SFFILM

Mel Novikoff Award: Michelle Satter + Beasts of the Southern Wild
2026-04-30 19:30 - 21:59 (America/Los_Angeles) | Premier Theater at One Letterman, 1 Letterman Dr # B, San Francisco, CA, 94129, United States
Below the levee, the Bathtub exists as a tightknit community unto itself, practically a separate nation from Louisiana and the rest of the United States. There, six-year-old Hushpuppy (Oscar® Best Actress nominee Quvenzhané Wallis) lives a hardscrabble existence with her ill, alcoholic father Wink (Dwight Henry). When Katrina hits, the rising waters engulf the Bathtub while advancing aurochs further threaten Hushpuppy and the rest of the tiny enclave. Benh Zeitlin’s astonishing directing debut won the Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize and captured four Academy Award® nominations for a drama that observes the chaos and loss brought forth by the 2005 hurricane through the eyes of a child. What unfolds in this gorgeously shot drama is dreamy and even hallucinatory. And as dire as things sometimes seem, a sense of hope remains in this resilient little girl, carried forth by her boundless imagination. —Pam Grady

The Son and the Sea
2026-04-30 19:30 - 21:41 | BAMPFA, 2155 Center Street, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
British writer/director Stroma Cairns makes a resonant feature debut with this coming-of-age drama focused on a young man trying to find his place in the world. The film is a family affair as Cairns collaborated on the screenplay with her mother Imogen West and cast as the tempestuous protagonist her brother Jonah West. In his first film role, he impresses as Jonah, who is determined to sort himself but unsure of what that means as he travels from London to Scotland’s Aberdeenshire, his mate Lee (Stanley Brock) in tow. The two make a new friend in deaf Charlie (Connor Tompkins), who is dealing with his own issues. Ruben Woodin Dechamps’s glorious cinematography captures the wild beauty of the Scottish coast as the roiling sea reflects Jonah’s emotional state as he grapples with the uncertainty in his life and what it means to be a man. —Pam Grady

Elder Son
2026-04-30 20:15 - 22:21 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
“Where are you from?” That question asked of native-born Argentinian teenager Lila (Anita B. Queen), whose parents immigrated from Korea, hovers over Cecilia Kang’s remarkable drama inspired by her own family’s story. The documentary director’s first narrative feature unfolds in three parts as Lila and her taciturn father Antonio (Chang Sung Kim) join a reunion with his rowdy friends to fish and talk about the old days. Then traveling back in time, the drama observes a brash, young Antonio (Sang Bin Suh) in Uruguay as he struggles to make a life for himself and with guilt over leaving his wife and Lila’s older sister in Korea. The last act gets to the heart of the matter in documentary footage of Kang’s parents poring over old photos as they reminisce about settling in South America. Gorgeously photographed, in both fiction and fact, Kang pays loving homage to her parents’ immigrant journey. —Pam Grady

Still Playing + The Curfew + Nava
2026-04-30 20:30 - 22:11 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Three protagonists and their quietly courageous gestures of resilience weave together a cinematic journey across the world. Documenting a father’s struggle in Palestine, a woman’s fateful return to Iran, and the quotidian experiences of Pakistani diaspora, this trio of films raises essential questions about proximity to cruelty, colonialism’s lasting impacts, and what it means to show love and devotion under harrowing circumstances.
Films are listed in order of play. Total runtime is 72 min.
Still Playing
Mohamed Mesbah (France 2025, 37 min)
Palestinian video game creator Rasheed Abueideh raises two sons in the West Bank, where Israeli army raids are as common as his children’s robotics competitions. Interspersed with clips of streamers playing a game of Abueideh’s creation, Liyla and the Shadows of War, this documentary examines the depth of empathy—and apathy—for the Palestinian cause. In continued advocacy for Palestinian liberation, Abueideh’s programming work acts as a medium for grief that honors his land and fallen compatriots. Indeed, the film seeks to interrogate filmmakers and viewers alike, gauging their positionality as conditions in Gaza further deteriorate under Israeli occupation. A portrait of a father committed to his family, homeland, and craft, Still Playing raises essential questions about proximity to cruelty, life under occupation, and the power and limits of multimedia storytelling. —Sabrina Kim
The Curfew
Shehrezad Maher (USA 2025, 19 min)
As Pakistani American Ayaan moves into a new apartment and becomes the caretaker for his grandmother, he hears intergenerational echoes of language and history.
Nava
Dena Rassam (Iran 2025, 16 min)
Iranian singer Nava has 24 hours to spend with her father before she must leave the country.

