Social & External
The people behind it
At the turn of the century, Sephardic Jews fled the turmoil of their homeland to start a new life in America. Filled with interviews, archival photos and dozens of Ladino phrases, this slice of Northwest history captures their story as they arrived in Seattle and found work at the Pike Place Market.
Observation of the asylum procedure in the Federal Republic of Germany, not limited to depicting an individual case, but rather tracing a basic fate. The film captivates with unpretentious black-and-white images that are emotionally moving and show camp life as an agonizing wait for a decision by bureaucrats.
The Double Fight is a choral documentary that explores migration as an act of survival and self-affirmation: migrating in order to be. Through seven intertwined voices from the LGBTQIA+ collective, the film traces journeys across borders, languages, and bodies in the search for a place where existence is not punished, but possible. Each story reveals how identity, desire, and freedom collide with violence, repression, and exile—and how resilience is built in the aftermath.
More than 37,000 Chinese citizens entered the US illegally via its southern border in 2023, hoping to find a better life in America. Many more are following in their footsteps, often with young children in tow. To reach the Land of the Free, they embark on a most treacherous journey: the migrants first need to reach Ecuador, the country closest to the US that would grant Chinese passport holders visa-free entry. From there, they need to cross Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, all illegally, to reach California. In this documentary series, CNA correspondent Wei Du travels the route with the Chinese migrants, and try to understand why they've been driven to such desperation, and if the American Dream is all it's made out to be.
The Black Audio Film Collective’s acclaimed essay film, 'Handsworth Songs', examines the 1985 race riots in Handsworth and London. Interweaving archival photographs, newsreel clips, and home movie footage, the film is both an exploration of documentary aesthetics and a broad meditation social and cultural oppression through Britain’s intertwined narratives of racism and economic decline.
An internet personality journeys to his hometown on the border between Texas and Mexico to visit family members, only to discover that his family’s immigration story parallels that of people risking everything to immigrate to the U.S. today.
A documentary that explores the human and financial costs of illegal immigration.
Hang Sou and his family, preliterate tribal farmers, await resettlement in a refugee camp in Thailand after fleeing their war-consumed native Laos. "Becoming American" records their odyssey as they travel to and resettle in the United States. As they face nine months of intense culture shock, prejudice, and gradual adaptation to their new home in Seattle, the family provides a rare insight into refugee resettlement and cultural diversity issues.
Shot over a three-year period with unparalleled intimacy and access, ALL THIS PANIC is a feature length documentary that takes an intimate look at the interior lives of a group of teenage girls as they come of age in Brooklyn. A potent mix of vivid portraiture and vérité, we follow the girls as they navigate the ephemeral and fleeting transition between childhood and adulthood.
A group of teenagers who have been selected to participate in a recreational white water rafting trip. All of the kids selected have AIDS or have been infected with the HIV virus. At some point during the trip, all the kids tell their stories and share their feelings about what their lives have been like since being infected with the virus and how they struggle to live normal lives with a hope of a cure in the future.
Turkish women in the Federal Republic of Germany work on the assembly line, provide for their families and are isolated. In Remscheid, a group from the Protestant Clarenbach congregation has taken on this problem. Their offer: language and sewing courses, cozy get-togethers.
A documentary about Antti Jalava, a Swedish-Finnish writer who was among the first to write about the immigrant experience in Sweden.
From One World to Another is an intimate documentary, a human and sensory journey through grief and friendship. After the accidental death of his best friend, actor Jérémie Renier begins a journey of contemplation thanks to the encounter with a French explorer, Loury Lag, who travels through uninhabited territories in extreme conditions. They will set off together across the Arctic ice floes. Left to their own devices, the two men will test each other, until they become alive again. An initiatory quest, which explores the territories of life, where the hostility of the world refers to death.
