Film: Mission Love

An afternoon of radical and rarely seen films by Ray Balberan and Mission Mediarts, followed by a post-screening discussion. 

“These films represent a time in Mission District history when young people took to the streets in the struggle to gain access to the broadcast airwaves to serve the community, share our own views, and create systematic change around issues like empowerment, poverty, youth employment, police brutality, and racial discrimination.” — Ray Balberan

Films

The Family (1971, 12 minutes) In the style of cinema verite, director Ray Balberan documents the beauty of his own Mission District: women around the kitchen table telling stories about raising their families, bathing and feeding children and sharing views on current events; men playing poker and talking about supporting their families and struggles they encounter in the streets of San Francisco. The Family was broadcast nationally as part of a series about love officially commissioned by PBS television.

Mission Streets (4 minutes) This short montage shows vibrant street scenes in the Mission District in the ‘70s, featuring well-known neighborhood spots like Dolores Park, Mission High School, La Palma Mexicatessen and New Mission Market, as well as young people playing music and socializing along the streets of the Mission.

Back on the Streets (1972, 36 minutes) This film presents a series of dreamlike images portraying a time of contradictions and hypocrisy, when young men came home from war to communities struggling for free speech and human rights. Imbued with a sense of the surreal, it moves between recreated moments on the battlefield to real life moments of war in the Mission where young people raised their voices and organized against police suppression and brutality. Back on the Streets also features well known revolutionary Nicaraguan poet Roberto Vargas reading his poem Blame it on the Reds.

Mission Coalition Organization Demonstration and Press Conference (1973, 17 minutes) This documentary focuses on the protest organized by the Mission Coalition Organization of the cancellation of the “Mission and 24th Street” program, produced by Mission Mediarts on local public television. At the press conference, Mission Mediarts founder Ray Rivera speaks about the need for employment opportunities and community-based media programming that truly represents the perspectives of youth and people of color systematically excluded by the mainstream media.

Ray Balberan, filmmaker, activist, and community leader, is a lifelong advocate for youth rights who has documented the history of the Mission District over five decades.

Vero Majano is a multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District. As a storyteller and curator, Majano’s practice includes live cinema, archival film, performance and collage, which preserve stories and include untold narratives in a greater San Francisco history. Her work creates space to acknowledge and remember the queer Latinx communities that have shaped one of San Francisco’s most iconic yet contested neighborhoods.

Debra Koffler is an independent documentary filmmaker and arts educator with a passion for music, oral history and personal storytelling. With over three decades of experience, she started her career at the Real Alternatives Program High School and later founded the Conscious Youth Media Crew. As a member of the Mission Mediarts Archive, she has worked alongside mentor Ray Balberan for the past 20 years, supporting the custodianship of the collection's films and videos. 

Koffler’s acclaimed documentary film, Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, received numerous accolades, including the prestigious 2012 Producers Guild Award and a Grammy nomination. She holds a degree in city and regional planning and urban anthropology from Cornell University. Utilizing her extensive network of resources and relationships, Debra actively contributes to community building and empowerment through the mediums of film, music and cultural arts.

Loriz “Ginger” Godines is a filmmaker based in the Bay Area. She learned film archiving as an intern at Oddball Films under Stephen Parr in San Francisco’s Mission District in the early 2000s. Ginger’s short films have been recognized by the Latino Film Festival in San Francisco. Ginger began volunteering at Conscious Youth Media Crew in 2004 and is also a member of the Mission Mediarts Archive. Her giant sense of humor and positive energy have helped keep the archive in motion. She recently received her associate’s degree in cinema production and is pursuing her BA at San Francisco State University.

Schedule

• 1 p.m.: doors open, mingle and greet, w Chulita Vinyl Club DJ Sue Problema
• 2–3:30 p.m.: Screening and post-screening discussion

Connect: 

Conscious Youth Media - Website

Mission Mdiarts Archive - Website

4-Star Theater - Website | 4-Star Theater - Instagram