The oldest street in the Bay Area once connected downtown San Francisco with Mission Dolores. It later became the beginning of El Camino and stretched the entire state. Today these streets are known as 16th St and Mission St. and they still call audiences from afar to hear their stories. These days successful festivals all wish to be a part of the magic of the Mission, and these venues can all be found just a few blocks from these streets and their easy transit access. 
Many churches host programs in their soaring soul inspired spaces. Parks like Dolores Park and Potrero del Sol often host performances too, and let's not forget the stages at street festivals like Carnaval.
The two greatest Mission Street venues remain on the bubble for this decade, much as they have for the nineties, the Armory and the New Mission theatre. Also of great interest is the expansion of ODC into their much greater space in 2005, as well as the future of what was once the Mission's most famous theatre, Artaud.

If you're wondering what you can find at these theatres, our Film Festival Directory is a great place to start. Find descriptions and links to over 35 annual Bay Area film festivals. Almost all the multiple venue festivals have taken advantage of the excellent availability and transit access for film facilities and events in the Mission as well as our adjoining neighborhoods like SOMA's 9th Street and the premier venue, the Castro theatre, just a few blocks away.

And if you enjoy attending these theatres, you may wish to consider donating to the San Francisco Nieghborhood Theatre Foundation. Accomplishments in 2004-2005 included working with local preservation groups to gain local landmark status for the New Mission Theatre and presenting the Film Night in the Park outdoor film series in San Francisco, attracting over 10,000 people to films in Washington Sq, Dolores Park and Union Square. Here is their list of neighborhood theatres in San Francisco.

"Outside of downtown, not a single first-run theater exists in the entire eastern (or southern!) half of San Francisco. Only a dozen neighborhood theaters remain in San Francisco and most of these theaters are clustered in a few neighborhoods." Mission District theatres by mistersf.com
Photos of 4 Golden Age of the Market Street theatres by sfchangehappens-books.com

Listings & Critic's Picks on SFGate.com

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Film Resources

Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) bavc.org Video production and post-production workshops; post-production suites; job listings on Web site. FilmArts   filmarts.org/  Film Arts has more than 3,400 members working in film, video, and multimedia, and is the largest regional organization of independent producers in the country.  Part of the Ninth Street Media Arts Consortium. Frameline frameline.org  Producers of the San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Also operate Frameline Distribution for lesbian and gay films. Part of the Ninth Street Media Arts Consortium. National Asian American Telecom. Association (NAATA) naatanet.org Programs include national public television broadcasts, international educational and cable distribution and the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.  Part of the Ninth Street Media Arts Consortium.  National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture (NAMAC) namac.org An association of organizations and individuals dedicated to building a broad voice of diversity in the media arts.  LINK listings of media arts centers nationwide.  Part of the Ninth Street Media Arts Consortium. YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS  map 701 Mission St.(Mission @ Third) phone: 415.978.2700 Find out more about art exhibits and film events at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. All Movie Guide Internet Movie Database

California Arts Advocates
calartsadvocates.org 
press coverage as well as action alerts. 

California Arts Council
current information on the status on the budget and search engine to locate your elected officials.

IN THE STREET Festival
OCTOBER
50- 70 free performances 500 block of Ellis Street luggagestoregallery.org
/public/
streetfestival.php 
between Leavenworth and Hyde in the Tenderloin will be transformed and you may be transfixed! Over 50 free to the public peformances featuring theater, music, dance, spoken word, skateboarding, puppets, processionals, and more by some of the top performers in the Bay Area and nationally. Performances happen in the street, on rooftops, on fire escapes, in building lobbies, in the park, in the alley, in parked vehicles, and off the walls.

San Francisco Fringe Festival
sffringe.org/ -- September
A revolving collection of non-juried, uncensored absurdist and experimental theater pieces  downtown and throughout the City. EXIT Theatre is also the producer of the annual San Francisco Fringe Festival

www.sfarts.org
for EVENTS
huge database of events searchable many different ways

TIX Bay Area by theatrebayarea.org 
for half- and full-price tickets are available today.

what's playing now, as well as a search engine to see what's coming up in the next several months. Support your local theatre companies!