Women’s football. The Danish women’s football team won the 1971 World Cup in Mexico. Lis Lane Nelson holds the trophy after the final against Mexico. Kovindford Boulder. VM i Mexico 1971 Mesterskabet til de danske Piger. Lis lene Nielsen interviewed after the final in Mexico.
This year’s Doc Stories, SFFILM’s annual showcase of new documentary work, will be performed at San Francisco’s Premier Theater and Vogue Theater from November 2-5, 2023. As SFILM’s current programming director Jessie Fairbanks points out, the organization’s late former director Noah Cowan and former programming director Rachel Rosen ’s creative ninth iteration took place over a single weekend, while SF Film’s international film festival took place twice as long.
The title of the event confuses the author, it seems to suggest a tension between the fact-based nature of the documentary and the beginning-to-middle-end nature of the story. But Fairbanks doesn’t think that tension exists. The works in this year’s Doc Stories take audiences on real-life journeys, driven by the curiosity and passion of the filmmakers. One might even say that they pose a complex challenge to the narrative/non-narrative binary.
Fairbanks added that all of the films shown in Doc Stories are Bay Area premieres. Some of them come from prestigious film festivals like Telluride and Cannes. Other works may be valuable but are neglected and only performed at one or two other festivals. But all of them are worth a look.
This year’s Doc Stories program includes 10 feature films, 2 short films, and a special tribute to beloved documentary filmmaker Julia Reichert. These include films by famous directors such as Wim Wenders, Matthew Heineman and Roger Ross Williams.
If there’s a theme to this year’s selections, it’s what Fairbanks describes as “the powerful impact of institutional erasure and the endless possibilities of human determination.” In response to this writer’s question, Fairbanks pointed out that the themes fit together organically. It’s a combination of events happening in the world and the filmmaker’s own thoughts on those events.
The Fairbanks theme provides a good starting point for previewing the films being screened this year.
institutional erasure
“Little Richard: I Am Everything” by Lisa Cortes (November 2, 2023, 3:00 p.m.) about musician Richard Wayne Penniman Wayne Penniman, also known as “Little Richard”. The film shows why its central subject should be hailed as the originator of rock ‘n’ roll. There’s much more at stake here than just “egoboo” as the music industry glosses over or buries Little Richard’s creative contributions. This is a free community screening and tickets are still available at the time of writing.
Eliminating the consequences of guilt is an example of successful comedian Louis C.K. The comedian’s public admission that he sexually harassed women bodes well for the possibility that he might change his behavior and do better. Instead, nine months later, he has received no repercussions for his repentance. Caroline Suh’s Sorry/Not Sorry (November 4, 2023 at 12:30 pm and online November 6-7, 2023) tells the whole sorry story and provides a Three women are speaking out after facing backlash for trying to hold the comedian accountable for his actions. Aggressive behavior.
Venus and Serena Williams serve as executive producers on Doc Stories, an exciting and entertaining centerpiece. Fairbanks speaks highly of Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine’s “Copa 71” (November 4, 2023, 6:00 p.m.). The film tells the long-hidden story of the 1971 Women’s World Cup series in Mexico. Teams from six countries (Argentina, Denmark, England, France, Italy and Mexico) participate in the series. Yet FIFA and short-sighted lawmakers tried to prevent the tournament from taking place. However, seeing current game footage and hearing the reminiscences of each team’s surviving representatives will quickly have viewers channeling their inner Megan Rapinoe.
Cassandro director Roger Ross Williams’s “Marked from the Beginning” (November 4, 2023, 8:30 pm) is sure to make a Rethuglican racist bristle. Williams adapted Ibram X. Kendi’s National Book Award-winning cultural history of racism in America. Whether it’s a racist image or a destructive political myth, the effect is the same: excluding non-white people from the ability to make their own contribution to the American experiment. But the film shows that an anti-racist mindset can be developed to break the current historical cycle and its negative effects.
“Tribute to Julia Reichert: Women’s Work” (November 5, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.) is a public tribute to the late documentary filmmaker Julia Reichert, who died last December. Reichert is not only a spiritual mentor for those who use the documentary form to achieve social ends, but his famous documentaries “Seeing Red: The Story of the American Communists” and “American Factory” also gave a voice to all walks of American society. Presence is often ignored at best. Expect a personal tribute to Reichert, as well as excerpts from a film about Reichert’s life that is being produced by her life partner, Steven Bogner. This tribute is another free community event.
human decision
John Chau grew up listening to stories of survival and adventure. After he learned that the territory of the Sentinelese, a small tribe in the Andaman Islands, was off-limits to outside visitors, the young Christian fundamentalist brought Christianity to this remote tribe, completing the adventure he believed God had for him. Amanda McBain and Jesse Moss’ film “The Mission” (November 3, 2023, 8:30 p.m.) tells the story of Zhou’s mission. Fairbanks praised the two Bay Area filmmakers for creating a film that centers on a subject that many Bay Area viewers may disagree with. McBain and Moss introduce related themes of cultural erasure and the unintended consequences of missionary work. Fairbanks points out that the individual missionaries seen in “The Mission” may have good or honorable intentions behind what they do. But the results turned out to be much more serious than they imagined.
