SFFILM Doc Stories opens in the Bay Area, ahead of the Oscar documentary race

SFFILM’s 9^e The annual Doc Stories festival kicks off with an impressive selection of Oscar-nominated non-fiction films.

Little Richard: I am everythingDirected by Lisa Cortés, it will be screened this afternoon, while the opening night will be dedicated to another music-focused documentary, Matthew Heineman’s American Symphonyan intimate look at Grammy winner Jon Batiste [scroll for full Doc Stories schedule].

SFFILM Doc Stories runs from November 2-5 at City by the Bay, with select films available to stream from November 6-7. The design makes it a solidly put together program.

“It’s incredibly competitive and we only have two short blocks and the rest are features,” notes Jessie Fairbanks, SFFILM’s program director. “It’s really an opportunity for us to showcase what we believe is the best in documentary filmmaking at this point in the season. We need a premiere in the Bay Area, so we’re bringing you movies that no one in the Bay Area has seen before. They weren’t in Mill Valley or Doclands [in Marin Co.] or in other places. Some of the films are exciting, new, vibrant titles from Telluride, Venice and Toronto, others are international titles that don’t have as big of a platform as we might think.”

SFFILM Doc Stories coincides with a fast-paced Oscar campaign ahead of the Oscar shortlists for documentaries and shorts announced next month. According to Fairbanks, there is a higher concentration of Academy Doc branch members in the Bay Area than anywhere else.

“One of the reasons Doc Stories did so well is because it was released late in the season,” she tells Deadline. “And because we have the third largest contingent of Academy voters and the largest contingent of Doc voters in the country, it’s important that filmmakers, campaign managers and studios are part of the showcase. We are grateful for that.”

One of the prominent Oscar candidates on the Doc Stories list is the documentary by Wim Wenders Anselm, a 3D film about the extraordinary German-born artist Anselm Kiefer. The one from National Geographic The missionDirected by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, the film tells the fateful story of a young American missionary who goes to North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Sea with the goal of converting a largely uncontacted indigenous group to Christianity. It didn’t go well.

Stamped from the startThe new Netflix documentary from Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams is based on the best-selling book by Dr. Abram X. Kendi.

“Roger just does Roger magic,” notes Fairbanks. “A film that deals with the idea of ​​racist images and politics in history can sound really overwhelming. And yet Roger brings this joy of curiosity and understanding to the approach. And he uses archival footage, animation and re-enactments to create this story that is engaging and doesn’t overwhelm the viewer, but really asks us to think about the language we use and the assumptions we make about social interactions. But I also feel that the film offers a way forward for how we can get out of the impasse we seem to be in when it comes to race relations.

Stamped from the start fits a central theme of this year’s Doc Stories event: “The powerful effects of institutional erasure and the limitless possibilities of human determination.” Another documentary that explores this topic is that of Kaouther Ben Hania Four daughtersabout a Tunisian mother of four who saw her two oldest daughters join ISIS in Libya.

In her film, which won the Golden Eye for Best Documentary at Cannes, Ben Hania creates cinematic moments in which actors portray the two missing daughters and their mother.

“Four daughters“For me, it’s a film that deals with extinction on a very personal level,” explains Fairbanks, “and how we tell each other stories, so to speak.”

Doc Stories takes place in a time of geopolitical turmoil, amidst the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East and the ongoing war in Ukraine. By no means does the show offer escapism, but the show still manages to take the viewer away from the dark worldview. And it represents a counterbalance to genre-oriented documentaries and series that have proliferated on streaming platforms.

“We don’t always want just biographies. “You want something you can empathize with that goes beyond just the profile of a celebrity,” notes Fairbanks. “And so I was pleasantly surprised when I could step back and look at the titles that really rose to the top and were the final selection. [to see] How inspiring so many of these stories are, and I had no idea in August where we would be now and how much an audience would need to come and see stories like this.

SFFILM Doc Stories also pays tribute to a beloved member of the documentary community, Academy Award-winning actress Julia Reichert, who lost a long battle with cancer in December 2022.

“We have programmed a lot of her work at SFFILM in the past and tried to pay tribute to her in both 2019 and 2021, but her health prevented her from participating. And that’s why it’s bittersweet that we’re doing it now,” says Fairbanks. “Julia has strong ties to the Bay. She is a co-founder of New Day Films and has spent a lot of time there.”

Reichert’s work often focused on women’s experiences in American society and the workplace Growing woman (1971) and on the labor movement, as in Union girls (1976). She co-directed the Oscar-winning film with her film and life partner Steven Bognar American factory (2019) and the Oscar nominee The last truck: the closing of a GM plant (2009).

“I have always admired her tireless advocacy for workers’ rights and women’s rights for equality,” Fairbanks said. “Julia asked the very simple but difficult questions about the world we want to live in, which are so appropriate for this moment.”

She adds: “The fact that Julia really listened and really cared about the stories she told and the people she captured is something we’ve all admired so much in her work and we’re looking forward to it. “It will ‘ be a very special moment to sit in. a room with some other great creatives and honor them.”

This is the schedule for SFFILM Doc Stories:

Thursday 2 November – Vogue Theatre

3pm PT – Little Richard: I Am Everything – Community Screening (98)

6:30 PM PT – OPENING NIGHT: American Symphony (94)

Friday 3rd November – Premier Theatre

3:30pm PT – Richland (93)
6pm PT – New York Times Op-Docs (92)

8:30pm PT – The Mission (104)

Saturday 4 November – Vogue

12:30pm PT – Sorry/Not Sorry (90)
3pm PT – Four Daughters (107)
6:00 PM PT – CENTER: Copa 71 (90)
8:30 PM PT – Stamped From The Start (85)

Sunday 5 November – Vogue

10:00 – story and photos of (84)
1:30 PM PT – Shorts Block: Ideology Vs. Identity (95)
4pm PT – A Tribute to Julia Reichert (100)
7:30 PM PT – FINAL NIGHT: Anselm, 93, presents in 3D

Locations

Vogue Theatre
3290 Sacramento Street (at Presidio) San Francisco

Premier Theater at Letterman Digital Arts Center 1 Letterman Dr #B
San Francisco

SCHOOLS AT DOC STORIES

The Schools at Doc Stories program introduces students between the ages of 6 and 18 to the art and storytelling process of documentary filmmaking, while promoting media literacy, deepening understanding of other cultures, increasing foreign language skills, and developing critical thinking skills, which provide a lifelong cultivate spirit Appreciation for films. .

Classes from across the Bay Area participate in weekday in-person and online matinees of curated Doc Stories film programs at no cost to students or teachers. Filmmaker guests from around the world will also visit local classrooms in person and online to discuss their films with students.