Sonoma State Star > Arts & Entertainment
Sonoma Film Institute
Published: Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Updated: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 21:04
For fans of alternative film, quality screenings are difficult to find. Especially in the United States, where the highly produced franchise films of Hollywood hog most of the attention, foreign and independent films of quality are rare.
But here in Sonoma County, in fact, right here on our own campus, is an organization whose mission is to bring these very films to the community.
The Sonoma State Film Institute (SFI) is a locally run program that is the oldest film organization in the North Bay Area. Since 1973, SFI has unspooled enough celluloid to reach the next galaxy.
Every year, SFI screens over 50 films ranging from silent to foreign to avant-garde.
"These screenings - ranging from silent cinema to the avant-garde, from contemporary American fare to films from the Third World - expand the educational opportunities to students, as well as providing cultural benefit to the campus and surrounding community," reads the SFI website.
"The Sonoma Film Institute, now in its 36 consecutive year of operation, offers a wide variety of screenings in Warren Auditorium, Ives Hall. It is a fun and meaningful form of education, understanding and awareness, SFI introduces students to a way of making films," explained Eleanor Nichols, long time director of the Sonoma Film Institute.
SFI has a long standing history of allowing many different people to present their films and in some cases those people have gone on to more recognition, such as famous movie director Werner Herzog (Rescue Dawn) who showed his first works during the early years of the institute.
Herzog was just a regular moviemaker at first, but since his time working with SFI, has gone on to direct larger scale Hollywood movies including "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" and "My Son, What Have Ye Done?"
He has worked with several well-known actors as well, including Christian Bale, William Defoe, Eva Mendes and Nicholas Cage.
SFI has also hosted several appearances and lectures by Hollywood legends such as Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) and King Vidor (Duel in the Sun).
Working closely with the School of Arts and Humanities, SFI's programming is closely synchronized with Sonoma State classes. In addition, SSU instructors often utilize the SFI screenings as supplemental material, recommended sources or required viewing for their students.
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