SFFILM’s Doc Stories To Open With Ava DuVernay’s ‘14th,’ Showcase ‘Tutu,’ ‘Black Sunflowers,’ ’Soul Patrol’ & More

Oscar winners and Oscar-nominated filmmakers will be converging on San Francisco for the 12^th edition of Doc Stories, the prestigious nonfiction film festival put on by SFFILM.

The cinematic event running November 5-8 will open with 14^th, Ava DuVernay’s penetrating examination of threats to the protections and rights afforded by the 14^th Amendment. The festival closes with Sam Pollard’s Tutu, a profile of the South African archbishop, anti-Apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Scroll for the complete lineup of films and talks.

Among other prominent filmmakers heading to Doc Stories: Oscar winner Laura Poitras with her short documentary They’re Here, co-directed with Rachel Lauren Mueller; two-time Oscar nominee Joshua Oppenheimer with his short film The Revolution Against Death; three-time Oscar winner Sean Pean with the Ukraine war-themed film he executed produced, Black Sunflowers, and Oscar-shortlisted filmmaker Luke Lorentzen with his latest, Boatbuilders. Two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot will lead a documentary workshop for teen filmmakers.

“For over a decade, Doc Stories has embodied the best of what SFFILM and the San Francisco Bay Area champion and celebrate in new documentary work,” commented Anne Lai, SFFILM’s executive director. “Each film is a wonderful portal into better understanding the world we live in. When daily life can feel quite bruising and fractious, documentaries skillfully encourage us to let our guard down and connect with real-life stories and people… sometimes challenging, often invigorating, and always meaningful. It’s a privilege to bring filmmakers, industry, and audiences—including kids—together for this annual celebration.”

Since 2015, Doc Stories has been the gathering point for the Bay Area’s documentary community, the festival notes, with a program that reliably features standout nonfiction work from around the world. More than two dozen Doc Stories selections have gone on to earn Academy Award nominations, and several have won.

“Curating Doc Stories is one of the great privileges of my job because I get to spend the year seeking out films that I can’t wait to put in front of an audience,” said Jessie Fairbanks, SFFILM’s director of programming. “This year, I found myself drawn to filmmakers who are looking closely at the forces shaping our lives, while also revealing the humor, beauty, resilience, and contradictions within them. These are documentaries I believe deserve to be seen, talked about, and experienced together—and I’m thrilled to share them with our audiences.”

In addition to the public program, SFFILM’s Artist Development team will convene Doc Congress, a day of dialogue and networking for filmmakers, funders, and industry professionals. “This year’s Doc Congress includes a dynamic group discussion on AI use in documentaries featuring Srđan Keča, director of Stanford’s MFA in Documentary Film, and Rachel Antell, co-founder of the Archival Producers Alliance. Artist Development will also host an inaugural Pitch Forum for three local filmmakers. Guest filmmakers will cap off the weekend at Sunday’s annual Doc Stories Brunch.”

From November 2–10, SFFILM’s Education team will host students and teachers at Schools at Doc Stories, with free in-person screenings at SFMOMA, online programs for classrooms nationwide, and conversations with visiting filmmakers that connect to classroom studies and spark curiosity about the wider world.

Doc Stories screenings take place at the Vogue Theatre in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights neighborhood. Below is the program lineup (listed in alphabetical order, with Opening and Closing Night films first and last).

Opening Night: 14th

THU, NOV 5 A T 6:30 PM PT

THU, NOV 5 A T 9:30 PM PT

Ava DuVernay (USA 2026, 107 min)

Ava DuVernay examines the enduring promises of the 14th Amendment through a powerful chorus of voices, joining us in person to discuss this vital new documentary.

All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea

SAT, NOV 7 A T 5:00 PM PT

Jeanie Finlay (UK 2026, 99 min)

When a massive sea life die-off threatens his livelihood, lifelong fisherman Stan Rennie rallies his community in a quest for answers, becoming the unlikeliest of activists.

Black Sunflowers

SAT, NOV 7 A T 8:00 PM PT

James Marcus Haney (Ukraine 2026, 97 min)

Executive produced by Sean Penn, James Marcus Haney’s kinetic, kaleidoscopic portrait of Ukrainian youth is alive with movement, color, and music. Filmed over four years the camera follows artists, drifters, soldiers, and friends as they find pockets of freedom amid mounting uncertainty.

Boatbuilders

SUN, NOV 8 A T 4:30 PM PT

Luke Lorentzen (USA 2026, 103 min)

A visually stunning ode to impeccable craftsmanship and the beauty of Maine, Luke Lorentzen’s latest documentary profiles the workers of Brooklin Boat Yard, a company building custom wooden yachts since 1960.

Citizen Osama

SUN, NOV 8 A T 11:30 AM PT

Ahmed Hassouna (Palestine, France 2026, 71 min)

A photographer turned war reporter documents life in Gaza while raising his newborn son, confronting the impossible challenge of bearing witness to catastrophe while protecting those he loves.

Darlene Love: I Know Where I’ve Been

FRI, NOV 6 A T 8:30 PM PT

Barry Avrich (Canada 2026, 118 min)

The extraordinary singer Darlene Love has lived a big life with its concomitant ups and downs, and this film covers them all as Love herself charts her career, always leading with joy and humor, featuring Cher, David Letterman, Bruce Springsteen, Dionne Warwick, and many more.

