In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe.
The story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball team on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.
Oakland, California. Young Afro-American Oscar Grant crosses paths with family members, friends, enemies and strangers before facing his fate on the platform at Fruitvale Station, in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009.
Two warring gang families (one African-American, the other Chinese) maneuver for bragging rights to the Oakland, California, docks. Hang Sing and Trish O'Day uncover a trail of deceit that leaves most of the warring factions dead … or worse!
A pregnant single mother, with two children in foster care, embraces her Bay Area community as she fights to reclaim her family.
Donya, a lonely Afghan refugee and former translator, spends her twenties drifting through a meager existence in Fremont, California. Shuttling between her job writing fortunes for a fortune cookie factory and sessions with her eccentric therapist, Donya suffers from insomnia and survivor's guilt over those still left behind in Kabul as she desperately searches for love.
A young coach turns a losing high school football program around to go undefeated for 12 consecutive seasons.
In 1987 Oakland, a mysterious force guides The Town’s underdogs in four interconnected tales: teen punks defend their turf against Nazi skinheads, a rap duo battles for hip-hop immortality, a weary henchman gets a shot at redemption, and an NBA All-Star settles the score.
A young man in Oakland, California, wakes with a heavy heart and decides to take a walk through the neighborhood to the local barbershop.
An Oakland mayoral candidate struggles to figure out her personal and professional lives.
A young woman in a photography class begins taking pictures of black men out of fear they will soon be extinct.
Dave and Joe, just evicted from their Oakland apartment, turn to stealing cars and dealing Fluoride to make their financial ends meet. One night they find Summer Hayes, star of a popular 1990's teen soap, in the trunk of a stolen automobile. Shoot-outs, car chases, and overdoses ensue. In the Fluoride heightened world of "Medias Res", nothing is what it at first appears to be.
A love song to the artists, dance, music, slang, clothes and, most importantly of all, the people who came of age during the Hyphy Movement. We were there, we were hyphy.
A rampant, street level story of mentorship and everyday heroism in tough circumstances. An inner city coach's son, estranged in his youth from his father, spends five years on ball fields in inner city Oakland and Havana, following the lives of two extraordinary youth baseball coaches, Roscoe in Oakland and Nicolas in Havana. The coaches meet on videotape and two years of red tape later, Coach Roscoe and nine Oakland players travel to Havana to play Coach Nicolas' team. For one week, the players and coaches eat, dance, swim, argue and play baseball together. But when the parent of an Oakland player is murdered back home, it brings back the inescapable reality and challenges of life in an American inner city.
Bay Area rapper Mac Dre began his career at 18 and quickly became an influential force in early west coast hip-hop. In 1992 he was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank robbery when his lyrics were used against him in court. He left prison with a new lease on life, founded an independent record company, and then was murdered just when he began to emerge as a star. For the first time ever, his mother Wanda reveals the true experiences of a hip-hop legend.
Through fly-on-the-wall footage and insightful interviews, director ShakaJamal chronicles the effort to create a first-of-its-kind yoga and mindfulness program for Oakland Unified School District middle schools. Aimed at expanding students’ awareness and refining their goals, the initiative has been a unique success, and I Am Hope offers a poignant portrait of the day-to-day struggles of diverse young people united in their desire to pursue big dreams.
Method Sampling is explored through the works of a hip-hop orchestra, a disabled choreographer, a self-taught Black mycologist, a tiny house builder and a critical theorist.
When Ollie’s mother is attacked by a monster hiding in the depths of Lake Merritt, he sets out on a mission to find her—discovering instead a hidden network of monster-hunters tasked with protecting Oakland from its own dark underbelly.