Film Night

I've been on a bit of a film bender...having not been to the theatres in months I just saw Iron Man and Indian José back to back and have plans to go see Mister Lonely and the Flight of the Red Balloon before they evaporate for cinemas.

And tonight, I'm going to rebalance my recent blockbuster indulgences with some seriously esoteric art film at ATA, courtesy of Johnny Ray Huston of the Guardian and Konrad Steiner of Kino 21. I'm really excited; Max and I have a picnic date in Dolores Park before the screening if anyone wants to rendezvous.

Here's what Johnny says:

"Over the past month, Konrad Steiner of Kino 21 and I have presented two programs of films by Warren Sonbert. It isn’t an overstatement to say the experience has been a revelation -- opportunities to see this SF filmmaker’s work are rare. The third and final night of our Sonbert series takes place Thursday, June 5, and it unites the complex montage and silent focus of the first program (Sonbert’s 1971 magnum opus Carriage Trade, which screened at SF Camerawork) with the musicality of the second program (“Pop Witness,” which connected Sonbert’s early Warhol- and Anger-inspired ‘60s films to his magnificent andn distinctive return to sound over 20 years later).

“Narrative Vertigo” has two parts. The first half belongs to the 1983 silent work A Woman’s Touch, where Sonbert takes inspiration from two mainstream Hollywood directors he especially loves, Douglas Sirk and Alfred Hitchcock. The second half brings 1991’s Short Fuse, a sound film completed four years before Sonbert’s AIDS-related death in 1995 at the age of 48. Sonbert had a flair for two-word titles, and Short Fuse is a poignant example: he crams a life more vibrant than most people’s dreams into 37 minutes.

Come see it with me if you’re free!"

Kino 21 presents
Films of Warren Sonbert: “Narrative Vertigo”
Thursday, June 5, 8 p.m.; $6
Artists’ Television Access
992 Valencia, SF
www.kino21.org