14th Annual Season
September 7 – 9 and 27, 2017
Four nights of free screenings and music,
showcasing the work of local filmmakers and musicians
in parks, playgrounds and smaller venues around
Bernal Heights, San Francisco
Opening credits reel produced by MisterWA
OPENING NIGHT
Thursday, SEPTEMBER 7
7:00–9:30 pm
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
2868 Mission Street
Master of Ceremonies: Ian Williams
Teacher, stand-up comic and neighbor.
7:00–8:00 pm Reception & Music
Melody Yan plays the Guzheng (chinese harp), a traditional instrument with origins traced to ancient China. She is accompanied by Barry Despenza who specializes in playing the cajon, a South American drum.
8:00–8:30 pm Awards Presentation
“Best of Bernal,” “Spirit of Bernal” and “Emerging Filmmaker” awards
8:30 to 9:30 pm Films
BLACK WHITE & GREY
Kingmond Young
Drama 4:00
Two strangers crash into each other on the sidewalk. One of them beats the other unconscious because of a misunderstanding. The misunderstanding is soon corrected, sort of . . .
A HAPPY COYOTE
Janet Kesler Nature Documentary 3:29
A coyote channels Ralph Waldo Emerson: “It is a happy talent to know how to play.”
THE RIDE
Jeff Adachi & Jim Choi Documentary 15:00
SF Public Defender Jeff Adachi travels into the underbelly of the criminal injustice system when he takes on the case of Michael Smith, a young African-American man charged with assaulting police officers.
WHEN RABBIT LEFT THE MOON
EMIKO OMORI Video Poem 7:13
Words to describe the camp experience seem inadequate to me — either too many or not enough. This video poem is an attempt to express long buried feelings without words.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIO WOODS
Mohammad Gorjestani
Documentary 6:00
Six months after his death, Gwen Woods visits her son Mario’s grave and the site of his shooting.
VELO VISIONARIES: ALICIA TAPIA
Kristin Tieche Documentary 7:38
Take a ride with Alicia Tapia, creator of Bibliobicicleta, as she rides her free library on wheels through San Francisco’s Panhandle.
CLOUD RUNNER
Anabella Mortenson Narrative 4:26
A girl living in an arid landscape chases a cloud, or is she being followed by it?
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FILM CRAWL ON CORTLAND
Friday, SEPTEMBER 8
7 to 10 pm
Six simultaneous screenings at six different venues + late night at 10 pm
Cortland Avenue — Bennington to Bayshore
PROGRESSIVE GROUNDS CAFE
400 Cortland Avenue
7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 pm Films
Co-presented with
Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) —
The Factory
DEAR SAN FRANCISCO
Marley Nelson
Documentary 1: 26
A conflicted love letter to San Francisco from a teenager who grew up in the midst of its gentrification.
RESPONSES BACK TO GENDER STEREOTYPES
Tatsuya Aizawa
Documentary 2: 38
Teenagers respond to the gender stereotypes given to them at some point in their lives.
LOVE, SYLVIA
Sylvia Lacayo
Documentary 1: 26
A girl reads a letter to her old best friend, looking at their past together and the impact their relationship had on her identity.
TRIBAL PRIDE
Jessie Skeva
Documentary 4: 04
Native American youths in the Tribal Youth Ambassador program talk about revitalizing culture and preserving natural resources.
DEAR TAIWAN
Jessica Mao
Documentary 1: 23
A love letter to Taiwan, saying goodbye and see you soon.
GENDER IDENTITY
Janelle Kung, Marley Nelson,
Kasey Shee
Documentary 1: 00
Why do girls wear dresses? Why do boys have short hair? Three teenagers tackle the issues of our gendered society.
DEAR MOM AND DAD
Jelina Liu
Documentary 1: 27
A girl apologizes to her parents for losing herself and promises to reconnect with her roots.
ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH
Elaine Li
Music Video 2: 20
A young woman sings of a troubled relationship and an eventual break-up.
