SFFILM Exclusive

A dynamic hub for influential conversations about non-fiction funding and the state of the industry, Doc Congress is an annual gathering that takes place during SFFILM’s Doc Stories. By bringing together documentary funders, filmmakers, and distributors to discuss the most prevailing topics of the non-fiction funding landscape, Doc Congress is one of the documentary showcase’s most vital events.

At the the 2025 Doc Stories festival, Lois Vossen, founding Executive Producer of Independent Lens at ITVS, served as Doc Congress’ keynote speaker. Revisit Vossen’s compelling address here.

2025 Doc Stories Doc Congress Keynote Speech

I want to acknowledge Carrie Lozano, our president at ITVS and other colleagues who are here. I’m grateful to be part of such an incredible team.

This year I’ve found myself repeating something to filmmakers, potential ITVS funders, members of our Board, my co-workers, and documentary investors. If the women and men who organized and fought for almost a decade to create ITVS in the 1980s were undertaking that almost unfathomable task today I’m pretty sure their strategy and goal would not be to secure federal funding to make only 90-minute documentaries for broadcast television.

To secure public money, they would look at the current landscape—how media is being made, how stories are being told, how information and misinformation reach audiences, what stories audiences are getting and especially what stories they’re not getting. That is the job of non-profits like ITVS: to look for the gaps in the commercial marketplace and try to fill them.

They would still see a critical need for stories intentionally made to inform, educate and inspire (as opposed to being made to feed a bottom line, or just to win awards, or just to make money). Not that those are bad things; they’re not our Congressional Mandate.

The founders would see an opportunity even bigger than (and we think as exciting as) the circumstances that led to ITVS’s original creation.

Back in 1988 when the ITVS legislation was signed there were four television networks and only one of those, PBS, was designated to serve the public. So to get federal funding today, I think the case would need to be made as to why and how we should harness the power of independent storytellers to serve audiences where they are now—on a variety of platforms and feeds.

Not where they used to be. Or where we wish they were.

As political lines harden and create deeper communication divides, we risk talking in echo chambers, our stories just going to people who already agree with us or think the way we think unless we find a way to get authentic, honest information (aka our stories) on platforms and feeds where new generations are getting their news. Unless we truly reach beyond our choir.

The need for independently produced, nonfiction programming made in the public interest is as profound as ever but to reach tens, actually hundreds of millions of Americans we need to expand how we think about audiences, how we talk with audiences and where stories reach audiences.

That’s the first step to build a broader ecosystem that uses readily available technology, improves access, and takes advantage of new devices and platforms so our stories land where the audience is most likely to find and consume them.

It’s a way to elevate Creatives, mobilize philanthropy, and ensure that a diversity of voices remains central in this work. It’s how we help shape the next generation of media that serves the public interest.

This will require some of us to step out of our comfort zone. But the upside is that we get to create different visual languages. We get to conceive, make, fund, and present multiple ways to tell stories that work on the specific platform they are created for.

I want to take a moment and assure you that I’m not suggesting we stop making feature films. I love them. You love them. Audiences love them. Our documentary The Librarians, for example, is selling out nearly all of their theatrical screenings. And I’m not just talking about being held for a 4th week at Film Forum in New York City. It’s selling out in Iowa and Dallas, in Salt Lake City and Modesto, and Shreveport, Louisiana.

Long form documentaries can uniquely contextualize issues and serve as a timeless history. They still connect with audiences in theaters, in classrooms, and online.

But there’s room and a need for other forms of nonfiction storytelling. And that’s also part of our job at ITVS and INDEPENDENT LENS. To find new ways to support creators who want to make smart, authentic, relevant, surprising programs specifically for the audiences already waiting on YouTube and Instagram and other sites. Creators who know how to effectively use these feeds and platforms to unpack and influence culture. Often in real time.

We stand at a generational watershed moment. In many ways, ITVS was built for this moment. We have 34 years of experience identifying and incubating talent, co-funding and co-producing, and very important at this time, we lead community engagement and provide national distribution in purple, red, blue—all of the still United States!

ITVS is Congressionally mandated to serve the American public so in times of change we look for the opportunities. A big one is that we have permission—especially since innovation is written into our mandate—to try new things. And to stop doing things that are no longer effective.

