2014 IndieFest Awards and DocFest Announcements
SF IndieFest’s Sweet 16 Concludes With Another Stellar Year
Looks to the Future with 2 New SF DocFest Programmers
The 16th SF IndieFest came to a close last week after another fantastic year of showcasing the world’s best independent cinema at the Roxie and Brava Theater’s in San Francisco, and the New Parkway in Oakland. Attendance increased to over 11,000 festival attendees and audiences enjoyed award-winning films during the day, and parties at night.
Audience Award Winners & Woodcock Jury Prize Winners
After 2 weeks of films, SF IndieFest audiences have spoken, awarding the following films the Audience Award:
Narrative Feature: LETS RUIN IT WITH BABIES
Documentary Feature: A WILL FOR THE WOODS
Narrative Short: ANOTHER TIME, MAYBE
Documentary Short: MR GRILLO, THE THEREMINIST
Animation: VIRTUOUS VIRTUELL
SF IndieFest is also pleased to present the following films the Woodcock Jury Prizes chosen by a jury of pass holders.
Narrative Feature ($1000 prize): DOOMSDAYS
Documentary Feature ($1000 prize): A WILL FOR THE WOODS
Short Film ($500 prize): DULUTH IS HORRIBLE (San Francisco based filmmaker Vincent Gargiulo)
Save the Date! – 13th SF DocFest (June 5 to 19)
As SF IndieFest winds down, the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (SF DocFest) gears up for its 13th edition with the opening night film already confirmed, and two new programmers to curate the festival.
SF DocFest 2014 Opening Night Film ACTRESS and VIP Reception
The 13th SF DocFest will open on June 5th with Robert Greene’s new film ACTRESS, which follows Brandy Burre, an actress who gave up her role in HBO’s “The Wire” to start a family in upstate New York. After playing the role of wife and mother, Burre decided to re-enter the acting business. The film will play as part of a retrospective of Robert Greene’s earlier work. Prior to the opening night screening of ACTRESS, a VIP reception will be hosted at the Brava Theater and followed by a post-film opening night party with Robert Greene in attendance.
SF DocFest Non-Fiction Vanguard Award
As both a filmmaker and writer, Robert Greene, has quickly become both a champion and chronicler of the documentary renaissance that has taken place over the past decade. While he isn’t a household name (not yet), SF DocFest prides itself on recognizing those unconventional, creative risk-taking filmmakers that are redefining the nonfiction cinematic form and are someone to watch. Robert Greene is one of those filmmakers.
2014’s SF DocFest Non-Fiction Vanguard Award is a celebration of that attitude and Robert Greene’s films, which are often beautiful, expressionistic essays of ordinary people. His work in both filmmaking and writing is pushing boundaries and is redefining what people think documentary filmmaking is. This is the second time SF DocFest has given this award following the 2008 recipient Melody Gilbert.
In addition to premiering his new film, ACTRESS, the festival will present a retrospective of some of Robert Greene’s earlier films including KATI WITH AN I (2010) and FAKE IT SO REAL (2012).
Announcing New Curating Staff – Jennifer Morris and Chris Metzler
The festival is pleased to announce a new DocFest Director of Programming Jennifer Morris and a new Associate Programmer Chris Metzler. Jennifer Morris, currently a programmer and consultant for Film23, Jennifer Morris was previously the Festival Director and Director of Programming for Frameline, She also served as the director of the Frameline Completion Fund which provided funding-ranging from $20-$50k annually- for the completion of films that deal with issues of importance to LGBT communities with an emphasis on underrepresented communities. She has also been a DJ and promoter in the Bay Area (under the name DJ Junkyard) for over 20 years. Morris is originally from Southern California where she received her BA in Motion Pictures and Television from UCLA.
Chris Metzler graduated from USC with a degree in business and cinema; Chris Metzler’s film career has taken him from the depths of agency work, to coordinating post-production for movies. His filmmaking work has resulted in him criss-crossing the country with the aid of caffeinated beverages, all the while making his way in the Nashville country and Christian music video industries, before finally forsaking his soul to commercial LA rock n’ roll. These misadventures culminated in him winning a Billboard Magazine Music Video Award. He eventually fled to San Francisco to join the independent documentary film scene and start work on his feature length directorial debut – the offbeat environmental documentary, “Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea”, which was narrated by John Waters. With the success of that feature documentary Metzler went on to make, “Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone”, about the legendary rock-ska-funk band Fishbone. The film was narrated by actor Laurence Fishburne, premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival, screened at SXSW, and aired nationally on PBS. Metzler is now pursuing other sub-cultural documentary subjects, including: rogue economists, lucha libre wrestlers, swamp rat hunters, ganjapreneurs, and evangelical Christian surfers.
General Information about SF DocFest
More information will be available at www.sfindie.com in May. For more info, contact DocFest at (415) 820-3907 or info@sfindie.com.
