Watch the UNAFF Overview of the SFIFF... Send UNAFF Your Film!

Tomorrow is the first day of the 53rd annual San Francisco Internataional Film Festival. The festival runs from April 22 through May 6 and features over 100 international films. Pictured is a still from the French/Belgium entry "The Day God Walked Away" featuring a Tutsi woman left alone to make her way through Genocide ravaged Rwanda. If you're not of a serious mein when you hit the festival screening halls in San Francisco, there are plenty of whimsical titles including "Air Doll" and "Constantin & Elena" and live interviews with icons such as grammy award winner T Bone Burnett. Check it all out at the SFIFF website.

SEE AN OVERVIEW OF SFIFF right here on our channels! Last week in our studios we taped the annual overview of the festival produced by UNAFF's Jasmina Bojic. Jasmina interviewed several of the participating filmmakers and showed clips from their films. This is always a worthy watch. So check out upcoming times to watch and be inspired. Then run on up to the City and catch some thought-provoking films.

WANT TO PARTICIPATE? CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Right around the corner, the United Nations Association Film Festival, in its 13th year, seeks submissions for the festival scheduled in October. DEADLINES are May 15 for early submission, May 25 for regular submission and June 1 for late submission. UNAFF seeks films that raise our awareness of global social issues and foster our understanding of our relationship to our global community and our responsibility to ourselves and to one another in community.

UNAFF has a amazing track record and is held at venues right here in the midpeninsula and in the City. The Media Center is proud to be an official sponsor of the festival. The festival keeps growing under the steady guidance of founder Jasmina Bojic, a Stanford lecturer and film critic. And dedicated Media Center volunteer Cathy Keys somehow finds additional time to devote herself to UNAFF during festival season. UNAFF has a big mission but they accept small, quiet films as well as "big picture" films. Check out their website for all the details. And think about finishing up that film you've been working on in time for the deadline of June 1. In any case plan on attending the festival where the world comes to us in our own backyard. Don't miss it.