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Feature Films

Alternative Freedom — The development of the Internet
and the resulting explosion in the amount of information
are challenging traditional definitions of collective culture
and individual property. A growing number of academics,
activists, and artists themselves are questioning whether
a "copy right" — often signed over to corporations by the
creator from a position of economic inequality (in a form
of modern indentured servitude) — was ever intended or
should be used as a means of maximizing profits, rather
than to encourage creativity and the exchange of ideas.

The film examines the rise of the “free culture” movement
in response to efforts by corporations to increase control
over information by extending copyright laws. Featuring
interviews with Grey Album mash-up DJ Danger Mouse,
Xbox hacker Andrew "Bunnie" Huang, Electronic Frontier
Foundation attorney Jason Schultz, free-software guru
Richard Stallman, underground rapper Adam "Doseone"
Drucker, and Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig.

Directed by Shaun Cronin and Twila Raftu (68 min, 2006)
View trailer. Saturday, Dec. 2, 7:30pm. Q&A following film.



Bhopal Express — A heart-breaking narrative drama
about a newly married Indian couple whose lives are
forever changed by an American chemical factory that
dominates their city. When Tara (Nehra Raghuraman)
insists on returning to her village for several days for a
post-wedding visit, husband Verma (Kay Kay Menon)
leaves his job at the plant a few hours early so that he
can spend more time with her before her train leaves.

Verma's carousing friend Basheer (Naseeruddin Shah),
who quit his job at the factory to drive an auto-rickshaw,
takes them to the station and sees the couple's forlorn
parting. He drags the dejected Verma to a bar to lift his
spirits with some drinks and the sultry singer Zohrabai.
Neither man can imagine what awaits them or Bhopal.
The realistic portrayal of Indian life echoes the work of
Satyajit Rai, focusing on the love story while avoiding
typical Bollywood dance numbers and happy endings.

Directed by Mahesh Mathai (100 minutes, 1999). Co-
sponsored by the 3rd i SF South Asian Film Festival.


Verma (left) and Basheer enjoy the sultry
chanteuse Zohrabai in Bhopal Express



The Corporation — The definitive cinematic case study
of the birth and rise to power of the dominant institution
of our time. The film takes the corporation's status as a
legal "person" to its logical conclusion, and asks: What
kind of person is it? Applying standard psychiatric tests
to a corporation's "personality" — it acts only in its own
self-interest, has no regard or remorse for its effects on
others; callous, amoral, and deceitful; willing to break
social and legal rules (but mimic empathy, caring, and
altruism) to get its way — indicates a highly anti-social
person: the institutional embodiment of a psychopath.

Directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott (Canada,
150 mins., 2004). View trailer. Sunday, Dec. 3, 4:00pm



The Forest for the Trees — On May 24, 1990, environ-
mental activist Judi Bari was seriously injured when the
car she was driving exploded in Oakland. Hours later,
Bari was arrested in the hospital after the FBI said she
had been carrying a bomb which accidentally went off.

Forest for the Trees tells the story of Bari's fight to save
the last of the ancient redwood trees, the car-bombing,
and her suit against the FBI and Oakland Police for ac-
cusing her of being an ecoterrorist. It focuses on Bari's
attorney, Dennis Cunningham, who led the trial against
the FBI. Directed by Bernadine Mellis (60 mins., 2006)

Friday, 12/1, at 7:30pm. Q&A with Mellis, Cunningham,
and Judi Bari protege Alicia Littletree following the film.


The interior of Judi Bari's car after the
1990 bomb explosion in Oakland, CA



The Future of Food — There's a revolution taking place
on farms and dinner tables across North American that's
transforming the nature of our food. From Saskatchewan
to Oaxaca, The Future of Food reveals the complex web
of economic and political forces at work as huge private
corporations seek to control the world's food production.

The film is an in-depth look at the disturbing truth behind
the unlabeled, genetically-modified food that has quietly
filled our grocery stores for the past decade. It examines
the impact of these patented "techno-crops" on the lives
and livelihoods of the farmers who grow them, the health
of the people who eat them, and the effectiveness of the
government policies that are supposed to regulate them.

Directed by Deborah Koons Garcia (88 minutes, 2004).
View trailer. Screens Sunday, December 3, at 9:00 p.m.



Making Waves — What would it sound like if the public
took radio back from Big Media? Making Waves tells the
story of a group of so-called "pirate" (unlicensed) radio
stations in Tucson, Ariz., who attempt to broadcast over
the publicly-owned, but corporate-controlled, airwaves.

The 1996 Telecommunications Reform Act (signed by
Clinton) allowed a few powerful media companies to
own hundreds of stations, and drive the independent
stations off the air. In response, "pirates" began using
cheap, low-power equipment to broadcast on unused
frequencies, as a form of civil disobedience to protest
the lack of free speech, diversity, and public input on
commercial stations. (64 minutes, 2004). View trailer

Q&A after the screening with director Michael Lahey



Pirate Radio USA — Broadcasting live with a 4-watt
transmitter in an "undisclosed location", DJs Him and
Her lead us on a trip through the underground world
of rogue radio, where people all across America are
defying federal laws to say and play what they want.

Along the way, we see the rise of  Big Media — and of
"citizen media" in response to it — and the showdown
between them as they report on the "Battle of Seattle"
at the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting.
It’s not Left versus Right, it's corporate versus people.

Directed by Jeff Pearson (84 min., 2006) View trailer.
Opening Night Film: Friday, December 1, at 9:30 pm.


DJs Him and Her "microcasting"
live in Pirate Radio USA (12/1)



Severance — The Office meets Friday the 13th in this
British horror-comedy in the style of Shaun of the Dead,
but in far more terrifying setting. The sales team from an
international arms trading firm head off for a weekend of
"team-building" exercises at a isolated corporate retreat.
The hotel turns out to be more rustic than they expected,
and there's reason to think it was the site of a gruesome
massacre by renegade soldiers during the Bosnian War.

Computer tech Steve eats some "magic mushrooms" to
make things more fun, but the agenda quickly changes
as he and his co-workers find themselves being stalked
and killed in unexpected and horrifying ways that bring
new meaning to the phrase "making cuts in office staff ".

Directed by Christopher Smith (UK, 90 minutes, 2006).
Not available on DVD. Theatrical release: April 2007.
Centerpiece Film: Saturday, December 2, at 9:30 pm.


Steve (Danny Dyer) and Maggie (Laura Harris)
exhibit typical corporate behavior in Severance


Stay tuned for more ...

Festival details

Victoria Theatre
2961 16th Street
(at Mission St.)
San Francisco

Across from 16th Street BART

View area map

Tickets

Get tickets for
specific films
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"Full-Fest" pass
$60 / $30*

Friday pass
$15

Saturday or
Sunday pass
$20

* students with
valid ID