The Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF) is thrilled to unveil the official program for its 24th edition, set to take place from December 6th to December 15th across venues in Anchorage, Alaska. This year’s festival is a landmark event, marking the first program curated by newly appointed Festival Directors, Pat McGee and Adam Linkenhelt. Both filmmakers, McGee and Linkenhelt, have committed to elevating the  quality of films showcased at the festival and enhancing the experience for visiting filmmakers and the local film community. The 10-day festival will spotlight more than 100 films spanning all genres, with a particular emphasis on independent films that have enjoyed successful festival runs and are vying for one final screening push before the Oscars shortlist is announced. “Our festival represents the last opportunity for some of these remarkable independent films to be discovered before the shortlist is released,” said McGee. “We’re raising the bar this year, and as we see the caliber of films elevate, we could very well be calling the Anchorage International Film Festival ‘The Icy Road to the Oscars.” 

For information on the full program, special events, and ticket sales for AIFF24 screenings are now available online at anchoragefilmfestival.org.

Opening Night & Key Screenings

AIFF’s Opening Night screening will be Bob Trevino Likes It, The film won Best Narrative and Audience Award at this year’s SXSW film festival. Director Tracie Laymon will be in attendance.

Festival Highlights

Festival highlights include The Way We Speak, starring Patrick Fabian (Better Call Saul), with both Fabian and director Ian Ebright in attendance. Porcelain War, Sundance Feature Documentary Grand Jury Prize Winner, will also be featured, with directors Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev in attendance. Set amid the backdrop of Ukraine, Porcelain War follows artists who remain behind during wartime, defying the destruction around them with resilience and beauty. Other notable films include the Belgian comedy Life’s a Bitch by director Xavier Seron, who will be in attendance, and Queen of the Ring, the inspirational true story of Mildred Burke, the first million-dollar female athlete in history, directed by Ash Avildsen and starring Josh Lucas and Emily Bett Rickards.

Spotlight on Narrative Features

This year’s lineup also features an exciting mix of narrative films from both seasoned and first-time filmmakers. First-time feature directors T.J. Sandella (Battersea) and Adam Boyer (Uphill), who grew up and filmed his debut feature just outside of Anchorage, will showcase their work at the festival. On the other end of the spectrum, AIFF welcomes prolific independent filmmaker Ryan Balas, whose latest narrative Midwinter marks his 25th independent feature in the past decade.

Special Events and Festival Experience

In addition to the remarkable film lineup, AIFF promises unforgettable Alaskan experiences for visiting filmmakers, including Northern Lights excursions, glacier hikes, and for the bold, a polar bear plunge – all in the spirit of AIFF’s signature theme: Films Worth Freezing For.

About the Festival Director – Pat McGee is an acclaimed documentary director and producer known for his work on both film and television, with a focus on character-driven stories that seek to find common ground in polarizing subjects. His storytelling has been praised as “gripping,” “humanistic,” and “illuminating” by critics from the LA Times to Variety. Now, as the newly appointed Festival Director of the 24th Anchorage International Film Festival (AIFF), Pat, alongside longtime collaborator and fellow filmmaker Adam Linkenhelt, is building on AIFF’s long-standing tradition of showcasing “Films Worth Freezing For.” Together, they are crafting a new narrative, positioning the festival as the “Icy Road to the Oscars,” and curating a dynamic program of over 100 films that highlight bold, independent voices and thought-provoking stories from around the world.patmcgeepictures.com

About the Festival Director – Adam Linkenhelt is an innovative filmmaker who has spent the past decade immersed in the independent film world, focusing on documentary storytelling and shorts that explore the raw, emotional depths of real life. As a director, editor, and producer, his work has been praised as “gripping” and “humanistic” by LA Times and  Variety, with films and series airing on HULU, VICE, A&E, DISCOVERY, and PEACOCK. Adam’s shorts have toured the festival circuit, resonating with audiences worldwide for their authenticity and emotional impact. Now, as Festival Director of the Anchorage International Film Festival, Adam is committed to elevating bold, independent voices and fostering collaboration within the vibrant creative community of Alaska.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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Director and co-writer Klaudia Reynicke’s slow-burn family drama takes place during time of political upheaval. It follows sisters Lucia and Aurora as they are preparing to permanently leave their native country, Peru, with their mom, but they need their absentee father, Carlos, to sign exit papers. It’s been convenient for Carlos to not be a dad, but now if he wants his daughters love, he has to earn back his place before they leave. Reynicke subtly weaves a tale of shifts and sacrifices that shows, whatever the familial configuration, strength and loss are necessary parts of growth. Grounded by a strong performance from Jimena Lindo as Elena and a wonderfully inquisitive Abril Gjurinovic, a family is brought to life. Reynicke’s effective direction honors each community the camera focuses on, and her Lima, the city where Reynicke grew up, feels personal, like a memory or a version of a city that no longer exists but emerges vibrant and alive in the film. Reinas is truly an emotional trip, transporting the viewer to Lima in the ’90s, right into the heart of a family faced with a universal challenge: the search for a safer place. Director and co-writer (Diego Vega) Klaudia Reynick joins us to talk about the inspiration for her film about a family with a complicated dynamic that, while no longer together is brought together for the purpose of splitting up again, perhaps forever. Reynicke assembles a superb cast of actors that all deliver terrific performances, including the young sisters Abril Gjurnovic (Lucia) and Luana Vega (Aurora) and the parents Jimena Lindo (Elena) and Gonzalo Molina (Carlos). We also discuss Queens / Reinas designation as Switzerland’s 2024 Oscar submission for Best International Feature.

For more, go to: outsiderpictures.us/queens

Opens exclusively in New York and Los Angeles on November 29th at the Cinema Village and Laemmle Royal on November 30 & December 1 with in-person Q&A’s in Los Angeles

SWITZERLAND’S 2025 OSCAR SUBMISSION

WINNER BEST DIRECTOR, BERLIN – Grand Prix, Generations
WINNER, AUDIENCE AWARD – Locarno Film Festival
SUNDANCE – Official Selection

About the filmmaker – Klaudia Reynicke is a Swiss-Peruvian filmmaker raised in Peru, Switzerland, and the US. She holds a background in Fine Arts and Social Sciences. Her debut film, “Il Nido” (2016), competed at the Locarno film festival, followed by “Love Me Tender” (2019) at Locarno and TIFF. Her third feature, “Reinas,” had its world premiere at Sundance 2024, participating in the World Cinema competition. Subsequently, it premiered in Europe at the Berlinale Film Festival, competing in the Generation Kplus category, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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88% on RottenTomatoes

“Klaudia Reynicke has crafted an authentic, poignant piece of cinema that will resonate with so many. It’s a personal, small-scale story told in the shadow of world-altering events, a perfect environment in which characters can be explored and developed.” – Rhys Bowen Jones, Talking Films

“Reinas is… a nostalgic love letter for home as well as a persuasive and provoking historical record.

All that we look for in good cinema” – New Indian Express

Reinas is a film with a lot of heart. Each person is multifaceted, with strengths, shortcomings, nightmares, and dreams – Carlos Aguilar, Variety

“A warm hearted, enveloping film – Reinas reigns supreme.” – AWFJ.org

“A confident and well-constructed tale that is built on the firm foundations of a great ensemble cast.” – Eye for Film

“…accessible, tenderly observed heartwarmer” – Screen International

PORCELAIN WAR is a powerful account of life amidst the chaos and destruction of the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. The film follows three artists who defiantly find inspiration and beauty as they defend their culture and their country. In a war waged by professional soldiers against ordinary civilians, Slava Leontyev, Anya Stasenko and Andrey Stefanov choose to stay behind, armed with their art, their cameras and, for the first time in their lives, their guns. Despite daily shelling, Anya finds resistance and purpose in her art, Andrey takes the dangerous journey to get his young family to safety abroad, and Slava becomes a weapons instructor for ordinary people who have become unlikely soldiers. As the war intensifies, Andrey picks up his camera to film their story, and on tiny porcelain figurines, Anya and Slava capture their idyllic past, uncertain present and hope for the future. Co-directed by Slava Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo, with extraordinary footage from first-time cinematographer Andrey Stefanov, PORCELAIN WAR embodies the passion and fight, that only an artist can put back into the world when it’s crumbling around them. PORCELAIN WAR debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January where it won the Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Documentary Competition and has gone on to win audience awards at festivals around the world. Porcelain War is a true cinematic gem. Co-directors Slava Leontyev and Brendan Bellomo manage to gracefully capture the dissonance between the horrors of war and the fragile beauty of nature and artistic practice. Anya’s and Slava’s porcelain pieces come to life in delicately crafted animations that offer context to their makers’ story and a stunning outlet for processing grief.

