NYC PREMIERE Two-time Oscar-winner Barbara Kopple (Harlan County USA, American Dream) re-examines the story of Americans taken hostage by Iranian revolutionaries in 1979. Focusing on a rescue mission, the film plays like a thriller. Kopple draws upon never-before-heard audiotapes from inside the White House, as well as new interviews with hostages, rescuers, Iranians and even President […]
In this Cannes and SXSW Film Festival winner, filmmaker Waad al-Kateab—working with director Edward Watts—courageously captures life in Syria through five years of civil war, bearing witness to the brutal conflict. During this time, she falls in love with a young doctor, marries and has a daughter, Sama. Once a mother, al-Kateab must decide between […]
A group of suburban Muslim friends trace the disappearance of their friend “Mark,” who is suspected of joining ISIS. Experiencing guilt, fear and sadness, they try to piece together what happened to their friend. Courtesy of Netflix.
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE In America, she is viewed as the respected grandmother of the state of Israel; in Israel, her legacy is far more complicated. This fascinating profile sheds light on Golda Meir, the first and only woman to be elected prime minister of Israel. The film centers around a remarkably candid interview, unseen until now, in […]
NYC PREMIERE In this visceral film, two Palestinian youths strive for freedom and self-worth in a community consumed with violence. Sami, a parkour coach, leads leaping young men across the stunning cityscape of Jerusalem. Mohammad teaches a new way of seeing to dozens of youthful photographers who dream of a world without walls. Using these creative […]
Kamal Hussein is a Rohingya refugee who has dedicated his life to reuniting children who have been separated from their parents during the campaign of ethnic cleansing and violence perpetrated by the Myanmar military, which has driven more than 700,000 Rohingya from their homes. Courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films.
WORLD PREMIERE Turning trauma into precise and angry feminist rock, American singer, writer and actress Lydia Lunch helped birth the No Wave music scene in the late 1970s and early ’80s—and she’s still killing it today. Fellow No Wave pioneer Beth B constructs a lively portrait of this innovative performer, whose confrontational artistry resonates loudly […]
Filmmaker Hassan Fazili documents his family’s journey as they’re forced to flee their home in Afghanistan under threat of death. We follow him, his wife Fatima and their daughters Nagris and Zahra over several years and through several countries. They travel with few possessions besides the cell phones used to shoot this remarkable documentary. “The […]
US PREMIERE In 2016, 50 years of military rule in Myanmar ended when power was transferred to former political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. While her ascendancy represented a victory for democracy, she came under fire after military involvement in the ethnic cleansing of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority. Archival footage […]
NYC PREMIERE Taimaa and Nour are two pregnant Syrian refugees who find themselves navigating fresh marriages as they each enter motherhood while held in temporary camps. Competing with thousands of other refugees in Greece for resources, Taimaa and Nour find that parenting comes easier than either bureaucratic answers or marital bliss. Both women make desperate […]