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Wrap Notes: SFFILM 2023—Our End-of-Year Reflections + Highlights

As 2023 comes to a close, SFFILM’s Executive Director Anne Lai reflects on a historic year in film

A Letter from Our Executive Director

Fellow Film Lovers,

While December is a busy time of year for family, friends, and gatherings, a favorite for me is to spend some time reflecting on the year that was. From moments to projects, from wishes to realities, it never fails to astound me just how much happens in a year. And certainly the times we are experiencing together is an era of massive cultural, political, and creative change.

I am proud to say that 2023 was a very rewarding year for SFFILM, and for the artform we serve. While change is constant, the films, filmmakers, and thousands of people who came together to see their work this year created connection, joy, inspiration, and understanding in only the way movies can—by making us see the world through the eyes of an artist, on a big massive screen, united in awe.

Join me in celebrating the highlights of our year in SFFILM, and thank you for supporting movies, and the people who make them.

Anne Lai
Executive Director, SFFILM

San Francisco International Film Festival Highlights

The 66th San Francisco International Film Festival presented by SFFILM ran from April 13–23 at movie theaters around the Bay. It was a rousing success. It also marked our own personal SFFILM history books as the first time we opened the Festival in Oakland featuring Peter Nicks’s moving documentary Underrated: Stephen Curry. With a full slate of in-person programming and events, the 2023 SFFILM Festival featured stories from both local and international filmmakers. We hosted packed theaters for many of this year’s most salient films and filmmakers. This included Celine Song’s Past Lives, Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama, Anna Hints’s Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, and many more. To see the full wrap up of the 2023 SFFILM Festival, take a look back at our Wrap Notes blog from SFFILM writing contributor Kate Bove.

Summertime is Strategy Time

Summer is the season that SFFILM turns to strategic planning and reporting, taking stock of our goals, programs, and preparing for the fall event season. In late July, we convened our second Accessibility Congress, a gathering to better understand crucial accessibility needs of filmmakers and audiences, and to share learnings and best practices between film organizations from around the Bay, and the country.

Peer organizations who both presented and participated in discussion groups included 3rd i South Asian Film Festival, Arab Film and Media Institute, Austin Film Society, BAMPFA, BAVC, Berkeley Film Foundation, Berlin and Beyond Film Festival, Black Public Media, Bothin Foundation, CAAM, Catapult, Chicken & Egg, Cine+Mas Latino Film Festival, DOCNYC, Early Bird Films, Film Independent, FilmSF, Frameline, Full Spectrum Features, IDA, Drunken Film Festival, ITVS, Jewish Film Institute, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, KQED, May and Stanley Smith Charitable Trust, Mill Valley Film Festival, MOMA, New Orleans Film Society, Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, Portland Art Museum, QWOCMAP, Rainin FWD, Redford Center, ReelAbilities, Roxie Theater, San Francisco Foundation, Secret Sauce Media, SF Indiefest, SF Urban Fest, Sonoma International Film Festival, Sundance Institute, Superfest Film Festival, The Gotham, The William G. Gilmore Foundation, Video Consortium, Vision Maker Media, and the Walter and Elise Haas Foundation.

We are so grateful to all of the participants who came to the congress and helped everyone move beyond compliance.

SFFILM Special Presentations and Doc Stories

For the fall season, SFFILM presented multiple events with many notable filmmakers. In adherence to rules set forth by the Writers Guild of America, and SAG-AFTRA—both unions which were on strike in summer and fall—we welcomed directors to screen their films for our fantastic audiences. We started in September with director Roger Ross Williams who joined us in person for the Castro Theater premier of his narrative debut Cassandro. Next we closed out the month with a screening of Fair Play in the state-of-the-art Premier Theater at the Letterman Digital Arts Center with director Chloe Domont for a post-screening Q&A. Next was a screening of the recently A24 acquired All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt with SFFILM-supported director Raven Jackson and Academy Award-winning producer Barry Jenkins at the Roxie Theater. And if all that wasn’t enough for the fall season, we had one more major event to share with movie lovers.

SFFILM Doc Stories is our annual love letter to the most moving nonfiction films of the year. We featured a number of award winning filmmakers in San Francisco for this celebration of documentary filmmaking. They included our opening night film American Symphony with Doc Stories alum and director Matthew Heineman in attendance. In addition, we screened Rachel Ramsay’s Copa 71 as our Centerpiece film and closed out the series with Wim Wender’s most recent film Anselm. Take a look at the Doc Stories lineup here, and be on the lookout for when we announce dates for the 10th anniversary in fall of 2024.

