US PREMIERE At seventeen, Michelle Maren escaped from an abusive home to the streets of NYC, taking on a variety of roles, including magician’s assistant, beauty queen and porn star. Now middle- aged and living on disability, she struggles with a host of psychological disorders. Inspired by Michel Negroponte’s acclaimed Jupiter’s Wife, Michelle reaches out […]
NYC PREMIERE Growing up transgender in rural North Carolina, Cole has remained remarkably upbeat despite rejection from his family, school and church. With religion deeply ingrained as part of his identity, Cole longs to find acceptance within a community of faith, but doesn’t want to hide who he is or who he loves. Can the […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE In 1982, Nick was sentenced to death for a brutal crime. After more than two decades behind bars, he petitions the court to carry out his sentence and put him to death. Compellingly presented as his confessional, The Fear of 13 melds psychological thriller and true crime drama to reveal the shocking […]
NYC PREMIERE For a publishing genre that easily outstrips all others in annual sales, romance fiction remains readily dismissed by the mainstream. Dominated by women, the billion-dollar industry has offered a space for female creators, their heroines and consumers to thrive like no other. Laurie Kahn’s revealing film explores the vast community that has formed […]
NYC PREMIERE What’s harder: climbing Mount Rainier or beating a drug addiction? Mike Johnson, an ex-Army Ranger and director of a homeless shelter, combines both challenges by leading a group of Seattle addicts on a mission to conquer the mountain and their demons. You can do this, Johnson tells them, and if you do, you […]
WORLD PREMIERE With his execution just 48 hours away, Anthony Porter’s life was saved by a Northwestern University journalism class. Their re-investigation of the crime for which he was convicted—a double homicide in a Chicago park—led to the discovery of the real killer, Alstory Simon, whose confession exonerated Porter. If it all sounds too […]
WORLD PREMIERE New Jersey’s WFMU has occupied a unique position as an independent, commercial-free, listener-supported radio station since its inception in the late 1950s. At its heart is the dedicated station manager Ken Freedman, committed to an unstructured, free- form broadcasting model which has won WFMU acclaim as the best—and perhaps weirdest— radio station in […]
NYC PREMIERE When gay college student Matthew Shepard’s savagely beaten body was discovered lashed to a fence near Laramie, Wyoming in 1998, the deadly consequences of homophobia received international attention. While Matt’s death left an indelible mark, the details of his life are less familiar. His friend Michele Josue turns to those who knew him […]
NYC PREMIERE Growing up in an upper-middle-class Jewish household, Lacey Schwartz knew she looked different from the rest of her family, but her darker complexion and curly hair were brushed off as traits inherited from her Sicilian grandfather. When she finally begins to dig deeper, Lacey uncovers unspoken family secrets and willful denial that cuts […]
Once ubiquitous, but surprisingly still in regular use despite our increasingly detached digital world, telephone hotlines connect strangers for a multiplicity of purposes. Some are for profit, others for the public good—from the titillation of phone sex or the spiritual advice of Ms. Cleo, to the lifesaving potential of a suicide prevention line. Tony Shaff’s […]