Richmond Roundup

 

Eighth Annual Asian Film Festival Starts Aug. 12
Starting August 12, the 4 Star Theatre will host its eighth annual Asian Film Festival. The festival will show 26 films from Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and the Philippines. One film each from Thailand and Taiwan are also being featured.

Many of the films selected to play at the festival were released in the last two years in Asia and are making their U.S. premiere at the 4 Star, located at 2200 Clement St., at 23rd Avenue.

While the festival's focus is on contemporary offerings, the classic "One Armed Swordman," made in Hong Kong in 1967 by director Chang Che, will show at the theater on Aug. 21 and Aug. 22 in a restored print of the film.

The festival is organized by 4 Star owner Frank Lee. For more information, visit www.4starmovietheatre.net or call (415) 666-3488.

Sixty Plus Registration Begins
Sixty Plus at San Francisco State University invites anyone age 60 or older to join the group for opportunities for friendship, leisure learning and personal growth. For $75 in annual dues, members of Sixty Plus meet twice a month on campus to listen to speakers discuss a variety of topics and to socialize with one another. Other perks of membership include reduced ticket prices for the San Francisco Ballet, symphony, opera and other performing arts events, local tours and the use of the university's library, gym and pool.

Members also have the unique opportunity to audit SFSU courses for free if space permits, though those interested in September classes should be ready to register on the first day of instruction, which is Wednesday, Aug. 25. For more information or a membership application, call 566-9347.

Urban Kids Go to Camp
Last month, children from a number of San Francisco neighborhoods - including the Mission, South of Market, Chinatown, Bayview/Hunters Point and Tenderloin - spent five days at the Salvation Army's Camp Redwood Glen in Scotts Valley. A picnic in Golden Gate Park served as a send-off for the inner-city children.

Each year, the camp provides city youth with the opportunity to leave their urban environment and experience the outdoors in a safe environment.

Conservatory Needs Docents
Members of the public who are friendly, welcoming and eager to learn and share information about the historic and elegant Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park are welcome to serve as children's docents. Interested individuals will need to commit to one year of service and participate in informational and interactive training sessions, held one weekday morning a week for six weeks. At the completion of the training, docents will lead school children on at least two scheduled tours through the Conservatory per month on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday mornings.

For more information or to apply to be a docent, call Michele Canning at 750-5226 or e-mail Michele@frp.org.

Public Television Station Seeks Early Ocean Movies Sought
Public television station KQED has begun production on an hour-long documentary about the issues facing California's coastline, such as development, beach erosion, beach access and seawalls, and the history of coastline activism.

Producers seek the community's help in the form of home movies taken from the early 1900s through 1980. Scenes taken anywhere along the coast are welcome highlighting people enjoying the beach, surfing, playing in the water and more.

Footage of protests centered around coastal development, support of the Coastal Act (Proposition 20) or the oil spills of the late '60s and early '70s are especially welcome.

For more information or to suggest possible leads, call Associate Producer Sheraz Sadiq at 553-2856 or e-mail ssadiq@kqed.org.

Free Lunches During Summer
The Summer Food Service Program, in conjunction with the SFUSD and the Mayor's Department of Children Youth and their Families, fills this summer-time nutrition gap for children under the age of 18. Ongoing, through July 23, a number of school sites offer lunches, including Francis Scott Key Elementary School, Abraham Lincoln High School and the Richmond and Sunset district beacon centers, from 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Lunches are also available at the A.P. Giannini Middle School.

For more information, visit www.summerfood.usda.gov.

Renaissance Fair in park
Golden Gate Park will turn into a giant stage with the city's first ever Renaissance-themed festival featuring more than 1,000 actors who will bring to life the times of Queens Jane and Mary Tudor. Some of the money collected at the event will be donated to a San Francisco school's drama department. The school will be chosen by a lottery.

Renaissance Productions, an organization dedicated to the theatrical and authentically-astute development of quality Renaissance-themed events, will present the Golden Gate Renaissance Faire at Speedway Meadow on August 28 and 29, highlighting the history of queens Jane and Mary Tudor, of Princess Elizabeth, England's struggle for identity, and for the crown and for the heritage of religion.

The two days of interactive adventure will feature staged combat; entertainment; variety acts; individual performers of all kinds providing music, song, dance, comedy and drama from the Renaissance Age. Some of the activities will include royal parades, a coronation ceremony, a joust and battle pageants; historical reenactments; plus a 16th Century marketplace filled with authentic crafts, period games and hearty food and drink.

About 15,000 patrons are expected to attend this year's Golden Gate Renaissance Faire. The faire will run August 28 and 29, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Children under six get in free. The cost of admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children aged 6 to 12 and seniors. For more information, visit www.sffaire.com or call (415) 354 1773.

Richmond resident on library board
Richmond District resident Peter Warfield, founder and executive director of the Library User's Association, was sworn in as a member of the newly-created Library Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) at City Hall July 2.

Warfield was nominated to the committee by SF Board of Supervisors' President Matt Gonzalez in June and became the first of the 17 members of the CAC to be sworn in. The CAC was created with the purpose of advising the Board of Supervisors on a broad range of matters related to the SF Public Library.

"I am very pleased to have the chance to serve my city and I hope to help make the library better for everyone" Warfield said at the ceremony.

Warfield will look into various issues on the committee, including the reliability of the library's online catalog system, the use of low-frequency radio transmitters in library books and making the library's collection more accessible to the public than it currently is.

Editor's Note
The Richmond Review is now being delivered door-to-door to every home in the district. For those who do not get it, the newspaper is available at the Richmond, Anza and Presidio branch libraries and online at www.sfrichmondreview.com.