SFFILM Artist Development and Youth Education Highlights

It’s been a busy year at the SFFILM Artist Development headquarters known as FilmHouse. We hosted many events in FilmHouse from artist talks and production meetings to filmmaker parties and table reads. We also welcomed our Youth FilmHouse residents into the space in-person to meet with working filmmakers and learn more about building careers in the film industry.

We also celebrated new—and returning—faces into the SFFILM family through granting and professional support. With the SFFILM Rainin Grant we awarded seventeen filmmaking teams cash grants up to $25,000 for screenwriting, development, and post-production on their films. This grant also comes with a two-month residency at FilmHouse. Learn more about the recipients and their projects on our blog and at this special profile by MovieMaker Magazine.

For nonfiction filmmakers, we proudly announced the selection of our Documentary Film Fund Recipients. The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund is our decade-plus long program to support feature length documentaries in post-production. Since its inception, we have distributed nearly $1 million to filmmakers all over the world, and this year we presented grants to four filmmaking teams whose films exemplify the next level in nonfiction storytelling. Learn more about DFF and this year’s recipients on our blog.

SFFILM’s Education program is in its 32nd year serving the youth of the Bay Area. Students are welcomed into the magic of movies at Schools at the Festival, Youth Filmmakers Camp, Schools at Doc Stories, special school day programs like the Art and Science of Lucasfilm, a visit to the Pixar studios, and preview screening events for families like Disney Pixar’s Elemental, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, and Wonka. Here’s a delightful recap from SFFILM Director of Education Keith Zwölfer of a family screening of the documentary film Story & Pictures By from local director Joanna Rudnick featuring children’s book author and illustrator Christian Robinson.

This morning we had a full house of excited and wiggly grade schoolers who were happy to express their excitement every time they saw a famous children’s book up on screen that they recognized. If you ever wondered what a true superstar is in the eyes of kids ages 5-10, then you need to look no further than the reactions that Christian received. Before the Q&A started, Christian and Joanna had arrived in the lobby with about 20 minutes left in the film. Every time a student came out to use the bathroom they stopped in their tracks when they opened the door into the lobby, their jaws dropped in awe when they realized who they just laid eyes upon. Then from the onstage Q&A, my favorite question came from a youngster who simply asked, “Can I shake your hand?” Christian came down and obliged his request and gave him a bonus high five. Christian’s grandma, who was featured in the film, was also in the audience along with some other family members. She received a huge round of applause when Christian acknowledged her from stage.

Awards Season at SFFILM

Awards Night continues to be a successful event honoring the best and brightest in the filmmaking landscape, and serves as SFFILM’s biggest fundraising moment of the year. We presented awards to four filmmakers who have made a major impact in 2023, and for achievement in their craft. Our Irving M. Levin Award for Film Direction presented by actor Ryan Gosling went to Greta Gerwig in honor of her global box office record-shattering film, Barbie, among her multiple other fantastic films. The Nion McEvoy & Leslie Berriman Award for Storytelling presented by actor Raúl Castillo went to Roger Ross Williams for his new foray into fiction storytelling. The George Gund III Award for Virtuosity presented by actor John Ortiz went to Cord Jefferson for his consistent contribution to the medium with filmmaking and writing credits on the hottest television shows, and now as a first time feature film director. And finally, our Maria Manetti Shrem Lifetime Achievement Award for Acting was presented to the inimitable Nicolas Cage for his creative and illustrious film acting career spanning several decades. In an only in San Francisco moment, musical icon Tom Waits graciously presented the honor to Mr. Cage. Take a look at our social media for soundbites from their award speeches and read this wonderful piece from KQED and this one from the SF Chronicle about the evening.

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SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers, to support emerging filmmakers, and to educate youth through cinema. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

Meet the 2023 SFFILM Documentary Film Fund Recipients

Celebrate these 2023 Documentary Film Fund Recipients with us.

Since its launch in 2011, the SFFILM Documentary Film Fund (DFF) has supported feature-length documentaries in post-production that are distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters, and an innovative visual approach. DFF has distributed nearly $1 million to advance new work by filmmakers worldwide, many of whom go on to premiere at festivals like Sundance, our own San Francisco International Film Festival, Tribeca and more, as well as collect dozens of nominations and awards including the Oscars.

