NYC PREMIERE Many of those who called Boca Chica home don’t anymore. When Elon Musk’s SpaceX decided to build its 50-story rocket in the Texas town, it forced people away. Birds have been stopped in flight, and people who remained can no longer access the beaches they grew up visiting. Julien Elie’s dystopic sci-fi documentary […]
US PREMIERE The premise is shattering enough: A mother in Georgia becomes a surrogate to provide for her young daughter. Yet filmmaker Ketevan Vashagashvili’s intimate portrait derives its strength from the perceptive ways she captures the relationship between the two women. What starts as a means to make money evolves into a personal crisis, challenging […]
WORLD PREMIERE Shedding light on the familial burden of the migrant crisis, A Place of Absence charts the physical and emotional journey of Central American mothers on a bus caravan as they desperately search for their disappeared children, clinging to hope against overwhelming odds. Interwoven with the filmmaker’s story of her beloved uncle’s disappearance, this film […]
NYC PREMIERE Amid a looming maternal health crisis and vanishing reproductive freedom, the government interferes in the traditional practice of midwifery in a rural Mennonite community. When three midwives are arrested, the usually sequestered women decide to reclaim their rights by challenging the state’s decision. A little-known resistance filmed with extraordinary access to a reticent […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Vivid dreams and ghostly visits from Brazilian director João Vieira Torres’ grandmother compel him to explore the stories of the women in his family, many of whom were victims of violence. With intimate family conversations, haunting photos, and his coming-of-age story, João traces his journey to uncover a tragic legacy. In the […]
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE A groundbreaking comedy troupe takes the stage in Palestine, where laughter embodies survival and defiance. Following six comedians from Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah, the Golan Heights, and beyond, the film captures intimate family moments, raw rehearsals, and daring performances amid the suffocating grip of occupation and escalating violence. Especially amid unprecedented attempts to erase […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Haunted by his father’s unresolved death during the 1983 Matabeleland massacres, a Zimbabwean immigrant in Botswana believes his family is cursed. Burdened by generational trauma and historical violence, the man struggles to build a future, despite having love in his life. While trying to properly bury his father, he must confront his […]
US PREMIERE Materna, Italy, where Pasolini filmed the recreation of the life of Jesus, is the location for an updated reenactment entitled The New Gospel, a film gracefully blending art and activism. “Jesus was a social revolutionary,” says award-winning documentarian Milo Rau. With Cameroonian political activist Yvan Sagnet cast as Jesus, the film takes us […]
NYC PREMIERE The story of a student uprising on a Montreal university campus sheds light on the often-overlooked history of anti-Black racism in Canada. Through vivid archival footage and firsthand accounts from former student protestors, now in their 80s, the film reveals the experiences of Black Canadians who, alongside West Indians who migrated north seeking […]
NYC PREMIERE Mass media brought the unvarnished violence of the Vietnam War into homes across the globe. No singular photo was as devastatingly impactful as the harrowing image of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, known as Napalm Girl. Photographer Nick Ut received a Pulitzer Prize, but did he actually take the photo, or was it a […]