For more go to: porcelainwar.com

In NY at the IFC Center on 11/22

In LA at the Leammle Monica on 11/29

Winner — Sundance U.S. Grand Jury Prize

Official Selection — DOC NYC Shortlist

Official Selection — SCAD Savannah Film Festival

Winner — Best Documentary, Best Documentary Editing, Woodstock Film Festival

Cinema Eye Honors — Audience Choice Prize Longlist

About the filmmaker – SLAVA LEONTYEV (Director, Participant) is a first-time director born into a family of biologists in Ukraine. Merging his love of nature and art, Leontyev has spent his life studying painting, photography, graphic design and art theory. Alongside his wife and longtime collaborator Anya Stasenko, Leontyev now creates the porcelain sculptures featured in Porcelain War. He is also a former soldier of the Ukrainian Special Forces and a highly regarded weapons instructor for civilians who are currently defending their country against Russian aggression. 

About the filmmaker – BRENDAN BELLOMO (Director, Writer, Editor) was the recipient of a 2009 Student Academy Award® for Live Action Narrative. Bellomo’s passion for storytelling was first sparked when he was a child. Beginning his career in visual effects, he supervised the 2012 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner and Oscar® nominee for Best Picture Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight). Most recently, Bellomo was the executive producer on the Netflix Original Chupa. Bellomo worked closely with Annie Leibovitz on the global exhibit “Women: New Portraits” and designed the curriculum for the first visual effects course at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, which led him on the path to eventually pair with his directing partner, Slava Leontyev.

About the subject – ANYA STASENKO (Associate Producer, Participant) is a ceramics artist and experienced nature photographer who has been deeply engaged in the fine arts since her early childhood in Kharkiv, Ukraine. As such, Stasenko’s paintings have become her lifelong language. While studying at the Kharkiv School of Arts and Academy of Design and Arts, she developed a unique style of painting on ceramic miniatures. This is also where she began to collaborate with Slava Leontyev, now her husband. Together, they create the widely recognized tiny porcelain figurines featured in Porcelain War.

About the filmmaker and subject – ANDREY STEFANOV (Cinematographer, Participant) was born in Feodosia, a town in Crimea, Ukraine, and received his artistic education in Kharkiv. He then returned to his home in Crimea, where he became an artisan winemaker and recognized oil painter. For many years Stefanov created fine art photography, landscape paintings and still lifes. When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Stefanov and his friend Slava Leontyev decided to pick up film cameras, discovering a new medium to express their artistic perspectives. This is Stefanov’s first feature credit as a cinematographer.

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95% on RottenTomatoes

“A powerful testament to the resilience of the artistic spirit…” – Peter Howell, Toronto Star

“Cinematic essays take many forms: few are as fragile and contemplative as Porcelain War.” – Fionnuala Halligan, Screen Daily

“The importance of art in the fight against fascism is the point of “Porcelain War,” a documentary in competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival about artists who have turned into soldiers in the Ukrainian war against Russia.” – Sarah Manvel, In Their Own League

“A united resistance effort: war balanced by love, bloodshed by beauty.” – Guy Lodge, Variety

“A combination of whimsy and devastation.” – The Wall Street Journal

“Porcelain War masterfully illustrates the enduring power of art in the face of adversity.”- Awards Daily

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck’s ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND is a new documentary chronicling the life and work of Ernest Cole, one of the first Black freelance photographers in South Africa, whose early pictures, shocking at the time of their first publication, revealed to the world Black life under apartheid. Cole fled South Africa in 1966 and lived in exile in the U.S., where he photographed extensively in New York City, as well as the American South, fascinated by the ways this country could be at times so vastly different, and at others eerily similar, to the segregated culture of his homeland. During this  period, he published his landmark book of photographs denouncing the apartheid, House of Bondage which, while banned in South Africa, cemented Cole’s place as one of the great photographers of his time at the age of 27. After his death, more than 60,000 of his 35mm film negatives were inexplicably discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm, Sweden. Most considered these forever lost, especially the thousands of pictures Cole shot in the U.S. Telling his own story through his writings, the recollections of those closest to him, and the lens of his uncompromising work, the film is a reintroduction of a pivotal Black artist to a new generation. Director Raoul Peck joins us to talk about his approach to telling Ernest Cole’s story, including the decision to bring in Lakeith Stanfield to voice Ernest narrative, why he has always shied away from doing “talking heads” documentaries and how Cole’s life experience growing up in apartheid South Africa and then coming to the promised land of America informed his clear-eyed photographs of societies living in delusion and informed by dangerous fairy tales.

For more go to: magpictures.com/ernestcole

2024 Cannes Film Festival – World Premiere, Special Screening

2024 Toronto International Film Festival

About the Subject – Born in 1940 as Ernest Levi Tsoloane Kole in Eersterust, Pretoria, Ernest Cole began his career sweeping the floors of a photography studio in Johannesburg in the late 1950s. He finally broke through ten years later, when he was hired as a freelance photographer for the famous Black magazine DRUM. His photos made him a target of the South African government and, having become a “persona non grata,” he left Johannesburg for Europe in 1966. He shipped some of his negatives and prints out of the country and left the rest of his work behind, safe in the hands of friends. After a stay in Europe, he settled in New York where he worked for the Magnum agency and published his first book of photographs denouncing apartheid. Entitled House of Bondage (1967), this book was inspired by the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson. Although banned in South Africa, the book was a landmark and earned Cole his status amongst the Black cultural community of the time. Later, Cole received a grant from the Ford Foundation to photograph the lives of Black people in the rural South and Northern cities of the United States. For unknown reasons, the book was never published. By the end of the 1970s he seemed to have abandoned photography and lost control of his archives. He went through periods of homelessness and died of pancreatic cancer in 1990, a few days after Nelson Mandela was released from prison. Ernest Cole, one of South Africa’s first Black photojournalists, created powerful images that shed light on the lives of Black people under the apartheid regime. These images represent his best-known and most widely distributed work. Anyone familiar with this chapter of South African history will recognize Cole’s iconic photo of a middle-aged white woman sitting on a park bench bearing the warning: “European’s only.” 

About the filmmaker – Raoul Peck’s complex oeuvre includes such films as: The Man by the Shore (Competition, Cannes Film Festival 1993); Lumumba (Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival 2000); Sometimes in April (Competition, Berlinale 2005); Moloch Tropical (TIFF 2009, Berlinale 2010) and Murder in Pacot (TIFF 2014, Berlinale 2015).  Raoul Peck was a member of the Berlinale jury in 2002 and of the Cannes Festival jury in 2012. In 2001, the Human Rights Watch Association awarded him the Irene Diamond Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to human rights. In 2017, his documentary on writer James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary and won the Audience Award at the Toronto Festival and the Berlinale. In 2018, it won the BAFTA and the Cesar for Best Documentary. This film was co-produced with ARTE. His film, The Young Karl Marx, co-produced with Agat Films, was presented at the Berlinale the same year. Exterminate all the Brutes, is a groundbreaking four-part mini- series, produced for HBO, which tells a counter-narrative to white Euro-centric history and was also co-produced by ARTE. The mini-series won a Peabody Award in 2022. His latest film, Silver Dollar Road, had its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. His company Velvet Film was founded in 1989 and operates in the United States, France and Haiti. All of Peck’s documentaries, feature films and television dramas have been produced or co-produced by Velvet Film.  For more go to: velvet-film.com/RaoulPeck

SOCIAL MEDIA

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95% on RottenTomatoes

“Peck spends so much time unpacking Cole’s inner life from his diaries and notebooks, because while the photos may live on in archives, those are the stories most at risk of disappearing from the frame.” – Monica Castillo, RogerEbert.com

“Peck’s film stands as a requisite biography, but also a personal homage: The response of one politically conscious artist to the call of another.” – Lisa Kennedy, New York Times

“Powerful historical documentary.” – Dennis Schwartz, Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

“Watching “Lost and Found,” you’re moved by a life that veered into tragedy, yet the place it lands lifts you up. More than a great photographer, Ernest Cole captured something essential. By the end you feel the ghost is speaking to you.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety

