Popularly known as the “high priestess of soul,” Nina Simone was a singular talent. A classically trained pianist whose Carnegie Hall aspirations were thwarted by the prevailing prejudices of the 1950s, she instead triumphed with a singing career that blended gospel, pop and folk with classical music and songs that made her a civil rights […]
Oscar-winning director Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11) returns with his first film in six years. It won acclaim at the Toronto and New York film festivals as his “biggest crowd pleaser” (Variety) and “most far-reaching” (New York Times), and will open in theaters later this year. Moore travels abroad as a one-man army […]
Winner of the People’s Choice Documentary Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Winter on Fire supplies a visceral, in-depth look at the bloody Ukrainian uprising in 2013-14 that led to the overthrow of President Yanukovych. Filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky makes the complicated politics approachable with vibrant characters, brisk pacing and well-deployed graphics. He uses multiple […]
NYC PREMIERE Gus is obsessed with wrestling, perhaps disturbingly so. Ebony is nervous about nailing her audition to a performing arts school. Matt, raised with religion, is flirting with atheism. Graham has to contend with his difficulties reading and a family move to Fiji. They’re all very different preteens, but they have one thing in […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE After her sons died and she could no longer conceive, Maggi chose the intellectually disabled Chun-hee as a second wife for her husband to continue the family line. Forty-five years later, and after their husband has passed, the two elderly women continue to share a life, but Maggi worries about Chun-hee’s fate […]
NYC PREMIERE For five weeks each year, François leaves his wife and small children in Quebec to live in a van on the streets of New York City. Like hundreds of other seasonal workers, he’s a tree man, selling Christmas trees on the Upper West Side, sacrificing time with his loved ones to provide an […]
US PREMIERE Petr used to be an urbanite studying computer science, but when he met Simona, they set out for the Czech countryside to pursue dreams of a self-sufficient family outside mainstream society. After 25 years, settled in a caravan on a meadow with no running water or modern conveniences, their nine children struggle with […]
WORLD PREMIERE Elizabeth Streb’s Extreme Action Company has been thrilling audiences around the world since 1985, but never before have they attempted to pull off something as challenging as One Extraordinary Day, a centerpiece culture event celebrating the London Summer Olympics. Craig Lowy’s exhilarating film follows the Brooklyn troupe from auditions, through rehearsals, to the […]
WORLD PREMIERE When the federal government bans a chemical, deeming it harmful to the well-being of its citizens, few know that they actively encourage the manufacturer to export it abroad for profit. Evan Mascagni and Shannon Post’s pointed exposé reveals this disturbing practice, focusing on the global trade in banned pesticides, their devastating environmental and […]
US PREMIERE When Aussie everyman Dayne Pratzky left Sydney to build a home in rural Tara, he never expected he’d find himself in a battle over one of today’s most contentious issues: fracking. After the gas companies arrive to exploit the coal seam gas trapped beneath his land, Dayne learns he has no legal recourse […]