The 24th San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (SF DocFest) will screen 85 new non-fiction films (28 features and 58 shorts.) including 22 films local to the Bay Area from May 29 to June 8, 2025.
The festival remains a hybrid of live presentations and virtual screenings. In-person screenings will be held at the Roxie Theater and the Vogue Theater in San Francisco. The majority of the in-person screenings will also include live Q&A sessions with filmmakers and subjects.
The festival opens with the double feature – the docu-comedy Rebel with a Clause directed by Brandt Johnson and Peaches Goes Bananas directed by Marie Losier. No Bad Takes: An American Picture Show with William T. Vollmann directed by Greg Roden will screen as the Centerpiece. Closing the festival is also a double feature, showing Beyond the Gaze directed by Jill Campbell and Anxiety Club directed by Wendy Lobel.
OPENING NIGHT
Rebel with a Clause
Brandt Johnson, USA
A new docu-comedy where a grammar guru takes her pop-up grammar advice stand on a road trip across all 50 states to show that comma fights can bring us closer together in a divided time. Come for the grammar, stay for the humanity.
Peaches Goes Bananas
Marie Losier, Belgium, France
For the past 17 years, Marie Losier (Cassandro, the Exotico! SF DocFest 2019) has captured the dynamic and provocative essence of Peaches, the trailblazing feminist queer icon. This intimate portrait offers a deep dive into the life of an inspiring, taboo-shattering artist. Discover Peaches’ electrifying concerts, her close bond with her sister and how her boundless energy, fearless exploration on and off stage has transformed every phase of her life into a captivating work of art.
CENTERPIECE
No Bad Takes: An American Picture Show with William T. Vollmann
Greg Roden, USA
Legendary cult writer William T. Vollmann embarks on a mesmerizing odyssey to write his next novel, revealing his creative process, the power of storytelling and life on the road while searching for the American Dream. Director Greg Roden lives in the Inner Sunset. Subject, author William T Vollman, lives in Sacramento.
CLOSING NIGHT
Beyond the Gaze
Jill Campbell, USA
In the 1960s, Jule Campbell shattered glass ceilings, transforming a struggling magazine into a media empire: the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The documentary chronicles her 32-year reign, where she championed intelligence and empowered supermodels like Christie Brinkley. Weaving together her journey with feminism’s evolution, the film explores the changing gaze on beauty, from objectification to body positivity. Through stunning visuals and intimate interviews with a wise, nonagenarian Campbell, witness a legacy that continues to inspire. Producer Ariana Garfinkel lives in Berkeley.
Anxiety Club
Wendy Lobel, USA
Anxiety Club offers a heartfelt and humorous exploration of anxiety through the lens of some of today’s most brilliant comedians: Tiffany Jenkins, Joe List, Marc Maron, Aparna Nancherla, Mark Normand, Baron Vaughn, and San Francisco native Eva Victor. With a mix of stand-up performances, sketch videos, exclusive interviews, and relatable everyday life scenarios, they candidly share their personal struggles with anxiety, the world’s most prevalent mental health condition, affecting more than 300 million people globally.
LOCAL FEATURE FILMS
Acts of Reparation
Selina Lewis Davidson, Macky Alston, USA
Acts of Reparation follows two friends as they explore what reparations means to them. Selina, who is Black, and Macky, who is white, have been friends and filmmaking partners for 25 years. Genealogy nerds, they travel south to reclaim and reckon with their roots. In the process they move from awkward outsiders toward belonging to broad kin networks who come along for the ride. Co-director Selina Lewis Davidson lives in El Cerrito.
Any Problem is No Problem
Alyssa Fedele, Zachary Fink, USA
As scandals rock the crypto industry, three Web3 startups are selected for a prestigious tech incubator. The brilliant and idealistic founders have three months to hone their technology and create compelling presentations for a room of crypto investors. Shot in a cinema verité style, punctuated by intimate interviews and funny moments, Any Problem Is No Problem upends assumptions about the world of crypto by revealing the histories and motivations of these coders and dreamers as they build on the rails of a new democratized internet.
Directors Alyssa Fedele and Zachary Fink live in Fairfax. Producers Kate McClean lives in Petaluma, Robyn Kopp in Bodega Bay, Jon Shenk in the Inner Sunset of San Francisco, and Justine Nagan in Oakland. Editor Aaron Soffin lives in Berkeley. Their production company Actual Films is located in the Presidio.
