Lecturer Jesse Moss On His Documentary, 'The Bandit'

HOODLINE (SAN FRANCISCO) -- This year's closing night film at the San Francisco International Film Festival, “The Bandit,” was directed by Jesse Moss, a resident of the Inner Richmond, a professor at San Francisco State University, and a longtime patron of the Castro Theatre. We caught up with Moss to talk with him about the film, and about what it means to him to screen one of his films in a theater he’s been frequenting since he was a young boy. For Moss, "‘The Bandit’ was an opportunity to look at [Burt] Reynolds’ meteoric streak across the 1970s — everything that he embodied and represented — and then this unusual relationship between him and his stunt double [Needham], who was his best friend.” He was certain that Reynolds would turn him down when he pitched him the documentary, but the '70s icon was an enthusiastic participant.