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San Francisco Documentary Festival 2022
Welcome to the San Francisco Documentary Festival 2022 Virtual Festival!
Explore our on-demand catalog here. Film programs play any time June 1-12, 2022.
Coming Soon
85-year-old Ruth Paine lives quietly in a Quaker retirement home in northern California. But she will always be haunted by her connection to the JFK assassination. As a key witness and friend of Marina and Lee Harvey Oswald, Mrs. Paine has been a suspect of conspiracy researchers for nearly six decades.
101 min | United States
The Assassination & Mrs. Paine
Wed Jun 1st
Born In Chicago is a soulful documentary film that chronicles a uniquely musical passing of the torch. It's the story of first generation blues performers who had made their way to Chicago from the Mississippi Delta and their ardent and unexpected followers - middle class kids who followed the evocative music to smoky clubs deep in Chicago's ghettos.
77 min | United States
Born in Chicago & The Space Between Us
Wed Jun 1st
Single mother and organizer Clarissa Doutherd is building a powerful coalition of parents. They’re fighting for child care and early education funds, desperately needed by low and middle income parents and children across the country.
90 min | United States
Clarissa's Battle & Sentinels
Wed Jun 1st
A nuanced portrait of a new generation, Dear Thirteen is a cinematic time capsule of coming of age in today’s world. Through the eyes of nine thirteen-year-olds, we see how pressing social, geographical and political challenges are shaping, and being shaped by, young people: rising anti-Semitism in Europe, guns in America, gender identity and racial divisions across Australia and Asia. With no adult commentary outside the filmmaker, Dear Thirteen offers an intimate view into the universal uncertainty in growing up.
80 min | United States
Dear Thirteen & Q&A
Wed Jun 1st
TBI survivor Derek Dabkoski enrolls in an experimental stem cell surgery study to have stem cells injected directly into the injured area of his brain. He hopes to regain the functionality he lost when he was brutally attacked and left for dead on the streets of San Francisco a decade ago. He enrolls in this surgery at a difficult time for his family, as he and his wife Nadia, his primary caretaker restricted by their long and fruitless fight for her green card, are about to have their first child.
Derek Changes His Mind & Q&A
Wed Jun 1st
When members of Falun Gong hack China's state TV to expose brutal repression - lives are changed forever. Celebrated comic book artist Daxiong tells a story of the resilience of those fighting for religious freedom.
86 min | Canada
Eternal Spring & SFGOVTV Portraits: Frank Jang
Wed Jun 1st
"Ruminative, haunting, and strange," raves The Boston GlobeA Pope John Paul II lollipop. An Elvis Presley shower curtain. A Princess Diana teacup. These are just some of the countless pieces of memorabilia that these pop culture icons’ most devoted fans collect and cherish – but why? The Faithful‘s director, Annie Berman, explores the deep veneration and legacies of the Pope, the Princess, and the King. Over the course of 20 years, Berman profiles these figures’ biggest fans and makes numerous pilgrimages to Vatican City, Graceland, and Kensington Palace. As the years go by, the film itself becomes increasingly entwined with Berman’s daily life and identity, much like how the officially licensed knick-knacks define the fans she filmed.
91 min | United States
The Faithful: The King, The Pope, The Princess
Wed Jun 1st
Filmmaker Deng Wei’s grandfather Zuogui has been blind since the age of three, living most of his life as a fortune teller. Now approaching the final chapter of his life, Zuogui lives a life of bitter discontent toward his son (and Wei’s father) Donggu,.
98 min | China
Father
Wed Jun 1st
Tsukinoi is a small sake brewery in Oarai, Ibaraki. A new master brewer has been brought in to begin a new batch of sake brewing, one which is rooted firmly in the philosophy of respecting and adhering to tradition. The in-depth interaction of the skilled local brewers in tandem with the master brewer culminates in the production of their first batch of sake.
62 min | Japan
For the Love of Sake
Wed Jun 1st
In 1986 Noah Purifoy (1917- 2004) retired from his position of many years on the California Arts Council and moved to a remote desert site north of Joshua Tree National Park, where, over the last eighteen years of his life, he created an ambitious series of over a hundred assemblage sculptures which sprawl over acres of the harsh, arid land.
