Ferlinghetti Premiere at SF International Film Festival

Ferlinghetti poses with an audience member after the premiere of the film. (Steve Rhodes)

Christopher Felver’s documentary about local icon and the world's most-read poet, Ferlinghetti, who is also the publisher and owner of the famed City Lights Books, premiered at the San Francisco International Film Festival last night. Felver's long-time friendship with Ferlinghetti resulted in some great, rare interviews with his subject, along with testimonials from Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Anne Waldman, Dennis Hopper, Amiri Baraka, Dave Eggers, Jack Hirschman, and others, which are interspersed with archival photos, video and audio. Ferlinghetti turns 90 this year, and he's still writing, painting, publishing, and speaking out.

Ferlinghetti is also showing tomorrow at Kabuki at 4:30 p.m. and at the Pacific Film Archive on May 6 at 6:30 p.m.