Has it really been 25 years since the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (hereafter “SF DocFest”) started up in the City? What SF DocFest has helped cumulatively offer over its more than two decades of programming is a transformation of audiences’ perceptions of what could be done with the documentary genre. Instead of thinking of watching documentaries as the celluloid equivalent of eating a trunkful of kale, lucky SF DocFest viewers have seen films that reward their curiosity about the world around them in intriguing and entertaining ways.
This year’s edition of SF DocFest runs from May 27 - June 7, 2026 at the Roxie Theater, the Vogue Theatre, and Artists Television Access. In addition, the online edition of the festival once again expands the viewer base beyond those who can make it to an in-person screening in the City.
Opening Night kicks things off with two rock-and-roll-themed films. First up is Mischa Richter’s “Summer Tour (6:00 PM on May 28, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online).” Curious about the Deadhead vagabond culture? Track the journey of Jerry and Annie, two Deadheads following Dead And Co. on its final tour across the U.S. What the viewer will see in the couple’s travels is the balance of kindness, care, and resourcefulness that makes the Deadheads a wandering commune.
The other Opening Night film is James Buddy Day’s “40 Years Of Fuckin’ Up (8:15 PM on May 28, 2026 at the Roxie Theater).” How did a group of untalented, drug-addled teenage punks become the beloved punk band NOFX? Find out in this account of their haphazard rise, which includes footage of a dungeon whipping and a naked ambulance ride full of bandmembers puking and crapping blood. Join NOFX on Thursday, May 28th as part of the opening night of the 25th Annual SF DocFest. Details here.
Maya Avidov’s “Too Disgusting To Be Confused (Online)” recounts the story of The Alternative Miss World competition, an unorthodox melding of the Miss World beauty pageant with the Crufts Dog Show. The event became so popular that a film recording the 1978 event was made. Unfortunately, the highly unamused Miss World people sued to stop the film’s London theatrical premiere.
Tweaking social mores could be called the credo of the subjects of Betsy Newman’s “Anarchy In High Heels: The Story Of Les Nickelettes (8:15 PM on June 4, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online).” The film recounts the 1970s San Francisco underground women’s collective theatrical troupe whose performances delivered both entertainment and inspiration to resist societal sexism. Maybe Les Nickelettes’ motto might be “If we can’t laugh with the revolution, we don’t want to be a part of it (pace Emma Goldman).”
Alaa Ali Abdallah’s “Palestine Comedy Club (8:15 PM on June 2, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online) follows half a dozen Palestinian comedians as they go on a road trip through the Occupied Territories trying to make each other and audiences laugh. It’s not easy, given constant Israeli scrutiny, checkpoint harassment, and family expectations.
Broke-ass viewers will want to check out Colin Hanks’ award-winning “John Candy: I Like Me (6:00 PM on June 3, 2026 at the Roxie Theater)” as it’s a free screening. The film is a tribute to the beloved late movie comedian and TV actor whose success was shadowed by fatphobia and anxiety disorder. It’s part of the SF DocFest 25 celebration.
Another part of this celebration is the “2001 Flashback” sidebar. This series brings together some of the films that were shown at the very first SF DocFest in 2001. The titles are: Ellen Spiro’s “Atomic Ed And The Black Hole” (former nuclear scientist Atomic Ed collects non-radioactive high tech discards from Los Alamos for his nuclear age museum The Black Hole), Jessica Villines’ “Plaster Caster” (Can rock supergroupie Cynthia Plaster Caster turn her collection of statuettes of male rock stars’ private parts into a paying career), and Melissa Edmon (Shachat)’s “Gibtown” (portrait of a Florida town that circus and carnival workers use as either off-season shelter or retirement home). These screenings take place starting at 6:00 PM on May 27, 2026 at Artists Television Access, and admission is only $7.50.
The final piece of the SF DocFest 25 celebration is the 25th anniversary screening of Thomas Riedelsheimer.s classic “Rivers And Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working With Time (a portrait of environmental sculptor Andy Goldsworthy).” The screening takes place at 3:30 PM on May 31, 2026 at the Roxie Theater.
