Highlighted four evenings of films by local emerging and established filmmakers around the hill.
We spread our wings and expanded the Film Crawl to a new quarter of Bernal Heights.
We’re grateful to the new Mission and 29th street business owners and community members who opened their doors and welcomed our audience and filmmakers.
Films presented by
Experience audience favorites from the San Francisco Dance Film Festival! This selection of five short films range from documentary shorts to innovative narratives and represent a dynamic range of creativity with broad audience appeal. Featuring exciting locales like the bustling streets of Lagos, the roofs of Mexico City, and San Francisco’s skyline, dancers find poetic expression in the universal language of the body in motion.
Dance
Amanda Beane
Set in a Victorian ballroom overlooking the San Francisco skyline, the dancers take a journey through genres of partner dancing, addressing homophobia and effeminophobia.
Dance
Philip Kaminiak
With undulating athleticism, powerful unisons, and a hypnotic score, “CIRCLE” explores cosmic forces at play for people living in mass cities.
Documentary
Jacob Krupnick
Training on the dusty urban streets of Lagos, Nigeria, self-taught dancer and teacher Daniel Ajala’s passion drives his students to persevere as underdogs in the ballet world and find joy and meaning in their work.
Dance
Iker Karrera, Alberto D. Centeno
Set in a derelict theater, “Heartache” deploys tensely expressive movement in a darkly playful take on the dynamics of seeing and being seen.
Narrative Dance
Nadav Heyman, Anabella Casanova
Set in a derelict theater, “Heartache” deploys tensely expressive movement in a darkly playful take on the dynamics of seeing and being seen.
Films presented by
Isabelle Maria Tumboimbela,
Daisha Lin Sherman
One sunny morning in Jakarta, Indonesia, Beth and her younger sister Liz become fierce rivals in their race to the bathroom.
Animation
Jocelyn Estrella Garcia
The poetic contemplations of a young Pomo girl. She revels in the local nature’s glory, but dread strikes when she faces today’s careless pollution damage that impedes cultural practices.
Art Documentary
Adriana Marchione and KIrk Goldberg
A painter in his 85th year chronicles his life in self-portraits revealing an offbeat artistic journey mixed with humor and social commentary
Documentary
Maleah Welsh
Sense of Place explores the idea of home from the perspective of an unhoused woman named Mama Shanon.
Narrative
Kara Fabella and Craig Smith
Through a surreal turn of events, a model/influencer breaks free from the everyday pull of instant gratification.
Noir Drama
Wes House
A private detective in San Francisco, becomes obsessed over the job while he is on a case following a young woman.
Documentary
Azad Azizyan
Kirk McNeill is a Blacksmith artist and an environmentalist in Santa Cruz, California, who utilizes his art to bring awareness to the cruel act of shark finning.
Films presented by
For over 20 years, BAVC Media Youth and Emerging Media Makers Programs (YEMM) have been local and national models in the field of media arts and education.
YEMM Programs equip young people ages 12 – 25 with the skills and experience they need to create media that matters to them and focuses on their social change goals. Students gain marketable technical skills through hands-on, project-based coursework, taught by working professionals using industry-standard equipment.
Eve Haghighi
Mary Jane Dye, Lily Ann Dye
Zeina Danfoura, Ariel Fu-Chen, Luis Gerado Alvorado Rosales, Logan Agnew, Gabriela Trujillo Diaz
A video game quest to find out how what we eat affects the planet and learn about more sustainable food sources.
Violet Nadaraja, Rahki Hull, Mitzy Vasquez, Jaybird Joyce, Mia Bazo
The monsters you see in horror films are real, and they’ve banded together to get better healthcare from their boss in this workplace mockumentary.
Grace Taylor, Sara Hawkins, Iona Judkins, Juliet Schoenberger
A girl is self concious about how she looks with glasses, so she tries to do something about it.
Alexa Shochet, Olivia Tiffin, Diana Cardenas, Maxine Damerow, Katie Stormer
A true crime junkie discovers a questionable scene in her own apartment building, one which may turn her against herself and her friends.
Augustus Adrien
A true crime junkie discovers a questionable scene in her own apartment building, one which may turn her against herself and her friends.
