52nd San Francisco International Film Festival
The 52nd San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 23 - May 7, 2009 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, the Castro Theatre and Landmark's Clay Theatre in San Francisco; and the Pacific Film Archive Theater in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, the International is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in the country's most beautiful city, featuring 25 juried awards, 200 films and live events with upwards of 100 participating filmmakers and diverse audiences of 75,000+ people.
and the winners are...

Investigative Documentary Feature:
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country, Anders Østergaard (Denmark/Sweden 2008)
• Winner receives a $25,000 cash prize

Bay Area Documentary Feature:
D tour, Jim Granato (USA 2008)
• Winner receives a $15,000 cash prize, Final Cut Studio 2.0.1 software courtesy of Apple and $2,000 worth of lab services from EFILM Digital Laboratories

Documentary Feature:
Nomad's Land, Gaël Métroz (Switzerland 2008)
• Winner receives a $20,000 cash prize and Final Cut Studio 2.0.1 software courtesy of Apple


New Directors Award
Snow, Aida Begic (Bosnia and Herzegovina 2008)
• Winner receives a $15,000 cash prize and Final Cut Studio 2.0.1 software courtesy of Apple


FIPRESCI Prize
Everything Strange and New, Frazer Bradshaw (USA 2008)


Golden Gate Award Short Film Winners

Adobe Youth Film for Change:
A Generation of Consolidation, Samantha Muilenburg, Brooke Noel (USA 2008)
• Winner receives a $1,500 cash prize and an Adobe production suite certificate

Youth Work:
No Light at the End of the Tunnel, Charlotte Burger (USA 2008)
• Winner receives a $1,500 cash prize and an Adobe production suite certificate

Honorable Mention:
Poetry in the Dark, Daniel Kharlak (USA 2008)

Work for Kids and Families:
Mutt, Glen Hunwick (Australia 2008)
• Winner receives a $1,500 cash prize

Animated Short:
Kanizsa Hill, Evelyn Lee (USA 2008)
• Winner receives a $2,000 cash prize

New Visions:
Circles of Confusion, Phoebe Tooke (USA 2008)
• Winner receives a $1,500 cash prize and 1,000 feet of Kodak film stock

Bay Area Short, First Prize:
Immersion, Richard Levien (USA 2008)
• Winner receives a $2,000 cash prize

Bay Area Short, Second Prize:
Utopia, Part 3: The World's Largest Shopping Mall, Sam Green, Carrie Lozano (USA 2008)
• Winner receives a $1,500 cash prize

Documentary Short:
Tongzhi in Love, Ruby Yang (USA 2008)
• Winner receives a $5,000 cash prize

Narrative Short:
Angels Die in the Soil, Babak Amini (Iran 2008)
• Winner receives a $5,000 cash prize and 1,000 feet of Kodak film stock

Previously announced Golden Gate Award winner (Television)
TV Narrative Long Form:
Artemisia, Chiang Hsui-chiung (Taiwan 2008)

Also announced: San Francisco Film Society/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grant winner. See dedicated release.


San Francisco Film Society
The San Francisco Film Society is a nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to celebrating the world of film and media in four core areas: Internationalism and Cross-Cultural Exchange; Educating and Inspiring Bay Area Youth; Showcasing Bay Area Film Culture; and Exploring New Media.

SFFS shows the best of world cinema year-round on its SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas and presents the San Francisco International Animation Festival, New Italian Cinema and French Cinema Now annually in the fall. In all, the Film Society presents more than 300 days of programming each year, reaching a total audience of more than 100,000 people. Its acclaimed youth education program introduces international cinema and media literacy to more than 7,000 teachers and students annually.

The Film Society publishes a daily online magazine, SF360.org, with broad-ranging news and features on Bay Area film culture and provides crucial support to the Bay Area filmmaking community through SFFS filmmaker services including grants & residencies, fiscal sponsorship, production assistance and development, networking and conference events, and professional-level filmmaker classes and workshops.