Part of See Anvil! Rock On!

Director Sacha Gervasi and musicians Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner in person at the Castro.

At 14, Toronto school friends (and nice Jewish boys) Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, went on to become the “demigods of Canadian metal,” releasing one of the heaviest albums in metal history, 1982’s Metal on Metal. The album influenced a musical generation, including Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, and went on to sell millions of records. But Anvil’s career took a different path—straight to obscurity.

Director Sacha Gervasi has concocted a wonderful and often hilarious account of Anvil’s last-ditch quest for elusive fame and fortune. His ingenious filmmaking may first lead you to think this a mockumentary—scenes play like This Is Spinal Tap reset in the frozen North—but it isn’t. Gervasi joined the legendary heavy metal band as a roadie for a tour of Canadian hockey arenas, so he has intimate insight into the members’ eccentricities. It’s fascinating to see the reality of their day-to-day lives as, now in their 50s, they struggle to make ends meet, take a misguided European tour, and engage in antics on the road—which is not always lined with fans. Gervasi even finds a softer center to this raucous film, introducing us to band members’ ever-supportive, but long-suffering, families. At its core, Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a timeless tale of survival and the unadulterated passion it takes to follow your dream, year after year. Anvil rocks—it has no other choice.

—John Cooper, Sundance Film Festival

Rock on! After the 10:15 pm screening of Anvil! in Berkeley, head to the Acme Bar for a killer deal on drinks. Check out www.sfbg.com to enter to win tickets to the San Francisco screening.

Sponsored by Nancy Goldberg and Shana Penn, honoring Elizabeth Greene for her nine years of extraordinary service to SFJFF

Co-presented by San Francisco Bay Guardian's Guardian Art Series and Aquarius Records