Doc Talks: Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller

Total Runtime: 60 min

SAT , NOV 7 A T 1:30 PM PT

Join us for an intimate and candid fireside conversation with filmmakers Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller, who will discuss the timeliness of their film, They’re Here about a Minneapolis community during a wave of ICE raids.

Doc Talks: Jeanie Finlay, Luke Lorentzen, and Erik Shirai

Total Runtime: 60 min

SAT , NOV 7 A T 3:30 PM PT

Doc Talks continues with filmmakers Jeanie Finlay (All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea), Luke Lorentzen (Boatbuilders), and Erik Shirai (Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing), as they discuss the cinematic power of observational storytelling and their unique approaches as both directors and cinematographers.

Doc Talks: Sam Pollard and J.M. Harper

Total Runtime: 60 min

SUN, NOV 8 A T 2:30 PM PT

Doc Talks’ final gathering profiles the esteemed and prolific Sam Pollard and rising star J.M. Harper. Pollard and Harper will discuss their newest features, Tutu and Soul Patrol, and their processes of excavating history, culture, and politics in their work.

Community Screening: Title to Be Announced

THU, NOV 5 A T 3:30 PM PT

Join us for a community screening of a very special documentary from a notable local Bay Area filmmaker that takes viewers behind the scenes of a major film production. The title of the film will be revealed in late October. Free and open to the public. Attendees must RSVP for tickets at sffilm.org.

Shorts Block: New York Times Op-Docs

Total Runtime: 99 min

FRI, NOV 6 A T 5:45 PM PT

(Films are in alphabetical order rather than order of play).

The Ones Who Stay

Olivier Côté, Jean-François Bouchard (Canada, Cuba 2026, 22 min)

Amid a national migration crisis, four young Cuban artists go against the tide and choose to stay.

The Revolution Against Death

Joshua Oppenheimer (Denmark, Sweden 2026, 23 min)

Joshua Oppenheimer gazes into the world of an aging community and their eccentric efforts to achieve immortality.

Son

Leona Cauklija (Sweden 2026, 13 min)

A Swedish mother’s love knows no bounds, using graffiti to track down her long lost son.

The Tuners

Paweł Chorzępa (Poland 2026, 23 min)

Distinguished tuners work tirelessly to achieve perfect pitch for their instruments at a renowned piano competition.

A Wolf in the Suburbs

Amélie Hardy (Canada 2026, 18 min)

A Mississaugan man revives his former Olympian mindset in a fight to preserve his lawn’s overgrowth.

Shorts Block: Sensory Experience

Total Runtime: 100 min

FRI, NOV 6 A T 3 PM PT

(Films are in alphabetical order rather than order of play).

Chuuraa

Evgenia Arbugaeva (UK 2026, 18 min)

A Sakha scientist journeys into Siberia’s melting permafrost, where the past emerges alongside ancestral beliefs.

Listen

Taliesin Black-Brown (USA 2026, 15 min)

As memory fades and nature changes, an Alaskan sound recordist listens closely to what remains.

Pelo Lindo

Josue Garcia Prado (Guatemala 2026, 24 min)

Decades after her son’s forced disappearance, a Guatemalan mother’s enduring faith keeps his memory alive.

Still Standing

Victor Tadashi Suárez, Livia Albeck-Ripka (USA 2026, 10 min)

After the Eaton Fire, Altadena residents confront toxic contamination in homes insurers insist are safe to inhabit.

They’re Here

Laura Poitras, Rachel Lauren Mueller (USA 2026, 25 min)

When masked ICE agents descend on Minneapolis, neighbors mobilize, tracking the movements of officers to protect one another.

You Do Not Exist

Dwayne LeBlanc (USA 2026, 8 min)

Beneath passing planes, a man reflects on memory, belonging, and the paths not taken.

Soul Patrol

SAT , NOV 7 A T 2:00 PM PT

J.M. Harper (USA 2026, 100 min)

This moving, creative, and seminal documentary depicts the final reunion of an all-Black six-man patrol team in Vietnam, ensuring that their courage and experiences are not lost to history.

Sumo: Spirit Weighs Nothing

SUN, NOV 8 A T 1:30 PM PT

Erik Shirai (Japan, USA, UK, Denmark 2026, 99 min)

Erik Shirai cinematically captures the spectacle of strength that is the world of professional sumo wrestling, and shines a rare spotlight on the secrecy of the sport and its formidable competitors.

Teen Workshop: Creating Untold Stories

Total Runtime: 120 min

SAT , NOV 7 A T 1 PM PT

Join Ben Proudfoot, two-time Academy Award®-winning filmmaker and the founder and CEO of Breakwater Studios, for a teen-centered documentary workshop.

Closing Night: Tutu

SUN, NOV 8 A T 7:30 PM PT

Sam Pollard (UK 2026, 102 min)

A revelatory portrait of Desmond Tutu, the beloved South African archbishop whose fearless moral voice, infectious humor, and unwavering commitment to justice helped reshape a nation and inspire generations.