This post must begin with a huge thank you to the entire SFIFF58 staff. Thank you! From the awesome crew that ran the press lounge, those manning the box office, the publicists, and programmers, to the volunteers and event coordinators, your tremendous effort was not overlooked or taken for granted by us covering the festival for Spinning Platters. We can’t thank you enough. We can’t wait for next year! Here’s a last look at one final film (appropriately titled) and the festival winners at this year’s SFIFF Golden Gate Awards:
The End of the Tour
(USA, 2015, 106 min., Big Nights)
Based on Rolling Stone journalist David Lipsky’s Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself, The End of the Tour depicts Lipsky’s conversations with author David Foster Wallace during the home stretch of his Infinite Jest book tour. Breaking out of his Apatow-produced shell, Segal proves he is ready for more dramatic roles with his honest and understated portrayal of the late author, who committed suicide in 2008. Comprised mostly of dialogue amidst some gorgeously shot muted midwest colors, The End of the Tour never loses our attention as the two central figures discuss universal topics that we are sometimes too afraid to face, or too afraid to hear.
Info available here.
GOLDEN GATE AWARDS
- New Directors Winner: Sworn Virgin, Laura Bispuri (Italy/Switzerland/Germany/Albania/Kosovo)
- Documentary Feature Winner: Western, Bill Ross IV, Turner Ross (USA)
- Bay Area Documentary Winner: Very Semi-Serious, Leah Wolchok (USA)
- Narrative Short Winner: The Chicken, Una Gunjak (Germany/Croatia)
- Documentary Short Winner: Cailleach, Rosie Reed Hillman (Scotland)
- Animated Short Winner: A Single Life, Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins, Job Roggeveen (Netherlands)
- New Visions Short Winner: Discussion Questions, Jonn Herschend (USA)
- Bay Area Short First Prize Winner: The Box, Michael I Schiller (USA)
- Bay Area Short Second Prize Winner: Time Quest, John Dilley (USA)
- Family Film Short Winner: The Story of Percival Pilts, Janette Goodey, John Lewis (Australia/New Zealand)
- Youth Work Short Winner: Two and a Quarter Minutes, Joshua Ovalle (USA)
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SF Film Society – www.SFFS.org