Rob Nilsson’s film Benefit Screening for Faithful Fools Street Ministry-Tenderloin Museum

Rob Nilsson’s film Benefit Screening for Faithful Fools Street Ministry and Tenderloin Museum

By Lynda Carson - March 18, 2026

Oakland, CA - My friend Rob Nilsson, a local legendary filmmaker, actor, and director of Berkeley, is inviting the community to join him on Thursday March 19, at 7:00PM, for a Benefit Screening fundraising event for the Faithful Fools Street Ministry, and Tenderloin Museum, at Rob Nilsson Art Forms Studio, at 1418 5TH St., in Berkeley.

This is an opportunity to spend a wonderful evening with legendary filmmaker Rob Nilsson, and members of the community in a break from the heat, and all the bad news happening as a result of the convicted felon Trump regime wreaking havoc and chaos across the U.S., and the world presently. Feel free to bring some friends for a memorable evening in Berkeley.

Rob Nilsson a longtime community supporter, has won numerous awards, from the Camera d’Or at the Cannes for his 1979 feature film Northern Lights to the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival for 1987’s Heat and Sunlight.

In a 2021 article about Rob Nilsson with Berkeleyside, and his film called Center Divide, Nilsson a KPFA radio listener said, “Center Divide is greatly enhanced by locally sourced music from Berkeley violinist Irene Sazer’s Real Vocal String Quartet. Nilsson discovered the group while driving home from Petaluma and listening to KPFA. He’d originally intended to use a jazz-steeped score, but listening to Sazer’s musc “a lot of memories came back, feelings about growing up in small town,” said Nilsson, who reached out to her via a mutual friend, Berkeley composer Alexis Harte. “The music haunts me and touches me in a way that borders on something sentimental.”

In a 2019 in KPFA radio’s events listing, it mentions, “The documentary film, “The Prairie Trilogy,” along with filmmaker Rob Nilsson, appears on Friday, January 25, starting at 7pm at 3850 Doris Murphy Court in Occidental. The film – set in 1916 – shows how everyday Americans regained their voting rights. Q&A and refreshments available. Donations benefit the Occidental Center for the Arts.”

THURSDAY MARCH 19- 7:00 PM ON THE EDGE AGAIN - 

At Rob Nilsson Art Forms Studio, at 1418 5TH St., in Berkeley. For reservations email. rnilssoncinema [at] gmail.com

A BENEFIT SCREENING for our friends and supporters in the Tenderloin. The Benefit, by the way, entails a bucket at the door for donations to the Faithful Fools Street Ministry https://www.faithfulfools.org/ and the Tenderloin Museum https://www.tenderloinmuseum.org/ for whatever $ you can easily afford.

Tenderloin Museum - The Tenderloin Museum's mission is to promote the history and character of the Tenderloin neighborhood by offering educational, artistic, and charitable activities that support the neighborhood's current vibrancy, future potential, and enhanced economic development. 

Faithful Fools Street Ministry - Our mission statement says, "We seek to meet people where they are through the Arts, Education, Advocacy, and Accompaniment."

See an email message below that I received from my longtime friend Rob Nilsson recently.

THURSDAY MARCH 19- 7:00 PM ON THE EDGE AGAIN - 

At Rob Nilsson Art Forms Studio, at 1418 5TH St., in Berkeley. For reservations email. rnilssoncinema [at] gmail.com

"A running story built around the fictional Cielo-Sea race, inspired by the historic Dipsea Race (1904-2026) which runs from Mill Valley across the shoulders of Mt. Tamalpais to the ocean at Stinson Beach." 

This Thursday, March 19, 7:00 PM, at my studio, 1418 5th. St., Berkeley we'll be showing ON THE EDGE AGAIN, featuring Bruce Dern, John Marley and, as you know by now, Pam Grier who was originally only in the non- theatrical VHS version.  Now she's back and the film has new life because of it.

We've played the new version at our Points Around the Bay Nilsson Retrospective to a full house at the Sequoia, January 22, and later at the Roxie.  I know we also showed it here recently but we scheduled it thinking East Bayers might not have had a whack at it.  So it might be stale grog for some of you.

But we also wanted to attract attention to our long overdue BENEFIT SCREENING for our friends and supporters in the Tenderloin and thought the names of Bruce Dern and Pam Grier would attract attention  The Benefit, by the way, entails a bucket at the door for donations to the Faithful Fools Street Ministry and the Tenderloin Museum for whatever $ you can easily afford.   
But attendance at  last week's showing of FOURTH MOVEMENT was disappointing.  So two moves:  

1.  If we don't get new audience from the East Bay, the screening will be to the taste of those who show up.  We have 45 feature films to choose from and we'll take a vote.

2.  We will also have a Short Subject like they used to do in the REAL movies.  This is a piece about me back in 1969 or so, falling for a film making competition for naive young directors, to go to the set of Otto Preminger's TELL ME THAT YOU LOVE ME JUNIE MOON and make a short documentary about IT/HIM.  The winning film will get a $1000. prize.  For the price of admission YOU TOO will see  the film I made.

If this, and a little vin ordinaire and popcorn can't get you to come over on Thursday, I give up!

Faithfully (or otherwise) yours,

Rob

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