Dimensions overlap, timelines fracture, tech is tech-ing and nothing is off-limits. In this immersive dramatic reading, five BIPOC Bay Area writer/directors will present fresh perspectives in science fiction --- with homegrown actors bringing their stories to life accompanied by curated sound design. Produced by Celia C. Peters/Artistic Freedom Ltd. Presented by Betti Ono.

Saturday, May 17 at 6pm. California Ballroom, 1736 Franklin St., Oakland. Reception to follow show. Free + open to the public.

CiNEOLA returns to the Roxie Theater with short film program, SERENATA DE PROTESTA, reflecting on the Latin American diaspora and the experiences of Latine communities in California. Features live in-person Q&A with local filmmakers.

Accessibility Info: Click here to learn more.

Join us on March 15th, 4-7pm at Woody's Cafe in Oakland for an enchanting afternoon celebrating independent filmmaking! Meet the team behind "Henrietta The Dragon Slayer," a fantasy short film. And see behind-the-scenes and about the big vision for this proof of concept project.

Your $10 ticket includes light refreshments, engaging ice-breakers, exclusive behind-the-scenes content, and more! Costumes welcome!

Every ticket directly supports our post-production costs. Help bring this magical story to life while enjoying a fun-filled community event!

Get your tickets now!

Venue is ADA-accessible

VERSED is a series of hybrid workshops, hands-on labs, virtual and in-person trainings for creators of all ages and skill levels to spark and sustain careers in the media arts on a free or below-market basis.

The next session will feature a conversation with Boots Riley.

Activist, filmmaker, and musician, Boots Riley studied film at San Francisco State University before rising to prominence as the frontman of hip-hop groups The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. His debut feature film Sorry to Bother You premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, was acquired by Annapurna Pictures, and was released to resounding box office success and widespread critical acclaim.

Fervently dedicated to social change, Boots was deeply involved with the Occupy Oakland movement and was one of the leaders of the activist group The Young Comrades. His book of lyrics and anecdotes, Tell Homeland Security-We Are The Bomb, is out on Haymarket Press. 

He is the recipient of the Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature Film, and SFFILM's Kanbar Award. His most recent work, I'm a Virgo, is available on Amazon and was nominated for a Gotham Award and 4 Independent Spirit Awards. He is currently working on I Love Boosters starring Keke Palmer and Demi Moore.

Blood & Popcorn Film Festival is a micro Horror film festival that celebrates Bay Area Filmmakers and spotlights international talents year round with multiple horror film screenings. Enjoy the best curated collection of horror films that offer spine chilling frights and gory delights. Actor and Filmmaker Q&A.

Join us in San Francisco to learn and connect with the Bay Area film and media community! Speakers and sessions will include insights from ITVS’ groundbreaking study, California Film Commission info session on the state tax credit for independent filmmakers, Film SF, local filmmakers who have made projects in the Bay Area, local union members and representatives, the Bay List, and more.

Accessibility: The Foundry and ITVS are wheelchair accessible. ITVS has a lift available for access to the second floor if needed. Both venues have ADA-compliant and gender-neutral restrooms. ITVS is next door to The Foundry.

Also, be sure to stay tuned for SFFILM’s Frost House and The Roxie and George Rush’s Karaoke gathering on December 12th.

The Bay Area Media Maker Summit (BAMMS) was launched in 2021 to cultivate a healthy and inclusive film and media making community. You can find out more about BAMMS here.

Learn More

SFTFF is the world's first and longest-running Transgender Film Festival, and co-presents year-round screenings in collaboration with other LGBT film festivals.

Accessibility Info can be viewed here.

This is the 7th consecutive year of the AfroComicCon International Film Festival and our first year at the historic Grand Lake Theater. The festivities are from 4 pm - 10:30 pm. Our co-directors are Juan Davis and Mirage Thrams. We have an amazing program this year:

• AFCCIFF '24 Finalists film screenings, films from the Bay Area, the US, and from all over the world!

• An AfroComicCon Fashion Show that will dazzle you

• Live music entertainment

• A filmmaker's panel with Q & A

• We are announcing our collaboration with 'Clip Tease' an LA-based film festival brought to us by Mirage Thrams our co-director, all trailers submitted to our festival will be automatically enrolled in hers, and the winner will get their film produced!

• An afterparty, TBA the venue, (close by)

3rd i's 22nd annual SF International South Asian Film Festival presents groundbreaking cinema from India, Pakistan, France, UK, Canada, and the USA. From witty comedies to nuanced dramas, from sci-fi to real life, 3rd i offers a celluloid celebration of inspiring stories from South Asia and its Diaspora.