Salvation
2026-05-01 16:00 - 18:29 | BAMPFA, 2155 Center Street, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Winner of the Berlinale’s Silver Bear, Emin Alper’s (Frenzy, Festival 2016) electrifying drama of power struggles in a Turkish mountain village exposes the chaos that erupts when territorialism takes root. In the unnamed community, two tribes clash over land and the right to harvest it. Mesut, haunted by troubling dreams he believes are prophetic, stakes his claim as the new sheikh. As his power grab fans inflammatory rhetoric, he becomes the figure rallying those who long for revenge. Alper’s assured filmmaking blurs dreams and reality, while a tremendous ensemble cast conveys both vulnerability and menace. With striking visual flair, Salvation illuminates how fear, suspicion, and strongman rhetoric create circumstances where no one is safe … or saved. —Rod Armstrong

How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps
2026-05-01 18:00 - 19:48 | Premier Theater at One Letterman, 1 Letterman Dr # B, San Francisco, CA, 94129, United States
Family separation defined the childhood of filmmaker Carolina Gonzalez Valencia, whose mother Beatriz moved to the US from Colombia to provide for her children by working as a domestic house cleaner. Years later, when Gonzalez Valencia tries to make a film about her parent, she discovers it is easier to resort to playful conversations and lots of sequins than it is to probe the immense pain and sacrifice that define her mother’s life. What emerges in this striking directorial debut, replete with playful animated sequences, is a tribute that bends the formal limits of documentary by inviting magic and mischief into the tale. On the brink of another separation, González Valencia and her mother embark on a journey of healing, bringing their community along on an unexpectedly fun ride. How to Clean a House In 10 Easy Steps honors the labor that supports us while celebrating the joy that sustains us. —Bedatri Choudhury

Shorts Block 2: Under Pressure
2026-05-01 18:15 - 20:14 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Pressure builds quietly before it breaks. Across cultures, five individuals confront the forces pressing in on their lives, reflecting the fault lines shaping women’s place in the world today. A Portuguese mother struggles beneath the invisible mental load of an uneven household, while a daughter in rural Taiwan navigates tradition during a funeral rite. A teacher in the UK challenges systemic racism at her school, as a wife faces economic strain on her fragile marriage amid Ulaanbaatar’s suffocating traffic, and an autistic woman in the western US finds her voice after years of struggling to communicate. These films, all directed by women, explore the burdens their gender carries—as mothers, professionals, and community members—tracing moments when endurance gives way to reckoning, and reclaiming one’s voice becomes both urgent and necessary. —Mariana Finelli
Films are in alphabetical order rather than order of play. Total runtime 90 min
Because Today Is Saturday
Alice Eça Guimarães (Portugal, France, Spain 2025, 12 min)
On just another Saturday, a woman struggles to reconnect with herself beneath the weight of motherhood and the unseen mental load of an uneven household.
Buried Under Years of Dust
Sophie Sartain (USA 2026, 30 min)
After decades confined within herself, Emily Grodin, an autistic woman, unlocks her inner world and claims her voice, as her parents’ enduring love leads her to the right tool.
Dark Skin Bruises Differently
Susan Wokoma (UK 2025, 11 min)
When a student’s claim threatens her integrity, Ms. Lawson must choose between defending a misunderstood girl and protecting her own career.
Dua Ji
YuHan Tsai (Taiwan, USA 2025, 18 min)
In rural Taiwan, the eldest daughter bears the quiet weight of tradition during her mother’s funeral, as grief and stirring defiance threaten to fracture the entrenched ritual.
A South Facing Window
Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir (France, Mongolia 2025, 19 min)
In Ulaanbaatar’s relentless traffic, a young mother searching for a home confronts her husband’s infidelity and their growing distance, forcing the couple to face whether their fragile marriage can survive.

