Social & External
The people behind it
In memory of Brent Hinds 1974-2025
National Center for Lesbian Rights, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2009 Community Leadership Awards (the John R. May Award), for its pioneering spirit and unwavering commitment to advancing the civil and human rights of LGBT people. Its precedent-setting case victories have rewritten laws to change the legal landscape for all LGBT people and families across the nation. Through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education, NCLR advocates on behalf of LGBT people and their families nationwide. For 30 years, NCLR has been at the forefront of pursuing justice, fairness, and legal protections for all LGBT people.
Michael Franti, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2009 Community Leadership Awards (the Helen Crocker Russell Award) - artist, activist, founder of Spearhead, for embodying a social movement of justice and activism and being a voice for the vulnerable. By founding the music groups Spearhead and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, as well as the Power to the Peaceful festival, Michael built an underground movement to spread a message of social justice and advocated for underrepresented people. His recent film, I Know I'm Not Alone, highlights the human cost of war and empowers people to utilize their vote and recognize their collective power to impact American foreign policy.
Dr. Washington Burns is the executive director of the Prescott-Joseph Center for Community Enhancement, for working tirelessly to meet the needs and better the lives of West Oakland residents. A retired pathologist, Dr. Burns is at the heart of PJCCE's health and human services, education, literacy, arts, and cultural programs for residents of all ages. A trusted community organizer and partner, he inspires others to narrow disparities in health and social services access and to strengthen their own community. In the spirit of The San Francisco Foundation Award, made to an individual demonstrating exemplary commitment to improving human relations in the Bay Area.
The East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation has earned the John R. May Award for transforming neighborhoods and creating new economic opportunities for low-income communities. EBALDC's innovative projects weave together housing, economic development, and historic preservation, reaching deep into diverse communities. The John R. May Award honors organizational initiatives in response to a significant contemporary problem.
Eva Paterson, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2007 Community Leadership Awards (The San Francisco Foundation Award). Eva has empowered thousands of people to make their voices heard in the critical civil rights struggles of our times. Eva's passionate and longtime commitment to advancing social and racial justice through law and public policy, communications and the arts, and alliance building has had a profound local and national impact. Her vision, coalition building, and tenacity have not only won landmark cases, but have raised the visibility and impact of the justice movement to change the very fabric of our society.
Asian Women's Shelter, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2008 Community Leadership Awards (the John R. May Award) - a cornerstone in the Asian Pacific Islander and anti-domestic violence communities, for its dedication to assisting Asian women and children escape family violence and rebuild their lives.
Short subject on how fashion is created-- not by the great couturiers, but on the street.
Avelino Chillarón was 12 or 13 years old when he realized that his surnames and those of his cousins didn't match, so he decided to ask his uncle. This is how he learned that, although his father and aunt were siblings, they didn't have the same father, so he and his cousins didn't share the same grandfather. In this way, Avelino realized that there was a part of his family he didn't know. The protagonist of this story feels partially mutilated from a part of his family history, a part that was taken away from him by a regime that established, over the years, a long period of widespread social amnesia about a series of corpses and missing persons throughout the spanish geography.
Thanks to DNA, this documentary establishes the identity of Marilyn's biological father, thus revealing her new paternal family, 60 years after the icon's death.
A secret museum in an art hotel sparks intrigue when it's revealed to be a creation of controversial artist, Banksy. Using art as a form of political resistance, the hotel highlights the reality of life under Israeli military occupation. The film journeys through the hotel, Palestine, and a relevant past to dismantle the mainstream media's bias towards the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality.
This documentary serves as a beginner’s guide to world of Soviet animation, which covers the entire history of the USSR.
A program that explores the strange but true medical mysteries housed in this one-of-a-kind museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
A documentary portrait about the life and times of the infamous hellraiser, who died in May 1999, having starred in more than 100 films.
Explains through animation the process of photosynthesis, and discusses its importance to our daily lives.
