>> welcome to culture wire. the arabs don't possible has bringing you the best of the arab film to the bay area. this year's festival is no exception.

consider the most important arab film festival outside of the arab world, the festival offers a rare window to the arab world and its diverse community. featuring 24 films from over 18 countries, it is also one of the only four runs that showcases new works by established and emerging arab filmmakers. the possible films in four cities. in addition, the festival organizers a film series for high-school students free of charge. this year's lineup offers something for everyone, including shorts, documentary's, comedies, and dramas. >> [speaking arabic]

the mission of the arab film festival, since it its inception in 1996, and it came about -- members of our community realized there was stereotyping of arabs in the media, and they wanted to change that proactively. they wanted to use the power of film to bring in the stories, to bring in authentic images and narratives of the arab world, here to american audiences, in order to fight the negative stereotyping, and to introduce the positive, authentic images to america, which iraq california, -- throughout california, a teasing familiarity, establishing

harmony between our communities. the selection this year it is really a good selection. it is perverse, comes from more than 18 countries. it has a bit of everything for everyone. -- it is diverse, comes from more than 18 countries. there are shorts, and from us, comedies, you name it. this year, the film festival takes place in the castro. there is a comedy film from nigeria that is pretty hilarious. you can get to know arabs threw their laughing as well.

[speaking in foreign language] >> when you come to see all the diversity, nationality, ethnic, skin color, dialect, anything that you can think of, that world is very rich in diversity. we are trying to represent that diversity so people can see the different parts of the arab world. [speaking in arabic] >> people should participate in the festival because of the benefits they can get. first, the educational benefit of learning about the stories of the arab world. diverse stories. people in the united states sometimes think of the arab world as a lump sum. what is good about the arab film

festival is the also have a festival for the school's program, which we have films where we invite free of charge, i schoolers to come and attend. every year, high schoolers to go out really with a good experience, attending and watching these films. the arab film festival is not only about the festival in october. we also have year-round programs. check out the film festival to run the year, not just in the fall. -- throughout the year, not just in the fall. the best thing that somebody can take away from the arab on festival is the arab cinema is talent. it is beautiful. the stories have that they represent are good stories,

beautiful stories. also, the art form is beautiful and well made. >> for a complete film schedule and to learn more about the arab film festival, visit >> welcome to "culture wire." the director will introduce you to the man behind one of san francisco's most anticipated music festivals. ♪ >> welcome to "culture wire." with me today is the founder and financier behind the hardly strictly bluegrass festival.

tell me about what inspired you to have the festival. >> i am flattered that you would want to listen to me. now you are going to have to. i had a sort of fantasy for a lot of years that it would be really fun to put on a bluegrass festival. i have a friend named jonathan nelson. we were skiing one weekend. i told him about my fantasy. he said that i should do it. dawn holliday and sherry sternberg. the four of us had lunch. he said we would start a festival. that was the genesis. it was not anything more complicated than that. in my own defense, and was not yet playing the banjo -- i was

not yet played the banjo. the ulterior motive i was accused of did not exist yet. >> i would have thought it was because of your interest in the music and the instrument of the banjo that you play with a lot of love and enthusiasm. i would have thought that would lead to the founding of the festival. >> i have loved the music. much of my life. i really love the old time music. >> you mentioned dawn holliday. she works with you collecting the older music. >> she basically organizes the whole thing'. she decides who is going to be on. they have incredibly great bands opposite each other. i always worry about that, but she tells me not to. >> this has really grown in the number of participants. >> she kept asking what i would

do about it and i kept saying nothing. i do not want to change anything. i love it the way it is. i know it creates traffic jams, but so what? there ought to be something we can do once a year where there is a little bit of suffering a lot of pleasure. >> you have a band. >> the wronglers. i think this is our third or fourth year in the festival. the first year was spectacular. the band had played together less than a year at that point. this stage manager said he could give us 10 more minutes. i told him we did not know anything else. [laughter] so far, we have not had to audition for it. that may give them the idea.