“At the heart of Raoul Peck’s latest documentary “Ernest Cole, Lost And Found,” a stirring lament of the exiled South African photographer, is the devastating image of a life deferred” – Robert Daniels, Screen International

“You’re left feeling that he deserved better, a longer lasting legacy, for he was a pioneer in his field who deserved his flowers while he was alive.”- Chalice Williams, Black Girl Nerds

While fleeing a neglectful household, thirteen-year-old RITA (Giuliana Santa Cruz)  is placed in an oppressive state-run orphanage. Rita’s arrival provides a glimmer of hope to the girls inside, who share a prophecy that an angel will appear to release them. Encouraged by one another, the girls plan an escape to claim their freedom and expose the orphanage’s abuses of power. Based on the true story behind one of Guatemala’s most harrowing tragedies, RITA shines a light on the brave orphans whose fight for survival inspired a nationwide outcry for justice and reform. THE BACKSTORY of RITA – In Guatemala, 56 low-income girls and adolescents were burned on March 8, 2017. They were in a state protection home. Forty-one of them died, and 15 survived. Since 2013, there were reports of sexual violence and possible trafficking within the home, and it seems that “girl consumers” held important positions in the country. The fire occurred after all the girls in that institution created an escape riot to report the mistreatment and sexual abuse they were suffering, using the date of International Women’s Day as a reason. The 56 girls considered to be the leaders of the riot were locked up against their rights in a 4×4 square meter room. When the fire started inside the room, the police and guards who controlled the door to the outside waited 9 minutes before opening, despite the smoke, the piercing screams, and the smell of burning flesh. The firefighters tried to intervene immediately, but other guards made it difficult for them to enter the place. I am keen to explore the girls’ everyday lives, dispelling misconceptions of delinquency and delving into their camaraderie, friendship, love, and aspirations. I want to portray them as loyal companions united in their plight, despite the harsh conditions they faced. They strived to preserve their innocence amidst the harsh realities imposed on them at a young age. By narrating their stories, I aim to challenge societal norms, honor their resilience, and ensure that their voices are heard, resonating far beyond the confines of their tragic past. Director & Writer Jayro Bustamante joins us to talk about the heinous and despicable events that serve as the foundation for his powerful rebuttal to bigotry, misogyny and the absence of accountability that created the conditions for this to happen.

For mor go to: shudder.com

To watch: shudder.com/watch/rita

Official Selection for Guatemala

Academy Award Best International Feature

About the filmmaker – Jayro Bustamante is a film director, producer, and writer. He was born in Guatemala and grew up in a Maya community on the shores of Lake Atitlán, an experience that deeply influenced his storytelling style. While studying social communication at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala, he worked at Ogilvy & Mather as a director and producer of advertising, where he took his first steps in the audiovisual world. He studied Film Directing in Paris at the Conservatoire Libre du Cinema Francais, and continued his studies in screenwriting at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. In 2009 he returned to Guatemala and founded La Casa de Produccion. He produced four short films and his debut feature, Ixcanul, which won him the Silver Bear at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival and more than 60 awards in international festivals. In 2018 he produced and directed his second film, Tremors, which premiered at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival and received several international awards. In September 2019 he premiered his third film, La Llorona, in Venice, winning the Best Director award in the Giornate degli Autori. Jayro is currently developing a number of films and series, as well as producing for other Guatemalan and foreign directors. He has been juror at Berlinale 2016, Brussels Film Festival 2018, Biarritz Festival 2018, Platino Awards and Fenix Awards, and Los Cabos Film Festival. He was President of the Jury for Horizontes Latinos in the San Sebastiaan 2020 Festival, and President of the Jury at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia, 2021. His film La Llorona was nominated as Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes and Best Ibero-American Film at the Goya Awards, both in 2021; it was nominated in eleven categories at the 2021 Platino Awards, and won five. In 2021, he directed and produced his fourth film, “Rita,” in co-production with Jonathan King. In 2022, he directed and produced his fifth film, “Cordillera de Fuego,” currently in post-production. In 2023, he directed the pilot for the series “The Border” for Disney and FX and earlier this year, he was honored as a Knight of the National Order of Merit of France. Currently, he is simultaneously directing and producing socially impactful advertising campaigns. He is also writing a new series titled “The Hacienda” for Apple TV and collaborating with other producers and directors to develop several feature film scripts, documentaries, and series.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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86% on RottenTomatoes

“Jayro Bustamante delivers one of the most impactful movies of the year in Rita, a difficult, haunting depiction of a real-life tragedy.” – Maxance Vincent, Loud and Clear Reviews

““Rita” serves both as a damning indictment of a corrupt system and as a showcase for a fearless filmmaker who continues to open the world’s eyes to injustices being done.” – Randy Myers, San Jose Mercury News

“[Rita is] a harrowing, heartbreaking examination of both the oppression of the downtrodden and the exploitation that lead to a real-life 2017 tragedy that claimed the lives of forty-one young girls, and it is exceptional.” – J Hurtado, ScreenAnarchy

“There is blistering anger in its melange of baubles and feathers and tulle.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

“To powerful, even shocking effect, Bustamante’s incisive writing slowly deploys revelations that point us to rethink what we thought we knew about the narrative.” – Carlos Aguilar, Variety

In an election year where the battle over reproductive healthcare rights is at the heart of America’s political discourse, Zurawski v Texas reveals a historic courtroom challenge led by women demanding change. At the forefront is Amanda Zurawski, who suffered septic shock when doctors, constrained by restrictive abortion laws, refused to provide her with necessary medical care, leaving her ability to have children compromised. Amanda’s story is not unique. Samantha Casiano, a mother of  four, faced the devastating loss of her daughter, who was diagnosed with a fatal condition in utero. Forced to carry her baby to term, Samantha endured the heartbreak of her child’s near-immediate death. Lawyer Molly Duane leads the legal fight against a Texas law so oppressive that it has made doctors fearful of acting, even when their patients’ lives are at risk. Among these doctors is Austin Dennard, a plaintiff in the case who had to travel out of state to obtain her own abortion after learning that her pregnancy had a fatal diagnosis and a miscarriage was inevitable.These deeply personal stories from the emotional core of Zurawski v Texas, a documentary that uncovers the traumatic consequences of restrictive healthcare legislation. Directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Maisie Crow (Jackson) and Abbie Perrault, the film exposes the staggering personal costs of near-total abortion bans and the relentless fight to restore essential healthcare rights.

For more go to: togetherfilms.org/films/zurawski-v-texas

Zurawski v Texas was produced, in part, by HiddenLight Productions.  Executive producers include HiddenLight founders Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, with Jennifer Lawrence and Justine Ciarrocchi also serving as executive producers through their company, Excellent Cadaver.

About the filmmaker – Abbie Perrault is a documentary filmmaker and journalist based in Chicago, Illinois. She is a director and producer of the feature documentary Zurawski v Texas. Previously she produced At The Ready, which premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at Sundance Film Festival in 2021 and streams on MAX. She has associate produced the documentary shorts An Abortion in Mississippi and Reproductive Rights Road Trip for The Intercept and was the impact producer on the Emmy-award winning documentary Jackson, which premiered on Showtime in 2016. Her previous work as managing editor of The Big Bend Sentinel and Presidio International  newspapers in Marfa, Texas has been recognized by the Texas Press Association for general excellence and her reporting received awards for outstanding feature writing and outstanding news writing. Her film work has been supported by the IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund, The Gotham, Catapult Film Fund, Ford Foundation, XTR, and the Austin Film Society, and she was a 2019 fellow in New Orleans Film Society’s Southern Producers Lab. For more go to: weareoutofnowhere.com

About the filmmaker – Maisie Crow is a documentary filmmaker and photojournalist based in Texas. Her films have aired on HBO and Showtime. She is a director and producer of Zurawski v Texas. Her 2021 documentary At the Ready premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and can now be seen on MAX. In 2018, her documentary, Jackson, received a News and Documentary Emmy award for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary. The film won 15 film festival awards for best documentary and audience favorite. In 2022, she was part of This American Life’s reporting team on the Peabody-winning episode The Pink House at the Center of the World. Her short films The Last Clinic and A Life Alone were both nominated for News and Documentary Emmy awards. Her work has also been recognized by the Overseas Press Club, American Society of Magazine Editors, Pictures of the Year International and World Press Photo. Maisie has taught photojournalism and video storytelling as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. In 2019, Maisie and her husband took the helm of The Big Bend Sentinel and Presidio International newspapers in Far West Texas, building a community gathering space around the publications to help bolster readership and revenue. For more go to: weareoutofnowhere.com