We’re rebuilding after losing the majority of our funding when the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was defunded and we’re also launching new initiatives that put Audiences at the center of our work. Additional programs will be announced in the coming weeks. Today I’m pleased to share information about one: the INDEPENDENT LENS Creator Lab.

We want to help creators make programming specifically for YouTube, the second most visited website in the world. By partnering with digitally native creators we know we can bring empathy, humor, and hope into feeds and comment sections. We’ll help creators form maker-artist communities who believe in working in the public interest—something our industry has gotten right for decades. And we’ll provide these creators with the production support, editorial scrutiny, and mentorship that is synonymous with ITVS funding.

We’re intentionally calling it the INDEPENDENT LENS Creator Lab to light a path forward for public media.

The call opens November 12, so look for more details next week.

The current paradigm shift allows the creative community opportunities to talk more directly with audiences in ways the ITVS founders couldn’t have imagined when they created this public policy miracle. Now, when media made in the public’s interest is so necessary, we cannot afford to leave millions of audience members behind just because they don’t watch feature documentaries.

We know we can work with storytellers to produce exceptional content that cuts through our differences with the trust and integrity that ITVS has always offered. We’re excited to shape the ITVS that’s most needed today.

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.

What is the SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Prize?

On the Wednesday after the wrap of the 2025 edition of Doc Stories, we presented the SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Prize to Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. Guillermo was joined onstage by the film’s sound designer Nathan Robitaille, VFX supervisor Dennis Berardi, head of concept design Guy Davis, editor Evan Schiff, alongside Nobel Laureate Dr. Jennifer Doudna

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. Launched in 2015, the program celebrates and highlights 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.

Guillermo had this to say about his approach to making movies, “There are directors that are guests and there are directors that are hosts. I’m a host… At the end of the day I say to the entire crew if anyone wants to come into the editing room tomorrow, come in!”

Watch the full conversation to hear more about the making of the film.

SFFILM Sloan Science in Cinema Prize Conversation

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 has successfully concluded its annual Youth Filmmakers Camp, a dynamic and immersive program designed for teens ages 13–18. Divided into both a Starter and Advanced Lab, the two-week camp empowers students to explore the full spectrum of the filmmaking process—from idea generation and pitching to screenwriting, cinematography, sound design, and editing. Through hands-on learning and team-based collaboration, participants create original narrative short films, guided throughout by SFFILM’s instructors, guest lecturers, and dedicated interns.

Learning in a Professional Environment with Professional Tools

This year, the camp partnered with the University of San Francisco’s Media Department, giving students access to state-of-the-art facilities and industry-standard equipment. Campers worked in professional-grade editing suites using Adobe Premiere Pro and Avid Pro Tools, gaining real-world and professional experience in a supportive, creative environment.

“I tend to empathize really strongly with the people that I see on screen,” says Camper Aisha McCulloch. I think [sharing] those emotions that you’re having when you’re writing the story is really powerful, and film is one of the few mediums where you can do that.”

Guidance From Acclaimed Bay Area Filmmakers

Throughout the program, students were inspired by visits from acclaimed industry professionals, including producer Todd Traina, Oscar-winning Pixar animator Trevor Jimenez (Weekends, 2017), Sundance fellows Roberto Fatal and Kyle Casey Chu, and a number of SFFILM FilmHouse Residents. These guests offered invaluable insight into the craft and industry, expanding students’ perspectives and sparking new ambitions.

SFFILM-supported filmmaker Jessica Jones attended and discussed editing with campers; she shared her process and best practices for cutting together their films. “I’m impressed by high school students who are editing and really familiar with Premiere,” she said. “The kids who are in this camp are really enthusiastic filmmakers… They’re commitment to this artistic medium and their age in doing so is really cool” film.”

Both the Starter and Advanced Lab concluded with celebratory red carpet screenings, where students presented their finished films to an audience of family, friends, and SFFILM board members. Each team participated in a post-screening Q&A, sharing reflections on their creative process and what they learned. As a final capstone, campers were invited on an exclusive tour of the Pixar campus, where they witnessed concept artwork from their latest release, Elio and more–a special opportunity made possible by longtime Pixar animator and animation supervisor Bret Parker.

One parent writes, “This was truly a memorable experience. We appreciate all the hard work you all [SFFILM] put into challenging the students with their creative thought process and provoking them to work collaboratively in such a limited timeline. I’m so happy we got to witness their process and finals in their presentations!”

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.

