SFFILM News

We’re excited to announce the recipients for several programs that are part of our extensive Artist Development granting initiatives, providing support for film artists working in narrative and documentary, including the storied SFFILM Rainin Grant, the SFFILM Documentary Film Fund (DFF), the inaugural SFFILM Cedar Road Iyagi Grant, the SFFILM Rainin Filmmakers with Disabilities Grant, and the SFFILM/San Francisco Conservatory of Music Sound and Cinema Fellowship, for a total of $543K in grants distributed by the nonprofit film organization.

SFFILM’s year-round artist development programs also include the Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative, in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which provides direct artist grants to filmmakers developing screenplays with science and technology themes. The SFFILM Sloan grantees and fellows will be named in an upcoming announcement. Rounding out the robust slate of offerings, the SFFILM FilmHouse Residency provides Bay Area-based filmmakers with artistic guidance, office space, a vibrant creative community, and mentorship from established film industry professionals. The 2026 FilmHouse Residents will be announced in January.

“SFFILM sits uniquely at a vital intersection of the film ecosystem. While most people know about our long-running San Francisco International Film Festival, it’s our artist development program that is doing the critical behind-the-scenes work to provide emerging filmmakers with resources like the funding, mentorship, and visibility they need to get their films made,” said SFFILM Executive Director Anne Lai, “And at a time when funding is evaporating and the film industry is undergoing a massive shift, SFFILM is committed to meeting filmmakers’ needs to help them get their stories out in the world, and ultimately, to connect them with the audiences they made them for.”

SFFILM Director of Artist Development Masashi Niwano also explained, “In 2025, SFFILM saw nearly double the amount of applications across all of our granting programs. This year’s cohort of grantees represents filmmaking and stories from across the globe, and yet all are singular perspectives from talented filmmakers. The need for comprehensive, community-based professional support for filmmakers will always be here, and SFFILM is proud to be an enduring part of the filmmaking ecosystem.”

SFFILM RAININ GRANT

The SFFILM Rainin Grant program is the largest granting body for independent narrative feature films in the U.S. The grants support films that address social justice issues—the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges—in a positive and meaningful way through plot, character, theme, or setting, and benefit the Bay Area filmmaking community in a professional and economic capacity. Awards for screenwriting, development, or post-production are made to 15–20 projects once a year in the fall. In addition to a cash grant of up to $25,000, recipients receive access to the FilmHouse (located in SoMa in San Francisco) and benefit from SFFILM’s comprehensive and dynamic artist development programs.

Since 2009, the SFFILM Rainin Filmmaking Grants program has funded more than 300 film projects, including Hasan Hadi’s The President’s Cake, Sean Wang’s Dìdi (弟弟), Savanah Leaf’s Earth Mama, Fernando Frias’s I’m No Longer Here, Channing Godfrey Peoples’ Miss Juneteenth, Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Monsters and Men, Jeremiah Zagar’s We the Animals, Chloé Zhao’s Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station, and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild. Supported films have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, South by Southwest, the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival and many more.

The 17 projects listed alphabetically by title are:

Abracadabra TV Repair

Screenwriter/Director: Sahand Nikoukar
Development
In 1995 San Francisco, Iranian immigrant Omid finds work as a driver for a TV Repair shop, but during a routine delivery the van gets stolen with a big-screen television inside. Omid and his eight-year-old son must now find the stolen big-screen and deliver it in time for the Super Bowl—to keep his job and stay in the country. Their frantic search becomes a journey through the underbelly of 1990s San Francisco and a heartfelt portrait of the immigrant pursuit of belonging, dignity, and the American Dream.

Ancestor

Screenwriter/Director: Meera Angelica Joshi
Screenwriting
When a medium predicts the mysterious illness of Rani’s father and connects it to an Ancestor in purgatory, Rani and her family must decide whether to heed the warnings of the pundit or trust in Western medicine. This clash of Rani’s two worlds as an Indian-Australian adolescent challenges the concept of her identity and what she knows about life and death.

The Ballad of Tita and the Machines

Screenwriter/Director: Miguel Angel Caballero, Writer: Luis Antonio Aldana, Producers: Miguel Angel Caballero, Luis Antonio Aldana, Helena Sardinha, Rafael Thomaseto
Screenwriting
In a near-future in California, on the brink of full A.I. automation, a 65-year-old Mexican strawberry picker risks everything to lead a labor uprising against the A.I. humanoids built to replace her.

Bangbang Teahouse

Screenwriter/Director: Courtney Loo, Producer: David Karp
Development
Mimi and Hayley, a Chinese American music duo, stop at absolutely nothing to convince their label to release their long-awaited album over a raucous, self-destructive 48 hours in New York City—all while waging a seemingly losing battle to hold on to each other.

Boat People

Screenwriter/Director: Al’Ikens Plancher, Producers: Robert A. Maylor
Screenwriting
Inspired by true events, a Haitian refugee fights to survive the inhumane conditions at Guantánamo Bay.