SOCIAL MEDIA

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instagram.com/hiddenlightproductions

instagram.com/zurawskivtexas

100% on RottenTomatoes

“For the unconvinced, the informative Zurawski v Texas reframes abortion as, above all else, a lifesaving healthcare right.” – Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter

“This unflinching survey of Texas’s overly restrictive abortion laws smartly presents reproductive healthcare as a bipartisan issue.” – Tomris Laffly, Variety

“It’s the defiantly unslick, urgent intertwining of teamwork and private grief that lifts “Zurawski v Texas” out of the usual sea of issue documentaries, Crow and Perrault toggling between the high-stakes courtroom drama and raw human tragedy.” – Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

“In many ways, “Zurawski v Texas” is a film about America itself and the governmental failings that have brought us to this moment.” – Jourdain Searles, indieWire

“Though “Zurawski v Texas” may be straightforward and conventional in its presentation, that doesn’t take away from how vastly powerful and important this film is as it relates to current events.” – Ema Sasic, Next Best Picture

FACING THE WIND follows two women, whose lives are irrevocably changed by their husbands’ diagnosis with Lewy body  dementia (LBD) —a widespread, but little-known condition. After struggling to find information about her husband’s disease, Linda Szypula starts a podcast about LBD with Curry Wisenhunt, a Texan truck driver, who also has the disease. Their efforts grow into a unique online support community for those living with the disease and those caring for them. In a support group, Linda meets Carla Preyer, who has just quit her job to care for her husband Patrick. They bond over their shared challenges and the dark humor they use to cope.  Linda and Jim plan a “go-for-broke” road trip to see the country and visit friends from the support group. But only weeks into the trip, things begin to go awry, as  Jim struggles with the travel. Meanwhile, Carla plans a ceremony to renew her wedding vows, but Patrick takes a turn for the worse. As their husbands begin to disappear into dementia, Linda and Carla grow closer. Their friendship and their connection to the support group help them deal with their grief, rise to the demands of caregiving, and emerge whole on the other side. Director Deirdre Fishel stops by for a conversation on the slow-motion tragedy that Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) brings to those having to navigate its challenges. Fishel lovingly spotlights the afflicted and their care givers like Linda, Carla and LBD diagnosed Curry Whisenhunt as they endeavor to do the best they can. As Fishel puts it “every person will eventually need care or be a caregiver, our ageist, ablest, individualistic society expects each person or family to manage care on their own despite more cries for government and community support.”

facingthewindfilm.com

About the filmmaker – Deirdre Fishel is a director of documentaries and dramas that have been broadcast in 35 countries worldwide. Her latest documentary, Women in Blue (2020) looks at the lives of women officers trying to reform the Minneapolis Police Department in the years leading up to the murder of George Floyd. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens. Fishel’s Ford and MacArthur Foundation funded documentary Care (2016)looks at the lives of elder care workers and their clients and how America’s care system is failing both. It premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest and was broadcast on America Reframed. Fishel’s other projects include the groundbreaking documentary STILL DOING IT: The Intimate Lives of Women Over 65 which premiered at SXSW, Suicide on Campus a web documentary produced in conjunction with The New York Times Magazine and Risk a dramatic feature which premiered in competition at Sundance. Fishel is a professor and the director of the BFA in Film/Video at the City College of New York. For more go to: mindseyeprods.com

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Reviews:

“The memorable documentary Facing the Wind takes a candid look at two married couples coping with each husband having Lewy body dementia. It shows real and raw experiences from the caregivers’ perspectives.” – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

Coming to Streaming and DVD on December 3rd!

MUCH ADO ABOUT DYING begins when the filmmaker Simon Chambers receives a call from his elderly gay uncle, David Newlyn Gale, – “I think I may be dying!” – Simon takes it as a summons. As it turns out, eccentric Uncle  David, a retired actor living alone in a cluttered, mouse-infested London house, is being dramatic, sort of: For the next five years, Chambers both cares for and documents David, through all his performative exuberance (constantly acting out passages of King Lear) and anarchic charisma (swinging from boisterous humor to short temper), as various people (including a sexy young hustler) possibly take advantage of him. As their lives become encumbered by hospital visits, a house fire, and Britain’s inadequate eldercare system, the younger man (also single and queer) reflects with aching honesty on what may await him in the years to come, in this moving yet hilarious film. Director Simon Chambers for a conversation on the reasons he didn’t think he had a film about his uncle until he realized that he did, the push and pull that was his own life in service to David, saving him from himself and the pure joy that made being with David brought until the very end.

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For more go to: Much Ado About Dying at firstrunfeatures.com

About the filmmaker – Director, writer, producer Simon Chambers taught disadvantaged teenagers in London for 14 years before turning his hand to films. In 2006, with his first feature ‘Every Good Marriage Begins With Tears’, he realised that he had a knack for making the kind of documentaries that people want to watch. ‘Every Good Marriage’ was shown on BBC Storyville, and on TV in around 30 countries. In 2009 he completed feature length documentary ‘Cowboys in India’ which has also won several prizes and has shown on TV In 2010 he moved to New Delhi where he taught at an Islamic university. In 2015 he moved back to London to become the carer for his uncle, David Newlyn Gale, a retired gay actor who was living in squalor and needed support. When Uncle David died in 2020 Simon decided to make a film from the footage they had shot together. 

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86% on RottenTomatoes

“With Much Ado About Dying, Mr. Chambers has given us a sensitive portrait of a man playing his final part — which is, really, a little bit Lear but mostly David Gale. It’s a sui generis performance.” – Zachary Barnes, Wall Street Journal

“Joyous clarity…bittersweet empathy… in this achingly funny-sad film.” -Variety

“In its refreshingly frank look at the end of life, Much Ado About Dying becomes a thought-provoking study of what it means to live.” -Screen Daily

“The best kind of documentary. It will make you laugh and cry. It will also make you pause for thought.” -BackSeat Mafia

“One of the biggest hits emerging at IDFA…simultaneously touching, endearing and often riotously funny.” – Deadline

“Chambers’ family-filming-family masterpiece is a tender and often funny chronicle of a dying man who secretes his brilliant charisma…” -The Film Verdict

“[A] piercingly personal documentary…” – Guy Lodge, Variety

BOGART: LIFE COMES IN FLASHES is the first official feature documentary to explore the remarkable life and career of Hollywood legend Humphrey Bogart. For the first time ever, narrated in Bogart’s own words and using previously unseen archives, letters, and interviews from those closest to him, the film definitively explores the impact of one of the most influential cinematic and cultural icons of all time. Set against the glitz and glamour of Jazz Age Broadway to the Golden Age of Hollywood, and  framed around the five key women in his life – his mother and four wives, including his final marriage to screen icon Lauren Bacall – the film intricately weaves together his most important relationships against a backdrop of world events which defined Bogart’s career trajectory. A nuanced portrait of the man behind the myth, and a fresh perspective on the legacy of one of Hollywood’s most revered stars. Director Kathryn Ferguson (Nothing Compares, Taking the Waters) joins us to talk about her reasons for taking on Bogart as a documentary subject, how seeing him and his career through the prism of the women he was closes to; his mother Maude, his four wives, Helen Menken, Mary Philips, Mayo Methot and Lauren Bacall provided her with the depth of field she needed to bring to life the story of a man who embodied masculinity for the better part of the 20th century.

Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes – Saturday, 11/16, 7:10 PM show at the Town Center, moderated by Claudia Puig (NPR Film Critics/President L.A. Film Critic Association). Kathryn Ferguson and Stephen Bogart will participate in a Q&A after the Saturday, 11/16, 1:20 PM show at the Royal; Scott Mantz (former Access Hollywood film critic) will moderate.

About the filmmaker – Belfast-born Kathryn Ferguson is an Emmy-nominated director and writer. She recently established Tara Films with producer Eleanor Emptage. Her innovative and boundary-pushing documentary work has screened globally, and in 2022 was awarded the inaugural BFI & Chanel Award for Creative Audacity. In 2018, Kathryn’s short documentary TAKING THE WATERS premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest, and was longlisted for a BAFTA. Then, in 2021, Kathryn worked with Passion Pictures on the short SPACE TO BE for The Guardian’s acclaimed documentary series. In 2022 Kathryn released her debut feature documentary NOTHING COMPARES – which takes as its subject Sinéad O’Connor’s artistry and activism. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2022 then toured the international festival circuit, where it picked up multiple awards, before hitting cinemas in October 2022. It has received over thirty award nominations internationally, including Emmy, Critics Choice, IDA, and PGA Awards, and was awarded winner of Best Feature Documentary at BIFA 2022, IFTA & Rose D’Or 2023. In 2023 she was selected as a BAFTA Breakthrough, a cohort that celebrates ‘must-watch’ creatives working in film and television. 2024 sees the launch of a new feature documentary BOGART: LIFE COMES IN FLASHES – released by Universal. 