Memory of Princess Mumbi
2026-05-01 18:30 - 19:57 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
With Memory of Princess Mumbi, Swiss-Kenyan filmmaker Damien Hauser delivers a dazzling film set in the future but pertinent to today. A war fought over addictive technology leads to its outlawing in many parts of the world by 2093. Despite this, AI remains in use to create worlds and alter actors’ facial expressions. Aspiring filmmaker Kuve travels to the African nation of Umata to make a documentary about the lingering effects of the war where he meets aspiring actress Mumbi. As they delve into their thoughts on cinema and the place of AI in it, the two develop a relationship destined to fail—an arranged marriage to a prince awaits Mumbi on her 21st birthday. Against an Afrofuturistic backdrop, this visually esoteric, luscious, and layered sci-fi mockumentary both celebrates and critiques AI while adding a dollop of romance in its depiction of the love triangle between two artists and a prince. —Amber Love

Filipiñana
2026-05-01 19:00 - 20:49 | BAMPFA, 2155 Center Street, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Isabel is a newly hired ball girl at a pristine golf course on Manila’s outskirts. An Ilokana from rural northern Philippines, she immediately feels out of place among the high-status guests. Motivated by the sweltering heat and her insatiable curiosity, Isabel slips away from her duties on the driving range. Over a languid afternoon, Isabel discovers the locations of blessed AC units, indulges in a finger of frosting from the buffet, and observes the peculiar routines of wealthy patrons. As her boldness grows, so do her unsettling discoveries, revealing insidious secrets lurking beneath the resort’s lavish surface. Filipiñana heralds the arrival of a striking new voice in filmmaking. Director Rafael Manuel’s first feature swings with visual splendor, wielding its imagery to deliver sharp, scintillating commentary on capitalism and corruption—even in the world’s most polished corners. —Jordan Klein

American Doctor
2026-05-01 20:30 - 22:31 | Premier Theater at One Letterman, 1 Letterman Dr # B, San Francisco, CA, 94129, United States
In American Doctor, filmmaker Poh Si Teng follows three US physicians—Palestinian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian—striving to alleviate suffering in Gaza as the war shatters its medical infrastructure. What begins as an urgent mission of care becomes a searing confrontation with the limits of neutrality. The doctors shoulder impossible choices, witnessing profound suffering while navigating the dangers of a war zone. The film grapples with reconciling professional duty with civic obligation, and private anguish with public responsibility. As the documentary moves between operating rooms and American corridors of power, what emerges is a taut, deeply human portrait of courage, conscience, and the high price of speaking out in the face of injustice—an urgent, unflinching work that demands to be seen. —Jessie Fairbanks

The Fox King
2026-05-01 20:30 - 22:12 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Amir and Ali are twins reeling from their mother’s death in childbirth. Plus, their deadbeat dad won’t let the boys stay with him, so they work for the owner of a fishing business who gives them rudimentary shelter. Amir speaks rarely, only using the names of animals to communicate, but his passion for reading creates a connection with new English teacher, Lara, who has past traumas of her own. Amid a human trafficking scandal and their father’s shady business schemes, Amir and Ali make a life for themselves with scant resources. But as a kite flying competition looms and Amir and Lara‘s bibliophilia alienates Ali, tensions between the brothers threaten their bond. Malaysian filmmaker Woo Ming Jin, who returns to the Festival after Monday Morning Glory (Festival 2005) and Woman on Fire Looks for Water (Festival 2010), brings a fable-like charm to the poetic story, grounded in naturalistic performances by the main protagonists. –Rod Armstrong

Hot Water
2026-05-01 20:45 - 22:50 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Ramzi Bashour’s poignant road movie depicts an anxious mother transporting her delinquent son from Indiana to California, highlighting the glories of the American Midwest while unpacking the dynamics of parenting and letting go. Layal (Lubna Azabal, radiant) is a tightly wound Lebanese American who teaches Arabic to hapless students. While listening to a meditation program, she learns that 19-year-old Daniel suffered a concussion brawling after a hockey game. At her wits’ end, she demands that her ex-husband take the boy in, with Layal agreeing to transport Daniel across the country. Along the way, Bashour captures the vast beauty of the American landscape and the quirky characters they meet—including the free-spirited Sasha (Dale Dickey) and a frustrated hitchhiker (Max Walker-Silverman, Rebuilding, Festival 2024). Through shared challenges and unexpected encounters, mother and son gradually learn to accept one another’s foibles and embrace a new chapter of their lives. —Rod Armstrong

