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SAN FRANCISCO INDEPENDENT FILM MISSION MOVIE ANNOUNCES SERIES OF BENEFIT EVENTS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stephanie Lim– 415.533.8085
steph3280@hotmail.com

Varied Events Calendar Lead To June 4, 2004 Gala Community Screening

San Francisco April 16, 2004

Mission Movie, the new independent feature film about San Franciscoís Mission District, directed by award-winning Bay Area filmmaker Lise Swenson, will hold a series of benefits and other events from the end of April through the month of May. The events, including an elegant benefit dinner, a dance party, and a VIP screening, all leading up to the filmís gala community screening, scheduled for June 4, 2004, at Mission Village in San Francisco.

The film was shot on location in the Mission District during August and September of 2003. The benefit events will all be held at San Francisco locations, primarily in the Mission District:

Thursday, April 29: ìMission Movie Magicî Benefit Dinner. 6 to 11:30 p.m. at CELLspace, 2050 Bryant between 18th & 19th, $35 to $50 sliding scale. Enjoy a lavish four-course candlelit meal, live music and performances, and a silent art auction.

Sunday, May 2: Mission Movie Headquarters Launch. 4 to 6 p.m. at Artistsí Television Access (ATA), 992 Valencia at 21st, free. Celebrate the launch of the Mission Movie HQ. During the month of May there will be ìoffice hoursî during which supporters can come and pick up Mission Pride window placards.

Wednesday, May 19: Elbo Room Dance Party, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Elbo Room, 647 Valencia between 17th & 18th, $8 to $15 sliding scale.

Friday, May 21: VIP Screening, 7 to 9 p.m. at Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC), 2727 Mariposa at Bryant, $10 to $15 sliding scale. Get a sneak peak of the finished Mission Movie. Light reception and meet-and-greet.

Thursday, May 27: Trailer screening and Q&A with cast and crew members, 6:30 p.m., Limelight Books, at 1803 Market.

Saturday, May 29: Mission Movie at Carnival. Mission Movie will host a booth at Carnaval, where people can stop by for more information about the film and make donations. and pick up a Mission Pride window placard.

Friday, June 4: Mission Movie Gala Community Screening, 7:30 p.m., Mission Village, 2949 18th Street, free. See the full version of the finished film. Speakers, entertainment TBA.
For more information or to make reservations for any of the ticketed events, please call Mission Movie offices at (415) 364-3082.

The passionate, soulful urban drama about the inner life of San Franciscoís most diverse enclave tells five intersecting stories that take place over one summer. The cast is led by veteran Colombian actor Diego Vasquez and features many Bay Area actors, including cameos by well-known local artists and activists. In form true to the Mission District, the bilingual film will feature both Spanish and English subtitles.

In the film, a narrative based entirely on true stories, a Central American immigrant couple is torn between oneís love of American city life and the otherís discomfort with it. The politics of eviction play into their lives as well, but mostly disturb those of their upstairs neighbors ó a hipster set of four roommates. One of these is a white artist who also faces other challenges in the neighborhood. When four kids keep tagging the mural he has been commissioned to paint, he seeks the help of a Latino artist to intervene. And two older Mission business owners ó one a third-generation Latina and the other a Palestinian immigrant ó both find themselves trying to defend their property and protect the lives they have established.

More about Mission Movie:
The concept for the film was born when Director Lise Swenson gathered a group of San Francisco artists and media makers and real-life stories of the Mission District. Swenson is an award-winning filmmaker who has been deeply involved with media arts in the Bay Area since the early 1980s. In 1999 she received the San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie Award for outstanding achievement in film and video. She also received a prestigious Creative Work Fund grant to collaborate with Southern Exposure in the development phase of the project, which led to the creation of the feature-length film.

The Mission District: 74,633 Residents, 196 Nationalities, 2 Square Miles, One Movie