Jan 29, 2025
The FilmHouse Residency is managed by SFFILM Makers, the artist development program at SFFILM and is made possible in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and additional funding from the San Francisco Film Commission and the San Francisco Foundation. The program supports both narrative and documentary projects (including features, shorts, and series) by providing 12-month residencies to local filmmakers actively engaged in various stages of production.
FilmHouse Residents receive a variety of benefits including special access to established industry professionals offering artistic guidance and support from their various areas of expertise as well as a robust guest speaker series featuring lectures and presentations by leading industry professionals; workshops led by prominent filmmakers and other members of the independent film industry; peer-to-peer support; work-in-progress screenings; bi-weekly production meetings; access to meaningful networking opportunities; and numerous other community-building programs.
The selection committee for the 2025 FilmHouse Residents were:
Masashi Niwano, Director of Artist Development, SFFILM
Joshua Moore, Artist Development Manager of Documentary, SFFILM
Rosa Morales, Artist Development Manager of Narrative, SFFILM
Erika Arnold, Artist Development Associate Manager, SFFILM
Sofia Alicastro, Deputy Director, Film SF
Ines Pedrosa e Melo, Filmmaker
Let’s meet the residents that will be taking their projects to the next stage at FilmHouse in 2025!
Meet the 2025 Residents
Andres Gallegos
The Darkest Night—Narrative Short
Stage: Pre-Production
Diego, a 16-year-old from a low socioeconomic background, starts working as a construction assistant in an wealthy neighborhood thanks to the help of Sergio, a father figure he never had. There, he falls for Marta, but everything changes when Sergio’s life-changing accident threatens their future, Diego must make a dangerous choice and use stolen money to save him. As the thief comes back for the loot, Diego plans a robbery to set a trap, only to find that his own involvement in the crime may cost him everything, including his relationship with Marta.
Che ’Chichi’ Castillo
Be Here Now (working title)
Celeste, an underpaid artist and disinterested sugar baby, travels to their hometown for a short visit, but when their ride’s car is stolen, they must embark on a journey that reconnects them to the intimacy and magic of queer life.
Henry Kinder
The Gathering—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting
Aimless, Evan returns home to Berkeley to sort through his late mother’s house, finding himself with a new roommate: his estranged, ornery uncle Eugene.
The unlikely pair work through the collected baggage of their shared past as Evan’s sister quietly works to sell the house and a newcomer, Alice, inadvertently helps both Evan and Eugene— each in their own way— embrace the ineluctability of change.
Kat Gorospe Cole
Don’t Tell Mom—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting
Quirky Filipinx kid Ray can’t wait to leave their youth and family in Hawai’i to pursue college in the mainland. When Ray’s outgoing single mother faces the consequences of her own rebellion, the duo embarks on an adventurous summer that includes keeping secrets from grandma.
Kyle Casey Chu
After What Happened at the Library—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting
A drag queen goes viral after extremists storm her Story Hour at a local library. Reality bends under the weight of public attention as she loses her grip of her own narrative.
Linda Mai Green
Jane (working title) Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting
In this Gothic thriller set in 1880s California, a vulnerable young Chinese American woman is taken in by a charismatic scientist and her mute companion. Enamored with her new friends, the young woman must choose between adopting the scientist’s worldview or forging her own sense of self.
Meera Angelica Joshi
The Sale—Narrative Short
Stage: Pre-Production
In 1993, California, a young immigrant mother has a dream to start a new life for herself and her family. The first step is to make her first encyclopedia sale.
Octavian Kelly
Tattletale—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting
Daniel, a locksmith and single father in San Francisco, confronts his wealthy sister after his seven-year-old son is molested by his nephew.
Sahand Nikoukar
Abracadabra TV Repair—Narrative Feature
Stage: Pre-Production
A father and son search for a stolen big screen television in 1995 San Francisco.
Sepi Mashiahof
Tell Me About The Fairies—Narrative Feature
Stage: Development
Alienated by the sexual wonderland of college life, a sheltered queer Iranian “boy” has an encounter with fairies who curse with an aroma that makes men hopelessly attracted to him as his body rots away like spoiled fruit.
Tenzin Phuntsog
Sentient Beings—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting
In a near-future America dominated by autonomous self-driving vehicles, a group of Tibetan refugees go on an existential road trip across the American landscape in their manually driven car.
Yvette Solis
Untitled 3PD Project—Hybrid Short
Stage: Screenwriting
A self-reflective narrator embarks on a chaotic journey navigating a mysterious neurological disorder, forcing them to confront the fragmented nature of their new reality.
