Declare Your Independents

DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENTS

SDFF + NOR CAL PUBLIC MEDIA TEAM UP FOR DECLARE YOUR INDEPENDENTS

SDFF’s nascent collaboration with Nor Cal Public Media, Declare Your Independents, is a 4-part series is hosted by actor/activist Peter Coyote and celebrates independent documentary.  Declare Your Independents is organized by the guiding principle that documentary is a powerful tool that brings deep truths to light. Documentary not only opens up new worlds to its audiences, it allows us to see these new worlds from diverse perspectives, and in doing so, to recognize our common humanity. Obligated to the truth of the story they’re telling, documentary filmmakers afford us rare opportunities to engage in what’s real.

Each episode included 3 short docs, organized by theme. Episode 1, “Making Our Own Way,” features docs about dynamic and dedicated trailblazing women strive for excellence, maintain generations of knowledge, tackle the challenges of aging, build community, and inspire the youth of today – all while forging their own way. The episode includes Knocking Down The Fences (Meg Shutzer, 2019), Pat’s Studio (Ashleigh McArthur, 2017), and  A Great Ride (Deborah Craig and Veronica Deliz, 2018). Episode 2, “Inside & Out” features a set of films about identity and representation, including On Beauty (Joanna Rudnick, 2014), I Am Sarah Maple (Tyler Gurd + Ariel Fisher, 2012), This Is Not The End (Hilary Campbell, 2012). Episode 3, “Celestial Pioneers,” includes documentaries that explore our relationship to outer space and what it has to tell us about our earthbound relations. This installment includes the films Madame Mars (Jan Millsapps, 2018), Eliana Nossa: The Ionosphere (Daniel L. Bernardi, 2020), and Almost Famous: The Lost Astronaut (Ben Proudfoot, 2019). Episode 4, “Loss & Restoration,” is an international group of films that looks around the world to find meaning in damage and decay, restoration and renewal. It includes the films Last Days At Paradise High (Derek Knowles & Emily Thomas, 2020), Minka (Davina Pardo, 2011), Irish Folk Furniture (Tony Donoghue, 2012). See the episode listing below for details on the films.

EPISODE 1 – MAKING OUR OWN WAY

A GREAT RIDE

  • 3 Years Ago

Deep friendships, determination, and quirky death-defying humor color this group portrait of women who are courageous role models for aging with independent spirit and joy.

CONTINUE READING

PAT’S STUDIO

  • 3 Years Ago

Preparing to leave the studio she’s shared with fellow artists for 20 years, Inner West artist Pat Harry excavates her life’s work.

CONTINUE READING

Still of pro-softball G.O.A.T. and Rawlings Gold Glove winner A.J. Andrews from Megan Shutzer’s Knocking Down The Fences. Shutzer's forthcoming short Mother tells the story of another strong, determined woman, Malia Spanyol, who is determined to build a space for the next generation of San Francisco women and femmes. The film is one of three selected for an LGBTQIA short documentary lab run by Hulu and Field of Vision’s If/Then Shorts program.

KNOCKING DOWN THE FENCES

  • 3 Years Ago

Knockout baseballer AJ Andrews, the first woman to win a Rawlings Gold Glove, struggles to make it as one of the best professional softball players in the world.

CONTINUE READING

EPISODE 2 – INSIDE & OUT

ON BEAUTY

  • 3 Years Ago

A story about challenging norms and redefining beauty.

CONTINUE READING

I AM SARAH MAPLE

  • 3 Years Ago

Daring intersectional feminist artist Sarah Maple’s bold self-expression on full display.

CONTINUE READING

THIS IS NOT THE END

  • 3 Years Ago

The more signs we see, the more secrets are revealed.

CONTINUE READING

EPISODE 3 – CELESTIAL PIONEERS

ELIANA NOSSA: THE IONOSPHERE

  • 3 Years Ago

In a striking mix of normalcy and trauma, solace and gravity, Last Days at Paradise High looks at a climate catastrophe through the eyes of a group of teenagers.

CONTINUE READING

MADAME MARS: WOMEN AND THE QUEST FOR WORLDS BEYOND

  • 3 Years Ago

As a new space age dawns, have women come far enough to go farther than they ever have before?

CONTINUE READING

ALMOST FAMOUS: THE LOST ASTRONAUT

  • 3 Years Ago

In 1963, Ed Dwight Jr. was poised to be NASA’s first African-American astronaut. Until suddenly, he wasn’t.

CONTINUE READING

EPISODE 4 – LOSS & RESTORATION

IRISH FOLK FURNITURE

  • 3 Years Ago

An stunningly animated documentary about repair and recycling abandoned folk furniture in an Irish village

CONTINUE READING

MINKA

  • 3 Years Ago

An ancient Japanese farmhouse rescued… An intimate story about architecture, memory and the meaning of home

CONTINUE READING

LAST DAYS AT PARADISE HIGH

  • 3 Years Ago

In a striking mix of normalcy and trauma, solace and gravity, Last Days at Paradise High looks at a climate catastrophe through the eyes of a group of teenagers.

CONTINUE READING

SDFF

ABOUT SDFF

The Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival is an annual celebration of non-fiction filmmakers from around the world. Winners of SDFF’s Jury Award and Audience Award have gone on to garner major industry awards and accolades.

SDFF is a Program of
Sebastopol Center for the Arts,
282 S. High Street, Sebastopol, CA, 95472


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