Lord Timothy Bell, founder of the infamous public relations firm Bell Pottinger, rose to prominence from the advertising world to handle PR for political clients ranging from the controversial to the openly amoral. After decades of using weaponized media to influence elections—and subvert democracy—in the United Kingdom, Pinochet’s Chile, and beyond, a new client contributes […]
Disrupting the system. (TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 83 MIN) Oil and Water | Director: Anjali Nayar The women of a northern Kenya community that has been exploited for oil unite to fight greed, patriarchy, and corrupt politics. (Canada, 14 MIN) Stonewall 2069 | Director: Samuel Douek The 1969 police raid of New York City’s Stonewall bar sparked the queer […]
Stories of New Yorkers’ grit and resilience. (TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 80 MIN) A Week in June | Director: Jay Sansone Three young Black Lives Matter leaders are filmed on the streets of New York City during the first week of the George Floyd protests. (USA, 6 MIN) Road to Roxham | Director: Cristian Gomes In Plattsburgh, […]
Individuals and their circumstances illustrate the universal need to connect. (TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 76 MIN) Huntsville Station | Directors: Jamie Meltzer, Chris Filippone Inmates released from Huntsville State Penitentiary take in their first moments of freedom with phone calls, cigarettes, and quiet reflection at the nearby Greyhound station. (USA, 14 MIN) Tumbling Towards Home | Director: Imelda […]
When Janeé Harteau becomes Minneapolis’s first female police chief, she sets out to change a troubled department by addressing racially biased policing, increasing transparency, recruiting more women into the force, and championing leadership roles for female officers. But all of her reforms are threatened by an officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed woman. Filming both […]
2020 VIEWFINDERS SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION FOR BEST USE OF ARCHIVAL MATERIAL WORLD PREMERE | Emerging as a distinctive voice in the East Village art scene of the 1980s, David Wojnarowicz combined a variety of disciplines, from painting and photography to music and writing, in his artistic practice. Fiercely and unapologetically embracing his queer identity, he rebelled against […]
Fed up with misdeeds committed by Chicago law enforcement and a political system unwilling to hold anyone accountable, two millennial Black women take action. Spoken-word artist Bella and PhD candidate Janaé work tirelessly rallying the community and challenging a power structure that historically turns a deaf ear to young, Black, female voices. Over the course […]
Runner Up: Audience Award DOC NYC 2020 An intimate, inspiring, and timely portrait of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a true pioneer of American civil rights who was the lone voice in opposition to the authorization of military force after the September 11th attacks. A unique selection of political commentators, activists, politicians, and family members add depth […]
In an increasingly common scheme to steal their land, land-owning Kenyan elders are being accused of witchcraft by younger family members and sent away. Responding to a bizarre Facebook message that his beloved grandmother is killing children, Karisa visits his family compound in rural Kenya to investigate. This unhurriedly paced, visually engaging story explores complex […]
Runner Up: Audience Award DOC NYC 2020 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE | In 1970, off the coast of Cape Cod, Lithuanian sailor Simas Kudirka jumped from his Soviet ship onto a US Coast Guard vessel seeking asylum. Denied refuge by the American crew, Simas was sentenced to a Soviet labor camp for treason, sparking an international cause […]