Documentary Screenings San Francisco

Engage with documentary film fans in San Francisco

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Outsider Film Night

Fri, Sep 25, 2:00 AM

From Community Cinema in SF Chinatown

4.7

**OPEN CALL for short films 15 mins and under⚠️** **[Submit films HERE](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Ns9Xm8PoEtroysiheFtrk46rMbfJZp8MFj3iLlqiQV0/edit?usp=drivesdk)** **DEADLINE to submit is Sep 18 ⌚️⏱👀** **SCREENING takes place Sep 24❣️❤️‍🔥💞** **ADDRESS is [@clarion_sf](https://www.instagram.com/clarion_sf/) 2 waverly place 🙈** **5$ notaflof 7-9 PM🤷🏽‍♂️** **Come one come allllllllllll🙇🏽‍♂️**

1 attendee

The American Astronaut in 35 mm !!

Thu, Sep 17, 12:30 AM

From Bay Area Film Society

4.9

**The Roxie is showing one of my all time favorite weird movies - Cory McAbee's The American Astronaut (2001), in 35mm!** If you have a tiny soft spot for weird off-the-wall films do not miss this! It's an utterly unique experience. Showtime is 6 pm - we'll get in line at 5.30. **It is likely that this screening will sell out so get your tickets EARLY here:** https://roxie.com/film/the-american-astronaut/ Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uujG1ADn2zk **The American Astronaut** Samuel Curtis, an interplanetary trader, deals in rare goods -- living or dead. After getting a device which will clone the extremely rare "Real Live Girl," this sets off a series of strange trades throughout the universe which grabs the attention of his nemesis, Professor Hess (Rocco Sisto). Determined to find Samuel, Hess systematically kills every person who has come in contact with Samuel.

5 attendees

Special Event: "Yourself and Yours" (Hong Sang-Soo, 2016)

Sat, Sep 26, 8:45 PM

From Bay Area Film Society

4.9

The Yerba Buena Canter for the Arts invites us to another special event as part of their series "Through an Open Window", a series of film screenings inspired by GaHee Park's exhibition at the YBCA. "Yourself and Yours" is a film of doppelgangers, mistaken identity, and the shifting ambiguities of desire. When painter Youngsoo (Kim Joo-hyuk) learns that his girlfriend, Minjung (Lee Yoo-young), was recently seen having drinks with another man, he confronts her—and they part badly. The next day, he goes looking for her, but she is nowhere to be found. As Youngsoo wanders and frets, Minjung moves through a series of encounters with other men—but to them, it seems she’s not herself. We have discounted tickets, and the ticket admission includes access to GaHee's exhibition "Behind the Curtain". We can go and enjoy the exhibition together after the screening. Tickets: https://ybca.ticketing.veevartapp.com/tickets/view/list/yourself-and-yours **Please use code MEETUP for a 50% discount!** Showtime is 2 pm, we'll meet no later than 1.45 pm at the screening room in the YBCA. You can find the full series of films here: https://ybca.org/event/through-an-open-window-film-series/ - we might schedule more from this series, let me know if you're particularly interested in any one of these. Hope to see you at the YBCA screening room!

2 attendees

The 2026 Brainwash Movie Festival Call and Shows

Sat, Sep 26, 3:00 AM

From Bay Area Film, TV and Commercial

4.9

**The Brainwash Movie Festival Super Extended Call For Entries Deadline!** ## A rarefied and unique event: Screening the weird, unusual and significantly great (but, probably, unheralded) movies of the world for the past 30 years. Every season, the Brainwash Movie Festival screens your movies, gives awards and now going online, too! Join us! Submit your movie and/or come on out for the shows, or stay home and see how it all looks on the home movie screen. Nothin’ like it! So enter and help yourself and the movie arts at ***[Brainwash!](https://www.strideevents.com/emails/tracking/click/1412?type=event)*** **Enter and try out the new movie submission site [Cinelot](https://www.strideevents.com/emails/tracking/click/1413?type=event) at a deep discount at $25 per short and $60 per feature until Sept. 12, 2026.** **Shows this season at the Boxshop, 951 Hudson Av., SF, CA, Fri. and Sat. 9/25-26/2026 (tickets now available on [Stride](https://www.strideevents.com/emails/tracking/click/1414?type=event) @$10ea.) and at** **PDE Studios, 2253 Poplar St., Oakland CA, Fri. and Sat. 11/13-14/2026.** **All shows start at 8:00p**

