10th Anniversary screening. In the enthralling, and often surprisingly funny, Cannes award-winning Sisters in Law, two fierce and feisty women challenge tradition to make a difference in Cameroon law. Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and judge Beatrice Ntuba give long-silenced women their day in court, empowering them to cast off the roles of victims and demand justice. […]
Having previously investigated rape in the military in the Oscar-nominated The Invisible War, Kirby Dick turns his attention to another insidious bastion of sexual assaults: the college campus. While 20 percent of female college students experience sexual violence, few report the crime, and their perpetrators typically suffer no consequences. The Hunting Ground lays bare the […]
Malala Yousafzai gained world attention at age 15 when she spoke out for girls’ education from her home in Pakistan’s Swat Valley and survived being shot in the head by Taliban militants. Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) gives a close-up portrait of this strong-willed teenager and her family. The title’s “he” refers to […]
A candid portrait of a woman’s redemptive fight against sexual exploitation, Kim Longinotto’s masterful observational film follows Brenda, a charismatic former drug addict and prostitute who, having turned her life around, has made it her mission to give hope to women and girls in need. Through her Dreamcatcher Foundation, she reaches out to sex workers, […]
Unwilling to become a victim of Mexico’s notorious drug cartels, a small-town physician organizes a grassroots civilian defense force to combat the danger and instability they’ve wrought. On the other side of the border, a veteran fearful that the violence will cross into America sets up his own paramilitary group. Director Matthew Heineman embeds himself […]
WORLD PREMIERE In Canada, seal hunting was historically considered to be a respectable job until people witnessed the graphic images of the practice for themselves on television. Angry and committed to save the seals, Brian Davies, a charismatic young activist, sets out on a crusade that becomes his life’s mission. Using the power of cinematography, […]
NYC PREMIERE In recent decades, mainstream media has portrayed pit bulls as vicious killers, with several states even banning the breed. When Atlanta Falcons’ star quarterback Michael Vick’s brutal dog-fighting ring was exposed, this stigma resulted in calls for euthanasia of the pit bulls involved by PETA and the Humane Society. The Champions intimately chronicles […]
Popularly known as the “high priestess of soul,” Nina Simone was a singular talent. A classically trained pianist whose Carnegie Hall aspirations were thwarted by the prevailing prejudices of the 1950s, she instead triumphed with a singing career that blended gospel, pop and folk with classical music and songs that made her a civil rights […]
Winner of the People’s Choice Documentary Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Winter on Fire supplies a visceral, in-depth look at the bloody Ukrainian uprising in 2013-14 that led to the overthrow of President Yanukovych. Filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky makes the complicated politics approachable with vibrant characters, brisk pacing and well-deployed graphics. He uses multiple […]
Against a backdrop of civil unrest and the radical transformation of American society in the mid-1960s, the black nationalist organization known as the Black Panthers emerged as leaders of the expected revolution. Interweaving fascinating archival material with gripping first-hand accounts from members of the group’s rank and file, director Stanley Nelson’s definitive history reveals the […]