WORLD PREMIERE | Overprotected and overdirected, American children are wilting under the weight of well-meaning parents. In the pursuit of keeping them safe and creating an impressive resumé of extracurricular activities to wow admissions boards, over-parenting smothers children across socioeconomic classes. This thoughtful film follows education professionals and reformed helicopter parents who seek and offer solutions […]
New Jersey’s Good Grief counseling center offers a holistic approach to mourning. Filmmaker Katrine Philp presents viewers with a child’s perspective of its programs, offering an affectionate and intimate look at the lives of several children who have recently lost their parents and must navigate their grief by embracing sadness with honesty, bravery, humor, and […]
For decades, Las Vegas fertility specialist Dr. Quincy Fortier was celebrated for helping thousands of couples have babies. His secret? Impregnating women with his own sperm, unbeknownst to them. Using a consumer DNA test, a woman discovers that Dr. Fortier is her biological father, setting in motion a quest to find her many half-siblings. Filmmaker […]
2020 VIEWFINDERS SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION FOR ETHICS OF CARE Night-shift workers and single moms in New Rochelle, NY have angels in their midst: Nunu and husband Patrick run a 24-hour childcare center for parents with no other options. The home-based center provides children with food, fun, and lots of love, but at what cost to […]
An intimate portrait of the energetic and beautifully eccentric Chicago-based artists Jackie Seiden and Don Seiden, married for five decades. Director Daniel Hymanson follows the couple over time while they face their impending fragility with raw honesty and eerie elegance. Graciously shot, the documentary offers a privileged window into their art making, domesticity, frictions, and […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE | Photographer Lene Marie Fossen’s extreme form of anorexia is at the center of her artistic practice, giving the young woman a tool to engage in the representation of her own illness. This haunting portrait reveals how she explores her struggles through her own self-transcendent photography. At once beautiful but undeniably painful, her […]
In less than a year, filmmaker Judith Helfand (Cooked: Survival by Zip Code, DOC NYC 2018) goes through two major life moments: losing her beloved mother, Florence, and becoming a mom herself. As Judith prepares to welcome her adopted daughter, Theo, into her life, she must deal with literal and figurative “stuff:” endless boxes of […]
In Enemies of the State, executive produced by Errol Morris and produced by Ines Hofmann Kanna, director Sonia Kennebeck (National Bird) investigates the strange case of Anonymous hacktivist Matt DeHart and his claims of persecution by the US government. He and his parents fled the US seeking asylum in Canada after law enforcement brought charges against […]
This profoundly moving family portrait explores the cyclical nature of addiction and generational trauma. Jessica Earnshaw’s film opens as Jacinta is incarcerated alongside her mother, Rosemary. After the younger woman is released from jail, she attempts to reconnect with her daughter, Caylynn. As she fights to remain sober amid the pressures of post-correctional life, Jacinta […]
In 1978, Philadelphia’s police department conducted a violent siege on the communal home of the Black revolutionary group MOVE. Nine members of MOVE went to prison over the resultant death of a police officer, despite forensic mysteries in the case. Two of the prisoners were the parents of Mike Africa, Jr., who dedicated his life […]