The Fragmentations Only Mean ... & Above and Below
Wed Jun 1st
The High Rock is an immersive documentary about a unique summer camp and the landscape of childhood.
83 min | United States
The High Rock & Food Broker: Doris
Wed Jun 1st
A decade in the making, a young filmmaker confronts addiction, family, and memory as he chronicles his father’s journey to recover lost memories following a traumatic brain injury. Using experimental approaches with projected installations he attempts to find those missing memories in hopes of finding the dad he used to know. As memories return in the form of dreams the family struggles with acceptance of this new version of their father.
83 min | United States
The House We Lived In
Wed Jun 1st
Dunstan Bruce is 59 and he's struggling with the fact that the world seems to be going to hell in a handcart. He is angry and frustrated. How does a middle-aged, retired radical, who feels invisible get back up again?
I Get Knocked Down (+Q&A) & What's a Winner & The Space Between Us
Wed Jun 1st
IN THE BONES is a lyrical documentary that explores the personal and political by interweaving the lives of 12 characters living in Mississippi during a legislative session in which equal pay for equal work and abortion rights are being decided.
United States
In The Bones
Wed Jun 1st
IT CAME FROM AQUARIUS RECORDS tells the story about the San Francisco based independent record store, Aquarius Records. Having closed in 2016 after 47 years, this small apartment-sized store championed local, underground, independent, and challenging music to the masses - most memorably with their infamous bi-weekly, college essay-length, new-release lists.
United States
It Came From Aquarius Records
Wed Jun 1st
When Jack, a man with a terminal brain tumor for 25 years, decides to end his life, his family and friends struggle to accept his decision. Jack’s best friend documents his three-year quest to die a happy man, culminating in a permanent going-away party.
Jack Has A Plan & Meantime
Wed Jun 1st
The true story of a pandemic; politics; misunderstanding and prejudice; the impact of the media; and, most importantly, AIDS activist Pedro Zamora, his life, his joy, and his influence, as told by people who knew and loved him, and by those who witnessed the strength of his commitment and its impact.
98 min | United States
Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way
Wed Jun 1st
For 76 years, Frank Kuiack made a living as a fishing guide in an iconic Canadian park. At 84-years-old and recently diagnosed with bone cancer, Frank’s health has taken a turn for the worse. Kuiack’s niece, Sharleen, has shown a unique ability to go toe-to-toe with Frank on the water but, despite her ability and love for her uncle, she remains unsure how to carry on his legacy or whether she desires to be the next “Last Guide.”
The Last Guide & The Time of the Fireflies
Wed Jun 1st
OBJECTS follows three unique people who have held onto things which have gained incredible meaning for them over decades. These objects are not things they flaunt. They are things that touch them secretly…a fifty-year-old clump of grass, a sweater that once belonged to French actress, and a forty-year old sugar egg.
63 min | United States
Objects & Judy's Thoughts
Wed Jun 1st
Craft beer generates tens of billions of dollars annually for the US economy. Despite beer’s Egyptian and African heritage, these traditions have been mostly forgotten and are rarely found in American brewing culture. Today, Black-owned breweries make up less than 1% of the nearly 9,000 breweries in operation. Eager to shift the historical perception of who makes and drinks beer, Black brewers, brand owners and influencers across the country are reshaping the craft beer industry and the future of America’s favorite adult beverage.
89 min | United States
One Pint At A Time & Q&A
Wed Jun 1st
Led by the artists Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, COUM mutated into the visionary, transgressive and absolutely uncompromising industrial/noise band Throbbing Gristle, who were famously named ‘the wreckers of civilisation’ by a shocked conservative politician.
82 min | United Kingdom
Other Like Me - The Oral History of COUM Transmissions & Throbbing Gristle
Wed Jun 1st
When a young women is shot by an undocumented immigrant on Pier 14 in San Francisco, the incident ignites a political and media furor that culminates in Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. In the eye of this storm, two public defenders fight to reveal the truth.