DEAR 12-YEAR OLD ME
Theresa Cruz
Documentary 1: 30
A video letter about a girl’s transition from the Philippines to America and the challenges she faced along the way.
ANTI-SOCIAL FREAKS
Walden Smith
Documentary 5: 14
Three homeschoolers reflect on the ways that their experience has shaped them as people.
DEAR NAME
Tatsuya Aizawa
Documentary 1: 30
An aggrieved Japanese teen writes a letter to his name.
OUR TREASURE
Jelina Liu and Jessica Mao
Documentary 5: 30
The Aikuma Project tries to preserve the world’s threatened languages.
AN UNEASY TRUCE
Sylvia Colt-Lacayo
Documentary 3: 36
A young woman’s relationship with her body is depicted through a series of diary entries.
A NEW HOME
Reyna Colt-Lacayo, Jessica Mao, Mark Dabi
Documentary 1: 00
A teen describes the experience of immigrating from the Philippines to the United States.
DEAR SUBURBIA
Jessie Skeva
Documentary 1: 14
The well-kept lawns and nice houses of suburbia mask an ugly history of deep-rooted racism.
LOVE, YOUR DAUGHTER
Elaine Li
Documentary 1: 23
A Chinese American learns to balance the high expectations of her immigrant parents with her own goals for the future.
YA-KA: OUR WATER
Marley Nelson
Documentary 5: 20
Indigenous elders and young people share stories and personal truths about water and their fight for it.
INDEFINABLE
Jessie Skeva, Kelly Lau, Kevin Dabi
Documentary 1: 00
A teenager urges people to define their own gender, unfettered by traditional societal binaries.
ROOFTOP CYPHER: VOLUME 1
Jessie Skeva
Music Video 2: 38
A.R. The Believer and Ad: m 12 feature in a rooftop cypher, freestyling about where they’re from, who they are, and hip hop today.
BERNAL STAR
410 Cortland Avenue
8:00 and 9:00 pm Films
(NOTE: no screening at 7 pm)
MONOTONE SILENCE
Daniel Lichtenberg
Documentary 2:30
A special performance of a special symphony – Yves Klein’s Monotone-Silence Symphony at Grace Cathedral.
ON THE ROAD
Jason Joseffer
Music Video 3:34
Folk singer Seth Lael takes a dreamy journey through San Francisco. Shot using handmade pin-hole lenses.
THESE WALLS SPEAK: PLACA
Carla Wojczuk
Documentary 35:00
In 1984, artists and activists in the heart of the Mission transformed Balmy Alley into a “mural environment” when they formed PLACA to protest the U.S. government’s wars in Central America.
KINGMOND YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHY
416 Cortland Avenue
7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 pm Films
Co-presented with
San Francisco Black Film Festival
FULL SERVICE
KPaul Stuart Valdes
Narrative 16:00
Sparks fly when a woman named Abike – a Nigerian-born oil industry executive and a Christian – tries to buy gas from Scott, a white American man who owns a rural filling station.
THE MAN WHO FEARED
Jehnovah Carlisle
Narrative 8:00
When a young white urban professional moves into a predominantly black neighborhood, his attempts to remain inconspicuous run into trouble.
TALKING PIECE
KPaul Stuart Valdes
Narrative 16:30
Stereotypes and assumptions explode when the Caucasian principal of a Brooklyn high school locks heads with two brown-skinned teenagers who have grown up in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.
BERNAL BRANCH LIBRARY
500 Cortland Avenue
7:00 and 8:00pm Films
(NOTE: no screening at 9 pm)
Co-presented with
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
Thi Doan
Documentary 11:00
A Vietnamese woman, age 83, who suffered much in her life in Vietnam after her husband was imprisoned, uses her past experiences to move forward positively and adapt to her new life in this country. In Vietnamese, with English subtitles.
