In the 1960s, National Geographic sent a cameraman to film Jane Goodall’s pioneering work with chimpanzees in Tanzania’s Gombe Stream National Park. More than 50 years later, filmmaker Brett Morgen (Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, On the Ropes) gained access to over 140 hours of this remarkable 16mm color footage. Morgen combines this archival material […]
In the surprise box-office smash Kedi, director Ceyda Torun returns to her native Istanbul to capture her hometown from seven distinct feline perspectives, including mama cat Bengü, “jealous housewife” Psikopat, foodie Duman and hustler Sari. Following this coterie — a small sampling of the city’s hundreds of thousands of strays — through the streets as […]
Oscar®-nominated directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp, Detropia), recipients of the Robert & Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence at this year’s DOC NYC Visionaries Tribute, “have made their most powerful and complex film” (The Hollywood Reporter). One of Us profiles three members of New York’s Hasidic Jewish community who wish to explore […]
Starting in 2011, filmmaker Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) got unique access to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and his team. Assange was making headlines over the leaks of US State Department cables, but was also sought by Swedish authorities over charges of sexual assault. Poitras creates a complex portrait of Assange and his colleagues Jacob Appelbaum and […]
For her feature debut, a rousing film about young women striving for success, Tony Award-winning producer Amanda Lipitz received a Sundance Film Festival special jury award. Step focuses on three high-school seniors in the inaugural class of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, whose mandate is to send every student to college. Taking inspiration […]
Twenty-five years ago, William Ford, an unarmed young black man, was killed after an argument with a white mechanic escalated. William was painted as the aggressor while his killer was set free, unpunished. Director Yance Ford’s carefully composed and starkly personal film simmers with a quiet anger as it dissects the long-lasting impact of his […]
After former New Orleans Saints defensive back Steve Gleason receives a devastating diagnosis of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, he turns the camera on himself to provide his then-unborn son a sense of the father he may otherwise never know in this emotionally powerful portrait. Steve and his steadfast wife Michel use humor to cope […]
After resigning as a Congressman over a sexting scandal in 2011, Anthony Weiner mounted a political comeback two years later running for mayor of New York City. Filmmaker Josh Kriegman (Weiner’s former staffer) partners with Elyse Steinberg to gain close access to the campaign’s inner circle, including Weiner’s wife Huma Abedin, one of Hillary Clinton’s […]
After years of struggle, Ron Suskind discovers that Disney animated films provide the key to connecting with his severely autistic son Owen. As Owen takes steps towards independence, he continues to find a sense of understanding and joy from his beloved Disney tales. Combining clips from Disney classics with brand-new animation that imagines Owen as […]
Ava DuVernay (Selma, Queen Sugar) explores troubling links between race and incarceration in America. The film’s title refers to the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery in 1865, but with the loophole clause ‘except as a punishment for crime.’ In lively interviews across the political spectrum – including Michelle Alexander, Angela Davis, […]