For two weeks every April, the San Francisco Film Society hosts its annual showcase of innovative cinema in the country's most beautiful city. Founded in 1957, the San Francisco International Film Festival (April 22-May 6, 2010) is the longest-running film festival in the Americas. The Festival attracts an annual audience of more than 80,000 and features over 150 films from 50 different countries.

According to The Film Society's mission statement, "The International is deeply rooted in the strongest and finest traditions of appreciation of film both as an art form and as a meaningful agent for social change. The Festival programs a bonanza of narrative feature films, live action and animated shorts, experimental work, marquee premieres, international competitions, documentaries, digital media work and star-studded gala events. Highly anticipated by its loyal and passionate audiences, championed by civic and community leaders, admired and adored by filmmakers and closely watched by industry professionals, SFIFF is one of the most important events in the Bay Area's cultural calendar and an important stop on the international festival circuit."

Micmacs (France, 2009)

The SFIFF53 opening night film is the US premiere of the latest cinematic creation from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet - the suprisingly inventive mind behind Delicatessen, Amélie and A Very Long Engagement. Pam Grady writes that Minimacs is a "David-and-Goliath story that employs humor and a deceptively buoyant tone to confront a corporate mentality that has no qualms about selling mayhem and death. But the film also is a love letter to the movies Jeunet adores, drawing wholehearted inspiration for Bazil’s zany friends from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Toy Story while also including allusions to The Big Sleep and a Tex Avery cartoon. As romantic in its own way as Amélie, if more serious in intent, Jeunet’s first film in five years dazzles us anew."

Joan Rivers- A Piece of Work (USA, 2010 )

For the festival's closing night film, SFIFF has made a suprising choice: a documentary about comedian Joan Rivers. As the film follows her through her 75th year, Rivers fights to stay busy and relevant in a world with waning interest in her work. "With startling drive - motivated at least in part by her fear of a blank appointment book," writes SFIFF's Rachel Rosen, "Rivers plows through a seemingly never-ending string of projects: preparing a play based on her life, competing with her daughter on Celebrity Apprentice, or pitching product on QVC. Filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg make the most of their subject’s characteristic mixture of bravery and the desire to entertain, even if at her own expense. The end result is a complex portrait of a born entertainer - a constantly shifting mixture of determination, fear, moxie and regret - who continues to persevere despite what others may think of her."

Mugabe and the White African (England, 2009)

The Festival always boasts a strong roster of films in the non-fiction genre - this year is no exception. SFIFF53 is proud to present the US premiere of Mugabe and the White African. Michael Campbell, the white African of the title, charges President Robert Mugabe with a racist land reform policy and takes him to court. Kathleen Denny writes: "Once the largest mango producer in Zimbabwe, Campbell - one of a dwindling number of white farmers - takes this bold, unprecedented step in an attempt to keep his farm from distribution to government ministers and cronies. The seasoned documentary team makes the most of that focus, putting the lives and convictions of the engaging Campbell and his English son-in-law, Ben Freeth, at the unabashed center of the film. It’s Freeth who poses the central question: If a white man can be American or Australian, why not African?"

Robert Duvall - 2010 Peter J. Owens Award

The stars come out to shine at the Castro Theater when Robert Duvall is presented with the Peter J. Owens Award. Hailed by the New York Times as "the American Laurence Olivier," Duvall's nearly 50 years on the screen has made him one of cinema's most respected and beloved actors. From his screen debut as the mysterious and misunderstood Boo Radley in the classic film To Kill a Mockingbird to his indelible Academy Award-nominated performances in The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, The Apostle and A Civil Action; Duvall has demonstrated an astonishing range and a capaciousness of spirit that have kept him in demand throughout his remarkable career. Duvall won the Best Actor Oscar for his nuanced performance in the 1983 film Tender Mercies.

The Music Room (India, 1958)

SFIFF is a dependable source of re-discovered and restored film gems. These films are presented on the large screen in newly-minted prints with state-of-the-art audio restoration. This year, the festival offers a screening of The Music Room, one of the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema, recently restored by the Academy Film Archive. The work of Satyajit Ray occupies a special place in the history of the San Francisco International Film Festival. His first film, Pather Panchali, had its U.S. premiere at the first SFIFF in 1957. Since then, the Festival has shown more of his films than those of any other director. In 1992, the Festival bestowed posthumously its directing award upon Ray.

Transcending Lynch (Brazil, 2010 )

Another non-fiction film of interest to film buffs will be the North American premiere of Transcending Lynch. Filmmaker Marcos Andrade, a fellow TM practitioner, follows avant garde film director David Lynch on the Brazilian leg of a promotional tour, which stops at swanky bookstores in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, writes Shari Kizirian. "Hawking inner peace seems an improbable undertaking for the maker of some of cinema’s most disturbing images, but it turns out to be Lynch’s most personal project. It began during the production of Eraserhead, when Lynch says he was filled with anxiety, anger, tension and stress, “with a little depression swimming in there.” Presented with humor, respect and even a few Lynchian flourishes, Transcending Lynch might not convert you, but you’ll certainly stop to wonder how anyone could be Lynch without some kind of inner peace."

A Conversation with T-Bone Burnett

In another 'film festival only' presentation, legendary musician T-Bone Burnett takes to the stage for an in-depth conversation focusing on the artist’s celebrated work as a composer, music supervisor and producer for films such as O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Walk the Line, Across the Universe, Cold Mountain and The Big Lebowski. Burnett - who just won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “The Weary Kind,” the theme from Crazy Heart. For this special event, Burnett will discuss the finely hewn craft of matching music to image and share his recollections of working with the Wim Wenders, Coen Brothers, Scott Cooper, and Anthony Minghella. Burnett will show clips from many films to which he has made indelible contributions, as well as his favorite movie musical moments from other great films that have influenced his work.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (USA, 1916)

One of the most highly anticipated special events of each year's Festival is the annual pairing of live music with an iconic silent film. For SFIFF53, the remarkably gifted and prolific tunesmith Stephin Merritt, of the Magnetic Fields, will do the honors in service of director Stuart Paton’s 1916 epic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Merritt will be joined by an ensemble including Castro organist David Hegarty and frequent Merritt collaborator and author Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemany Snicket) on the accordian. SFIFF's Sean Uyehara notes that "the film and storyline together make a perfect muse for notoriously wry singer/songwriter Merritt, who unveils the world premiere of his original score in live accompaniment to a new 35mm print struck from a nitrate negative housed at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. The resulting aural and visual dialogue, spanning a century, promises the audience assembled at the palatial Castro Theatre an experience genuinely unique."