Docs of the Bay

Comments (0) By Ron Nachmann Wednesday, Oct 15 2008

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Tonight’s double feature at the Roxie shows how much the San Francisco International Documentary Festival has matured and diversified over time. The DocFest pairs Jeruschka White and Caryn Capotosto's Come on Down! The Road to The Price Is Right — a paean to obsessive fans of the game show in the title —with Kurt Kuenne’s Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, a harrowing tale of matricide, child custody, murder, and friendship. So much for the fest’s 2001 pronouncement that “we don't do solemn, we don't do social issues.” This year’s three-week, 60-film program permanently puts that to rest, with subjects like democracy, linguistics, and the environment popping up among the pop culture treats. One of the festival’s locally set gems is the riveting feature Going on 13, made by filmmaker Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and social worker Dawn Valadez and playing at the Roxie on Oct. 22. It skillfully details the emotional and cultural challenges of four East Bay girls of color crossing over from fifth grade to teenhood, reflecting the festival’s mission to keep this grand old film genre fresh.
Oct. 20-Nov. 6, 2008