Debaters

Screenwriter/Director: Alex Heller, Producer: Eugene Sun Park
Development
Over the course of a high school debate season, the ambitious team captain and her fumbling coach discover that growing up—at every age—means reckoning with the parents that raised you.

dream boy

Screenwriter/Director: Set Hernandez
Screenwriting
After a weekend of getting high together sparks their unlikely friendship, a closeted, undocumented teenager is caught off-guard when he catches feels for his high school’s basketball superstar. But even with the hallucinatory world he conjures up about their romance, it’s clear from the get-go: his dream boy will never like him back.

La Finca

Screenwriter/Director: Sofia Camargo
Screenwriting
On a rural estate in the Colombian Andes, a mother and her teenage daughter become entangled in their housekeeper’s secret pregnancy. As a fragile bond forms between the three, class differences and unspoken rules quietly begin to pull them apart.

How to Stop the Sky from Wanting

Screenwriter/Director: Santos Arrué
Screenwriting
After 30 years in the U.S., 57 year old Geronimo, is deported to his country of origin: Guatemala. Separated from his family and forced to live in exile, he joins a migrant theater group in hopes of finding his way back home.

None Die of Heartbreak

Screenwriter/Director: Shuli Huang
Screenwriting
Two young men in a long-distance relationship struggle to stay oblivious to their failed romance.

pecan.

Screenwriter/Director: Nolam Plaas
Screenwriting
Junie and his father, Kenny, attempt to live up to expectations of being men, but end up destroying the relationships they cherish the most, in the process. Even their own.

Rainbow Girls

Screenwriter/Director: Nana Duffuor, Producer: Yaél Bermudez
Screenwriting
As San Francisco’s tech boom gentrifies their city, a group of friends decide to take matters into their own hands, launching a string of robberies targeting the city’s most exclusive luxury brands.

Ruby Road

Screenwriter/Director: Talia Lugacy, Producer: Noah Lang, Julian West
Post-Production
Facing a terminal illness and no way to pay for care, a former school-bus driver sets off in her yellow mini-bus through Appalachia and the Northeast—on a final, haunting journey to reconcile with her past, her fractured family, and the forgotten America that shaped them all.

Saca Tu Lengua (Stick Out Your Tongue)

Screenwriter/Director: Melina Valdez
Screenwriting
After her stepfather’s funeral, a teenage girl is caught between loyalty and identity when her mother suspects their beloved in-laws of stealing his extensive gun collection.

Three Islands

Co-Screenwriter/Director: Juan Luis Matos, Co-Screenwriter/Producer: Monica Sorelle, Co-Screenwriter: Robert Colom-Vargas
Screenwriting
The lives of three men are upended as fate and circumstance bring them together to navigate the realities of carceral societies, their emotional blindspots, and uncertain futures following an immigrant father’s release from prison into his son’s apartment.

Verano

Screenwriter/Director: Leo Aguirre, Producer: Jeff Kardesch
Development
An unruly teenager’s summer plans are upended when his parents decide to foster an adolescent from Central America who is seeking asylum in the United States. As the two teens realize they must share more than just a bedroom, they are forced to confront their differences amid their harsh realities.

The Voyagers

Screenwriter/Director: Walé Oyejide
Post-Production
As the souls of drowned migrants possess a small town, an immigrant woman who speaks with the dead searches for the companion she lost at sea.

SFFILM DOCUMENTARY FILM FUND

The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund (DFF) supports engaging documentaries in post-production which exhibit compelling stories, intriguing characters, and an original, innovative visual approach. Since its launch in 2011, the SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has advanced new work by filmmakers worldwide granting nearly $1 million to 55 projects and growing.

The SFFILM Documentary Film Fund has a prestigious track record for advancing compelling films that go on to critical acclaim. Previous DFF recipients include Brittany Shyne’s SEEDS, winner of the Sundance 2025 U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary; Sarvnik Kaur’s Against the Tide, winner of the Sundance 2023 Vérité Filmmaking Prize; Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborne’s Going Varsity in Mariachi, winner of the Sundance 2023 Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award; Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s multiple Sundance winner Writing With Fire and Jessica Kingdon’s Ascension both nominated for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature; Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, which won a record number of juried awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Academy Awards for both Best Documentary Feature and Best Foreign Language Film.

The six projects listed alphabetically by title are:

*holds you tight*

Director: Jane M. Wagner, Producers: Carrie Weprin, Joe Weil
Post-Production
A lonely night watchman develops a relationship with an A.I. chatbot, transforming his worldview and challenging his perception of identity and reality.

Figaro Up Figaro Down

Director/Producer: Javid Soriano, Producer: Rob Richert
Post-Production
Figaro Up, Figaro Down follows Tim Blevins, a world-class Opera singer now struggling to escape street life as an addict in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. The history of his meteoric rise as a Black man in this predominantly white art form and eventual fall from grace, are framed around his mission to reunite with his estranged adult children. The highs and lows of his redemptive journey are infused with Tim’s deeply personal renderings of classic arias.

