The Dolphins

2025 | Coast Film & Music Festival

Duration: 10 min

Synopisis

The Dolphins is an observational and atmospheric documentary that captures one of San Francisco’s most iconic institutions: the Dolphin Swimming and Boating Club, as well as a portrait of a community forged in cold water. With stunning cinematography of San Francisco’s coastline and rare archival material, The Dolphins is not only a tribute to its subjects but also a love letter to the city itself.  

The film centers on a group of longtime female members, who have been swimming in the Bay’s frigid waters daily for decades. Without wetsuits, fanfare, or ego, these women embody a rare relationship with the natural world: one built on endurance, reverence, and deep personal connection. Their stories unfold against the dramatic backdrop of the San Francisco Bay, where water, weather, and tide are as central as the people themselves and recall the emotional rhythms of routine and ritual in wild places. 

Featured at Coast Film & Music Festival 2025

Production Team

Gaby Scott is a San Francisco-based filmmaker and editor. Originally from the Boston area, she obtained her Master’s degree in Visual and Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Scott’s graduate study work focused on molecular gastronomy, affect theory, and nostalgia, and it led her into the world of documentary filmmaking – capturing stories of the hidden quotidien, localism, and visual transcendence. Her focus is on the non-linear – the cyclical interactions people have with their shifting landscapes and the philosophies that drive them.