Another Hole in the Head, Part 8 has wrapped up after two weeks of horrifying genre films, over the top Japanese action flicks and other mind bending experiences. One of my favorite parts of the festival was watching films based in San Francisco. Watching movies is a communal and physical experience, not just a visual and auditory one. Being able to watch films where they were shot amongst people who get the inside jokes and local allusions adds so much to the film.
San Francisco becomes a character in itself as it’s so beautiful and recognizable. You can easily list off dozens of films that were shot here and even more that mention it. The bay area continues to get exposed on the big screen with upcoming blockbusters like Moneyball (The story of an Oakland A’s manager written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Brad Pitt) and Contagion (Steven Soderbergh’s newest sci-fi thriller starring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law). I wanted to take a moment and ask the local filmmakers about their projects and how they felt showing them to the San Franciscan audience of AHITH.
What made you decide to shoot your film in San Francisco?
Val Castro (Director of The Craving)
Naturally, it was easy for me to decide to base the film in San Francisco. Not only is it my hometown, but I know the city’s geography and culture very well. They say write about things you know…and I know San Francisco very well. The city also has an abundance of natural beauty and iconic landmarks. I wanted to capture some of these iconic landmarks so someone who has never been to San Francisco automatically knows it is SF. I also wanted for the San Franciscan locals to relate and make a connection with some of the locations where we shot. When the film had its sneak preview in SF at Femina Poten’s film series ‘Fist Full of Films’; people came up to me and said the movie had a ‘San Francisco’ feel to it. That made me happy because I was glad to have captured an essence of San Francisco that the locals could relate too.
Michael Fredianelli (Director of Apocrypha)
San Francisco has always been, to us, the mecca of creative expression. With such a dramatic history (earthquakes, fires, artists, musicians, hippies), the characters in [Apocrypha] were destined to live there.
Ralph Hyver (Director of Red Ice)
I always assumed that if I did have the time and resources, I’d make a film in San Francisco. In fact, when I was shooting, say, in the Presidio, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, I thought, what an embarrassment of riches we local filmmakers have.
The story drove the location choice. Securing those locations was another matter, as we didn’t have a formal Locations Manager. I lucked-out in finding a 10,000 sqft empty office building in Foster City with high ceilings, plenty of power, and lots of small, interior offices that the various productions departments conveniently occupied. We brought in the flats and assembled the sets. We shot about half the film in this studio, and the rest on location, including in the Marina, Junipero Serra Park in San Bruno, and in the streets and alleys of Redwood City. By the way, we couldn’t have pulled this off without the help of Brena Bailey of the San Mateo County Film Commission.
How did the Bay Area influence your film making?
Sean Cain (Director of Breath of Hate)
At San Francisco State I was subjected to a lot of “personal” film making. Which usually meant filming homeless people or weirdly experimental imagery. I knew right away that wasn’t for me. However, I was rescued when I met a mentor who had directed a feature film for Francis Coppola’s company. He taught me that making a movie was accessible even if you didn’t have much money. Kind of pulled the curtain aside. Because of him I did my first feature film, “Naked Beneath the Water” which was shot mostly in the Mission District. I think that growing up outside of Los Angeles maybe led to more dreaming and less cynicism.
I would love to shoot a picture in the Bay Area. It’s so beautiful here. I’m originally from Concord. It’s very Lynchian out there. I always wonder when I’m going to find a severed ear in a vacant lot.
Val Castro
Making an LGBT film is San Francisco was really like making any other movie here. However, I must say, the San Francisco LGBT community was very supportive and psyched to help out. Excitement was in the air! It was great to have their support because ‘The Craving’ is kind of like a love letter to them from me.
Michael Fredianelli
Some of the SF elements, including the W Hotel and SF Chronicle were planned and written into the script from the very beginning and then we used the most visually creative locations in their vicinity to fill in the other locations. Working with virtually no budget (we filmed the entire movie for about $300 and a crew of 2) forced us to be creative. As San Francisco is such a beautiful city with so much character, we tried to showcase as much of it as possible.
Did you cast local talent?
Michael Fredianelli
Several of our friends were local actors, so casting them in some of the major roles was a given. As for the minor roles and extras, we turned to friends and people we had worked with on other local projects. Most people don’t realize what a close-knit, talented acting community San Francisco has, so we were pleased to be able to showcase some of the local talent.
Val Castro
I did hold local casting calls in San Francisco at the Stud bar. I found a few people that had great talent and were unknown to me like Johnny Rodriguez; who plays the comedic food critic, ‘Arthur Haines’ in the movie. I ended up casting a lot of locals too (my friends) like Madison Young, Kate Rohan, Suppositori Spelling, Michael Soldier, Tuck Mayo, Chef Jamie Lauren, Lady Monster, Ace of Reality Check TV, etc. Lucky for me, my friends are movers and shakers in the performance art scene in San Francisco. So, I had a huge well of talent to draw from. It made my job casting easy because when I was writing the script I wrote some of the parts exclusively for them.
Ralph Hyver
I tapped the talent contacts of Atomic Productions (the San Leandro commercial studio that helped produce the film) and through a Bay Area Craigslist “casting call.” The latter netted us Haining Luan, who plays the wonderful villain, Mr. Wu. However, I had to go to LA to cast the rest of the principals, doing the auditions (and eventually the table read) at multiple sessions at the LA Hilton.
