NYC PREMIERE The residents of Concord, Massachusetts take pride in their town’s role in the American Revolution and celebrate direct democracy by voting on proposed bylaws at annual town meetings. Feisty octogenarian Jean Hill, concerned about the environmental impact of our disposable culture, is on a mission to ban the local sale of plastic bottled […]
WORLD PREMIERE While polio had been all but eliminated since the development of vaccines in the 1950s, the debilitating disease has shown a resurgence in Pakistan. After the Taliban bans polio vaccinations and spreads misinformation about sinister conspiracies to frighten the masses, the country suffers devastating outbreaks of the disease, prompting strategic problem-solving from the […]
WORLD PREMIERE A resonant work of modern Americana, Andrea B. Scott’s film paints a rich and often humorous portrait of a cowboy town set in the heart of Arizona’s prison industry. Florence’s civilian population is outnumbered two to one by its inmates, who are spread out over nine correctional facilities. Economically dependent on this local […]
WORLD PREMIERE A provocative exploration of the contentious issue of gun control, Jessica Solce’s film profiles two men at opposite ends of the debate: The outspoken Cody Wilson, a radical libertarian anarchist who made headlines by designing “the Liberator,” the first open-source 3D-printable gun; and artist Greg Bokor, who develops an interactive installation consisting of […]
CLOSING NIGHT FILM US PREMIERE Fans of comic documentaries can rejoice. If you’ve never heard of the Yes Men, you’re in for a treat; if you’ve followed their antics in earlier films, you’ll delight in a new barrage. Either way, you’ll find in this film a fresh reflection on the question: How does one sustain a […]
US PREMIERE Televangelist, multi-millionaire and leader of the religious right, Pat Robertson is a man on a mission. During an escalating refugee crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Robertson ran a media blitz on the Christian Broadcasting Network to raise money for his charity, Operation Blessing. Over the airwaves, he gave glowing reports of […]
NYC PREMIERE The residents of a dying Colorado mining town pin their hopes for economic resurgence on the promise of a new uranium mill—the first to be built in three decades—even as they continue to feel the dangerous effects of the last uranium boom. In the face of legal injunctions by environmental activists from a […]
The never-broadcast prologue to Oliver Stone’s epic, ten-hour Showtime series The Untold History of the United States (“I cannot recommend it highly enough,” enthused The Guardian’s Glenn Greenwald) deepens the provocative filmmaker’s exploration of how the United States became an empire. Focusing on events in the lead-up to World War II, this two-hour segment applies […]
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 Nearly 40 years ago, a California law stipulated that furniture manufacturers make their products non-flammable to curb the damage of house fires. Because of the state’s large market share, products containing chemical flame retardants have since spread to the rest of the US and Canada. But do these flame retardants actually work, or […]