One in a Million
2026-05-02 12:00 - 14:10 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Change unfolds swiftly and powerfully in this intimate, decade-spanning portrait of Syrian refugee Israa and her family as they navigate life across multiple countries. In 2015, directors Itab Azzam and Jacob MacInnes discover the vivacious 11-year-old selling cigarettes on the teeming sidewalks of Izmir, Turkey, where she introduces them to her favorite food vendors and reveals that the family is trying to make their way to Germany. Not only does this journey prove challenging—they board a dinghy filled with dozens of others for a nighttime crossing to Greece—but many other difficulties await them when they finally arrive in Germany. Israa grows into a rebellious teen, her father Tarek fumes about Europe’s permissiveness, while mom Nisreen finds her own quiet liberation. The filmmakers rivetingly juxtapose messy and loving family moments against luminously staged talking-head interviews that further delineate the family members’ conflicts as well as their differing memories of their homeland. —Rod Armstrong

Teen Filmmaking Workshop: Collaboration & Creativity
2026-05-02 12:00 - 14:00 | Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St, San Francisco, CA, 94118, United States
Join director duo and multi-disciplinary artists Jess X. Snow (Roots That Reach Toward the Sky, Festival 2025) and Ashima Shiraishi, for a filmmaking workshop for teens focused on collaboration and creativity through multiple mediums. Recently named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” Jess has written and directed four short films currently streaming on the Criterion Channel. This workshop will delve into the process behind their narrative shorts as well as their latest collaborative experimental documentary, Tamashi (part of the Festival’s Shorts 1: Human Flow program), co-directed with artist and world record-breaking rock climber Ashima Shiraishi. Tamashi merges Ashima’s poetry, their father’s butoh dance, and their climbing to convey themes of ecological and family healing. The intersection of film and art will be explored through Jess’s previous work, including community murals, illustration, poetry, and more. They will lead students through the collaborative process of filmmaking and brainstorm how to merge their own unique artistic and creative mediums with film.
Students will have the chance to ask the director about their career and advice for getting started in independent filmmaking. Students are encouraged to bring a story that is important to them as well as a notebook.
This workshop runs for two hours and is open to students ages 13–18; space is limited. This workshop is for students only; parents and guardians may drop off their students.
Photo by Sheldon Chau.

Hair, Paper, Water…
2026-05-02 13:00 - 14:39 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Cao Thị Hậu and her family live in Vietnam surrounded by rolling green hills enveloped in mist. Here, she sits with her grandchildren tending to their pains and spinning stories of the cave in Quảng Bình where she was born. Folk tales, bees, tigers, and home remedies all braid themselves into her fables and the wisdom she imparts. As a storyteller and one of the few remaining indigenous Rục people, Hậu is the keeper of memories and knowledge. She is the steward of a fast-disappearing language, and it is her duty to fill the lives of her descendants with her words as she prepares to answer that last call from the faraway cave. Using Bolex cameras and a lush sound design, filmmakers Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quy deliver a visual treat along with an invitation to enter Hậu’s extraordinary world. —Bedatri Choudhury

Jaripeo + Born at Night
2026-05-02 14:30 - 16:27 | Premier Theater at One Letterman, 1 Letterman Dr # B, San Francisco, CA, 94129, United States
Within the world of bucking broncos and bull rides of the Michoacán jaripeo lurks a partially obscured world where queerness, masculinity, and desire churn together in a generative friction. This evocative documentary carries us on a sensory journey into Central Mexico’s rodeo culture and observes the queer community that embraces and challenges it. Vérité Super 8 footage and expressionistic sequences immerse us in the seen and unseen signals that pass through the cheering crowds like electricity. Co-director Efraín Mojica is among the subjects in this vivid essay that moves deftly between kaleidoscopic portraits of gay men enmeshed in this world and the sport itself. Three main subjects each navigate their gender expression and sexuality within the traditional towns that surround them, while reflecting on how those conservative values have also shaped them. Mojica and co-director Rebecca Zweig deliver this lingering ode to the jaripeo with tenderness and intimacy. —Amber Love
Jaripeo will be preceded by the short film Born at Night, directed by Alba Cros Pellisé (Spain, 18 min).
Over the course of a single night in South Barcelona, two individuals explore desire, gender, and intimacy on their own terms, discovering connection, vulnerability, and the courage to define themselves freely.

