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Writer's pictureKatherine Martine

Belvedere man’s independent film to screen at S.F. festival


Belvedere resident Adam Zbar, co-director of 'The Divine Toad,' is seen shooting on location. The film was selected to show at the San Francisco Independent Film Festival on Feb. 4.

Belvedere filmmaker Adam Zbar describes his latest movie in part as a modern retelling of Dante’s “Inferno” with Silicon Valley as the backdrop.


In “The Divine Toad,” the main character, Gordo, is on the verge of making the deal of a lifetime when he discovers he has stage-four terminal brain cancer. As he tries to stave off death, his life spins out of control, and he encounters kooky characters and places, including a psychedelic shaman and the nine circles of hell.


“It’s a race against time. What’s going to happen first: Is he going to reach his dream, or is he not going to get there? And in the midst of it we have a lot of fun,” says Zbar, 53.


The 54-minute film, which Zbar made with Tyler MacNiven of Woodside, is one of 100 or so films that are part of the 25th annual San Francisco Independent Film Festival, running Feb. 2-9 at the Roxie Theater and through Feb. 12 online.


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