Natasha Putra
From a local tailor in a new city, to one of Indonesia’s top singers. Watch how November 87 band’s lead singer, Murdani Kahar breaks the stereotype of a rockstar!
Films presented by
Making It Work: Stories of labor, labor organizing and doing what you love.
Documentary
Sophie Constantinou
Helen di Michel, Sophie Constantinou
Work is central to our existence. Some people work to live and others live to work. These films explore the right to work, the power of work and how work gives us joy, meaning and hope.
Sadiq Norris
Documentary
Sophie Constantinou
Documentary
Kevin Epps
We returned to Cortland Avenue for the beloved Film Crawl on Cortland — featuring new and returning venues and Presenting Partners.
Films presented by
A selection of short favorite films from the archives of the San Francisco Queer Film Fest.
Narrative
Muneeb Hassan
When Ali and Oliver meet, it seems like love at first sight. As Oliver starts to wonder where their relationship can go, Ali must choose between the love he wants and the family and faith he has.
Narrative
Abby Asuncion
A free spirited,mysterious woman on a week-long trip to San Francisco meets a hopeless romantic woman born and raised in San Francisco. Can they make it through the week with their hearts still intact by the end of it?
Narrative
In the midst of a pandemic, a man learns the meaning of home. Based on a true love story and shot on location in Queens NYC during the heart of the Covid 19 pandemic, this is a tribute to those who stayed and those who had to go.
Films presented by
Animation
Gabrielle Hanson Chong
Best friends, Harriet and Priscilla, argue over a small misunderstanding.
Animation
Nimisha Mahatme
A Bollywood inspired hybrid animated music video about Aadarshini, an anxious Indian-American girl, who feels out of place at an Indian wedding.
Documentary
Zoe Hertz, Sadiq Norris and “Mo Magic Students”
At Ella Hill Hutch Community Center in the Fillmore, magic is happening.
Short Comedy
Ivy Anderson
A man is shaken when he finds a “missing person” ad with his own face on it.
Video Poem
Alexandra Lacey
A short poetry film celebrating City College of San Francisco. What is education for?
Narrative
Eric Mann and Meera Joshi
A woman is tasked with delivering a goodbye message to her ailing friend’s paramour.
Documentary
Dan Goldes
Waiter For Life pays homage to the American dream: immigrant stories, connections between people, and, of course, food.
Films presented by
People Power Media’s mission is to build power for housing justice and equity in land use. We do this through multimedia popular education, policy innovation, and organizing.
Documentary
Dyan Ruiz and Nix Guirre
Sa Amin | Our Place is the untold story of Filipinos in San Francisco’s South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood, who despite battling displacement caused by urban renewal, real estate speculation, and tech booms, create and sustain the cultural heart of the Filipino-American community, meaning and hope.
Films presented by
The Cine+Mas SF Latino Film Festival showcases the work of emerging and established filmmakers from the US, Latin America, Spain and Portugal. It is a celebration of the latest work coming out of the 20+ countries and the diaspora with which we share a bond.
Narrative
Josh Peterson
In 1950s California, an undocumented Mexican teenager struggles to stay in school while working weekends with his family in the fields and dodging the authorities to avoid deportation. Based on the beloved books by Francisco Jiménez.
Narrative
Roberto Fatal
A struggling Latinx healer considers abandoning the physical world for promises of a digital utopia.
Narrative
Alejo Perez-Stable Husni
The past, memory, art and the women in my family.
Films presented by
Documentary
Rachel Burnett
A California sea otter known as “841” to the biologists inhabits the waters of Santa Cruz, California. What happens when “841” engages humans in her habitat? Interactions between “841” and people raise questions and spark debate in the local community about what is in the best interest of both humans and animals when the two meet face to face.
Documentary
Cynthia Abbott
Living and fishing in the Bodega Bay area for 55 years, Dick is forced to confront the realities of a warming ocean, the creation of a Marine Projected Area in the local fishing grounds, and derelict crab pots. Dick wants to see organic sustainable fishing practices but daunting challenges are causing local fishermen to leave the profession. Here Dick faces these challenges with solutions and actions to keep the local fisheries alive.