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93% on RottenTomatoes

“A new documentary, “Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes,” the first ever made in cooperation with his estate, pleasingly reveals that the actor had both the dry wit and the soul of his most memorable characters.” – Kyle Smith, Wall Street Journal

“It’s a thoroughly engaging work, with many insights into what motivated its subject.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today

“Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes approaches Bogie’s life from a new perspective, adding to Bogie’s legacy.” – Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies

“Bogie telling his own story in his own words, along with those of friends and co-workers, this captures his complex personality as never before seen. Whether or not you are a Bogie fan, it’s one not to be missed.” – Tony Medley, tonymedley.com

“This doc has no startling revelations—but it does view Bogart through a different lens than usual: the women in his life. I’m a sucker for this kind of film & enjoyed going through the beats of Bogie’s life and career, aided by precious home movie footage” – Leonard Maltin, leonardmaltin.com

Award-winning filmmaker Ondi Timoner latest film, ALL GOD”S CHILDREN, explores the intersection of race, religion and family and explores whether the truism “we’re more alike than we are different” is more than a pithy bumper sticker. In an unprecedented attempt to heal centuries of racism and antisemitism, and combat the rising racial and ethnic tension in their Brooklyn communities, the largest reform synagogue and the oldest black Baptist Church in Brooklyn attempt to quell the racism and anti-semitism that has plagued their  communities for decades and bring about peace, by becoming family.  Shot over five years, ALL GOD’S CHILDREN follows her sister, activist Rabbi Rachel Timoner, and her Congregation Beth Elohim’s partnership with Reverend Dr Robert Waterman of Antioch Baptist Church as their faith is put to the test, and both congregations struggle to not let their differences drive them apart. Though it’s a fraught partnership, they refuse to walk away, no matter how hard it gets, and ultimately emerge with a powerful model for how other communities might bridge divides and foster enduring partnerships across religious, racial, economic differences. The rabbi and the pastor lead delegations to their places of worship to learn from each other, but soon tensions emerge, testing their dreams of unity. Tackling their complex histories head on, these two New York City devotional institutions find communal traction, fighting side-by-side for justice and compassion. Director Ondi Timoner (Last Flight Home) joins us for a conversation on all the different way this high wire enterprise could have gone sideways, what it was like working along side her sister on this project while at the same time helping their mom during their father his last days and the level of satisfaction this project has brought to her as a filmmaker and as a sister.

For more go to: interloperfilms.com

DOC NYC SCREENINGS:

World Premiere – Thurs Nov 14, 6:30pm – Village East by Angelika*

Second Screening – Sat  Nov 16, 1:45pm – IFC Center

The first and second screening will be followed by a Q&A with director/producer Ondi Timoner, executive producer Travon Free, and film subjects Rabbi Rachel Timoner and Reverend Dr. Robert Waterman. The first screening will be moderated by MSNBC’s Ari Melber. 

About the filmmaker – Ondi Timoner is an internationally-acclaimed filmmaker whose work focuses on “impossible visionaries.” She has the rare distinction of being the only person to win the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance twice: for DIG! (2004), about the collision of art and commerce through the eyes of two rival rock bands, and for WE LIVE IN PUBLIC (2009), which predicts the loss of privacy with life online and the advent of social media through a bunker in Manhattan over the turn of the millennium. Both films were acquired by New York’s MoMA for its permanent collection. Ondi’s most personal film, LAST FLIGHT HOME, about the extraordinary life and intentional death of her father, Eli Timoner, premiered at Sundance and Telluride in 2022, was acquired by MTV Documentary Films / Paramount for a theatrical release, Shortlisted for the Academy Award, nominated for the WGA Award for Best Documentary and for the Emmy for Exceptional Merit, and received The Humanitas Award for Best Documentary, the Impact Award at Hamptons Docfest, the Critics Award at Key West Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize at the Woodstock Film Festival.  Ondi’s 2023 film, “THE NEW AMERICANS: Gaming a Revolution”, is a visceral journey into the intersection of finance, media and extremism which uncovers the explosive and irreversible ramifications of our digital future. It premiered at SXSW where it was acquired by Paramount, and it is currently on Netflix. In 2023, Ondi and her brother David reunited to create DIG! XX, enhanced, extended and reimagined cut of her cult classic film DIG! – which premiered at Sundance in 2024, in honor of its 20th anniversary. DIG! XX features a new narration from BJM frontman Joel Gion and brings this timeless tale up to today and is having a theatrical release across the world in January 2025.  Ondi’s catalog of distinguished feature documentaries also includes: the award-winning feature COMING CLEAN (2020) about solutions to the opioid epidemic; BRAND: A Second Coming (Opening Film, SXSW 2015) about the evolution of comedian / author / activist Russell Brand; COOL IT (TIFF Premiere / Roadside Attractions 2010) about controversial economist Bjorn Lomborg and solutions to climate change; the award-winning JOIN US (2007) about mind control; the award-wining film THE NATURE OF THE BEAST (1994) about Bonnie Jean Foreshaw and the miscarriage of justice she endured; and the critically-acclaimed 10-hour nonfiction series JUNGLETOWN about building “the world’s most sustainable town” (Viceland, 2017.) Her first scripted film, MAPPLETHORPE, which she also wrote, produced and edited, starred Matt Smith and premiered at TriBeCa Film Festival in 2018, winning the 2nd Audience Award, & nine Audience and Best Feature Awards at festivals across the world before being acquired by Samuel Goldwyn for a theatrical release and Hulu. The original version, “MAPPLETHORPE The Director’s Cut” was Official Selection for Sundance 2018, can be found on Amazon now and is the recommended version. Ondi’s most notable short films include: Recycle (2005), Library of Dust (SXSW 2011), Amanda F***ing Palmer On The Rocks (TriBeca 2013), Obey The Artist (SXSW 2014), RUSSELL BRANDS THE BIRD (2014), The Last Mile (SXSW 2015). Her career began with a Grammy nomination for Best Long-Form Video (“Fastball: They Wanted the Highway”) and since, she has directed music videos for The Jonas Brothers, The Vines, OK GO, DMC, The Dandy Warhols and commercials for State Farm, Ford, and President Clinton, among others. Ondi is an Emmy and WGA-Nominated filmmaker who was awarded the prestigious Humantis Award and the Visionary Award for Observational Filmmaking at Doc NYC in 2022. Some other career achievement awards include Kodak’s Auteur Award, the Maverick Award, the Rogue Award, and the No Limits Award. She serves as the Chair of Nonfiction for Special Projects at the DGA, is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the WGA, the IDA, Film Fatales & Women in Film.

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Take one look at award-winning songwriter / artist Allee Willis and you see someone unafraid to be themselves. Dressed in a cacophony of prints and colors, her signature asymmetrical haircut and famed parties at her real-life Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Allee didn’t waste any opportunity to tell you what she was about. But privately, Allee struggled with not fitting established gender and sexual norms. She buried herself in her work, until true love manifested her ultimate masterpiece – self-acceptance. Allee began filming her life in 1950s Detroit and never stopped. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ALLEE WILLIS is the realization of her wish that her “final art piece be someone putting together the trail I have left behind.” The film features interviews with Mark Cuban, Cyndi Lauper, Brenda Russell, Lily Tomlin, Paul Reubens, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Patrick King, Patti LaBelle, Pet Shop Boys, Siedah Garrett , Pamela Adlon, Stephen Bray, Paul Feig, Patti LaBelle, Mark Mothersbaugh and many others. Her music includes the massively popular songs that include September and Boogie Wonderland, recorded by Earth, Wind and Fire, The Pointer Sister’s Neutron Dance, the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack, the theme song for the sitcom Friends and dozens of songs written for Pet Shop Boys, Patti LaBelle, Cyndi Lauper, Gladys Knight, Herbie Hancock and many, many other recording artists. Director Alexis Spraic stops by to talk about the dazzling life of Allee Willis, her creativity, her boundless energy, her generosity, her embrace of collaboration, her Museum of Kitsch and her impact on the world of music, television, film, art and the people who came to know her.

