The 2018 season of SFIAF took place at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture between May 24 and June 3 and showcased some 40 local and international artists and ensembles. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, the festival's theme was "Down by the Riverside." The headline concert 'Down by the Riverside: Requiem for a King,' a composition by Anthony Brown with spoken word by Angela Davis saw its world-premier on May 26 in Fort Mason's Cowell Theater. The 2019 season of SFIAF took place from May 23 to June 2 at Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture, showcasing some 50 local and international artists and ensembles. Themed "The Path to Democracy," the festival presented a number of productions that directly or indirectly engaged with political activism, such as Théatre de la Feuille's (Hong Kong) new adaptation of 'The Orphan of Zhao' or Spitfire Company's (Czech Republic) 'Antiwords', inspired by the late Václav Havel's play 'Audience'. Two of the companies that had originally been scheduled to appear at this year's festival, the Compagnie Virginie Brunelle, a modern dance group based in Montreal, Canada, and Collective Ma’louba, a Syrian theater company based in Germany, were denied visas to the US and their shows had to be cancelled.