San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

A curatorial collaboration with Alex Yong Kang Chow, former Hong Kong student activist sentenced to prison for seven months for his political participation in the 2014 Umbrella Movement and current UC Berkeley Geography Phd student, this program brings together films, performance, and discussion that prioritize the lived experience of protesters. Stuck between its British colonial […]

A Barcelona-based activist named Ada Colau founded the Mortgage Victims Platform as the U.S. financial crisis had ricochet worldwide hitting Spain hard spiraling the country into deep recession and causing a mortgage crisis that put people out of their homes. 6 years later she was sworn in as Mayor of Barcelona winning on a platform […]

In early 2019, Amazon’s plans for a second headquarters were thwarted by the same grassroots coalition that put Alexandria Ocasio Cortez into Congress. It was a huge blow to the huge corporation after year long beauty pageant in which 238 cities vied for its business. Join SPUR’s own celebrity New York Times columnist Allison Arieff […]

The de-industrialization of cities has been devastating to cities like Detroit but also to San Francisco as the loss of manufacturing and maritime jobs has resulted in the hollowing out of the working class. In recent years, a maker movement of artisans and entrepreneurs has attempted to innovate the production sector to serve a new […]

Tidal forces of capitalist economy, war, and colonialism result in many dimensions of displacement. Cultures clash and merge, political economies reformulate into webs of interdependence stretching around the globe, and human beings are flung far from their places or origin. This program will explore diaspora through the lens of personal identity, within the context of […]

SF Urban Film Fest and SOMA Pilipinas Cultural District present film shorts and a panel to spark discussion on how different grass-roots organizations, in San Francisco and Los Angeles, have used arts and culture to promote community preservation and self-determination. We will also explore the potential risks of this strategy including issues of the commodification […]

As cities gentrify, what tactics are black artists and communities using to fight back against displacement and the narrative that their neighborhoods are broken until “saved” by white gentrification? How do artists and activists reaffirm, reclaim, and rewrite the narrative of the city and make spaces that serve their own needs. These films and the […]

Transportation agencies worldwide are using storytelling as a tool for transportation planning. In this intense and accelerated workshop, you will learn how to be an effective storyteller using the SAMS framework (SAMS stands for Story, Audience, Message and Style), and test your knowledge by analyzing a few short transportation-focused videos. You will be surprised at […]

When you’re stuck in traffic trying to get on the Bay Bridge, do you ever wonder, ‘Can’t something be done about all this congestion?’” Lucky you asked! Come to our storytelling workshop to learn about the congestion pricing policy the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) is considering and how the agency plans to engage […]

“Build! Build! Build!” is a common refrain all over America. Join us as we examine through film and discussion how attacks on workers rights, undocumented labor, and the shut down of legal paths to immigration play out for both the construction industry and the workers on the front lines of the real estate boom. Tickets: […]