Graham Leggat (1960-2011)

Graham Leggat — the irrepressible Scottish impresario who led the San Francisco Film Society on to greater glory during the past six years — died tonight at his home after an 18-month battle with cancer.

Under Leggat, the Film Society made its annual San Francisco International Film Festival — the nation’s oldest — more important than ever and established its headquarters at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in Japantown. The Film Society’s offices are nearby in the Presidio.

In 2010 Leggat rallied community support to transform the endangered Clay Theater on Fillmore Street into its year-round home. When that effort lagged, he struck a deal with the New People complex on Post Street to stage a year-round film festival in its state-of-the-art cinema. The Film Society’s programming at New People cinema begins September 1.

Read more

The stylish cinema at New People in Japantown will be the home of the Film Society.

After more than a year of exploring the possibilities, the San Francisco Film Society is coming to the neighborhood — but to Japantown, not the Clay Theater.

The Film Society announced this morning that it will establish a year-round home and take over the programming of the stylish and high-tech Viz Cinema at the New People complex at 1746 Post Street in Japantown. The cinema opened in 2009 as part of a new J-Pop Center devoted to contemporary Japanese pop culture.

“It’s a 143-seat state-of-the-art single-screen that we gave a test drive to during the International,” said Graham Leggat, executive director of the Film Society, which sponsors the San Francisco International Film Festival nearby at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. “It was hugely popular.”

Last August the Film Society made an overture to take over the 100-year-old Clay Theater on Fillmore Street when its closure was threatened. Talks continued in fits and starts between the society and Clay Theater owner Balgobind Jaiswal, who also retained an architect to design townhouses to be built above the venerable art film house.

“The Clay just became too much of a can of worms,” Leggat said. Its future remains uncertain.

Jaiswal expressed regret but said his planning would move forward to retain the Clay as a movie theater.

“Unfortunately for us, the Film Society prefers the new, ready-for-occupancy, state-of-the-art facility of the New People’s building” and its location in Japantown, Jaiswal said. “Our long-term strategy … is to improve the [Clay] into a state-of-the art facility, but the process is slow.”

The Clay has been operated for many years by Landmark Theaters, which has expressed new interest in continuing to run the theater. Landmark has recently refurbished the Clay’s blazing neon marquee.

“We renewed our lease and are working diligently with our landlord on both of us continuing operating the Clay for a long time into the future,” said Landmark CEO Ted Mundorff.

“We are still actively pursuing Landmark as a long-term tenant,” said Jaiswal, the theater’s owner, “but the success of those negotiations depends on our ability to update the theater, and to fund the necessary improvements.”

The film crew at the snowy Swedenborgian Church, with Nicole Kidman in the doorway.

Hollywood is in the neighborhood and they’re going to church — the Swedenborgian Church at Washington and Lyon. It snowed on the little church this week — or appeared to — when Nicole Kidman was filming scenes for Hemingway & Gelhorn, a new HBO film directed by Philip Kaufman, who lives just over the hill. It’s a drama centered on the romance between Ernest Hemingway and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway’s inspiration for For Whom the Bell Tolls. The film also stars Clive Owens and is expected on HBO in 2012.

A preview:

In what locals are taking as a hopeful sign — quite literally — the historic neon marquee at the Clay Theater is lighted once again. It has been dark and broken for months, a tangible nightly reminder of the theater’s uncertain future. Now that the lights are back on — and Catherine Deneuve is back on the screen — hope springs eternal.

Duane Baughman screens his new film at the Clay.

By Don Langley

The film “Bhutto,” which earned high praise at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, is now playing at several dozen theaters throughout the country. But local producer-director Duane Baughman says it was most important to him to bring his documentary home to the Clay Theater on Fillmore.

He invited his Washington Street neighbors and others he had met in his informal office — the Peet’s coffee shop at Sacramento and Fillmore Streets — to a showing there early in the new year. Baughman also bought out a San Diego theater at the end of January so his parents and their friends could see it in the city where he grew up.

