US PREMIERE After a celebrated theatrical run in Japan, Things Left Behind makes its US debut, exploring the transformative power of “ひろしまhiroshima,” the first major international art exhibit devoted to the atomic bomb. Renowned Japanese photographer Ishiuchi Miyako staged this exhibit of large-format color photographs of clothing once worn by those who perished. “The film […]
NYC PREMIERE Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s observational film is a stunningly shot sensory immersion into the Grand Magaal, an annual Muslim pilgrimage which finds a million Sufis traveling to the holy Senagalese city of Touba to honor their ancestral leader and his code of non-violence. The three-day spectacle presents a unique and essential look at Islam—one […]
Every day, dozens of decommissioned school buses leave the United States and migrate to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly-colored camionetas that bring most Guatemalans to work. This lyrical film follows the migration of one American bus as well as the personal stories of five individuals whose lives become intertwined with its transformation. What […]
Oma & Bella is an intimate glimpse into the world of Regina and Bella, two octogenarian friends who live together in Berlin. Their memories of the Holocaust are never distant as they lovingly prepare the same sumptuous meals they ate as children and converse about questions of heritage, memory and identity. As the film follows them through their […]
US PREMIERE For over twenty years, the Wiesenbergers have cultivated the same rituals. The group of twenty mountain singers and their female conductor meet once a week in the local church to yodel. But their world turns upside down when their CDs storm the charts and they are bombarded with concert offers and the opportunity to perform at […]
US PREMIERE When they lose their jobs in Beijing, Juma and Latso, sisters from one of the world’s last matriarchal societies, are thrust into the worldwide economic downturn. Left with few options, they return home to their remote village in the Himalayas. But home is no longer what it was, as growing exposure to the modern world has […]
Co-presented by HCX|Haiti Film Fest. Grace & Mercy is a feature documentary that interweaves the tireless work of Marie Jose Poux who runs an orphanage responsible for over 60 children and her brother, Ben Constant, who is the “Mayor” of one of the largest tent cities in Port-au-Prince. Combining unprecedented access with cinema-vérité footage, director […]
US PREMIERE The Ballymun housing estate in Dublin, Ireland has a reputation for failure. Six of its seven high-rise towers have been demolished. Yet music teacher Ron Cooney never gave up on the area’s youth. He enlists a composer to create a world-class collection of music for students to perform and to overturn negative views of the area. […]
US PREMIERE Andrei Zagdansky and his father Evgeni both lived a life in cinema, working for the Kiev Popular Science Film Studio. In 1992, when Andrei left the Ukraine for America, they communicated by letters, sharing impressions between two continents. Drawing upon that correspondence and beguiling footage from Soviet archives, Andrei creates an intimate portrait of a family […]
In the history of Mexican cinema, the Calderón family is known for building grand movie palaces and producing outrageous genre films disdained by critics yet loved by the masses. Filmmaker Viviana García Besné investigates their legacy from the inside as the grandniece of mogul José Luis Calderón. Her journey uncovers a hidden history full of curvy actresses, masked […]