Superfest Disability Film Festival is coming this week, and whether you are joining in person in the Bay Area or online anywhere in the world, you need to be a part of it!  Superfest is the longest running disability film festival in the world. Since 1970, it has celebrated cinema that portrays disability through a diverse, unabashed and engaging lens, and we can't wait to come together as a community to take in this much-loved disability cultural event for its 37th festival, hybrid for the second year, with new levels of access.

Image Description: A purple and white flyer with stylized film reel borders, showing colorful pictures of shots from all of the films, a white film wheel graphic, and the following text in white and yellow: It’s almost here! The 2024 Superfest Disability Film Festival. Passes are available now and start at $0! www.superfestfilm.org. Oct 17-20 Virtual Screenings, Oct 19 at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. There are logos for the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability and the Disability Cultural Center.

Back for its seventh edition, SpookFest is the beloved film festival that goes bump in the night! We scavenged the crypts, summoned the demons, and took all the candy from the “Take 1” bowls to bring you a night of homegrown short films and Halloweeny spookiness. There’s also a costume contest, so dress to impress! After the screening, join us for a FREE afterparty to continue the festivities and meet the filmmakers.

Accessibility: Wheelchair and ADA Seating, Wheelchair-Accessible Bathroom, Assistive Listening Devices (comfortable headphones that increase the audio volume for all movies)

Future style is hitting The Town  Filmmaker Celia C. Peters will preview The Godspeed Collexion at FASHION FORWARD on October10 at 7pm. Get a sneak peek at the capsule collection inspired by the lead characters in GODSPEED, the afrofuturist thriller now in development. Also peep the work of five other illmatic independent Oakland designers who will also be previewing their collections. This free, ticketed event is part of Oakland Style Week 2024.

A screening of the film, The Five Demands, about the 1969 protest at City College of New York initiated with five demands from Black and Puerto Rican students seeking more inclusion at the college. The screening will be followed by a discussion with director Andrea Weiss and student leader Francee Covington. 

In April 1969, a small group of Black and Puerto Rican students shut down the City College of New York, an elite public university located right in the heart of Harlem. Fueled by the revolutionary fervor sweeping the nation, the strike soon turned into an uprising, leading to the extended occupation of the campus, classes being canceled, students being arrested and the resignation of the college president. Through archival footage and modern-day interviews, we follow the students’ struggle against the institutional racism that, for over a century, had shut out people of color from this and other public universities. The Five Demands revisits the untold story of this explosive student takeover and proves that a handful of ordinary citizens can band together to take action and effect meaningful change. 

NR, 57 mins., 2023. 

Free to attend.

The ennui of a filmmaker, trapped between aspiration and reality, frames Lana Jing’s quirky, sarcastic, and cinematic-joke filled quarter-life crisis. At her lecture hall job, where aging white men wax on, self-involved, Lana accidentally frames her friend and co-worker when she destroys the only copy of an aging tech-bro’s high-profile lecture. Lana is forced to navigate stop motion animation, a secret admirer, and terrible bridge traffic to sort out a way forward to her destiny… kinda.

Join us for an evening of community building and ideas exchange as we celebrate creativity and 20 years of building the BAYCAT community! 

Have meaningful, facilitated conversations exploring roles beyond the line, and how to be a filmmaker in the ever-changing landscape of the media industry in the Bay Area. Enjoy small bites and beverages while hearing from like-minded creatives from all stages of their careers!

Theatrical Premier of Bay Area Film “Punk Kids”. Hosted by: Tony Gapastione of BraveMaker.org Q&A Moderated by: Sam Bempong of Make It Bay.

The Punk Kids journey began in 2018 when writer director Mike Heff was inspired to write a short film about his experiences growing up in a punk rock band. Punk Kids was only Mike’s second script since he moved away from directing music videos and focused on writing screenplays. He produced Punk kids with Tiny Rabbit Productions as a short film in 2019 and was discovered by Executive Producer Jamal Trulove from the award winning film The Last Black Man in San Francisco. With the help of Jamal and his company Tru Narrativ, Punk Kids was turned into an independent feature film. Produced during the pandemic over the span of 3 years, Punk Kids is a true testament to the gritty punk rock spirit of chasing your dreams and achieving them even when the odds are against you.

Accessibility Info:

Closed Captioning. ADA Venue.