SFFILM Festival Announces Centerpiece Program: Boots Riley's 'Sorry to Bother You' - April 12

Annapurna’s Sorry to Bother You, the Sundance hit and Bay Area production, will have its hometown special screening in dual locations, in both Oakland and San Francisco, as a special Centerpiece event at the 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival. Director and screenwriter Boots Riley and cast are expected to participate in intros and Q&As. After recently taking the 2018 Sundance Film Festival by storm, Sorry to Bother You gets a unique homecoming that will also be an historic first for SFFILM. On Thursday, April 12, the film will screen at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco at 6:30 pm, and also screen that same night at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland at 8:00 pm.
 
“Boots Riley is family to us,” said SFFILM’s Executive Director Noah Cowan. “He was a resident of SFFILM FilmHouse when he developed this project, he is a four-time recipient of our SFFILM / Rainin Filmmaking Grant; and he has been a huge booster of the Bay Area film community. And so this year’s Centerpiece is an especially joyous celebration, as Boots continues to expand our horizons by inspiring the Festival to expand its footprint into Oakland for the first time with this and several other screenings.”

The wait is over—Bay Area icon Boots Riley's outrageous and orginal, breakout sensation of this year’s Sundance film festival, Sorry To Bother You marks the feature debut of this visionary director. In an alterate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a macabre universe. Starring Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out), Tessa Thompson (Creed and Dear White People), and Armie Hammer (Call Me by Your Name), Sorry To Bother You is unlike anything you have ever seen. It is a searing social satire about greed, racial dynamics and capitalism in a universe not unlike our own. The film received funding and creative support through SFFILM artist development programs, FilmHouse Residency and SFFILM / Rainin Filmmaking Grant.
 
Activist, filmmaker, and musician, Boots Riley studied film at San Francisco State University before rising to prominence as the front man of hip hop groups The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. He previously directed The Coup music videos “Eating Forever” and “Me and Jesus the Pimp in a ’79 Granada Last Night.”
 
Tickets to Centerpiece: Sorry to Bother You: are $20 for SFFILM members, $25 for the general public. Box office is open to SFFILM members now online at sffilm.org and opens for the general public Friday, March 9.
 
For general information visit sffilm.org/festival
To request interviews or screeners, contact your Festival Press Office representative.
For photos and press materials visit sffilm.org/press
 
 
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