Druid Heights is a short documentary film by Marcy Mendelson about a wild & wooly place. California’s hidden bohemia. Where sex, drugs and philosophy thrived among the eucalyptus just a few miles north of the Golden Gate.
Social & External
Brenda Way, founder and artistic director of ODC, is a recipient of the San Francisco Foundation Community Awards "for creating a community hub through dance. She built the largest, most comprehensive contemporary dance center in the nation, and through it she inspires dancers and audiences, cultivates artists, and engages the community. Brenda is a choreographer, writer, and community activist who strengthens our region's cultural connections." - San Francisco Foundation
The San Francisco Foundation Community Leadership Awards presents Ravenswood Family Health Center with the John R. May Award for providing high quality, cost-effective healthcare to southeast San Mateo County, and for advocating for the need to address health disparities and inequities. Through its innovative health education programs and Health Navigators outreach, Ravenswood serves as a model for tackling complex community health issues locally and nationally.
The San Francisco Foundation Community Leadership Awards presents Bishop Yvette A. Flunder, founder and director of Ark of Refuge, with the Robert C. Kirkwood Award for courageously addressing the issues of HIV/AIDS prevention, response, and care within the African American faith community. As a pastor, scholar, teacher, and activist, she has united gospel and social ministries to create unique programs that improve the quality of life of some of the most marginalized in our community.
The San Francisco Foundation presents 2013 Community Leadership Awardee, Educators for Fair Consideration (E4FC), with The San Francisco Foundation Award, made to an organization demonstrating exemplary commitment to improving human relations in the Bay Area. E4FC provides direct support to and advocacy for highly motivated, college-bound undocumented students who had come to the United States as children and wished to remain. They are a leader in the field of immigrant work, providing youth tangible support and the space for them to tell their own story. As a result, E4FC's work is an essential part of the DREAMers movement catapulting the organizations role as a leader in both the Bay Area and as a national model in supporting and empowering immigrant youth. www.sff.org/cla
Ester Hernandez, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2004 Community Leadership Awards (Helen Crocker Russell Award) - for fostering community and raising social consciousness through her groundbreaking art, for her work with Creativity Explored, and for inspiring and mentoring the next generation of artists.
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 multicultural, multilingual communities.
Bishop William Swing, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2006 Community Leadership Awards (The San Francisco Foundation Award) - for creating a more just and compassionate community. He reaches out across religions and takes risks to push for innovative solutions to social problems. Bishop Swing's perseverance in fighting homelessness, raising HIV/AIDS awareness, and providing equal access to healthcare has left an indelible imprint on local, national, and international communities.
Mary Lou Breslin, co-founder of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2009 Community Leadership awards (the Robert C. Kirkwood Award) - for making a mark in defining disability rights as a civil rights issue. She is a trailblazer whose grassroots movement has had tremendous impact addressing human rights abuses and neglect worldwide. As co-founder of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Mary Lou was at the forefront of creating the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Fair Housing Amendments Act, and the Civil Rights Restoration Act leading to protected rights and enhanced opportunities for us all, not just those with disabilities.
Michael Morgan, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2006 Community Leadership Awards for making symphonic music essential to the culture of the East Bay community. He is dedicated to minority access to the arts and arts education, visiting 100 schools every year. More than 20,000 public school students received hands-on music education because of Michael's leadership.
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 Clínica de la Raza grew from a storefront clinic to a national model of multilingual and multicultural access to healthcare. More than 20 sites provide crucial healthcare and empowerment to hundreds of thousands of low-income residents across the Bay Area.
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.
Sylvia Rosales-Fike is the founder, president and chief executive officer of AnewAmerica Corporation. She has earned the Robert C. Kirkwood Award made to an individual in recognition of outstanding community service, commitment and inspired leadership. Sylvia has spearheaded social and economic development opportunities that empower individuals to improve their economic lives. Her innovative, passionate, and collaborative spirit enables immigrants to bring their own families out of poverty. Sylvia has founded organizations including CARECEN, Community Bank of the Bay, and AnewAmerica and received a San Francisco Foundation award in 2010.
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. Joseph Marshall, Jr., winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2006 Community Leadership Awards (The Robert Kirkwood Award) - for redefining youth violence as a public health issue. By developing violence prevention methodologies and promoting these models nationwide, he influenced the lives of hundreds of young men and women whose mindsets were changed, and futures improved, through their involvement with Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers.
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 African American men and challenged them to be leaders in their own right. His diverse and inspired leadership creates positive change in the health of underserved communities locally and throughout the world.
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.
