20th SAN FRANCISCO SHORT FILM FESTIVAL:

True Stories Program

Chicago Cafe

In a small California town, a 100-year-old Chinese restaurant gets ready to close. As Paul Fong retires, this short film follows him and his wife Nancy beyond the headlines—through quiet moments, old family footage, and the slow process of letting go.

Monster Slayer

Monster Slayer is a short animated documentary that follows LA artist and dancer Stephanie "Monty" Montgomery after she’s sexually assaulted at the strip club where she works. When the system fails her—ignored by management and dismissed by police—Monty turns to the one tool she has left: her art. Through a bold public act of protest, she transforms her trauma into a visual reckoning, reclaiming both her story and her space. Using Monty’s own drawings brought to life through animation, the film immerses us in her experience and exposes the broader culture of silence, stigma, and systemic neglect that so many survivors—especially those in sex work—face.

She is Us: The Story of Judge Songhai Armstead

SHE IS US: THE STORY OF JUDGE SONGHAI ARMSTEAD is an animated film that chronicles the extraordinary story of social justice warrior Songhai Armstead who was system impacted, faced systemic obstacles, and found purpose in empowering others.

After a challenging childhood in foster care, Songhai embarks on a remarkable journey that shows the importance of creating opportunities.

The film is a production of The Righteous Conversations Project and Second Nurture, a non-profit organization that mobilizes communities to support foster families and help children thrive. She is Us was directed by Samara Hutman & C. Lily Ericsson and animated by an extraordinary team of young people who know the potential of art and story to shape our world.

Simple Machine

"Simple Machine," 2025, is part portrait of an architect who became an amputee in midlife, and part meditation on the beauty and challenges of classical mechanics in the ingenious tools of our everyday lives. The film reframes assistive technologies in the adapted wood shop of one man, but it also sets his story against the history of post-war prosthetics, industrial manufacturing, and the irreducible complexity of life with machines.

Tempered

A former French Laundry pastry chef now guides visitors through Dandelion Chocolate's bean-to-bar process, revealing how the most profound work happens not in pursuit of perfection, but in the daily practice of attention and care.

We Were The Scenery

In 1975, Hoa Thi Lê and Hue Nguyen Che fled from Vietnam by boat and docked in the Philippines, where they were utilized as background extras during the filming of Apocalypse Now. This documentary short film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 and won the Short Film Jury Prize: Nonfiction.

The San Francisco International Festival of Short Films was launched in 2006. Since then SF Shorts has showcased incredible engaging independent films that are quick to make a statement, tell a story or express an idea. Recently this festival merged with the 28 year old San Francisco IndieFest, combining SF Shorts' curatorial vision with SF IndieFest's festival presentation expertise. This combined event now presents one week of the the best short films from around the world at an historic San Francisco art house theater.