The First Plantation

Director: Jason Fitzroy Jeffers, Producers: Romola Lucas, Darcy McKinnon
Post-Production
An investigative documentary on reparations becomes unexpectedly personal when a filmmaker returns home to Barbados to tell the story of Drax Hall, the oldest continuously-operated sugar plantation in the Americas, recently inherited by a wealthy British politician descended from the slave master who founded it.

Outliving Shakespeare

Directors: Inna Sahakyan, Ruben Ghazaryan, Producer: Vardan Hovhannisyan, Co-Producer: Joram Willink
Post-Production
In a Soviet-era retirement home, a group of elders cling to life by staging Shakespeare—yet loneliness lingers beyond the theater’s doors, until the dramas begin to blur with reality.

Shifted Landscapes

Director: Jamie Meltzer, Producer: Annie Marr
Post-Production
Shifted Landscapes is a feature documentary examining the pervasive effects of the climate crisis on the environmental, cultural, and psychological landscapes of California. Weaving together a series of observational vignettes, the film visually articulates a larger system of climate change within the state.

Time Hunter

Directors: Daniel Chein, Mushiva, Producer: David Felix Sutcliffe, Co-Producers: Thomas Kaske, Joel Haikali
Post-Production
Time Hunter is a sci-fi documentary at the nexus of A.I., colonialism, and decolonial technology. Weaving verité, hip-hop, investigative journalism, and African Futurism, the film follows Mushiva, a Namibian musician and creative technologist, and his alter ego, the Time Hunter, a cybernetic revolutionary. As they each infiltrate the colonial dystopic forces governing their respective realities, the film reimagines the technological possibilities for our past, present, and future.

SFFILM CEDAR ROAD IYAGI GRANT

SFFILM Cedar Road’s Iyagi Grant is dedicated to discovering and nurturing stories that capture the depth, nuance, and complexity of Asian and Asian American characters and experiences. In Korean, “iyagi” translates to “story”—a word that embodies the heart of this grant’s mission: to champion storytelling as a powerful bridge connecting people across cultures and perspectives.

The Cedar Road Iyagi Grant, supported by the film finance and production company Cedar Road (known for projects such as Dìdi (弟弟), The Last Year of Darkness, and The Accidental Getaway Driver), is dedicated to fostering bold and original stories that amplify Asian and Asian American perspectives. This grant focuses on developing narratives that go beyond stereotypes—prioritizing compelling themes, unexpected genres, and fresh artistic visions. By supporting these diverse voices, Cedar Road’s Iyagi Grant helps to enrich the cinematic landscape, ensuring that stories from these communities are not only told but also authentically represented.

The two projects listed alphabetically by title are:

Kominka

Screenwriter/Director: Kyoko Miyake
Screenwriting
An ambitious American woman takes a job in a remote Japanese village to help revive its aging community, but as she renovates a decaying traditional house, she uncovers the mystery of her missing predecessor—and begins to suspect she’s not alone.

Naked In Glendale

Screenwriter/Director: Haohao Yan, Producer: Jane Zheng, Julia Xu
Development
When a Chinese honor student falsely accuses a classmate to escape scandal at an American boarding program, her lie spirals out of control—forcing her and her young teacher to confront the shame, secrets, and systems that silence them both.

SFFILM RAININ FILMMAKERS WITH DISABILITIES GRANT

The SFFILM Rainin Filmmaker with Disabilities Grant supports filmmakers who identify as having a disability with films that specifically address stories within the disability community. Notable projects supported through this program include The Tallest Dwarf (2025 SXSW World Premiere, 2025 Festival), Vivien’s Wild Ride (2025 San Francisco International Film Festival World Premiere), The Tuba Thieves (2023 Sundance Premiere, 2025 Festival), and I Didn’t See You There (2022 Sundance Premiere, 2022 Festival).

The three projects listed alphabetically by title are:

A Girl Got Her Hand Blown Up in Dolores Park

Screenwriter/Director: Roisin Isner
Screenwriting
After a shocking bomb attack leaves her permanently disabled, a 17 year old amputee investigates a teenage underworld of friends, enemies, and suspects.

All In My Head

Director: Marti Hines, Producer: Sophia Williams
Post-Production
After her own MS diagnosis, filmmaker Marti Hines sets out on a global journey to spotlight the untold stories of five Black women living with the disease—including Paralympic champion Kadeena Cox. Centered on Kadeena’s fierce pursuit of greatness, this documentary unearths resilience, sisterhood, and the fight for visibility in a system that too often looks the other way.

Vestibule

Director: Riley Hooper, Producers: Caitlin Mae Burke, Bryn Silverman
Post-Production
Vestibule is the story of one woman’s fight for sexual health, pleasure, and bodily autonomy. Through imaginative dance sequences and intimate voiceover, Riley chronicles her decade-long journey with Vestibulodynia — a vulvovaginal disorder. What begins as a quest for pain-free sex becomes a multigenerational story of resilience, dignity, and self-discovery.

