As the Director of the School of Cinema I spend a significant amount of my time answering emails, many of which spin some kind of tale of woe. Recently though, I received an email from one of our current students, DeVonte Sanchez. To my profound pleasure Sanchez wrote extolling the value of his Studies courses and how they have informed his filmmaking practice. He specifically cited Miyo Inoue (Lecturer), Professor Steve Choe, and two of our GTAs Ben Lazar and Max Oginz. Sanchez cited Inoue’s CINE340 Critical Studies course, and noted that the selection of films screened “made the weekly screenings/discussions juicy, sexy, loud, and multifaceted. You made it impossible to leave our class without some kind of strong reaction. A Peter Greenaway film will do that to a person.” Sanchez added that the Studies curriculum has encouraged him “to better appreciate its vital place in an independent filmmaker's toolbox.” Sanchez even appreciated the theory that was introduced in the course—from Eisenstein to Mulvey. Sanchez also appreciated that CINE340 included a discussion of figures that are often overlooked because of their perceived lack of cultural cache—figures like Roger Corman demonstrate that the “exploitation genre … can be a great training ground for novice directors,” and to appreciate the place of camp in cinematic history. “Folks joke about the lack of funding,” Sanchez recounts, “but I think it'd be hard to argue we don't make use of the resources we do have. So yeah, we'd all like more class offerings, but the content, the instructors, the gear, and overall constructive atmosphere within the FA Building is...well, worth the media hype.” Sanchez’s comments confirm that our enterprise to teach theory and practice is working. And it’s not as if these two things are separate things, but rather that they inform one another. So, I just wanted to take a moment and to commend our teaching staff—our Faculty, Lecturers, and graduate assistants—for doing such an amazing job. Sanchez was absolutely right—we accomplish so much despite our limited resources. Thank you, thank you, thank you all for contributing to the School’s mission.
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Aaron Kerner
Director, School of Cinema
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Undergraduate Advising Coordinator News
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Dear Graduating Seniors,
As you probably know, the university uses your Degree Progress Report as the official audit for graduation. In many cases, advisors are finding that the DPR needs to be updated to avoid a graduation denial. It’s very important at this stage that you double check your DPR and make sure each requirement is marked with a green circle (completed) or yellow diamond (in-progress). If you find any red squares on your records, please consult with an advisor right away:
* For General Education questions, visit: https://advisinglca.sfsu.edu/
* For Cinema major questions, visit: https://cinema.sfsu.edu/advising
We look forward to celebrating with you in May!
Scott Boswell
Undergraduate Advising Coordinator
Schedule an Appointment
Pronouns: he/him
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PROF. WEIMIN ZHANG AND MFA STUDENTS FEATURED IN LATEST ISSUE OF AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHY MAGAZINE AND ON THE ASC WEBSITE
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During the Los Angeles field trip led by Prof. Weimin Zhang last Fall 2022, our MFA students visited the American Cinematography Society, and had an insightful panel discussion with the ASC cinematographers. Our group picture and news report were published in the latest issue of American Cinematography magazine (attached) and the ASC website.
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APPLY TO THE CROSS-DISCIPLINARY ANIMATION MINOR
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PROF. EMERITUS STEVEN KOVACS PUBLISHES NEW ARTICLE AND HAS LATEST DOCUMENTARY SHOWCASED AT LEGACY FILM FESTIVAL ON AGING
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Prof. Emeritus Steven Kovacs has just published an article on Billy Wilder's screen adaptations "Hungarian Plays Into American Movies: Billy Wilder's Five Graves to Cairo and One, Two, Three" in Bright Lights Film Journal. His latest documentary High as a Kite, made with the collaboration of a number of alumni of the School of Cinema, was featured in the Legacy Film Festival on Aging, January 6-15, 2023.
Read the article here.
