NYC PREMIERE As Israel was fighting to establish a nation in 1948, it was badly wanting for an air force. Using secret means in defiance of the US Neutrality Act, Israel recruited American pilots who had fought in WWII. Above and Beyond recounts this hidden chapter of history, interviewing pilots and making skillful use of […]
People and their animals. A Bedouin sheepherder contemplates moving his family to the city in Faces (Jordan, 16 min., Said Najmi). Herd in Iceland (USA, 28 min., Lindsay Blatt & Paul Taggart) chronicles the annual roundup of the country’s purebred horses, after a summer roaming free. Of Cows and Men (USA, 4 min., Emily Fraser) follows a dairy farmer during difficult […]
NYC PREMIERE Though raised in a Modern Orthodox Jewish New Jersey household, director Anna Wexler rejected religion as a teen, finding friends with similar backgrounds. After they studied in Israel, however, these once-rebellious friends re-committed to their faith, puzzling her in the process. Teaming with Nadja Oertelt, who was raised secular, Anna follows three diverse […]
NYC PREMIERE In The Unknown Known, Academy Award-winning director Errol Morris (The Fog of War) offers a mesmerizing portrait of Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of Defense whose career will cast a long shadow over the 21st century. Over multiple interviews, Rumsfeld and Morris engage in a verbal duel over recent history and even the […]
For more than two years, Egyptians have turned out in massive numbers to occupy Cairo’s Tahrir Square and demand change from their leaders. During the many dramatic shifts over that time, director Jehane Noujaim and her crew have captured what’s happened in the square through the eyes of several young revolutionaries. They range in background […]
NYC PREMIERE At the International High School at Lafayette, a Brooklyn public high school dedicated to newly arrived immigrants from all over the world, five teenagers strive to master English, adapt to families they haven’t seen in years, and create a future of their own while coming of age in a new land. Their journey […]
Today drone strikes, night raids and U.S. government-condoned torture occur in corners across the globe, generating unprecedented civilian casualties. Director Richard Rowley takes us on a chilling ride with investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill (Blackwater), tracing the rise of the most secret fighting force in U.S. history and exposing operations carried out by men who do […]
NYC PREMIERE Linor Abargil is an Israeli beauty contestant who won Miss World. But she was also the victim of a violent stabbing and rape. Director Cecilia Peck (who made Shut Up and Sing with Barbara Kopple) follows Abargil as she speaks out about rape around the world. When her rapist comes up for parole, […]
2013 VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION WINNER NYC PREMIERE “A doc that flips storytelling and Mideast-Arab clichés on their heads, while weaving an irresistible mood of amused melancholy.” (Variety). If Woody Allen made a film about a Palestinian refugee camp, it might come out like A World Not Ours. Director Mahdi Fleifel grew up in the camp of […]