SFFILM/SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC SOUND & CINEMA FELLOWSHIP

In partnership with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s (SFCM) Technology and Applied Composition Program (TAC), the SFFILM/SFCM Sound and Cinema Fellowship provides an exciting opportunity rarely afforded to independent filmmakers—to thoughtfully elevate and deepen the role of music and sound with the imagery in their finished films. SFFILM selects up to four Filmmaker Fellows to be paired with SFCM’s talented masters and undergraduate students to develop and complete an original soundtrack for their film. The audio work can include original music, sound design, foley, sound mixing, ADR recording, and more.

The Fellowship supports SFCM’s mission to advance new models of music education and prepare their students for a rewarding career in the industry. Students and Filmmaker Fellows will learn more about all aspects of sound to picture through collaboration, demos, spotting sessions, and workshops with celebrated filmmakers, composers, and other industry professionals. Filmmakers will have access to SFCM’s state-of-the-art recording studios and facilities. A special screening and presentation will be held at the 2026 SFFILM Festival to highlight the films, filmmakers, and audio teams.

The three projects listed alphabetically by title are:

The Darkest Night

Screenwriter/Director: Andrés Gallegos, Creative Producer: Constanza Hevia H
Post-Production
In 1996 Talca, Chile, a young boy named Diego finds his world turned upside down when he discovers a hidden cache of stolen money. When the money becomes the only way to save his beloved mentor after a terrible accident, Diego is thrust into a moral dilemma, navigating a dangerous path that leads him to hatch a plan against the very thief who seeks the money, a choice that ultimately forces him to confront his own innocence and the person he is becoming.

Juan Po and The Last Day of School

Screenwriter/Director/Producer: Vicky Ponce, Producer: Liz Anderson
Post-Production
Inspired by his idol and wanting to impress the teacher he is crushing on, 13-year-old Juan Po gets a DIY perm done by his father. Now he must survive an entire day at school with a mangled ‘fro.

Untitled Altura Health Short.

Director: Elivia Shaw, Producers: Brenda Ávila-Hanna, George Alfaro
Post-Production
Inside a pediatric clinic in Tulare, California, a group of Mexican doctors from a unique pilot program fill huge gaps in the American healthcare system and work to protect patients dealing with environmental hazards and aggressive immigration policies in the place that feeds the nation.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM brings the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers all year long. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

SFFILM Education’s Youth FilmHouse Residency, in partnership with SFFILM Makers, is an annual program that begins in the Fall semester for Bay Area students grades 9–12 who identify themselves as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color (BIPOC) and are excited to explore careers in film and filmmaking.

Throughout the residency, students have engaged with other SFFILM residents, SFFILM staff, film industry professionals. This year’s curriculum balances practical skills like production strategy and technique along with training, panels, and lectures to highlight industry knowledge and possible career paths through our artist network.

Who are the SFIFLM Youth FilmHouse Residents?

Aisha Rae McCulloch

My name is Aisha (Rae) McCulloch and I’m a sophomore at St. Ignatius College Preparatory. I’ve lived in San Francisco all my life, and the vibrant community I’m surrounded with has shaped my interests (both art-related and not) profoundly. I am a student athlete and committed to learning and growing inside the classroom, but also spend much of my time working on creative projects like poetry (spoken word/slam), drawing, and films (screenwriting and, of course, watching).

Who would play you in a movie and why?

My twin sister would probably play me in a movie because she looks similar to me, knows all about my experience, and is convinced she’s an amazing actor (although I’m not).

Ali-David Abdullah

My name is Ali-David Abdullah, I’m in the 12th grade and I live in Oakland. I have done a few projects with my teachers, learning about camera work and lighting. I make videos for content creation documenting various scenes in my life.

Aztli Ortega Arriaga

My name is Aztli (as-tlee) and I’m a senior taking my first film class at Berkeley High School. I have been writing and drawing many fictional stories ever since I could pick up a pencil, usually about relationships between people with hidden strengths and weaknesses- with a sci-fi twist. I just moved back to Berkeley two months ago, and have lived in many states and cities in the U.S. Besides writing and drawing, I like playing the trumpet as part of the 11:00 BHS Jazz Band, listening to experimental EDM, playing video games, and watching movies/shows. Other than making a couple animal documentaries as part of the Maine STEM film challenge, I’m early in my journey as a filmmaker specifically, but not as an artist.

Who or what inspires you to be a filmmaker?

I’m inspired by every artist who has ever put out a piece of themselves into the world for everyone to see. I also admire the boldness and determination of artists who have had their films overlooked due to it having a diverse protagonist or complex message.

Cipriano Villalon

I’m Cipriano or Cip, I’m in 12th grade at Abraham Lincoln High School, and I live in San Francisco. My experience in filmmaking is pretty small. I only took a short camp this summer on how to do some stuff and made a documentary about water conservation. Since that’s the only work I’ve done I have multiple themes or narrative I’ve worked on, but I definitely would like to. As for accomplishments I guess I watch a lot of movies. I try to watch one or two a week so I’ve probably watched 100 in the last year.

What are some goals you have for your filmmaking career?

I want to be able to properly put what I think or ideas I have on a paper and hopefully a screen.