1 attendee

SF SciFi Short Film Showcase

Sun, Sep 13, 8:00 PM

From Incredible Food + Wine Experiences for Television

3.9

**The SF Science Fiction Short Film Showcase** is coming to the Marina Theatre in San Francisco on Sunday, September 13, from 1–5 PM! Join us for an afternoon of **over 14** award-winning independent **science fiction short films**, filmmakers, and imaginative storytelling on the big screen. This is a one-day-only showcase and a great opportunity to discover some terrific independent sci-fi filmmaking. Discount Advance tickets are available [www.SFSciFiShowcase.com](http://www.SFSciFiShowcase.com) (only 50 left) **ATTENDING FILM PANELISTS / AWARD WINNERS** * Marcus Hamm, TRIGGERED * Catherine Heath, SEASCAPE * Kathy Wen, THE SINGULARITY PROTOCOL * Cristiana Barbatelli, ABDUCTED * Kevin Geiger, WHISPERS IN THE VOID * John Longenbaugh, PARTHENOGENESIS Don't miss the incredible filmmakers, directors, producers, and screenwriters! Followed by a meet and greet at a local eatery on Chestnut Street.

1 attendee

Discover SF - Haight Ashbury Street Fair & Comedy Day

Sun, Sep 20, 6:30 PM

From Growth Social Volunteering Professionals

4.8

The Haight Ashbury Street Fair is at its 47th year, 6 blocks, 3 stages, on Sun Sep 20th. The Haight is a neighborhood of rich histories. It is where the Summer of Love happened in 1967. Also Grateful Dead, Hippies, counter culture etc.. The Victorians are still there, and so are the record stores, the vintage shops, the head shops and the murals. It's a genuinely great six blocks to walk, and most people who walk it have no idea what they're looking at. **Our day:** coffee at 11:30, an easy walk up into Buena Vista Park for the view, then down through the fair with a few stops where we tell you what actually happened on each corner. At 2:15 we walk out the far end into Golden Gate Park for **Comedy Day** — a completely separate free festival that happens to land on the same Sunday, five minutes away, in its 45th year, with 50-plus comedians. Blanket on the grass for the afternoon, then dinner in the Inner Sunset for whoever's hungry. Two unrelated free festivals, one Sunday, five minutes apart. That's the whole reason we picked this date. ## What we'll stop at **Buena Vista Park.** The city's oldest park, 1867, and a real forest in the middle of San Francisco. The crest is where they lit the fire, and it's one of the best views in town. One more thing nobody tells you: when the city moved its cemeteries out in the 1930s, WPA crews lined the park's drainage gutters with leftover marble headstones. They're still there — you can read names and dates off the stones under your feet. **710 Ashbury.** The Grateful Dead's house from 1966, raided October 2, 1967, everyone arrested, front page news. Private home now, so sidewalk only and keep it down. **635 Ashbury** half a block up is where Janis Joplin lived. **The Psychedelic Shop on Haight.** The Thelin brothers opened it in January 1966, before there was a scene to sell to. It's where the funeral was organized, and where Ron gave away every last thing on the shelves the day it happened. **Haight & Clayton — the Free Clinic.** Opened at 558 Clayton in June 1967 on a single argument: health care is a right, not a privilege. Thousands of kids had arrived with no money and no doctor, so somebody built them one. The free clinic model spread across the country from this corner. Of everything the sixties made here, this is the piece that lasted — not a sound, not a look. An institution. **The Panhandle**, one block north the whole way, where the funeral ended. Free concerts on a flatbed — the Dead, Big Brother, Jefferson Airplane, playing for nothing. The Diggers handed out free food here every afternoon, on the theory that if you can just give things away, you should. **Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight.** In a converted bowling alley since 1997, still one of the largest record stores anywhere. Not a plaque, not a museum — somebody's actual job. **And the fair itself,** which started in 1978 with Supervisor Harvey Milk's backing. That's a full decade after everything above, when the Haight had been through hard years and people were trying to bring it back. Worth knowing while you're standing in it. What's under your feet isn't the Summer of Love — it's the people who stayed after. *** ## The day **11:30 — Coffee To The People, 1206 Masonic Ave.** Right at the fair's east gate. Couches, bookshelves, been there forever. Say hi, get a coffee, meet a few people before we move. **12:00 — Up into Buena Vista Park.** A gentle climb through the trees to the crest. Introductions happen here. **12:45 — Down Haight Street** through the fair, stopping at the places above. Six blocks, no rush, nobody marching. **2:00 — Out at Stanyan.** **2:15 — Hippie Hill and Robin Williams Meadow.** Five minutes into Golden Gate Park. The slope above the meadow is Hippie Hill, where the drum circle has been going more or less continuously since 1967 and will be going on Sunday. We set up at the bottom of it for **Comedy Day** — a separate festival with its own organizers, in its 45th year, 50-plus comedians, noon to 5pm, also free. Blanket down, and that's where we are for three hours. **5:00 — Comedy ends.** **5:30 — Optional Dinner in the Inner Sunset.** Fifteen minutes through the park to 9th & Irving, which is nothing but places to eat. We'll pick on the day and split across a couple of tables. Come if you're hungry, peel off if you're done. No reservation, nobody counting. **Join [TownFlame](http://www.townflame.org/), Make Life Happen.** **Liability Waiver:** Participation in TownFlame events is voluntary and involves social interaction in public spaces. Activities are designed to be inclusive and respectful. Participants assume all risks and release TownFlame, its organizers, volunteers, and affiliates from liability for injury, illness, or damages, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. By attending, participants acknowledge that photographs, audio, and video recordings may be taken during events, and grant TownFlame the right to use such media for promotional and marketing purposes, in any format or platform, without further consent or compensation.

