WORLD PREMIERE For 30 years, Chef Jimmy Lee Hill has dedicated himself to the gourmet culinary training program he leads at Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Michigan. The pioneering program gives incarcerated men. a prestigious skill they can take back into the workforce and provides a sense of purpose as they serve their time. As […]
WORLD PREMIERE Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” are country music singers living in Swaziland. The film captures their wondrous ten-day road trip through the American south, gifting us with great music and leaving us questioning the intersectional issues of race, power, and whether any demographic can lay claim to country music, or any other […]
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. […]
WORLD PREMIERE Filmed inside California’s oldest state prison, 26.2 to Life explores the transformative power of San Quentin’s 1000 Mile Club, in which incarcerated men train for and run a marathon on the dirt and concrete path circling the prison yard. Through intimate access behind the walls of the infamous correctional facility, the film confronts […]
US PREMIERE In the sexually repressive atmosphere of the 1950s and early ’60s, a Latino broadcaster and his wig-making wife create a clandestine haven for cross-dressers in a small Catskills resort. With only old photographs and the oral histories of two of the last surviving members of this early chapter of trans identity, filmmaker Sébastien […]
WORLD PREMIERE In the dangerously overcrowded California State prison system, 50 men serving life sentences are given the opportunity to become substance abuse counselors. As the first-ever participants in the Offender Mentor Program, the group reckons with their own demons as they excavate the deep trauma of their fellow inmates. An intimate study on the […]
WORLD PREMIERE More than the namesake of one of the most iconic sneakers, Stan Smith has lived a champion’s life on and off the tennis court. Chronicling his rise from collegiate superstar to World No.1 and beyond, Smith blazed new paths for athletes, both as a fashion icon and a humanitarian. Complete with intimate first-person […]
WORLD PREMIERE Seeking to uncover the origins of the rabid homophobia of the conservative church, a gay seminary scholar and a straight activist make a shocking discovery: In 1946 an erroneous translation of the term “homosexual” in the Bible that has been weaponized against the LGBTQIA+ community ever since. Director Rocky Roggio uses her own […]
US PREMIERE Vancouver, Canada is ground zero of the opioid crisis in Canada with fentanyl overdose deaths at an all-time high. To save lives and support their marginalized community, a group of current and former drug users volunteer at the Overdose Prevention Society (OPS), a safe injection site. Through intimate observation, Colin Askey’s debut feature […]
WORLD PREMIERE When a spiritual crisis spurs him to leave the constraints of the conservatory, pianist and filmmaker James Carson embarks on a journey of evolution, discovering new connections between music and the natural world. His travels culminate in a cabin he builds in the Canadian wild where his experiences meld into a new form. […]