Life After
Reid Davenport, USA
In 1983, a disabled Californian woman named Elizabeth Bouvia sought the “right to die,” igniting a national debate about autonomy, dignity, and the value of disabled lives. After years of courtroom trials, Bouvia disappeared from public view. Disabled director Reid Davenport narrates this investigation of what happened to Bouvia, engaging in philosophical terrain that is treacherous, challenging, and ultimately necessary. Editor Don Bernier lives in San Anselmo.
Looking for My Anchor
Erica Jordan, USA
Set against the stark contrast of an affluent surrounding area, Looking For My Anchor is a powerful exploration of loss, housing insecurity, and the universal search for stability in a community on the verge of being lost. Director Erica Jordan currently lives in Sausalito, following 20 years in San Francisco following an owner move-in eviction – as seen in the film. One of the film’s subjects, Kim Slater, lives anchored out on Richardson Bay in Sausalito. Sound designer Dave Nelson lives in Potrero Hill.
Mahwash: A Documentary Film
Sam Javadi, USA/Iran/Afghanistan
Mahwash: A Documentary Film follows the extraordinary journey of Ustad Mahwash, Afghanistan’s pioneering female singer, whose voice transcends borders, exile, and political turmoil. Encouraged by her devoted husband, Farooq, she rises to fame despite cultural barriers, only to face severe backlash when her identity is revealed. As she dreams of a final concert in her homeland, the Taliban’s rise shatters her hopes, banning music and silencing artists. Yet, Mahwash refuses to be silenced. Writer Zahir Rashed lives in San Francisco WHAT NEIGHBORHOOD. Subject Ustad Mahwash lives in Fremont.
Zodiac Killer Project
Charlie Shakleton, USA, United Kingdom
Against the backdrop of sunbaked parking lots, deserted courthouses, and empty suburban homes—the familiar spaces of true crime, stripped of all action and spectacle—a Charlie Shakleton (Beyond Clueless, SF DocFest 2015, Fear Itself, SF IndieFest 2017) describes his abandoned Zodiac Killer documentary and probes the inner workings of a genre at saturation point. San Francisco Bay Area subject/story.
LOCAL SHORT FILMS
A Man Comes Down
Stanley Okumura (Sacramento)
After a catastrophic stroke left James paralyzed and voiceless, he spent months trapped inside his own body, his mind unreachable. With the fierce devotion of his family and new technology that let him write with his eyes alone, James defied the odds and reignited his creative fire. A Man Comes Down is a gripping portrait of survival, creativity, and the relentless force of human will.
Bad Hostage
Mimi Wilcox (Sebastopol, Berkeley subjects)
After Mimi Wilcox’s grandmother was held hostage, she shocked the small Northern California town of Sebastopol by declaring that she felt more threatened by the police than by the men holding her hostage – and she wasn’t the only woman that year to do so. A thrilling piece of family lore intersects with the famous Berkeley kidnapping of Patty Hearst and a dramatic bank heist in Sweden in this investigation into the pernicious origins of Stockholm Syndrome.
Carl
Max Good (Berkeley)
An eccentric old musician reminisces about his past as he faces eviction and homelessness.
Loyal To The Soil
Jeremy P McNamara (Petaluma)
Artist Jeremy Fish explores his relationship with his family and the city of San Francisco while making history as the first-ever artist-in-residence in Major League baseball.
Mercedes
Justine Nagan (Oakland)
Spend a day in pre-pandemic San Francisco with Mercedes Weatherford, a quirky woman in her 70s who still works full-time. Over the course of her workday, she reflects on her career and life journey. During this 12-minute portrait, the documentary asks what the value of work is.
Migrant Mother
Maria Padilha Graves (Santa Cruz)
This short documentary explores the unique experience of being a mother and an immigrant in the United States. Using archival images, the documentary sheds light on the idea of our mother’s body as a live organism, as part of nature.
Motorcycle Moment
Les Blank (Blank’s son Harrod, the film’s editor, lives in El Cerrito)
In 1964, Les Blank filmed 45 minutes of motorcycles for a documentary film that was never completed. Before his death in 2013, he asked his son Harrod Blank to cut the footage to the music of The 13th Floor Elevators. Edited by Ben Abrams, this film captures the vastness of the American West at a time when the motorcycle was the ultimate in highway adventure.
Oakland Originals – RyanNicole
Jim McSilver (Oakland)
The labels of artist, athlete, actor and activist don’t begin to describe the impact that the force of nature, RyanNicole, has on Oakland youth, audiences and the larger community. But what happens when her beloved hometown and catalyst for much of her creativity is impacted by big tech and gentrification? Can she rally her community to hang on tight to the essential soul of their unique city.
