The reel deal
Drive-in blobs, rep houses, and fests set autumn aflame.

By David Fear

AUTUMN OFFERS A chance to step away from the multiplexes and give the art houses a spin. The seasonal limbo between blockbuster overload and earnest Oscar contenders used to be a time when studios released their "serious" films, but now that the sap and the CGI run rampant all year round, local cinegeeks and celluloid addicts can turn to the alternative venues and abundant festivals that color the calendar for their hardcore fix. Here's a rundown of the names, places, and dates you'll need to know for the next few months.

Artists' Television Access ATA never disappoints those looking for the gutsy reel deal. Fans of Michael Smith (a.k.a. "Super8Man") can catch his latest cut-up erotica exercise Sept. 5; The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, a lauded doc on the recent Venezuelan coup, will screen Sept. 24; and the space continues to host Craig Baldwin's Other Cinema – don't miss the vintage war propaganda review Oct. 25! 992 Valencia, S.F. (415) 824-3890, www.atasite.org.

Auctions by the Bay Theatre Rialto Renaissance Theatres recently renovated a plush 450-seat auditorium on the Alameda Naval Base. Celebrate this art deco jewel's reopening with a gala reception before North by Northwest unspools Sept. 19; perennial favorites such as A Night at the Opera (Sept. 27), The Searchers (Oct. 11), and The Philadelphia Story (Oct. 15) will soon grace the big screen there. 2700 Saratoga, Alameda. (510) 740-0220, www.auctionsbythebay.com/html/movies.htm.

Berkeley Video and Film Festival The 10th edition of the East Bay Media Center's annual pixilated cornucopia sets up camp at UC Berkeley's Wheeler Auditorium for two days of spotlighting local talent. Nov. 1-2, UC Berkeley, Wheeler Auditorium, Taylor and Telegraph, Berk. (510) 843-3699, www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org.

Castro Theatre Forget that fog-encrusted bridge past the Presidio: San Francisco's true landmark is the Castro Theatre's towering (and finally, fully functioning!) marquee. The premiere Bay Area rep house continues to screen great films old ('50s French gangster gem Touchez pas au grisbi, Sept. 26-Oct. 2; legendary iconoclast Chris Marker's Sans soleil and La jetée, Nov. 21-27; a revival of From Here to Eternity, Dec. 5-11) and new (nihilism Viennese-style via Ulrich Seidl's Dog Days, Oct. 3-9; Elvis-ploitation insta-classic Bubba Ho-Tep, Oct. 10-16; J-punk pop art Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space, Nov. 28-Dec. 4). Keep an eye out for an Ozu retrospective (Nov. 14-20) as well. 429 Castro, S.F. (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com.

Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center This fall will see noted film scholar Patrick McGilligan rhapsodizing about Hitchcock and The Thirty-Nine Steps (Oct. 13), a series of Australian films that have never been screened on these shores (Nov. 21-23), and three days devoted to New Indian Cinema (Dec. 5-7). 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org.

¡Cine Latino! Film Festival Promising everything from "reel visionaries to digital rebels," ¡Cine Latino! gears up for a celebration of Latino media arts from the past (opening night includes the Spanish-language version of 1931's Dracula) to the present and beyond (its Youth Program is a consistent treat). Sept. 17-21, Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St., S.F.; Palace of the Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park (near 34th and Clement), S.F. www.cineaccion.com.

Cinemayaat The Bay Area's premiere Arab film festival gives local viewers a Middle East perspective that's worlds apart from the daily onslaught of news propaganda. Its documentaries, features, and shorts usually contain some of the year's best cine-imports. Sept. 25-Oct. 4, opening night at the Castro Theatre; festival dates at Roxie Cinema, UC Berkeley's Wheeler Auditorium, and San Jose's Town Theater (1433 The Alameda, San Jose). www.aff.org.

