Film Geeks SD kicked off its sixth year of programming last month with a new theme for the 2020 season: Italian Genre Cinema. Beth will be one of the co-hosts for the series and will be partnering with San Diego Italian Film Festival as she takes you through the evolution of Italian popular cinema starting in the 1950s with the peplum or sword and sandal films, then moving on to the 1960s with spaghetti westerns and then finishing in the 70s and 80s with giallo and poliziotteschi.

About Beth: Beth Accomando covers arts and culture around San Diego for KPBS News. Beth studied film at UCSD and had her student film Writer’s Notebook screened as part of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s “Forty-Two Emerging Artists” showcase in 1981. She has edited the sequels to “The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” and video documentaries on Billy Wilder and roller hockey.

Beth is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Online Film Critics Society, and is the past President and former Education Chairperson for the San Diego Film Critics Society. She served as the festival director of Film School Confidential: A Showcase of San Diego Student Filmmaking. In the past she has served on the film selection committee for the San Diego State University Student Film Festival, San Diego International Film Festival and San Diego Latino Film Festival. Now she volunteers as part of The Film Geeks at the Digital Gym Cinema to bring independent and envelope-pushing genre filmmaking to the Media Arts Center San Diego’s micro cinema.

Beth has been a film critic for more than 25 years and began at KPBS in 1987. Since 1997 she has been covering independent and international cinema as well as pop culture for National Public Radio and Public Radio International’s The World. She has received numerous Society of Professional Journalist Awards and San Diego Press Club Awards for her radio and web site work at KPBS. She has also received 11 southwestern area Emmy Awards in the categories of producing, writing, and sound design for promotional spots as well as national Pro Max and Telly Awards while working at Fox.

She has a passion for Hong Kong cinema, Japanese monster movies, horror, and film noir. She collects movie posters and toys, and loves putting on a haunted house every year.

DayTimers monthly programs are open to the whole community. Please RSVP below at least one week in advance or to Program Director Ilene Tatro at itatro@cbisd.org, 858 900-2516. Fee: $5 with RSVP, $8 without RSVP.