About us
Meet others who deliberately seek out challenging foreign, avant-garde, and experimental films screened in San Francisco or Berkeley. After each film, we will get together for conversation at a cafe.
If you, like me, also enjoy thought-provoking literature, check out my Classic Literature and Cafes Club: http://www.meetup.com/Classic-Literature-and-Cafes
Upcoming events
5
Free screening: "A Quiet Passion"
San Francisco Public Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA, USIn honor of National Poetry Month SFPL screens A Quiet Passion, the acclaimed biographical film about the American poet Emily Dickinson.
A Quiet Passion presents the story of American poet Emily Dickinson, from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognized artist. Written and directed by British filmmaker Terence Davies, the film stars Cynthia Nixon as the mature poet and co-stars Emma Bell as young Dickinson and Keith Carradine as the poet's father.
Director: Terence DaviesPG-13, 125 mins., 2016. Closed captions (CC) in English.
More info about the film: https://sfpl.org/events/2026/04/09/film-quiet-passion
11:45 Meet in SFPL's Koret Auditorium (lower level) at 100 Larkin St.
12:00 The film program starts at 12 pm
2:05 After the film we will stay for a brief post-screening conversation2:15 We will meet across the street at Gyro King (25 Grove St.) for more conversation.4 attendees
Germany in Autumn
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center Street, Berkeley, CA, USJoin us at Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive when we see the provocative anthology film Germany in Autumn, made by eleven directors of the New German Cinema. This film is part of the PFA’s months-long Fassbinder and the New German Cinema retrospective. NOTE: It is recommended that you purchase tickets in advance.
" Germany in Autumn, a collaborative effort of eleven of the leading filmmakers of the New German Cinema, reflects on the tragic events of autumn 1977, when a public official was kidnapped and executed by members of the Baader-Meinhof Group. It contains a startling and revealing autobiographical sequence by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who turns the camera mercilessly on himself in his exploration of private and public fascism. Shot in his apartment, this thirty-minute sequence near the beginning of the film provides a setting for the whole enterprise. It is an unblinking portrait of the artist as a powerless intellectual, and of the powerless intellectual as a personal tyrant.”—Pacific Film Archive
Pacific Film Archive Tickets, Information, and Directions: https://bampfa.org/event/germany-autumn
Fassbinder and the New German Cinema (March 6 – May 17): https://bampfa.org/program/Fassbinder-New-German-Cinema
3:00 Meet at PFA's Box Office (2155 Center Street) to purchase or pick up tickets.
The film starts at 3:30.
5:30 After the film we will meet at Elaichi cafe on 2161 Allston Way for conversation.2 attendees
"Zama" + director Lucrecia Martel in person
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center Street, Berkeley, CA, USJoin us at Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive when we see Argentine director Lucrecia Martel’s acclaimed 2017 feature film, Zama. This film is part of the PFA’s month-long Martel retrospective: Lucrecia Martel: Un destino común. NOTE: It is highly recommended that you purchase tickets in advance.
"Adapted from the 1956 novel by Argentine writer Antonio di Benedetto, Zama is a Buñuelian glimpse into a colonial abyss via the mind and body of Don Diego de Zama. An officer of the Spanish crown stationed at a remote proto-Paraguayan outpost, Zama exists in perpetual anticipation of his transfer home. Martel describes Zama as a ‘man trapped in who he thinks he is,’ and over the course of the film, we observe his struggle to preserve his morality, identity, and sanity while waiting interminably for relocation.”—Pacific Film Archive
Pacific Film Archive Tickets, Information, and Directions: https://bampfa.org/event/zama
Lucrecia Martel: Un destino común (April 4-19 https://bampfa.org/program/lucrecia-martel-un-destino-comun
6:45 Meet at PFA's Box Office (2155 Center Street) to purchase or pick up tickets.
The film starts at 7:00.
9:00 After the film we will stay for the brief Q&A with director Martel, then meet at Elaichi cafe on 2161 Allston Way for conversation.2 attendees
The Edge of Each Other's Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde
San Francisco Public Library Main, Lower Level, Latino/Hispanic Room, 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA, USIn honor of National Poetry Month the San Francisco Public Library screens The Edge of Each Other's Battles: The Vision of Audre Lorde, a powerful documentary and moving tribute to legendary black lesbian feminist poet Audre Lorde.
One of the most celebrated icons of feminism's second wave, Lorde inspired several generations of activists with her riveting poetry. She served as a catalyst for change and united the communities of which she was a part: black arts and black liberation, women's liberation and lesbian and gay liberation. Nowhere was this more apparent than at the groundbreaking I Am Your Sister Conference, which brought together 1,200 activists from 23 countries. The film's documentation of this conference includes thrilling footage of the inimitable Lorde herself, and candid interviews with conference organizers. The Edge of Each Other's Battles brings Lorde's legacy of poetry and politics to life and conveys the spirit, passion and intensity that remains her trademark.
Director: Jennifer Abod
NR, 59 mins., 2002. Closed captions (CC) in English.More info about the film: https://sfpl.org/events/2026/04/30/film-edge-each-others-battles
5:45 Meet in SFPL's Latino Room (lower level) at 100 Larkin St.
6:00 The film starts at 6 p.m.
7:05 After the film we will stay for a brief post-screening conversation.5 attendees
Past events
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