Natalie Baszile Pivots from Author to Filmmaker with Documentary ‘Harvest’

By Noma Faingold

In the documentary, “Harvest,” co-directors Natalie Baszile and her daughter, Hyacinth Parker, let the four Nelson brothers tell and show the story of family farm life in rural Louisiana, revealing all the complexities, struggles, tragedy, resilience and togetherness.

From a stunning view, high above the acres of corn, soy and cotton, the uniformed lines of growth look harmonious. At ground level, the reality isn’t so pristine. “Harvest” opens with the four brothers, who are devoted to farming and to each other, hindered by outdated, faulty machinery. Continue reading →

Afterdeath Communication? — “This Bright Light” Opens A Fascinating Dialogue About Possibilities

An Interview with Director Alex Lexton

by Geneva Anderson                   (October 9, 2026)

Alexandra Lexton, Photo: In Her Image Photography

An interest in the bonds that tie us to one another eternally and in afterdeath communication drives Sebastopol director Alexandra Lexton’s fascinating docudrama, “This Bright Light,” which has its world premiere at the Mill Valley Film Festival (MVFF49) on Saturday, October 10th.  Marking Lexton’s fourth film at MVFF, this mostly Bay Area-shot story traces the loving but turbulent sweep of Marin rhythmic gymnast Tamarin Luchessa’s life. Her Olympic dreams were crushed by the onset of increasingly debilitating health issues that plagued her for over two decades until her death at age 42.  Still, she managed to live life with extraordinary intensity.

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Shows Bea Arthur Was the Person You Think She Was and More

By Noma Faingold.  (October 2, 2026)

Award-winning actress/singer Bea Arthur, best known for culture-shifting characters in sitcoms, “The Golden Girls” and “Maude,” rarely gave interviews. She preferred to keep her life private. She never went into show business seeking fame. She spent decades in live theater before landing “Maude” at age 49.

 

Arthur trusted director/producer Dan Watt, who was also Arthur’s personal assistant from 2004 until her death in 2009, to tell her story. An intimate, 90-minute lunchtime interview became the catalyst for the new feature film, “Bea Arthur: The Documentary – I’ve Done Everything Except Porn.”

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San Francisco Plays a Pivotal Role in Beth de Araújo’s Family Drama “Josephine”

By Noma Faingold.  (October 1, 2026)

Picture Josephine, a sporty eight-year-old girl, without a care in the world, jogging in Golden Gate Park with her father at dawn. Being that it’s a familiar activity, she races ahead to show her athletic dad what she can do. Abruptly, she comes upon a man following a female jogger into a public restroom. The woman screams and frantically tries to get away, but he catches her and forces her to the ground.

Josephine instinctively hides behind a nearby tree and watches it all, a clumsy, violent sexual assault. Josephine, played by newcomer Mason Reeves, is transfixed. She is scared and doesn’t dare move. A variety of subtle expressions roll across her face. Her father, Damien, played by Channing Tatum, comes into view and interrupts the brutal act. After making sure his daughter is out of immediate danger, he chases after the assailant. Damien catches him with the help of police.

Yet Josephine will never be the same.

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“Laura” Noir From The Page to The Big Screen

In celebration of a new season of You Must Remember This, the podcast’s award-winning creator and host Karina Longworth introduces the Mill Valley Film Festival’s screening of Laura with opening remarks sure to deepen our appreciation and understanding of Otto Preminger’s classic 1944 noir. The showing wil be on Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 3:00 at the Lark Theatre.  Info and tickets here.

For film buffs and literature lovers alike, Turner Classic Movies presents an essential guide to 40 cinematic classics and the enduring love stories that have served as their heart-tugging inspiration. We are proud to present Kristen Lopez’s chapter on the classic film noir Laura from her new book, “But Have You Read the Book? Romance Edition:40 Love Stories That Inspired Our Favorite Films.”

