Fall is film festival season and here are only about half your options.
FilmOut San Diego | The NAT and MOPA
FilmOut celebrates its 24th year as San Diego's LGBTQ+ film festival. And this year, its horror fan and festival programmer Michael McQuiggan was presented with an irresistible opportunity.
"Although all genres are represented, we are excited that on Friday the 13th, we will be screening three genre features paired with three genre short films," McQuiggan said. "In addition, our FilmOut monthly for October will be a double feature of Paul Morrissey's films, 'Flesh for Frankenstein' in 3D and 'Blood for Dracula,' both promoted by Andy Warhol."
Also this year, Film Geeks San Diego and I will be co-presenting a Friday the 13th horror program. We've chosen "There's a Zombie Outside" from Troma alum Michael Varrati, and the horror shorts "Bath Bomb" and "Last Night."
The festival will also highlight local films and filmmakers: "Emerald City" (opening night short), and "Riley" will be presented with "BrainHeart" (closing night feature and short). FilmOut also partners with other local festivals. San Diego Latino Film Festival will co-present "Demons at Dawn," while San Diego Asian Film Festival partners with "All Shall Be Well." The festival will also highlight the documentaries "Desire Lines," "A House Is Not A Disco," and "Bulletproof: A Lesbian's Guide to Surviving the Plot."
Details: FilmOut San Diego runs Sept. 12-15 in Balboa Park. Opening night is at the San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, with all other screenings taking place at the Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado. All-access pass $150.00, individual tickets $15.00-$50.00.
San Diego Italian Film Festival | MOPA and Digital Gym Cinema
Once again the San Diego Italian Film Festival shares not just Italian films but an Italian perspective.
Antonio Iannotta, the festival's passionate artistic director, said, “The San Diego Italian Film Festival presents it's 18th annual feStivale, a showcase of the best new Italian cinema with a series of premieres varying from dramas and comedies to documentaries. (The) theme of this year’s festival is Core, a play on words between the English meaning, and the Southern Italian word for Heart. We will be screening feature movies and shorts addressing critical themes relevant to our San Diego audiences related to the essence of being humans: identity, immigration, youth, workplace, inclusivity, gender, race, religion and more.”
Two feature titles I highly recommend are both from 2023: "Io Capitano," Matteo Garrone's epic tale about two Senegalese cousins traveling from West Africa to Italy, and "La Chimera," Alice Rohrwacher's sly film about a group of characters chasing unattainable dreams. "La Chimera" also boasts a wonderful performance by Isabella Rossellini. But any title picked by Iannotta will deliver something of value, plus there are often lively conversations after the films to enhance your experience.
The festival kicks off on Oct. 1 with Ristretto Shorts Night at Digital Gym Cinema. I had the honor and joy of presiding over the jury that picked this year's winners. Although I cannot reveal the winners yet, I can share that it was a highly competitive field and they are guaranteed to move you.
The festival also has a virtual component that offers a selection of the short films online. The festival wraps on Oct. 12 with its feSta where the 2024 Ristretto Award winners will be announced and there will be live music, delectable Italian cuisine and wine.
Details: San Diego Italian Film Festival runs Oct. 1-12 at Digital Gym Cinema, 1100 Market St., San Diego, and Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. Festival passes $20.00-$225.00. Individual tickets $16.00.
San Diego Asian Film Festival | Edwards Mira Mesa, MOPA and TheNAT
The San Diego Asian Film Festival (SDAFF) is not until Nov. so artistic director Brian Hu is still fine tuning the programming. But check out the event Chew the Scene on Oct. 8 when SDAFF will be announcing the full festival lineup at UC San Diego Park & Market.
This year marks the 25th edition of the film festival and in celebration all films will be free for youth. It also marks the 20th anniversary of PacArts' high school documentary program Reel Voices, that is helping create the next generation of filmmakers.
I programmed the international features at the inaugural SDAFF because I was (and still am) obsessed with Asian cinema and was thrilled to welcome an Asian film festival to San Diego. But SDAFF kicked its programming to a new level by hiring Hu. I trust Hu to program an eclectic and spellbinding line up of films, and am giddy with anticipation to know that he will once again present Mystery Kung Fu Theater where he surprises audiences with crazy Asian action films from the past. Basically, I would attend the festival even if every film were a mystery, I trust Hu that much.