This year’s recipients include Efraín Mojica and Rebecca Zweig’s Milpa; Brittany Shyne’s SEEDS; Ryan Sidhoo’s The Track; and Olivier Sarbil’s Viktor.

The panel who reviewed the submissions were Jaad Asante, Manager of Documentaries, Onyx Collective; Sarvnik Kaur, director of Against the Tide; Joshua Moore, SFFILM Manager of Documentary Programs, Artist Development; and Masashi Niwano SFFILM Director of Artist Development.

“The Documentary Film Fund is one of our most competitive grants and this year we received over 350 submissions. Selecting the four recipients out of the ten remarkable finalists, proved a very difficult challenge for this year’s jury,” said Joshua Moore, Manager of Documentary Programs, Artist Development at SFFILM.

“All of these films were impressive in their own way and ultimately we believe the four recipients we selected represent exciting filmmakers at the top of their game, each giving a compelling and cinematic celebration of the underdog,” remarked the panel. “We are thrilled to award SFFILM’s Documentary Film Fund to these distinct projects and can’t wait to see them come into the world for all to see, share, and experience.”

Previous DFF winners include Sarvnik Kaur’s Against the Tide, winner of the Sundance 2023 Vérité Filmmaking Prize; Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborne’s Going Varsity in Mariachi, winner of the Sundance 2023 Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award; Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing With Fire, which won Audience and Special Jury Awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival; Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, which won a record number of juried awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Academy Awards for both Best Documentary Feature and Best Foreign Language Film; RaMell Ross’ Hale County This Morning, This Evening, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2018 and was nominated for the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and many others.

The 2023 Documentary Film Fund is made possible thanks to support from Jennifer Hymes Battat and the Jenerosity Foundation along with Katie Hall and Tom Knutsen.

Meet the 2023 Documentary Film Fund Recipients

Milpa

Efraín Mojica, Director/Producer; Rebecca Zweig, Director/Producer; Sarah Strunin, Producer

At the rural rodeos in Michoacán, México, a hypermasculine tradition is rife with hidden queer encounters. In Jaripeo, director Efraín steps into the frame to follow two rancheros as they navigate desire, machismo, and mass migration from one rodeo season to the next.

SEEDS

Brittany Shyne, Director/Producer; Danielle Varga, Producer; Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Executive Producer

SEEDS is a portrait of centennial farmers in the geographical south. Using lyrical black-and-white imagery, this meditative film examines the decline of generational black farmers and the significance of owning land.

The Track

Ryan Sidhoo, Director/Producer

The Track is a coming-of-age journey of three teenagers chasing their Olympic dreams in post-war Bosnia. Training on their bullet-riddled luge track left over from the 1984 Winter Games in Sarajevo, the heart of the project is found in the relatable, sometimes humorous and exciting portrayal of friends striving for a better life despite religious strife and a murky economic future. Ultimately, the film begs the question: Where does a generation go after war?

Viktor

Olivier Sarbil, Director/Producer Darren Aronofsky, Producer; Dylan Golden, Producer; Brendan Naylor, Producer; Sigrid Dyekjær, Producer; Philippe Levasseur, Producer

Viktor is an intimate epic about a Ukrainian searching for purpose in a war he cannot hear.

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Meet the 2023 SFFILM Documentary Film Fund Finalists

Celebrate these 2023 Documentary Film Fund Finalists with us.

Previous DFF winners include Sarvnik Kaur’s Against the Tide, winner of the Sundance 2023 Vérité Filmmaking Prize; Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborne’s Going Varsity in Mariachi, winner of the Sundance 2023 Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award; Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing With Fire, which won Audience and Special Jury Awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival; Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, which won a record number of juried awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Academy Awards for both Best Documentary Feature and Best Foreign Language Film; RaMell Ross’ Hale County This Morning, This Evening, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2018 and was nominated for the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and many others.

The 2023 Documentary Film Fund is made possible thanks to support from Jennifer Hymes Battat and the Jenerosity Foundation along with Katie Hall and Tom Knutsen.

Meet the 2023 Documentary Film Fund Finalists

Company of Steel

Yuliia Hontaruk, Director/Producer; Ivanna Khitsinska, Producer; Alexandra Bratyshchenko, Producer; Uldis Cekulis, Producer; Katarina Krnacova, Producer

After enduring the horrors of the war in eastern Ukraine since 2014, three young veterans return home. As they struggle to find their place in daily life as civilians, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 throws them right back into the trauma they have tried so hard to escape.