>> one thing that fascinated me is that it seems so incongruous to consider someone with your background that is ultimately the driving force behind this fabulous music festival. >> i guess this sort of shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in one generation. i went to cal and went away for 28 years. i always wanted to come back. it turned out there was a wonderful moment in time when three of my four for children were living here. now all four do with their children. i thought there was a real opportunity. i wanted to start a new financial firm. it was a wonderful opportunity to do it in san francisco. i get to do business with people i do not the test. [laughter] >> you established your firm

here. he reestablished your family roots here. -- you reestablished your family roots here. you used this festival as a way to give back to the community even more. >> the theory of that was that we would have a concert for the middle school kids. we bust in nearly all of the middle school kids from san francisco and now from around the bay area. the kids love it. the letters i get are very endearing. school volunteers and the school districts are really into it. there is a lot of collaboration. >> i have this image in my mind of you as the biggest fan of the hardly strictly bluegrass festival. what are some of the highlights for you over the last 10 years? >> they are sort of the nostalgic highlights. every year at the end, when in the low harris -- emmylou

harris closes the festival and someone else opens the festival. i always call them the heart and soul of the festival. those are wonderful must object moments. having a chance to listen up close to some of the greats. those are some of the great emotional moments. there's always one moment that is so bizarre. 3 or four years ago i was sitting out front listening to emmylou harris. she was very stylishly dressed. i turned to her making conversation. i said there was a strong smell of pot and she asked if i wanted some. [laughter] the following year my wife said

there was an elderly gentleman old banjos. he was a very nice man sitting on the ground. he said he understood that i like old benches. he said he had three that he would like to show me. he said he understood that i liked white ladies. he said i would like this one. i asked if he was trying to sell the banjos. he said he was giving it to me. he was giving me a $3,000 musical instrument. he said he really wanted me to have it. >> that is a beautiful story. it is true. >> do you play it? >> yes. the this delta region the nostalgic, the letters, depreciation -- -- the nostalgia, the letters, the

appreciation. i love the music and i love the way that people have gotten into it. it has become a part of people's lives. i wrecked my car the other night and was waiting for triple a. this man came up and said was the one who put on the bluegrass festival. he said it is the best thing that happens to him all year. the pleasure of that, i love the appreciation there is for the festival. what snow in the lineup of the 10th anniversary concert -- >> knowing the line of of the 10th anniversary concert, what are you looking forward to? >> there is one band we met up in colorado. i am sure nobody in san francisco is familiar with. they recalled the ebony

hillbillies. i hope everyone will come to hear them. you will not believe them. >> what are some of the other groups who are looking forward to? >> trombone shorty is that in the deal of publicity lately. he is off the charts. we have a band coming up from new york. margo is phenomenal. the chocolate drops did a special on public broadcasting. they are fantastic. the anderson family band, i live in sheer terror of us having to follow a family band. they're performing saturday morning at 11:00 for 40 minutes. we have enough stuff to play the whole time. we are ready. >> it has been a delight to have you on "culture wire." i want to thank you personally

for this great musical festival you have given us. >> is a lot of fun. >> remembered the hardly strictly bluegrass festival will be in san francisco. visit the website to get information on all of the performances. ♪ >> hello, i'm meg, welcome to "culture wire." for this episode, the director of cultural affairs, luis, will take you on a journey through presidio has been tet. -- presidio habitat. >> welcome to "culture wire." today i'm at the presidio trust, a treasure within san francisco, because the presidio trust is really a national park in the

center of an urban setting. it dates to the very founding of the city. national park. toting me today to talk about this amazing exhibition at presidio habitat is cheryl hanes. can you tell me a little bit about the idea of the presidio habitat? >> succinctly, i have been long involved in the presidio. i was here when it was still a military base in the 1980's. i remember driving down walmart

to the golden gate bridge and seeing the military guard at the gate and being utterly fascinated. >> so presidio habitat is an exhibition where you have invited, how many artists to think about the habitat? >> we put together a list of possible participants, local, national, or international, of people who are concerned with environmental concerns, made some sort of contribution to the landscape and conversation we're having here. we said that broke -- proposal requests and we received 25 back. from that 25, we went through and chose tend to realize in the landscape. >> including this building, which is an amazing example of

