Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - September 8, 2004
Delfin Vigil, dvigil@sfchronicle.com.
"The Bay Area is ground zero for documentaries," said Gail Silva, president of the Film Arts Foundation, which is co-sponsoring the Bravo Documentary Film Festival from Friday through Sunday at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco.
"Ever since the late 50's and the emergence of the Beat generation, as a progressive community we've always been passionate about social justice issues. From films on the UC Berkeley loyalty oaths to Vietnam protests, documentaries have always managed to hit hard here at home," Silva said. With seven feature-length and 10 short films, this year's documentary lineup covers the socially conscious globe -- from helping San Francisco heroin addicts kick the habit to a 70-year-old freedom fighter in Burma who has just about had it.
This year, the popular film series also has a strong West Coast flavor. Los Angeles husband-and-wife team Arlene Donnelly Nelson and David Nelson take on the vulnerability of HIV-positive people who face their problems and make a statement by posing in the nude in the 38-minute documentary "Positively Naked. " Also from Los Angeles comes Kirby Dick's "The End," an 84-minute epic exploring the last experiences of several terminally ill Kaiser Permanente Hospice Program patients, who take video cameras home to record the last spiritual moments of their lives.
Proceeds from the $7 tickets benefit the Film Arts Foundation in San Francisco, which promises to continue investing in the future of emerging independent filmmakers like Stanford graduate student filmmakers Leah Wolchok and Gretchen Hildebran.
In just 10 minutes Hildebran and Wolchok's "Worth Saving" tackles the problem of 15,000 heroin users in San Francisco. Their film follows the participants of the city's Drug Overdose Prevention Project (DOPE). While obviously not attempting to solve the city's epidemic, the film does its best to show the perspective of how passionately the DOPE volunteers work to save each others lives.
"Overdosing is the leading cause of death among heroin addicts," said Hildebran, who together with Wolchok completed the film in 10 weeks. "The idea behind it is to reduce the harm of overdose. Because when somebody's dead, well, you can't exactly get better."
If there's one incentive to check out this year's lineup, consider the effort that some of the filmmakers put in to bring stories to the screen. San Francisco resident Ruth Gumnit spent more than six years clandestinely carrying her camera in and out of the war zone of Burma, bringing us "Don't Fence Me In: Major Mary and the Karen Refugee From Burma," a 30-minute glimpse into the world of Major Mary, a 70-year-old freedom fighter up against a brutal military regime. "We hear stories like Major Mary's in the news all the time. But it takes a film like this to put a real face on the name and the struggle," Gumnit said.
Filmmaker James Miller made the ultimate sacrifice. He was shot dead by an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip while completing the 78-minute "Death in Gaza," which closes the festival at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The HBO series also has its selection of uppers. Friday's bill begins with "A Dog's life: A Dogamentary," a humorous and poignant portrait of canine culture in New York City presented via a "doggiecam," attached to a shih tzu's back. Third Annual Frame by Frame - HBO Documentary Film Series: Friday through Sunday at the Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th St., San Francisco. $7. (415) 552-8760, www.filmarts.org.
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