San Francisco Film Festival Unveils 2019 Lineup

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM Festival) has announced its entire lineup for its 62nd edition, unveiling a diverse slate of 163 films representing 52 countries, including: 46 narrative features, 40 documentary features, 4 new vision features, 3 episodic programs and 70 short works. They will be screened from April 10 – 23 at venues in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley.

The fest will celebrate its opening night with the world premiere of "Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City,” a new take on the author's beloved drama that was adapted as a TV miniseries in 1993.

The sequel miniseries, which airs on Netflix this summer, reunites Olympia Dukakis and Laura Linney, both returning to their original roles of the eccentric Anna Madrigal and the Cleveland-native Mary Ann Singleton, respectively.

Over the course of the 14-day event, a series of tributes and spotlights will honor exceptional film artists and visionaries— actors Laura Dern, Laura Linney and John C. Reilly; filmmakers Claire Denis and Madeline Anderson; series editor Anthony Wall as well as philantrophist Claude Jarman— who are all expected to attend and participate in an onstage conversation.

SFFILM’s ever-popular Live & Onstage section is set to feature a bevy of immersive programs. Among them are “State of the Cinema Address by Boots Riley”; “Warpaint: Live Score + Films by Maya Deren”; “An Evening with Kahlil Joseph”; and a film presentation of Andrew Slater’s documentary “Echo in the Canyon” along with a live performance by Jakob Dylan and his band.

This year’s Centerpiece selection is the Sundance favorite, “The Farewell,” Lulu Wang’s film that celebrates and gently satirizes Chinese cultural traditions, starring Awkwafina as a broke Asian-American artist who embarks on a trip to China to see her dying grandmother.

Last but not the least, the 2019 SFFILM festival will conclude with the screening of Gavin Hood’s political thriller “Official Secrets,” in which Keira Knightley portrays a translator working for a top British intelligence agency.

For more information on the festival, go to sffilm.org.

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