What does it mean to bring a rape accusation against one of the most powerful figures in the entertainment industry? Examining the complex factors that make it difficult for Black women to speak out and be heard, Oscar-nominated filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering (The Hunting Ground, DOC NYC 2015) follow several women, including Drew […]
The liberation movements around race, gender, and sexuality have been well-documented. Now Crip Camp shines a light on the overlooked, but equally important, disability rights movement. Its origins trace back to Camp Jened, a haven for disabled teens in the early 1970s, down the road from Woodstock. Directors Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht (a former Jened camper […]
2020 SHORT LIST SHORTS: SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION FOR COURAGE UNDER FIRE In the fall of 2019, a proposed bill allowing the Chinese government to extradite criminal suspects to mainland China escalates protests throughout Hong Kong. Unfolding across a year, this film captures the determination and sacrifices of the protesters, the government’s backlash, and the passage […]
2020 SHORT LIST: PRODUCING AWARD Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France (How to Survive a Plague, DOC NYC 2012) delivers a suspenseful real-life thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Inspired by The New Yorker reporting of Masha Gessen, the film follows a courageous team of Russian activists who operate an underground railroad to help LGBTQ […]
2020 SHORT LIST: DIRECTING AWARD Winner of the Sundance Documentary Directing Award, Time is one of the most critically lauded films of the year. Filmmaker Garrett Bradley focuses on Fox Rich, an entrepreneur, author, and mother of six, who has spent 21 years fighting for the release of her husband, Rob, from a 60-year prison […]
This inspiring and vital film follows lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union as they battle the Trump administration over cases of immigration, abortion, LGBTQ equality, and voting rights. We watch the lawyers in action as they meet with desperate clients and plot legal strategies for critical cases including one that goes to the Supreme […]
Greta Thunberg became famous for her viral videos confronting UN leaders over climate change. Swedish filmmaker Nathan Grossman offers a unique view of Greta’s personal history starting in August 2018 when she was 15 years old and scarcely known. As her notoriety rises, we watch Greta adapt to being both flattered and scorned by world […]
Journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines was named one of Time magazine’s Persons of the Year. Her online news site, Rappler combines the words “rap” and “ripple” for its truth seeking under the authoritarian regime of President Rodrigo Duterte. Filmmaker Ramona Diaz profiles Ressa as she faces government persecution in a series of legal actions […]
2020 SHORT LIST: SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION FOR TRUTH TO POWER Journalism’s role of exposing corruption has rarely been as dramatically portrayed as in Collective. Filmmaker Alexander Nanau follows a team of Romanian reporters in real time as they doggedly uncover a deadly scandal that reaches the highest levels of government. Like a real-life version of […]
Phil Demers, an eccentric free spirit, becomes an unexpectedly popular trainer at Niagara Falls’ Marineland after forming a bond with the park’s first walrus, Smooshi. For the next decade Demers cares for Smooshi and other animals in increasingly decrepit conditions. After he quits as a result of these concerns—and is accused of plotting to steal […]