Aug 6-Aug 30; Beyond ESPN: An Offbeat Look at the Sports Film; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Screening Room August 6, 2009

When:
Thu, Aug 6: 7:30 pm: Rare Films from The Baseball Hall of Fame

Sun, Aug 9: 2:00 pm: Sunday in Hell by Jørgen Leth

Thu, Aug 13: 7:30 pm: Towards Mathilde by Claire Denis

Sun, Aug 16: 2:00 pm: The French by William Klein

Thu, Aug 20: 7:30 pm: Agua by Verónica Chen

Sun, Aug 23: 2:00-8:00 pm: MiDNiTES FOR MANiACS presents "Winning Isn't Everything" Triple-Feature
2:00 pm: Ice Castles by Donald Wrye
4:00 pm: The Bad News Bears by Michael Ritchie
7:00 pm: The Cheerleaders by Paul Glickler

Thu, Aug 27: 7:30 pm: Visions of Eight by Milos Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude LeLouch, Juri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger and Mai Zetterling

Sun, Aug 30: 2:00 pm: Football as Never Before by Hellmuth Costard

What:
Beyond ESPN: An Offbeat Look at the Sports Film
Aug 6 – Aug 30
Co-curated by Johnny Ray Huston and Joel Shepard

Rare Films from The Baseball Hall of Fame
Introduced by David Filipi, Curator of Film/Video at the Wexner Center for the Arts
Thu, Aug 6: 7:30 pm
As this year’s baseball season rounds third and heads for home, we’re celebrating the national pastime with cinematic treasures from the National Baseball Hall of Fame that will entertain baseball fans and cinephiles alike. Tonight’s program includes footage of Jackie Robinson’s secret tryout with the Dodgers, congressional testimony by Mickey Mantle and Casey Stengel in 1958, a selection of hilarious commercials featuring Humphrey Bogart and Pete Rose, home movies of the Women’s Professional League, and much more! Special thanks to Ben Harry of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown. (Approx. 120 min, video & 35mm).

Sunday in Hell
By Jørgen Leth
Sun, Aug 9: 2:00 pm
The best film ever made about professional cycling, this grueling documentary follows the 1976 Paris-Roubaix bike race, an intensive journey across the cobbled farm tracks of Northern France. The director uses 20 cameras and a helicopter to capture the drama of the race from every possible angle. The result captures every crucial moment: the hopeful fools in the breakaway, the grinding mass of the dense pack, and the final, frantic, muscle-wrenching sprint. (1976, 110 min, 35mm)

Towards Mathilde
By Claire Denis
Thu, Aug 13: 7:30 pm
Somehow this superb Claire Denis (Beau Travail) film has never been shown in San Francisco. Mathilde Monnier is France’s foremost contemporary choreographer. An explorer of postmodern theory, she has acquired a formidable reputation. More than just a documentary, the film is a diary of an intimate collaboration between a brilliant filmmaker and equally brilliant choreographer, as it explores the birth, formulation and performance of a radical new dance piece. Even those with zero interest in dance will be fascinated by watching these two extraordinary artists at work. (2005, 84 min, 35mm)

The French
By William Klein
Sun, Aug 16: 2:00 pm
Lore has it that the acclaimed photographer William Klein passed up an opportunity to film the Rolling Stones in Africa so he could shoot this movie about tennis at the 1981 French Open. Working with three camera crews, Klein travels into the players’ locker rooms and hangouts as well as courtside, catching teen phenoms and old eccentrics. He sets his sights on the cool Arthur Ashe, the cantankerous Jimmy Connors, the doll-like Chris Evert, the aggressive Martina Navratilova, the fiery John McEnroe and many others. (1982, 130 min, 16mm)

Agua
By Verónica Chen
Thu, Aug 20: 7:30 pm
Disgraced as a doper, thirty-four-year-old Goyo returns to the world of competitive swimming to mentor Chino. Their partnership yields a strange result in this film by Veronica Chen, a young force in Argentine cinema who brings a sensual regard of male physicality. Agua’s underwater camera angles and tracking shots place viewers deep within a racer’s psyche. The film’s competitive sequences move from skin-caressing observation to gorgeous or violent abstraction, before the suspense and extreme interiority of a swimmer’s experience give way to a recognition of surroundings. (2006, 89 min, 35mm)

MiDNiTES FOR MANiACS presents
"Winning Isn't Everything" Triple-Feature
Sun, Aug 23: 2:00-8:00 pm
Special admission: $10 general for all three films/$8 seniors, students, teachers & YBCA Members
Host Jesse Hawthorne Ficks hosts a triple-feature showcasing 1970s sports films where winning-the-game was less important than the process-of-scoring. This all-day event includes forgotten sports trailers, one of Robby Benson's finest performances and one of the sleaziest sports films ever made! Miss this and cry. All films presented in 35mm.

Ice Castles
By Donald Wrye
2:00 pm
This ultimate teen tear-jerker showcases real-life ice skating champion Lynn-Holly Johnson and teen heartthrob Robby Benson. WARNING: Bring Kleenex. Preceded by heartbreaking sports trailers. (1978, 108 min, 35mm)

The Bad News Bears
By Michael Ritchie
4:00 pm
Walter Matthau whips a ragtag 'tween team of foul-mouthed outcasts into one of the tuffest brigades this side of Vietnam. This mid-70s time capsule will truly shock and surprise you at how true-to-life little league really can be. Preceded by tuff 'tween trailers. (1976, 102 min, 35mm)

- mini drink/dinner break-

The Cheerleaders
By Paul Glickler
7:00 pm
This quintessential cheerleader sleaze-fest not only proves that scoring is more important than winning, it could be considered the film that created the whole t&a genre. Don't miss this uncut 35mm print. Preceded by a slew of scintillating trailers. (1973, 84 min, 35mm)

Visions for Eight
By Milos Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude LeLouch, Juri Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger and Mai Zetterling
Thu, Aug 27: 7:30 pm
A fantastic, lost documentary of the '72 Olympic Games in Munich, as captured by eight different major directors, who filmed in his or her own completely different, personal style. (1973, 110 min, 35mm)

Football as Never Before
By Hellmuth Costard
Sun, Aug 30: 2:00 pm
Using eight cameras, this little-seen film follows every move of the mercurial George Best, by far the most famous soccer player of his time. The cameras are trained on Best throughout, and we follow the progress of the game only through his actions and reactions. Never before has the spectator had such a clear view of a player’s progress through a match and his attempts to “read the game”. This is the film that many people think the idea for Zidane was borrowed from, and now Spike Lee has borrowed again for a film on Kobe Bryant. (1971, 105 min, digital video)

Who:
Films about sports

Where:
Beyond ESPN: An Offbeat Look at the Sports Film– 701 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103 – YBCA Screening Room

Public Info:
415-978-2787 or ybca.org

$8 regular; $6 students, seniors, teachers & YBCA members

"Winning Isn't Everything" Triple-Feature: Special admission: $10 general for all three films/$8 seniors, students, teachers & YBCA Members

Enjoy same-day gallery admission for all YBCA presented films!

Join YBCA today to enjoy ticket discounts on YBCA presented films!