47 attendees

Discover SF -- Haight Ashbury Street Fair

Sun, Sep 20, 6:30 PM

From Bay Area Active & Social - 20s, 30s & 40s

4.8

You must have seen this iconic image somewhere, yes, that is Haight Ashbury, a neighborhood known for counter culture, and histories. Haight Ashbury is where the Summer of Love happened in 1967. Also Grateful Dead, Hippies, counter culture etc.. The Victorians are still there, and so are the record stores, the vintage shops, the head shops and the murals. It's a genuinely great six blocks to walk. And on this Sunday, the Height Ashbury Street Fair would hold its 47th event. We will be there, a walk through history. **Our day:** coffee at 11:30, an easy walk up into Buena Vista Park for the view, then down through the fair with a few stops where we tell you what actually happened on each corner. At 2:15 we walk out the far end into Golden Gate Park for **Comedy Day** — a completely separate free festival that happens to land on the same Sunday, five minutes away, in its 45th year, with 50-plus comedians. Blanket on the grass for the afternoon, then dinner in the Inner Sunset for whoever's hungry. Two unrelated free festivals, one Sunday, five minutes apart. That's the whole reason we picked this date. \#\# What we'll stop at **Buena Vista Park.** The city's oldest park, 1867, and a real forest in the middle of San Francisco. The crest is where they lit the fire, and it's one of the best views in town. One more thing nobody tells you: when the city moved its cemeteries out in the 1930s, WPA crews lined the park's drainage gutters with leftover marble headstones. They're still there — you can read names and dates off the stones under your feet. **710 Ashbury.** The Grateful Dead's house from 1966, raided October 2, 1967, everyone arrested, front page news. Private home now, so sidewalk only and keep it down. **635 Ashbury** half a block up is where Janis Joplin lived. **The Psychedelic Shop on Haight.** The Thelin brothers opened it in January 1966, before there was a scene to sell to. It's where the funeral was organized, and where Ron gave away every last thing on the shelves the day it happened. **Haight & Clayton — the Free Clinic.** Opened at 558 Clayton in June 1967 on a single argument: health care is a right, not a privilege. Thousands of kids had arrived with no money and no doctor, so somebody built them one. The free clinic model spread across the country from this corner. Of everything the sixties made here, this is the piece that lasted — not a sound, not a look. An institution. **The Panhandle**, one block north the whole way, where the funeral ended. Free concerts on a flatbed — the Dead, Big Brother, Jefferson Airplane, playing for nothing. The Diggers handed out free food here every afternoon, on the theory that if you can just give things away, you should. **Amoeba Music, 1855 Haight.** In a converted bowling alley since 1997, still one of the largest record stores anywhere. Not a plaque, not a museum — somebody's actual job. **And the fair itself,** which started in 1978 with Supervisor Harvey Milk's backing. That's a full decade after everything above, when the Haight had been through hard years and people were trying to bring it back. Worth knowing while you're standing in it. What's under your feet isn't the Summer of Love — it's the people who stayed after. \*\*\* \#\# The day **11:30 — Coffee To The People, 1206 Masonic Ave.** Right at the fair's east gate. Couches, bookshelves, been there forever. Say hi, get a coffee, meet a few people before we move. **12:00 — Up into Buena Vista Park.** A gentle climb through the trees to the crest. Introductions happen here. **12:45 — Down Haight Street** through the fair, stopping at the places above. Six blocks, no rush, nobody marching. **2:00 — Out at Stanyan.** **2:15 — Hippie Hill and Robin Williams Meadow.** Five minutes into Golden Gate Park. The slope above the meadow is Hippie Hill, where the drum circle has been going more or less continuously since 1967 and will be going on Sunday. We set up at the bottom of it for **Comedy Day** — a separate festival with its own organizers, in its 45th year, 50-plus comedians, noon to 5pm, also free. Blanket down, and that's where we are for three hours. **5:00 — Comedy ends.** **5:30 — Optional Dinner in the Inner Sunset.** Fifteen minutes through the park to 9th & Irving, which is nothing but places to eat. We'll pick on the day and split across a couple of tables. Come if you're hungry, peel off if you're done. No reservation, nobody counting. **Join [TownFlame](http://www.townflame.org/), Make Life Happen.** **Liability Waiver:** Participation in TownFlame events is voluntary and involves social interaction in public spaces. Activities are designed to be inclusive and respectful. Participants assume all risks and release TownFlame, its organizers, volunteers, and affiliates from liability for injury, illness, or damages, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. By attending, participants acknowledge that photographs, audio, and video recordings may be taken during events, and grant TownFlame the right to use such media for promotional and marketing purposes, in any format or platform, without further consent or compensation.

