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Sing along to 'Fruit Fly,' homegrown S.F. musical at the Roxie next week

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Jul 22

H.P. Mendoza is at the Roxie Theater Wednesday, July 22, with his directorial feature FRUIT FLY. Come and sing along. H.P. talks about his homegrown, guerrilla first film and the upcoming SUPER MAGIC CITY in @missionlocal.org.

The Mission-based filmmaker hosts a sing-along party for his musical ode to San Francisco's LGBTQ community at the Roxie Theater on July 23.

Daveed Diggs is halfway to being an EGOT, but says this S.F. award hits different

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Reposted by Pam Grady

Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · Jul 20

Good morning! I'm in Uganda to visit family and friends.

But depending on your perspective, don't worry or I'm sorry: I'll be back by the end of the month.

See you soon, NYC.

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Jul 21

Local hero Daveed Diggs receives the SF Jewish Film Festival's Freedom of Expression Award on July 31 at the Piedmont. In @sfchronicle.com, the Oakland native talks about the award & how his Jewish upbringing & father's storytelling influenced his own path. www.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...

The San Francisco Jewish Film Festival will recognize the “Hamilton” and “Blindspotting” star for his storytelling and artistic impact.

Filmmaker R.T. Thorne’s ‘40 Acres’ blends dystopian thrills with family drama

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Jul 1

Opening tomorrow: Canadian filmmaker R.T. Thorne's tense feature debut 40 ACRES, a terrific thriller. Read my interview with Thorne and star Danielle Deadwyler in the @sfchronicle.com.

The filmmaker’s powerful feature debut is a post-apocalyptic drama centered on a Black and Indigenous family’s fight to endure.

Bravery among the books: 'The Librarians' fight censorship - 48 hills

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Jun 20

Screening 6/21 at @framelinefestival.bsky.social and later on @independentlens.bsky.social, "The Librarians" depicts the struggles of librarians to protect our to read against reactionary censors. Filmmaker Kim A. Snyder & librarian Marie Masferrer take us through it in @48hills.bsky.social.

Frameline documentary follows those battling the frenzy to erase LGBTQ-related stories from schools.

48hills.org

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Jun 16

@framelinefestival.bsky.social opens Wednesday. I have some picks in the @sfchronicle.com, including the one picture, "By Design," in which Juliette Lewis trades bodies with a chair. What can I say? It amused me.

Frameline49: 7 must-see movies capturing the LGBTQ+ experience

Frameline’s 49th edition showcases dramas, comedies, documentaries and animated features, running June 18-28, with events across the Bay Area.

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · May 28

You'll love it. Different take, way different suspect.

‘Zodiac Killer Project’ documentary boldly reimagines true-crime genre at SF DocFest

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · May 27

Brit Charlie Shackleton meant to make a different documentary about the Zodiac Killer but rights issues forced him to make something more personal. He reveals all about ZODIAC KILLER PROJECT, screening June 1 at SF DocFest, in my @sfchronicle.com interview.

Filmmaker Charlie Shackleton’s latest project transforms an unrealized documentary about the infamous Bay Area killer into an exploration of true crime.

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Apr 30

DocLands 2025 begins tomorrow at the Rafael, a feast for documentary lovers. I pick seven of my favorites in the San Francisco Chronicle. datebook.sfchronicle.com/entertainmen...

‘Free for All’ documentary highlights libraries’ cultural legacy amid rising censorship and funding threats

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Apr 29

"Free for All: The Public Library" screens tonight on "Independent Lens" and streams on the PBS app. With libraries under threat, doc couldn't be timelier. I talk to filmmakers Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor about their decade-long endeavor in the @sfchronicle.com.

San Francisco filmmakers Dawn Logsdon and Lucie Faulknor underscore the crucial role of public libraries while celebrating their history and enduring impact.

What happened when Proud Boys stormed a drag-queen story hour

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Apr 21

Kyle Casey Chu/Panda Dulce was reading to children during Drag Story Hour at the San Lorenzo Library in 2022 when Proud Boys interrupted. Now Chu and co-writer Róisín Isner explore the aftermath in a narrative short, "After What Happened at the Library," screening Weds., Apr. 23 at SFFILM Festival.

SFFILM short "What Happened After the Library" asks tough questions about media narratives and the aftermath of trauma.

Bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia Home

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Apr 16

Not sure how effective this petition might be but whatever we can do to get this man (and all the others in his same situation) home: sign.moveon.org/petitions/br...