Daughters

Natalie Rae Robison, Director/Producer; Angela Patton, Director/Executive Producer; Lisa Mazzotta, Producer

An intimate portrait of a generation of youth bearing the weight of mass incarceration through the lens of four young girls as they prepare for a special father-daughter dance with their fathers in jail.

The Impossible Dream

Javid Soriano, Director/Producer

A world-class opera singer, now unhoused in San Francisco, embarks on a musical journey into the brightest and darkest regions of his life.

Milpa

Efraín Mojica, Director/Producer; Rebecca Zweig, Director/Producer; Sarah Strunin, Producer

Patrice the Movie

Ted Passon, Director; Kyla Harris, Producer; Innbo Shim, Producer; Emily Spivack, Producer

Patrice the Movie is a nonfiction rom-com about the next phase of marriage equality – disability. In her late 50s, Patrice has finally found the love of her life, Garry, who is also disabled. They want nothing more than to get married, but if they do—or were even to move in together—the benefits they need to survive would be cut. Despite the scrutiny they’re under, they decide to plan a commitment ceremony that could risk their entire future. Blending verite footage and stylized school play-inspired recreations, the film follows Patrice in the present day while weaving in scripted scenes that reveal events from her past.

SEEDS

Brittany Shyne, Director/Producer; Danielle Varga, Producer; Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Executive Producer

The Track

Ryan Sidhoo, Director/Producer

Untitled Mistress Dispeller Project

Elizabeth Lo, Director; Emma D. Miller, Producer; Elizabeth Lo, Producer; Maggie Li, Producer

Wang Zhenxi works as a “mistress dispeller” in China, hired to break up extramarital affairs and save marriages in crisis. Untitled Mistress Dispeller Project follows Wang in her work on an unfolding case, offering extraordinarily intimate access to private lives usually kept hidden. Through a Rashomon approach that allows sympathies to shift between husband, wife, and mistress, the film paints a picture of disconnection and desire that is both specific to China and relatable across cultures.

Untitled Pyrenees Bears Film

Max Keegan, Director/Producer; Amanda McBaine, Producer; Jesse Moss, Producer; Elizabeth Woodward, Producer

Viktor

Olivier Sarbil, Director/Producer Darren Aronofsky, Producer; Dylan Golden, Producer; Brendan Naylor, Producer; Sigrid Dyekjær, Producer

Viktor is an intimate epic about a Ukrainian searching for purpose in a war he cannot hear.

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Meet the 2023 SFFILM Rainin Grant Finalists

Celebrate these 2023 SFFILM Rainin Finalists with us.

Supporting feature filmmakers since 2009

SFFILM is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2023 SFFILM Rainin Grant, the flagship artist development program offered by SFFILM Makers in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. Twenty-eight filmmaking teams have been shortlisted as contenders to receive funding and professional support for their narrative projects at different stages of production.

The SFFILM Rainin Grant program is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the US, and supports films that address social justice issues—the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges—in a positive and meaningful way through plot, character, theme, or setting. Awards are made to multiple projects once a year, for screenwriting, development, and post production. Recipients are offered a cash grant up to $25,000 for screenwriting and development, up to $50,000 for post production as well as a two-month residency at FilmHouse, SFFILM’s premier artist residency space.

The program is open to filmmakers from anywhere in the world who can commit to spending time developing the film in San Francisco. Applications for 2024 will reopen in late fall.

2023 SFFILM Rainin Finalists

Blue Veil

Screenwriting
Shireen Alihaji, Director/Screenwriter; Jaime Ballesteros, Producer

In the wake of 9/11, a First-Gen Muslim teenager discovers her mother’s cassette tapes. As music unlocks memories, she discovers who she is.

Scruples

Screenwriting
Ifeyinwa Arinze, Director/Screenwriter/Producer

Set against the volatile backdrop of a Nigerian all-girls boarding school, a troubled twelve-year old girl seeks refuge under the wing of the school’s beguiling senior prefect and embraces darker parts of herself until she is faced with an unexpected cost.