The core of the feature-length film is the life and assassination of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007, but it is far more than that. It is a primer on the history and politics of Pakistan. Baughman pieced together an astounding amalgam of archival film, starting with the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. It traces the birth of Bhutto in 1953, the rise of her father to the presidency and his eventual hanging, plus the murder of her two brothers. Baughman interviewed scholars and reporters who covered Bhutto during her two terms as prime minister and her return for a third try. And he capped it off with interviews with Pervez Musharraf, the most recent military dictator of Pakistan, and Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto’s husband, who took over her party’s leadership and is now president.

Remarkably, the film is mostly narrated by Benazir Bhutto herself. Baughman learned of a reporter who had recordings of many hours of conversations on tape stored in her attic in Connecticut. The tapes were deteriorating, so Baughman sent them to Los Angeles for rescue and restoration.

A political consultant who worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and helped engineer Michael Bloomberg’s election as mayor of New York, Baughman’s contact with Pakistani politics began when he was being considered for a job helping Bhutto run for a third term as prime minister. She was assassinated before the contract was completed.

But the contacts he had made gave him the opportunity to tell Bhutto’s story in the film he ultimately produced.

SF Weekly offers a cover story this week on the uncertain future of Fillmore Street’s Clay Theater. “People don’t want the Clay Theater to die,” the Weekly says. “But judging from ticket sales, they don’t want to see films there either.”

Read more

In addition, the owner’s architect has met with the CEO of Landmark Theatres, the current operator, about renovations that might make the theater attractive to Landmark as a long-term operator.

“We are actively engaged,” said architect Charles Kahn. He said it appears that both Landmark and the Film Society prefer a single-screen theater over his proposal to create three smaller theaters, and that owner Balgobind Jaiswal is agreeable. More contentious is Jaiswal’s desire to build four townhouses above the theater and excavate underneath for parking.

“The theater is secondary to their desire to build condos,” said Graham Leggett, executive director of the Film Society. “We worry it’s not going to be workable for us.” Getting permits and building the condos could take years, Leggett said, and require the theater to go dark during construction.

Kahn said the condos are essential to fund the renovation of the theater. He said the owner is “absolutely committed” to finding a way to save the theater.

Film Society leaders have met with Kahn three times, most recently with an architect of their own they retained to help shape the future of the 100-year-old theater. “It seems problematic at the moment, but at least there’s a dialogue,” Leggett said. “It’s a work in progress.”

EARLIER: How the Clay dodged a bullet

A sidewalk plaque at 3119 Fillmore commemorates the night the poem was first read.

The legendary poem “Howl” — which had its premiere on Fillmore Street in 1955 and is now the subject of a film showing at the Sundance Kabuki — was 29-year-old Allen Ginsberg’s first published work. But it instantly established him as a vital new voice for rapidly changing times.

It all began on what Jack Kerouac would come to call the “mad night” of October 7, 1955. That’s when Ginsberg read “Howl” for the first time at the soon-to-be-legendary Six Gallery — a former auto-body shop turned Bohemian hangout at 3119 Fillmore Street — and left the crowd of hipsters in tears.

Among those in the audience was City Lights publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who was so exhilarated he sent a telegram to Ginsberg the next day offering to publish it. “’Howl’ knocked the sides out of things,” Ferlinghetti said later. That turned out to be true in more ways than one: Howl would soon become not just a game-changing literary sensation, but also an incendiary court battle.

On March 25, 1957, U.S. Customs seized all the copies of “Howl” en route to America from England, where the second edition had just been printed. Two months later, local police arrested Ferlinghetti, charging him with selling obscene material. Thus began the summer-long prosecution of The People v. Ferlinghetti. The high-profile trial that ensued — one that involved as many literature professors as lawyers and put the power of words itself on trial — would become a watershed freedom of speech case, opening the door to greater creative freedom.

Ginsberg went on to become one of the most highly regarded writers of the late 20th century, as well as an untiring champion of sexual and spiritual liberation, of human and civil rights, perennially battling with his trademark mischievousness to create a more open and engaged society.

