Current Projects
Recovering Irma
Sandra Salas
Sandra Salas
Recovering Irma crystallizes in the aftermath of a domestic violence homicide as Sandra and her nephew Lorenzo embark upon a road trip from San Francisco to her parent’s hometown of El Paso, asking the question “How do we stop the cycle?” As the trip unfolds, Lorenzo quickly discovers that this journey is a chance to see what he could become if he doesn’t change. Their hope lies in the willingness to face their parent's legacy and journey back to where it all began, for a chance to be set free.
Redemption
Amir Soltani, Chihiro Wimbush
Amir Soltani, Chihiro Wimbush
Redemption is the story of Oakland's bottom 1%. Shot in Dogtown, West Oakland, four homeless recyclers--a fallen priest, former gang leader, widow and punk rocker--survive off trash. Their shopping cart routes draw us into an abandoned wasteland decimated by decades of structural poverty and urban renewal, a cocktail of poverty, prejudice, policy. Condemned by any and all measures--illiteracy, unemployment, homelessness, disease, violence and addiction--to expire, the four recyclers defy all odds. But for how much longer? With tensions between residents, recyclers, industry and the city mounting, can Alliance Metals, the recycling center that serves as their lifeline, survive the legal, racial, economic and political waves battering the American dream?
Reno and the Romance of Divorce
John Cork, Lisa van Eyssen
John Cork, Lisa van Eyssen
At the turn of the 20th century, American wives were still considered little more than the property of their husbands. Reno & the Romance of Divorce reveals the untold story of how a band of State Legislators, lawyers and a few savvy ranch and hotel owners re-shaped our understanding of marriage and gave American women the power to define their lives more than ever before.
Resurrecting Love: The Cemetery That Can Heal A Nation
Ben Galland, China Galland
Ben Galland, China Galland
Resurrecting Love: The Cemetery That Can Heal A Nation is a feature-length documentary set in East Texas where the illegal lockout of African-American descendants from their 175-year old family burial ground echoes the attitudes of the slave-holding culture that once thrived there. The hard-won friendship of two women, one African-American and one white, fights for memory against oblivion. Will the cemetery and the buried history it holds be overgrown and forgotten or will these two women and the community behind them prevail?
Revolutionary Sex
Robert James
Robert James
Revolutionary Sex is the unlikely story of how one unorthodox Methodist minister, along with the graduates from his sex institute in San Francisco, popped America’s cherry fifty years ago and continue to challenge what we think we know about sex today. The film delves deeply into the profound diversity of San Francisco and exposes the history of the unknown pioneers who helped kick-start the Sexual Revolution and show us where we’re headed in the future.
Richard Cohen Films
Richard Cohen
Richard Cohen
Produces and distributes documentaries about human dignity and pursuit of justice: Going to School/Ir a la Escuela, a highly recommended documentary on diversity and inclusion of students with disabilities in public schools; Taylor’s Campaign, the celebrated documentary on homelessness and poverty; Hurry Tomorrow, classic verité depicting involuntary psychiatric treatment; Deadly Force, a gripping investigation of police accountability in Los Angeles. Presently in preproduction: an autobiographical film exploring the integration of children with disabilities into schools.
A Ride With Matt
Robert Rippberger
Robert Rippberger
A Ride with Matt is a joint feature documentary film as well as a charity fundraising effort to raise money for the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. The film follows a young man with Huntington’s Disease taking a cycling trip with his uncle across the East and West coasts of the country. It's about the father he never knew and his struggle with the disease.
Robert Bly: A Thousand Years of Joy
Haydn Reiss
Haydn Reiss
A Thousand Years of Joy reveals how poet, translator, activist and gadfly Robert Bly has influenced America's cultural landscape over the last fifty years. A farmer's son, a graduate of Harvard, a Navy veteran, an outspoken critic of the Vietnam war, Bly was among the first to translate Pablo Neruda, Rainer Maria Rilke, Rumi and introduce them to an American audience. Working with Joseph Campbell, and Bly's bestseller Iron John, provided a renewal into the study of mythology and ritual. Now in his 85th year, Robert Bly has done the hard spadework to lift morale in unsettling times. A film for all lovers of poetry, ideas and imagination.
Robot, Ninja & Gay Guy
Travis Richey
Travis Richey
A recently dumped gay guy struggles to live in harmony with his two unusual roommates: a robot curious about the human world, and a gentle ninja with a mysterious past. Three unlikely roommates – a robot, a ninja and a gay guy – take life's ups and downs together, along the way finding friendship, companionship, and just maybe, themselves.
Romeo is Bleeding
Donte Clark's transcendent poetry harnesses its power from his experiences growing up amidst the turf war in Richmond, CA. Now Donte is using his art to create a dialogue about peace within the city, yet the higher his profile grows, the more dangerous his home becomes. Romeo Is Bleeding chronicles the history of Richmond¹s gang culture as well as Donte¹s journey to create a more peaceful Richmond.
Room to Breathe
Russell Long
Russell Long
Room to Breathe is a surprising story of transformation as troubled kids in a San Francisco public middle school are introduced to the practice of mindfulness meditation. Topping the district in disciplinary suspensions, overwhelmed administrators are left with stark choices. Do they repeat the cycle of forcing tuned-out children to listen, or experiment with a set of age-old meditation practices that may provide them with the social and emotional skills that they need to succeed?
Roots and Webs
Sara Dosa
Sara Dosa
Each fall, hundreds of Cambodian and Laotian refugees, American Vietnam Vets and off-the-grid pioneers descend on the Oregon wilderness in search of the elusive yet lucrative matsutake mushroom –a rare fungus prized in Japanese cuisine. During one season, we follow three matsutake harvesters who hunt for far more than just mushrooms. Here, in the woods, histories collide, celebrations erupt and unforeseen connections are discovered spanning decades, wars and continents.
Rough Cuts
Rough Cuts is a series of work-in-progress documentary screenings that are produced at a variety of locations throughout San Francisco. For each evening, we screen one rough cut of a feature-length documentary and then moderate a conversation about the film.
Since June of 2008, we have presented over 15 films, many of which have screened at prominent festivals (Sundance, SFIFF,IDFA) and secured television distribution, including on PBS and OWN, among other stations in the U.S. and Europe.
Since June of 2008, we have presented over 15 films, many of which have screened at prominent festivals (Sundance, SFIFF,IDFA) and secured television distribution, including on PBS and OWN, among other stations in the U.S. and Europe.
The Royal Road
Jenni Olson
Jenni Olson
A tremendous cinematic pretext for 70 solid minutes of 16mm urban landscape cinematography, The Royal Road blends the fictional first-person tale of a starstruck butch lesbian with a fascinating series of nonfiction tangents about the Spanish colonial history, politics and geography of the Golden State, via an exploration of California’s El Camino Real, the original trail connecting the territory’s missions, presidios and pueblos during the era of Spanish-Mexican rule.
Running for Jim
Robin Hauser Reynolds
Robin Hauser Reynolds
Running for Jim recounts the story of award-winning high school cross-country coach, Jim Tracy, his courageous battle with Lou Gehrig's disease and the extraordinary performance by his team at the state championship that brought Tracy's story to the attention of the world.