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PROFESSOR McBRIDE AND ERNST LUBITSCH
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Professor Joseph McBride, whose books include the 2018 critical study How Did Lubitsch Do It? (Columbia University Press), recorded the audio commentary for a rare 1916 German silent film written and directed by Ernst Lubitsch, When I Was Dead. Lubitsch (shown above) also stars in this black comedy about a man who pretends to be dead as part of a scheme to free himself and his wife from his domineering mother-in-law. Kino Lorber is releasing When I Was Dead on Blu-ray along with another Lubitsch comedy, The Wildcat, on March 14.
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PROFESSOR BERNARDI LAUNCHES THE VETERAN DOCUMENTARY CORPS STREAMING CHANNEL
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Professor Bernardi has launched the Veteran Documentary Corps streaming channel. The channel features over 100 films on veterans and the military, from WWI to PTSD to the fight to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Many of the films were directed, shot and edited by Cinema alumni, including Andrés Gallegos, Jesse Sutterley, Eliciana Nascimento, Sylvia Turchin, Hannah Anderson, Carolina Gratianne, Robert Barbarino, Alexander Zane Irwin, Jesse Sutterley, Daniel Chein, Diana Sanchez, and Molly Stuart, among many others. The VDC channel is distributed by Bernardi’s film collective, El Dorado Films: http://www.eldoradofilms.com/
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PROFESSOR JULIAN HOXTER IS HIRED TO WRITE NEW DRAFT OF GOLDEN GATE MARKET AND WINS TWO AWARDS IN SCREENWRITING COMPETITIONS
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Professor Julian Hoxter, the Screenwriting Coordinator for the School of Cinema, was recently hired to write a new draft of Golden Gate Market, an independent character comedy drama about gentrification and community in Brooklyn that is in development for indie NY producers John Cortese and Morris Levy. In addition, his most recent spec feature screenplay, the science fiction comedy Rude Mechanicals, just won two awards in screenwriting competitions. Those successes bring the total number of competitions his feature and pilot scripts have won in the last year to ten.
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DR. ARTEL GREAT SERVES AS THE INAUGURAL CULTURAL CRITIC-IN-RESIDENCE AT THE MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA (MoAD)
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The Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) established a new Cultural Critic-in-Residence position, the first of its kind for a contemporary art museum, and appointed acclaimed San Francisco filmmaker, author, and scholar Dr. Artel Great to serve as its first, which started in January 2023.
Dr. Great previously worked with MoAD in this capacity, organizing a fascinating virtual lecture series in early 2022 entitled Black Cinema and Social Change. His two-year residency began with a new four-part, virtual series on Wednesdays, January 18-February 8, 2023, entitled SOUL CINEMA: 1970s Black Film and Culture that will explore the highly contested, compelling, influential, and often misunderstood expansion of Black cinema during the 1970s.
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TWO SFSU ALUMNI RECEIVE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2023 CEREMONY
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Congratulations to the two SFSU alumni for their Academy Award nominations!
Christopher Boyes (B.A., ’85), Sound, Avatar: The Way of Water
Jay Rosenblatt (M.A., ’88), Documentary Short Film, How Do You Measure A Year?
Check the 2023 nominations here.
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CHINATOWN RISING FILM SCREENING & ALUMNI TALK
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Conversation with Director Harry Chuck (MA in Cinema '81)
Tuesday, February 21st
10:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Coppola Theatre (FA 101)
https://www.chinatownrising.com
Against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-1960s, a young San Francisco Chinatown resident armed with a 16mm camera and leftover film scraps from a local TV station, turned his lens onto his community. Totaling more than 20,000 feet of film (10 hours), Harry Chuck's exquisite unreleased footage has captured a divided community's struggles for self-determination. Chinatown Rising is a documentary film about the Asian American Movement from the perspective of the young residents on the front lines of their historic neighborhood in transition. Through publicly challenging the conservative views of their elders, their demonstrations and protests of the 1960s-1980s rattled the once quiet streets during the community’s shift in power.
The 75 minute film screening will be followed by a conversation with Director Harry Chuck (MA in Cinema '81) and Professor Grace Yoo, moderated by Asst. Professor Mayuran Tiruchelvam.
Sponsored by the Marcus Endowed Chair in Social Justice Filmmaking and ASPIRE.