“Howl,” however, took on a life of its own. More than a poem, it became many other things: a manifesto, a call to arms, a generational catharsis, a declaration of gay pride, a flashlight into the soul of post-industrial humanity, a love song and a lasting symbol of fearless creative rebellion.

Could “Howl” also be a movie? That question was put to filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman on the 50th anniversary of the poem’s publication by Bob Rosenthal, the secretary of Allen Ginsberg’s estate. What began as a conventional documentary soon evolved into a hybrid of drama, imagination and reality — much like Ginsberg’s writing.

“We’d been given this treasure, but now we were faced with, ‘How in the world do we actually do this?’” recalls Rob Epstein. “We set out to find a way to bring together all these different elements — the text of the poem, Ginsberg’s life and ideas, this landmark trial — to create a multi-faceted picture of the creation of “Howl” and the world’s response. The thrilling part was that we were inventing the form as we went along.”

On September 24, “Howl” the movie premiered — like the poem itself — on Fillmore. It continues at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas at Fillmore and Post.

By Thomas Reynolds

Discussions between Clay Theater owner Balgobind Jaiswal and the San Francisco Film Society began last December after Landmark Theatres decided it could no longer afford to continue to operate the venerable theater, which has been showing films on Fillmore Street for 100 years.

The lease had actually expired two years earlier.

“The Clay has been in trouble financially for several years,” said Ted Mundorff, CEO of Landmark. “So we’ve been working on what we could do to prolong the probable demise of any single-screen theater.”

In January there were further discussions between the Film Society and the owner.

“The best use was the Film Society,” Mundorff said. “We thought it was a really good fit.” The Film Society sponsors the San Francisco International Film Festival — the nation’s oldest — and programs a screen year-round at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas in Japantown. The society also sponsors a wide-ranging program of other film-related events throughout the year from its headquarters in the Presidio.

Both the owner and the Film Society found their negotiations frustrating.

“After three months, I could not accomplish anything,” said Jaiswal. “So I hired lawyers and spent thousands of dollars and they could not help me. So I took over again. Back and forth, back and forth. It was exhausting. I’ve been in business for 30 years and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“We don’t know what he wants,” countered Leggat, head of the Film Society. “It’s like trying to hit a target in the dark.”

Landmark agreed to keep the theater operating while the landlord and the Film Society negotiated, hoping there would be a seamless transition.

“But that didn’t work out,” Mundorff said. “It didn’t seem to be going anywhere. We were at the end of our rope. All I could do was bring them to the altar — I couldn’t make them marry.”

So on August 10 Mundorff made the call he had hoped to avoid. He told Clay Theater manager Chris Hatfield to prepare to shut down the theater at the end of the month. The staff posted a notice in the box office window announcing that Sunday, August 29, would be the Clay’s final day, and word — and shock and dismay — began to spread through the neighborhood and the city’s film community.

At that point, Leggat and supporters of the Film Society decided to go public with their attempt to get the owner of the Clay to rent or sell them the theater. Leggat said the society offered to match the rent Landmark was paying — even though he said the theater does not comply with disability requirements and needs at least $200,000 in improvements.

“We’re willing to refurbish and re-energize the Clay,” he said in mid-August. “We care deeply about the soil in which we’re planted.”

As the Clay’s final weekend approached, Mundorff flew up from Landmark’s Los Angeles headquarters. A San Francisco native who grew up in the Sunset — and whose parents enjoyed seeing movies at the Clay — he found the final days difficult. He was at the Clay when the last show let out on Thursday, and employees and former employees were stopping by to say goodbye to the theater.

“It was a very, very emotional time for everyone in the organization,” he said. “We don’t like losing one of our children.” He added: “I would feel this way in any other city, but probably not as much. San Francisco is dear to me.”

The next day, on Friday, August 27, he was in contact with the landlord.

“I was hopeful during Friday’s discussions that we could make something happen,” Mundorff said. An agreement was finally struck in the early hours Saturday morning to keep the Clay operating.