Diego Zarate

My name is Diego Zarate and I’m a 17 year old 12th grader at Berkeley High School. I’ve had a passion for filmmaking ever since I was eight years old and making iMovies with my cousins. As I’ve gotten older I’ve moved on to taking a number of video production and media classes at school, along with film workshops over the summer. As a result, I’ve produced a number of original short films which tend to cover topics that are personal to me such as religion, music, and the experience of growing up. I started with a more experimental lens in my work, but I’ve been moving more towards narrative storytelling as I develop my voice as a filmmaker.

Ella Killingsworth

My name is Ella and I’m a senior at Skyline High School in Oakland. I’ve always had an inkling for filmmaking at a young age but I had really started to pursue this passion during high school. In the past, I focused more on observing and helping others on their projects, but it’s time I put my ideas into fruition. I’m currently working on my first independent narrative film that I hope to release this year, which I’m very excited about!

Who or what inspires you to be a filmmaker?

I think my dad inspires me a lot. He’s always there to listen to my ideas and gives great advice when I’m stuck. And by being here I hope to make him proud.

Emi Harris

I’m Emi Harris, a junior at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts and resident of San Francisco. I get my filmmaking experience from the Film + Media art department at SOTA, as well as programs such as SFFILM. I enjoy exploring themes that navigate growing up and the fear of getting older. I would like to continue to explore narrative filmmaking and incorporating sentimental and nostalgic values and themes into my films.

Who or what inspires you to be a filmmaker?

I really admire films that explore deep meanings through creative and inventive storytelling with distinct visual styles.

Julia Hayden Fung

My name is Julia Hayden Fung. I’m a senior and love all things film, theatre, photography, and dance. Recently, I won best female filmmaker at the April Sweden Film Awards, and best cinematography at Berlin Women’s Cinema Festival. I have been a part of numerous short programs at New York Film Academy, Catalyst Institute for Creative Arts in Berlin, Germany and jump at any opportunity to learn something new.

What are some goals you have for your filmmaking career?

I am super set on becoming a cinematographer, but I’ve spent a lot of time in acting, music, and directing too. I would love if my career includes any of that. I’m looking forward to being a part of creative, passionate sets and leaving an impact on people through my work 🙂

Kayen Manovil

Kayen Manovil is a bilingual Oakland-based filmmaker, actress, and high school senior at Berkeley High. As a student, Kayen works in leadership positions to bridge her school’s communities and create opportunities for underprivileged students. She recently worked as a Creative Collaborator and Host on KQED’s “The Fieldtrip Game” and sat on the Reel Stories Student Board during the 2023–2024 semester. Her films have screened at the Luminescence Youth Film Festival, SFFILM, and her newest work will screen at the All American High School Film Festival in October.

Who or what inspires you to be a filmmaker?

My mom is the one who brought me into the industry in the first place, without her I likely wouldn’t have considered filmmaking as a primary career choice for myself.

Leela Chandra

My name is Leela Chandra, I’m from Oakland and I’m a junior at Bentley Upper School. I’ve gone to a few filmmaking camps before and I’m getting into creating short films by myself. In my films, I like to create coming-of-age stories that involve emotionally moving relationships and themes of growth and change.

Who or what inspires you to be a filmmaker?

A lot of my inspiration comes from my own real-life experiences. I am also inspired by music, such as Bob Dylan and Charli XCX, and directors, such as Mike Mills and Emma Seligman that I like.

Luciana OrRico-Gomes

I’m Luciana, a sophomore at Oracle’s Design Tech High School, and I fell in love with filmmaking the second I gained access to the internet and the camera on my mom’s phone. I’ve been making films, writing music, and scripting plays since before I even started school. More recently, I’ve made films with SFFILM, at my high school, and through projects with a nonprofit in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, what I love the most are psychological horror films for their ability to explore the deeper meaning of everything and who we are as people.

Who or what inspires you to be a filmmaker?

Everyday life inspires me to be a filmmaker. The people I meet, the experiences we share – they all tell a story and I want to tell those stories through film.

Olive Read

Olive’s a high school senior who began making videos 6 years ago with her sister and has done that same routine ever since. She enjoys throwing bursts of color and glitter in her films and is inspired by filmmakers like Jacques Demy and Henry Selick. As an aspiring director, she independently creates films and promo videos for her school.

Who or what inspires you to be a filmmaker?

My mom and uncle definitely inspired me to be a filmmaker. I grew up with all the 80’s movies they watched as kids and that definitely sparked my passion for storytelling and the aesthetics of the 80s has definitely become prevalent in my filmmaking.

Ray Li

I am Ray, currently a senior at Mills High School in Millbrae. The project I am working on at the moment is a sci-fi romance kind of story.

Who or what inspires you to be a filmmaker?

My mother used to take me out for movies every weekend when I was small, and I have always been interested in making stories and turning them into films.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers, to support emerging filmmakers, and to educate youth through cinema. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

The FilmHouse Residency is managed by SFFILM Makers, the artist development program at SFFILM and is made possible in partnership with the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and additional funding from the San Francisco Film Commission and the San Francisco Foundation. The program supports both narrative and documentary projects (including features, shorts, and series) by providing 12-month residencies to local filmmakers actively engaged in various stages of production.

