Closing night at the 2019 San Francisco Film Festival featured Q Ball, a powerful documentary about basketball with Kevin Durant as an executive producer. This was the premiere showing for the film. A Fox Sports Film release, Q Ball has multiple producers and executive producers. In this film director and...

A parable about America, political narratives, and the absence of free will.

Based on the book, "The Spy Who Tried to Stop a War" by Marcia and Thomas Mitchell, Official Secrets at the SFFILM Festival unfolds in the tradition of All The President’s Men and Three Days of the Condor. A loyal citizen comes into possession of sensitive information which places her...

When I'm a Moth is an intriguing film, told in a dreamy visual style that fictionalizes a moment in Hillary Rodham’s life, just before she enters law school. Inspired by a brief reference in Hillary’s memoir, co-directors Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak speculate with sensitivity and poetic imagination on...

Across the Bay from the NBA champion Golden State Warriors is another Warriors team, one that plays only home games. These San Quentin Prison athletes are profiled in Q Ball a fascinating documentary, made possible by Kevin Durant, who is executive producer. Directed by Mike Tolajian, this SFFILM Festival...

As part of the Mostly British Film Festival in San Francisco, the English film, Four Weddings and a Funeral, was celebrated with a champagne reception and a well-attended showing at the Vogue Theatre. The film was nominated for two American Oscars and two Golden Globes. In England, the movie...

If there was any doubt that influencer culture had an ugly side you need only watch one of two decent docs now streaming on Netflix (Fyre) and Hulu (Fyre Fraud). By now, most know at least something about the infamous Fyre Festival. For me, it was that not-even-cafeteria standard cheese...

Essayist Jeanne Powell's take on film Mary, Queen of Scots. Queen Mary Stuart has been celebrated and profiled on stage and screen since Friedrich Schiller’s play in 1800, Gaetano Donizetti’s opera in 1835 and an acclaimed Broadway production in 2005 directed by Phyllida Lloyd. In films she has been portrayed...

The Favourite is a juicy and irreverent romp through the reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665-1714), with a focus on her years as a widow under the political influence of Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough. Through the use of potent dramatic sketches and brilliant cinematography, director Yorgos...

Café Jacqueline, near the intersection of Grant and Union in San Francisco, has been a culinary legend for 27 years. This tiny restaurant in the heart of North Beach is the subject of a short documentary Perfect Note, Perfect Taste screened at the 2018 Napa Valley Film Festival. Chef Jacqueline grew...