Shorts Block 1: Human Flow
2026-05-02 14:45 - 16:37 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Traverse cityscapes, valleys, highways, and borders through films by an international ensemble of storytellers. In these vivid portraits of gathering and return, the dialogue between people and land is as alive as human conversation. From an afternoon game of pelote in Belgium to climber Ashima Shiraishi’s meditations in the Payahuunadü valley, movement becomes both medicine and medium for connection. Latin American migration histories trace new paths along California highways, while lives intersect on the margins of bustling Guangzhou. A filmmaker celebrates his migrant parents’ homecoming in the Philippines, and a Sudanese family’s archives honor the resilience of displaced generations. These six films illuminate the people who shape places and move within them, flowing between past and future, private and public, estrangement and kinship, in tales of settling, returning, and finding home. —Sabrina Kim
Films are in alphabetical order rather than order of play. Total runtime 84 min
Drifting, South
Di Zhang (China, Canada 2025, 19 min)
An ambient snapshot of Guangzhou’s Xiaobei Road through the eyes of three individuals on the city’s margins.
highways take me anywhere I want
María Luisa Santos (USA, Costa Rica 2026, 8 min)
Against a backdrop of California highways and amidst the traces left behind by migrants, a father and daughter contemplate whether home is Cuba, Costa Rica, or elsewhere.
In the Morning Sun
Serville Poblete (Canada, Philippines 2025, 21 min)
“Alexa, what is the weather in the Philippines?” In a cinematic study of his migrant parents, Filipino Canadian filmmaker Serville Poblete explores intergenerational play, grief, and gathering.
La Petite Reine Blanche
Théo Hanosset, Mathieu Georis (Belgium, France 2026, 15 min)
Traffic comes to a halt in a small Belgian town when residents take over a parking lot to play a game of pelote.
Tamashi
Jess X. Snow, Ashima Shiraishi (USA, France 2026, 13 min)
Festival alumni Ashima Shiraishi and Jess X. Snow synthesize movement, landscape, and poetry as Shiraishi and their father, a Butoh dancer, pay tribute to the lost water of the Payahuunadü valley.
Villa 187
Eiman Mirghani (Sudan, Qatar 2025, 8 min)
A displaced Sudanese family’s voice notes and family archives chronicle memories made—and left behind—in their home of three decades in Qatar.

Music + Film: Mysterious Bird with Musical Performance by Gabriela Quintero and Daniel Ho
2026-05-02 15:00 - 16:59 | Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St, San Francisco, CA, 94118, United States
From Grammy-winning duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Music + Film returns to the Festival with guitarist Gabriela Quintero and her first solo project. Featuring the World Premier of Beth Aala’s intimate new documentary, which follows Gaby as she creates her debut independent album. In her hometown of Zihuatanejo, Mexico, the film captures the intersection of Gaby’s music with her passions—advocating for animal welfare, supporting local female artists, and exploring a softer, more personal musical expression.
After the screening, audiences will enjoy a live performance by Gabriela Quintero, joined by Grammy-winning producer and collaborator Daniel Ho. The program wraps with a conversation featuring the filmmaker and musicians, offering insight into the creative process and the stories behind the music. Visually sumptuous and sonically immersive, this program is a celebration of artistry, passion, and discovery—a cinematic and musical experience not to be missed. —Jessie Fairbanks

Amílcar
2026-05-02 15:30 - 17:05 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Agricultural engineer Amilcar Cabral (1924–1973) dreamed of freedom for Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde in West Africa and set about making that liberation happen. In this impressionistic documentary, the life of this remarkable revolutionary unfolds through letters Cabral wrote to his wives, set to a soundtrack of slogans and dreams. Shot in 16mm, the film tells a tale of love, political idealism, and betrayal as Cabral’s guerrilla war against Portuguese rule ultimately led to freedom he would not live to see. Assassinated by members of his own party, Cabral nevertheless served as the architect of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde’s independence, creating a blueprint for Pan-African revolts against colonialism. Poetry, photographs, and archival footage join the letters in recounting the story of an extraordinary life and enduring legacy. —Bedatri Choudhury

Salvation
2026-05-02 17:00 - 19:28 | Premier Theater at One Letterman, 1 Letterman Dr # B, San Francisco, CA, 94129, United States

