The 9th United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) is just about to launch in the Bay Area, beginning tomorrow, Wednesday, October 18, 2006, at the Delancey Screening Room here in San Francisco, and continuing Sunday, October 22, 2006, at the Roxie Film Center. UNAFF's theme for this year is Sparks of Humanity. The festival then runs its main course at Stanford University from October 25-29, 2006. Details can be found at the festival's website.
As UNAFF's mission statement attests: "The festival was established in 1998 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was created with the help of members of the Stanford Film Society as an independent project of the United Nations Association (UNA), a grassroots, community based, nonprofit organization. …Conceived nine years ago, UNAFF celebrates the power of international films and videos dealing with human rights, environmental survival, women's issues, protection of refugees, homelessness, racism, disease control, universal education, war and peace. UNAFF offers a unique opportunity to view extraordinary documentaries, to become familiar with global and local issues, and to acquire a better understanding of the means to address these issues."
Following are the details for the October 18, 2006, San Francisco Delancey Street screenings:
6:30 PM Reception by La Mediterranee.
7:05 PM Beyond Iraq (Iraq/USA), Tom Eldridge, Annalisa Hodgkins.
7:20 PM Baghdad ER (Iraq/USA), Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill.
8:30 PM Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars (Sierra Leone/USA), Zach Niles, Banker White.
Admission is $8 for students and $12 for the general public for the films and the reception. Tickets can be purchased at the door from 6:00 PM at Delancey Screening Room, 600 Embarcadero at Brannan, San Francisco. For more info please visit www.unaff.org or call (650) 724-5544).
Following are the details for the San Francisco October 22, 2006, Roxie Film Center screenings:
12:00 PM Lessons In Fear (Canada/Israel/Palestine), James Cullingham.
1:30 PM The Tribe (USA), Tiffany Shlain.
2:00 PM Small Town Gay Bar (USA), Malcolm Ingram.
3:30 PM In the Tall Grass (Rwanda/USA), J. Coll Metcalfe.
4:30 PM Are the Kids Alright? (USA), Karen Bernstein & Ellen Spiro.
5:30 PM Rosita (Nicaragua/USA), Barbara Attie & Janet Goldwater.
7:05 PM Pilgrimage (Iran/Iraq/USA), Bahman Kiarostami
8:10 PM Beyond the Call (Afghanistan/Albania/Cambodia/Chechnya/USA), Adrian Belic.
9:40 PM America's Brutal Prisons (USA), Nick London.
10:40 PM Independent Intervention (Iraq/USA), Tonje Hessen Schei.
Admission is $8 for each film. Tickets can be purchased from 11:30 am at the Roxie Cinema Box Office on 3117 16th St, San Francisco.
10/18/06 UPDATE: Greencine's Hannah Eaves has provided a great preview of four of the festival's documentaries: The Peacekeepers, Beyond the Call, Baghdad ER, and In the Tall Grass (for starters, I'm sure).
