If there’s a busier actor at the moment than septuagenarian Danny Glover, his or her name does not spring readily to mind. The San Francisco native has worked continuously since hitting everybody’s radar in 1984 with Places in the Heart, but the list of new and upcoming films that he infuses with his particular blend of dignity and authority is remarkable. In the Nigerian real-life thriller 93 Days, opening the San Francisco Black Film Festival (June 15-18 at numerous venues), Glover plays the chief of staff of a Lagos hospital racing to head off an Ebola outbreak. (The actor also has a key role in a similarly titled project in production, 83 Days, based on the horrific 1944 conviction and execution of 14-year-old George Stinney, Jr. in South Carolina.) At the SFBFF, after the screening of 93 Days, Glover takes the stage for what’s sure to be a typically candid and inspiring interview.
Danny Glover’s contribution to movies — and it’s a significant one — is playing big men whose masculinity incorporates vulnerability and sensitivity. One rarely used to see that in movies, and never in sports, which is one of the underlying premises of Pass Interference: The Davone Bess Story. Branson Wright’s empathetic one-hour documentary, screening June 16 at the African American Art and Culture Complex (762 Fulton St.) with the former NFL wide receiver in the house, explores the consequences of undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. A place of one’s own, justice, freedom to express — these are a few of the urgent and timeless themes woven throughout the SF Black Film Festival program. Full schedule here.