San Diego is fortunate to have such diverse and impressive film festivals. But the jam-packed fall festival season can be deliciously exhausting so plan a movie vacation to consume the maximum amount of content.
Details: San Diego Asian Film Festival runs Nov. 7-16. San Diego Natural History Museum, 1788 El Prado, and Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, in Balboa Park; and Regal Edwards Mira Mesa, 10733 Westview Pkwy, San Diego. All-fest pass $195.00-$295.00; six-pack $60.00; individual tickets $9.00-$28.00.
San Diego Arab Film Festival Fall Showcase | MOPA
San Diego Asian Film Festival will be a co-presenter with the San Diego Arab Film Festival for British-Palestinian filmmaker Farah Nabulsi’s award-winning feature "The Teacher."
“We're excited to be able to screen Farah Nabulsi's debut feature film ‘The Teacher’ as our fall feature film presentation," said Larry Christian, president of KARAMA, a nonprofit organization that focuses on issues of the Arab and Islamic world. They put on the festival.
"We have been working to get this film since we first learned about it last year," Christian added. "Her short film ‘The Present’ was nominated for an Academy Award in 2021 and we've been anxious to see her first feature film, which was filmed entirely in the Occupied West Bank and examines the ways in which occupation and resistance shape and even dominate both the political and personal lives of the people caught up in it. Humanizing that experience is especially important now as the horror of the war in Gaza obscures the ongoing attacks and land seizures occurring in the rest of occupied Palestine. This really goes to one of the main reasons we started the Arab Film Festival here: cinema as an art form has a unique ability to capture and communicate the lived experiences, aspirations and humanity of people from varied and diverse cultures in an impactful way. We will be presenting more films from Palestine and other Arab countries when the 14th edition of our festival screens in April 2025. We're working on selecting those films now.”
"The Teacher" is inspired by true events and begins with the demolition of a Palestinian home by Israeli authorities, and the murder of a youth by an Israeli settler. A teacher, played by Palestinian actor Saleh Bakri, supports the resistance as he also tries to navigate mentoring the younger brother of the deceased boy and maintaining a relationship with a British human rights worker.
An Arabic dinner will be served before the film and will include musakhan (a traditional Palestinian dish of baked chicken with onions, olive oil and sumac served over bread) and mujadara (a traditional vegetarian dish of lentils and rice garnished with sautéed onions, served with salad). I can attest to the fact that the food has always been delicious at previous screenings, and that pairing food with film is a cultural experience to savor.
Details: San Diego Arab Film Festival Fall Showcase. Sept. 28, 2024. Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. $12.00-$15.00.
Joyce Forum Jewish Short Film Festival | Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center
The Joyce Forum Jewish Shorts Film Festival (JFJSFF) is a three-day film festival offering six programs of five to six films. This year the forum will showcase 34 short films from around the globe.
The festival is named in honor of Joyce Axelrod, the founding chair of the San Diego International Jewish Film Festival.
"She felt it was necessary to showcase the short films genre in its own festival," explained Ronni Udoff, chair of JFJSFF. "She is a short film producer herself and understands the impact of telling a story in an impactful, yet condensed way."
Udoff added, "The films this year include themes of immigration, Israel-Palestinian relations, the war with Gaza, disability, LGBTQ+, Holocaust, as well as family dramas and documentaries."
This years includes a number of animated films and even some AI-generated work as well as films from the United States, Israel, Australia, United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany, and Netherlands.
Writer/director Tom Shoval will be doing a talk back at the Joyce Forum for his short film "June Zero," which he wrote with Jake Paltrow. Shoval is currently an SDSU Fall visiting professor.
Details: 7th Annual Joyce Forum Jewish Short Film Festival runs Nov. 21-23, 2024. Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center Jacobs Family Campus in the David and Dorothea Garfield Theater, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. Passes $45.00-$90.00; individual tickets $20.00.