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PROF. EMERITUS STEVEN KOVACS TO PROGRAM A SERIES OF SCREENINGS - ROMANIAN FILM FESTIVAL
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Although he retired in 2021, Professor Emeritus Steven Kovacs continues to bring quality programming to the School of Cinema. This spring he will be hosting a Romanian Film Festival with Dr. Florentina Mocanu, M.A. in Theater, SFSU. The festival will take place April 21-22 in Coppola Theatre, showcasing some of the outstanding films of the last few years from Romania.
All screenings are FREE. Students, faculty, members of the university and the general public are all invited.
FRIDAY, April 21, 2023 5:00PM to 9:30PM
5pm to 7 PM
Poppy Field director Eugen Jebeleanu
A young police officer, Cristi, tries to find the balance between two opposing parts of his identity: that of a man working in a macho hierarchical environment and that of a closeted gay person who tries to keep his personal life a secret.
7-8 PM Opening Reception
8pm to 9:30
Alone at my own wedding, director Marta Bergman
Insolent, spontaneous, funny. Pamela, a young Roma, is different from other girls in her community. A single mother, she lives with her grandmother and her little girl in a small hut where the three of them share a bed. How can she reconcile the needs of her two-year old daughter and her dream of freedom? Pamela embarks on a journey into the unknown, breaking away from the traditions that suffocate her. "Lapin, pizza, amour". All she has are three words in French and the hope that marriage will change her and her daughter's destiny.
SATURDAY, April 22, 2023 2:00PM to 9:30PM
2pm to 4pm
Men of Deeds,director Paul Negoescu
Ilie (late 30s) enjoys the easy life of a village policeman. His passivity during a series of violent events soon turns him into an accomplice to murder. Tension accumulates in the village, forcing Ilie to make a final decision.
4:15pm to 6pm
Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, director Radu Jude
Emi, a school teacher, finds her career and reputation under threat after a personal sex tape is leaked on the Internet. Forced to meet the parents demanding her dismissal, Emi refuses to surrender to their pressure.
6pm-7pm DINNER
7pm-9:30pm
R.M.N., director Cristian Mungiu
Nominee for Palm d'Or at Cannes in 2022, this film is a non-judgmental analysis of the driving forces of human behavior when confronted with the unknown.
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SECRETS OF THE SURFACE
THURSDAY, May 4 at 3:30
On the afternoon of May 4, beginning at 3:30, in Coppola Theater, Professor Kovacs will host a screening of the documentary SECRETS OF THE SURFACE, about the life and scientific contributions of Maryam Mirzakhani, the first and only woman to be honored by the Fields Medal, the most prestigious award for mathematicians under 40. The screening will be followed by a discussion with SF State Cinema alumnus and director George Csicsery who traveled to Iran to shoot the film, Mitra Ara, Professor in Persian Studies, and Emily Clader, Professor of Mathematics.
All screenings are FREE. Students, faculty, members of the university and the general public are all invited.
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FEMINIST FILMMAKER FELLOWSHIP PITCH SESSION
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Attention Filmmakers!
Do you have a script that you want to bring to life? Feminist Filmmaker Fellowship will be holding a Pitch Session at their meeting Monday, February 20th from 4:30-5:30pm in T-160 for the chance to have their short film chosen by the board members of the organization to shoot this semester! Only one film will be chosen.
For those that cannot make it to the in-person pitch session on 2/20 (although highly recommended), the student organization will also be accepting online submissions, DUE 2/20 at 11:59pm. You can email your script and production packet to Feminist Filmmaker Fellowship at f3sfsu@gmail.com. The chosen film will be announced at the following meeting February 27th at 4:30pm in room T-160.
Requirements for participation include that your film be:
- 8-10 mins max (1 min per page)
- Fiction or nonfiction
- A woman or non-binary centered story
- Your script must be submitted along with a synopsis of the film
- Production packet should include vision boards, character list, estimated budget, and any other supplemental materials that assist in presenting your project.