To Kill a Mongolian Horse

Screenwriting
Xiaoxuan Jiang, Director/Screenwriter

In a small mining town bordering Mongolia and China, Sayna, a Mongolian horseman and ex-horse racer, tends his family ranch while working as a background performer in a horse show at the local tourist site. But, contrary to the majestic Mongolian cavalryman he performs at night for the tourists, Sayna finds his real life as a herder on the verge of disintegration.

What God Meant to Be Free

Screenwriting
Amy Campione, Director/Screenwriter/Producer

After missing for weeks, a young woman mysteriously returns home pregnant, claiming she was abducted by aliens, only to find herself fighting for her life when she is kidnapped by a fanatical religious group that believes she is carrying a religious savior.

In Case of Apocalypse

Screenwriting
Olivia Peace, Director/co-screenwriter/Producer; Imani Mixon co-screenwriter

After a mysterious toxic algal bloom leaves them stranded on an island off the coast of Detroit, a DJ and local scam queen must find their way to shore before the island, and their romantic relationship, crumbles around them. Whether they survive has everything to do with what they decide to keep… and what they have the courage to leave behind.

The Deaf Club

Screenwriting
Jessica Flores, Director/Screenwriter

San Francisco Mission District 1979; MILA MARTINEZ, a young meek Latina woman trying to break away from her overprotective family, unexpectedly finds a home at a punk venue that also happens to be a club for the deaf.

The South is my Sister’s Skin

Screenwriting
Zenzele Ojore, Director/Screenwriter

In the belly of the American South, we watch two Black sisters grow towards and away from each other over several decades. As one struggles to reconcile with their shared past, the other attempts to forget.

Take Me Home

Screenwriting
Liz Sargent, Director/Screenwriter; Minos Papas, Producer

Anna, a cognitively disabled adult, and her aging parents struggle to find a fragile balance in sharing a home and meeting each others’ needs. When this balance is shattered, they must find new ways to care for each other and to define their own independence.

In the Summers

Post Production

Alessandra Lacorazza, Director/Screenwriter; Daniel Tantalean, Producer; Alexander Dinelaris, Producer; Rob Quadrino, Producer
Culminating over four summer vignettes, Latine sisters, Violeta and Eva, visit their father in an expansive story exploring the growing pains of childhood to the reflections of adulthood.

Buffalo Stone

Development
Lily Gladstone, Screenwriter/Executive Producer; Ivy Macdonald, Director; Ivan Macdonald, Producer; Daniel Glick, Director/Writer/Producer; Sarah Clarke, Screenwriter

Buffalo Stone tells the story of two estranged Blackfeet sisters who, after their mother’s death, reunite and are drawn into a bold effort to return buffalo to their ancestral lands in the face of hostile and violent cattle ranchers

Starfuckers

Development
Eli Raskin, Producer

A high-end rentboy living an insular life in the Hollywood Hills becomes obsessed with a mysterious star of the underground drag scene. His identity is called into question and life begins to unravel as he discovers the true objective of his new friend.

Earthquake

Post Production
Neo Sora, Screenwriter/Director; Albert Tholen, Producer; Aiko Masubuchi, Producer; Eric Nyari, Producer; Alex C. Lo, Producer

A fictional coming-of-age story set in near-future Tokyo, EARTHQUAKE follows a group of friends nearing the end of high school whose teenage antics collide with the anxiety of growing up in an uncertain world. As frequent tremors foreshadow a looming catastrophic earthquake, one of the rabble-rousing teens must decide between continuing a life of youthful abandon or losing one of his best friends, whose blossoming political consciousness has made him increasingly distant.

Wishes Sink in Man Made Lakes

Screenwriting
Faye Ruiz, Screenwriter/Director

Mayari and Angel, two trans teens, have run away together and taken refuge in an old cheap seat theater during its final summer before closing. Aided by an online forum for trans women, the two girls spend a seemingly endless summer trying anything and everything to start hormone replacement therapy while navigating the realities of living life as trans women for the first time.

Encore

Screenwriting
Stefanos Tai, Screenwriter/ Director/ Producer

A young man visits his grandma with dementia, but she mistakes him for an ex-lover. He plays along to fill her last days with joy, but as he goes deeper into his new “role”, he must fight to retain his true self.

Anita

Development
Sushma Khadepaun, Screenwriter/Director; Monique Walton, Producer; Andrea Kuehnel, Producer; Valerie Castillo-Martinez, Producer

Desperate for a better life, an ambitious woman escapes her conservative, small-town life in India by orchestrating her own arranged marriage to a man visiting from the US. But when her fierce pursuit of the American Dream begins to threaten her marriage, she realizes that in order to achieve true independence she must confront the very life she escaped.