“It was terrific,” he said. “We were ecstatic about continuing to operate the theater and our landlord was happy, too.” He called the Clay Saturday afternoon and told the staff there was a reprieve. “I felt a little like the governor picking up the phone to call San Quentin,” he recalled.

“We were already in the process of making plans to leave” when the call came from Mundorff, said Hatfield. “We were told to stop — that we would be sticking around for a while.”

As it happened, the Clay was scheduled to host a final midnight showing of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on Saturday night. As Rocky Horror fans lined up in costume for one final showing and sing-along, Hatfield and fellow manager Michael Blythe decided they would announce the good news to the sold-out audience before the film began.

“There couldn’t have been a better time,” said Hatfield. “We broke the news on stage right then and there. If the theater were any older, it might have shook apart.”

“When we made the announcement, the crowd went nuts,” said Blythe. “It was a blast. It went from a funeral to a celebration real quick.”

Mundorff credits Jaiswal with making it possible to keep the theater operating.

“Both of us were motivated to keep the theater open,” he said. “But the landlord made it happen. Without him, this wouldn’t have happened.” He added: “It was a great victory for all of us who love movies.”

Said Jaiswal: “They cannot afford to stay here. I told them, ‘I’ll give you free rent, just pay my property taxes and charges.’ It was not easy for me to let Landmark occupy the theater rent free. In the interest of all the merchants and the neighbors, I felt this was the best option.”

“No, not for free,” Mundorff said when asked about the rent. “But he’s been very, very kind.”

“This is obviously not a permanent solution, but it buys us time to find a permanent solution,” Jaiswal said. Either party has the option of ending the agreement with 30 days’ notice.

“I’m going as long as we can,” said Mundorff.

“It is going to be indefinite until I find a solution,” said Jaiswal.

By midday Sunday, still suffering from the after-effects of Saturday night’s celebration, Blythe was struggling to figure out how to announce the news on the theater’s marquee in the limited space and dwindling number of letters available. By the time the 2:30 matinee of “The Concert” began, there was a short but sweet message on the marquee: “The show goes on!”

Graham Leggat, executive director of the society, said he is eager to proceed. “It’s certainly progress,” Leggat said. “It’s a better sign. How good it is remains to be seen.”

At the same time, owner Balgobind Jaiswal — who also owns the Blu and Cielo women’s clothing boutiques on Fillmore Street, as well as the building that houses Marc by Marc Jacobs — has retained an architect who is exploring how the Clay might be reconfigured to accommodate two or three smaller theaters. And he may seek to build four townhouses on top of the theaters to help fund the project.

“We are committed to keeping it as a theater,” Jaiswal said. “We are trying to find a long-term solution, rather than being back in the same situation in two years.”

Jaiswal has retained Charles Kahn, a Berkeley architect who he said “has worked with Landmark Theatres and is quite familiar with the problems of single-screen movie theaters and how to go about making the theater more viable.” Kahn helped transform the Shattuck Theater in Berkeley and has advised on the repurposing of the Metro Theater on Union Street.

Leggat said he expects to meet with both Jaiswal and Kahn. “It’s a question of the details,” Leggat said. “There’s nothing entirely sacrosanct about a single-screen theater. It would strictly be a question of how good the designs are.” The bigger issue, Leggat said, is what kind of improvements the building needs and who pays for them.

Neighborhood residents — led by Art Persyko, who lives on Lafayette Park — for two weeks handed out leaflets supporting the Film Society’s plan to take over the operation of the theater. After the Clay got a reprieve on August 28, Persyko and others appeared before the city’s Historic Preservation Commission on September 1 to raise awareness of the plight of the theater. If the commission designates the Clay a city landmark, that would protect the architecture. Any change of use would require a conditional use permit. The addition of residential units might also require an environmental impact report.

UPDATE: A neighborhood rally in support of the Clay was held on September 8 across the street from the theater at Long Bar, at 2298 Fillmore. Scores of neighbors attended, including leaders of the Film Society and the owner of the building.

Read more: “How the Clay dodged a bullet”