NYC PREMIERE In the 1900s, Indian men immigrated to Louisiana, often intermarrying with African American women. Fatima, a descendant of this practice, journeys from her New Orleans home to Kolkata, seeking her long-lost forbears. Armed with a handful of faded documents, she struggles with language and suspicion, but the lure of family and the kindness […]
NYC PREMIERE Despite the cruelty of living under Belgium’s oppressive regime in the colonial era, the Congolese maintained their sense of pride and self-expression, most notably in the form of the Congolese rumba, a blend of sounds from Cuba and the Congo’s unique musical traditions. Director Alain Brain showcases an impressive slate of musicians from […]
NYC PREMIERE Uber, DoorDash, Citi Bikes and the like are part of the global explosion of convenience for consumers, and they provide desperately needed income opportunities for otherwise marginalized workers—but often with high hidden costs. Following several workers from around the world, director Shannon Walsh explores the economic and physical vulnerability of these enterprising wage […]
US PREMIERE Like their European counterparts, many Sephardic Jews and Jews from Arab lands left their homelands for the promise of freedom and opportunity in Israel. Unbeknownst to them, these Mizrahim were to be systematically relegated to bleak transit camps and development towns, and prohibited from enjoying full rights of Israeli citizenship. Through interviews and […]
US PREMIERE In 2004, director Iván Guarnizo’s mother was abducted by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) for 603 days during its conflict with the Colombian state. Before her death, Ivan’s mother spoke fondly of one particular guerrilla, an acknowledgment he and his brother struggled to understand. Retracing paths from their mother’s journal, the brothers […]
WORLD PREMIERE A fifty-year-old clump of grass, a sweater that once belonged to a French actress, and a forty-year-old sugar egg have become emotional treasures for the unique characters in Vincent Liota’s endearing, entertaining, and existential film. An NPR correspondent, a literary author, and a graphic designer let us in on the secret life of […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE An intimate look at the lives of the Odoriko dancers that perform in the slowly disappearing variety theaters of Japan. Nude dancers of all ages share their life stories from the unseen side of the strip clubs, in a film that reveals much more than just flesh. With glimpses from both behind […]
US PREMIERE Mateo Sobode Chiqueno has been using an old tape recorder to capture stories, songs, and testimonies of his ancestral culture since the seventies. As a young native Ayoreo, he was a victim of the violent uprooting perpetrated in Paraguay by white missionaries, who forced them to abandon their ancestral territory, their means of […]
NYC PREMIERE Filmed over six months, Mr Bachmann and His Class takes us inside the classroom of a German primary school for immigrant students, led by an inspiring teacher. Filmmaker Maria Speth works in the tradition of Frederick Wiseman, using an immersive approach and expansive length to capture Bachmann’s progressive approach to teaching. “This is […]
US PREMIERE An experimental portrait of Ilhan Mimaroglu, the legendary Turkish pioneer of electronic music who passed away in 2012. Through a multilayered structure that mirrors Ilhan Mimaroglu’s music, the film also tells the story of his vibrant wife Güngör, who migrated to the USA from Turkey in the early 1960s and became an activist […]