NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Monica Strømdahl portrays the harsh realities of people living in run-down motels known as flophouses. The film evolved from a photo project after Strømdahl met Mikal, an early adolescent living in close quarters with his sparring parents. Flophouse America uses unembellished digital photography to capture raw, authentic moments and exposes the struggles […]
US PREMIERE The premise is shattering enough: A mother in Georgia becomes a surrogate to provide for her young daughter. Yet filmmaker Ketevan Vashagashvili’s intimate portrait derives its strength from the perceptive ways she captures the relationship between the two women. What starts as a means to make money evolves into a personal crisis, challenging […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Haunted by his father’s unresolved death during the 1983 Matabeleland massacres, a Zimbabwean immigrant in Botswana believes his family is cursed. Burdened by generational trauma and historical violence, the man struggles to build a future, despite having love in his life. While trying to properly bury his father, he must confront his […]
NYC PREMIERE Set in Mexico’s heartland, this urgent investigative documentary follows a group of women who uncover radioactive contamination in their water after three young girls die of leukemia. These mothers-turned-activists link the crisis to the corporate extraction of ancient rocks. Facing government denial and community resistance, they fight for accountability. Blending expert insight with […]
US PREMIERE Set on Louisiana’s rapidly vanishing Isle de Jean Charles, this quietly powerful documentary captures the lives of two teenagers and their uncle as they navigate the slow erosion of their home. Faced with forced resettlement by the US government, their story unfolds through intimate, observational filmmaking that renders their daily lives with empathy […]
NYC PREMIERE Tadashi Nakamura’s film about his father, pioneering filmmaker Robert A. Nakamura, is both historically resonant and rooted in personal experience. In charting his father’s legacy as a filmmaker and activist, the younger Nakamura confronts his struggles with identity. More than a biopic of a great man, this is a story of a resilient […]
WORLD PREMIERE A moving story of a son reconnecting with his Indigenous mother, who left him as a child to return to her tribe in the Amazon. As an adult, he seeks to rebuild their bond across distance, culture, language, and time. The story revolves around several hurdles they encounter, many of which are bureaucratic, […]
US PREMIERE A poignant and powerful story following Afghanistan’s female ambassador to Austria as she faces a life-altering decision in the wake of the Taliban’s return to power. Refusing to represent an oppressive regime, she bravely confronts the very forces that tore her country apart. Through her defiance, Manizha Bakhtari becomes a voice for Afghanistan’s […]
NYC PREMIERE Gorgeously rendered through picturesque cinematography, Always offers a meditative portrait of an adolescent wannabe poet in rural China. Director-cinematographer Deming Chen follows the protagonist from ages 9 to 13, capturing family life, both its hardship and resilience, without sentimentality. Poetry lives in both intertitles and luminous images of land, labor, and people. Expansive […]