Film Arts Foundation's Festival of Independent Cinema In addition to providing local filmmakers with the resources and knowledge to capture their dreams on film/video all year round, the Film Arts Foundation sponsors four days of screenings, seminars, and symposiums on do-it-yourself filmmaking. Pick up your tickets, then pick up a camera and get shooting! Oct. 30-Nov. 2. Venues and schedule TBA. www.filmarts.org.

Film Noir Festival at the Grand Lake Theater Former Roxie Cinema programmer Elliot Lavine and local author Eddie Mueller are men who know their noir, and luckily, they're willing to share the wealth. They're both behind a series that will pull well-known classics and mysterious gems out of the shadows. Sept. 27-Oct. 9. 2300 Grand, Oakl. (510) 452-3556.

Four Star Theatre If you want to see the latest in contemporary Asian cinema, you go to the Four Star. Really, it's that simple. Owner-film scholar Frank Lee promises a healthy dose of Richmond District fall fun, including an especially spooky "Midnight for Maniacs" program that slithers onto screens mid October. 2200 Clement, S.F. (415) 666-3488, www.hkinsf.com.

Goethe Institut Though it sponsors January's Berlin and Beyond Film Festival, Goethe Institut doesn't limit its cinematic endeavors to once a year. It cohosts screenings of the documentary series "Europe Watches America" with the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in September, and it regularly highlights the latest in German film. Of note: Missing Allen (Sept. 23), about independent filmmaker Allen Ross's disappearance into the world of religious cults. 530 Bush, S.F. (415) 263-8760, www.goethe.de/uk/saf/enindex.htm.

'Halloweird' Halloween is a time of ghosts, goblins, and ... short films? You won't think that sounds so ridiculous once you catch Microcinema International's final 2003 program, which highlights creepy minifilms and videos. Oct. 26, 111 Minna Gallery, 111 Minna, S.F. (415) 864-0660, www.microcinema.com.

The Latino Film Festival This fest continues to showcase film and video from Cuba, Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and its own Mission District backyard. Nov. 6-16. Venues and schedule TBA. www.latinofilmfestival.org.

MadCat Women's International Film Festival MadCat has built a name for itself thanks to an eclectic, kitchen-sink celebration of all things cine-estrogenic. One highlight this year is the "Clear Vision" night, featuring work from Maya Deren (Sept. 30). Sept. 9-Oct. 5. Screenings at Artists' Television Access, PFA Theater, and El Rio (3158 Mission, S.F.). (415) 282-3325, www.madcatfilmfestival.org.

Mill Valley Film Festival So you want to see movie stars and catch film premieres, but you don't want to leave the cozy confines of the North Bay? The Mill Valley fest offers NorCal residents a harvest of Hollywood newbies, foreign gems, and indie classics-to-be. Just mind the paparazzi, please. Oct. 2-12. Venues and schedule TBA. (415) 383-5256, www.cafilm.org.

Oakland International Film Festival Here's one of the newer kids on the festival block (this is only its second year). But judging from the movies its sponsor, the Oakland Film Society, has already managed to cull, it shouldn't be long before you can say, "Ah, I knew them way back when ..." Sept. 18-25. Venues and schedule TBA. www.oaklandfilmsociety.org.

PFA Theater I once considered having my mail forwarded straight to the PFA. Reasons to camp out on campus this season include retrospectives of Fassbinder and Ozu (Nov. 23-Dec. 21), a look at new Latin American cinema (Saturdays, Oct. 11-25), programs on both Japanese anime (Nov. 1-2) and Polish animation (weekends, Oct. 8-16), and author Greil Marcus lecturing from his recent British Film Institute book on The Manchurian Candidate (Nov. 22). 2575 Bancroft, Berk. (510) 642-1412, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu.

