A photo of Hunter S. Thompson in his heyday, from
the Alex Gibney-directed documentary "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S.
Thompson", which will close the 51st San Francisco International Film Festival
tonight as part of the Vanity Fair Reel Relief charity benefit at The Castro
Theater. (Photo: Hunter S. Thompson Archives via San Francisco Film
Society)
Tonight, The Curtain Comes Down on the 51st
S.F. International Film Festival, But For A Good Cause
By Omar P.L. Moore/The Popcorn Reel
May 8, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO, California
Tonight is the final night of the 51st San Francisco
International Film Festival and although the curtain closes on the 15-day film
extravaganza, it will be a very special night as "Gonzo: The Life And Work of
Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" will close the Festival to benefit Vanity Fair's annual
Reel Relief charity. Proceeds from the film screening (at The Castro
Theater) and from the VIP After-Party and Wrap Party (that's right, two parties)
will go to the National Resources Defense Council, an organization dedicated to
bettering the environment and helping to raise awareness about the crisis of
climate change.
"Gonzo", directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney ("Taxi To The Dark
Side"), is a documentary about the life of one of America's most significant and
notorious counterculturists and socio-political journalist-authors. Hunter
S. Thompson's life is celebrated -- the trials and tribulations of a life ended
all too soon -- albeit so tragically at the hands of Mr. Thompson himself back
in 2005 at the relatively young age of 67. Mr. Thompson coined the term
"gonzo" (which certainly has more than one meaning) to describe his distinct
brand of journalism, in which he completely immerses himself into the stories
that he covers so as to become the main attraction or central figure of that
story. Among other things, Mr. Thompson, a libertarian with a scathing
abhorrence for the American establishment, was known for his many writings and
dissertations, among them the book Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas, a
vivid and deeply involved insight into his drug-addled, psychotropic adventures
in Sin City. (A film of the same name with Johnny Depp as Mr. Thompson was
directed by Terry Gilliam in the 1990's.)
Mr. Gibney's documentary has been hailed as riveting, and was a big hit at
Sundance earlier this year. The film is scheduled to be released in the
U.S. this summer.
Special guests expected to be in attendance tonight at the Castro Theater
include none other than James Carville (the subject of a lot of news lately and
over the past six weeks) and Mary Matalin, Will Durst, San Francisco's premier
political satirist, comedian and talk radio host, director Alex Gibney, Graydon
Carter, the producer of "Gonzo" and editor of Vanity Fair magazine, Joan Chen,
Peter Coyote, author Vendela Vida and San Francisco Chronicle
editor-at-large Phil Bronstein, among others.
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