2021 San Francisco Veterans Film Festival

San Francisco – OneVet OneVoice and San Francisco Public Library are excited to announce the lineup for the 10th Annual San Francisco Veterans Film Festival (#SFVFF21), the Bay Area’s premier military and veteran film event. The festival, with screenings on Nov. 13 and 14 at the Main Library, is a free event showcasing unique independent films that explore the complexities of military service and the challenges of reintegrating as a civilian.

The festival, which was held online in 2020 due to COVID-19, will take place both online and in person this year. Come see selected films and panel discussions with filmmakers and local representatives of the veteran community in the Main Library’s Koret Auditorium. Following the festival weekend, films will be available for online streaming for an additional seven days. 

The films and discussion panels of the festival provide a vibrant forum for veterans to find expression, healing and community while increasing public awareness. This year, the festival has a special focus on the contributions of women service members and veterans as well as some of the obstacles they face. Attendees on Saturday, Nov. 13, have the opportunity to record a short video sharing their reactions to the films or their own experience as a member of the veteran community. 

“As we move beyond the isolation and anxiety of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are grateful to host this in-person and online forum bringing together veterans, active duty personnel, military families, and our civilian community. All too often, the accomplishments, sacrifices, and struggles faced by our military personnel, especially female service members, go unacknowledged, and their reentry challenges go unsupported,” comments Eddie Ramirez, founder of the San Francisco Veterans Film Festival and the sponsoring organization OneVet OneVoice.

Highlights of the 2021 San Francisco Veterans Film Festival include the following:

Blood and Glory, directed by Satinder Kaur

The friendship between two homeless female veterans is tested when they confront adversity, discrimination, and even mother nature itself in their attempt to find work and get through the day. 

Screening Saturday, Nov. 13

Charlotte Mansfield: A Woman Photographer Goes to War, directed by Brian Graves

Sgt. Charlotte Dee Mansfield’s pioneering career as a Women’s Army Corp photographer during World War II is explored through an extraordinary archive of unpublished military photographs, personal correspondence, expert and family interviews.

Screening Saturday, Nov. 13

Moving Past...Goodbye, directed by Arielle Keach-Tremblay

Directed by 9-year-old Arielle Keach-Tremblay, this film takes us on a journey narrated by three actors portraying Stevie, daughter of a military family, at different ages. We see her experience the consequences of choices made and learn hard lessons about running away from your problems.

Screening Saturday, Nov. 13

Raw, directed by Drake Shannon

Past and present are blurred by a horrifying transgression as a female soldier faces the aftermath of a military patrol in the Middle East.

Screening Saturday, Nov. 13

Veterans Journey Home: On Black Mountain, directed by Frederick Marx

22 women veterans experience a 4-month mindfulness meditation-based workshop at a Tibetan Buddhist retreat center in the hills north of San Francisco, CA. They confront the demons from their military service: sexual harassment, rape, abuse, gender and race discrimination, career exploitation and the lies and hypocrisy from their commanders.

Screening Sunday, Nov. 14

The full lineup of screenings is available at sfveteransfilmfestival.org.

San Francisco Veterans Film Festival

Nov. 13, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Nov. 14, 1 – 5 p.m.

San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium, 100 Larkin St.

The event is free and open to the public.

Films will be available streaming online for 7 days after the event.

San Francisco Public Library is dedicated to free and equal access to information, knowledge, independent learning and the joys of reading for our diverse community. The library system is made up of 27 neighborhood branches, the San Francisco Main Library at Civic Center and four bookmobiles.


To learn more, please visit sfpl.org and follow on Twitter @SFPublicLibrary and on Instagram @sfpubliclibrary.

 

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Jaime Wong  

Public Relations Officer | San Francisco Public Library

100 Larkin Street | San Francisco, CA | 94102

(415) 557-4295

Jaime.Wong@sfpl.org

October 28, 2021