Kurt GardnerTHE SAN ANTONIO FILM FESTIVAL HOSTS A VIRTUAL FEST AUGUST 4-9, 2020. SAFILM WILL CELEBRATE CINEMA FOR THE REST OF 2020 WITH MONTHLY MINI FESTS.
The San Antonio Film Festival (SAFILM) announced that the 26th Annual Film Festival, typically presented at the Tobin Center, will be 100 percent online this year to ensure the safety of audiences and filmmakers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The virtual festival will still take place during its originally scheduled dates from August 4-9 via the online platform EVENTIVE. As a bonus, organizers will continue to highlight a roster of domestic and international films accepted into the 2020 Festival in monthly Mini Fests set to run Sept 16-20, October 14-18, November 11-15 and Dec 9-13.
“It’s the way it has to be,” explains Founder and Executive Director Adam Rocha. “We wanted to extend the festival streaming experience this year, since we’re all at home anyway. Now, with our monthly Mini Fests, we can watch movies together throughout the year and support these incredible filmmakers from San Antonio and around the world.”
This year, audiences can still expect to enjoy more than 150 films, including work from over 21 local San Antonio filmmakers, as well as international selections from Japan, Singapore, Jerusalem, France, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Spain, Bulgaria and more. Four different blocks of short-length films will be highlighted with films from all genres, including narrative, documentaries, experimental, food films and music videos
The first set of shorts will be African American Cinema, Short Documentaries, Comedy Shorts, and High School Short films. Feature-length narratives, documentaries and animation are also scheduled to screen.
Movie lovers will be able to stream the official selections by purchasing an all-access pass for $69. For those looking forward to the highly anticipated, commemorative T-shirt, the $99 VIP pass includes the all-access streaming pass and cult-favorite tee. Individual tickets are also available for only $5.00 and all tickets are available via the online festival platform EVENTIVE.
FILM HIGHLIGHTS:
CELEBRITY FILM: Adult Night
San Antonio native and actor Kevin Alejandro returns to SAFILM starring alongside his Lucifer co-start Lesley Ann Brandt in this hilarious short film co-directed by Kevin and his wife, Leslie Alejandro.
LOCAL FILM: The Good Wolf
Directed by San Antonio filmmaker Wilfred H. Shipley and made on a micro-budget ($10k), this coming-of-age story stars Vic Trevino (Pee-wee’s Playhouse, American Me) as James, a fugitive with an unknown past hiding in the woods. He discovers a treehouse and meets Sam, a 12-year-old boy. The unlikely pair forge a friendship until the summer end sand police get closer to discovering James’s whereabouts.
SHORT: She’s Having My Baby
Directed by Leslie Alejandro. Two different sides. Two different stories. Sometimes, it takes three to start a family. We follow Rachael Harris as she redefines what a “normal” family looks like, while also exploring the perspective of a three-time surrogate’s commitment to that same standard.
SHORT DOCUMENTARY: Pipe Dream
Director Chris King tells the story of an actress who, with nothing but talent and determination, would achieve Broadway stardom within a few short years. She would later become known as the beloved legend of stage and screen, Carol Burnett.
FEATURE FILM: Seneca
Seneca is a funny, wistful, heartfelt story about aspirations, colonialism and being an adult in the 21st century by Director Jason Chaet. We follow a struggling Puerto Rican actor living/working in New York City, trying to find his success. On top of this, his homeland of Puerto Rico is experiencing the worst moment in its recent history after the passing of Hurricane Maria. While his childhood mentor is losing the fight against cancer on an island with no electricity and dwindling supplies, Seneca questions what life, love and the meaning of success is all about.
FEATURE DOCUMENTARY: My Father’s Brothers
In My Father’s Brothers, filmmaker Shawn Kelley embarks on a journey to try to understand what his father experienced on that haunting day during the Vietnam War. Shawn’s father introduces him to his brothers-in-arms, the men of A Company in the 173rd Airborne, whom he led into battle during Operation Yorktown. Outnumbered almost ten to one, the platoon that made initial contact with the Vietcong force is almost wiped out. One paratrooper, Charles B. Morris, would receive the Medal of Honor for his actions that day. There would also be three Silver Stars, ten Bronze Stars for Valor and over fifty Purple Hearts awarded.
See the complete schedule of films at www.safilm.com or on the Festival Stream Home Page.
Feature photo: Armando Riesco in Seneca.
Pauline Adamek
