101 nights
Velvet Vampires, Godzilla, and Guy Maddin entice cinemaniacs.

By Johnny Ray Huston

YOU KNOW YOUR movie love runs deep when you organize your date book around local visits by favorite filmmakers. Here in the Bay Area, it's easy to fall hard this way at first sight, since we're host to some of the best film programming in the nation. If you're one of those manic decadents utterly mad about the Guy whose last name is Maddin, you might as well move into the Pacific Film Archive in October. One month later, cinemaniac happiness is a thing called Joe – specifically, the November residency of Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, including a special early look at his Cannes award winner Tropical Malady. And what in tarnation is coming to the Castro Theatre? Why, only Jonathan Caouette's documentary of that name, which just might spark a revolution in first-person filmmaking. More about these events, and 101 or so more nights at the movies, can be found below.

Artists' Television Access Other Cinema hosts an evening devoted to Best of the Bay winners Whispered Media (Sept. 11) and a benefit for USA PATRIOT Act victim Stephen Kurtz (Sept. 25); Erik Davis's lecture-demo "Altered State: California Visionary Film" includes work by Harry Smith, Kenneth Anger, Curtis Harrington, and Bruce Conner (Oct. 11; the cost? – $6.66). Check out Super 8 Militia meetings on the first Tuesday and open screenings on the fourth Friday of each month. 992 Valencia, S.F. (415) 824-8390, www.atasite.org.

Berkeley Video and Film Festival The 10th edition brought Damon Packard's Star Wars Mockumentary; this year the East Bay Media Center has added another day to the event. Oct. 15-17, UC Berkeley, Wheeler Auditorium, Bancroft and Telegraph, Berk. (510) 843-3699, www.berkeleyvideofilmfest.org.

Castro Theatre Do not miss Caouette's oft-revelatory Tarnation (Oct. 15-21), a personal work that remakes the rules of documentary. Retrospectives of cinematographers don't happen often enough – a tribute to Seconds visionary James Wong Howe (Oct. 22-28) remedies that situation. Also, Gilles Pontecorvo's Battle of Algiers follow-up, Burn! (Nov. 17-25), receives deluxe revival treatment. 429 Castro, S.F. (415) 621-6120, www.castrotheatre.com.

Christopher B. Smith Raphael Film Center "Erotic Tales: The Complete Series" (Sept. 29-Oct. 6) brings together short works by strange bedfellows including Melvin van Peebles and Ken Russell; the "Films of My Life" series continues, with Rob Nilsson discussing John Cassavetes' Faces (Oct. 5). 1118 Fourth St., San Rafael. (415) 454-1222, www.cafilm.org.

¡Cine Latino! Film Festival A two-pronged program this year begins at the Victoria Theatre and then leaps to the University San Francisco's Presentation Theatre. That means a pair of opening nights, the first devoted to Mission Movie, the second to Chilean films. Aug. 26-29, Victoria Theatre, 2961 16th St., S.F.; Sept. 15-17, USF's Presentation Theatre, 2350 Turk, S.F. (415) 553-8135, www.cineaccion.com.

Cinemayaat Control Room screens alongside works that haven't gotten U.S. release, including Route 181 and Generation X-Saddam, a look at Iraq before and after the March 2003 invasion. The fiction features – including one by Téchiné pupil Gaël Morel – are as varied as the docs are vital. Oct. 2-10 and 24. Opening night at the Castro Theatre; festival dates at Roxie Cinema, UC Berkeley's Wheeler Auditorium, and Camera 12 (San Jose). (415) 564-1100, www.aff.org.

Film Arts Foundation's Festival of Independent Cinema Taking over the Castro and the Roxie Cinema once again, the fest turns 20 – as the Web site puts it, "Yes it's true ... we're almost legal." Nov. 11-14, schedule TBA. www.filmarts.org.

Film Night in the Park Local director Jennifer Kroot's Sirens of the 23rd Century gets the outdoor treatment in San Anselmo (Aug. 27), Dark Passage plays Washington Square Park (Sept. 18), and Harold and Maude frolic in Dolores Park, adding a little May-December to October (the ninth, to be precise). (415) 453-4333, www.filmnight.org.

Four Star Theatre Just in time for Halloween comes Hideo Nakata's Dark Water, superior to his Ringu and – along with Kiyoshi Kurosawa's equally creepy-sad Kairo, which has to have a run someday, hint – one of the twin peaks of the Japanese horror wave. 2200 Clement, S.F. (415) 666-3488, www.hkinsf.com.

'Frame by Frame' The HBO documentary film series turns three, showcasing the latest works by filmmakers such as locally based Derrida codirector Kirby Dick. Sept. 10-12, Brava Theater Center, 2781 24th St., S.F. (415) 765-7793, www.hbo.com/doc/framebyframe.