To Hold a Mountain
2026-05-02 17:15 - 19:28 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
At first glance, Gara is a simple farmer, tending her crops and animals, making cheese, and caring for adolescent Nada. But there is far more to this woman who lives amid the beauty and isolation of Montenegro’s mountainous Sinjajevina plateau. Gara’s quiet but intense love for Nada is an extension of the deep love she feels for this land she calls home. Her story is intertwined with that of this breathtaking region, the place where she protects Nada and nurtures the girl’s future with hard-earned wisdom. When NATO forces propose turning the area into a field for military exercises, Gara further demonstrates her grit as she takes action to oppose the plan. A mesmerizing vérité plunge into rural life, what could have been a simple and romanticizing document of women’s lives in Montenegro is instead a portrait of quiet and steadfast resilience. —Bedatri Choudhury

Milk Teeth
2026-05-02 18:00 - 19:52 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
Maria’s older sister Alina vanishes without a trace, last seen by Maria cutting through the schoolyard to take out the trash. That image haunts her as Alina remains missing and everyone from their parents to the local authorities question *Maria* about her sibling’s last known movements. Set on the cusp of a new era in 1980s Romania, Mihai Mincan’s drama is less concerned with the facts surrounding the disappearance than of the emotional toll it takes. With brilliant performances and dreamlike imagery, the narrative interrogates how the sudden loss of Alina disrupts the fabric of the lives of her family and community. As Maria sets out on a mission to find her sister, a tale unfolds of the slow loss of innocence and the inability to go home again. —Amber Love

Scenes from the Divide + The Baddest Speechwriter of All + La Tierra del Valor (The Home of the Brave)
2026-05-02 19:00 - 21:03 | Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St, San Francisco, CA, 94118, United States
A trio of documentaries survey the American political landscape, both past and present. Featuring Martin Luther King Jr. speechwriter Clarence B. Jones (in Stephen Curry’s directorial debut); rising voice Nezza, who sings an anthem of hope at an LA Dodger game; and the supporters and opponents of Zohran Mamdani within NYC’s Jewish community.
Films are listed in order or play. Total runtime is 84 min.
Scenes from the Divide
Alison Klayman (USA 2026, 32 min)
Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for New York City mayor exposes divisions within the city’s Jewish communities, reflecting broader national debates on Palestine. Director Alison Klayman takes viewers into deeply personal conversations across generations as they navigate questions of Zionism, socialism, and anti-Semitism. Through intimate portraits and candid exchanges, Scenes from the Divide highlights the personal and political stakes of civic engagement. Klayman’s observational lens offers a nuanced portrait of a community negotiating heritage, ideology, and morality. —Jessie Fairbanks
The Baddest Speechwriter of All
Ben Proudfoot, Stephen Curry (USA 2026, 29 min)
Stephen Curry’s directorial debut, co-directed with SFFILM alumni Ben Proudfoot, follows Clarence B. Jones, Martin Luther King Jr.’s speechwriter, blending storytelling and playful animated sequences to celebrate his life and impact.
La Tierra del Valor (The Home of the Brave)
Cristina Costantini (USA 2026, 23 min)
Nezza (Vanessa Hernandez) defies orders at a Dodgers game, singing the US national anthem in Spanish, honoring the 1945 “El Pendón Estrellado” and inspiring hope in her community.

Inside Amir
2026-05-02 20:00 - 22:12 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
While he awaits the approval of a visa to join his girlfriend, Tara, abroad in Italy, Amir inhabits an existence in limbo. He spends his days biking through Tehran, delivering packages and visiting with friends across the city where hot afternoons playing table tennis intermingle with his memories of first meeting Tara. As Amir hovers on the precipice of a major life change, each conversation explores the push and pull of emigration and the uncertainty of leaving home, even if departing means rejoining a cherished relationship. With intimately rendered performances and an eye toward making even the present feel nostalgic, director Amir Azizi paints an evocative portrait of being not quite here, yet not quite there. In both its quiet drama and its sweeping imagery of Tehran, Inside Amir is a warmly honest portrayal of life’s in-between moments. —Amber Love

Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird)
2026-05-02 20:00 - 21:56 | Premier Theater at One Letterman, 1 Letterman Dr # B, San Francisco, CA, 94129, United States
One of director Anna Fitch’s closest friends, Yo was adventurous, self-assured, and headstrong. Before Yo passed away in 2013, Fitch spent countless hours capturing memories and anecdotes of Yo’s colorful life. That documentation became a broader project through which Fitch processed her grief as she crafted a meticulous miniature recreation of the home where Yo spent her final years. In Yo (Love Is a Rebellious Bird), Fitch and co-director Banker White meld together Fitch’s cherished vérité footage with stunning puppet recreations and the miniature home to memorialize Yo in all her highs and lows. By harnessing the craft of puppetry to explore Yo’s life in Switzerland, her struggles with motherhood, and experiences with aging on her own terms, this hybrid documentary becomes a whimsical record of friendship and the love that bloomed between Fitch and Yo. —Amber Love