- Email your materials to f3sfsu@gmail.com by 2/20 at 11:59pm
- Pitch Session: include materials above as well as a visual presentation (pp, slide, prezi, etc.)
If you have any questions, email Feminist Filmmaker Fellowship at f3sfsu@gmail.com.
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JOIN QUEER CINEMA COALITION
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Queer Cinema Coalition ensures a safe and creative space for LGBTQ+ filmmakers on campus to learn how to make our mark in an industry that doesn’t prioritize our voices. Through guest speakers, screenings/discussions, and community organizing, we build life-long connections to help us survive and thrive as filmmakers at SFSU and beyond.
Follow us on Instagram @queercinemacoalition.
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JOIN THE ANIMATION SOCIETY
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The Animation Society strives to educate and provide an inclusive space for creative SFSU students to learn about and discover a love for animation.
Email: animationsocietyatsfsuofficial@gmail.com
Website: https://animationsociety.wixsite.com/animationsocietysf
Instagram: @animationsocietysfsu
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School of Cinema Events on Vimeo
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To the School of Cinema,
The School of Cinema has hosted webinars on a myriad of subjects related to our diverse curriculum. All of these webinars are available for viewing on our Vimeo website at the Showcase:
SFSU Cinema School Events
https://vimeo.com/showcase/7706077
Password: SFSUCinemaEvents
There is something for everyone and we hope you will avail yourselves to these recordings in the coming months.
Drew Luis
SFSU School of Cinema, Tech
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SCHOOL OF CINEMA TOUR WITH CINEMA TECHNICAL STAFF
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Dear Prospective Students:
The School of Cinema offers in-person tours of our facilities. Please make an appointment by contacting the Cinema Office at cinema@sfsu.edu.
Drew Lewis: SFSU School of Cinema, Tech
Pablo Riquelme: Production Coordinator
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PART-TIME JOB FAIR AT SFSU
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PAID SUMMER INTERNSHIP AT FAMSF // ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
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The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) Summer Internship program is designed to be an introductory professional experience, typically for students, emerging professionals, and those just entering the workforce, who are interested in a career in museums or the arts and who are passionate about equity and inclusion. Interns will gain knowledge of museum careers and culture, receive mentorship from full-time staff, hands-on project experience and feedback, and join a network of emerging museum professionals.
Here are some key details about this internship:
- Program Dates: Tuesday, June 20 - Friday, August 11, 2023
- Time & Pay: 35 hours a week at $18.75/hr
- Participating Departments (8): Archives, Curatorial, Digital Media Production, Exhibition Design, Graphic Design, Interpretation, Philanthropy, and Public Programs.
- Program Format; On-site, working from the museums.
- Application Deadline: Sunday, February 26, 2023
- Application Link: https://famsf.snaphire.com/jobdetails?ajid=PbxV7
Lastly, FAMSF is deeply committed to supporting the needs of our immediate community. In line with this objective, our summer internships are designed for those who live or go to school in the nine Bay Area counties.
More information can be found on the application here, again the deadline is Sunday, February 26, 2023. If you have any further questions, please contact humanresources@famsf.org.
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February 17
Last Day to Drop/Withdraw Classes without a W Grade
February 20
Feminist Filmmaking Fellowship Film Pitch
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
T - 160 or Email
February 21
Chinatown Rising Film Screening and Alumni Talk
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Coppola Theatre (FA 101)
February 23
Part-Time Job Fair
12:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Cesar Chaves Center, Jack Adams Hall, SFSU
February 26
FAMSF Summer Internship Application Due
Apply Here
April 21
Day 1 - Romanian Film Festival
5:00 PM - 9:30 PM
- Poppy Field Screening
- Opening Reception
- Alone at my own wedding Screening
Coppola Theatre (FA 101)
April 22
Day 2 - Romanian Film Festival
2:00 PM - 9:30 PM
- Men of Deeds Screening
- Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn Screening
- Dinner
- R.M.N. Screening
Coppola Theatre (FA 101)
May 4
Secrets of the Surface Screening
3:30 PM
Coppola Theatre (FA 101)
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