The 25th edition of the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival by SF IndieFest, better known as SF DocFest, arrives May 28–June 7, 2026, offering a hybrid format, with screenings at the Roxie Theater, Vogue Theater, and Artists Television Access in San Francisco, alongside a virtual program streaming through sfindie.com.

For a quarter century, SF DocFest has championed documentaries outside the mainstream, featuring films perhaps too personal, experimental, political, or unconventional for multiplexes and streaming platforms. The festival’s organizers believe that human curation matters more than ever, in an era increasingly shaped by automation.

The 2026 lineup reflects that philosophy with a slate ranging from intimate personal stories to punk rock histories, meditations on grief, and archival portraits of San Francisco itself. This year’s opening night selections set the tone for the festival’s eclectic spirit. Mischa Richter’s “Summer Tour” tracks Jerry and Annie, a young couple immersed in the culture surrounding Dead & Company during the band’s final tour. Part road movie, part love story, the documentary captures the communal ethos of Deadhead culture and the enduring mythology of the Grateful Dead, whose roots stretch back to Palo Alto and San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury counterculture.

Sharing the festival opening night is James Buddy Day’s “40 Years of Fuckin’ Up,” a quirky and irreverent chronicle of punk legends NOFX. Featuring band members in attendance, the film traces how a group of self-described untalented teenagers evolved into one of the most successful independent bands in music history. Frontman Fat Mike — who divides his time between San Francisco’s Mission District and Las Vegas — serves as both protagonist and producer, while the documentary also highlights the impact of Fat Wreck Chords, the influential independent label founded by the band in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood. Before the screening, the festival will host a free punk-themed pop-up exhibit and band meet-and-greet at the nearby 518 Valencia Gallery.

One of the festival’s centerpieces is “#WhileBlack,” by Sidney Fussell and Jennifer Holness. The documentary examines the viral circulation of videos depicting anti-Black violence, centering on the murder of George Floyd, footage viewed more than a billion times in less than two weeks. With access to Darnella Frazier and Diamond Reynolds — whose livestream documented the police killing of Philando Castile — the film interrogates the role social media platforms play in amplifying trauma while profiting from engagement. More than a media critique, “#WhileBlack” explores the psychological burden placed on those who become accidental witnesses and public figures through acts of documentation.

Closing night feqtures “Remake,” the latest work from autobiographical filmmaker Ross McElwee. Known for classics such as “Sherman’s March,” McElwee turns the camera inward once again following the death of his son Adrian. Drawing from decades of home movies and archival footage, the documentary becomes an inquiry into memory, grief, and the ethics of filmmaking itself. As McElwee revisits his personal archive and contemplates a fictional adaptation of “Sherman’s March,” “Remake” evolves into a profound meditation on mortality and the complicated relationship between life and cinema.

San Francisco itself also takes center stage in Rick Prelinger’s “Lost Landscapes of San Francisco 20,” a live cinema event assembled from hundreds of newly uncovered archival films spanning more than a century of city history. Combining home movies, industrial footage, and street scenes, Prelinger reconstructs the textures of everyday life across 128 years of San Francisco history — from transportation systems and labor movements to counterculture demonstrations and vanished neighborhoods. The event continues Prelinger’s long-running project of collective urban memory-making, inviting audiences to experience the city’s past through ephemeral fragments of film.The anniversary edition also celebrates DocFest’s own history.

Director Colin Hanks returns to the festival with a free screening of his acclaimed documentary “John Candy: I Like Me.” The affectionate portrait revisits the life and legacy of the beloved comedian through archival footage and interviews with family, friends, and collaborators. Beyond celebrating Candy’s comic brilliance, the film addresses the anxieties and fatphobia that shaped his career and public image. The screening will conclude with an onstage conversation featuring Hanks.

Rounding out the special presentations is a 25th-anniversary screening of Thomas Riedelsheimer’s “Rivers and Tides,” presented in collaboration with the Roxie Theater’s ARTHOUSE 50 series. The documentary follows environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy as he creates ephemeral sculptures from mud, stone, ice, and wood, embracing impermanence as part of the artistic process. Following the screening, longtime Goldsworthy gallerist Cheryl Haines will share stories from her decades-long collaboration with the artist.At 25 years old, SF DocFest remains fiercely committed to documentary filmmaking that surprises, provokes, and connects audiences through deeply human storytelling — precisely the kind of cinema that cannot be generated by an algorithm.

The 25th San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (SF DocFest)
May 28-June 7, 2026
Roxie Theater, Vogue Theater, and Artists Television Access in San Francisco, and virtually at sfindie.com