MY LITTLE FRIENDS
Megan Mylan
Documentary 10:00
In a custom-designed facility in Mt. Kisco, New York, a special program brings together elders with dementia and young children. The kids look past the dementia, connecting instead with the people who have gotten lost underneath.
DIAL-A-RIDE
George Cowie,
Tom Huntingford
Documentary 17:00
Journeying through rural South Wales on a community bus for seniors, a caring driver provides passengers, who live alone without aid, the opportunity to participate in the everyday activities we take for granted.
BERNAL HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER
515 Cortland Avenue
7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 pm Films
Co-presented with
ARC OF JUSTICE: THE RISE AND FALL AND REBIRTH OF A BELOVED COMMUNITY
Mark Lipman and
Helen S. Cohen
Documentary 22:00
Once New Communities was the largest black-owned farm in the country. After losing its land in 1985, it won a historic lawsuit and made a new beginning in 2009.
Q & A with the filmmakers follow each screening
INCLUSIONS GALLERY
627 Cortland Avenue
7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 pm Films
Co-presented with
EQUAL FOOTING
Dan Holz, Eric Elofson
and Kaare Iverson
Documentary 8:00
Alpinists Kim Havell and Julia Heemstra discuss the realities of being female climbers in what is traditionally a male-dominated pursuit and share the joy of challenging their limits.
MAMA AGATHA
Fadi Hindash
Documentary 16:00
In Southeast Amsterdam, a Ghanaian nicknamed “Mama Agatha” gives migrant women from China, Pakistan and Suriname the confidence to ride a bicycle for the first time.
INSIDE THE MIND OF SACHI CUNNINGHAM
Beth O’Rourke and Jeff den Broeder
Documentary 6:00
San Francisco-based journalist Sachi Cunningham tells us how and why she braves treacherous ocean waters to capture images of big wave surfers.
WASFIA
Sean Kusanagi
Documentary 11:00
Wasfia Nazreen – the first Bangladeshi to scale the Seven Summits – struggles to the highest peaks on the planet for the sake of the other women of Bangladesh.
Late Night Screening & After Party
BAREBOTTLE BREWING COMPANY
1525 Cortland Avenue
10:15 pm Films
SHOW ME THE WORLD
The Factory Students
Music Video 5:05
We’re all just trying to get through another day.
ARRESTED (AGAIN)
Dan Goldes
Documentary 4:34
What drives San Francisco activist Karen Topakian to face repeated arrest as she protests nuclear proliferation, threats to the environment, human rights abuses and war?
SLUMBERLAND
James Parker Pennington
Narrative 4:40
When a sleep-deprived teen falls asleep on the Bart train, he is transported into a strange dream world.
ALL SALES FINAL
Ingrid Serban
Silent, Noir Comedy
7:00
When Samuel A. Dillon finds an Elimination Agency ad in the newspaper, he decides to end it all by ordering his own assassination.
ACE IN THE HOLE
Yasmin Mawaz-Kahn
Documentary 10:00
Bill “the junkman” Kennedy helped San Francisco’s industrial art scene flourish until the city changed and economic shifts drove artists out.
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UNDER THE STARS
Saturday, SEPTEMBER 9
6:30 to 9:30 pm
Precita Park
Precita Avenue at Folsom Street
Master of Ceremonies: Will Hammond, jr
Teacher, musician and early supporter.
6:30 – 7:30 pm
Music with Tony Saunders Quartet
Tony Saunders — talented bassist plays smooth jazz and R & B. Son of legendary keyboardist and composer Merl Saunders, Tony’s life has been a musical adventure. As a child he was taught piano by Herbie Hancock, received an electric organ as a gift from Sly Stone, and at 17 he played his first gig with Jerry Garcia and his dad in the Merl Saunders/Jerry Garcia Band. Tony has played on hundreds of albums, won two Emmy Awards for soundtracks, written award winning movie scores and commercial jingles. His latest album Uptown Jazz is his third release on San Francisco Records.