Ricochet & On Patrol
Wed Jun 1st
Roger Corman is one of those rare Hollywood gems that finds their talent early and sticks with it for life. To date, he has 412 producing credits, 56 directing credits and nine writing credits. But even with so much experience, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of most of his films.
Roger Corman, the pope of pop cinema & Shorts
Wed Jun 1st
ROOTS OF FIRE is a story about musicians pushing the boundaries of a type of American roots music known as Cajun Music. Amidst shuttered rural dance clubs and encroaching globalization, five award-winning musicians in Louisiana push against stereotypes of the American South and move the music of their ancestors forward. But their fans are getting older and the language is fading away. Will their efforts be enough to save a dying community?
84 min | United States
Roots of Fire & Telos or Bust
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 1: Bay Area Resilience
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 2: What Remains
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 3: Keepin' On (plus Q&As)
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 4: Differently Perfect (plus Q&A)
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 5: Worth A Thousand Words
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 6: Off The Beaten Path
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 7: She Dares To Defy
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 8: It's Just Me (plus Q&A)
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts 9: Distance Between Tony's Cakes, Miss Panama and Queering Yoga
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts With Features 1
Wed Jun 1st
Shorts With Features 2
Wed Jun 1st
SIGN THE SHOW brings together entertainers, the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HOH) community, and American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters to discuss accessibility at live performances in a humorous, heartfelt, and insightful way.
96 min | United States
Sign the Show
Wed Jun 1st
Mezcal is more than an intoxicating spirit. It is the sacred link that binds modern-day mezcaleros to their ancestors.Sons of Mezcal transports you into this living history, as it follows four families passing their traditions on to the next generation.
78 min | United States
Sons of Mezcal
Wed Jun 1st
Steve ‘Spaz’ Williams is a pioneer in computer animation. His digital dinosaurs of Jurassic Park transformed Hollywood in 1993, but an appetite for anarchy and reckless disregard for authority may have cost him the recognition he deserved.
87 min | United States
Spaz & Into the Archives: Billy X
Wed Jun 1st
Street Heroines is an award-winning feature-length documentary celebrating the courage and creativity of women who despite their lack of recognition have been an integral part of the graffiti and street art movement since the beginning.
Street Heroines & Abortion: Add To Cart
Wed Jun 1st
At 16, Miguel left Mexico to start a new life in New York City. Thirteen years later, Miguel opens a package from his mother, where he discovers photographs that throw him back to his childhood in rural Mexico - a time when living in the US had been just a dream. These memories that have fueled Miguel's ambitions and altruism, are the same ones that keep him trapped in his past. At a turning point in his life, he shares with us his tale of resilience and determination, and relates his longing for who and what he left behind.
The Time of the Fireflies & The Last Guide
Wed Jun 1st
A love song to the artists, dance, music, slang, clothes and, most importantly of all, the people who came of age during the Hyphy Movement. We were there, we were hyphy.
We Were Hyphy & Turfin
Wed Jun 1st
At the height of the international occupation of Afghanistan, two women—Gulnaz, raped and impregnated by her uncle, and Farida, on the run from an abusive husband—are imprisoned on charges of “moral crimes” by an Afghan justice system that is supported by billions of dollars of aid money from the European Union.
78 min | United States
With This Breath I Fly & un barco para mi mama
Wed Jun 1st
Women's Land tells the story of five women farmers from around the world. They strenuously work the land, which plays a key role in the planet’s food production. A tribute to some of these women, invisible but essential links in the chain who ensure subsistence agriculture every day and everywhere on earth.
78 min | France
Women's Land
Wed Jun 1st
This film tells the story of young artists and musicians in Beijing in the 1980s demanding freedom and making rebellion through their art and music, creating indelible memories for a generation of Chinese people.
You Are The Days to Come & Dear Hong Kongers
Wed Jun 1st
Set in an isolated mining town on the outskirts of Death Valley, SONG OF SALT is an immersive glimpse into the struggles and celebrations within a tight-knit community as its residents, suspended between the past and the future, face the present realities of an eroding economy.
United States
Song of Salt
Sun Jun 5th