FilmHouse Residents receive a variety of benefits including special access to established industry professionals offering artistic guidance and support from their various areas of expertise as well as a robust guest speaker series featuring lectures and presentations by leading industry professionals; workshops led by prominent filmmakers and other members of the independent film industry; peer-to-peer support; work-in-progress screenings; bi-weekly production meetings; access to meaningful networking opportunities; and numerous other community-building programs.

The selection committee for the 2025 FilmHouse Residents were:
Masashi Niwano, Director of Artist Development, SFFILM
Joshua Moore, Artist Development Manager of Documentary, SFFILM
Rosa Morales, Artist Development Manager of Narrative, SFFILM
Erika Arnold, Artist Development Associate Manager, SFFILM
Sofia Alicastro, Deputy Director, Film SF
Ines Pedrosa e Melo, Filmmaker

Let’s meet the residents that will be taking their projects to the next stage at FilmHouse in 2025!

Meet the 2025 Residents

Andres Gallegos

The Darkest Night—Narrative Short
Stage: Pre-Production

Diego, a 16-year-old from a low socioeconomic background, starts working as a construction assistant in an wealthy neighborhood thanks to the help of Sergio, a father figure he never had. There, he falls for Marta, but everything changes when Sergio’s life-changing accident threatens their future, Diego must make a dangerous choice and use stolen money to save him. As the thief comes back for the loot, Diego plans a robbery to set a trap, only to find that his own involvement in the crime may cost him everything, including his relationship with Marta.

Che ’Chichi’ Castillo

Be Here Now (working title)
Celeste, an underpaid artist and disinterested sugar baby, travels to their hometown for a short visit, but when their ride’s car is stolen, they must embark on a journey that reconnects them to the intimacy and magic of queer life.

Henry Kinder

The Gathering—​​Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting

Aimless, Evan returns home to Berkeley to sort through his late mother’s house, finding himself with a new roommate: his estranged, ornery uncle Eugene.

The unlikely pair work through the collected baggage of their shared past as Evan’s sister quietly works to sell the house and a newcomer, Alice, inadvertently helps both Evan and Eugene— each in their own way— embrace the ineluctability of change.

Kat Gorospe Cole

Don’t Tell Mom—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting

Quirky Filipinx kid Ray can’t wait to leave their youth and family in Hawai’i to pursue college in the mainland. When Ray’s outgoing single mother faces the consequences of her own rebellion, the duo embarks on an adventurous summer that includes keeping secrets from grandma.

Kyle Casey Chu

After What Happened at the Library—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting

A drag queen goes viral after extremists storm her Story Hour at a local library. Reality bends under the weight of public attention as she loses her grip of her own narrative.

Linda Mai Green

Jane (working title) Narrative Feature

Stage: Screenwriting
In this Gothic thriller set in 1880s California, a vulnerable young Chinese American woman is taken in by a charismatic scientist and her mute companion. Enamored with her new friends, the young woman must choose between adopting the scientist’s worldview or forging her own sense of self.

Meera Angelica Joshi

The Sale—Narrative Short
Stage: Pre-Production

In 1993, California, a young immigrant mother has a dream to start a new life for herself and her family. The first step is to make her first encyclopedia sale.

Octavian Kelly

Tattletale—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting

Daniel, a locksmith and single father in San Francisco, confronts his wealthy sister after his seven-year-old son is molested by his nephew.

Sahand Nikoukar

Abracadabra TV Repair—Narrative Feature
Stage: Pre-Production

A father and son search for a stolen big screen television in 1995 San Francisco.

Sepi Mashiahof

Tell Me About The Fairies—Narrative Feature
Stage: Development

Alienated by the sexual wonderland of college life, a sheltered queer Iranian “boy” has an encounter with fairies who curse with an aroma that makes men hopelessly attracted to him as his body rots away like spoiled fruit.

Tenzin Phuntsog

Sentient Beings—Narrative Feature
Stage: Screenwriting

In a near-future America dominated by autonomous self-driving vehicles, a group of Tibetan refugees go on an existential road trip across the American landscape in their manually driven car.

Yvette Solis

Untitled 3PD Project—Hybrid Short
Stage: Screenwriting

A self-reflective narrator embarks on a chaotic journey navigating a mysterious neurological disorder, forcing them to confront the fragmented nature of their new reality.

Adamu T. Chan

Babylon by the Bay (working title)—Documentary Feature
Stage: Development

Babylon by the Bay (working title) tells the stories of the pioneers and tastemakers from San Francisco’s youth street fashion and counterculture scene in the 1990s and early 2000s. It serves as a love letter to “the city by the bay,” capturing a bygone era when the city’s character was profoundly influenced by the art and culture of young people pushing back against conservatism and rising wealth concentration.