17 attendees

Bollywood Festive Nights at Union Square

Sat, Sep 26, 12:00 AM

From " ¡ ᗯᗩᑎTEᗪ TO ᗪO TᕼᗩT . . . ᒍᑌᔕT ᑎOT ᗩᒪOᑎE ! ! ! ℠ " Nor Cal

4.4

Join us for an unforgettable **Bollywood Night** in the heart of San Francisco at Union Square – rhythm, fun, community. **5:00 – 6:00 PM** – *30 minute Bollywood* *Dance Lesson* + *Party* — we’ll teach you the steps, the flair, and the fun; then we dance it out together! **6:00 – 7:00 PM** – *30 minute Bollywood* *Dance Lesson* + *Party* — we’ll teach you the steps, the flair, and the fun; then we dance it out together! **7:00 – 8:00 PM** – *Dance Party* — We turn up the music and light up the floor with a 1-hour open dance party. 🌈 Open to all ages, all levels, all backgrounds. ✨ Come casual or dressed, no pressure! Bring your friends, learn some moves, find your groove, find your friends, be a part of a magical community once a month at Union Square. Previous class in 2025 summary joy v[ideo: ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHSENixJaVA&list=RDnHSENixJaVA&start_radio=1) Free class every month on 4th Friday of the Month except in August it will be on August 14th Classes go till end of September Park in garage, Uber over, or take Powell exit on Bart Do come say hello to us so we can welcome you in our La Dolce Vita :)