For more go to: magpictures.com/alleewillisdoc

The official Allee Willis website: alleewillis.com

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO ALLEE WILLIS in NY, LA and Detroit Theaters on November 15th

Nationwide One-Night-Only Theatrical Screenings on November 19th, 2024 On Digital November 22nd, 2024

About the filmmaker – Alexis Manya Spraic is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. As a fourth generation Angeleno, she’s drawn to stories hidden-in-plain-sight: stories of women and people of color languishing in the footnotes of history and culture. Previous documentary credits include “Shadow Billionaire” (Hulu), “Ray Charles’ America” for A&E (produced by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville), State of Play: War on Sports (HBO / produced by Peter Berg) and is finishing a docuseries about the family that started the Magic Castle in Hollywood. She also produced and edited: “Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child” (PBS), “Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story” (PBS, Grammy-nominated)), “Cat Dancers” (HBO), “Search and Destroy: Iggy & The Stooges’ Raw Power” (Sony) and “Maxed Out” (Showtime). Alexis also works as a screenwriter. She sold her first original pilot to A&E Networks and has written for Warner Bros, Macro Film Studios, Storyline Entertainment, Flower Films and others. She is currently prepping for her upcoming narrative directorial-debut DOROTHEA starring Holly Hunter starring and packaged by CAA.  Alexis is a member of the DGA and WGA and is repped by CAA. 

About the filmmaker – Prudence Fenton is a producer, filmmaker, executive, animator, multi-media artist, and Internet visionary, she has changed the ways things look, and our experience of them for over thirty-five years. Credits include MTV IDs, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, animated Peter Gabriel Videos, Liquid Television, ABC’s One Saturday Morning, Drew Carey’s Greenscreen Show, and many others. She spent over 11 years as a think tank consultant at Disney R&D. Six years at Magic Leap with the digital human team and working on spatializing data. Prudence has won three Emmys, a Grammy, and a Clio, as well as MTV VMAs. Since 2020 after the death of her partner Allee Willis Prudence founded the Willis Wonderland Foundation whose mission is to amplify the songwriters of the upcoming generation. 

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Reviews:

“Director Alexis Manya Spraic crafts a documentary that strives to be just as fascinating as its subject.” – Jourdain Searles, Hollywood Reporter

“The World According to Allee Willis is one of the best films I saw at SXSW” – Vulture

“Digs through a dizzying mountain of material in Willis’s archive from childhood on – of multi-hit, award-winning songs, art, fashion, parties, to internet plans, with Famous Friends interviews. Doc sensitively slows down to reveal her personal struggles.” – Nora Lee Mandel, Maven’s Nest

How is happiness measured? Can satisfaction with one’s life be rated on a scale from one to ten? The Kingdom of Bhutan’s famous – and highly exoticized – government policy measuring its nation’s Gross National Happiness operates on the idea that the basic tenets of fulfillment can and should be quantified when calculating their nation’s development. Happiness Agents Amber Gurung and Guna Raj Kuikel traverse the Himalayan mountains to survey the contentment of citizens from different households and lifestyles. While Amber dutifully administers this census, he too is forced to confront his own struggles with fulfillment, and question what makes him happy. Filmmakers Arun Bhattarai and Dorottya Zurbó join us to talk about their own journey documenting the lives of the Agents of Happiness, Amber and Guna, as they look into the people and the stories of the Bhutanese people behind the “survey” as well as getting to know each other, in this carefully crafted and visually stunning, and revealing of the age-old quest to find the purpose of life.

For more go to: filmmovement.com/agent-of-happiness

About the filmmaker – Arun Bhattarai (director, cinematographer, co-producer, Bhutan) premiered his first feature-length documentary ‘The Next Guardian’ (co-directed by Dorottya Zurbó) – an intimate family story set in Bhutan – at IDFA in 2017. The lm has been screened at more than 40 international festivals (True/False, Ambulante, SFFILM, MoMA DocFortnight etc.). Before becoming an independent lmmaker, he worked as a TV director at the Bhutan Broadcasting Service for 5 years. He graduated from the rst edition of DocNomads Joint Master in documentary directing in 2014. His recent short documentary ‘Mountain Man’, about Bhutan’s only glaciologist won the best pitch prize at If/Then Global Short-Pitch at IDFA 2019 and is supported by the IDA-XRM Media incubator program. The lm has been screened at IDFA, DOC NYC, Chicago IFF ect. His new lm ‘Agent of Happiness’ is supported by the Sundance Film Institute, Catapult Film Fund and DMZ Docs Fund among others. The project was developed at the Points North Fellowship 2022, True False Rough Cut Retreat 2023 and Doc.incubator 2023. He established his own production company – Sound Pictures – dedicated to creative documentaries in 2015. He is one of the few independent documentary filmmakers in Bhutan. 

About the filmmaker – Dorottya Zurbó (co-director, Hungary) premiered her first feature-length documentary ‘The Next Guardian’ (co-directed by Arun Bhattarai), – an intimate family story set in Bhutan – at IDFA in 2017. Since then, it has been screened at more than 40 international festivals (True/False, San Francisco IDFF, MoMA DocFortnight etc.). Parallelly, she worked on her rst directorial debut ‘Easy Lessons’, a feature-length documentary about a young Somalian refugee girl who tries to adapt to Hungary, premiered at the Locarno Film Festival Critics Week section in 2018. The lm participated in more than 40 international festivals (HotDocs, Camden IDFF, Sarajevo IFF etc.) receiving awards such as the Hungarian Critics Award for Best Documentary in 2019. Her new lm ‘Agent of Happiness’ is supported by the Sundance Film Institute, Catapult Film Fund and DMZ Docs Fund among others. The project was developed at the Points North Fellowship 2022, True False Rough Cut Retreat 2023 and Doc.incubator 2023. Beside lmmaking she has been teaching at the prestigious DocNomads Joint Master program in Europe. 

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93% on RottenTomatoes

“This quiet, gently absorbing documentary follows two “happiness agents” as they travel door-to-door, like census workers, collecting data for the government’s happiness survey.” – Cath Clarke, Guardian

“A complex, observant, and bittersweet look at the nature of fulfilment viewed through the infrequently glimpsed lens of Bhutanese culture.” – Andrew Parker, The Gate

“The quiet, intimate charms of Agent of Happiness pulse from poignant collective consideration, filtered through the personal experience of a professional happiness inspector.” – Jacob Oller, Paste Magazine

“Something this personal kind of inspires you to reflect as well. This is a lovely and kind documentary that handles big subjects with an unusual amount of honesty.” – Sarah Manvel, Critic’s Notebook

““Agent of Happiness” uses meaningful visual contrast to scrutinize Bhutan’s narrative about itself. It re-injects a vibrant sense of nuance into an exercise that, though nominally geared toward gauging humanity, too often reduces it to a number.” – Siddhant Adlakha, Variety

American Coup: Wilmington 1898 tells the little-known story of a deadly race massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection in North Carolina’s largest city in 1898 — the only coup d’état in the history of the US. Stoking fears of “Negro Rule,” self-described white supremacists used intimidation and violence to destroy Black political and economic power  and overthrow Wilmington’s democratically-elected, multi-racial government. Black residents were murdered and thousands were banished. Following the white supremacist insurrection, many newspapers throughout the country reported the incident as a “race riot” and suggested that Black citizens were the aggressors. More than 2000 African Americans fled the city. Wilmington, which had a Black majority of 56% in the 1890s, became a majority-white city. In 1899, North Carolinians passed a Constitutional amendment requiring voters to pay a poll tax and take a literacy test unless a father or grandfather had voted  before 1867 — effectively disenfranchising the Black population. No Black citizen from Wilmington served in public office again until 1972, and no Black North Carolinian was elected to statewide office for nearly 100 years. No one was ever prosecuted or held responsible for the violence. The story of what happened in Wilmington was suppressed for decades until descendants and scholars began to investigate. Today, many of those descendants — Black and white — seek the truth about this intentionally buried history. Directed by award-winning filmmakers Brad Lichtenstein and Yoruba Richen in association with PBS North Carolina and executive produced by Cameo George and Rachel Raney, American Coup: Wilmington 1898, premieres Tuesday, November 12, 2024, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET (check local listings) on AMERICAN EXPERIENCE on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS App.

