US PREMIERE When Aussie everyman Dayne Pratzky left Sydney to build a home in rural Tara, he never expected he’d find himself in a battle over one of today’s most contentious issues: fracking. After the gas companies arrive to exploit the coal seam gas trapped beneath his land, Dayne learns he has no legal recourse […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE The explosion of information in the digital age left government agencies like the NSA struggling with bureaucracy and technology to keep up with the changing times. Responding to the challenge, NSA technical director Bill Binney and a small team of codebreakers develop ThinThread, an astonishingly effective data collecting and sorting program that […]
Jon Alpert (DCTV) and Sheila Nevins (HBO Documentary Films) present the world premiere of a new documentary short, followed by a keynote conversation and reception co-presented by HBO Documentary Films. In Alpert’s new film, Mariela Castro’s March: Cuba’s LGBT Revolution, Cuban Congresswoman Mariela Castro – daughter of Raúl and niece of Fidel Castro – confronts decades of cultural and institutional homophobia to serve as a tireless champion of […]
City life. A union man on a mission uses a giant inflatable rat to raise awareness in Lenny and the Rat (USA, 8 min., Jason Hutt). S – The Musical Shuttle (USA, 40 min., Alina Abouelenin, Benjamin Bergmann) shows why the S train is the most lucrative for NYC’s buskers. Mac Premo – stuffmaker (USA, […]
WORLD PREMIERE Lenny and the Rat captures a day in the life of union organizer Lenny Anselmo and the 20-foot inflatable rat he places at non-union construction sites around New York City
2015 AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER NYC PREMIERE Left on Purpose began as a portrait of the life of Mayer Vishner, an antiwar Yippie activist. In the midst of filming, the aging radical informs director Justin Schein that, having had his fill of solitude and depression, he intends instead to make the project about his death – […]
NYC PREMIERE Havana, Cuba. An up-and-coming singer searches for confidence, a young woman in love longs for motherhood and a veteran of the Revolution comes to terms with the death of her husband. Three women, united by blindness and a desire for independence, guide us through Cuba’s current economic and social landscape while pursuing their […]
WORLD PREMIERE The 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference was a watershed event in the global struggle for women’s rights. Now, on its 20th anniversary, the film MAKERS: Once and For All, dedicated to women’s stories, retraces the suspenseful months leading up to Beijing and the high-stakes drama of the event itself. Oscar nominee and Emmy winner […]
NYC PREMIERE While the LGBT community began to experience greater visibility in the wake of 1969’s Stonewall riots, generations had quietly lived their lives before, out of the public eye. Stu Maddux reveals this hidden history by unearthing a treasure trove of rare home movies made by gay people – some dating to the 1930s […]
NYC PREMIERE Born out of a desire to give voice to a historically marginalized and criminalized workforce, The Red Umbrella Diaries turns the spotlight on seven diverse New Yorkers as they take the stage at Joe’s Pub to tell personal stories about their experiences as sex workers. At turns provocative, illuminating, hilarious and empowering, their […]