SFFILM’s 10th Doc Stories Lineup: ‘No Other Land, ‘One to One: John & Yoko’ and More

Today, SFFILM announced the full lineup for Doc Stories celebrating its 10th anniversary of bringing the year’s most compelling nonfiction films and filmmakers to the Bay Area, opening with One to One: John & Yoko from Kevin Macdonald and co-director Sam Rice-Edwards which chronicles John and Yoko’s musical, personal, artistic, social, and political world set against the backdrop of a turbulent era in American history, and deeply explores the state of pop culture during their first 18 months living in the US in the early 1970s.

The four-day program takes place October 17–20 and includes 10 features, two shorts blocks, two filmmaking and industry talks, and a documentary filmmaking workshop for teens.

The Doc Stories weekend will start with a welcome back for director Amy Berg with a free, retrospective screening of Janis: Little Girl Blue. The film was part of the inaugural Doc Stories program in 2015.

Closing Night is Suburban Fury from Robinson Devor who received an SFFILM Rainin Grant in 2012 in support of the early development of this project. It tells the story of Sara Jane Moore, who attempted to shoot President Gerald Ford on a crowded sidewalk in San Francisco’s Union Square in September of 1975. Moore holds the center of this nonfiction drama which Devor has created with the feel of a 1970s thriller.

SFFILM will welcome new and returning filmmakers to Doc Stories including Kevin Macdonald, Robinson Devor, Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra, Elizabeth Lo, Ben Proudfoot, Brett Story andStephen Maing, Amy Berg, and Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, and Jon Shenk and many more. Doc Stories Talks will feature onstage conversations with film industry veterans including Laura Kim, Carrie Lozano, Justine Nagan, and Keri Putnam. SFFILM is also proud to announce that over 40 Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) will be the co-hosts of the Doc Stories Brunch sponsored by Netflix, and will be joined by Deadline journalist Matt Carey and filmmaker John Ridley who will be on the ground to record a future episode of their podcast, Doc Talk: A Deadline and Nō Studios Podcast.

SFFILM’s Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks is thrilled to celebrate the 10 year milestone with a program that features established and emerging filmmakers debuting their latest work to the discerning, documentary-loving audiences of the Bay Area. “Documentaries offer a critical lens through which audiences can contemplate challenging world issues and core ideological beliefs. Now more than ever we rely on this genre of filmmaking to help lead public discourse,” she said. “Doc Stories is such a special program because there is time to digest and discuss each film. This festival fosters storytelling, networking, and community, as we collectively reflect and interrogate the art form and its impact.” 

Other feature-length titles include Architecton from Victor Kossakovsky; Ernest Cole: Lost and Found from Raoul Peck; Mistress Dispeller from Elizabeth Lo; No Other Land from Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor; The Remarkable Life of Ibelin from Benjamin Ree; Union from Brett Story andStephen Maing; and The White House Effect from Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, and Jon Shenk.

Doc Stories shorts blocks include the 10 year anniversary collaboration with New York Times Op-Docs as well as curated selections called Shorts Block: The Persistence of Dreams.

“Year over year, Doc Stories has established a growing reputation that brings together not only our substantive and curious audiences, but also the film industry at large,” said Anne Lai, Executive Director of SFFILM. “We have been proud to ignite other SFFILM’s programs during Doc Stories beyond our public program, including private, free screenings for grade and high school students, and a deeper behind-the-scenes industry forum.”

In addition to the main program, SFFILM’s Doc Congress will be convened, connecting filmmakers, industry professionals, and film funders, and a full program of Schools at Doc Stories designed for students and teachers will run concurrently. Classes from across the Bay Area will attend weekday in-person and online matinees of curated Doc Stories film programs at no cost to students or educators. Filmmaker guests from around the world will also visit local classrooms in person and online to discuss their films with students. Finally, SFFILM’s College Days program will bring Doc Stories filmmakers to four Bay Area universities for in-class visits and discussion. 

SCHEDULE

Thursday, October 17—VOGUE THEATRE

4 pm PT – Janis: Little Girl Blue—Community Screening 

7 pm PT – OPENING NIGHT: One to One: John & Yoko

Friday, October 18—VOGUE THEATRE

3 pm PT – Doc Stories Talk: Building Solutions with Audience Demographics

5 pm PT – New York Times Op-Docs

7:30 pm PT – Mistress Dispeller

Saturday, October 19—VOGUE THEATRE

11 am PT – Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

1:30 pm PT – Union

4:15 pm PT – Doc Stories Talk: A Call to Action: Non-Fiction Leaders in Dialogue

6 pm PT – No Other Land

8:30 pm PT – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Saturday, October 19—SFFILM FilmHouse

1 pm PT – Workshop: Documentary Filmmaking & Activism for Teens

Sunday, October 20—VOGUE THEATRE

11 am – Architecton

1:30 pm PT – Shorts Block: The Persistence of Dreams

4:30 pm PT – The White House Effect

7:30 pm PT – CLOSING NIGHT: Suburban Fury

DOC STORIES PROGRAM

Architecton

Sun, Oct 20 at 11:00 AM at Vogue Theatre

Victor Kossakovsky (Germany/France/USA 2024, 98 min)

Victor Kossakovsky returns to SFFILM with a visually stunning meditation on stone and steel as he probes the incredible wreckage wrought upon the planet in our endless quest to build bigger and better. 

Ernest Cole: Lost and Found

Sat Oct 19 at 11:00 AM at Vogue Theatre

Raoul Peck (France 2024, 105 min)

Eight years after his magisterial portrait of James Baldwin I Am Not Your Negro, master documentarian Raoul Peck turns his considered focus to the life and career of South African photographer Ernest Cole, with a vocal performance from LaKeith Stanfield.