How did you find Another Hole in the Head (or they find you) and how do you feel about showing your film at the amazing Roxie theater?
Ralyph Hyver
I’m really grateful to George and Eric for accepting RED ICE, and am thrilled that we were able to premiere it at the Roxie, in the City in which it was set and filmed. Regardless of what happens from here, it’s been a great ride, I’ve learned a lot, and I’m busy preparing my next script — a coming-of-age film about the (supernatural) horrors of losing one’s virginity!
Sean Cain
I believe I originally sought them out for my second feature, “Silent Night, Zombie Night” which played last year. Growing up in the Bay Area I had always known about the festival and I feel honored to have been a part of it not only once, but twice.
Michael Fredianelli
We had attended a screening at HoleHead last year and thought it was a great festival. When AHITH approached us for premiering our movie at this year’s festival, we were truly honored and excited to be a part of it.
Val Castro
My co-producer, Eddie Granillo suggested we submit the film. We did and we were lucky to get in. George and the ‘Another Hole in the Head’ crew rock! Their film festival is so fun! The people who run it are really stoked about genre films and the people who come and see the films are very enthusiastic. It has been very surreal and amazing to see my film playing at the Roxie. When I was a film student at SFSU I would come to the Roxie all the time and watch movies. So, to see my film now playing at the Roxie is just a great feeling.
This post is part of our ANITH coverageEvery year, the ANOTHER HOLE IN THE HEAD FILM FESTIVAL unleashes the best dark fantasy, horror/comedy, sci-fi, bizarro-vision cinema in San Francisco. 2011 is no exception — AHITH, PART 8 will throw up 26 features and 15 short films onto the screen at the Roxie Theater, the beating heart of horror starting June 2 through June 17.Visit SF INDIEFEST’s Official Website
Going into Grave Encounters, I wasn’t expecting much. I’ve seen my fair share of mocumentaries, staged “reality” horrors and ghost hunter films. This one starts off like any other by claiming to be unedited footage where something went terribly wrong but somewhere in the middle of this movie, something went terribly right. The build up escalates to the climax beautifully while you ponder if you’re still sitting in the same theater watching the same ghost hunters. By the end, you won’t be able to take your eyes off the screen but have to because you’re too scared to watch! Grave Encounters lures you in with its skeptical comedy and then traps you in for a haunted fright.
Surreal. You go into The Oregonian not knowing what you’re about to watch and you leave The Oregonian not knowing what you just watched. This is the type of film that you will only find at film festivals or at the bottom of a DVD bin. Writer/Director Calvin Reeder has put together something that’s chilling, tense and indescribable. I always wonder if the cast and crew understand what they’re making while they’re making…I don’t even think the cast and crew has any idea what they made now. The film can be interpreted in a million different ways and that’s probably how Reeder wanted it.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
A Cadaver Christmas
Eaters is an Italian take on the post apocalyptic world. The entire planet has been devastated by the “Great Epidemic” and there hasn’t been a birth since it started. The virus started with attacking women and with those…there aren’t any babies. We follow two hunters, Igor (Alex Lucchesi) and Alen (Guglielmo Favilla) as they find live dead people to be lab rats for a cracked out scientist named Gyno (Claudio Marmugi). Gyno sends out the two hunters on a journey to find more specimens far far away from their compound so this movie is a road trip into zombie land. The movie is set in the future but it’s already outdated because there’s a joke about never finding Bin Laden.
Vampires in San Francisco! Apocrypha will have it’s World Premiere tomorrow night at Another Hole in the Head! So you think you’ve seen everything there is to see about Vampires? Think again. Apocrypha is a small film with a lot of heart. Instead of showing the glamorized side of sparkly vamps, writers Michael Fredianelli and Kat Reichmuth penned a transitional story of two new vamps who have no idea who they are or what they should be doing. It’s a coming to terms story where they have to decide how to cope with their situation but only after discovering what they need to cope with.
Love vs Hate. You all know that story, right? Well you have never seen it like this: Love is an escort and Hate is indescribable. What begins with a classic cliche of someone trying to turn their life around quickly becomes a horrific story of trying to keep that life alive. Armed with just the persistence and yearning for something better, Love must overcome Hate and prove she can take care of herself. Breath of Hate is a great change of pace from your run of the mill indie genre film…it has ridiculous presence, thought-out characters and intriguing scenarios from writer Wes Laurie. The acting is superb and every single character adds more than you’d think.
Ever walk through a tunnel and not remember yourself on the other side? Ever wonder what those weird sounds you hear are that seem like they’re coming through the walls or ceilings when you walk underground? Absentia is a different kind of horror film which scares you with suggestion rather than exposure. There’s something going on here but nobody knows what! As the tension builds, some thoughts become uncovered but no one can believe what they see or hear…
Another Hole in the Head 2011 opens up with a Japanese film from Yoshihiro Nishimura named Helldriver. It seems almost like tradition that I open my coverage of a film festival with a film that I missed at a previous film festival and this is no exception. Helldriver was the secret screening at last year’s Fantastic Fest. While most of the reactions I got from that screening were annoyed moans of yet another blood splattering Japanese gore extravaganza, I somewhat enjoyed the questionable mix of absurdity. It’s what these genre festivals are all about, right? This is just the opening night film of Another Hole in the Head…you have no idea what’s still in store!