Documentary
Oscar Guerra
Many San Francisco inner-city youth have never been to the beach or had an immersive nature experience. City Surf Project (CSP) was established to give these young citizens an experience in nature and, through surfing, inspire lasting lessons and skills for life. CSP aims at achieving three goals for participants: gaining a respect for nature, experiencing personal growth and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Documentary
Cynthia Abbott and Andrea E. Leland
After a big storm, a local artist Tess Felix went down to the beach only to discover plastic debris covering the whole shoreline. Realizing the gravity of plastic pollution in the ocean, she started creating vibrant portraits of people she admires out of abandoned plastic to spark conversations around the issue.
Films presented by
Our mission is to celebrate African American cinema and the African cultural diaspora and to showcase a diverse collection of films – from emerging and established filmmakers
Narrative
Benjamin MulHolland
When Ollie Henderson’s mother is attacked by a monster hiding in the depths of Lake Merritt, he sets out on a mission to find her — discovering instead a hidden network of monster hunters tasked with protecting Oakland from its own dark underbelly, experiencing personal growth and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Narrative
Alika Mteuzi
In the near future, Major General Hadaya leads a group of rebels in a society controlled by a tyrannical regime. As the group fights against domination, they send encrypted broadcasts to inspire a new generation of revolutionaries. A blend of digital media and visionary fiction, “Hadaya” explores themes of unity and resistance, in a world where war is a constant, but the hope for freedom burns fiercely.
At Precita Park we kicked off the evening with Salsa lessons followed by films including the celebration of the Best of Bernal, Spirit of Bernal and Bernal Bright Star award-winning films.
Animation
Will Noble
An animated creation myth. The theme is out of nothingness comes life, blooming forth, birthing itself into being
Animation
Stefie Gan
Humans were once in harmony with nature, but now exploit its resources. Now they face an existential crisis and must strive to restore the balance.
Music Video
Dan Lee
Inspired by the director’s mother’s photos from her first arrival in San Francisco and 55 years later. The opening sound is the eerie ambient noise from the Golden Gate Bridge when the wind hits it.
Documentary
Dan Goldes
A Republican and a Democrat reveal how their upbringing – and current events – brought them into their political selves.
Documentary
Sarah K. Hopkins, Aaron Zhang
After losing her husband, Stephanie finds solace and support in her interactions with customers at her bait and tackle shop.
Animation
Mitra Shahidi
The spirit of a little girl shoots down from the heavens to spend her birthday with her family.
Pre-recorded awards presentation and filmmakers’ acceptances preceded each film’s screening.
Drama
David Wilde, Daniel Gorrell
A gay man, in order to manage the loss of his partner and housing during the pandemic, slowly wades through the pain to get his life back on track.
Animation
Toby Cochran
LUKi, a charming and upbeat robot known for living life to the fullest, confronts a life-altering ALS diagnosis — a testament to the human (and robotic) spirit’s ability to find light even in the darkest of times.
Documentary
Lori Eanes
Roads are a major cause of habitat fragmentation. A group of people in Chileno Valley are trying to help newts survive their annual migration to Laguna Lake.
Season Finale & “21st” Birthday Party
We capped off the 21st season with a mini-screening of audience favorites followed by the presentation of the Good Life Audience award. After the screening, the audience engaged in a Q&A with the GLA award winner and the Bernal Bright Star, the Spirit of Bernal and the Best of Bernal award-winners.
Following the film program and awards presentations, we partied and enjoyed music and delicious refreshments provided by our partner in-kind donors. Thanks to all!
Acknowledging the People who came before and the land they steward
The poetic contemplations of a young Pomo girl reveling in nature’s glory while dreading the effects of climate change.
Documentary
Peter Vahle
The story of Four Chicken Gallery
Animation / Comedy
Isabelle Maria Tumboimbela,
Daisha Lin Sherman
Two sisters become fierce rivals in their race to the bathroom.
Documentary
Dan Goldes
Homage to the American dream: immigrant stories, connections between people, and, of course, food.
Animation
Mitra Shahidi
The spirit of a little girl streams down from the heavens to spend her birthday with her family.
