From civil rights to the anti-war movement to the struggles of workers, folksinger Phil Ochs wrote topical songs that engaged his audiences in the issues of the 1960s and 70s. In this biographical documentary, veteran director Kenneth Bowser shows how Phil’s music and his fascinating life story and eventual decline into depression and suicide were intertwined with the history-making events that defined a generation. Even as his contemporaries moved into folk-rock and pop music, Phil followed his own vision, challenging himself and his listeners. Not one to pull punches, Ochs never achieved the commercial success he desperately desired. But his music remains relevant, reaching new audiences in a generation that finds his themes all too familiar.
Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune
ICON GUIDE
OCOpen Caption screening
Additional program content
35mm
SFSensory Friendly. Details HERE
This series is sponsored by:
The Lucille & Paul Maslin Foundation
Janet Maslin
Exclusive media partner:
Phil Ochs: There but for Fortune
Q&A with director Kenneth Bowser on August 28
Tickets: $11 (members), $16 (nonmembers)
"The short and tragic life of Phil Ochs is as involving as the music he wrote and played, and that is saying a great deal."
"At once an unsentimental portrait of the ambitious singer who thought himself bound for glory, and an affecting elegy for a time when song was a form of revolution."
SPECIAL EVENTS
Q&A with director Kenneth Bowser
Thursday, Aug. 28 2025, 7:00
- Kenneth Bowser is a director of documentaries, feature films and episodic television and specializes in crafting stories about American culture. In addition to Phil Ochs, There But For Fortune, he is the writer, producer and director of NBC's Emmy nominated two-hour network special, Live From New York, The First Five Years of Saturday Night Live, celebrating the 30th Anniversary of SNL. He also worked on the SNL network specials for the 80's and 90's and is currently (January, 2011) creating the 2000's episode. His next project is a narrative feature based on Peter Biskind's bestseller Down & Dirty Pictures. Bowser wrote and produced the Emmy nominated John Ford/John Wayne, The Filmmaker and The Legend for PBS's American Masters, which was an official selection of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. His last feature documentary, EasyRiders/Raging Bulls (a Trio/BBC co-production), which he wrote, produced and directed was an official selection at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Bowser is the producer and director of the Emmy Award winning documentaries, Preston Sturges: The Rise And Fall Of An American Dreamer (American Masters;/PBS) and Frank Capra's American Dream (Columbia/TriStar Pictures). Bowser has produced, directed and written for ABC News Productions and is also the writer, director and producer of the feature film, In A Shallow Grave (American Playhouse Theatrical Films). In addition, Bowser was the director and writer of Hollywood, DC, A Tale of Two Cities (Bravo).
Tickets: $15 (members), $20 (nonmembers)
This film is part of the Sounds of Summer series.
This series is sponsored by:
The Lucille & Paul Maslin Foundation
Janet Maslin
Exclusive media partner:
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