After what I call a two-year pandemic pause, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns for its 25th year of showcasing the rich legacy of film history from the time before movies spoke. When I talked via Zoom with the festival’s Artistic Director, Anita Monga, on April 30 2022, we discussed the amazing range of the… Read More »
2017 San Francisco Silent Film Festival — Anita Monga Interview
I always look forward to my annual interview with Anita Monga, Artistic Director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. A genteel woman with a sly sense of humor and a wealth of knowledge about cinema history, she never fails to delight in both her conversation and the dynamic cross-section of films that she programs… Read More »
Anita Monga on the 2016 San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Few people speak about silent cinema with such authority and such affection as Anita Monga, Artistic Director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. When we spoke on May 16, 2016, it was to discuss not just the dynamic slate of films at this year’s festival, its 21st, but also the work that the festival… Read More »
20 Years of Glorious Silence — Anita Monga on the 2015 San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Anita Monga, Artistic Director of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, is a treasure trove of all things to do with silent cinema. Every time I talk with her, I learn something new, and every year at the festival that she oversees so lovingly, I see a selection of films that are the perfect distillation… Read More »
Anita Monga Unveils the 2012 SAN FRANCISCO SILENT FILM FESTIVAL
Anita Monga’s enthusiasm for silent film is infectious. When I spoke to her on July 3, 2012 about the 17th annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival, we started with why it was one of the few places to see what Victor Fleming and Ernst Lubitsch were up to before films began to speak. We went… Read More »
Anita Monga and the 2013 Silent Film Festival Winter Program
For Anita Monga, silent film is more than just a quaint curiosity. It’s as vibrant and immediate an art form as any other, as well as the mainspring of modern cinema. When I spoke to her on February 1, 2013, she pointed this out with something I had not thought of before. The first section… Read More »