During the 2025 SFFILM Festival, we presented the Mel Novikoff Award to the Roxie Theater. The Roxie Theater is home to more than 100 years of cinematic memories for movie lovers across the Bay Area and SFFILM Director of Programming Jessie Fairbanks joined Roxie Theater Executive Director Lex Sloan and Director of Programming Isabel Fondevila on stage to talk more about their importance as San Francisco institution.

“It’s the people. [You all] are the north star. What we do here is more than just movies. Whether it’s a drag show or a filmmaker here in conversation… It’s [about] being a space to bring people together… There’s nothing like watching movies in a cinema with strangers. It’s just one of the most magical feelings in the world,” said Roxie Executive Director Lex Sloan.

Watch the full conversation to hear more about the past, present, and future of the Roxie Theater.

SFFILM Mel Novikoff Award—In Conversation with the Roxie Theater

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.

At SFFILM, the beginning of the year brings a flurry of movement to get our annual Festival planned and produced. But, one team has been hard at work since last summer to bring films and filmmakers from around the world to join us at the 68th San Francisco International Film Festival this April 17–27.

“The Programming team for the 2025 San Francisco International Film Festival has been hard at work for several months building an exciting lineup of special events, awardees, and discovery titles to share with audiences in April,” shared Director of Programming, Jessie Fairbanks. “This group has incredible curatorial talent and it is a pleasure to work with this incredible group of programmers.

Jessie and the Programming team represent decades of curatorial experience and a variety of singular perspectives that make for the exciting slate of films that the SFFILM Festival is known for. Learn more about their backgrounds, and keep an eye out for interviews with the team on our Instagram and TikTok channels. Save the date for March 26 when we announce the full Festival lineup.

Who’s Programming the Festival this year?

Jessie Fairbanks, Director of Programming

Born and raised in California, Jessie began her career producing documentaries and clip television for national networks. She spent a decade in NYC producing large-scale events, festivals, and creative projects for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York Film Festival, HBO, The Documentary Group, David Byrne, and Google.

As the Director of Programming, Jessie oversees the artistic curation of the annual San Francisco International Film Festival, Doc Stories, SFFILM Presents series, College Days, the selection of honorees for SFFILM’s Awards Night, and other bespoke screening events.

Prior to becoming the Director of Programming for SFFILM, Jessie worked as a curator for DOC NYC, Tribeca Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, Nashville Film Festival, MountainFilm and others. Jessie is a voting member of Cinema Eye Honors, a grant evaluator for Chicken & Egg Pictures, a guest lecturer at local universities, and has participated in a variety of pitch sessions, industry panels and festival juries. She is particularly passionate about providing opportunities to underrepresented artists and documentary filmmaking.

Rod Armstrong, Associate Director of Programming

Rod Armstrong was a cinephile before he could drive, highlighting all of the foreign films coming to the San Diego area and cajoling his parents to chauffeur him to local arthouses. The passion turned into a career with Reel.com, a website with a wide array of editorial content about films. Rod began as a contributing editor and wrapped up his work there as Director of Content. Having long been interested in the endeavors of SFFILM, Rod began in 2003 in the publicity department. Later that year, he joined the Programming team and has been there ever since. Though Rod’s interest in film is broad and omnivorous, his greatest passion, harking back to those teenage years without vehicular transportation, remains international narrative cinema.

Jordan Klein, Programmer

A film lover and filmmaker at heart—Jordan Klein graduated from UC Berkeley and got his start as assistant to the legendary film producer Fred Roos (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Lost in Translation), marking the beginning of his career within the film industry in Los Angeles. He served on numerous productions in mediums ranging from feature film, television, commercials, short films, and music videos. His foundational working experiences helped facilitate his transition to being a production coordinator and administrative assistant to the president of film and television at PRG (Production Resource Group), a multinational company providing lighting and audio solutions to film productions and live concerts for renowned music artists around the globe.

Eventually returning to both film production and the San Francisco Bay Area, Jordan boarded both independent productions with the likes of American Zoetrope (Love Is Love Is Love) and major studio productions with Warner Brothers (The Matrix Resurrections) and Marvel Studios (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings). Jordan’s deep passion, love, and commitment towards cinema brought his heart to a home at SFFILM.