For more go to: pbs.org/show/american-experience

About the filmmaker – Yoruba Richen (Director, Writer, Producer) is a Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker and founder of Promised Land Film. She was recently awarded the Trailblazer Award by Black Public Media, and her work has been featured on multiple outlets, including Netflix, MSNBC, Peacock and FX/Hulu. Her film, The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks,won a Gracie Award and was honored by the Television Academy. Other recent work includesthe Emmy-nominated films American Reckoning, How It Feels to Be Free, The Sit In: Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show, and Green Book: Guide to Freedom. Her film, The Killing of Breonna Taylor,won an NAACP Image Award. Her films The New Black and Promised Land won multiple festival awardsbeforeairing on PBS’s INDEPENDENT LENS and POV. Richen’s other work includes directing an episode of the award-winning series Black and Missing for HBO and High on the Hog for Netflix. Richen is a recipient of the Chicken & Egg Breakthrough Filmmaker’s Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She is the Founding Director of the Documentary Program at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

About the filmmaker – Brad Lichtenstein (Director, Writer, Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of 371 Productions. He won a 2022 Primetime Emmy for When Claude Got Shot. He was nominated for a Sports Emmy for the VR filmAshe ’68, which premiered at Sundance in 2019, and a News and  Documentary Emmy for the 2012 INDEPENDENT LENS/PBS filmAs Goes Janesville. He’s won two Dupont Awards: one for the 2016 Al Jazeera America series Hard Earned (with Kartemquin Films) and another for his 2001 filmGhosts ofAttica (with Lumiere Productions). His 2022 film,American Reckoning (with producer/director Yoruba Richen) for the PBS series FRONTLINE, was nominated for a Peabody and a News & Documentary Emmy for Best Historical Documentary. With Emily Kuester, he directed Messwood for Participant, which premiered in 2021 at DocNYC. His radio series about gun violence,Precious Lives, was nominated for a Peabody. Since 2003, his company has been committed to nurturing the careers of emerging women and BIPOC storytellers.

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When 28-year-old aspiring journalist Shiori Ito goes public in May 2017 with her rape allegation against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s closest journalist and biographer, she feels she has no other choice in order to change Japan’s antiquated sexual assault laws. Her press conference shocks the public in a society where speaking up on such matters is considered shameful. Within days, Shiori is swept into the center of Japanese politics — the right wing views her as a threat to bring down the Abe government and the left hails her a hero for the same reason. Death threats, cyberbullying, and hate mail take Shiori into a downward spiral. When she files a civil case, the accused rages all-out war against her. Determined not to set a bad example for other victims, Shiori pushes forward with her case and resolves to publish a book about her experience. Directed by herself with the most personal of material, BLACK BOX DIARIES captures Shiori’s tumultuous, heart-wrenching, and ultimately triumphant journey, going behind the headlines to reveal what it has been like to walk in her shoes. The documentary reveals the personal toll of a society’s web of politics, media, and technology on the humanity of its individuals. Being both victim and journalist investigating her own case, the documentary shows that what Shiori did was not only to create social change but ultimately to keep herself alive. Director and Subject, Shiori Ito joins us to talk about her emotionally grueling five year journey to tell her story, the challenge of being a journalist and a filmmaker, as well the support she received from Swedish journalist and filmmaker Hanna Aqvilin, and her videographer friends.

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Los Angeles – Laemmle Royal

Friday, November 1

San Francisco – Roxie

Friday, November 1

Chicago – Gene Siskel Film Center

Friday, November 1

**IDA 2024 Emerging Filmmaker Award**

**DOC NYC Short List – 2024 Documentary Features**

**Golden Eye Award for Best Documentary – 2024 Zurich Film Festival**

**Audience Award – 2024 Zurich Film Festival**

**Human Rights Award – 2024 CPH:DOX Festival**

**Special Jury Award – 2024 San Francisco International Film Festival**

**Lena Sharpe Award for Persistence of Vision – 2024 Seattle International Film Festival**

**Audience Award – 2024 New Zealand International Film Festival**

**Audience Award – 2024 Sarajevo Film Festival**

About the filmmaker – Shiori Ito is a director, producer, camera person, journalist, and writer. Her primary focus is gender-based human rights issues. She co-founded Hanashi Films, a Tokyo and London-based production company that has collaborated with NHK, BBC, and Al Jazeera, amongst others. In 2017, Shiori wrote the book “Black Box,” based on her own experience of rape. The book reveals the sexism in Japan’s society and institutions and won the Free Press Association of Japan Award for Best Journalism in 2018. It has been translated into a number of languages. In 2020 she was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. BLACK BOX DIARIES is her feature documentary debut. For more go to: shioriito.com

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98% on RottenTomatoes

“Shiori Itō changed the world. And Black Box Diaries is a monument to her determination and sacrifice, as well as one of the best documentaries you’ll see all year.” – Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone

“A pulverising illustration of truth and its consequences.” – Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International

“A remarkably intimate non-fiction exposé about the ordeals women suffer after being sexually assaulted—and the strength, courage and togetherness required to change that status quo.” – Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

“Throughout the film we viscerally feel Ito’s courage as speaks truth to power.” – Marya E. Gates, RogerEbert.com

“Ito’s work is more than breaking down a systemic pattern of abuse but redefining how a country protects women, so it is a compelling mission that needs to be supported.” – Katie Smith-Wong, Flick Feast

Tommy Hyde’s beguiling feature documentary debut UNDERDOG follows a hardscrabble Vermont dairy farmer Doug Butler. Doug has an offbeat passion – dog mushing. A local folk hero, Doug trains his team of mutts on the family farm with a dream to compete at the world championships in Alaska. But the demands of being a small-scale family farmer in a changing world are constant. Keenly aware of the fate of the other family farms that used to dot the landscape, Doug has managed for years to play one creditor off against the next to survive another season. But with the debt now insurmountable and Doug’s thoughts plunging into depression, his dogs offer solace…and perhaps a way out. On a cold March morning Doug pulls out of his driveway in a rusted-out truck carrying 22 dogs, bound for Alaska. The journey will prepare him for what he’ll confront when he gets back: the sale of his farm and a race to craft a new destiny. Director, cinematographer, editor Tommy Hyde joins us for a conversation on how met his charismatic subject, being welcomed into Doug’s energetic world, traveling across country with Doug and working how working with UNDERDOG producer and writer, Aaron Woolf and producer Kyra Schaefer from Mosaic Films Productions made this possible.

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For more go to: underdogfilm.org

Check out other great films at: First Run Features

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Don’t miss the theatrical premiere of UNDERDOG at Laemmle Royal this Thursday, August 10th. Screening to be followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Tommy Hyde and Aaron Woolf, as wells as the film’s unforgettable subject Doug Butler.

About the filmmaker – Tommy Hyde (Director, Camera, Editor) is a documentary filmmaker whose work explores people and stories at the fringes of society. Underdog, a film ten years in the making, is his directorial debut. He frequently collaborates with Mosaic Films, and is currently in production on two docu-series with them as a producer and writer. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and resides in Burlington, VT.

Kyra Schaefer (Co-Producer) is a NY-based documentary producer and editor whose work centers around the intersection of faith and feminism. She holds a B.A. in digital media and video production from Marymount Manhattan College. She is the co-producer of The Happening (in production) and Ordinary Saints (in production), both Mosaic Films Productions.

Aaron Woolf (Producer & Writer) is a Rockie, Logie and Peabody award-winning documentary filmmaker who tells stories that depict the human dimension of government policy. His work has been released theatrically in the US, Europe and Japan and broadcast on PBS, the Sundance Channel, and numerous international networks including RAI, ARTE, and SBS. Aaron is active in community and conservation efforts in New York’s Adirondack North Country, and in 2014 he was the Democratic nominee for Congress from the New York’s 21st district.

