![\"this-is-private,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/this-is-private.jpg\" "\\"this-is-private,")
This Is Private, directed by LeAndre Thomas, follows a stripper who turns her private dances into unconventional therapy sessions as she fights to succeed in her collegiate psychology class. Screening at the 24th Oakland International Film Festival, the 14-minute short explores survival, self-determination and the blurred boundaries between labor, healing and education.<\/p>\n
Festival organizer David Roach says the program is designed to make room for independent filmmakers, connect audiences with artists and invite people to see Oakland beyond the narratives that too often define it.<\/p>\n
by Tabari Morris<\/p>\n
The Oakland International Film Festival will launch its season on Sept. 9 at the Grand Lake Theater, presenting a program of more than 50 films that its organizers claim have emerged from the community testimony of those dealing with issues of environmental destruction, violence, exile, censorship and imprisonment.<\/p>\n
The festival is set to run through Oakland venues, such as Informal Spaces and the Oakland campus of Northeastern University, formerly Mills College, among others. Screenings will be combined with workshops, panel discussions and Q&A sessions with filmmakers. Festival Founder and Director David Roach told the SF Bay View that about 90% of the filmmakers would attend the event, providing audiences with a special chance to talk to the creators of the films themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndependent filmmakers are taking a stab at these kinds of stories that often times mainstream media do not touch. That\u2019s why we\u2019re really trying to create space for them \u2014 conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the films Roach highlighted is \u201cThe Right to Fight to Breathe,\u201d a short documentary connected to the long environmental justice fight in West Oakland. He described how truck traffic serving the Port of Oakland moves through nearby neighborhoods, where residents have observed soot on windows and endured the health consequences of pollution, including asthma.<\/p>\n
The film\u2019s local framing points toward a broader question that runs through the festival: Who bears the cost when commerce, development and resource extraction move forward without communities having an equal say? Roach connected that question to oil spills, data centers and the increasing demands placed on water and energy systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommerce is made, but the people who don\u2019t get the commerce suffer the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program also turns to immigration, free expression and young people navigating pressures that should not be ordinary. Roach cited \u201cUnidos 26\u201d about young soccer players in the Los Angeles area, and \u201cFree Speech Costs Plenty,\u201d a film by comedian and radio personality Donald Lacy that examines censorship and the exposure artists can face when their work draws hostile reactions.<\/p>\n
Opening night will feature short films including \u201cThis Is Private\u201d and \u201cWaiting for Afra\u2019s Ivy.\u201d Roach declined to spoil their central turns, but said the works reflect how short films can establish a filmmaker\u2019s storytelling vision and become a bridge toward a feature-length project.<\/p>\n
The festival\u2019s cultural reach includes \u201cBrewing Stew,\u201d about the late guitarist Calvin Keys; \u201cBreaking the Cycle,\u201d which follows an intergenerational break-dancing program in Colombia; and \u201cA Salty Frontalia,\u201d a documentary that Roach described as tracing the global imprint of Black radical culture. \u201cSoul Searching\u201d explores Chicano collectors and DJs preserving slow soul records, with a related music-centered event planned at Geoffrey\u2019s Inner Circle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always trying to figure out how can we highlight culture. We see culture as history \u2014 oftentimes history is a big part of our culture \u2014 and music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indigenous history is another focus. In partnership with Humboldt County education partners, the festival plans to screen \u201cPeople of the West, Episode Eight\u201d and \u201cNative California,\u201d films that Roach said offer accounts often omitted from conventional school curriculum \u2014 including the Red Power movement, the occupation of Alcatraz, tribal stewardship and relationships with the land.<\/p>\n
The program will also make room for stories about women\u2019s survival and the criminal legal system. At Northeastern University, the festival\u2019s \u201cPreventing Violence, Healing Our City\u201d screening will pair \u201cSet Her Free,\u201d about women who faced severe sentences after defending themselves from domestic violence, with \u201cLiberty and Limits: Guns in California.\u201d Roach said the latter examines gun law history as well as violence prevention workers whose program reduced violence before funding was cut.<\/p>\n
Films about housing and home will follow: \u201cWhat We Dreamed of Then,\u201d about a man in Seattle trying to survive homelessness while working, and \u201cHome,\u201d a short film about family bonds, a grandmother and the meaning of a shared home. For a city facing entrenched displacement, the pairing places personal struggle alongside the question of what stability requires.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hoping that we can just learn how to support each other. We know we need each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oakland itself is not merely a backdrop. \u201cGuardians of Oakland Chinatown\u201d follows community members who organized to protect Chinatown during the hardships of the COVID era. \u201cOakland Strong\u201d traces a youth weightlifting initiative that sought recognition and support by staging a demonstration outside City Hall. \u201cThe Blackumentary\u201d follows people connected to Oakland\u2019s Black Cultural Zone and their efforts to sustain Black community amid development pressures.<\/p>\n
![\"free-speech-costs-plenty-1,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/free-speech-costs-plenty-1.jpg\"\/ "\\"free-speech-costs-plenty-1,")
![\"free-speech-costs-plenty-1,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/free-speech-costs-plenty-1.jpg\" "\\"free-speech-costs-plenty-1,")
\u201cFree Speech Costs Plenty\u201d is a film written by Donald E. Lacy Jr. and directed by Ryan Jacobs and Donald E. Lacy Jr. The work examines the pressures and consequences surrounding free expression in the United States<\/p>\n
Roach said the festival is also deliberately sending audiences into the city\u2019s restaurants and neighborhood spaces, including Talibah\u2019s, Sabri and other venues still being finalized. The aim is to counter a narrow, fear-driven picture of Oakland with lived experience: food, art, history and people gathering in places that deserve investment.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of preaching about it, we\u2019re hoping that we can introduce folks to a side of Oakland that keeps them returning back to Oakland.\u201d<\/p>\n
The closing program is expected to include \u201cEarthseed: A People\u2019s Journey of Radical Hospitality,\u201d about people connecting with communities practicing sustainable ways of living, and \u201cNative Son,\u201d centered on Oakland chef Nelson German and the challenges behind his work at the city\u2019s restaurants. Other films Roach mentioned include \u201cPrison in Time,\u201d an animated account of barriers to education while incarcerated; \u201cAfter 24 Years,\u201d about reentry after a long prison sentence; and \u201cMore Than Santa Baby,\u201d about songwriter Philip Springer and a lifetime in music publishing.<\/p>\n
\u201cA screening can introduce a story; a discussion can help a community carry it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tickets, schedules and film information are available through the festival\u2019s websites, oiff.org<\/a> and oaklandfilmfestival.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tabari Morris is Managing Editor at the San Francisco Bay View as well as an investigative journalist. He can be reached at Tabari@sfbayview.com. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This Is Private, directed by LeAndre Thomas, follows a stripper who turns her private dances into unconventional therapy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[181128,181129,8717,3402,85362,27778,143,145,180359,144],"class_list":["post-459259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-black-cultural-heritage","tag-criminal-legal-system","tag-environmental-justice","tag-housing-insecurity","tag-independent-film","tag-indigenous-history","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-international-film-festival","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}