Join us at Friday, June 3rd, 7pm at the Roxie for a screening and moderated discussion, followed by a hosted reception, showcasing a retrospective of Sean Dunne’s short films, including his newest short documentary TRUMP RALLY.
TRUMP RALLY - Go inside the strange world of Donald Trump supporters with this examination of the most divisive of all of the candidates.
FLORIDA MAN - You can learn a lot about life from the man on the street, especially if that street resides within one of the countless small towns that populate the quirky state of Florida.
THE ARCHIVE - A brief look at the world's largest vinyl record collection and the current state of the American record industry.
THE BOWLER - Rocky is a hustler. A story about booze, broads and bowling.
THE MAN IN A VAN - What happens when you don't like to pay rent, but still want to live in Manhattan
In its 15th year SF DocFest is proud to honor filmmaker Sean Dunne with its Non-Fiction Vanguard Award. As both a documentary filmmaker and internet phenom, Brooklyn-based Sean Dunne has built a burgeoning reputation for himself with a series of web distributed short and feature films that have demonstrated a strong visual sense and a fascination with everyday people and the extraordinary stories that exist all around us.
With the ongoing documentary renaissance, SF DocFest prides itself on recognizing those unconventional, creative risk-taking filmmakers that are redefining the nonfiction cinematic form and are someone to watch. Sean Dunne the latest filmmaker the festival has recognized. Past honorees include Robert Greene and Melody Gilbert.
This award is a celebration of that attitude and Sean Dunne's films that have their own off-beat approach to documenting the human condition. Filming in a guerrilla-style, his interviews have a strangely intimate style as he delves deep into the lives of his subjects that could be categorized as living on the fringes of society. However, his films don't view his subjects as "fringe" and it is instead his empathy and rapport with them that is evident in the (sometimes shockingly) open manner of his subjects on screen.
In addition to being a visual stylist and thoughtful storyteller, Sean Dunne has also continued to break new ground in the industry by forgoing traditional distribution routes and instead directly distribute via the web. This allows him to not only maintain creative control and ownership, but also embrace the sense of urgency shared in his work that is built for the audience at large, not just film festivals and television, which are often the main forum for documentaries.
**Post-screening moderated Q&A with filmmaker Sean Dunne and film critic Tim Sika (President San Francisco Film Critics Circle).