Goethe Institut "Artur Brauner, Producer" (Aug. 31-Oct. 1) includes films by Andrzej Wajda and Agnieszka Holland. For insight into a different era's and culture's denial, check out a series devoted to '50s heimat films (Oct. 5-Nov. 16), back-to-nature escapism for German audiences seeking to avoid the recent past. 530 Bush, S.F. (415) 263-8760, www.goethe.de/uk/saf/enindex.htm.

'Independent Exposure' The ninth season continues, offering a summer edition (Aug. 30) and a 13-shorts autumnal program (Sept. 27). 111 Minna Gallery, 11 Minna, S.F. (415) 864-0660, www.microcinema.com.

Latino Film Festival The fest is almost one week longer this year, and the venue locales span from S.F. to San Jose. Schedule TBA. (415) 454-4039, www.latinofilmfestival.org.

MadCat Women's International Film Festival Ariella Ben-Dov's great idea expands even further this year. Stephanie Rothman's The Velvet Vampire and a performance art showcase (including Yoko Ono's Cut Piece and pioneers such as Carolee Schneeman and Valie Export) are two highlights. Keep an eye out for local filmmaker Marie Losier's portrait of the Kuchar brothers! Sept. 14-Oct. 28, Artists' Television Access, El Rio, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and a TBA East Bay venue. (415) 436-9523, www.madcatfilmfestival.org.

Mill Valley Film Festival If you want to see it first, look to Mill Valley: as usual, the MVFF promises the stateside debuts of gems from Cannes and the Toronto International Film Festival. Oct. 7-17, venues and schedule TBA. (415) 383-5256, www.cafilm.org.

Oakland International Film Festival Turning three this year, the politicized fest includes work by a number of local filmmakers (including Pepe Urquijo), features from Brazil and Senegal, and a program devoted to "Faces of War." Sept. 15-22, Grand Lake Theater, Oakl. (510) 452-3556, www.oaklandfilmsociety.org.

Parkway Will "the Thrill" Viharo uncorks the sixth annual noir fest (Sept. 10-30), including Dirty Harry and some special Shadow-laden Thrillville presentations. October opens the door for some Ghoulardi-style – or creature feature, depending on your childhood memories – horror shows. 1834 Park, Oakl. (510) 814-2400, www.thrillville.net.

PFA Theater Thank heaven for the Pacific Film Archive. Its "Alternative Visions" program (Sept. 7-Oct. 26) includes Morgan Fisher's celebrated tribute to the insert shot, (). "Neo-eiga: New Japanese Cinema" (Sept. 17-19) turns four this year. But the prize jewel of the fall lineup is a nearly monthlong (Oct. 8-31) series devoted to mad Guy Maddin, kicking off with a visit from the man himself and featuring the Bay Area premiere of Cowards Bend the Knee, perhaps his most lavishly praised celluloid pleasure chamber. 2575 Bancroft, Berk. (510) 642-1412, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu.

Red Vic Movie House Pedal uphill for the Bicycle Film Festival (Oct. 8-9). Sprinkle some yeast on your popcorn, sink into a snug couch, and marvel at Bruce Bickford's perverse claymation in Monster Road (Sept. 23-27). Another doc portrait, of Howard Zinn, arrives in mid-October; the title – You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train – is election-ready. 1727 Haight, S.F. (415) 668-3994, www.redvicmoviehouse.com.

Resfest The latest Resfest promises an emphasis on animated, live-action and graphics-oriented breakthroughs. Don't miss Greg Araya's non sequitur-powered "Crimenals," or the media-jamming and music video programs. Sept. 30-Oct. 3, Palace of Fine Arts, 3301 Lyon, S.F. (415) 567-6642, www.resfest.com.

Roxie Cinema The blistering media critique Orwell Turns in His Grave (Aug. 27-Sept. 2) adds to the Roxie's rep as S.F.'s agit-doc headquarters. 3117 16th St., S.F. (415) 863-1087, www.roxie.com.

San Francisco Cinematheque After an evening with Jon Jost (Oct. 3), the S.F. Cinematheque gets political with two different programs devoted to the history of campaign advertising, the second one a scary Halloween edition put together by Antonio Muntadas (Oct. 28 and Oct. 31). Simon Pummell's life-cycle study, Bodysong, scored by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, plays the Castro (Nov. 8-10). (415) 552-1990, www.sfcinematheque.org.

San Francisco Film Society "Film in the Fog" brings Robby the Robot and a pre-Selsun Blue Leslie Nielson in CinemaScope when Forbidden Planet screens (Oct. 2). Main Post Theater, Presidio, S.F. (415) 561-5000, www.sfiff.org.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts September unleashes a "Giant Monster Attack," starring Godzilla and Gamera. On Oct. 1, things get scarier with "God Bless the GOP," an evening of vintage Republican propaganda films. Early November brings a visit by Thai phenom – and front-runner for most exciting director of the moment – Weerasethakul; explore his two Cannes award winners, Blissfully Yours and Tropical Malady, and the phrase "welcome to the jungle" will take on a whole new meaning. 701 Mission, S.F. (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org.