So what if you’re not going to Sundance. You can meet great filmmakers in person all winter long at STF. The year kicked off with pre-season events featuring docs on the Oscar shortlist, WHICH WAY HOME and VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR. Last Tuesday, the STF Winter Season officially got started with the opening night presentation of SNOWBLIND, featuring a Q&A with director Vikram Jayanti. SNOWBLIND was the last film to be funded by Discovery Films that produced MAN ON WIRE and ENCOUNTERS AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD before closing down. As a result of the division’s closure, SNOWBLIND has been left orphaned for distribution. Jayanti told the STF audience that the screening boosted his morale.
On Jan 19, STF is proud to welcome Albert Maysles to present one of his most memorable collaborations with the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, RUNNING FENCE. There are two more special bonus winter screenings that will be announced next week. That means if you buy a season pass now, you can get 11 shows for just $110.
Below are some fun photos from earlier this week – (click “read more”)
Molly Lynch, the co-director and editor of BIG RIVER MAN, made an impromptu trip from her home in Berkeley, California last Wednesday to fill in at the STF Q&A for her collaborator John Maringouin, who had been called away for a film shoot with Mick Jagger (that old excuse). To say that BIG RIVER MAN impressed the STF crowd would be an understatement. The audience included filmmakers such as Jasmine Dellal (WHEN THE ROAD BENDS: TALES OF A GYPSY CARAVAN) and Laurie Gwen Shapiro (KEEP THE RIVER ON YOUR RIGHT), who lingered to discuss the film. Eventually the faithful moved to STF’s usual bar 99 Below where the night’s drink special was $5 caipirinhas in honor of the film’s Brazilian locale. The bar’s television screens played Werner Herzog’s thematically appropriate epic FITZCARRALDO late into the night.
The STF Fall Season came to a close with a sneak preview of the profound film about American veterans of the Iraq war HOW TO FOLD A FLAG. The filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, who showed their previous film THE PRISONER OR: HOW I PLANNED TO KILL TONY BLAIR at STF in 2007, were joined for the Q&A by Jon Powers, one of the soldiers featured in FLAG, who ran for Congress in upstate New York last year. Today, Powers works for the Truman Project, a policy center on national security in Washington, DC. He noted the symbolism of the night’s STF show taking place at the same time President Obama was declaring his intention to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. Powers said he hoped the film would make audiences better understand the consequences of what soldiers endure.
The day after STF concludes its Fall Season, we’ll return on Wednesday, Dec 2 with the Sundance sensation BIG RIVER MAN, an Amazonian epic that plays like a cross between Borat and Fitzcarraldo. It will be the first of three December specials serving as appetizers to the STF Winter Season. The other events include a screening of the cinema verite classic A MARRIED COUPLE, as a tribute to filmmaker Allan King who died earlier this year; and a sneak preview of I’M DANGEROUS WITH LOVE, the latest work by Michel Negroponte, fresh from its debut at Sheffield Docfest. Act now to buy a STF Winter Season pass to attend all three December specials, plus the regular 10 STF shows every Tuesday from January 12 to March 16. That’s a total of 13 films – plus 2 free Docurama DVDs – for the early bird discount price of $95. That price will rise to $110 in January. You can get the early bird price by clicking through to the tickets page for any December special. Don’t let the winter blues get you down. Join us at STF for inspiring films and great conversations.
Last Tuesday night, STF hosted a sneak-preview of Mehran Tamadon’s BASSIDJI, fresh from its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Although Tamadon was unable to join us from France, Hamid Rahmanian (director of THE GLASS HOUSE and coincidentally a doppelganger for Tamadon) had spent the previous few days skyping with the French director and was able to answer all the STF audience’s questions. A very timely film, BASSIDJI explores the ideology behind the Iranian militias who cracked down on reformists this past summer.
Molly Lynch, the co-director and editor of 
The STF Fall Season came to a close with a sneak preview of the profound film about American veterans of the Iraq war 
The day after STF concludes its Fall Season, we’ll return on Wednesday, Dec 2 with the Sundance sensation 
Last Tuesday night, STF hosted a sneak-preview of Mehran Tamadon’s