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 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 Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s observational film is a stunningly shot sensory immersion into the Grand Magaal, an annual Muslim pilgrimage which finds a million Sufis traveling to the holy Senagalese city of Touba to honor their ancestral leader and his code of non-violence. The three-day spectacle presents a unique and essential look at Islam—one […]
NYC PREMIERE Exposing the roots of homophobia in Jamaican society, The Abominable Crime tells the story of a mother’s love for her child and an activist’s love for his country. It gives voice to Jamaicans like Simone Edwards, who survived an anti-gay shooting, and Maurice Tomlinson, a leading activist who is forced to flee the […]
NYC PREMIERE At the International High School at Lafayette, a Brooklyn public high school dedicated to newly arrived immigrants from all over the world, five teenagers strive to master English, adapt to families they haven’t seen in years, and create a future of their own while coming of age in a new land. Their journey […]
US PREMIERE In a culture that has overwhelmingly embraced the dictum “sex sells,” why does the concept of virginity still hold sway? Using her own experiences, filmmaker Therese Shechter humorously explores the chimerical nature of the idea, and how it’s been used to control women’s sexuality and sense of self-worth. The result, drawing from the […]
WORLD PREMIERE The Reverend Gary Davis, blind since infancy, honed his music in North Carolina’s blues scene before moving to Harlem in the 1940s, preaching and performing on street corners. The 1960s folk revival saw a renewed interest in the virtuoso guitarist, culminating in a memorable performance at the Newport Folk Festival. This tribute gives […]
In 2010, Roger Ross Williams won the Academy Award for his documentary short Music by Prudence, becoming the first African American director ever to receive an Oscar. Now he explores the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting the “sexual […]
NYC PREMIERE Linor Abargil is an Israeli beauty contestant who won Miss World. But she was also the victim of a violent stabbing and rape. Director Cecilia Peck (who made Shut Up and Sing with Barbara Kopple) follows Abargil as she speaks out about rape around the world. When her rapist comes up for parole, […]
2013 VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION WINNER NYC PREMIERE “A doc that flips storytelling and Mideast-Arab clichés on their heads, while weaving an irresistible mood of amused melancholy.” (Variety). If Woody Allen made a film about a Palestinian refugee camp, it might come out like A World Not Ours. Director Mahdi Fleifel grew up in the camp of […]