US PREMIERE Through a thick layer of snow in the forests of Russia, historian Yuri Dmitriev searches for unmarked and lost graves. His singular efforts have uncovered mass burial sites of those who were killed under Stalin’s “Great Terror” of 1937. With no help from official channels, he traces the dead and rescues their memory […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Directors Núria Clavero and Aitor Palacios humanize the political debate around border control through the story of one family’s quest for a better life. The camera follows pregnant Yuri, her partner, Mike, and young son, Santi, as they flee Honduras, capturing the nuances of why they undertook this perilous trek. Though it […]
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE It’s not every day that one citizen cuts through big city bureaucracy the way carpenter Khaleel Seivwright did in the first winter of quarantine in Toronto. Moved by the plight of the growing numbers of the unhoused who could not find space in official shelters, Seivwright built small, life-saving, one-room homes and left […]
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Growing up, filmmaker Fernanda Roth Faya knew Neirud as her “aunt,” a family member close to her grandmother. What Faya uncovers after Neirud’s death is a mysterious and colorful life, from her time as a wrestler and circus performer to her secret and complicated love triangle. Neirud is a fascinating story about race […]
US PREMIERE In the village of Kolofata on the Nigerian border, the Cameroonian military has been dispatched to guard villagers from attacks by the religious terrorist group Boko Haram. In this milieu, filmmaker Cyrielle Raingou follows three young children as they navigate lost innocence while growing up in constant fear. Having sparked international outrage in […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Singer Dalton Harris, winner of The X-Factor in 2018, shares an emotional journey of self-acceptance against the backdrop of a fickle music industry. The film follows Harris over three years as he moves from Jamaica to London to capitalize on his newfound fame, while hiding his sexual identity and battling anxiety and depression. […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE After an explosion in the port of Beirut destroys a large part of Lebanon’s capital, a crew of filmmakers decides to continue to shoot their film in a life-affirming effort of resistance. Working against all odds, amidst the collapse of the city and the collapse of the economy during Covid, this chosen family […]
U.S. PREMIERE Filmmaker Chloé Aïcha Boro returns to her homeland, Burkina Faso, after the death of her uncle, killed while on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Boro documents the aftermath in her family’s compound as a rift about the estate develops between family members who embrace traditional Islamic law and those who would follow Burkina Faso’s […]
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 […]
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 […]