Carrying on SF DocFest’s wonderful penchant for bringing strange and amazing documentaries you didn’t know you needed is Mark Becker and Aaron Schock’s “Amazing Live Sea Monkeys (6:30 PM on May 31, 2026 at the Vogue Theater and online).” If you read comic books during the 1960s and 1970s, you probably saw ads for the Amazing Live Sea Monkeys. But did you wonder whatever happened to them? This film answers that question with a David and Goliath fight with a large toy company, the dark legacy of this aquatic novelty, and the real secret Sea-Monkeys formula.
You may have heard of New Orleans, but have you heard of The Battures? Alexandra Kero’s short “Some Kind Of Refuge (Online)” takes viewers to this unusual Big Easy area. The members of this community along the banks of the Mississippi River depend on resourcefulness and a deep respect for nature, as seen in the area’s hand-crafted and water-resilient homes. Providing a focus for the film are The Battures’ oldest residents and neighbors, historian Macon and master carpenter Jules.
Sarah Emily Shourd and Bobby Field’s “The End Of Isolation (2:15 PM on May 31, 2026 at the Vogue Theater and Online)” follows a multi-state tour of an activist theater group. The play they perform concerns the abusive use of solitary confinement. It’s not a coincidence that the states where the group performs have harshly punished people for overdrawing $100 in welfare or refusing to pick cotton.
Seen the videos of the police killings of George Floyd and Philando Castile? The Centerpiece Film, Jennifer Holness and Sidney Fussell’s “#WhileBlack (6 PM on May 31, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online),” shows how and why Darnella Frazier and Diamond Reynolds made these viral videos. Neither of them expected to go into hiding to escape everybody from online trolls to cops who wanted to “observe” them. Meanwhile, platforms like YouTube and Facebook reaped the financial benefits of hosting those videos.
The ICE Gestapo agents captured in Emma V.F.’s infuriating short “Water Cooler (online)” may not be immediately killing the people they arrest. But hearing the casual conversations of these masked goons makes clear they’re not losing any sleep over ruining the lives of undocumented immigrants jumping through the court hoops towards U.S. citizenship.
Trina Bardusco’s short “A Way To Be Together (8:30 PM on May 30, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online)” delivers a portrait of a New Jersey community’s Mexican immigrant festival that turns joy into a radical act of hope.
Charles Villa and Suhail Nassar’s “From Gaza With Love (Online)” turns IDF dickishness into creative fuel. Villa and Nassar were trying to make a film together inside Gaza, but one of them was locked out of the Occupied Territory by the IDF. What their project turned into instead is a portrait of a people trying to live while under threat of constant attack. Can a sense of normality be retained when an IDF military drone circling overhead can launch sudden death?
Giovanni Traila’s “Life Beyond The Pine Curtain - America The Invisible (6:45 PM on May 31, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online)” takes viewers to the forests and marshes of East Texas. Here, people live on the margins in ways unfamiliar to either urban dwellers or those who get their information from mainstream media portraits. Guided by the words of Joe R. Lansdale (creator of the Hap and Leonard novel series), viewers will see this misunderstood portion of America getting a much-deserved dignified treatment.
Jacob Hatley and Tom Vickers’ “Clovers (6:00 PM on June 3, 2026 and Online)” takes viewers to the titular street-legal strip mall “skill arcade” (cough, cough) located in Asheboro, North Carolina aka the fastest-dying city in America. The film follows several people connected to the arcade, including a former prison guard/wannabe actress and a stoner/heavy drinker who steals the film. One of the other subjects, though, is a very vocal supporter of the Orange Baboon.
What if you were the parent of a transgender child and you live in a state where gender-affirming care was just banned? For the three families who are the subjects of Gianni Toboni’s wrenching “Just Kids (6:00 PM on May 30, 2026 and Online),” the choices come down to risking their child’s health and safety by staying…or uprooting their entire lives. These families show extraordinary strength in the face of vicious politically-motivated bans.
