WORLD PREMIERE Far from the unfavorable images often espoused in pop culture, today’s teens are some of the most engaged, thoughtful, creative, courageous, and self-aware of any era. Filmmaker and middle-school educator Alexis Neophytides gifts us this survey of thirteen-year-olds from across the globe as they navigate the joys and complexities of that seminal age. […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Three children from the impoverished Venezuelan district of Las Brisas channel their pain and joy into music as part of a unique, government-sponsored orchestral music program, El Sistema. For ten years, as her native Venezuela gradually collapsed in the background, director Marianela Maldonado followed the students, developing an intimacy that gives their […]
WORLD PREMIERE After the death of her mother 18-year-old Sahar is left in charge of her poor, mentally disabled father in an isolated village in Iran. Sahar dreams of attending university and becoming a doctor, but extended family insist she play the role of caretaker unless her father remarries. This warm and intimate observational portrait […]
US PREMIERE As a suicidal 16-year-old Marusya Syroechkovskaya falls in love with a humorous grunge kid named Kimi. Fueled by drugs and music, the inseparable couple films the euphoria, anxiety and misery of their precarious existence under the shadow of their oppressive government. Captured over 12 years, this raw, exuberant, and moving love story, provides […]
NYC PREMIERE The challenges of getting accepted to top colleges for today’s American high schoolers are captured by two Sacramento teachers in a new original musical theater production that speaks to the present moment like nothing else. As schools from Silicon Valley to West Virginia to The Bronx’s Fordham High School for the Arts mount […]
NYC PREMIERE What do two film-obsessed brothers do to solve a family mystery? Using every video format imaginable, they make a movie as they travel thousands of miles looking for their missing (step)mom. Stitching together 25 years of home videos and filling the gaps in the archive with play, SAM NOW is a mosaic of […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Jorge leaves his family and his moto-taxi business in the outskirts of Lima to try his luck in the most dangerous Andean gold mine in Peru.The precarious nature of life and labor ground this documentary-infused drama set in a frontier town where the flow of gold requires human sacrifice. Captured with exquisite […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE An honest look into the shocking reality of the current teen mental health crisis. The bond between the sisters Tess and Liv seems to be unbreakable until Liv, who battles with depression, body dysmorphia and suicidal thoughts, can’t take it anymore. Surviving sister Tess guides us through a heart-wrenching journey to understanding […]
This emotional video diary profiles a family struggling with housing insecurity and what the parents hope remains in their children’s memories This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Director Erika Cohn and Producer Marcia Jarmel. This short is part of the program SHORTLIST BLOCK #3: UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL Courtesy of The New […]
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE Two men laugh about their days of mischief and wonder as they remember their most iconic adventure: hopping on a one-way plane to New York. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Director Garret Daly and Producer Martina McGlynn. This short is part of the program SHORTLIST BLOCK #3: UP CLOSE […]