1 attendee

Bollywood Nights - Salesforce Park - Free

Sat, Sep 19, 12:30 AM

From " ¡ ᗯᗩᑎTEᗪ TO ᗪO TᕼᗩT . . . ᒍᑌᔕT ᑎOT ᗩᒪOᑎE ! ! ! ℠ " Nor Cal

4.4

**Bollywood Nights at Salesforce Park 🎉** Join Rang De Bollywood for some high-energy, outdoor, bollywood fun! This event is sure to leave you feeling loved, lighter, and delighted in excitement after every session. 🌈 Open to all ages, all levels, all backgrounds. ✨ Come casual or dressed, no pressure! 🎁 Free to attend – just bring your joy, your people, and your dancing feet! 🚶🏼‍♂️‍➡️Register for free so we can prepare at rang.eventbrite.com 🕔 5:30 – 7:00 PM – we’ll start with a beginner friendly dance lesson, followed by an open dance party! 💫 This is a repeating event, happening every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, May through October and you can register for as many dates as you like. Register now: [rang.eventbrite.com](http://rang.eventbrite.com) **About Rang De Bollywood** Hailing from the dream dance city of Mumbai and Amritsar, which is also home to Bollywood and Holy Vibes, our energetic, charismatic, and fun dance instructors-performers-entertainers, Manpreet (Certified in Indian Folk by India's Best and also an author) and Amit (percussionist, actor, dancer), have spread Indian dance music and moves across the length and breadth of India, USA, and Europe. Their recent performances were at National Center of Performing Arts in Mumbai and Herbst Theater in San Francisco. **Important Notes:** * Enter through transit center building and take the elevator to rooftop. We will be close to the elevator. * No solicitors allowed. * Classes might be video taped for marketing purposes. * All choreographies are Copyrighted and Original Works of Manpreet Komal/Rang De Bollywood. *"I recently had the pleasure of attending Manpreet’s Bollywood dance class, and I must say, it was an absolute blast! Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced dancer, this class caters to everyone's skill level. The highlight of the class was undoubtedly her teaching style. With a knack for breaking down complex steps into manageable chunks, even the most intricate routines felt attainable. The pacing was just right, ensuring that beginners didn't feel overwhelmed while keeping experts engaged. Highly recommend!" — Kavneet Bindra* **We can't wait to dance together, see you soon!**

2 attendees

Profs & Pints Alameda: The Arctic in Transition

Thu, Sep 24, 1:00 AM

From Profs and Pints San Francisco Bay Area

4.6

[Profs and Pints Alameda](https://www.profsandpints.com/sfbayarea) presents: **“The Arctic in Transition,”** a look at the political, environmental, and technological forces reshaping Earth’s northernmost region, with Mia Bennett, associate professor of geography at the University of Washington-Seattle and co-author of *Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic.* [Tickets available only online, available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/alameda-arctic](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/alameda-arctic) .] In the Arctic, reliably frozen sea ice and thirty years of post-Cold War regional cooperation are ceding to the intertwined pressures of climate change and geopolitical competition. Melting ice, raging wildfires, and permafrost thaw are drastically reshaping the environment, while tensions between nations and peoples with a stake in the region’s future are heating up. Come gain a deep understanding of the change underway at the Arctic and of the various forces reshaping it with Mia Bennett, a scholar of the Arctic who has done years of fieldwork there. Situating the contemporary Arctic within a longer history of human habitation and migration and ecological change, she will show how the region is an arena of constant political, environmental, and technological transformation. What is happening there portends the future of global politics, resource competition, climate governance, and Earth as a whole. Dr. Bennett will set the stage by offering background on the Arctic’s 32,000 years of human habitation and its ecological transformations marked by the expansion and retreat of ice cover. She’ll trace how the region evolved from a sparsely connected frozen periphery into a central arena of global strategic interest. You’ll learn how the Arctic has been the site of twenty-first-century political experimentation producing governance mechanisms that incorporate Indigenous Peoples and giving rise to a farsighted superpower accord over fisheries. We’ll look at how today’s growing global attention to the Arctic reflects the region’s transition from a reliably frozen desert into an increasingly navigable ocean as it warms four times faster than the Earth as a whole. Such environmental change has intensified competition among manifold stakeholders seeking to intervene in the region’s governance and defense and having interests in shipping and resource extraction there. They include the eight nations with territory north of the Arctic Circle, Indigenous Peoples’ organizations, and non-Arctic nations such as China, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. At the same time, efforts to maintain international cooperation over the region are being tested by growing tensions between Russia and the West, intensifying great power competition, and the Trump administration’s fixation with acquiring Greenland. Adding to the uncertainty there are technological transformations, including emerging geoengineering innovations, some of which seek to refreeze the Arctic ice cap. You’ll gain an appreciation of how what is happening in the Arctic affects all of us. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent approaches the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy during a 2009 Arctic survey (U.S. Coast Guard Photo / Public Domain).