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RE:Vision Revisited

A rarely seen film by the director of the Czech cult classic Marketa Lazarová; El Santo, the silver-masked wrestling hero in his most gonzo adventure with our hero battling a murderous mob of escaped lepers in a small town, resulting in a Western-cum-horror-cum-action picture, but with a twist; an intimate look at teenage girls in the first film directed by a woman in Sri Lanka; the realities of gay love in 1997s Guinea; stones rain, curses come true, and goats are not to be trusted in an era of great poverty and no little superstition in pre-Famine Ireland;  and an unlikely duo of a wanderer on the run and reluctant monk, facing danger at every turn in a 1980s Thai actioner with thrilling fight scenes.

These restored and rarely seen films from the 1960s-1990s are just part of Re:Vision playing at San Francisco’s Roxie Theater September 24-27, 2026. Many are being screened at cinemas, museums and festivals around the world.

 

Going further back to the first half of the last century: A silent pre-pre-code or a proto-screwball comedy with skimpy costumes, gender play, and sexual innuendo; the Pre-code tale of a female-only school where men are forbidden but a star pupil discovers she is pregnant; and noir thriller on the trail of a serial killer on the streets of Copenhagen, targeting women named Sonja with surprise twists to solve the case.  Continue reading →

S.F. Film Preserve Delivers a Luminous Vision in Its Inaugural Film Festival

Editor’s Note: A much-needed festival featuring a wide range of restorations of mostly forgotten movies will launch its first edition at San Francisco’s Roxie Theater, Thursday, September 24-Sunday, September 27. Re:Vision will showcase 14 feature films. This is a festival that challenges audiences to discover movies they didn’t know existed, but are likely to spread the word so the films might play across the country and beyond. 

Noma Faingold interviewed Kathy Rose O’Regan, Executive Director of San Francisco Film Preserve for EatDrinkFilms.

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DEMOCRACY NOIR- A New Dawn

By Connie Field                 (September 13, 2026)

In April, I watched Viktor Orbán ousted in Hungary by a landslide. I was amazed and ecstatic. This was personal for me. I had traveled there with my Hungarian husband every year since 1990. Over three decades we watched the country change through the eyes of people we loved — through the euphoria of the early post-Communist years and, eventually, through its disturbing turn to autocracy. We watched avidly last year as Péter Magyar, the man who would go on to oust Orbán, traveled all around Hungary drawing bigger and bigger crowds. But I always assumed Orbán would find a way to change the election laws yet again so he’d win no matter how strong the opposition was. He didn’t. Magyar won by a landslide. Continue reading →

Bonnie & Clyde Killed People- An new book excerpt about the making of the film

On May 23, 1934, two borderline inept but ruthless criminals named Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker met their end in a hail of semiautomatic gunfire on a rural road in the Louisiana backcountry. The duo had terrorized Depression-era Middle America with a string of robberies and a brazen daylight prison escape, killing nearly a dozen police officers along the way.

A legend was born.

Arthur Penn’s “Bonnie and Clyde” will have as rare theatrical showing on Monday, August 17 at the Lark Theater near San Francisco.

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Christiane Lyons Finds Deep Meaning in the Exhibition “Superficial Matters”

By Noma Faingold       (August 14, 2026)

Mill Valley painter Christiane Lyons has dedicated the last 10 years to her series, which she somewhat facetiously calls, “Some Women: A Total Portrait With No Omissions.” The oil paintings are collage-like, yet more refined. There’s also a double or triple-exposure effect in the depiction of the women. The work is figurative, abstract and surreal. It’s easy to be drawn to the colorful, layered pieces. There’s a soft beauty to them. But a closer, more pensive examination reveals an indictment on the objectification of women in history and in current times.

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“Treasure of the Pharaohs” Exhibition Digs into Egyptian Life and Afterlife

By Noma Faingold.      (August 2, 2026)

The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco is counting on the public’s continuous fascination of ancient Egypt when FAMSF presents, “Treasures of the Pharaohs,” from August 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027, at the de Young Museum. The touring exhibition spans 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, showing how the all-powerful pharaohs shaped religious practices, social structure and daily life. Continue reading →