Kristal Sotomayor, Seasonal Curator

Kristal Sotomayor is a bilingual Latinx curator, journalist, and filmmaker based in Philadelphia. They have been distinguished as a 2023 DOC NYC Documentary New Leader and received the prestigious Rockwood Documentary Leadership Fellowship. Kristal is in their fourth year programming films for SFFILM. They have programmed for film festivals across the country including True/False Film Fest, Frameline, and Tri-Co Film Fest as well as being the Programming Director for the Philadelphia Latino Film Festival.

Kristal’s immigrant rights documentary short “Expanding Sanctuary” won the Philadelphia Filmmaker Award at the 2024 BlackStar Film Festival. Their short documentary “Don’t Cry For Me All You Drag Queens” has screened across the globe at Newport Beach Film Festival, NewFest, GAZE International LGBTQIA Film Festival, and Sidewalk Film Festival. Kristal is currently in post-production on their debut narrative short film “Las Cosas Que Brillan,” a coming of age story about a Trans Latina mermaid, produced with support from the BlackStar Filmmaker Lab. They are in development on a number of short and feature-length directorial projects through their company Sotomayor Productions. Kristal’s work has been supported by the Outfest Creative Hope Fellowship, If/Then & CIFF North Shorts Residency, MDOCS Storytellers’ Institute Visiting Fellowship, DCTV Docu Work-In-Progress Lab, and NeXtDoc Fellowship.

Bedatri D. Choudhury, Seasonal Curator

Bedatri studied literature and cinema in New Delhi and attended graduate school at Tisch School of the Arts. She has worked extensively with documentary films, particularly in the areas of program management and commissioning. She was most recently the Managing Editor of Documentary magazine, and is a programmer with DOCNYC and SFFILM. An alumna of the NYFF Critics Academy, Sundance and SXSW Press Inclusion Initiatives, the National Critics’ Institute, and Berlinale Talents, she lives in New York City and can often be heard on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour. She is presently The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Arts and Entertainment Editor.

Amir George, Seasonal Curator

Amir George is an award-winning filmmaker based in Chicago. George has served as a programmer at True/False Film Fest and Chicago International Film Festival. George co-founded Black Radical Imagination, an experimental short film screening series. As an artist, George creates spiritual stories, juxtaposing sound and image into an experience of non-linear perception. Amir’s films have screened at film festivals including BlackStar Film Festival, Rockaway Film Festival and Camden International Film Festival, as well as cultural institutions, including Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Moma PS1; Royal College of Art; Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles; and The Walker Art Center.

Schools at the Festival Program Returns for its 34th Year

Since 1991, SFFILM’s Education team has developed a Festival program that brings over titles from the main program and special selects for school-age students. Meet the team behind this exciting program which serves over 10,000 students annually.

Keith Zwölfer, Director of Education

Director of Education Keith Zwölfer oversees SFFILM’s Education and public-facing family programming initiatives. This includes year-round K–12 school programming, Schools at the Festival, Schools at Doc Stories, Youth Filmmakers Camp, and Youth FilmHouse Residency. Keith started his journey with SFFILM in 2004 as an intern for the Education program during the San Francisco International Film Festival. He joined the staff later that year where he quickly moved to expand youth programming to year-round. Over the course of his time at SFFILM, Keith has programmed educational events that have reached hundreds of thousands of teachers, students, parents and children here in the Bay Area as well as across the country through online offerings.

Growing up, his love of the arts was cultivated by parents who saw the importance of providing constant exposure to it through film, theater, music, dance, and museums. Keith began his career working with youth audiences at the Disney Animation and Live Action Production Studios in Orlando, Florida. He then worked and volunteered wherever he could with a wide variety of arts and educational organizations, including everything from chamber music to Cirque du Soleil. He is incredibly proud to be able to provide accessible and meaningful arts experiences to the next generation of artists and art lovers.

Soph Schultz Rocha, Education Manager

Soph Schultz Rocha is the Education Manager at SFFILM. They support the year round K–12 school and education programs and co-lead the Youth Filmmakers Camp and Youth FilmHouse Residency. With a background in filmmaking, art, youth mentorship, and community organizing, they are passionate about giving youth the tools and access they need for their artistic vision to flourish. They are a mentor with First Exposures in San Francisco and was their 2021 Residency Lead Teaching Artist. Soph also co-founded Moments Co-Op, a bookstore and residency space elevating the voices of BIPOC artists and writers in Oakland, CA.

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.