6 attendees

SF Science Fiction Short Film Showcase

Sun, Sep 13, 8:00 PM

From Thrills and Chills - Bay Area Horror and Sci-Fi Movies

4.6

**Join us for the San Francisco SCIENCE FICTION SHORT FILM SHOWCASE on September 13th at the Marina Theatre in San Francisco** Celebrate some of the most year’s fascinating, creative and entertaining short films, online videos, streaming & television episodes. The program runs from 1pm - 5pm. Discounted tickets are available for our group - use discount code STEFAN Tickets & more info: [https://www.tastetv.com/scifi-awards-events/](https://www.tastetv.com/scifi-awards-events/) Hope to see you there!

5 attendees

Discover SF -- Road to Autumn Moon Festival, Chinatown

Sat, Sep 19, 6:30 PM

From Growth Social Volunteering Professionals

4.8

**"海上生明月，天涯共此时"** === **"As the bright moon rises above the ocean, we share this very moment from all corners."** === \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- There is a way to **marvel** at the beauty of the city, and that of life. There is a way to turn a group of strangers, into a group that have sweated and laughed with you **together**, sharing the bread. We started this "**Road to**" format in North Beach festival, improved it for the Japantown Nihonmachi (thanks Tony), now we are doing it again for the Autumn Moon Festival, Chinatown, on Sat. Sep 19th. It involves a walk through city landmarks, then visit the festival in small groups, then regather for a group coffee/tea/dinner together. Autumn Moon Festival is the Chinese **Thanksgiving**, a time for family gatherings. Its iconic food is the moon cake. It would be celebrated for two days in Chinatown, starting with a parade at 11am Sat.. https://www.moonfestival.org/ Chinatown sits in a bowl underneath two of the best hills in San Francisco. So we're not going to show up at the Moon Festival. We're going to walk down into it from above. We start with coffee on Polk. We climb a hidden wooden lane that most people who live in this city have never found. Twenty minutes later you're standing on a terrace looking at Coit Tower, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge — and straight below you, the rooftops of Chinatown. That's the destination. You get to look at it before you walk into it. Then we cross the ridge to Nob Hill, stop at the winding house where the actual cable car cables turn, cut through Grace Cathedral's courtyard, and come out at the corner where California Street drops away toward the bay with cable cars grinding up it. We descend into Chinatown, stop inside a church built in 1854 by Chinese laborers out of granite shipped across the Pacific, and then walk under the Dragon Gate into a street closed to cars, packed with lion dancers, mooncakes, and several thousand people. By the time we get there you'll know the people standing next to you. That's the actual product. The festival is the reward. And needless to say, that Chinatown itself is a district rich in culture and SF history. *** ## The arc **11:30 — Fueling Station Cafe, 2436 Polk St** (Polk & Union). Coffee, introductions, nobody left standing alone at the counter. Grab something — we're on our feet for a while. **12:00 — Step off.** Ten minutes of real climb east up Union. **12:15 — Macondray Lane.** A hidden wooden-plank lane between the buildings. Single file, so you talk to whoever's next to you. **12:35 — Ina Coolbrith Park.** The view, and our Friend Circle — a short structured round on the terrace so you leave knowing the people you walked with, not just their faces. Group photo. Then we point at Chinatown down below and go get it. **1:00 — Cable Car Museum.** Free, indoors, and genuinely great. The machines that run the whole system are right there spinning. **1:15 — Huntington Park & Grace Cathedral.** Nob Hill's front lawn. Second join point lands here. **1:40 — Mason & California.** The postcard corner. Look east and the whole city drops toward the Bay Bridge. **2:05 — Old St. Mary's.** Cool, quiet, and older than almost everything around it. **2:15 — The Dragon Gate.** We gather under it, take the photo, and walk in together. **2:25 — Grant Avenue.** Lion dancing, mooncakes, food stalls, six blocks of closed street. **3:45 — Regroup at Portsmouth Square**, one block off the noise. **4:00 — The alleys.** Waverly Place, the temple balconies, Ross Alley and the fortune cookie factory. Ninety seconds off Grant and it's a completely different city. **4:30 — Dinner in Chinatown.** Big round tables. Optional but strongly encouraged — this is where the day actually lands. *** ## Three ways to join You can't be late to this event. You can only be early for the next door. 1. **The Full Road** — 11:30 AM, Fueling Station Cafe, 2436 Polk St. The whole arc: the lane, the terrace, both hills, the descent, the gate. 2. **Mid-Join** — 1:15 PM, Huntington Park (California & Taylor, by the fountain). Skip the climb, catch the second half and the walk into Chinatown. Look for the TownFlame marker. 3. **The Gate** — 2:15 PM, the Dragon Gate at Grant & Bush. Join for the festival, the alleys, and dinner. Each door has a hard clock. We move on time. *** ## What you're actually getting Every TownFlame event comes with three things, and this one is no exception: * **A welcome buddy.** Someone whose job that day is you. If you're coming alone and you don't know anyone, you will not be standing by yourself. * **Friend Circle.** A short structured round partway through, so the walk produces names and stories instead of six strangers looking at a view. * **A social after, and a crew chat.** Dinner in Chinatown, and a group chat spun up afterward so the day doesn't evaporate on Sunday morning. *** ## The honest part About 2.2 miles with two real hill climbs, including roughly 130 steps on the Russian Hill segment. Good shoes. This is a hike, not a stroll, and the views are the reason it's worth it. If that's not your day, the 1:15 mid-join at Huntington Park skips every stair and drops you straight into the good part. No apology needed, no explanation required — that's why the door exists. Layers. It's warm on Polk and cold on the ridge, always. *** ## Getting there **To the 11:30 staging cafe (Polk & Union):** the 45 Union-Stockton runs from Caltrain up through Chinatown and along Union Street — get off at Union & Polk and you're at the door. From Civic Center BART, the 19 Polk goes straight up Polk. **To the 1:15 mid-join (Huntington Park):** the 1 California bus or the California Street cable car stops at the corner. **To the 2:15 gate:** five minutes' walk uphill from Powell Street BART. Driving is a bad idea. Grant Avenue is closed between California and Broadway all day and the whole neighborhood is a parking dead zone. If you must, the Portsmouth Square Garage at 733 Kearny is the closest option. We are **growing**, talk with our hosts, if you are interested in being a walk captain, or regional anchor, of our Golden Hour Sunset walks. **Join [TownFlame](http://www.townflame.org/), Make Life Happen.** **Liability Waiver:** Participation in TownFlame events is voluntary and involves social interaction in public spaces. Activities are designed to be inclusive and respectful. Participants assume all risks and release TownFlame, its organizers, volunteers, and affiliates from liability for injury, illness, or damages, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct. By attending, participants acknowledge that photographs, audio, and video recordings may be taken during events, and grant TownFlame the right to use such media for promotional and marketing purposes, in any format or platform, without further consent or compensation.

