Twenty-six years ago, a few intrepid souls decided that San Francisco was lacking a film festival that would embrace the edgy, the rebellious and the unexpected.
And thus was SF IndieFest launched. It has been the home of many funky and offbeat movies — both from the Bay Area and around the world — ever since.
The newest festival, which runs Feb. 8-18 at the Roxie Theater and the 4 Star Theater, as well as virtually, is filled with an array of strange and beautiful local films.
Produced by San Francisco resident Bridget Harris, “Darla in Space” tells the story of Darla (USF grad Alex E. Harris), who dreams of running a caskets-for-cats business, but suddenly learns that she’s more than $300,000 in debt to the IRS.
While cleaning a warehouse, she discovers a “sentient kombucha scoby,” which looks like a large, thick tortilla that floats in a wading pool. The creature, called “Mother,” can communicate with her and provide mind-bending orgasms. Darla gets the idea to charge customers $1,000 per session with Mother — and all she has to do in return is send Mother to space.
The bizareness that lies in this description — and there’s plenty more to it — is the movie’s main strength; it has imagination, and it’s not afraid to have fun with it, or go to some disquieting places. It plays at the Roxie on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m.
Another film, by East Bay filmmaker Alex Zajicek, is the ultra-meta-comedy “Sorry, We’re Dead,” about Lana Jing (Sarah Lee), who dreams of being a filmmaker, but only works long hours filming and editing lectures.
Most of the plot revolves around an accidentally-damaged hard drive, but the movie is a constant swirl of movie-movie play, calling attention to itself and then calling attention to its calling attention to itself.
With Lee’s deadpan performance holding things down, it’s a clever and funny ride. It plays at the Roxie on Feb. 10 at 9 p.m.
The stark drama “Unfix” introduces us to Ari (Bay Area-raised Zane Haney), who, as a child, suffered a gay conversion-therapy program run by his own father.
He is in a loving relationship with Ava (Zoë Papia), whom he’s known since they were children. As the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown begins, Ari’s past, his sexuality and his choices begin to haunt the couple’s lives.
This is one of those movies that wouldn’t exist if characters would simply talk to each other, but it’s still a powerful tale, making use of relevant, real-world horrors and beauties. It screens at the Roxie on Feb. 9 at 8:45 p.m.
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Moving on to documentaries, we have the soul-stirring “Finding Lucinda,” which screens at the Roxie on Feb. 14 at 7:45 p.m.
It tells the story of Bay Area-based farmer-turned-singer/songwriter ISMAY (This is how the actress Avery Hellman writes her stage name), who road-trips around the United States, speaking to veteran musicians and trying to decide whether she should go pro like her hero, Lucinda Williams.
There’s also “Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s,” which is co-directed by San Francisco-based Laura Green. This film explores the lives of three different people living with the degenerative disease, including San Francisco-based boxing coach Veronica Garcia-Hayes.
Garcia-Hayes’ relationship with her pre-teen daughter Isa is, surprisingly, even more touching than her experiences in the ring. This film plays at the Roxie on Feb. 10 at noon.
“Modernism, Inc.: The Eliot Noyes Design Story” tells the fascinating story of the legendary architect who changed corporate branding forever when he streamlined the look and feel of IBM.
Produced by Berkeley-based Camille Servan-Schreiber, it’s a terrific film for architecture nerds as well as amateurs, carefully and thoroughly explaining why things work the way they do. It plays at the Roxie on Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m.
Finally, we have a smattering of local short films, starting with the poetic “An Attempt to Exhaust a Place in San Francisco,” in which a young woman (Priscilla Phillips) sits in Washington Square Park and observes all that she sees.
Ethan Roberts’ “At Lucy’s Last Night” tells of the aftermath of a hookup at a party amidst a strange, slowly-approaching phenomenon.
Kerry Muir’s “Madame” is something of a dream-logic film noir as a young lady (Maggie Rose Mersmann) comes to live with an old, domineering, wig-wearing “madame” (Ann Mayo Muir), and learns an important lesson.
All three play — along with a selection of other shorts — at the Roxie on Feb. 10 at 4:30 p.m. at the Roxie.
See you at the movies, fellow misfits!