7:30 – 9:30 pm Films
MIDNIGHT IN THE KITCHEN
Mark West and
Barbara Bayne Animation 3:00
What happens in your kitchen at night, after you turn off the lights?
WALLY AND THE SPOT OF DIRT
Dennis Campagna
Animation 3:19
Will Wally be able to avoid getting a fatal spot of dirt on his brand new, sparkling white clothes?!
PICNIC PERFECT
Cal Thacher Comedy 6:09
A young girl arranges a fancy picnic for her 92-year-old great grandmother, but for one reason or another things don’t go as planned.
THE RETURN OF THE WESTERN POND TURTLE TO MT. LAKE
Melissa Peabody
Nature Documentary 5:20
After removing the non-native turtles from Mt Lake in the Presidio, scientists were able to return the native Western Pond Turtles back into this fresh water urban lake
TO SEE ONE’S SELF
Sophie Constantinou
Documentary 12:42
Artist Eugene E. White has lived and worked in the Western Addition for 50 years. His paintings and murals document and celebrate Black lives through history, from his childhood in 1930s rural Arkansas to the Civil Rights era to today.
MARATHON
Theo Rigby and Kate McLean Documentary 9:00
After years of dedication, sacrifice and sweat, an undocumented immigrant named Julio Sauce lines up at the New York City marathon to compete against the world’s most elite runners.
DEAR NAME
Tatsuya Aizawa
Documentary 1: 30
An aggrieved Japanese teen writes a letter to his name.
STYLISH SPOKES: A CELEBRATION OF BIKING AND WOMEN
Greg Miller Narrative 4:16
Female bicyclists adapt unconventional cycling attire with style and ease in order that they can continue to enjoy the freedom of bicycling and carry on their daily lives.
VIOLIN MAKING: ONE MAN’S JOURNEY
Chip Curry Documentary 11:00
When Andrew Carruthers creates a violin, even the construction of the instrument becomes a performance.
AMERICAN PARADISE
Joe Talbot Narrative 18:00
The story of a forgotten man in Trump’s America who tries to shift his fate with the perfect crime—until, of course, all goes horribly wrong.
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BEST OF BERNAL
Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 27
6:30 to 9:30 pm
Barebottle Brewing Company
1525 Cortland Avenue
Master of Ceremonies: Caroline Blair
Filmmaker, instructor and neighbor.
7:00–8:15 pm Films & Awards
Encore screening of the 2017 season award-winning films — Best of Bernal, Spirit of Bernal, Emerging Filmmaker and Good Life Audience Awards
Join with filmmakers and fellow film lovers in a Q&A and reception following the screening.
CLOUD RUNNER
Anabella Mortenson Narrative 4:26
A girl living in an arid landscape chases a cloud, or is she being followed by it?
BLACK WHITE & GREY
Kingmond Young
Drama 4:00
Two strangers crash into each other on the sidewalk. One of them beats the other unconscious because of a misunderstanding. The misunderstanding is soon corrected, sort of . . .
THE RIDE
Jeff Adachi & Jim Choi Documentary 15:00
SF Public Defender Jeff Adachi travels into the underbelly of the criminal injustice system when he takes on the case of Michael Smith, a young African-American man charged with assaulting police officers.
WHEN RABBIT LEFT THE MOON
EMIKO OMORI
Video Poem 7:13
Words to describe the camp experience seem inadequate to me — either too many or not enough. This video poem is an attempt to express long buried feelings without words.
8:30–10:00 pm Reception & Music
Bernal Hillibillies
Homegrown bluegrass music right here in Bernal Heights, compliments of the Bernal Hillbillies. Longtime Bernalites Larry Chung, Scot Brenton, Martha Hawthorne and Bill Foss along with Crockett’s own Amy Scher have been serving up some of the finest traditional bluegrass in the Bay Area right here in the neighborhood at Barebottle Brew Co. and the Lucky Horseshoe along the glorious Cortland Corridor.