2020 VIEWFINDERS SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION FOR ETHICS OF CARE Night-shift workers and single moms in New Rochelle, NY have angels in their midst: Nunu and husband Patrick run a 24-hour childcare center for parents with no other options. The home-based center provides children with food, fun, and lots of love, but at what cost to […]
WORLD PREMIERE | Ballet lovers of all ages won’t want to miss this sneak preview of the pilot episode of On Pointe. The six-part Disney+ docuseries captures a season in New York City at the School of American Ballet. We watch students ages 8 to 18 follow their dreams to launch careers. For many, that starts with […]
This profoundly moving family portrait explores the cyclical nature of addiction and generational trauma. Jessica Earnshaw’s film opens as Jacinta is incarcerated alongside her mother, Rosemary. After the younger woman is released from jail, she attempts to reconnect with her daughter, Caylynn. As she fights to remain sober amid the pressures of post-correctional life, Jacinta […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE | Filmmaker Justin Staple offers an eye-opening exploration of the SoundCloud rap phenomenon, a scene of troubled, young, lo-fi rappers that has emerged within the last few years. Exploiting the possibilities of social media to engage with a rabid fan base, a new breed of stars like Lil Peep, Smokepurpp, and Bhad Bhabie have […]
LOST AND FOUND DIR: Orlando von Einsiedel 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 […]
MACK WRESTLES DIR: Erin Sanger, Taylor Hess Mack Beggs, a gifted wrestler from Euless, Texas, struggles against the outside forces that stigmatize transgender athletes. Courtesy of ESPN Films. (USA, 25 MIN) In person: Taylor Hess and Erin Sanger SONG OF PARKLAND DIR: Amy Schatz In the wake of the tragic February 14 shooting at their school, […]
IN THE ABSENCE DIR: Seung-jun Yi When the passenger ferry MV Sewol sank off the coast of South Korea in 2014, over three hundred people lost their lives, most of them schoolchildren. Years later, the victims’ families and survivors are still demanding justice from national authorities. Courtesy of Field of Vision. (USA/South Korea, 29 MIN, […]
LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL) DIR: Carol Dysinger In the war-torn city of Kabul, a class of young girls from disadvantaged neighborhoods learns to read, write—and skateboard—in director Carol Dysinger’s love letter to a place she has filmed in for the last fifteen years. Courtesy of Lifetime Films/A&E IndieFilms. (USA/UK, […]
US PREMIERE Ten years ago, director Thomas Balmès (Babies, Happiness) filmed in Bhutan with a seven-year-old Buddhist monk named Peyangki awaiting the arrival of electricity to his village. Now a decade later, Balmès returns to find Peyangki and the whole monastery obsessed with cell phones. With beautiful cinematography, the film captures nuance, humor and humanity. Witnessing […]
Five-year-old Mason Watson shows us how love can be expressed in complicated ways.