From the "On The Scene" Archives:

by Carl Russo

From the city's hilltop aristocrats who buy tickets in bulk to the Russian cab driver attending one film from his native Georgia, the 41st San Francisco International Film Festival is drawing crowds as diverse as its programming. It is midway through a two-week run (which wraps May 7) and the only people who haven't turned up are the requisite industry suits at this decidedly non-market, film lovers' festival.

Positioned at a cultural crossroads on the Pacific Rim, the festival is an important venue for smaller, less commercial foreign films to make the leap to the states. This year's program includes a whopping 130 films from 44 countries, in addition to 67 U.S. projects. Theaters around the bay are carrying the program, including the Kabuki (main HQ), the Castro and the Pacific Film Archive at UC Berkeley.

Public enthusiasm has run high, whether for a grainy Pixelvision short (Michael Almereyda's "The Rocking Horse Winner") or Hollywood star vehicles (Brian Gilbert's "Wilde" and Wayne Wang's "Chinese Box," the fest's bookend galas).

But amid the pomp of such high-brow fare and edgy experimentalism, was a place saved for those young, tireless American D.I.Y.ers hoping their showings would make a splash. Would locals get a taste of a few off-beat, new features before either Sony gobbles them or they vanish without a trace? In San Francisco, the answer is yes.

indieWIRE offers the following snapshots of filmmakers on the hustle.

Christopher Nolan arrived at the Kabuki with a print fresh from a local lab. His debut feature, "Following," is a realist-tinged, noirish story about a young writer in London who has taken to following strangers until he is caught by one. Nolan's film is in competition for the festival's Skyy Prize. While brimming with excitement at his world premiere, Nolan was anxious to view the film with an audience of more than five. "It really felt complete for the first time," said the 27-year-old Nolan, a former Londoner now living in Los Angeles. "People let out a gasp at the parts I gasp at!" Another gasp resounded at the post-screening Q&A when he told the audience that he completed the film for $6,000 (before film transfer). Borrowing gear from his college on weekends and "calling in a lot of favors," his only real cost was film stock. "People brought their own lunch," he added with a laugh. Now Nolan pays the bills as a script reader while he plots strategies for "Following." When asked how he would spend the $10,000 Skyy Prize should he win, he replied, "Pay my girlfriend some rent!"

For Philadelphia filmmaker Eugene Martin, the first feature is the hurdle. His debut, "Two Plus One," enjoyed limited theatrical distribution. The second time around Martin started a production company, set up an office, acquired an Avid, and "leveraged" the package into funding. "Edge City," in its North American premiere here, takes the too-easily-exploited subject of teen violence and injects a raw street intensity into an intriguing plot. Using a combination of young professional actors and local kids, the film fixes on the social borders that divide hip-hop kids of south Philly from their wealthier suburban counterparts. "I involved the kids with everything. With shooting, cutting, test screening," said Martin of his methods. "I didn't want to preach down to them or water it down. I just wanted to be really aggressive." To that end, Martin utilized hand-held camera throughout the shoot before cutting up a storm. "We had 1700 edits. You wouldn't wanna see our negative cuts!" Martin is now wrangling his actors for a radio interview. In parting, he said that "Edge City" is being considered by three major distributors.

David Williams scaled down the production of his second feature, "Thirteen," which garnered great festival response in Toronto, Berlin and NY's New Directors/New Films. For "Thirteen," Williams was able to trim the crew and save money by shooting 16mm instead of Super-16. "It's nice to have a larger crew," said the filmmaker from his Virginia home, "but my real interest is getting a unique quality of acting from the actors." The result is an intimate, documentary-style study of an introverted girl who runs away from her family and returns with an odd goal during the week of her thirteenth birthday. Williams, who made the film with NEA and Rockefeller grant money, doesn't seem to mind lacking a distributor. "I'm just sticking to the festival circuit right now hoping that it gets good reviews." His strategy was rewarded at the Berlin market where "Thirteen" received the Jury Award in its classification.

Vicky Funari collected excellent reviews on a trail of festivals that wove through Havana, Sundance and Berlin. Now she's in San Francisco, where she lives, competing for the Golden Spire in the Bay Area Documentary division. Her stunning film, "Paulina," is a collection of revelations about the Mexican woman who served as the family maid during Funari's childhood. "Paulina" leads the audience back to the scene of her youth through interviews and dramatic recreations where she was exploited and traded for land. "It was hell," said Funari about raising the bucks. "Once I started fundraising it took about ten years." But under the wing of distributor Turbulent Arts, and a release plan, she said she's ready to tackle more projects which, hopefully, won't take another decade.

Angered by stated denials of racial motives and armed with seed money from the Discovery Channel, Berkeley-based Michael Chandler flew to rural South Carolina to gain confidences and secure interviews with local residents about two black churches that were burnt to the ground. "Forgotten Fires" is Chandler's gripping account of a small town lured into racial hatred when the KKK sets up shop. The film turns into a demented Klan fashion show as the camera was allowed full access to rallies and unhooded one-on-ones, and a gut-wrenching conversation with the self-confessed arson in prison. (Discretion allows only that the film contains a surprise ending any doc-maker would die for!) Chandler returned to shoot whenever he got more money. "If you make the movie, you're making the movie. If you wait, you won't," he said.

Local filmmaker Susan Stern has a calling card of gold in the title of her one-hour documentary, "Barbie Nation: An Unauthorized Tour." A background of investigative print journalism and a video production class set her on the path to indiedom. Her adulatory, yet subversive film follows the webs of the Barbie doll's influence, from high-rolling collectors to underground artists that reclaim Barbie for personal expression. The amazing and ironic life of Ruth Handler, Barbie's inventor and Mattel, Inc. co-founder, rises above much camp through intimate interviews. Stern's heels are hot from a premiere at Austin's SXSW Festival. "I got called by everybody: Miramax and Fine Line and Goldwyn and Sony Pictures Classics," recalled Stern. "And then they all called back and said, 'It's too short.'" She's getting her audience anyway with a prime airing on PBS' "P.O.V." Like many people who' ve managed to get their film out, Stern is confidently plotting her next move. "I have several ideas I'm working on now. Two documentaries, two features and a television show."

[For more information about the San Francisco International Film Festival, call: (415) 569-9700. Their web site is at www.sfiff.org/fest98.]