7:30pm :: Opening Night Premiere
Expected Guests: Director Fredrik Gertten and United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha; moderated by Laura Wenus, Reporter & Host, 'Civic' podcast/San Francisco Public Press.
2019 Best Feature Award
PUSH is a new documentary from award-winning director Fredrik Gertten, (Bananas!*, Big Boys Gone Bananas!*, Bikes vs. Cars) investigating why we can’t afford to live in our own cities anymore. The film follows Leilani Farha, the UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, as she travels the globe, trying to understand who’s being pushed out of cities and why.
PUSH sheds light on a new kind of faceless landlord, our increasingly unliveable cities and an escalating crisis that has an effect on us all. Housing is a fundamental human right, a precondition to a safe and healthy life, but in cities all around the world, having a place to live is becoming more and more difficult. Who are the players and what are the factors that make housing one of today’s most pressing world issues?
“I believe there’s a huge difference between housing as a commodity and gold as a commodity. Gold is not a human right, housing is,” ~ Leilani Farha.
www.pushthefilm.com
"Fredrik Gertten’s rousing investigation into the global housing crisis plays like a real-world conspiracy thriller, with an inspiring hero at its heart." ~ Little White Lies.
"Fredrik Gertten’s lively, approachable documentary on the global housing crisis should leave audiences feeling engaged, enraged and with plenty to discuss afterwards...Potentially depressing material is handled with a light touch and a welcome edge of humour." ~ Screen Daily
- CPH:DOX – Politiken Audience Award
- HotDocs – Official Selection
- European Film Awards - Official Nominee, Documentary
6:00pm :: Opening Night Reception
Join us before the screening on the Castro Mezzanine to meet Festival filmmakers and special guests to kick-off the 2019 Festival. Separate ticket required. 21+
Opening Night Grand Sponsor:
Opening Night Contributing Sponsor:
Opening Night Reception Sponsors:
Opening Night Honorary Host Committee:
Penny Eardley, Executive Director, SF Public Health Foundation
Philip Ginsburg, General Manager, SF Recreation and Parks Dept.
Daniel M. Kammen, Distinguished Professor of Energy, UC Berkeley
Danny Kennedy, Managing Director, CalCEF
Emily Kirsch, Founder & CEO, Powerhouse
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, D8, SF Board of Supervisors
Honorable Barbro Osher, Honorary Consul General of Sweden in California
Deborah Raphael, Director, SF Dept. of the Environment
Jill Tidman, Executive Director, The Redford Center
Maggie Winslow, Director, MSc in Energy Systems Management, USF
Co-Presented by:
United Nations Environment Programme
SF Urban Film Fest
Women's Environmental Network
Photo of Leilani Farha courtesy of Janice d’Avila.
Fredrik Gertten is an award-winning Swedish director and journalist. His works Becoming Zlatan, Bikes vs. Cars, Big Boys Gone Bananas!* and Bananas!* have met audiences in over 100 countries. He previously worked as a foreign correspondent and columnist for radio, TV and press in Africa, Latin America, Asia and around Europe. Today he combines filmmaking with a role as a creative producer at WG Film – one of Sweden’s most prominent documentary production companies, famous for local stories with a global understanding and impact. PUSH is his fourth feature film in SFGFF.