Janis: Little Girl Blue

Thu Oct 17 at 4:00 PM at Vogue Theatre

Amy Berg (USA 2015, 105 min)

This illuminating film explores the tumultuous development of Janis Joplin’s iconic and primal style returns for Doc Stories’ 10th Anniversary.

Janis: Little Girl Blue will be offered as a community screening, free and open to the public. Attendees must RSVP for tickets at sffilm.org

Mistress Dispeller

Fri Oct 18 at 7:30 PM at Vogue Theatre

Elizabeth Lo (China/USA 2024, 94 min)

Elizabeth Lo’s strikingly intimate portrait of a woman in China who hires a professional to infiltrate her husband and mistress’s private lives to bring an unassailable end to their affair.

New York Times Op-Docs

Fri Oct 18 at 5:00 PM at Vogue Theatre

Total Runtime 81 min

SFFILM’s celebrated collaboration with the New York Times continues into its tenth year, this time showcasing five films that provocatively explore the complex and precarious spaces that various women occupy in an ever-modernizing world.

No Other Land

Sat Oct 19 at 6:00 PM at Vogue Theatre

Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor (Palestine/Norway 2024, 95 min)

Made by a four-person collective of Israeli and Palestinian activists, this unflinching, prize-winning documentary depicts the harrowing conditions of a mountain village living under constant violence. 

No Other Land is presented in collaboration with SFFILM’s partners at the Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI) and the Jewish Film Institute (JFI). Directors Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra are expected to attend.

OPENING NIGHT: One to One: John & Yoko

Thu Oct 17 at 7:00 PM at Vogue Theatre

Kevin Macdonald (UK 2024, 100 min)

One to One is a cunningly crafted mixtape that flips through the private moments of Lennon and Ono’s life alongside seminal cultural moments in our nation’s history.

The Remarkable Life of Ibelin

Sat Oct 19 at 8:30 PM at Vogue Theatre

Benjamin Ree (Norway 2024, 104 min)

Director Benjamin Ree skillfully and compassionately recreates the experiences of the late Mats Steen in World of Warcraft, where he developed heartfelt friendships and profoundly impacted the lives of other gamers across Europe.

Shorts Block: The Persistence of Dreams

Sun Oct 20 at 1:30 PM at Vogue Theatre

Total Runtime 98 min

Harnessing the power of short-form non-fiction film, each character-driven story in this block is a cinematic demonstration of perseverance.

CLOSING NIGHT: Suburban Fury

Sun Oct 20 at 7:30 PM at Vogue Theatre

Robinson Devor (USA 2024, 115 min)

For this film, Sara Jane Moore, who attempted to shoot President Ford in Union Square, insists that she be the only one interviewed. The result is one of the most fascinating depictions of an unreliable narrator in the documentary field. 

Union

Sat Oct 19 at 1:30 PM at Vogue Theatre

Brett Story, Stephen Maing (USA 2024, 104 min)

Amazon is notorious for being anti-union. Some brave workers in various locations are taking organizing matters into their own hands however, and this rousing documentary takes a deep dive into the efforts of one such group in Staten Island.

The White House Effect

Sun Oct 20 at 4:30 PM at Vogue Theatre

Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, Jon Shenk (USA 2024, 97 min)

From Bay Area alumni filmmakers, this timely, tense documentary is a breathtaking excavation of squandered opportunities for significant environmental change that also illuminates a path forward for demystifying political obfuscation.

TALKS + WORKSHOPS

Doc Stories Talk: Building Solutions with Audience Demographics

Fri, Oct 18 at 3 PM at Vogue Theatre

Former Sundance Institute CEO Keri Putnam presents her research that uses quantitative data to examine alternative pathways for engaging audiences and ensure that non-fiction filmmaking continues to thrive.

Doc Stories Talk: A Call to Action: Non-Fiction Leaders in Dialogue

Sat, Oct 19 at 4:15 PM at Vogue Theatre

The golden era of documentaries is at an end and what comes next is one of the most fiercely debated topics in our industry. Join us as we welcome Laura Kim, Carrie Lozano, Justine Nagan, and Keri Putnam for a timely discussion on the state of affairs within non-fiction filmmaking. 

Documentary Filmmaking & Activism Workshop for Teens

Sat, Oct 19 at 1 PM at SFFILM FilmHouse

120 min

Join Jalena Keane-Lee, award-winning filmmaker and director of Standing Above the Clouds, for a social justice-focused documentary workshop for teens.

Tickets will go on sale for SFFILM members on Wednesday, September 25 at 10 am at sffilm.org. The online box office will open to the general public on Friday, September 27 at 10 am. Ticket prices for General Admission programs are $20, and $16 for SFFILM Members. Senior, student, and ADA are $19, and Children 14 and under are $11. See specific program listings for premium priced programs and events.

Ticket Packs are the most flexible way to see SFFILM events at a discount, and may be redeemed for any regular, non-rush screening or event priced up to $25. 6-Packs are $115 for General, and $95 for SFFILM Members. 10-Packs are $175 for General, and $145 for SFFILM Members.

An all access Cinevisa is the best way to support SFFILM, and it includes entry to the priority line at all film screenings and access to the Festival Lounge. Cinevisas are $500.

Doc Stories is made possible with leadership support from Katie Hall and Tom Knutsen. Corporate sponsorship is provided by Netflix, Amazon MGM Studios, Apple Original Films, ESPN Films: 30 for 30, Secret Sauce Media, The New York Times, and the Norwegian Consulate. With additional support from Lee Flynn, and Westridge Foundation. The media sponsors are Deadline, KQED, and 48 Hills. The Doc Stories Brunch is sponsored by Netflix. The SFFILM Doc Stories Lounge is sponsored by ESPN Films: 30 for 30.