Harnessing the power of short-form non-fiction film, each character-driven story in this block is a cinematic demonstration of perseverance. Spanning across North America, these films investigate the pursuit of dreams through journeys of the body, challenges within the food industry, and collective celebrations of opportunity. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Doc Stories, an event created in part to honor documentary shorts, each film in this program poetically reflects on the road left behind, the unknowns of the future, and the irresistible power of aspirations.
—Jordan Klein

Total Runtime: 98 mins

Arepas En Bici
Jonah Moshammer, Brennan McGee, USA 2024, 14 min
A sumptuous culinary presentation and pulse-pounding ride with Victor Aguilar, a Venezuelan chef who cycles through San Francisco delivering his arepas while weaving through memories of his immigrant experience.

Kowloon!
Mona Xia, Erin Ramirez, USA 2024, 16 min
Saugus, Massachusetts, is home to the largest Chinese restaurant in the US. Within its colorful and ornamental walls is the story of the Wong family and the realization of their American dream.

Hello Stranger
Amélie Hardy, Canada 2024, 17 min
At her local Nova Scotian laundromat, Cooper shares her gender reassignment experience and the tumultuous journey to arrive and tell her story, before her clothes are dried.

Black Hercules
Rodney Lucas, USA 2024, 10 min
Soulful, scintillating, and swole, LA bodybuilding legend Craig Monson reflects on his tenacious ascension to become a chiseled champion of the '80s, unfazed by a life filled with hard knocks.

American Seams
Carly Jakins, Jared Jakins, USA 2024, 17 min
Told through three vignettes, this exquisitely captured representation of quilters sews together the intricacies and complexities of what it means to be a woman in the American rural West.

The Turnaround
Ben Proudfoot, Kyle Thrash, USA 2024, 24 min
Kyle Thrash and Academy Award winner Ben Proudfoot team up to tell the story of Jon McCann, a Phillies fan whose plan to turn things around for his beloved baseball team became the stuff of legend.