The San Francisco Foundation presents 2013 Community Leadership Awardee, Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC), with The San Francisco Foundation Award, made to an organization demonstrating exemplary commitment to improving human relations in the Bay Area. E4FC provides direct support to and advocacy for highly motivated, college-bound undocumented students who had come to the United States as children and wished to remain. They are a leader in the field of immigrant work, providing youth tangible support and the space for them to tell their own story. As a result, E4FC's work is an essential part of the DREAMers movement catapulting the organizations role as a leader in both the Bay Area and as a national model in supporting and empowering immigrant youth. www.sff.org/cla
A high-school folk dancing group heads to Latvian School Youth Song and Dance Festival, an event that takes place every five years and is part of the Latvian national identity – this is the culmination point of five years of work. Away from their homes and parents, they spend seven days and nights together. They are 18 and have just graduated, and this seems to be the last idle summer of their lives. Dreams mix with boredom, silly jokes with serious conversations. Taking care of one another creates affection and grows into a collective power. There are thousands like them at the festival. Every individual sensation turns into a common celebration that becomes more than just a tradition.
As her adolescence gives way to the obligations of motherhood, troubled Gemma matures in Motherwell, her Scottish hometown, heavily dependent on the steel industry. Unfortunately for her, her hedonistic way of understanding the world does not fit in with the philosophy of the rest of the villagers, so trouble soon follows.
In the industrial and maritime city of Le Havre, Soren and Karving, two 14-year-old friends, are passionate about fishing. In conflict with authority and failing at school, fishing has become their space of freedom and a unique way to project themselves into the future: more than anything, Soren wants to become a fisherman and Karving a fisherman-reporter. As the pressure of their exams mounts, and without their diploma they can kiss their dream life goodbye, they will have to compromise between their passion and reality.
A story about 6 kids who grew up together and stayed together, once strangers, then friends, now family. Both a video diary and a travelogue, this coming-of-age film explores the fleeting moments of youth, reflecting on nostalgia, connection, and the bonds that endure as we grow older. A chapter in the story we've been writing since we were kids, these are the days we'll look back on.
Those who knew iconic funnyman John Candy best share his story, in their own words, through never-before-seen archival footage, imagery, and interviews.
The life and career of an actor, artist, and icon. His own journey through his own camera.
Brilliant, long in-the-works story of the life and art of the world's greatest comedian and the cinema's first genius, Charlie Chaplin. Produced, written and directed by renowned film critic Richard Schickel.
Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.
Filmmaker Christopher Quinn observes the ordeal of three Sudanese refugees -- Jon Bul Dau, Daniel Abul Pach and Panther Bior -- as they try to come to terms with the horrors they experienced in their homeland, while adjusting to their new lives in the United States.
An inside look at the years of effort and craft that went into the final installment of the Duffer Brothers' generation-defining series.
A night of drunken chaos rocks a quiet Dutch town in this shocking documentary about a teen's birthday invite that accidentally went viral on Facebook.
A string of threatening emails escalates into a revenge plot involving a newly married US marshal and his ex-girlfriend.
The life and career of one of comedy's most inimitable modern voices, Mr. Gilbert Gottfried.
Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.
Join the likes of Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh, and Vincent D’Onofrio as they reveal how Marvel Studios’ “Hawkeye” was conceived and created. Witness firsthand what it took to pull off the show’s pulse-pounding action set pieces, and discover how iconic characters from the pages of Marvel Comics such as Kate Bishop were adapted and brought to life for the six-episode series.
BBC Arena's documentary on the Dames of British Theatre and film featuring Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright on screen together for the first time as they reminisce over a long summer weekend in a house Joan once shared with Sir Laurence Olivier.
Artists in LA discover the work of forgotten Polish sculptor Stanislav Szukalski, a mad genius whose true story unfolds chapter by astounding chapter.
The Making-of James Cameron's Avatar. It shows interesting parts of the work on the set.
Explore the evolution of Buzz Lightyear from toy to human in the making of Pixar’s Lightyear. Dive into the origin and cultural impact of everyone’s favorite Space Ranger, the art of designing a new “human Buzz,” and the challenges faced by the Lightyear crew along the way.
RETURN tells the story of a retired Green Beret who embarks on a healing journey from Montana to Vietnam. There he retraces his steps, shares his wartime experiences with his son, treats his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and seeks out the mountain tribespeople he once lived with and fought alongside as a Special Forces officer.
An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.
A documentary about the life and films of director John Ford.
The film follows adventurer Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia.
Photographer Estevan Oriol and artist Mister Cartoon turned their Chicano roots into gritty art, impacting street culture, hip hop and beyond.
