SF360 Film+Club: Handmade Nation March 11, 2009

The San Francisco Film Society’s acclaimed SF360 Film+Club, a monthly social screening series, presents Handmade Nation (USA, 2008), Faythe Levine’s documentary survey of the burgeoning movement that has emerged from the blending of historic technique, punk culture and the do-it-yourself ethos, and numerous local artists and advocates Wednesday, March 11 at 7:00 pm at Mezzanine (444 Jessie Street at Mint).

Buying local for many means buying handmade objects that are designed and fabricated with ingenuity, grit and love. Handmade Nation documents a movement of artists, crafters and designers that imbue traditional handiwork techniques with a punky do-it-yourself ethos informed by modern aesthetics, politics, feminism and art. The film explores the burgeoning art community of indie crafters that is fueled by creativity, determination and networking. First-time director Faythe Levine traveled the U.S. to capture the tight-knit community, conducting interviews in the studios and homes of noted and independent artists including Jenny Hart, the Little Friends of Printmaking, the Dirt Palace, Susan Beal, Nikki McClure, Deb Dormondy, Mandy Greer, Stephanie Syjuco, Kathy Sever, Buyolympia.com, Whitney Lee, Knitta and Jenine Bressner. Levine also details how Web sites, blogs and online stores have spurred a once underground movement and how crafts have expanded to connect with the greater public through boutiques, galleries and fairs. Photographed by Micaela O’Herlihy. 65 min.

Following the screening there will be a conversation with Lisa Congdon, owner of retailer Rare Device; Tina Barseghian, editor-in-chief of Craft magazine; Stephanie Syjuco, fine artist and professor and others to be announced. Representatives from Rare Device and Needles & Pens, and local artists including Diana Fayt, Miss Natalie (Natalie Davis), Nous Savons (Jocelyn Nguyen) and Woolly Hoodwinks (Jeff Root) will be on hand to display and sell their artworks. Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft & Design, the companion book to the film, will be on sale.

Doors open at Mezzanine at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $8/SFFS year-round members and $12/general, available www.trilogyticketing.com/sffs. Must be 21+ to attend.

SF360 Film+Club was chosen the Best Dance-Floor Flick Fix, by the editors of the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Best of the Bay 2008 edition, who wrote, “Our favorite SF360 shindig is its monthly SF360 Film+Club night at Mezzanine, which screens underground films to a room of intoxicated cinephiles.”

Official Website: http://www.sffs.org/events/films/film_handmade_nation.html