Noir City, the most popular film noir festival in the world, is BACK! Defying media reports regarding the demise of repertory cinema and 35 millimeter film, the 11th edition of the Noir City film festival (at the Castro Theatre from January 25th - February 3rd) will present its most expansive schedule yet! Over ten days, Noir City will screen 27 films, including three brand new 35mm restorations funded by the Film Noir Foundation and the noir-loving moviegoers of San Francisco!

This festival kicks off with a tribute to special guest star Peggy Cummins, legendary for her ferocious performance as carnival sharpshooter Annie Laurie Starr in Gun Crazy (1950). Ms. Cummins, traveling all the way from her home in London, will be interviewed onstage by host Eddie Muller following a screening of the film!

As always, NOIR CITY will present both celebrated classics and wonderful rarities: some newly rescued from extinction and presented in glorious new 35mm prints, others screening for the first time in gorgeous 4K digital restorations. Opening weekend will feature the world premiere of two of the Film Noir Foundation's latest film restoration projects Try and Get Me! (1950) and Repeat Performance (1949).

But that's not all! The hugely popular Noir City Nightclub returns on Saturday night, February 2, 2013. Partiers will time travel to 1949 for an extraordinary evening of scintillating music, sexy striptease, dancing, and drinking ($5 cocktails— beat that price!), all in a new vintage venue, the Regency Lodge (1290 Sutter Street at Van Ness). This year's show, emceed by "Czar of Noir" Eddie Muller, includes the sizzling jazz of the Dmitri Matheny Group (unveiling its "Crime Scenes Suite"), the sultry pop-noir stylings of Erin Brazill and the Brazillionaires ("The Hitchcock Suite"), the return of international striptease sensation Evie Lovelle, torch song temptress Laura Ellis, and the uniquely soulful and sinister serenades of El Radio Fantastique! Best of all, festival screenings are arranged so NOIR CITY attendees can attend the soiree without missing a single film!

The Film Noir Foundation, dedicated to preserving films in danger of being lost or irreparably damaged AND the organization behind the Noir City film festival, presents the third annual Noir City Xmas show on Wednesday, December 19th at San Francisco's majestic Castro Theatre! Get your tickets HERE!

The Yule-themed double bill pairs The Lady in the Lake (1947), a subjective camera adaption of Raymond Chandler's novel set during the holidays, and Holiday Affair (1949) with noir icon Robert Mitchum hot on the trail of nubile Janet Leigh.

The evening will also feature the unveiling of the full schedule for NOIR CITY 11 (1/25 - 2/3/13), the spectacular new NOIR CITY poster, and the latest Ms. NOIR CITY herself! Defying all the latest media death knells regarding repertory cinema and 35mm, NOIR CITY 11 will present its most expansive schedule yet with29 films, including three brand-new 35mm restorations funded by the Film Noir Foundation . . . and the noir lovers of San Francisco! 

But here's a little more about the films you will see at Noir City Xmas:

HOLIDAY AFFAIR 7:30pm (1949, RKO, dir. Don Hartman. 87 min.) Big bad Bob Mitchum is on the run from one of his RKO noir thrillers when he gets a job as house dick at a department store and busts adorable Janet Leigh, who's spying for the competition. Okay, it's not noir. It's a warm and witty romantic Christmas movie minus all the sappy sentiment. Hey, a little love never killed anybody!