San Francisco, California: Outdoor Films to Be Projected Around Coit Tower Again

A two-day outdoor cinematic event that wraps a San Francisco landmark in projected images of Native Americans began Wednesday and will start again at dusk on Thursday. It will continue until 7 A.M. Friday morning.

In a work of public art that will be visible in much of the city, Ben Wood and David Mark will again project films ontoВ Coit Tower, the 210-foot landmark on Telegraph Hill. The event, Indigenous Renewal: Alcatraz Occupation Remembrance + Ohlone Presence Celebrated, is a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Indians of All Tribes occupation of Alcatraz Island.

Wednesday night's program featured a special live broadcast with accompanying audio on radio. There were about 60 minutes' worth of false starts and technical glitches on one or more of the three 1200-lumen projectors. But all were up and running a little after 7 P.M. On Thursday, you will have to appreciate the films without the benefit of sound.

Here is a list of the films that will be shown and the filmmakers: -Alcatraz Is Not an Island (James Fortier) -Rendezvouz with Alcatraz (Ben Wood & David Mark) -Welcome to Ohlone Territory (Marlo Mckenzie and Neil Maclean) -
Ohlone Families (Charlene Sul, Anthony Sul
) -San Bruno Mountain (Keith Moreau and Sam Ellis Moreau) -Native America segments by Lorenzo

The projection coincides with an event Thursday morning at which some of those who took part in the occupation will climb into boats to make the same trek to Alcatraz they made decades ago.

Mr. Wood said:

As the people wait at Pier 33, when they get in their boats to cross the bay, the projection of these films will be visible to themvideo portraits of their Ohlone ancestors and the remains of shell mounds. This project is especially relevant on Thanksgiving, a day when Americans remember or think about their heritage and how we all came to be here. So the idea of the projection is to raise awareness about the local people specifically in the Bay Area.

Ana Bloom

source-http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/movie-on-the-outside-coit-tower-tonight/