For documentaries, troubled family relationships have always been gray. In Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters” (November 4, 2023 at 3:00 pm and November 6-7, 2023 online), the relationship between the titular subject and his extremely strict mother is explored Relationship. This Tunisian family retrospective lets the now-young siblings reflect on their own experiences growing up, with the actresses reliving some of their most difficult memories. Fairbanks has high praise for the film’s ability to use its very personal story as a medium to convey some universal truths about being a woman in a patriarchal society. Co-winner of the Cannes Golden Eye Award for Best Documentary.
artist
Matthew Heineman’s critically acclaimed new documentary “American Symphony” (November 2, 2023 at 6:30 pm and 9:00 pm) has the honor of being Doc Stories’ opening night film. This is a biographical portrait of Oscar-winning musician Jon Batiste, who is composing a new symphony for its Carnegie Hall premiere. This new work aims to deconstruct the American musical canon while returning to the creativity of sounds and artists previously omitted from the creation of that canon. But just as Batiste’s symphony finally began to play, his partner, writer and musician Suleika Jaouad, learned that her leukemia had returned and that she would need treatment. Despite these challenges, Baptiste and Javad continue to create and share reflective moments together.
Watching Joanna Rudnick’s “Story & Pictures By” (November 5, 2023 at 10:00 a.m., online November 6-7, 2023) will demonstrate the transformative power of children’s picture books. It covers the history of the genre and delves into the genre’s current golden age, which features greater diversity and broader representation in stories and protagonists. By meeting with writers/artists Christian Robinson, Yoy Morales, and Mike Barnett, viewers can see how they educate young readers about topics like immigration, LGBTQ rights, and class…and even help readers dream of the limitless future.
The Closing Night Film Award goes to Wim Wenders for his brilliant biopic Anselm (November 5, 2023, 7:30 pm). The title subject is artist Anselm Kiefer, known as Germany’s greatest living contemporary artist. Wenders is one of Germany’s greatest current film directors. The portrait captures the artist’s quiet and contemplative personality, as well as the themes of his life’s struggle with Germany’s legacy of World War II. The director used 3D technology to bring Kiefer’s art to life. Fairbanks describes the experience of viewing Wenders’ work as most of us would have had the pleasure of spending time with Kiefer in his studio.
Short films and the legacy of the atomic bomb
This year’s popular “Shorts Block: New York Times Op Docs” (November 3, 2023 at 6:00 p.m., online November 6-7, 2023) returns with The New York Times’ acclaimed series 5 short films featured in Short Films are documentaries made by independent filmmakers. The program includes such shorts as “Freshwater” (how climate change is affecting Detroit neighborhoods) and “Islands in the Middle” (an island between Taiwan and China that bears witness to the political conflict between powerful states and wannabe nation-states).
The second short film program “Shorts Block: Ideology and Identity” (November 5, 2023 at 1:30 pm, online November 6-7, 2023) consists of essays on the personal and/or national level A composition of five perspectives on the gap between personality and politics. These include shorts like “Under G_d” (overturning Roe v. Wade challenged by Jewish community and interfaith leaders) and “Black Girls Play: The Story of Mobile Games” (how black people play rhythmic mobile games). Girls has a wider cultural impact beyond pop music).
What happens when the consequences of building a nuclear bomb become part of the fabric of a town? That’s the question facing residents of “Richland” (November 3, 2023, 3:00 p.m., online November 6-7, 2023) “Richland” Photo by Irene Lusztig A documentary chronicling life in two small towns in southeastern Washington state. Neither town is ordinary, as many residents work at the Hanford Nuclear Power Plant, producing weapons-grade plutonium. But as the nuclear power plant is decommissioned and environmental cleanup continues, how will the lives of local residents change? From an elderly couple who can’t fish the local waters to high school discussions about changing the school’s mushroom cloud mascot, the film takes a poignant look at the cultural legacy of the nuclear age.
(All screenings except the November 3rd screening are at the Vogue Theater (3290 Sacramento Street). All screenings on November 3rd are at the Premier Theater (1 Letterman Dr. #B, SF). As of this writing , “Anselm” 6:30 PM screening of “American Symphony” now playing at Rush.
For more information about these films and to order advance tickets, visit https://sffilm.org/year-round-programming/doc-stories/ ).
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