Our Saturday Programs run every Saturday throughout the school year starting September 22nd. Unless otherwise noted, we meet near the waterfall at Yerba Buena Park about 10:30 am.

Cine/Club—free screenings of classic films followed by discussion—is held on Friday nights. These events are open to students, their guests, mentors, parents and friends of Art & Film. No need to RSVP. Screenings are held at the Randall Museum (199 Museum Way) and the Delancy Street Screening Room (500 Embarcadero). Refreshments are served at 6:30 and the film begins at 7pm unless otherwise noted.

Discussions are held after each film with moderators Heather Woodward, the head of creative writing at the School of the Arts, and Ronald Chase, the director of Art & Film.




Friday 7: Cine/Club: Randall Museum

Pier Paolo Pasolini's MAMMA ROMA (1963, Italy)

This story of a prostitute who battles for her teenage son’s future features one of Anna Magnani’s last and greatest performances. Magnani is a giant of Italian cinema, Pasolini, its enfant terrible. He knew from experience what sort of trouble young men could get up to.

 
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

What is it about Italian directors and prostitutes? Some of the very best films use them as a way of talking about serious matters—sex, a world view, a rebellious idea of character, irony—the toll that both circumstance and bad decisions take on the individual. The “whore with a heart of gold” is a staple of both American and foreign films and it’s a wonder that so many of them survive the cliché. In this case it helps to have an unsentimental director and a great actress. Mama Roma wants to reform, and especially save her son from a life of crime. But what can you do with a character who can’t reason? Might be an eye opener for you.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Pier Paolo Passolini

Pasolini is not quite one of the great directors compared to some of the other filmmakers we'll see this year, but for decades he was one of the leading intellectuals in Italy: a writer, essayist, and poet, and his controversial films are just a small part of the whole. His writing against the Church and state brought him a lot of difficulty. He was hated by the establishment, and his unflagging censure of hypocrisy and corruption probably led to his murder by a young hustler (who may have been hired to kill him). His first major influence was neo-realism, and he wrote some of The scenes in Nights of Cabiria (a Fellini film we’ll see later in the year). His first film, Accatone, and the later ones including Mamma Roma are made in the neo-realist mold. His last films are versions of elaborate exotic tales like the Arabian Nights.

Saturday 8: Art Saturday

10:30 Meet on the balcony outside Metron overlooking Yerba Buena Park (on Mission between 3rd & 4th)
11:00 We'll go see galleries, followed by a picnic lunch and see a film in the afternoon.
Friday 14: Cine/Club: Randall Museum

Lubitsch's TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932, USA)

One of the finest comedies to ever come out of Hollywood. They don’t write dialogue like this any more. It’s fast paced and smart. Pay attention or the jokes will fly right past you. A high-class thief and a beautiful pickpocket team up to great success, but find their plans twisted when love becomes a factor.

 
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

Great comedies are hard to come by; we consider this one of the best. Ernst Lubitsch had considerable success with his light frothy romances in Germany. They were so popular he was invited to Hollywood and from that moment on he set a standard for high, sophisticated fare. His impeccable sense of timing, his use of language as a comic element (some of the film makes great fun of Italian); the unorthodox values his characters hold on to and their wild, often realistic modern take on life and love make the plot surprising and delightful at every turn. Come laugh with us.

Saturday 15: Art Saturday

10:30 Meet on the balcony outside Metron overlooking Yerba Buena Park (on Mission between 3rd & 4th)
11:00 We'll go see galleries, followed by a picnic lunch and see a film in the afternoon.
Friday 21: Cine/Club: Randall Museum

Alain Resnais' HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR (2000, France)

A French actress falls in love with a Japanese man while filming in post-atom bomb Hiroshima, causing her to recall herrelationship with a German soldier back in occupied France. This is one of the films that inspired the French New Wave with its experiments with flashbacks and inter-cutting and has been an inspiration to film goers ever since.


 
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

The French new wave brought a lot of fresh elements into films that are staples today. The free form use of film technique—jump-cuts, inter-cutting, slow motion, were just a few of them. They often brought a new way of seeing and looking at subject matter, and Alan Renais and Hiroshima made a huge contribution to its influence. Hiroshima introduces a moving camera combined with inter-cutting (moving back and forth between one scene and the another) in a way that hadn’t been seen before. The poetic feel of the dual voice-over created a universe of its own. In its time this film was a completely new take on a love story and remains so today.

Saturday 22: Art Saturday

10:30 Meet on the balcony outside Metron overlooking Yerba Buena Park (on Mission between 3rd & 4th)
11:00 We'll go see galleries, followed by a picnic lunch and see a film in the afternoon.