SAN FRANCISCO — Cal Humanities has announced that three award-winning films from the California Documentary Project will be presented on Virgin America airlines from April through June 2015 as part of the SkyFest independent film showcase: The Case Against 8, Regarding Susan Sontag, and The Last Season.
An epic story about the landmark battle for marriage equality, an intimate portrait of one of the 20th century’s most provocative thinkers, and a powerful story about veterans of war, support for these three films is provided by the California Documentary Project—a competitive grant program from Cal Humanities supporting film, radio, and new media productions about compelling and provocative issues, ideas, and subjects of our time.
“These films do what documentaries do best—they introduce us to people we might never have met and take us places where we might not have gone,” said Julie Fry, CEO of Cal Humanities. “They allow us to see the familiar in a new light and reveal what may have previously been invisible.”
California Documentary Project films featured on SkyFest:
The Case Against 8
Dirs. Ben Cotner and Ryan White
Five years in the making, this behind-the-scenes look inside the historic case to overturn California’s ban on same-sex marriage follows the story of the first federal marriage equality lawsuit brought before the U.S. Supreme Court. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on HBO in 2014.
Regarding Susan Sontag
Dir. Nancy D. Kates
This intimate and nuanced investigation examines the life of one of the most influential and provocative thinkers of the 20th century. Passionate and gracefully outspoken throughout her career, Susan Sontag became one of the most important literary and political icons of her generation. The film premiered on HBO in 2014.
The Last Season
Dir. Sara Dosa
While in search of the wild and valuable matsutake mushroom, the lives of two former soldiers intersect. Roger, a 75-year-old sniper with the U.S. Special Forces in Vietnam, and Kouy, a 46-year-old platoon leader of the Cambodian Freedom Fighters who battled the brutal Khmer Rouge, come together each fall to hunt the elusive mushroom and in the process find a way to help heal the scars of war. The film premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2014.
