Close to 70 SF Bay Illini and their guests, along with members of the Stanford Alumni Club turned out for an exclusive screening of the documentary, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, along with a special opportunity to meet and hear from Judy Irving herself.

Delancey Street Foundation, along San Francisco's Embarcadero provided the backdrop for the reception and screening room, both of which were sponsored by Silicon Valley's Denali Software.  The evening started with guests enjoying hors d'ouevres and having the opportunity to speak personally with the film's director, San Francisco local Judy Irving.

The audience was very receptive to the film itself, which portrayed the heartwarming story about the relationship between the flock of parrots and San Francisco local, Mark Bittner.  After the film, Ms. Irving then showed extra footage, which was filmed after the documentary's release, and took numerous questions from the audience. Ms. Irving was joined on-stage by the film's star and now husband (they met while filming), Mr. Bittner, who made a surprise appearance at the event.  The evening ended with Ms. Irving and Mr. Bittner signing special-feature copies of the film on DVD for audience members.

It was a wonderful evening, which was enjoyed by all in attendance!

Click here for more photos of the event.

About Judy Irving (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_Irving)
Judy is the executive director of Pelican Media (http://www.pelicanmedia.org), a San Francisco non-profit that produces environmentally-themed films. She has a Masters degree in Film & Broadcasting from Stanford University, a BA from Connecticut College and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Film in 1983. In 2006, she married Mark Bittner (who was featured in the film) after the two met during the filming of Parrots. Judy has been honored with numerous awards, including an Emmy and Grand Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for her film Dark Circle, a feature documentary about the nuclear industry.

About the event sponsor: Denali Software, Inc. is a world-leading provider of electronic design automation (EDA) tools and intellectual property for system-on-chip (SoC) design and verification.