A courageous young Scottish actress takes the boldest step imaginable to confront her risk of having inherited the fatal, incurable Huntington’s Disease. This film has been shortlisted for the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. This film plays before the feature, WHEN PEOPLE DIE THEY SING SONGS
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Olga Lvoff’s film is a sensitive examination of family, memory and mortality. Under the watchful eyes of her dutiful daughter Sonia, Regina recalls the Yiddish and French songs of her youth through music therapy sessions following a stroke. But the 93-year-old Holocaust survivor is starting to succumb to dementia. Fearful that their […]
NYC PREMIERE Moved by the plight of desperate women in countries with restrictive reproductive rights, Dutch physician Rebecca Gomperts founded Women on Waves, which uses laws governing international waters to bring much-needed abortion and contraceptive services to those with no other recourse. Despite a quagmire of legal, religious, political and logistical obstacles, Gomperts and her […]
WORLD PREMIERE While polio had been all but eliminated since the development of vaccines in the 1950s, the debilitating disease has shown a resurgence in Pakistan. After the Taliban bans polio vaccinations and spreads misinformation about sinister conspiracies to frighten the masses, the country suffers devastating outbreaks of the disease, prompting strategic problem-solving from the […]
Once ubiquitous, but surprisingly still in regular use despite our increasingly detached digital world, telephone hotlines connect strangers for a multiplicity of purposes. Some are for profit, others for the public good—from the titillation of phone sex or the spiritual advice of Ms. Cleo, to the lifesaving potential of a suicide prevention line. Tony Shaff’s […]
NYC PREMIERE In 1979, teenager Mark DeFriest received a four-year prison sentence for stealing his own tools. After countless outrageous jailbreak attempts—many humorously recounted here through animated sequences—he’s still incarcerated and will be until 2084. Shortly after his confinement began, Mark’s mental competency was questioned, but the opinion of Dr. Robert Berland, a single dissenting […]
NYC PREMIERE By now, the idea of Civil War re-enactment is familiar, but the subjects of Mike Attie and Meghan O’Hara’s intriguing film relive the battles of a far more surprising conflict: Vietnam. Drawing a mix of combat enthusiasts, Iraq War soldiers, actual Vietnam veterans, and even a former South Vietnamese Army officer, this band […]
NYC PREMIERE This strikingly candid profile explores the triumphs and tragedies of Greg Louganis, considered by many the greatest diver of all time. A four-time Olympian, Louganis became a household name and an inspiration to countless athletes, but after he publicly revealed his sexuality and HIV status, the backlash cost him dearly. Back on Board […]
Unexpected environments. A Beautiful Waste (USA, 6 min., Jon Kasbe) explores NYC’s vibrant sewer system, while men reflect on their time living in the tunnels under Lost Vegas (USA, 24 min., Steve Birnbaum). White Blaze (USA, 22 min., Brian Bolster) profiles a trail angel who helps Appalachian Trail hikers. An artist becomes walking artwork to […]
This program demonstrates the bonds of family, even under the most trying circumstances. In Beyond Broken, Vasso, dependent on her family after a brutal attack, turns to art to find the will to go on (USA, 38 min., Andrew Morreale). A grandson realizes his late grandfather’s secret dream of becoming a filmmaker in quicksand (USA, 8 min., Lance […]