SAT NOV 7, 2026 5:30 PM The PROOF Documentary Showcase $15.00 (member) ; $20.00 (general admission) Ticket prices include a $2.00 online booking fee. Culver Theater Aud. 3 | ‘PROOF Film Festival 2026’ PROOF All-Access Badge holders get free access to this event! Not a badge holder? Check out badges for purchase here!
ABOUT THE EVENT For the first time, PROOF is showcasing four, in competition, proof of concept documentaries. We are excited to share these worlds with you and to continue to serve many different filmmakers, now including documentarians. ABOUT THE FILMS American Baby Director: Raymond Knudsen Producers: Raymond Knudsen, Stephen Musumeci, Chris Quintos Cathcart, Byron Atienza, JJ Augustavo, Tara Aquino, Karam Gill, Meghna Chakraborty, Andrew Primavera, Big Blue Pictures, A Bunch of Savages, MGX Creative USA | 18min @raymondknudsen A Filipino-American filmmaker returns to the story behind his childhood nickname, the American baby, examining the lives of his immigrant mother and charismatic American father. Through their decades-long marriage, he uncovers a family shaped by sacrifice, silence, and the fragile promise of the American Dream. BOLGER Director: Riley Jackson and Gunnar Sizemore Producers: N/A USA | 7min @officialrileyjackson @gunnarsizemore BOLGER is a portrait of the changing world through the eyes of Dr. Benjamin B. Bolger, a man with sixteen college degrees. This observational documentary attempts to glean the meaning of life from one of the most formally educated scholars in the world, capturing his musings on topics such as memory, cryogenic freezing, and the ethics of petting zoos. PANIOLO Director: Maggie Buckley USA | 19min In the high pastures of Maui, Hawaiʻi, young riders spend a summer the way generations before them have. They are paniolo, part of a tradition that took hold in Hawaiʻi long before the mainland invented its West, and the mythologies it required. Theirs is a summer of work and waiting and growing up, on an island shaped by missionaries and empire, where those older histories are never far off. The Grind Director: Dan Chen Producers: Eric Cook, Dan Chen USA | 8min @thedchen Leo Vice is a tech worker turned sex worker who’s pursuing his dreams as an Asian American male porn star, alongside millions who work in porn for passion or for profit. But faced with the realities of injury, debt, and the deluge of infinite smut…can they survive the grind?