SAN FRANCISCO: LEGACY FILM FESTIVAL ON AGING
Friday – Sunday, May 13 – 15, 2011
_______________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sheila Malkind, Director; (415) 861-2159
legacyfilmseries-at-yahoo.com or info-at-legacyfilmfestivalonaging.org
www.legacyfilmfestivalonaging.org
_______________________________________________________________________
Festival director Sheila Malkind announces the launch of the Legacy Film Festival on Aging in San Francisco, a three-day program, Friday – Sunday, May 13-15, at the sparkling new VIZ Cinema, located in Japantown’s New People building, 1746 Post St.
Please go to our website: www.legacyfilmfestivalonaging.org for the complete film schedule, and ticket information.
The festival’s mission is to present an annual film festival in the Bay Area with films that inspire, educate and entertain intergenerational audiences about the issues surrounding aging. In so doing, the subjects of the films challenge archaic preconceptions of aging
Why films on Aging? Presently, there are 95 million people in the U.S. over the age of fifty, with 40 million of them over the age of 65. The new realities of aging are creating fresh views of later life that will affect many aspects of our society, both policy-wise and personally.
We believe everyone, no matter one’s age, will be enriched and entertained by the films presented by the Legacy Film Festival on Aging.
Here’s a partial listing.
Friday, May 13, 6:30 pm, A special screening of “Ruth Asawa: Roots of an Artist,” directed by Bob Toy. The 37-minute film documents the life and work of San Francisco’s beloved 85-year-old icon of art and mentorship. Asawa’s fountains dot the San Francisco landscape, and her wire sculptures hang in museums worldwide. She has been a leader in fostering art education in public schools.
The film will be followed by a Q&A with the director, as well as Ruth’s son, Paul Lanier, her daughter, Aiko Cuneo, and Ruth’s Table’s Lola Fraknoi.
Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, the Festival will feature short and full-length documentary and feature films from the US and the changing world that celebrate the unique rewards and challenges of aging.
Included: The First Grader (100 min) based on a true-life remarkable story of an 84-year-old Kenyan villager and former Mau Mau who attends school for the first time so he can learn to read. Over 90 and Loving It (60 min) features people in their 90s and 100s who are living extraordinary and passionate lives. Another Harvest Moon (90 min), a sensitive drama starring 93-year-old Ernest Borgnine and other veteran all-stars as four elderly residents coping with life in a nursing home, and dealing with life and death decisions.
Director Sheila Malkind states: “We are also featuring a number of dance films about older people still utilizing their talents and strengths: Happy To Be So, in which former principal dancers Oleg Briansky and Mireille Briane, his wife of fifty years, narrate their own life story with humor. Ida’s Dance Club documents a ballroom dancing competition in an Israeli retirement home and portrays the personal challenges faced by the dancers (both, Sunday, 1 pm). And Seniors Rocking (Sat., 1 pm), a performance piece created by Marin resident and modern dancer Anna Halprin for senior citizens who truly rock and dance together in celebration.”
Sheila Malkind, MA, MPH is the director of the Legacy Film Festival on Aging, now in its first year. She was the curator of the First International Film Festival on Aging, held in San Francisco and Emeryville in 2009, now extant. She has taken over the mantle of a film festival on aging.
Malkind is the director of the Legacy Film Series (www.legacyfilmseries.com), distributing and presenting films on aging to libraries, universities, assisted faciities, etc. She sees a need for everyone to be prepared for this challenging stage of life.
Ticket prices: $11. May be ordered through Viz Cinema’s New People, www.newpeopleworld.com , or purchased at the New People Box Office.
At NEW PEOPLE,1746 Post St, San Francisco, CA 94115
_______________________________________________________________________
For More Information,
Contact: Sheila Malkind, Director; (415) 861-2159
legacyfilmseries-at-yahoo.com or info-at-legacyfilmfestivalonaging.org
