Kate Stilley Steiner

Moscow, January 1948. In the bitter cold, a large crowd attends the State Funeral of the Yiddish actor and director Solomon Mikhoels. An official proclamation mourns the death of "a great People's Artist of the Soviet Union." What people are really mourning is the death of the most popular Jewish theater in the Soviet Union, and the man who kept it alive against all odds for over 20 years. No doubt many suspected the truth: he had just been assassinated by Stalin's secret police.

A Foot in the Door tells the story of Kindergarten to College (K2C), the first universal children’s savings account program in the United States. Launched by the City and County of San Francisco, the program automatically provides a college savings account to children when they start kindergarten.

Examines issues that lead to taunting and bullying, including racial differences, perceived sexual orientation, learning disabilities, religious differences, sexual harassment and others. Part of The Respect For All Project.

A TV series called Pearl Tv.

Take a journey with master graphic novelist Joann Sfar as he finds inspiration in his Algerian-Jewish heritage and the lively streets and cafes of his current home in France. This collaboration between Citizen Film, KQED Presents and Paris-based Les Films du Poisson was telecast on PBS stations around the U.S. in 2012.

With courage and humor, the children in That's a Family! take viewers on a tour through their lives as they speak candidly about what it's like to grow up in a family with parents of different races or religions, divorced parents, a single parent, gay or lesbian parents, adoptive parents or grandparents as guardians.

In 1996, Women's Educational Media released their groundbreaking documentary Its Elementary-Talking About Gay Issues in School. It's Still Elementary tells the fascinating history of why and how the 1996 film was made, the infamous response it provoked from the conservative right, and the questions it raises about the national safe schools movement today. Includes interviews with some of the original students and teachers from Its Elementary.

When filmmaker Debra Chasnoff faces stage-4 cancer, she turns her lens on herself and the disease. What emerges is a portrait of her extended LGBTQ family —a story about hanging on while letting go.

This short film reveals the inspiration, motivation and political challenges at San Francisco City Hall during the frantic days leading up to the first government-sanctioned same-sex marriage.

"Throwing Curves" uses striking archival images, observational footage of the 97-year old industrial designer, Eva Zeisel, who is still an artist at work. this along with engaging interviews to capture her personality which is as daring and persuasive as her designs.

Citizen Film created a short film in collaboration with the National Writing Project, for classroom use. The film models a “better argument” between MoveOn co-founder Joan Blades and Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler. The National Writing Project is disseminating the film to thousands of classroom teachers around the country along with prompts for reflection, dialogue and persuasive writing inspired by this short film. After viewing the film, students discuss its themes. They choose a theme to write about and their instructor guides them to craft an argument that is not only well researched, but also addresses a wide audience, including people who hold positions ideologically opposed to their own.

Saaty-Tafoya reflects on her eight week sabbatical, during which she visited healthcare centers across the United States that are innovators in diverse design and practice, to learn how to merge service delivery transformation, hospitality, sustainability, and community.

A Studio B Production – Co-produced by Citizen Film for the San Francisco Symphony

Join former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, historian David Kennedy and a diverse group of Americans to explore whether a unifying set of beliefs, an American creed, can prove more powerful than the issues that divide us.

The mission of Community Music Center is to make high quality music accessible to all people, regardless of financial status.

This playful short film was produced in collaboration with the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco as part of a multimedia installation entitled "We are not permanent but we are not temporary." The installation was designed to explore the impermanence of life, searching, wandering, and the welcoming of strangers.

GroundSpark creates visionary films and dynamic educational campaigns that move individuals and communities to take action for a more just world. Citizen Film has been a frequent collaborator of GroundSpark over the years. Its “One Wedding and a Revolution,” directed by Academy Award Winner Debra Chasnoff is co-produced by Kate Stilley Steiner, with cinematography by Sophie Constantinou. Chasnoff’s “Let’s Get Real” and “That’s a Family” were also co-produced by Stilley Steiner, who edited those films and supervised post-production as well.

During the Great Depression, the Group Theater—including Stella Adler, Harold Clurman, Elia Kazan and Clifford Odets—gave voice to a new generation of immigrants.

Citizen Film partnered with co-producer WTTW Chicago Public Media, the National Writing Project (NWP), Facing History and Ourselves, PBS LearningMedia and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Graduate program to provide content for high school civics, history and language arts classes around the country. This content includes a suite of video assets designed to frame classroom discussions and writing about civic themes. We also partnered with PBS to create a short film illustrating the impact of this education campaign on students.

CMC’s visionary leaders and artists to celebrate one of San Francisco’s most-revered and longest-running community arts programs.