Adamu T. Chan
Babylon by the Bay (working title)—Documentary Feature
Stage: Development
Babylon by the Bay (working title) tells the stories of the pioneers and tastemakers from San Francisco’s youth street fashion and counterculture scene in the 1990s and early 2000s. It serves as a love letter to “the city by the bay,” capturing a bygone era when the city’s character was profoundly influenced by the art and culture of young people pushing back against conservatism and rising wealth concentration.
Deann Borshay Liem
Relative Strangers—Documentary Feature
Stage: Production
During and after the Korean War, thousands of mixed-race children were abandoned by their American GI fathers, stigmatized by Korean society, and sent to be adopted by couples in the West. Today many are searching for their original families, initiating unexpected discoveries about self, family, race, and culture. Relative Strangers follows their stories, uncovering the racial and social inequalities of the world’s largest international adoption program, and its impact on individuals and societies.
Felix Uribe Jr.
Melodies of Salvation (working title)—Documentary Short
Stage: Development
Through personal footage and collaborative storytelling, this project delves into the resilience and complexity of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, sharing the lived experiences and interconnected stories of its residents as they navigate systemic challenges and create meaningful change.
Jessica Jones
Women Who Ride—Documentary Short
Stage: Post-Production
Women Who Ride is the tenacious story of the woman behind Oakland’s first Black women’s motorcycle club, D’Vious Wayz. This character-driven portrait is told through the lens of Tish Edwards, the founder of D’Vious Wayz as she struggles to keep the club afloat. A symbol of sisterhood, D’Vious Wayz highlights the influence of Black matriarchs, female comradery, and women’s battle to continue doing what they love in the face of responsibilities. As Tish balances caring for her disabled son and grapples with her own health conditions, she works to keep the sisterhood alive and start riding again.
Masha Karpoukhina
In Between Worlds—Documentary Feature
Stage: Pre-Production
In the face of impending climate chaos, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe fights to keep a sacred promise to return their ancestral salmon just as the salmon runs across the globe are collapsing.
Guided by Chief Colleen, they must journey to New Zealand where miraculously, the descendants of their salmon survived.
“Whatever happens to the salmon, happens to us” – Caleen Sisk, Chief of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
In the beginning, everything came from the sacred spring atop Mt. Shasta. All stars & all beings & among them, little humans who seemed lost and naked and had no voice. The salmon felt compassion for them & gave up their voice, so humans could communicate with all life. But only under 1 condition. That they would forever use it to speak up for the salmon.
Meg Shutzer & Brandon Yadegari Moreno
The Prison Outside—Documentary Feature
Stage: Production
Sentenced to life for crimes he committed as a child, Terrence Graham took his fight for freedom all the way to the Supreme Court and won. After twenty-one years behind bars, he is finally getting out – but is life outside just another prison?
Samantha Berlanga
Pleasure Seekers—Documentary Feature
Stage: Production
In Brooklyn, New York two best friends are determined to embrace their boldest, most unapologetically sexy selves—only to confront the deeply ingrained politics of sex and bodily autonomy. As they navigate their journey toward empowerment, the filmmaker explores how sexuality can flourish beyond the weight of institutionalized guilt and shame.
Susannah Smith
We Belong—Documentary Feature
Stage: Post-Production
For 18 rowdy years, the Lexington Club was the only dyke bar in the “Gay Mecca” of San Francisco (1997–2015). Not just a safe space, the Lexington Club was headquarters for a Queer rebellion that was transforming the world. Now, ten years later, We Belong immerses us in this iconic space to tell the story of its impact on three profound decades of LGBTQ+ history.
Tara Baghdassarian
The Dragon Under Our Feet—Documentary Feature
Stage: Pre-Production
A Bay Area artist and organizer reconnects with her Armenian culture while piecing together stained glass fragments of ancient symbols. Their rich meaning lies within traditionally woven carpets collected by older diasporans struggling to gain interest from younger generations.
Tony Nguyen
Year of the Cat—Documentary Feature
Stage: Pre-Production
Year of the Cat follows filmmaker Tony Nguyen on an extraordinary quest to solve the mystery of his father, lost in the chaos of the Fall of Saigon 50 years ago. Told as an investigative home movie, this powerful documentary weaves together moments of humor and heartache, offering an intimate look at how the children of refugees are shaped by war and loss. As Tony delves into his family’s history, the film reveals the emotional lengths we go to in confronting the ghosts of the past—and the possibility of healing as we reclaim and transform our futures.
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.