G. Allen Johnson April 23, 2021Updated: April 23, 2021, 11:25 am
SFFilm Executive Director Anne Lai (left) and Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks at Fort Mason Flix, where the festival could continue drive-in screenings. Photo: Pamela Gentile, SFFilm
Organizers of the San Francisco International Film Festival are excited at the prospect of being able to once again pack the Castro Theatre and other local venues for its 2022 festival. But after this month’s successful online and drive-in events, they realize that what started as a pandemic stopgap might become a permanent feature of SFFilm.
“We are going to continue to look at how we can enhance that model of a hybrid of both being virtual and being in person,” said Jessie Fairbanks, SFFilm’s new director of programming. “My dream is that we are able to offer virtual presentations. It allows for greater accessibility and inclusivity at the festival.
G. Allen Johnson April 2, 2021
John Boyega stars in “Naked Singularity,” which will make its world premiere as the opening night film of the 2021 San Francisco International Film Festival on April 9. Photo: SFFilm
Programming a film festival in 2021 has an inherent difficulty: Because of the coronavirus pandemic, filmmakers toiling away in 2020 were challenged like never before.
Worries about budget and resources are a constant in independent filmmaking; adding COVID-19 protocols to the mix affected everything from where to film to whom you hire for your crew and whom you cast.
So it’s quite the first San Francisco International Film Festival for programmer Jessie Fairbanks, who took over for longtime programmer Rachel Rosen this year. To her surprise, she found the quality of work she had to choose from to be inspiring.
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