Burning Well

Development
M.G. Evangelista, Screenwriter/Director/Producer; Simone Ling, Producer

In a re-imagining of the Prodigal Son story, on receiving news of their mother’s illness, a daughter-turned-son returns home to mend complicated relationships and rediscover what family and love really mean.

Electric Homies

Screenwriting
Roberto Fatal, Screenwriter/Director /Producer

A group of friends in near future Oakland try to fix an old lowrider as thousands in their barrio leave behind their bodies and upload to a mysterious new digital utopia.

Afronauts

Screenwriting
Nuotama Bodomo, Screenwriter/Director; Monique Walton, Producer

It’s 1964. Northern Rhodesia has just become Zambia. With a job well done, former freedom fighter Mukuka Nkoloso decides to take on his next big feat: the Space Race. Nkoloso leads his unlikely followers to a camp to set up an astronaut-training program and announces that he will send teenage girl Matha Mwamba to the moon in a homemade rocket. Nkoloso has led many “impossible” projects before, but has he gone too far this time?

Piratas

Screenwriting
Gabriela Ortega, Screenwriter/ Director

A struggling Dominican artist returns to the island to fulfill her late grandfather’s dying wish but to do so, she will have to embark on an off-the-grid road trip with her estranged father.

Mosswood Park

Development
Nijla Mu’min, Director/Screenwriter/Producer; Avril Speaks, Producer; Gabrielle Glore, Producer

Two gifted artists meet as children at Oakland’s Mosswood Park summer camp and form a relationship that leads them back to each other in unexpected ways through their lives. A sweeping and classic love story in the style of “Love & Basketball” meets “The Notebook” (with a bit of “Normal People”), this Bay Area epic explores the complex and rocky terrain of young love that never fades away, amidst an ever-changing city backdrop.

A Real One

Development
McKenzie Chinn, Screenwriter/ Director

Through a lens that’s sometimes realistic and other times surreal, a bright teenager learns the power and persistence of true friendship when a closely-held secret is discovered amid the final weeks of her senior year in high school.

White Rabbits

Screenwriting
Nesaru Tchaas, Screenwriter/ Director

The saga of two families hinging on a racist murder. An investigation ensues as the families of perpetrator and victim create the existential meaning of this hate crime.

Last Harvest

Screenwriting
Justin Omori, Screenwriter

Amidst the increasingly complicated challenges of modern agriculture, an aging Kona coffee farmer must confront the reality that family dreams and traditions that spanned generations may come to an end after her son mysteriously disappears.

Dope Queens

Post Production
Grafton Reyes Doyle, Screenwriter/Director; John Reyes Doyle, Producer; Julio Lopez Velasquez, Producer

Three remarkable friends navigate San Francisco’s fluorescent Tenderloin District and quickly find themselves trapped in a prison of their own making.

Movie House

Screenwriting
Minh Nguyen-Vo, Director/Screenwriter; Khai Thu Nguyen, Producer

In 1960s Vietnam, amid the Cold War, a family-run movie house becomes a haven for an eight-year-old boy who leans on the loving care of his mother and the magic of cinema to find father figures and discover the world. Through adolescence, he learns about love, sex, and his tragic family history, all while struggling to make sense of a world being undone by war.

Amoeba

Screenwriting
Siyou Tan, Screenwriter/Director

In a repressive city-state, a schoolgirl persuades three classmates at a conservative all-girls school to rebel by forming a triad gang.

Requiem for a Glacier

Screenwriting
Stephanie Falkeis, Screenwriter/ Director

A young glaciologist reluctantly returns to her estranged home in the remote Alps, tasked with assessing the local glacier for its development potential as a ski resort. She is forced to confront the origins of her estrangement from her own activist roots when challenged by her charismatic vigilante-activist mother, who’s on the last legs of a long fight defending the glacier from destruction. A feminist anti-western set in a dying landscape.

The Binding of Itzik

Development
Anika Benkov, Screenwriter/Director; Lili Rosen, Producer

A middle aged Hasidic bookbinder stumbles across a craigslist ad offering “binding lessons for submissive women,” and becomes tied up in a passionate BDSM affair with a stranger who threatens to change his quiet life forever, in this unexpectedly touching, late-in-life trans coming out story.

