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Beth Accomando
Arts & Culture Reporter
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.
Recent Stories by Beth Accomando
Cinema Junkie On Truffle Hunting, Guantanamo Detainees, And Getting Off The Grid
- March 5
- By Beth Accomando
Truffle sniffing dogs, the lingering legacy of Guantanamo Bay detentions, and going off the grid are the subjects of the latest group of film releases.
San Diego Latino Film Festival Will Be Online And At The Drive-In
- March 3
- By Beth Accomando
The 28th annual San Diego Latino Film Festival kicks off March 11. It was the first local film festival forced to cancel its in person event because of COVID-19. The festival founder shares what the pandemic has been like.
Close Out Black History Month With 'Spittin' Truth To Power'
- Feb. 22
- By Beth Accomando
You can fittingly close out Black History Month with an intergenerational poetry piece called "Spittin’ Truth To Power While Light Leaping For the People."
Andra Day Channels Billie Holiday In New Biopic
'The United States Vs. Billie Holiday' is now streaming on Hulu
- Feb. 26
- By Beth Accomando
Billie Holiday died at the age of 44 in 1959. She leaves behind a legacy of great songs rendered in her uniquely evocative vocal style. But the new film "The United States Vs. Billie Holiday" (now streaming on Hulu) wants to remind us of the harassment she was subjected to by law enforcement.
Common Ground Theatre Celebrates Late Playwright Douglas Turner Ward
- Feb. 24
- By Beth Accomando
Common Ground Theatre's mission is “to produce classics and new works by and about people of African descent.” This weekend it showcases "Day of Absence" by Douglas Turner Ward, who died last Saturday.
Streaming Options From Oscar Contenders To Cult Icons
- Feb. 22
- By Beth Accomando
Oscar winner Frances McDormand may lock another Oscar nomination for her work in "Nomadland," which is on Hulu. Plus, Digital Gym Cinema offers "Minari" and cult classic "Dolemite."
FilmOut Monthly Screening Highlights 'Jumbo'
- Feb. 18
- By Beth Accomando
FilmOut, San Diego’s LGBTQ film festival, has been on hiatus since the pandemic hit. But it has restarted its monthly film series online and this month's selection is "Jumbo."
Cinema Junkie Podcast 209: The Black Panther Party
- Feb. 17
- By Beth Accomando
Author David F. Walker released his newest work "The Black Panther Party" just as the new film "Judas and the Black Messiah" covers the murder of Panther member Fred Hampton. In this podcast, Walker discusses his book and the film.
Diversionary Theatre Uses Pandemic Downtime For Major Remodel
- Feb. 15
- By Beth Accomando
Diversionary Theatre is the third oldest continuously run LGBT theater in the United States. It has decided to take advantage of having to be closed for the pandemic by beginning long-overdue building improvements.
'Saint Maud' Finds Horror At The Intersection Of Faith And Madness
- Feb. 12
- By Beth Accomando
Horror and faith are provocatively intertwined in the new independent film "Saint Maud," which starts streaming on EPIX today.
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