Deann Borshay Liem

Relative Strangers—Documentary Feature
Stage: Production

During and after the Korean War, thousands of mixed-race children were abandoned by their American GI fathers, stigmatized by Korean society, and sent to be adopted by couples in the West. Today many are searching for their original families, initiating unexpected discoveries about self, family, race, and culture. Relative Strangers follows their stories, uncovering the racial and social inequalities of the world’s largest international adoption program, and its impact on individuals and societies.

Felix Uribe Jr.

Melodies of Salvation (working title)—Documentary Short
Stage: Development

Through personal footage and collaborative storytelling, this project delves into the resilience and complexity of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, sharing the lived experiences and interconnected stories of its residents as they navigate systemic challenges and create meaningful change.

Jessica Jones

Women Who Ride—Documentary Short
Stage: Post-Production

Women Who Ride is the tenacious story of the woman behind Oakland’s first Black women’s motorcycle club, D’Vious Wayz. This character-driven portrait is told through the lens of Tish Edwards, the founder of D’Vious Wayz as she struggles to keep the club afloat. A symbol of sisterhood, D’Vious Wayz highlights the influence of Black matriarchs, female comradery, and women’s battle to continue doing what they love in the face of responsibilities. As Tish balances caring for her disabled son and grapples with her own health conditions, she works to keep the sisterhood alive and start riding again.

Masha Karpoukhina

In Between Worlds—Documentary Feature
Stage: Pre-Production

In the face of impending climate chaos, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe fights to keep a sacred promise to return their ancestral salmon just as the salmon runs across the globe are collapsing.

Guided by Chief Colleen, they must journey to New Zealand where miraculously, the descendants of their salmon survived.

“Whatever happens to the salmon, happens to us” – Caleen Sisk, Chief of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.

In the beginning, everything came from the sacred spring atop Mt. Shasta. All stars & all beings & among them, little humans who seemed lost and naked and had no voice. The salmon felt compassion for them & gave up their voice, so humans could communicate with all life. But only under 1 condition. That they would forever use it to speak up for the salmon.

Meg Shutzer & Brandon Yadegari Moreno

The Prison Outside—Documentary Feature
Stage: Production

Sentenced to life for crimes he committed as a child, Terrence Graham took his fight for freedom all the way to the Supreme Court and won. After twenty-one years behind bars, he is finally getting out – but is life outside just another prison?

Samantha Berlanga

Pleasure Seekers—Documentary Feature
Stage: Production

In Brooklyn, New York two best friends are determined to embrace their boldest, most unapologetically sexy selves—only to confront the deeply ingrained politics of sex and bodily autonomy. As they navigate their journey toward empowerment, the filmmaker explores how sexuality can flourish beyond the weight of institutionalized guilt and shame.

Susannah Smith

We Belong—Documentary Feature
Stage: Post-Production

For 18 rowdy years, the Lexington Club was the only dyke bar in the “Gay Mecca” of San Francisco (1997–2015). Not just a safe space, the Lexington Club was headquarters for a Queer rebellion that was transforming the world. Now, ten years later, We Belong immerses us in this iconic space to tell the story of its impact on three profound decades of LGBTQ+ history.

Tara Baghdassarian

The Dragon Under Our Feet—Documentary Feature
Stage: Pre-Production

A Bay Area artist and organizer reconnects with her Armenian culture while piecing together stained glass fragments of ancient symbols. Their rich meaning lies within traditionally woven carpets collected by older diasporans struggling to gain interest from younger generations.

Tony Nguyen

Year of the Cat—Documentary Feature
Stage: Pre-Production

Year of the Cat follows filmmaker Tony Nguyen on an extraordinary quest to solve the mystery of his father, lost in the chaos of the Fall of Saigon 50 years ago. Told as an investigative home movie, this powerful documentary weaves together moments of humor and heartache, offering an intimate look at how the children of refugees are shaped by war and loss. As Tony delves into his family’s history, the film reveals the emotional lengths we go to in confronting the ghosts of the past—and the possibility of healing as we reclaim and transform our futures.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

Designed to ensure that narrative feature films tell compelling stories about the worlds of science and technology continue to be made and seen, the fellowship will support the development of the fellows’ narrative feature screenplays. Through the Sloan Science in Cinema Fellowship, SFFILM and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation aim to advance the understanding of science and technology through the artform of film.

“The key to making a truly successful film is a strong foundation,” said Anne Lai, Executive Director of SFFILM. “We’re thrilled that our partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation recognizes the significance of a well-crafted script, all while providing screenwriters with the support and resources they need to see their projects through a crucial filmmaking stage.

“We are proud to partner with SFFILM in supporting these talented screenwriters whose scripts examine not only vital issues in the fields of science and technology, but in society at large,” said Doron Weber, Vice President and Program Director at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “This year’s Sloan Science in Cinema Fellows are part of a nationwide program that has supported over 850 science and film projects and include award-winning filmmakers from twelve distinguished film schools and six outstanding screenplay development partners.”