If We Don’t Burn, How Do We Light Up the Night
2026-05-02 20:45 - 22:43 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States
The placid surface of a rural Costa Rican town hides a mystery in Kim Torres’s striking debut feature. A newcomer to the village, teenaged Laura (Lara Yuja Mora) takes wary steps toward her new home and adulthood with a curiosity and confusion typical of her age. But even as she makes new friends in this idyllic setting, Laura perceives a sense of violence underscoring all their lives. While she and her pals swim, run through the forest, and make bracelets for one another, an unease continues to grow before taking the shape of a devastating loss. The stakes are high for Laura as this coming-of-age tale slowly unfolds to reveal the menacing secret that threatens to destroy her fragile sense of self. —Bedatri Choudhury

Space Cadet
2026-05-03 10:00 - 11:55 | Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St, San Francisco, CA, 94118, United States
Canadian DJ and multihyphenated artist Kid Koala brings his unique gift for storytelling to a new medium as he makes his directorial debut with this delightful, animated adaptation of his award-winning graphic novel. When young astronaut Celeste embarks on her first interstellar mission, she leaves behind her dedicated caretaker Robot to navigate a new unfamiliar loneliness. Like an empty nester, he struggles to cope, clinging tightly to memories of raising the child he once tended to daily. Drawing inspiration from silent-era legends like Charlie Chaplin, Koala crafts a wordless experience that utilizes his mastery of music and sound to deftly convey emotion. Cleverly placed songs from artists such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O, and Digable Planets’ Mariana “Ladybug” Vieira complement his own playful score. Told with an abundance of heart, Space Cadet celebrates friendship, kindness, and empathy, all while shooting for the stars with a thrilling adventure that spans the universe. —Keith Zwölfer
Please join us after the screening for an open studio crafting hour with guest Lillian Chan, where families will explore fun activities inspired by the film, like origami folding and building flip books. Recommended for ages 6 and up.

Special Screening: The Kidnapping of Arabella
2026-05-03 12:00 - 14:15 | Premier Theater at One Letterman, 1 Letterman Dr # B, San Francisco, CA, 94129, United States
Seven-year-old Arabella (Lucrezia Guglielmino) only wants to go Taco King, not listen to her boring father give a speech (Chris Pine, speaking flawless Italian). Given no choice in the matter, the precocious child opts for revenge. She finds her instrument in Holly (Benedetta Porcaroli), convincing the troubled young woman to let her join her road trip. Trouble is, Arabella’s family think some villain snatched the little girl. Writer/director Carolina Cavalli’s (co-screenwriter, Fremont, Festival 2023) sophomore feature is a heady blend of deadpan comedy and road movie, a deceptively lighthearted surface in a film that poignantly observes Holly’s mental instability and social isolation. Where Arabella is all insouciant scheming, there is deep sadness and only a tenuous grip on reality in her older companion. As they travel across Italy, they are a striking pair, in no small part thanks to the actors’ committed performances. —Pam Grady
Attendee Information
This special screening is free for SFFILM Members. Not a member? Join or renew today for access to this screening! Non-members can purchase tickets as normal.

The Son and the Sea
2026-05-03 12:30 - 14:40 | Marina Theatre, 2149 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA, 94123, United States

Broken English
2026-05-03 13:00 - 14:48 | Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St, San Francisco, CA, 94118, United States
I never saw myself as a pop singer,” says Marianne Faithfull in this wonderfully imaginative portrait of the iconic chanteuse that includes her last recorded performance. She’s speaking about her life to the Record Keeper at the Ministry of Not Forgetting (played by George MacKay), a fictional institution dedicated to examining historical myths and truths, managed by a stern Overseer (Tilda Swinton). Rather than dwell on the more challenging moments of her life, directors Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard use this clever framework to focus on Faithfull’s extraordinary career—from the seminal release of her eponymous debut album to her distinctive interpretations of Brecht/Weill songs to collaborations with Nick Cave and other contemporary musicians. Rounding out this unique biopic are performances of classic Faithfull songs by vocalists including Beth Orton, Natasha Khan, and Courtney Love. —Rod Armstrong
