Abacus Federal Savings Bank is a modest institution of New York’s Chinatown that came under harsh prosecution in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. While other banks were considered ‘too big to fail,’ Abacus was ‘small enough to jail.’ Filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams) follows the bank’s founder Thomas Sung and his family as […]
NYC PREMIERE The beautiful, remote islands of Micronesia, a US protectorate, contribute a disproportionate number of soldiers to the American armed forces. Looking for a way out of poverty, these Pacific Islanders leave their communities in pursuit of the American Dream. unfortunately some, like Sapp Nena, pay for it with their lives. Exploring the impact […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE In this affectionate portrait, filmmaker Kimi Takesue finds an unlikely collaborator while visiting her grandfather Tom in Hawai’i. A recent widower in his 90s, Tom seems content to go about his daily routines until he shows surprising interest in his granddaughter’s screenplay. In alternately funny and poignant discussions, Kimi’s fictional love story […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Kukan (1941), one of the first documentaries honored with an Academy Award®, was long considered lost. A chronicle of Chinese resistance to Japanese aggression, the project was credited to Rey Scott, an adventurer who had never before made a film. When Hawaiian filmmaker Robin Lung learns that a driving force behind Kukan […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Directed by Academy Award® winner Thomas Lennon and shot around the globe by 40 teams of filmmakers, Sacred immerses the viewer in an exploration of spirituality across cultures and religions. From a Buddhist monk’s 1,000-day circumnavigation of a mountain in Japan and Hasidic Jews’ ecstatic celebrations in Uman to Angola Prison inmates […]
Special offer: 5 for $5 sale on this film ends at midnight, Nov 5. NYC PREMIERE In this tender and sensitively observed portrait, octogenarians Feng and Lou have been inseparable for over 40 years, but aging and illness threaten their deep bond. Since Lou was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Feng has been her steadfast caretaker, but he’s growing increasingly […]
NYC PREMIERE Demonstrating the power of inclusion to transcend disability, Lara Stolman’s triumphant film profiles members of the Jersey Hammerheads, a competitive swim team made up of a diverse group of teens on the autism spectrum, based in the state with the highest rate of autism in the country. Through training and competition, star athletes […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE With the financial backing of the Hong Kong government, Ben Goertzel believes he finally will realize his lifelong dream of developing human-like artificial intelligence using software that mimics the complex operation of the human mind. Assembling a ragtag team of experts to assist him, the eccentric researcher sets out to create functioning, […]
An extended conversation will accompany the screening moderated by The New York Times Editorial Board member Brent Staples. In this series, a broad group of contributors with diverse perspectives aim to advance discussions about the state of race relations in America. An extended conversation will accompany the screening. A Conversation With My Black Son (USA, […]
Clínica de Migrantes: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (USA, 39 min., Maxim Pozdorovkin) Puentes de Salud (Bridges of Health) is a volunteer-run clinic in South Philadelphia that provides much-needed healthcare to the undocumented Latino immigrant community. Unable to buy health insurance, this underserved population has nowhere else to go, and the staff at […]