A documentary film exploring the exceptional musical art of Kurdish jurist and musical master Ostad Elahi.
A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.
Egyptian archaeologists dig into history, discovering tombs and artifacts over 4,000 years old as they search for a buried pyramid in this documentary.
A journalist and a photographer set out to memorialize the bedrooms left behind by children killed in school shootings.
Unprecedented access to Muhammad Ali's personal archive of "audio journals" as well as interviews and testimonials from his inner circle of family and friends are used to tell the legend's life story.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
An on-the-scene documentary following the events of September 11, 2001 from an insider's view, through the lens of two French filmmakers who simply set out to make a movie about a rookie NYC fireman and ended up filming the tragic event that changed our lives forever.
In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the effort “Project Possible 14/7” and saw it as a way to inspire others to strive for greater heights in any pursuit. The film follows his team as they seek to defy naysayers and push the limits of human endurance.
Five broken cameras – and each one has a powerful tale to tell. Embedded in the bullet-ridden remains of digital technology is the story of Emad Burnat, a farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil’in, which famously chose nonviolent resistance when the Israeli army encroached upon its land to make room for Jewish colonists. Emad buys his first camera in 2005 to document the birth of his fourth son, Gibreel. Over the course of the film, he becomes the peaceful archivist of an escalating struggle as olive trees are bulldozed, lives are lost, and a wall is built to segregate burgeoning Israeli settlements.
Join the likes of Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Florence Pugh, and Vincent D’Onofrio as they reveal how Marvel Studios’ “Hawkeye” was conceived and created. Witness firsthand what it took to pull off the show’s pulse-pounding action set pieces, and discover how iconic characters from the pages of Marvel Comics such as Kate Bishop were adapted and brought to life for the six-episode series.
Stars of "The Walking Dead," Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira, walk down memory lane and visit iconic locations where pivotal moments between their characters, Rick and Michonne, were filmed.
With unprecedented access to the official archives and intimate recollections from the band, both current and past, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition invites fans to experience one of the most iconic journeys in music history. Spanning five decades, this electrifying documentary charts the band’s rise from the pubs of East London to the world’s biggest stadiums. Featuring exclusive interviews with band members and contributors such as Javier Bardem, Lars Ulrich and Chuck D, as well as all-new animated sequences of the band's legendary mascot, Eddie, the film offers a rare and intimate look at Iron Maiden’s uncompromising vision and unwavering connection with their truly global army of fans.
Described as being a film about determination, danger and the ocean’s greatest depths, James Cameron's "Deepsea Challenge 3D" tells the story of Cameron’s journey to fulfill his boyhood dream of becoming an explorer. The movie offers a unique insight into Cameron's world as he makes that dream reality – and makes history – by becoming the first person to travel solo to the deepest point on the planet.
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
During the last forty years, the photographer Sebastião Salgado has been travelling through the continents, in the footsteps of an ever-changing humanity. He has witnessed the major events of our recent history: international conflicts, starvations and exodus… He is now embarking on the discovery of pristine territories, of the wild fauna and flora, of grandiose landscapes: a huge photographic project which is a tribute to the planet's beauty. Salgado's life and work are revealed to us by his son, Juliano, who went with him during his last journeys, and by Wim Wenders, a photographer himself.
An epic story of adventure, starring some of the most magnificent and courageous creatures alive, awaits you in EARTH. Disneynature brings you a remarkable story of three animal families on a journey across our planet – polar bears, elephants and humpback whales.
Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.
This special explores the return of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to the screen, as well as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen to their classic roles. Director Deborah Chow leads the cast and crew as they create new heroes and villains that live alongside new incarnations of beloved Star Wars characters, and an epic story that dramatically bridges the saga films.
African Cats captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the savanna. The story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a once banished lion.
Experience the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of President Bush and his closest advisors as they personally detail the crucial hours and key decisions from that historic day.
This documentary revisits the French football team's controversial 2010 World Cup and the bus strike that sparked global headlines and national outrage.
