Castro movie news, Armenian cinema and two very worthy indies are highlighted this week.
San Francisco’s Castro Theatre, reopening in February with a lineup of music concerts, has announced the return of cinema to the movie palace. Calendars will be available in January; here are pertinent events in the 2026 schedule released by Castro operators Another Planet Entertainment:
- March 19: 30th Berlin & Beyond festival opening, presented by Goethe-Institut San Francisco
- March 22: “It” (1927), starring Clara Bow, presented by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival
- April 1: “A Deeper Love: The Story of Miss Peppermint,” a documentary about the trans trailblazer with special guest Peppermint
- April 9: Movies for Maniacs, celebrating underrated and unrecognized films; curated and hosted by Jesse Hawthorne Ficks
- April 12: “The Last Black Man in San Francisco,” Joe Talbot’s 2019 drama about gentrification, systemic racism and a mission to hold on to a family home with special guest Joe Talbot
- April 24: 69th San Francisco International Film Festival
- May 4: 69th San Francisco International Film Festival, closing night
- May 6-10: 29th San Francisco Silent Film Festival
- June 17-27: Frameline50 festival
- July 17: “Hedwig & the Angry Inch,” 25th anniversary screening with special guest, director and star John Cameron Mitchell
Tickets for some programs are already on sale; visit thecastro.com.
The Golden Gate Armenian Film Festival’s second annual edition runs Friday through Sunday at San Francisco’s Vogue Theater.
Curated to enhance awareness of Armenian cinema and realities, the festival offers eight programs of movies from Armenia and its diaspora. “Fight,” the opening film, is a documentary by Lilit Movsisyan about a teenager in rural Armenia who hopes to become a veterinarian against her conservative family’s wishes. Also showing on Friday is “I Will Revenge This World With Love,” Zara Jian’s documentary about the life and legacy of Armenian-rooted Soviet filmmaker Sergei Parajanov (“Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors”). Other docs include “My Armenian Phantoms,” filmmaker Tamara Stepanyan’s personal journey through Armenian film history, which is Armenia’s Oscar submission in the Best International Feature Film. The festival’s narrative selections are “Monsieur Aznavour,” a biopic about Armenian French singer Charles Aznavour; “The Reverse Side of the Medal,” about world-champion weightlifter Nazik Avdalyan; and “A Winter’s Song,” an Armenian American musical holiday romcom. Festival organizers also present an art show “Live by Loving” at the International Art Museum of America in San Francisco through Nov. 23. For more information about the Golden Gate Armenian Film Festival, visit ggaff.art.
Small-cinema master Ira Sachs (“Love Is Strange” “Little Men”) turns a classy breezy lens on the extraordinary moments in everyday existence in “Peter Hujar’s Day,” a 76-minute drama driven by a transfixing conversation.
Sachs has re-created a recorded real-life 1974 dialogue between groundbreaking gay photographer Peter Hujar (played by Ben Whishaw) and writer Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall). Rosenkrantz, as part of a book project, asked her good friend Hujar to come to her apartment and relate in detail his activities of the previous day. Both rambling and inspired, Hujar’s account includes phone calls with editors and encounters with Susan Sontag, Allen Ginsberg and other cultural stars. Hujar also reflects on his artistic methods and financial struggles facing 1970s New York artists like himself. His mundane anecdotes, including a visit to a take-out restaurant, are detailed with a vividness that makes them sound monumental. There are touches of profundity. The pair’s interactions have an engaging spontaneity. Whishaw, whose credits include the James Bond franchise; “Women Talking” (he played the nice guy); and Sachs’ own “Passages,” is terrifically in-character; his Hujar is brilliant, astute, self-absorbed and melancholy, with nervous energy and a Warhol-like gossipy quality. Hall, while Rosenkrantz is a more passive role, is equally vital. The pair has great chemistry. The characters’ friendship comes across endearingly and convincingly. Those unfamiliar with Hujar’s photography won’t learn much about it from this film. And though it initially seems like barely a movie, it is ultimately is a captivating depiction of an artist, his times and how the commonplace can be remarkable. “Peter Hujar’s Day” opens Friday at the Roxie Theater in San Francisco. Not rated.
“Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” a documentary by Sepideh Farsi, presents the war in Gaza in a rare and essential way: through the eyes of a Palestinian civilian experiencing the conflict’s brutal human toll firsthand.
Fatma Hassona, a young Gaza City photojournalist and poet, documents the war’s effect on daily life. The film consists largely of cellphone video conversations, presented with a deliberate rawness, between Farsi and Hassona. They begin in April 2024, when Hassona, sporting a green hijab, large glasses and a winning smile, immediately impresses Farsi. The sessions end in April 2025, when Hassona and members of her family are killed by an Israeli airstrike. In between, Hassona updates Farsi on her situation, which includes dangerous surroundings and hunger. She describes the horror she has witnessed. Still, she remains inspiringly upbeat and committed to her work. Interspersed between the conversations are Hassona’s striking photographs and broadcast news reports. The film shows how Hassona learns that the documentary will be shown at Cannes; sadly, she won’t live to see it there. A powerful tribute to Fatma Hassona and her purposeful work, “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” opens Friday at the Roxie. Not rated.
The post Movies: Castro 2026 film schedule, Armenian film fest, ‘Peter Hujar’s Day,’ ‘Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk’ appeared first on Local News Matters.