133 attendees

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Frequently asked questions

Meetup provides a way for documentary enthusiasts to gather and watch films together in San Francisco. It helps connect people interested in viewing and discussing documentaries through group events.

Simply search for documentary events on Meetup by selecting San Francisco as your location. You'll find local screenings and the chance to join other enthusiasts nearby.

Yes, you can find upcoming documentary screenings taking place over the weekend. Browse Meetup for events and plan to attend the ones that interest you!

Absolutely! You can join multiple groups to attend various documentary screenings across San Francisco. There's no limit to participating in activities of interest.

RSVP by visiting the event page on Meetup and indicating your attendance. It's a straightforward process to ensure your participation in the screening.

It's free to join Meetup and explore documentary screenings in San Francisco. Some events might have a fee depending on the screening venue or specific group.

Yes, attending documentary screenings is a great way to meet new people who share your interest in films. Engage in discussions and make connections during and after the events.

Events are organized by local groups or hosts who coordinate screenings and gather people with similar interests in documentaries.

On Meetup, you can join as an organizer and host your own documentary screenings. It's an opportunity to bring like-minded people together in San Francisco.

Screenings can be in-person or online, depending on the organizer's preference. Check the event details for the format and plan accordingly.

While there's a wide variety of documentary genres available, coverage depends on the organizers and current offerings in San Francisco.

Meetup caters to a broad range of interests, including documentaries. It's ideal for anyone eager to indulge in film culture, but it spans many other activities too.

While Meetup facilitates finding screenings, it does not guarantee that specific films will be shown. Availability hinges on group offerings and schedules.

Yes, you are welcome to join multiple documentary groups on Meetup. This gives you broader exposure to screenings and events taking place.

Some groups include discussions following screenings, possibly led by a host or attendee. However, this varies by event and group preferences.