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Welcome to SFFILM’s Ninth Annual Doc Stories

Since 2014, Doc Stories has become a must-attend event for documentary lovers and filmmakers alike, a celebration of the year’s most vital nonfiction filmmaking. SFFILM’s Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks shares some thoughts about this year’s stellar program and why she loves documentary films. Doc Stories runs November 2–5 in-person and streaming and tickets are on sale now.

2023 Doc Stories Program

From a Programmer: Q&A with Jessie Fairbanks

Q: Tell us about the 2023 Doc Stories program.

I am so proud to share this year’s program! We start with a jubilant Opening Night screening of Matthew Heineman’s new film American Symphony which profiles a year in the life of a creative polyglot: songwriter, singer, and performer Jon Batiste. Our Centerpiece program is Copa 71, a rousing and illuminating archival excavation of the first womens’ World Cup in Mexico in 1971. For Closing Night, we welcome back the prestigious Wim Wenders with his latest documentary Anselm, featuring life work of prolific multi-faceted artist, Anselm Kiefer, and it is presented in glorious 3-D.

We are honored to welcome back local filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss with their incisive new documentary The Mission, which explores the intersection of colonialism, religion, and misguided curiosity. We also feature UC Santa Cruz professor Irene Lusztig, with her moving portrait Richland about two towns wrestling with their not-so-distant atomic past. We will have Joanna Rudnick with her heartwarming film about childrens’ stories, Story & Pictures By, and will have in-person appearances from the authors and artists! There will also be in-person presentations and screenings from Lisa Cortés, Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine, Caroline Suh, Cara Mones, Kaouther Ben Hania, dream hampton, Roger Ross Williams, and many more.

And, we are honored to host a special tribute to our late friend, Julia Reichert. We curated the tribute in collaboration with Reichert’s partner, Steven Bognar, and this celebration of her life and work offers space for collective remembrance of a beloved filmmaker. Reichert was a tireless advocate for womens’ rights, workers’ rights, and mentor to a legion of documentarians. Her influence and generosity of spirit cultivated a global network of social crusaders who continue to shape the documentary genre today.

Q: Why do you love documentaries?

For me, documentaries sit somewhere between oral history and journalism. There is a proximity to the subject matter with docs that is tactile and invigorating. I always learn something new when watching a documentary and often find myself evaluating the world around me: sometimes it is an exploration of beliefs and ideologies, sometimes it is a reflection of a sense of self or community, and sometimes it is a prophetic spark to mind the patterns of human history. And no matter the content, documentaries are almost always inspirational. It may not be readily obvious at the start, but the sheer creation of a documentary is an act of defiance and hope. These films are made by people who care deeply about the world we live in, who want to engage audiences in a quest to deepen our connections and understanding of one another. There is so much to love about documentaries.

Q: What are some common misconceptions about documentary film, and what is more accurate about the artform?

That they are either didactic and elitist, or mass made fodder for streaming platforms, but documentaries are both artful and exciting! We have been living in a golden era of documentaries for well over a decade now and the expansion of doc filmmaking has encouraged so many new storytellers to the forefront who are sharing their histories, communities, and experiences in ways that enriches people and human connection. Yes, the increased interest in documentaries has also resulted in prolific sub-genres of say, true crime entertainment and celebrity biopics that can veer into campy or manufactured aesthetics, but it also means there are more individuals and collectives making docs and more artists who are pushing the form and engaging new audiences. I think people also forget that non-fiction work can be as gorgeously shot as any fiction film, with incredible narrative architecture and immersive visual styles.

Documentary film expands the boundaries of all filmmaking, and we look forward to seeing you this year at Doc Stories! Get your tickets now, so you can say, “I Saw It At SFFILM.”

About Jessie Fairbanks

Jessie Fairbanks is the Director of Programming at SFFILM. She leads the artistic curations for both the annual San Francisco International Film Festival and Doc Stories, as well as the organization’s year-round offerings, bringing fresh and compelling work and artists from around the world to the Bay Area. Prior to SFFILM, Jessie was the Director of Programming for the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, the oldest documentary film festival in North America. She has over 20 years of experience in the independent film space, and her earlier programming work includes DOC NYC, Tribeca Film Festival, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Sundance, Chicago International Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, MountainFilm, Nashville Film Festival, Rooftop Films, and Woods Hole Film Festival.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.