Citizen Film

Join former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, historian David Kennedy and a diverse group of Americans to explore whether a unifying set of beliefs, an American creed, can prove more powerful than the issues that divide us.

Fractured into a Turkish North and a Greek South, the island of Cyprus is divided by ethnicity, faith and land. through a tragic modern history, this island, historically shared by Greek-Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, now llies desecrated and divided. This documentary explores diaspora identity and national identity of immigrants and exiles through their bittersweet memories of the lost homeland.

In 1939, Yiddish was the spoken language of three-quarters of the world's Jews. But when leading Jewish scholars convened in 1980, they estimated that only 70,000 Yiddish books remained in the world. This engaging, often funny documentary film chronicles the adventures of an enterprising 23-year-old named Aaron Lansky, who rallied together an international network of volunteers and set out to rescue the world's Yiddish books. Twenty years later, the National Yiddish Book Center has collected 1.5 million Yiddish books and helped save a rich diverse, and surprisingly modern literature from oblivion. With rare archival images, and a lyrical portrayal of the National Yiddish Book Center's warehouse and cultural complex, A Bridge Of Books celebrates a pursuit that has become a powerful vehicle for the transmission of history, culture and identity across several generations.

Moscow, January 1948. In the bitter cold, a large crowd attends the State Funeral of the Yiddish actor and director Solomon Mikhoels. An official proclamation mourns the death of "a great People's Artist of the Soviet Union." What people are really mourning is the death of the most popular Jewish theater in the Soviet Union, and the man who kept it alive against all odds for over 20 years. No doubt many suspected the truth: he had just been assassinated by Stalin's secret police.

In 1996, Women's Educational Media released their groundbreaking documentary Its Elementary-Talking About Gay Issues in School. It's Still Elementary tells the fascinating history of why and how the 1996 film was made, the infamous response it provoked from the conservative right, and the questions it raises about the national safe schools movement today. Includes interviews with some of the original students and teachers from Its Elementary.

School lunch chef Wanda McAfee-Conart reflects in her job and how it connects her to the sensory environment and to her own family history.

A Foot in the Door tells the story of Kindergarten to College (K2C), the first universal children’s savings account program in the United States. Launched by the City and County of San Francisco, the program automatically provides a college savings account to children when they start kindergarten.

Chris Renfro doesn’t just grow and harvest grapes on a hillside high above San Francisco’s Highway 280 to make delicious local wine. He is dedicated to building a sustainable food community that nourishes every member of the local economy and ecosystem. With the 280 Project’s mission to reclaim space, realize opportunity and revitalize community, Renfro brings both passion and vision to the notion that land ownership is a powerful path to self-determination.

Depicts what happens when students K-8 discuss LGBT-related topics in age-appropriate ways. Shot in six public and private schools (in San Francisco and New York City, as well as Madison, Wisconsin, and Cambridge, Massachusetts), It’s Elementary models excellent teaching about family diversity, name-calling, stereotypes, community building, and more.

Saaty-Tafoya reflects on her eight week sabbatical, during which she visited healthcare centers across the United States that are innovators in diverse design and practice, to learn how to merge service delivery transformation, hospitality, sustainability, and community.

Each of the stories celebrates pioneers of a national movement to engage encore workers, adults age 50+, in solving problems, meeting important social needs, and improving life for people and communities

The savory short features 2015 Berlinale Kamera honoree Alice Waters, whose vision started Berkeley Unified School District’s free, universal and delicious organic lunch program. The screening preceded a feature-length documentary, discussion with Waters, and dinner lovingly prepared by a top chef.

"People of the Graphic Novel" is a playful introduction to the history of an art form: from the first "funny pages" to seminal artists including Will Eisner and Art Spiegelman.

Charlotte Biltekoff is the author of “Eating Right in America” where she traces the food reform movements throughout American history. She questions socially accepted ideas about “good and bad eaters” and what those assumptions reveal about food, culture, and the struggle over moral values.

Making from-scratch meals for 5,000 kids is hard work for everyone, and it happens every day at the Berkeley Public Schools Central Kitchen. Part of the Lunch Love Community series.

David and Johnathan are young African-American men passionate about their jobs managing a fresh produce stand in an East Bay “food desert.” Their routine and work for Farm Fresh Choice opens up the world and its needs to them.

"Throwing Curves" uses striking archival images, observational footage of the 97-year old industrial designer, Eva Zeisel, who is still an artist at work. this along with engaging interviews to capture her personality which is as daring and persuasive as her designs.

When filmmaker Debra Chasnoff faces stage-4 cancer, she turns her lens on herself and the disease. What emerges is a portrait of her extended LGBTQ family —a story about hanging on while letting go.

Michael Franti, winner of the San Francisco Foundation 2009 Community Leadership Awards (the Helen Crocker Russell Award) - artist, activist, founder of Spearhead, for embodying a social movement of justice and activism and being a voice for the vulnerable. By founding the music groups Spearhead and the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, as well as the Power to the Peaceful festival, Michael built an underground movement to spread a message of social justice and advocated for underrepresented people. His recent film, I Know I'm Not Alone, highlights the human cost of war and empowers people to utilize their vote and recognize their collective power to impact American foreign policy.

Chinese for Affirmative Action is a recipient of the San Francisco Community Leadership Award for being "a champion against discrimination and for advancing systemic change for a racially just society. With its foundation firmly in the Asian and Pacific American community, its grassroots and policy efforts cross cultures to ensure equal opportunities for communities of color, reduce language barriers, and promote immigrant rights across the Bay Area." - San Francisco Foundation