US PREMIERE | Just outside of Beijing, the city of Langfang is on the front lines of China’s fight against air pollution. The local environmental protection bureau and its intrepid deputy chief—affectionately called “Uncle Smog Buster” by local school kids—are tasked with navigating Beijing’s strict national policy and the interests of local politicians and businesses. In […]
In June 2017, Chinese student Yingying Zhang’s dream of earning her PhD in America morphed into a nightmare when she disappeared from her college campus, sparking a desperate search for her whereabouts. Characteristically cautious, Yingying would not typically put herself in harm’s way—but what if trouble came looking for her? Fellow student and filmmaker Jiayan […]
In February 2017, Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il, and half-brother to the current Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, died after being exposed to a lethal nerve agent in a Malaysian airport. His assassins were caught on security cameras: two young women, one from Indonesia, the other from Vietnam, […]
2020 SHORT LIST: CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD Filmed in Wuhan, China by an independent crew, 76 Days covers the length of the city’s lockdown for COVID-19. The film’s suspenseful pacing and otherworldly imagery make it feel like a science-fiction thriller. The heroes are the front-line hospital workers who still manage to find humanity and humor even while […]
In 2014, Peter Liang, a Chinese-American police officer, shot and killed an innocent, unarmed black man named Akai Gurley in the dark stairwell of a Brooklyn housing project. In the midst of high racial tension surrounding police conduct, Liang becomes the first NYPD officer to receive a guilty verdict in such a case in over […]
With blight ravaging New York City in the 1970s, the Young Lords and Black Panthers fought for radical change in their communities. Through the leadership of Dr. Mutulu Shakur—Tupac Shakur’s stepfather—these activists created the first acupuncture detoxification program in the United States. While the legacy of the program has long been maintained by the residents […]
IN THE ABSENCE DIR: Seung-jun Yi When the passenger ferry MV Sewol sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives, most of them schoolchildren. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities. Courtesy of Field of Vision. (USA/South Korea, 29 MIN, […]
US PREMIERE Ten years ago, director Thomas Balmès (Babies, Happiness) filmed in Bhutan with a seven-year-old Buddhist monk named Peyangki awaiting the arrival of electricity to his village. Now a decade later, Balmès returns to find Peyangki and the whole monastery obsessed with cell phones. With beautiful cinematography, the film captures nuance, humor and humanity. Witnessing […]
On bucking the system. (TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 78 MIN) Deborah Harry Does Not Like Interviews | Director: Meghan Fredrich Blondie’s Deborah Harry endures years of superficial and demeaning questions from journalists before turning the tables. (USA, 17 MIN) The Art of Making Money: This Guy Has Balls | Director: Nathan Truesdell A man attempts to use his handmade art […]
Short stories from and about New York City. (TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 78 MIN) A Great Day in Hip Hop Revisited | Director: Nelson George A look back at a historic day in music history, September 29, 1998, when Gordon Parks gathered over 200 hip hop artists to recreate the famed “A Great Day in Harlem” image. (USA, […]