NYC PREMIERE Hailing from the African nation of Cape Verde, and gifted with an indisputable talent, singer-songwriter Cesária Évora rose to global fame later in life. Peppered with colorful anecdotes of this generous, down-to-earth, fiercely independent “Barefoot Diva,” this charming documentary follows “Cize” at home on her native island of São Vicente, backstage with beloved […]
Russian political candidate Alexei Navalny helped galvanize opposition to Vladimir Putin in mass street demonstrations. Then in August 2020, Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent and almost died on a flight from Siberia. Filmmaker Daniel Roher follows Navalny in real time as he teams with investigative journalists to identify his would-be killers and crack […]
US PREMIERE Students across the African continent come together for an annual contest of oratory skills and knowledge of the law. The film follows diverse teams of law students as they prepare for this prestigious, high-stakes mock trial, the African Human Rights Moot Competition. In her feature film debut, former lawyer-turned-filmmaker Shameela Seedat gives us […]
NYC PREMIERE A drum master from Japan and a Korean adoptee from Minnesota boldly convene an all-female troupe to perform Taiko, the Japanese drumming art that has been off-limits to women for centuries. As the early menace of Covid rumbles in the background, the group faces down hurdles to prepare for a historic performance in […]
WORLD PREMIERE Stevan, a 60-year-old, former porn performer from Serbia awaits the outcome of a Kafkaesque trial process in a Maltese prison. The moody landscapes reflect the loneliness and desperate state he was in prior to his arrest for public exposure in this bizarre story, which unspools like an eerie mystery. – Ruth Somalo The […]
NYC PREMIERE After discovering the work of Oscar Torres, her once world-famous queer filmmaker cousin, Victoria Linares journeys down a path of kindred self-discovery. Through reconstructions of Torres’ intimate memories living under the authoritarian regime of Trujillo in 1950s Dominican Republic, Linares creates a world between fiction and fact, casting her family in these reenactments […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE A Ghanaian mother of five survives the perilous journey to Europe in search of a better life, only to return to her village to reunite with her children, much to the disdain of family and neighbors. Steadfast in her convictions of what’s best, first-time filmmaker Fatimah Dadzie tells her own unique story […]
WORLD PREMIERE Far from the unfavorable images often espoused in pop culture, today’s teens are some of the most engaged, thoughtful, creative, courageous, and self-aware of any era. Filmmaker and middle-school educator Alexis Neophytides gifts us this survey of thirteen-year-olds from across the globe as they navigate the joys and complexities of that seminal age. […]
U.S. PREMIERE Now in his 70s, Ken Smith has lived off-grid in a cabin near Loch Treig, “the lonely loch,” in the Scottish Highlands. The spirited hermit spends his days making wine, fishing, and taking 27-mile walks to drop a letter to a friend. With his advancing age, Ken reflects on the trauma that initiated […]
NYC PREMIERE The brutal murder of a young investigative journalist and his fiancée in 2018 ignited one of the biggest protests in Slovakia since the fall of communism. As colleagues and family search for answers, a source leaks a secret case file of the murder that reveals corruption at the highest level of government. Filmmaker […]