Local Filmmaker Eager for His "IPO"

photo: Philip Liborio Gangi

Daniel Gamburg worked on his film "IPO" in the
basement of his Richmond District apartment.

By Kathy Jay

When 9-year-old Daniel Gamburg emigrated from the Soviet Union to the Richmond District in the '70s, he probably did not imagine making his feature film debut about the dot-com boom. Indeed, this actor/director has come a long way. 

"There's an old Russian saying, 'Life through laughter and tears,'" Gamburg said. "When you make a film, make sure you make them laugh and make them cry - that's life." 

Still at the outset of his career, Gamburg makes films, be they dramas or comedies, that are remarkably personal and permeate his preoccupation with family, love and laughter. 

Having collaborated on more than 20 short films - as an actor, editor and cinematographer - Gamburg makes his feature film debut this month at the Film Art Foundation's International Film Festival.  His entry, "IPO," is the story of an initial public offering set in San Francisco in 2000.

"'IPO' is a slice of life," Gamburg said. "The film is about the people in the dot-coms: the CEO is a lesbian, the venture capitalist is a closet homosexual. They're not all white guys - they have a life. They love, they fear and they fantasize."

Born in Riga, Latvia on Sept. 22, 1969, Gamburg attended Cabrillo Elementary School, Presidio Middle School and George Washington High School in the Richmond. 

"I even went to Brandeis Hillel Day School when it was still on California Street," he said.

Gamburg received a bachelor's degree in film from San Francisco State University, where he will also receive a master degree in fine arts in film production in May. When not making movies, he is a professional actor, as well as an instructor at the Academy of Art College.

One of Gamburg's most noticeable traits is his boundless energy. He continuously paces around his 17th Avenue apartment, which is located near Golden Gate Park.

The walls of his apartment are covered with several beautiful photographs of his girlfriend, as well as a large Picasso-inspired painting by his mom. Everywhere one looks, there are shelves neatly packed with books, notebooks and CDs. His saxophone sits in the middle of his living room, waiting to be played.

"If I were stuck on a desert island, I'd want my Powerbook, my sax and a pad and pencil - in case the computer doesn't work," he says.

While talking to Gamburg, he gets up several times to change the stereo from a Terry Gross interview with Michael Moore to a piano concerto by Chopin to a track by Matisyachu, a rapper who he says performs in full Hasidic dress.  

Standing a lanky 5 feet, 10 inches tall, Gamburg has dark, scruffily cropped hair and wears black rimmed glasses. On this day, he's wearing a gray T-shirt, green khaki fatigues and fuzzy slippers.

Gamburg is a patient listener and answers questions directly. His favorite sport is politics, his single greatest fear is President George Bush and his favorite color is maroon.

Influenced by Constantin Stanislavsky's school of method acting and Mike Leigh's acerbic style of filmmaking, Gamburg's themes are greatly influenced by classics. Anton Chekhov is his favorite writer and his three favorite films are Francois Truffaut's "The 400 Blows," Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" and Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11."

Moore, by the way, is one of his biggest idols. In fact, Gamburg won the Michael Moore Award for Best Documentary Film at the 2002 Ann Arbor Film Festival for "Tsipa and Volf," a film about his grandparents. But he was disappointed at missing a chance to meet his mentor at the festival.

"It was a very small festival and I didn't think I  was going to win, so I didn't go," Gamburg said.  

By chance, however, he met Moore in New York.

"I was at the Film Forum and just bumped into him," he said. "He's exactly the same in real life."

So what about making a film about the Richmond?

"It would be about an immigrant family trying to survive," he said.  "They would live on Sixth Avenue, near Geary. It would be about the hum-drum in which they live."

As a backdrop, Gamburg would use his favorite Richmond District location: Clement Street, including "all the fish markets, Green Apple Books, the Blue Danube Cafe, the Thai House and the Russian Bear."

Gamburg's "IPO" will be screened at the Roxie theater on Friday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. Another Richmond District filmmaker, Paul O'Bryan, will also have his short film, "Lovely" shown at the film festival. For more information, visit the website at www.barewitness.com.