Paramita
Kirthi Nath (Oakland)
Part poetry, part memoir-style reflection, and part prayer, Paramita bears witness to Prajna Paramita Choudhury’s 25-year coming-out process with her traditional Bangladeshi mother. Told with intimacy, tenderness, and a quiet power, the film invites us into a meditative spiritual experience as Prajna connects with Buddhist practices and nature as gateways for intergenerational healing.
Penny, Here
Jackson Kroopf (Subject is Marin native now from Big Sur)
A 95-year old pianist, who has lived in Big Sur for 50 years, shares poetry, noodles on the keys, and contemplates death.
Rays: A Kayaktivism Story
Enrique Labrada Prieto (San Pablo)
Rays: A Kayaktivism Story follows a group of activists who take to the water in kayaks to confront the fossil fuel industry that is directly threatening their community. This short documentary captures a grassroots movement fueled by passion and the unyielding power of community.
Salvation Mountain Leonard Knight
Harrod Blank (El Cerrito)
A portrait of Leonard Knight and his visionary monument, Salvation Mountain. Painted with 18 coats of donated latex paint, Salvation Mountain was created over many years, and shows how one man’s determination and faith can make for quite a majestic achievement.
Taken For A Ride: How San Francisco Backstabbed a Generation of Cab Drivers
Peter Thomas Ruocco (Sausalito)
San Francisco’s Taxi Medallion Sales Program promised cab drivers a path to financial stability, but instead, it became a financial trap. As City Hall embraced the rise of Uber and Lyft, taxi medallion owners—who had paid $250,000 for the right to operate—found themselves drowning in debt with no way out. Through the stories of three cab drivers, this documentary explores the human cost of a policy failure that left a once-prized permit worthless and an industry in crisis.
The Honest Poet
Jordan Bryon (Producer Marc Smolowitz lives in the Mission District of San Francisco )
Through a child’s lens, The Honest Poet reveals a rarely seen side of Afghanistan, following 11-year-old Raheem on a journey through his country and into the homes and hearts of his people. Through his encounters on the way, he discovers hope as resistance. Amid stunning landscapes, Raheem’s reflections celebrate Afghanistan’s poetic soul.
When The Smoke Clears
Misha Kaurin Kapany Schwarz, Maarya Zafar (Berkeley)
We turn to first responders in our darkest moments, but who do they turn to in theirs? After a lack of success with traditional psychotherapy and pharmaceuticals for PTSD and depression, two first responders journey to Mexico to undergo psychedelic treatment guided by traditional healers. Offering an intimate account of what psychedelic healing sessions look and feel like, the film delves into themes of resiliency, healing, and the depth of the human experience.
SPECIAL EVENTS
Staff Picks from the Prelinger Archives – A Live Cinema Experience
Join us for a special live cinema event in collaboration with the Prelinger Archives who has scanned over 3 million feet of film and uploaded over 2,000 items, while collectively developing practices of inclusive and reparative description to allow multiple avenues into a vast trove of moving images. This curated screening will highlight rarities and treasures within the collection that have inspired, delighted and bewildered staff. The speakers, all Prelinger Archives staff, will each share experiences from the project as footage is screened and will speak to working with a unique collection that contains a wide array of materials (outtakes, home movies, warped films). Director, and Project Manager at the Prelinger Archives, Adrianne M. Finelli, lives in Berkeley. Directors Kristin Lipska and Jennifer Miko live in San Francisco’s Sunset District. Director Megan Needels lives in the Mission District of San Francisco. Director Emily Chao lives in El Cerrito. Director Kate Dollenmayer lives in Richmond, CA. The Prelinger Library and Archives is based in the SOMA district of San Francisco.
Film Festivals, What Are They Good For? – Festival Programming Panel and Discussion
In this ever-changing digital world, what are film festivals good for? Are they a relic of filmgoing in the pre-COVID world or do they have something to offer both filmmakers and audiences in today’s world? We obviously believe there is value in film festivals, but don’t just take our word for it. Join esteemed film critic Michael Fox as he hosts a panel discussion with a stellar lineup of local film festival programmers and curators including Delaney
S Holton (CAAMFest), Rod Armstrong (SFFILM), Dominique O’Neill (San Francisco Jewish Film Festival), and Sterling Hedgpeth (Mill Valley Film Festival) in a conversation about the behind the scenes world of film festival programming. This intimate conversation offers rare access to programming professionals who shape festival lineups and influence what reaches audiences.
This event is free and open to all.