Documentary Short Movies

Things fall apart, but they are also reassembled and given new life, in an enlightened form. Meet the New York based artist and filmmaker Bill Morrison in this interview about his haunting experimental collage films 'Decasia' and 'Light is Calling'.

This short follows a day of work for an Everglades wildlife trapper catching animals for zoos around America. In this film, his assignment is to go out into the swamp with his Indian assistant and find a bobcat, two black bear cubs and six rattlesnakes.

Evanston, a suburb just north of Chicago, touts its progressivism and inclusion. It was the first city in the U.S. to offer reparations for Black residents and every street corner boasts Black Lives Matter signs, but Evanston’s Black residents have a different story to tell. If you travel to the...

Brooke Carten has been rock climbing for long enough that it's hard to imagine who she'd be without it. How has climbing shaped the person she's become?

Ron Padgett (1942- ) is a poet and editor whose artistic career took off during his teenaged years in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There, along with Joe Brainard and Dick Gallup, he produced The White Dove Review, an art and culture magazine. Both Padgett and Brainard serendipitously moved together to New York...

Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr, recipients of the first Curry Stone Design Prize Vision Award, have been committed to social impact design since co-founding their nonprofit, Architecture for Humanity, in 1999. Concerned by reports of a growing refugee crisis in Kosovo, they took action by creating...

Hunnarshala, founded in the wake of the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat, India, facilitates community-driven, artisan-led reconstruction in post-disaster areas, as well as long-term redevelopment of cities and informal settlements. Hunnarshala takes the long view on rehabilitation by training artisans...

"As a right, people should have access to affordable housing and jobs that allow them to support their families with dignity" - Luis Granados

"Some people are political just because of who you are." - Linda Tillery.

Malcolm Margolin , Writer, Publisher, and Founder of Heyday Books, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2008 Community Leadership Awards (the Helen Crocker Russell Award) - for promoting California's diverse cultures for more than 30 years, and for bringing voice, visibility, and value to...

Jane Garcia, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2007 Community Leadership Awards (the Robert C. Kirkwood Award). Jane's visionary advocacy reflects the cultures and languages of patients and has advanced the national, state, and regional public health agenda. Under Jane's dynamic leadership, La...

Arnold Perkins, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2007 Community Leadership Awards (the San Francisco Foundation Award). Arnolds broad experiences reflect his passion to build and strengthen community spirit. Through his lifelong commitment to the Bay Area, Arnold has mentored hundreds of...

Joe Brainard (1941-1994) was an artist particularly noted for his work in collage and comics. Brainard’s artistic career took off during his teenaged years in Tulsa, Oklahoma where, along with Ron Padgett and Dick Gallup, he produced The White Dove Review, an art and culture magazine. Both...

IF STREETS COULD TALK by Samantha Abernathey - A young filmmaker takes three generations of relatives back to their former neighborhoods in San Francisco. She asks: how does where you live(d) shape who you are?

On the way to creating a new future, the New Jewish Filmmaking Project is rediscovering the past. 11 young storytellers, ages 15-25, collaborated with Citizen Film’s team of documentary professionals to create a multimedia exhibit that offers a set of signposts for what Jewish identity has been...

Diane di Prima (1934-2020) was a poet, writer, publisher and playwright whose work has been associated with the Beat movement. Born and raised in New York City, she associated with poets such as Amiri Baraka, Jack Kerouac and Frank O’Hara, co-editing The Floating Bear magazine with Baraka in the...

Diane di Prima (1934-2020) was a poet, writer, publisher and playwright whose work has been associated with the Beat movement. Born and raised in New York City, she associated with poets such as Amiri Baraka, Jack Kerouac and Frank O’Hara, co-editing The Floating Bear magazine with Baraka in the...

Low-level narcotics offenders too often cycle in and out of jail, re-offending soon after they hit the streets. District Attorney Kamala D. Harris has convened City leaders to answer this problem and, along with key partners, has launched Back on Track, an innovative education and employment...