SF audiences and the world, in part thanks to support from film organizations including The SF Film Commission’s and SF Film Society’s partnership to provide the Residency program, as well as Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC),” Potash said.
“San Francisco is proud to recognize our gifted pool of filmmakers at the Sundance Film Festival this year,” said Mayor Edwin Lee. “The vital social issues these artists fearlessly address and the assistance provided by the San Francisco Film Commission and the FilmHouse Residency program showcase our commitment to our homegrown talent.”
“I look forward to continuing both the Residency program and our integral partnership with the Film Society for years to come, as we strive to foster filmmakers towards success in their artistic endeavors,” said Film
Commission Executive Director, Susannah Greason Robbins.
Other SF related films of note premiering at Sundance 2011 include: “We Were Here” – examining the early years of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco during the 1980’s; “Miss Representation from former First Lady of SF, Jennifer Siebel Newsom” – a documentary which draws “back a curtain to let bright light stream in… and the glaring reality … (that) mainstream media objectifies women… and the way objectification gets internalized “; and “Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure” – set in the Lower Haight in 1987 exploring the complicated, divisive relationship between roommates, one a homophobe and the other gay man as experienced by their Midwestern transplant neighbors.