In the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting, local priest Father Bob Weiss connects with Father Basil O’Sullivan of Dunblane, Scotland, from a community which could uniquely relate to Newtown’s trauma. Kim A. Snyder’s film explores the power of resilience through the bond forged between these two priests. Courtesy of Netflix.
WORLD PREMIERE After a controversial basketball ruling about head coverings makes it impossible for Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir to maintain her religious convictions while playing professionally, she begins training the next generation of Muslim girls at an Islamic school’s athletics program. As she reckons with the possibility of life without basketball, Bilqis fights to change the rules […]
2018 VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION WINNER NYC PREMIERE This beautiful observational portrait of childhood is set in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on the border between Nepal and India, the birthplace of the Buddha. Director Yuqi Kang reveals the emotional dynamics of five-year-old Hopakuli and his older brother Chorten as these young novice monks attempt to balance […]
NYC PREMIERE In this Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning film, director Talal Derki (Return to Homs) returns to his native Syria and gains remarkably unfettered access to a radical jihadist and his family for two years. General Abu Osama raises his young sons to become Islamist fighters, but what if they just want to […]
23-year-old activist Nadia Murad has a horrifying personal story to tell. But her ability to relate it is a rare beacon of hope for her minority community of Yazidis. They were targeted by ISIS for systemic rapes and genocidal violence. As one of the few Yazidis who speaks to the Western press, Nadia carries their […]
WORLD PREMIERE Osama and Ayman Abdeldayem are brothers, skateboarders, entrepreneurs, Americans, and Muslims. As they skate through the streets of our nation’s capital, they navigate growing Islamophobia with characteristic style and humor.
Oscar-nominated for three documentaries, Wim Wenders (The Salt of the Earth, Pina, Buena Vista Social Club) trains his camera on the Argentine pontiff who has led the Catholic Church since 2013. His namesake, Saint Francis of Assisi, is famous for his love of nature, his devotion to the poor and his efforts to make peace […]
NYC PREMIERE It’s time to embrace the shamanistic side of Christmas.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Seventeen octogenarian Franciscan nuns take care of each other in this beautifully observed and often humorous portrait. In their convent in Spain, the nuns fulfill their religious duties and go about their quotidian tasks as the world outside continues to change. Revitalized by current Vatican policies and feeling the economic pressures of […]
This program presents two films appearing in our Short List: Shorts section recognizing some of the top documentary shorts films of the year. END GAME DIRS: Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman A moving film about the passage from life to death, End Game is a portrait of the last days of those in palliative care in […]