San Francisco Newsreel was one of several Newsreel collective groups around the US during the 1960s and 1970s.  It formed in San Francisco in the late 1960s, linked from the outset to the counterculture, anti-capitalist politics, and the New Left. Members were not only filmmakers, but also activists without filmmaking experience dedicated to the anti-war movement, the Civil Rights movement, and other progressive political issues. San Francisco Newsreel started in response to a visit from New York Newsreel. They operated as a collective, sharing financial contributions for living expenses. Their first and most widely distributed films was Black Panther aka Off the Pig (Newsreel # 19 [1967]. Its predominantly White filmmakers yielded the final cut of the film to the Black Panthers. San Francisco Newsreel documented major political events and protests, considering filmmaking in service to political consciousness-raising and communities.