NYC PREMIERE The challenges of getting accepted to top colleges for today’s American high schoolers are captured by two Sacramento teachers in a new original musical theater production that speaks to the present moment like nothing else. As schools from Silicon Valley to West Virginia to The Bronx’s Fordham High School for the Arts mount […]
WORLD PREMIERE Patriarch of the famed “First Family of Jazz,” Ellis Marsalis was a master jazz pianist, composer and educator. This intimate documentary delves into the life and career of this music icon, interlaced with rare footage of key moments in US history, and footage of his final live performances. Anecdotes from sons Wynton, Branford, […]
WORLD PREMIERE In the 1990s, cheap rent and big houses in Athens, GA helped incubate bands Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, Elf Power, and many more. This psychedelic rock music, often created by non-musicians and recorded on creaky 4-tracks, developed a loyal following who shared cassette tapes and 45s and packed into raucous live […]
US PREMIERE Folk singer-songwriter turned activist and philanthropist, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s 60-year career includes winning the first Academy Award for an Indigenous person, the first internet album, and an FBI file. Fearless and ahead of her time, a vibrant 80-year-old Buffy —aided by her fellow folk-singing icon Joni Mitchell—tells her own story as an abuse survivor, […]
WORLD PREMIERE When Cirque du Soleil moves to reboot its flagship production, O, more than a year after an abrupt global shutdown, both performers and crew members face uncertainty as they work to return to their world-class standards in time for the (re)opening night curtain in Las Vegas. With unprecedented access, filmmaker Dawn Porter (John […]
WORLD PREMIERE Driven by a mutual determination not to be “the generation that allows progress to slip,” national social justice leaders Marc Morial of National Urban League and Janet Murguía of UnidosUS join forces to fight structural racism amid a troubling resurgence of white supremacy in the Trump era. Two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple […]
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Professional aerial artist Katia Schwartz reworks her craft to embrace her weakening hearing abilities. – Samah Ali This screening is part of the SHORTS PROGRAM: THE ARTISTS This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Director Sam Martin and Producer Bek Ward. This film contains the following accessibility options for viewers:Closed Captioning for […]
Explore the creative process with artistic people around the globe. (Total Running Time: 84 MIN) Deafying Gravity| Director: Sam Martin Professional aerial artist Katia Schwartz reworks her craft to embrace her weakening hearing abilities. – Samah Ali (AUSTRALIA, 14 MIN) Feelings of Invisibility | Director: Charmaine Kachibaia Feelings of Invisibility explores the art of Anne […]
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 […]