NYC PREMIERE Despite the cruelty of living under Belgium’s oppressive regime in the colonial era, the Congolese maintained their sense of pride and self-expression, most notably in the form of the Congolese rumba, a blend of sounds from Cuba and the Congo’s unique musical traditions. Director Alain Brain showcases an impressive slate of musicians from […]
WORLD PREMIERE Tourists flock to the west coast of Ireland to take in the breathtaking cliffs of Moher, but the real treasure lies in the soulful, acoustic sounds wafting out of pubs and living rooms of Doolin, County Clare. The denizens of this unspoiled coastal village of tight-knit neighbors and unlocked doors revel in the […]
NYC PREMIERE Lena Mae “Mother” Perry, the backbone of her community, cooks for crowds, tends to the needy, and boy, can she sing! After 50 years leading the dynamic, down-home gospel group The Branchettes, the octogenarian powerhouse, armed with her unwavering faith, shows no signs of slowing down. Taking us inside her loving community while […]
US PREMIERE Sorious Samura is Sierra Leone’s best-known investigative journalist, making documentaries for CNN, Channel 4 and BBC and winning two Emmy awards. But he wrestles with creating stories for a white gaze. He embarks on a project with Sierra Leone playwright Charlie Haffner to create an epic work of national theatre meant to reclaim […]
WORLD PREMIERE An uplifting, entertaining profile of the grande dame of Cuban music, Omara Portuondo, the internationally beloved chanteuse best known in the States as a member of the famed Buena Vista Social Club. The filmmakers follow octogenarian Omara—feisty, charming, with a naughty sense of humor, and still in possession of her fantastic voice—on her […]
WORLD PREMIERE The style. The fashion. The moves. Saturday Night Fever left an indelible stamp on our cultural memory of the 1970s—and there was one man behind it all. Robert Stigwood, a producer impresario, best known for managing the Bee Gees, took the swagger of a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn disco, and brought it to the […]
US PREMIERE An experimental portrait of Ilhan Mimaroglu, the legendary Turkish pioneer of electronic music who passed away in 2012. Through a multilayered structure that mirrors Ilhan Mimaroglu’s music, the film also tells the story of his vibrant wife Güngör, who migrated to the USA from Turkey in the early 1960s and became an activist […]
NYC PREMIERE Alanis Morissette’s first radio hits came when she was a teenager, but when she decided to center her personal truths and heartbreaks in 1995’s “Jagged Little Pill” she became a phenomenon. While the world struggled to pathologize the young artist’s “needless” anger, women growing up listening to the album, found in Morisette a […]
NYC PREMIERE Much like a tale straight from the lyrics of a country-western ballad, Wanita Bahtiyar rises from humble beginnings and makes her way to international stardom in Nashville—or that’s what Australia’s self-proclaimed “Queen of Honky Tonk” would hope will happen. I’m Wanita follows the singer as she attempts an international pilgrimage from Down Under […]
NYC PREMIERE “Revivify Fanny. And my work is done,” said David Bowie. Fanny was the first rock band of women to release an LP with a major label, putting out five albums in the early 70s. They broke barriers of race, gender, and sexuality in a group that included two Filipina American sisters and queer […]