Red Vic Movie House Even those who don't like the Upper Haight's Dead-show parking lot vibe make a "trip" for the couches and yeast-covered popcorn of the Red Vic. Its fall lineup offers local premieres of docs on the Albany landfill (Bum's Paradise, Oct. 16), backyard wrestling (The Backyard, Oct. 7-11), musician Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (A Voice from Heaven, Nov. 23-25), and – surprise – big-wave surfing (Fueled, Nov. 26-Dec. 1). Also, look for the directorial debut from Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk, Melvin Goes to Dinner (Dec. 4-8). 1727 Haight, S.F. (415) 668-3994.

RESFEST This traveling digi-circus promises the cutting edge of digital shorts and features, naturally, but its most exciting aspect may be an emphasis on music videos, with miniprograms on pioneers such as Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze. Sept. 18-21, Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon, S.F. www.resfest.com.

Roxie Cinema Those desiring an authentic S.F. experience don't go to Pier 39. They grab an infant-size burrito from a Mission Street taquería, walk up a few blocks, down some cocktails, then head to the Roxie. This autumn brings the birth of the "Little Roxie" screening room. It also provides an eyeful of shorts (Sept. 12-17), several festival screenings, a mini-Polanski tribute (Oct. 3-9), and a Fassbinder retrospective (Aug. 29-Sept. 11; Sept. 19-24). 3117 16th St., S.F. (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com.

S.F. Cinematheque Making avant-gardists' fever dreams come true, the S.F. Cinematheque is cosponsoring a screening of works by Germaine Dupac with the PFA Theater (Sept. 14-30), a program of new docs titled "California Stories" at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (Oct. 23), a Halloween night full of Thundercrack! at the Roxie Cinema (Oct. 31), and rarest of all, a screening of famed musicologist Harry Smith's 1980 magnum opus, Film 18: Mahagonny, at the Castro Theatre (Nov. 5). (415) 552-1990, www.sfcinematheque.org.

S.F. Film Society SFFS always finds time for a few treats during the off-season, such as the "Film in the Fog" night, wherein drive-in movie classic The Blob invades the Presidio (Oct. 4). It's also behind the "New Italian Cinema" mini-festival, in conjunction with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura (Nov. 16-23). 'Film in the Fog,' Main Post Theater, the Presidio, S.F.; 'New Italian Cinema,' AMC Kabuki 8 Theatres, 1881 Post, S.F. (415) 561-5000, www.sfiff.org.

S.F. IndieFest Microcinema What does local indie film maven Jeff Ross do when he's not putting together the S.F. IndieFest and DocFest? He heads the S.F. Indiefest Microcinema, Mondays through Fridays (8 p.m. sharp) at Jezebel's Joint. Check the online schedule to see what's in store – could be a documentary on pre-TV-saturation Ozzy Osbourne, could be a local feature on the end of the world. 510 Larkin, S.F. www.sfindie.com.

ViV and a Movie Matt Ostrander had a band (ViV) and a dream: to see films, art, and music mesh into a semi-cohesive whole, at a bar, while people drank. Thus ViV and a Movie was born, a once-a-week (Monday, 7 p.m.) happening wherein shorts from local filmmakers screen at the Red Devil Lounge in between sets by Ostrander's band and guest performers. 1695 Polk, S.F. (415) 921-1695, www.vivandamovie.com.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Has it really been 10 years already? The pride of the downtown area marks a decade with dual celebrations: "Ten Hours of Torment," a one-day marathon of trash-film nuggets courtesy of über-curator Joel Shepherd ("It's free to get in, but you pay to get out!" – Oct. 18); and "Ten Perfect Moments," a smorgasbord of greatest hits from the YBC's back catalog. Don't miss: a rare chance to "get physical" with Trent Harris's psychotropic The Beaver Trilogy (Nov. 7); the return of the New York music series Nightclubbing (Nov. 14-15); and a night of homoeroticism featuring Jack Smith's Flaming Creatures and Andy Warhol's Imitation of Christ (Dec. 5). 701 Mission, S.F. (415) 978-2787, www.yerbabuenaarts.org.