SF DocFest 2024: 23 Mile & Wake the Town

CLOSING NIGHT FILM

Filmmakers in attendance

Part verité essay film, part political diary, 23 MILE is an experimental nonfiction film following Americans during cataclysmic events in the Midwestern swing state of Michigan throughout 2020– including the plot to kidnap governor Whitmer– painting a portrait of a populace that defies media stereotypes. A document of complex discourse, the film forces viewers to question their own assumptions about race, class, social status and geographical demographics, drawing a surprisingly hopeful human portrait against the foreboding backdrop of societal instability.

Plays with short: Wake the Town
Three former residents of Oakland CA tell their stories of leaving the city they called home. Two of the three have now died–one of murder–showing the tragically high cost of housing instability. Directed by Bryan Wiley, Jason Blalock, 12 minutes.