Sam Green to be awarded SF IndieFest’s Philo T Farnsworth Award

SF IndieFest is pleased to announce that Sam Green is this year’s recipient of the new Philo T Farnsworth Award for Innovative Filmmaking.

Sam Green received his Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied documentary with acclaimed filmmaker Marlon Riggs.

His most recent projects are “live documentaries” including  A Thousand Thoughts (2018) in collaboration with the Kronos Quartet, The Measure of All Things (2014), and The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller (2012), which premiered at the Museum of Modern Art as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. All three works are performed live, with Green narrating and musicians performing the soundtrack. A Thousand Thoughts will tour throughout 2018-19.

Green’s 2004 feature-length film, the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Weather Underground, tells the story of a group of radical young women and men who tried to violently overthrow the United States government during the late 1960s and 70s. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, was broadcast on PBS, included in the Whitney Biennial, and has screened widely around the world.

Green’s previous long documentary, The Rainbow Man/John 3:16, follows the bizarre rise and fall of a man who became famous during the 1970s by appearing at thousands of televised sporting events wearing a rainbow wig. The film premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival and has screened at festivals worldwide. “More than an exploration of life, The Rainbow Man is a parable about alienation, the media, and the meaninglessness that often defines American life.” – Trevor Groth, Sundance Film Festival

Green’s short documentaries include Julius Caesar was Buried in a Pet Cemetery, lot 63, grave c, Pie Fight ’69 (directed with Christian Bruno), N-Judah 5:30, and The Fabulous Stains: Behind the Movie (directed with Sarah Jacobson).

Sam will receive the award and present a collection of his short documentaries on Friday November 9 at the inaugural SAN FRANCISCO INDEPENDENT SHORT FILM FESTIVAL, taking place at Alamo Drafthouse New Mission.

Festival passes are available HERE. Tickets to individual programs will be available November 1.

A short film by Electric Park Films about Sam Green: