Critically acclaimed docuseries “Saving San Francisco” will provide SF State students with an in-depth look at the housing crisis.
November 9, 2022
NBC Bay Area investigative reporter Bigad Shaban, investigative producer Robert Campos and digital photographer Jeremy Carroll teamed up to create a docuseries that gives an up-close and personal look at the housing crisis in San Francisco.
The docuseries “Saving San Francisco” will screen Thursday at SF State’s Coppola Theater.
According to Liza Catalan and Jay dela Cruz of NBC Bay Area, the critically acclaimed docuseries illustrates solutions to deep-rooted problems plaguing San Francisco: homelessness, poverty, crime and mental health issues.
“We wanted to do this in a way that it could be a solutions-focused series,” Shaban said. “Instead of solely focusing on the grittiness and brokenness of the city, we wanted to reveal possible solutions that could change things.”
The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Shaban, Campos and Carroll.
“Homelessness is something that has begun to worry me during my time here in the Bay Area,” said fourth-year Computer Science major Karyme Sanchez. “I’ve lived in Oakland as well as San Francisco, and it’s been rough in both regions. I look forward to learning more about the crisis through ‘Saving San Francisco.’”
Shaban hopes the docuseries will inspire conversations around the unhoused crisis of San Francisco.
“This isn’t your typical news program,” Shaban said. “It’s much more conversational; we are taking people on a journey with us through the docuseries.”
The docuseries profiles an individual who has become one of San Francisco’s more than 8,000 unhoused people.
“It’s easy to just walk by unhoused people without a second thought,” Shaban said. “And we pull back that curtain and figure out how did they get here by examining their journey.”
The docuseries is currently available for streaming on NBC Bay Area’s website as well as Peacock.
“We’re at an age now where people consume things when they want to consume them,” Shaban said. “While the age-old art of storytelling has remained the same, there are so many different ways to share amazing stories, and that’s why we made it a docuseries available to stream anytime.”
According to Catalan and Cruz, this event is an opportunity for students to ask questions, learn about the complex issues of housing, poverty, crime and mental health in the Bay Area and explore the creative and editorial choices behind “Saving San Francisco.”
“We encourage all students to attend,” Catalan said. “But it may be particularly valuable for students from mental health organizations or the colleges of journalism, film, public policy, public health and government.”
“Saving San Francisco” is screening at SF State’s Coppola Theater Thursday, Nov. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Complimentary tickets are available here.