Kilmar is not alone. He is one of over 250 immigrants deported without due process, as part of Trump’s $6 million deal with Bukele’s government—a plan to funnel immigrants, often with no criminal reco...

sign.moveon.org

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Apr 2

Farmworkers & day laborers are the subject of 5 short films in Serenata de Protesta screening at the Roxie on April 5. In Mission Local, CiNEOLA curators Daniel Díaz & Diana Sánchez Maciel discuss the program, while Andrés Lira reveals how his family's story informs his doc "Primero, sueño."

At the Roxie, short films shine a light on migrant farmworkers

CiNEOLA's 'Serenata de Protesta' features five local filmmakers with an April 5 program at the Roxie on 16th Street.

S.F. comic turns Trump #resistance into monthly stand-up night

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Mar 22

You can cry, you can scream, you can protest... or you can laugh. Comic Lisa Geduldig and her fellow standup comics are taking on dire political situation with "Resistance Comedy," starting this Sunday and commencing monthly at Eclectic Box. Read my @missionlocal.org interview with Lisa for the 411.

S.F. comic and publicist Lisa Geduldig launches 'Resistance Comedy' at the Eclectic Box in the Mission on Sunday, March 23.

Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Mar 15

Coming to KQED soon (& the Grand Lake 3/16 if you want to catch a @Daveed Diggs sighting) is this miniseries following a college counselor at Antioch's Deer Valley High School during the 2020-21 school year. Super engaging. My interview with the filmmakers & "Mr. Cam" is in the @sfchronicle.com.

Datebook is the San Francisco Chronicle’s guide to arts & entertainment in the Bay Area, combining award-winning news with a curated events calendar.

At the Roxie, a love letter to the Mission District of the '70s

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Mar 12

If you're in the neighborhood this Saturday, head to the Roxie Theater to catch Mission Mediarts co-founder Ray Balberan presenting footage from the neighborhood's 1970s past. Read about this slice of Mission history in @missionlocal.org.

“It was beautiful, and it was done out of love for the community,” says San Francisco filmmaker and longtime youth advocate Ray Balberan during a recent

How Silicon Valley’s hacker houses inspired this directorial debut

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Mar 7

As he should.

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Mar 7

Is it possible at this point in time to have a feel-good Silicon Valley story? Yes, it is. Longtime freelance Apple editor Kenji Yamamoto makes his documentary directing debut with THE DREAMERS & I, world premiering at Cinequest. Read about Kenji and his film in the @sfchronicle.com.

The former Apple video editor’s “The Dreamers and I” will make its world premiere at San Jose’s Cinequest Film and Creativity Festival.

Faith Petric, S.F. musician and activist, gets posthumous ovation in new documentary

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Feb 21

Coming to the Roxie Theater on Saturday, Feb. 22, a fabulous documentary about a San Francisco force of nature, folksinger Faith Petric. Read my interview with filmmakers Christie Herring and Estelle Freedman in @missionlocal.org.

Faith Petric, who died at 98 in 2013, is the subject of “Singing for Justice.” The film screens Feb. 22, 2025, at the Roxie Theater.

Nope. There are no 150-year-olds on Social Security. It's COBOL!

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Feb 15

This would be funny if it wasn't so sad and enraging.

Elon Musk claimed that his team found 150-year-old people collecting Social Security! He implied there were dead people being sent benefits, with checks cashed by someone else. But no—the people getti...

www.dailykos.com

‘Skin of Glass’: A Berkeley daughter’s journey to discover her father’s architectural legacy

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Feb 14

Denise Zmekhol talks to me about her phenomenal documentary "Skin of Glass," a story ostensibly about the Săo Paolo skyscraper her father Roger designed but really about so much more. Read my @sfchronicle.com interview and then watch the movie Monday, Feb. 17, on @independentlens.bsky.social.

“Skin of Glass” on PBS delves into the history and current state of Roger Zmekhol’s famed São Paulo tower, revealing personal and architectural stories.

5 can’t-miss films at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Feb 5

Jp Allen, Anthony Lucero, @anthonyhand.bsky.social, Miyoni Nelson, & Isaac Hirotsu Woofter all have films in San Francisco IndieFest. They talk about putting together independent features and the importance of the festival in the @sfchronicle.com.

Five films with Bay Area ties are set to screen at the 27th San Francisco Independent Film Festival — and they could not be more different from one another.

In SF IndieFest doc, a 60-year-old jazz haven gets its due

Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Feb 3

I have a new outlet and there is a new doc about Bay Area jazz station KCSM playing at the Roxie on Saturday. Read all about it in @missionlocal.org.

Most jazz fans know the art form has a deep history in the Bay Area — particularly beginning in the 1940s, when the Fillmore became known as the “Harlem

Cool Hand Luke; Plastic Jesus

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Pam Grady @cinepam.bsky.social · Jan 26

It is Paul Newman's 100th birthday. A little reminder of the magic he created on screen.

YouTube video by durtal

youtu.be