IT CAME FROM AQUARIUS RECORDS tells the story about the San Francisco based independent record store, Aquarius Records. Having closed in 2016 after 47 years, this small apartment-sized store championed local, underground, independent, and challenging music to the masses - most memorably with their infamous bi-weekly, college essay-length, new-release lists. Six years in the making, interviewing collectors, musicians, and store owners, the film has a very personal angle, with lots of behind-the-scenes footage (and drama) that shows both the joy and excruciating stress that comes with running — and closing — a store like this, helped in no part by the changing city around them.
A vehicle of consciousness navigates the vertiginous labyrinths of San Francisco. ROMAN CHARIOT was filmed over several months with a spy camera mounted on filmmaker David Sherman's son's baby carriage.
On a fateful San Francisco night in the early '60s, Condor nightclub performer Carol Doda was lowered to the stage on a floating piano, topless. Word spread quickly, setting off a wave of controversy and delight, with raids soon to follow. There was even a trial for the new celebrity. Doda's dry wit and charisma made her an instant sensation of the night club scene: an empowered woman in full control. Or so it seemed.
In the Realms of the Unreal is a documentary about the reclusive Chicago-based artist Henry Darger. Henry Darger was so reclusive that when he died his neighbors were surprised to find a 15,145-page manuscript along with hundreds of paintings depicting The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glodeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Cased by the Child Slave Rebellion.
This movie chronicles the life and times of R. Crumb. Robert Crumb is the cartoonist/artist who drew Keep On Truckin', Fritz the Cat, and played a major pioneering role in the genesis of underground comix. Through interviews with his mother, two brothers, wife, ex-wife and ex-girlfriends, as well as selections from his vast quantity of graphic art, we are treated to a darkly comic ride through one man's subconscious mind.
A documentary about how a dominant cultural and demographic institution both sustains their traditional activities and adapts to the digital revolution.
A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.
In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie.
A musical study of Los Angeles in the late 90s, where homeless teens roam the streets and profess to live a punk lifestyle of music, drugs, and flouting authority.
Martin Scorsese’s portrait of writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz, celebrated for her sharp wit and observations on modern life. Filmed at New York’s Waverly Inn and intercut with archival footage and interviews, the documentary captures Lebowitz’s distinctive worldview through her spontaneous monologues and public appearances.
Dick Proenneke retired at age 50 in 1967 and decided to build his own cabin in the wilderness at the base of the Aleutian Peninsula, in what is now Lake Clark National Park. Using color footage he shot himself, Proenneke traces how he came to this remote area, selected a homestead site and built his log cabin completely by himself. The documentary covers his first year in-country, showing his day-to-day activities and the passing of the seasons as he sought to scratch out a living alone in the wilderness.
Jacq Vaucan, an insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation, routinely investigates the case of manipulating a robot. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.
In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.
Photographer Estevan Oriol and artist Mister Cartoon turned their Chicano roots into gritty art, impacting street culture, hip hop and beyond.
A detailing of the rise to prominence and global sporting superstardom of six supremely talented young Manchester United football players (David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil and Gary Neville). The film covers the period 1992-1999, culminating in Manchester United's European Cup triumph.
If you ever find yourself traveling down Interstate 49 through Missouri, try not to blink—you may miss Rich Hill, population 1,396. Rich Hill is easy to overlook, but its inhabitants are as woven into the fabric of America as those living in any small town in the country. This movie intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in said Midwestern town and the fragile family bonds that sustain them.
This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.
A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.
In San Francisco, a psychopathic gangster and his mentor retrieve heroin packages carried by unsuspecting travelers.
The compelling feature-length documentary film, by director Barry Ptolemy, chronicles the life and controversial ideas of luminary Ray Kurzweil. For more than three decades, inventor, futures, and New York Times best-selling author Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future.
Harris Glenn Milstead, aka Divine (1945-1988) was the ultimate outsider turned underground hero. Spitting in the face of the status quos of body image, gender identity, sexuality, and preconceived notions of beauty, Divine succeeded in becoming an internationally recognized icon, recording artist, and character actor of stage and screen. Glenn went from the often-mocked, schoolyard fat kid to underdog royalty, standing up for millions of gay men and women, drag queens and punk rockers, and countless other socially ostracized misfits and freaks. With a completely committed in-your-face style, he blurred the line between performer and personality, and revolutionized pop culture.
A sexual wellness company gains fame and followers, then members come forward with shocking allegations.
Investigative journalist Eddie Brock attempts a comeback following a scandal, but accidentally becomes the host of Venom, a violent, super powerful alien symbiote. Soon, he must rely on his newfound powers to protect the world from a shadowy organization looking for a symbiote of their own.