recycling. >> we are proud of this space. it was designed by a local architecture team. we said, we need something that is a temporary structure, something that can be brought onto the presidio in pieces, act as an exhibition space for one year. we came up with the notion of shipping containers. it was important for us that we made this project for the place, of the place. what i mean by that is participants would also used repurchased materials. >> we will be speaking to one of the artists that you selected. what excited you about his idea? >> have many things. first of all, i am a fan of his architecture. because of that creativity, i

knew that he could come up with something unique. i love the fact that he was specifically addressing the landscape around here, and it was also about the human interaction with this place. >> what are your expectations with the people coming to presidio habitat? >> we really hope people will come with their family, dogs, and come back a number of times the works will change over the year. the feedback we are getting is you cannot do all of them on one visit. it is really better to come back and have different experiences. >> thank you. i am with mark jensen of jensen architect. he was one of the architects to be chosen to do the presidio

habitat. when you heard about this project, what inspired you about that call? >> our inspiration is a great blue heron. it was the site itself that attracted us. this is an incredibly beautiful outdoor room. we did a bit of reverse engineering once we knew we wanted to work here. which animals live here? the great blue heron jumped out at us. we walked around, and quickly, you get into another pace. you slow down, leave the city behind you. you can feel the wind and the breeze. in our increasingly frenetic, fast-paced, connected life, the chance to be of here and slow down a bit was part of the agenda.

as part of the installation, it was suggested that this would be deliberately not mowed because it would allow the sustaining of insects, plants, that would graduate -- that would gravitate to the area. >> that is right. i think you quickly notice that. >> thank you for being here. presidio habitat is an exhibition at the presidio trust. it will be in san francisco through may 2011. we hope you will come out to experience this amazing exhibition and great natural treasure. >> to learn more about the other habitats installations in the presidio, visit >> welcome to "culture wire."

i'm your host meg. for years, free jazz concerts have been providing entertainment in downtown san francisco. people pay local musicians to perform for lunchtime crowds. the goal is not just entertainth. people in plazas are trying to create neighborhoods. what began as a forum for performers who were paid by passing the hat has become a program that provides wide exposure and more than 500 paid gigs annually for local musicians. from july through september, people in plazas produces almost 300 free performances in the lunchtime hour. the mission of people in plazas

generates social congregation. and by having these events, we encourage people to make these plazas everybody's neighborhood. >> recently, the san francisco arts commission was awarded a $ 250,000 grant for the national endowment for the arts. to establish an arts district in the central market corridor between fifth and 10th street. throughout the yearing the arts commission will partner with people in plazas to activate the sidewalks along this stretch with art installation, opening events, live music, and new arts and antique markets at u.n. plaza. >> this area has been sleighted for many years, at least the past 25 years. i think that this redevelopment project and the n.e.a. grant are very positive signs that we have political will and a lot of momentum to really make the mid

market area what it could be, which is a vibrant area where everybody is welcome and it's a place to be in san francisco. >> to get a feel for the future of the central market arts and culture district, be sure to catch out an upcoming concert. for locations and times, visit peopleinplazas.org. to learn more about the central market revitalization initiative, visit sfartcommission.org. thank you for watching "culture wire." >> i have 2 job titles. i'm manager of the tour program as well as i am the historyian of city hall.

this building is multifaceted to say the very least it's a municipal building that operates the city and county of san francisco. this building was a dream that became a reality of a man by the name of james junior elected mayor of san francisco in 1912. he didn't have a city hall because it was destroyed in the earth wake of 1906. construction began in april of 1913. in december 1915, the building was complete. it opened it's doors in january 1916. >> it's a wonderful experience to come to a building built like this. the building is built as a

palace. not for a king or queen. it's built for all people. this building is beautiful art. those are architecture at the time when city hall was built, san francisco had an enormous french population. therefore building a palace in the art tradition is not unusual. >> jimmie was an incredible individual he knew that san francisco had to regain it's place in the world. he decided to have the tallest dome built in the united states. it's now stands 307 feet 6 inches from the ground 40 feet taller than the united sta