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By Sonia Mansfield, Neighborhood Reporter, San Francisco Independent Ron Jones is giving a valentine to his first love: San Francisco.
On Valentines Day (2000), Jones will host the world premiere of a film about growing up in San Francisco from the swing era of the 1940's to the hip-hop of today. Jitterbuggin' not only tells the story of Jones' life growing up in the Sunset District, but also how San Francisco has grown up as well. He said it's a story that everyone can relate to.
"It's a video about growing up in San Francisco and having a love affair with San Francisco," said Jones. "It's a personal strory, but it has universal appeal because it's not only my story, but, in fact, it's everyone's story."
Jones, who currently works as a basketball coach at the Recreation Center for the Handicapped near the San Francisco Zoo, is perhaps best known as the teacher behind a high school experiment in fascism called The Wave - the basis for an Emmy-winning television movie of the same name in 1981. Jones has also written approximately 30 books and some, such as the Acorn People and Say Ray, have received national attention.
Jones said he was inspired to make the film after coming across an old picture of his mother while he was cleaning his basement. The picture was of his mother teaching dance at a tap and dance school she ran on 46th Avenue in the 1940's and 1950's.
"That picture enthralled me so much that I started writing a poem about my mom teaching at dance school, and growing up in San Francisco. Then I brought the idea to (Dirk Dirksen, executive producer of Jitterbuggin')" said Jones, who has worked with Dirksen on several projects in the past, including a video production of Jones retelling the story of The Wave. "He convinced me we could do this."
The 90-minute film is composed of Jones' family home movies, old photographs, and old newsreel footage, and is narrated by Jones. The narration consists only of the recitation of a poem he wrote about growing up in San Francisco. While researching the project, Jones said, he compiled more tham 2,000 still photographs and 16 hours of home movies.
"There's a lot of rare footage in this film about some rare people," said Jones.
"We are fortunate that Ron's parents and grandparents took home movies and documented everything," said Dirksen. "We ended up with a wonderful collection of home movies and photographs that is a time capsule of that geration."
The film - Directed by Damon Molloy - shows San Francisco as when there was actually a butcher shop and a bucher knew you by name, when shopping was done at the corner market, not at Costco. It chronicles trips to Playland at the Beach, and the first fast-food restaurant opening on 46th Avenue.
Jones said he has seen a lot of changes in San Francisco, but he thinks that's what comes with the territory.
"I think if you live in one place long enough you get to experience some unusual things, and I think that's the case here," said Jones. "I have stayed here and witnessed a lot. This city, to me, is so rich with diversity. It's a lovely collision of cultures."
The film marks the passage of time by noting moments of national importance, such as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., or Vietnam War protest rallies, but the film mainly stays local, focusing on issues surrounding Jones and his family - dancing, music, jobs, divorce, births, death.
"The characters of the Jones family are really every man, and every woman. It's a wonderful tapestry of themes that anyone can appreciate," said Dirksen. "They are all San Francisco characters, and one of the unifying factors for people here in the city is that all of us are really in love with the place."
Dirksen said San Francisco is just the first stop for Jitterbuggin'. He said that after the world premiere on Valentine's Day, the film will make a theatrical tour across the country.
"It won't compete with the latest Brad Pitt or Bruce Willis film, but it definitely has an audience," said Dirksen.
Jitterbuggin' will play at the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason on Valentine's Day, Monday February 14, at 7p.m. Tickets are $15 and may be purchased at the door. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Recreation Center for the Handicapped. For more information call Dirk Dirksen at 206-1621. |
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