28th San Francisco Independent Film Festival screens at the Roxie Theater

By Felicity He & Finnegan McCarthy

A metal girl band stuck in a desert with a cannibal cult, a spliced-together anthology of ordinary lives in Los Angeles, and the last two days of a disgraced corporate mogul’s life in the countryside don’t seem like the average theme for a movie marathon. And yet, over the course of 10 days during the 28th Annual San Francisco Independent Film Festival (SF IndieFest), these features came together to celebrate one thing: independent filmmaking.

The festival began in 1998, when promoter Jeff Ross found that there was no local venue available for his friend, director Rand Alexander, to show his independent film. As any good marketer and friend would, Ross rose to the occasion to put on a four-day event financed with his money, thus founding SF IndieFest. The first showing occurred in January of 1999 and attracted more than 3,000 audience members. The SF IndieFest has since established itself as an event where independent filmmakers and audiences alike come together to appreciate the complexity of cinema. Despite the ebbs and flows of art engagement in the past 28 years since the festival’s inception, SF IndieFest continues to maintain and support its original goal. “The hopes are the same as they were in the first year: to present curious filmgoers with movies they may not have been able to discover without us,” Ross said.

This year’s SF IndieFest, held at the Roxie Theater through February 5-15, showcased 68 films by independent artists from as local as the Bay Area to as global as Japan. Lit up by bright fluorescent lights in every color and with walls covered in movie posters, the shoebox-sized House 2 showed many of the films that made it through the selection process. There, with just 47 seats and fold-up chairs for larger audiences, viewers settled in with popcorn and snacks from the concession stand, with the warm ambience creating a sense of intimacy. Screenings lasted throughout the day with genres ranging from heartfelt drama-comedies to gritty, Tarantino-esque thrillers. Before and after the showings,  directors and film contributors introduced themselves and discussed their projects. Questions were opened to the audience, allowing filmmakers to discuss their artistic processes further. 

The task of making a film without the support of a large budget and major studios is one that relies entirely on dedication toward achieving a creative vision. The procedure of being able to push an non-studio film out there for audiences to see isn’t exactly easy, either. However, the effort put into the creation is entirely worth it. Independent films are not only important for the allowance of artistic expression that would otherwise be confined by mainstream opinion, but also allow visionaries to explore endless creative opportunities. Still, the viability of being able to make and explore independent films is shaky given the present trajectory of major pictures. For Byeee Director Chell Stephen, alternative movies are what can bring freshness back onto the table of cinema. “The current path of Hollywood is not sustainable. It’s very short-term thinking if you’ll only make sequels and reboots. [We should] support originality. Original films [are] important,” Stephens said. “I think that indie films are allowed to have fewer restrictions. Ultimately, a more original viewpoint can be shared … and I think that is what we need.” 

Independent films grant more creative control over what happens in the projects, allowing independent filmmakers to challenge the status quo. Director Donnie Hobbie’s Jump Scare revolved around the marriage between horror and comedy, which peaked with a dance montage of the cannibal cult leader, a blender, and a certain type of meat. The feature was bloody, a little macabre, and entirely unconventional given the plotline and the humor used — yet it allowed for Hobbie to explore his newfound obsession with the horror genre. The same went for Director Kevin Luna, whose self-produced project, I’m a Stranger Here Myself, debuted at SF IndieFest. Based on his first impressions of Los Angeles, Luna envisioned the movie to be slow-burning, something that people would play in the background whilst doing other tasks. “I didn’t really have to answer to anyone, or think twice about what I was going to do. I didn’t have to consider the commercial viability of it, for better or for worse. Freedom is what you get when you’re making independent films,” Luna said about his new film.

Ultimately, the 28th SF IndieFest accomplished what it had always set out to do: create a space for indie filmmakers and film-lovers alike to express themselves. With the help of Roxie and SF IndieFest serving as a forum for independent filmmakers, more and more creatives can present their work to wider audiences each year. “This festival has been so kind to us. We’re really grateful to be here,” Stephen said. “The spirit that [SF IndieFest] is encouraging is a really special, unique one that you don’t see all the time these days.” In movies with unorthodox storytelling — self-described “Texas Chainsaw Massacre rip-offs” — there is always a film unique and exciting that was created from real passion for the arts. “You make a weird film, and maybe it’s difficult to watch, or there [are] aspects that are rough, but through that act of creation, through having that freedom, the language of cinema progresses,” Luna said. The 10 days of the SF IndieFest 2026 shared only a fraction of the innovative minds of small filmmakers, yet the festival’s dedication toward supporting the indie arts was paramount. In an ever-changing field where originality struggles to surface, being able to find a space to share indie projects allows the confines of typical filmmaking techniques to expand. SF IndieFest not only created that avenue, but also continuously bolsters any type of cinematography, all in the name of fostering community and upholding the deeply personal works of creatives.