Adam Leao’s Documentary San Francisco Rising: Hope, Community, and the City’s Comeback — Streaming on Apple TV

In this episode, filmmaker Adam Leao discusses San Francisco Rising, his documentary now streaming on Apple TV. The film offers an intimate, street-level portrait of San Francisco in 2024, exploring the city’s beauty, contradictions, and resilience through the lives of artists, activists, public officials, and community members.Adam discusses some of the documentary’s most powerful scenes, including the scattering of unclaimed ashes under the Golden Gate Bridge, the fentanyl and opioid crisis in the Tenderloin, JJ Smith’s street-level documentation and community work, former Mayor London Breed’s reflections on the city, and photographer Jake Ricker’s years of photographing the Golden Gate Bridge. The episode also explores documentary filmmaking, trust-building, shooting on location, and how San Francisco continues to rise through crisis, creativity, and community.Watch San Francisco Rising, now streaming on Apple TV.Disclosure: Host Hugh Leeman appears briefly in San Francisco Rising as one of the documentary’s interview subjects. This episode is not a paid advertisement or sponsored placement; the conversation explores the film, its portrait of San Francisco, and the documentary process.