Kim Anno’s “Quba! (6:00 PM on May 29, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online)” offers a mosaic portrait of ordinary Cubans facing the lead up to a crucial national vote on the country’s Family Code. If the measure passes, same-sex marriage, adoption, and surrogacy will be legalized.
When does a 30-second walk become emotionally exhausting? When the walk is done through a hostile mob of anti-abortion protesters. Erin Persley’s “Human Shield (7:45 PM on June 1, 2026 at the Vogue Theater and Online)” is an intimate portrait of three abortion clinic escort leaders who do all they can to protect the safety of vulnerable patients seeking abortions.
Sinead O’Shea’s “All About The Money (6:00 PM on June 2, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online)” follows the efforts of a scion of extreme wealth to create an alternative to living in a world ruled by money. He despises living in a world built on someone else’s ruin, but will establishing a Communist revolutionary base in rural Massachusetts be the solution he needs?
If you’ve been to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury for any significant period of time, odds are you might have seen Frank “Dago” Barron. This Haight-Ashbury mainstay has been living on the City’s streets since the 1970s. Casey Ruiz O’Reilly’s “Halo, Good Moraling (4:30 PM on May 30, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online) follows Barron over 2 years as he speaks up for maintaining morality during hard times.
“Lost Landscapes Of San Francisco 20 With Rick Prelinger (8:15 PM on May 29, 2026 at the Roxie Theater)” relies on 128 years’ worth of moving images to celebrate this strange and wonderful city. This year’s edition draws from about 300 newly-unearthed archival films to show such things as transportation (in the air, on the water, and on land), lost and found infrastructure, and countercultures and counter-demonstrators.
A decidedly different form of cultural access takes place in Vanessa Joo Dumont and Nicolas Davenel’s “The Way We Move (6:00 PM on June 1, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online).” It’s a portrait of ASL interpreter Amber Galloway Gallego, who’s made it her mission to bring music to the Deaf community. As the viewer sees Gallego training a new generation of ASL interpreters for a major live music festival, the film shows the life and emotional truth of this amazing translator of rhythm and emotion into ASL.
The Last Yztari
Jesus Cruz’ documentary “Soul Searchin’ (8:30 PM on May 30, 2026 at the Roxie Theatre and Online)” follows a group of rare soul record collectors as they hunt down forgotten recordings by Black and Chicano soul musicians and share their findings with the world. (With pre-screening reception at Discodelic Records and a post-screening party at The Homestead.)
The Sunset Marquis is West Hollywood’s version of San Francisco’s The Phoenix Hotel. In other words, it was a hotel frequented by rock stars in the process of either passing out or making history. Cyndi Lauper, Morrissey, and Ringo Starr have been among the Marquis’ patrons. Craig A. Williams and Tyler Meason’s “If These Walls Could Rock (9:00 PM on May 31, 2026 at the Roxie Theater and Online)” recounts the debauchery and the magic that made the Marquis what it is.
You might not know Dezo Hoffmann’s name, but you’ve probably seen at least a few of his famed photographs of The Beatles. Now this nearly forgotten photographer gets his due in Laura Sivakova-Passoa and Patrik Lancaric’s “Dezo Hoffmann - Photographer Of The Beatles (Online).” His camera snapped both scenes of war and other iconic celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, The Rolling Stones, and Frank Sinatra.
In Tim Odonnell and Sam Oldmeadow’s “The Last Yztari (Online),” subject Mary Dague may have lost her arms to an Iraqi IED, but she definitely didn’t lose her humanity. However, telling her story proved impossible because she lacked the words for it. So she decides to create an artificial science fictional universe using AI to visualize her inner traumas into oddly beautiful images.
The Closing Night film comes from veteran personal documentary film maker Ross McElwee. In “Remake (6:00 PM on June 4, 2026 at the Roxie),” the death of his son Adrian causes McElwee to have a possible come-to-Jesus moment regarding his art and his relationship to his late son. The filmmaker also faces a possible “Song Sung Blue” situation when there’s an attempt to make a fictionalized version of his famed documentary “Sherman’s March.”