SFFILM’s partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation—the nation’s leading philanthropic grantor for science and the arts—culminates in the SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Initiative. SFFILM launched the program in 2015 to celebrate and highlight cinema that brings together science and the art of storytelling, showing how these two seemingly disparate areas can combine to enhance the power of one another. The selections are meant to immerse a broad public audience in the challenges and rewards of scientific discovery, as well as to engage members of the scientific community.

Meet the 2024 SFFILM Sloan Science In Cinema Fellowship Recipients

From an open call for submissions, three screenwriters have been selected to receive the 2024 Sloan Science in Cinema Filmmaker Fellowship. The fellowship, which will support the development of their narrative feature screenplays, is designed to ensure that narrative feature films that center on science and technology continue to be made by filmmakers.

Satoshi

Sara Crow, Screenwriter/Director and David Rafailedes, Screenwriter/Producer
The potentially true story of a teenage anime-obsessed hacktivist who, after losing her scholarship to Stanford, returns home to Arizona to become the mysterious inventor of a new digital currency called Bitcoin.

The Garden

Lara Palmqvist, Screenwriter
In a world of advanced climate change and deep class divides, a passionate plant breeder tries to secure his family’s future by developing genetically enhanced seeds while working for a controlling socialite who wants to create her own Garden of Eden on a Kentucky estate.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM works hard to bring the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.

Since its launch in 2011, the SFFILM Documentary Film Fund (DFF) has supported feature-length documentaries in post-production that are distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters, and an innovative visual approach. DFF has distributed nearly $1 million to advance new work by filmmakers worldwide, many of whom go on to premiere at festivals like Sundance, our own San Francisco International Film Festival, Tribeca and more, as well as collect dozens of nominations and awards including the Oscars.

Previous DFF winners include Sarvnik Kaur’s Against the Tide, winner of the Sundance 2023 Vérité Filmmaking Prize; ​​Alejandra Vasquez and Sam Osborne’s Going Varsity in Mariachi, winner of the Sundance 2023 Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award; Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s Writing With Fire, which won Audience and Special Jury Awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival; Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, which won a record number of juried awards at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Academy Awards for both Best Documentary Feature and Best Foreign Language Film; RaMell Ross’ Hale County This Morning, This Evening, which won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance 2018 and was nominated for the 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and many others.

“We’ve seen the number of Documentary Film Fund submissions continue to increase and along with it, more and more high quality films. Needless to say, this is a very competitive grant,” said Joshua Moore, Manager of Documentary Programs, Artist Development at SFFILM.

“This year’s recipients are a unique blend of profound personal journeys mixed with timely universal stories,” remarked the jury panel. “Each film masterfully challenges the perceived notions of their subjects’ point of views and illustrates the juxtaposition between character and environment.”

The jury was very excited and impressed by the high level of craftsmanship on full display. “The fact that each film is helmed by first time feature directors really wowed us and we couldn’t be more delighted to be offering this support to such talented filmmakers who are taking giant leaps in their respective careers as artists.”

This year’s jury consisted of Leslie Tai (director of How to Have an American Baby); Jennifer Hymes Battat (Jenerosity Foundation); Joshua Moore (SFFILM Manager of Documentary Programs, Artist Development); and Masashi Niwano (SFFILM Director of Artist Development).

The 2024 Documentary Film Fund is made possible thanks to support from Jennifer Hymes Battat and the Jenerosity Foundation along with Katie Hall and Tom Knutsen.

Meet the 2024 Documentary Film Fund Finalists

Coach Emily (working title)

Pallavi Somusetty, Director, Producer; Debra Wilson Cary, Producer; Jen Gilomen, Producer;
Emily Taylor, an Oakland-based queer Black climbing coach, trains a group of BIPOC kids to conquer the pervasive discrimination they face in the great outdoors. As they claim their place in nature, Emily embarks on a profound journey of self-care, while working to dismantle an industry rife with systemic racism.

Curse of the Mutant Heirloom

Debra Schaffner, Director; Julie Wyman, Producer
A daughter excavates decades of estrangement from her Holocaust-survivor mother, fueled by a less visible predator: the BRCA gene mutation. Robots and aliens join their human counterparts in this hybrid-documentary about family, forgiveness, and female body parts.

Jenin & the Nakba Between Us

Serene Husni, Director; Rula Nasser, Producer; Marc Serpa Francoeur, Producer
A diasporic Palestinian filmmaker struggles to make a contemporary portrait of Jenin, the city her parents fled following the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank, when her footage takes on radically new meaning in the wake of October 7th.

To Use a Mountain

Casey Carter, Director; Colleen Cassingham, Producer; Jonna McKone, Producer
Physics, geology, and democracy collide across the expansive American interior, in a series of vignettes from six candidate sites for a sacrificial nuclear dumping ground.

Stay In Touch With SFFILM

SFFILM is a nonprofit organization whose mission ensures independent voices in film are welcomed, heard, and given the resources to thrive. SFFILM brings the most exciting films and filmmakers to Bay Area movie lovers all year long. To be the first to know what’s coming, sign up for our email alerts and watch your inbox.