SDFF Exclusives

Sebastopol film festival

SDFF  VIDEO  EXCLUSIVES
from Docs Make House Calls 2020

FILMMAKER TROND KVIG ANDREASSEN ON THE SECRET LIVES OF NEIGHBORS, AND THE UNEXPECTED, POST-COVID RESONANCE OF HIS SHORT

Trond Kevin Andreason speaks with Jean McGlothlin, SDFF co-Director and programmer, about his documentary, Neighbors, and the unexpected, widespread relevance it has taken on as the coronavirus pandemic has driven people into relative physical isolation and made in-person social interactions increasingly rare. 
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to Neighbors

FILMMAKER JON OSAKI TALKS SYSTEMIC RACISM + HISTORIC REPETITIONS

Filmmaker Jon Osaki speaks with SDFF co-Director about his documentary, Alternative Facts, and the correlations between the U.S. government’s unlawful, racist internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII and present day policies such as the “Muslim Ban” and the detainment of Latinx immigrants in concentration camps on the U.S.-Mexico borde

See Alternative Facts
Film Details Here

THE DESERT’S BO KOVITZ  ON BAY AREA HOSPITAL CLOSURES
IN THE AGE OF COVID

The Desert filmmaker Bo Kovitz speaks with SDFF co-Director Jean McGlothlin about systemic racism in the health care system, how an East Bay hospital closure created a health care desert in the middle of one of the wealthiest areas in the country, and the impacts of that closure on how the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Bay Area.

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Developments Here See The Desert, Starting Oct. 23
on SDFF Streaming Schedule

Environmental Films, Activist Filmmakers:
Mark Titus on Bristol Bay Mine Project,
Bruce Young talks Pangolins,
Eva Rendle on the ignored aftermath of Wildfires
Cynthia Abbot and Andrea Leland on the Challenges of Sustainable Fishing

The Wild Director Mark Titus talks saving the world’s largest salmon run from mining.

Bristol Bay found an unlikely ally in Donal Trump Junior this week, according to a recent article in The Guardian. This issue is at the heart of The Wild, a film by Director Mark Titus, who sat down to talk with SDFF co-Director and Programmer Jean McGlothlin as a part of our Environmental Activism Film Slate, which may still be streaming as you read this! The slate of films ran from from July 21-Aug 9, but you can watch the full interview (above).

Eye of the Pangolin Director Bruce Young on this Increasingly Endangered Species

Raising awareness to the the Pangolin and efforts being made to preserve this curious, rare animal were at the heart of Eye of the Pangolin, which is also a part of SDFF’s Environmental Activism Film Program. This unique species is finally getting some much-needed attention with the film’s recent release, and synchronously, a new research program in Gabon to literally keep the little animals on the radar, in hopes of slaking trafficking. Take a look at SDFF co-Director Jean McGlothlin’s interview with Eye of the Pangolin Director Bruce Young.

ALL THAT REMAINS
filmmaker Eva Rendle

SDFF 2020 Docs Make House Calls Preview Week Q&A with Eva Rendle, director of All That Remains with host Jeffrey Zankel.

DICK OGG: FISHERMAN:
Cynthia Abbot and Andrea Leland

SDFF 2020 Docs Make House Calls Preview Week Q&A with Cynthia Abbot & Andrea Leland filmmakers of Dick Ogg: Fisherman with host Jeffrey Zankel.

OUR TIME MACHINE FILMMAKER Q&A

Opening night film for SDFF2020 Our Time Machine, screened as part of Docs Make House Calls. This is the Q&A for that online event with directors S. Leo Chiang and Yang Sun.

SDFF 2020 Jury Award Winners:
Filmmaker Acceptance Speeches

Feature – Midnight Family
by Luke Lorentzen

Luke Lorentzen accepts the SDFF 2020 Jury Award Winner for Features for his exhilarating Midnight Family.

Set in Mexico City’s wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a private ambulance, competing with other for-profit EMTs for patients in need of urgent help. As the Ochoas try to make a living in this fraught industry, they struggle to keep their dire finances from compromising the people in their care.

Shorts – Night Cleaners
by Hannah Nordenswan

Night Cleaners is a documentary about the people who clean up while most of the population sleeps. It explores the relationship between spaces and the cleaners who go through them at night, while shining a light on people who are rarely noticed.

The stories of the cleaners have similarities – most are immigrants and all have a special connection to the space they clean. Night Cleaners peeks behind the scenes lets us witness the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Minis – The Whale
by Iza Pająk

Jury Award Winner in Minis, The Whale, Filmmaker The Whale-Iza Pająk gives an acceptance speech.

A whale was found at the side of the Vistula river in Warsaw. How did it get there? As a large crowd gathered, a crew of professionals had cordoned off the area and were attending to it. Were they scientists or city technicians? Was the whale still alive? As we follow the film, we try to unravel this mystery.

Page’s featured image from SDFF 2020’s Our Time Machine by S. Leo Chiang and Yang Sun.