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“Tommy Hyde’s heartwarming documentary traces the life of an aging Vermont dairy farmer. Hyde’s subtlety as a filmmaker, along with the fabulous, eccentric central figure, bring to mind David Lynch’s The Straight Story. Both films are remarkable for how seemingly unremarkable they are. Stick with it, and the film’s subliminal power will sneak up on you.”-Alex Saveliev, FILM THREAT

In AFTER: POETRY DESTROYS SILENCE, contemporary poets confront the Holocaust. In this dramatic hybrid  documentary, with performances by Melissa Leo, Géza Röhrig, and Bo Corre, poets respond to the Holocaust and address the responsibility and necessity for art. The first of its kind, where poetry and cinema combine and transcend time.  AFTER is an exploration of poetry written about the Shoah. Contemporary poets respond to the Holocaust and talk about the importance and necessity for poetry in a world that still grapples with genocide. Rather than seeing the devastation, AFTER shows how poets respond to catastrophe and write in its aftermath. The film is ultimately about human resiliency, the power and courage to forge new lives, and the value of poetry in looking to the past to help create a better future. Weaving a narrative, each poem has its own story, main character(s), and point of view, each acting as a short island with the entire film. AFTER also interlaces sequences of music, archival footage, personal photographs, and documents. The power of the words, performances, commentary, cinematic interpretations, sounds, and silences bring the poems to life on screen, offering a modern chronicle of poets examining history and the current day. As survivors leave us each day, their voices live inside the poems we include in AFTER. One poet speaks the line, her father, a survivor, told her, “Home is anywhere they let you in.” The film serves as both a model and a warning for an increasingly divided and violent planet. Director Richard Kroehling (Albert Einstein: How I See The World, Confessions) joins us to talk about his powerful and eerily prescient multi-dimensional documentary film that benefits from a spectacular contribution from cinematographer Lisa Renzler, and bolstered by a cast of actors, poets, writers and educators that includes; Melissa Leo, Geza Rohrig, Bo Corre, Joanna Wallfisch, Josh Harto, Taylor Mali, Janet Kirchheimer, Paul Celan, Yehuda Amichai, Edward Hirsch, Sabrina Orah Mark, Charles Carter, Christine Poreba, Walter Fiden and Cornelious Eady

To find out more go to: after.film

Watch in a theatre: after.film/screenings

AFTER: POETRY DESTROYS SILENCE opens Friday, November 8 at the Laemmle Royal Theater in Los Angeles, with other cities to follow

About the filmmaker – Richard Kroehling’s work includes dramatic features, documentary, crime TV, and intimate portraits of some of the world’s renowned thinkers, as well as film and video art that looks to transcend existing forms. He directed “Albert Einstein: How I See The World” with William Hurt for PBS American Masters and the feature “World Without End” for England’s Film Four. A two-time Emmy award winner, he has directed over fifty hours of crime docudramas for networks in the United States and Europe. He created the controversial TV series “Confessions”, hailed as “visionary and stunning”, which was later installed at the Palazzo della Triennale in Milan. His films and video art installations have been exhibited at film festivals, networks, and art museums around the world, including MOMA, The Jewish Museum in New York City, and the Lars Von Trier’s Gesamt project at the Kunsthalle in Copenhagen. “Dollarland”, a multi-screen installation of an imaginary American city, is a collaboration with his long-time cinematographer Lisa Rinzler. “Dollarland” premiered at the Woodstock Artist Association Museum (WAAM) and showed at Art Basel Miami in 2019. Richard Kroehling will direct his adaptation of Swedish playwright Lars Noren’s “War” in 2024.  He received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the New York Council on the Arts.  richardkroehling.com

About the filmmaker – Lisa Rinzler is known as a master of lighting, has an international reputation, and lensed many documentaries, feature films, and experimental works. Her credits include Academy Award nominated “Pollock“, “Dead Presidents”, “Menace II Society”, and she worked with Martin Scorsese on “American Masters” and “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan”, as well as “It’s The Soul of a Man” with Wim Wenders. Lisa Rinzler won the Sundance Independent Spirit Award in 1993 and 1999. She was featured in the American Film Institute’s “Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography” featuring nine of the world’s greatest motion picture camera artists. In 2016, Lisa Rinzler shot the documentary “Don’t Blink”, a portrait of Robert Frank. Most recently, she lensed “A Man of His Word”, a portrait of Pope Francis directed by Wim Wenders, as well as the Academy Award winning documentary short in 2019 called “How to Skate in a Warzone (If you are a Girl)”. lisarinzler.com

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Reviews:

“The film’s look and sound are lyrical, providing an apt setting for the poets who recite their work and discuss the kind of communication that fills in the gaps left by recitations of fact, archival images, or dramatic re-enactments.” – Nell Minow, RogerEbert.com

“A provocative, enlightening and engrossing protest against hate.” – Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru

STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF drops the viewer into the “normal” life of Jerry Hsu. Jerry is a retired, divorced Taiwanese immigrant living in Orlando. All of the normal is knocked out of Jerry’s world when he gets an urgent call from a People’s Republic of China’s Chinese police officer. The officer informs him that he’s the prime suspect in an international money laundering investigation where $1.28mm was  illegally moved through his Florida bank account. Under threat of arrest and extradition to China, the police force Jerry to cooperate and be an undercover agent in their case. Over the next few weeks, Jerry helps the police investigate an international money  laundering case by taking surveillance photos of his bank, making top secret transfers, and even wearing a wire to spy on bank tellers. After months of keeping the investigation a secret, Jerry finally reveals everything to his family. His three sons decide to document his ordeal and discover the truth about what really happened and how it changed Jerry’s life forever. Director Law Chen and screenwriter Jonathan Hsu join us to talk about their genre-busting “documentary” family drama suspense story that stars all of Jerry’s American-based family and gives the audience a unique cinematic experience.

For more go to: greenwichentertainment.com/starring-jerry-as-himself

Slamdance Film Festival Grand Jury and Audience Award winner

About the filmmaker – Law Chen is an award winning director based in Brooklyn His narrative, documentary, and commercial films have earned 19 Cannes Lions, as well as multiple Webby Awards, Vimeo Staff Picks, and screened at film festivals around the world. His first feature ‘Starring Jerry as Himself’ will premiere at Slamdance, and tells a personal story about an immigrant’s pursuit of the American Dream. 

About the filmmaker – Jonathan Hsu has been making films since he could first get his hands on his family’s Digi8 Camcorder. Since then he has produced multiple award winning commercials, music videos, and films. He founded his commercial production services company HsuBox Productions Inc. with the mission to share and produce content that is as diverse as his crew and clients. Jon is an alumni of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. in his free time he makes large dinners, performs Magic, and mentors up-and-coming filmmakers. He recently Executive Produced the horror movie “A Wounded Fawn” for Tribeca 2022’s Midnight Program and also a short film “Closing Dynasty” for the inaugural Netflix x Gold House x Tribeca 2022 Future Gold Fellowship. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Starring Jerry as Himself manages to pull off something of a magic trick. Not only is the film a compelling documentary that keeps audiences guessing, it also stands alone as a work of scripted fiction.” – Tina Kakadelis, Beyond the Cinerama Dome

“Surprising is the operative word here. A compelling, thoroughly engaging documentary with a huge payoff by the end that is satisfying, moving and ultimately, quite sad. One of the year’s most fascinating films with a memorable lead “character” in Jerry.” – Jim Laczkowski, Director’s Club

“So much of this is recreation, in fact, that it begs the question of whether this really qualifies as a documentary. Nevertheless, it’s engrossing.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today

“Chen finds a way to lure the audience into understanding a horrible phenomenon that we all know about, but can only understand through Jerry’s eyes.” – Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle

Homegrown is an unflinching chronicle of Americans at war with each other. Three right-wing activists—a newly politicized father-to-be in New Jersey, an Air Force veteran organizing conservatives in New York City, and a charismatic activist from Texas—crisscross the country in the summer of 2020, campaigning for Donald Trump and building a movement they hope will outlast him. When they become convinced that the election is stolen, they take their fight to the streets. A fascinating portrait emerges in Michael Premo’s look at three impassioned right-wing activists. Having won their trust in the lead-up to the 2020 election, the Brooklyn filmmaker follows them through election night, the January 6 riot, and beyond. Contradictions abound— Texas native Thad attends Trump rallies with Black Lives Matter activist Jacarri; New Jersey resident Chris participates in a “Back the Blue” march yet charges the line of police defending the Capitol—but their commitment to a particular red, white, and blue vision of America can’t be denied. Each is a combustible mix of delusional cosplayer, stalwart patriot, and potential threat, with the line between blood and bluster further blurred by cameos from Enrique Tarrio and Roger Stone. Director / Producer / Cinematographer Michael Premo joins us for a conversation on his on-going exploration of White Nationalism, working class anger around immigrants and immigration, economic hardship, the normalization of political violence, as well as working with his producing partner Rachel Falcone.

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For more go to: homegrown.film

To watch, go to: homegrown.film/watch

About the filmmaker – Michael Premo is a journalist, filmmaker, and artist. He directed the award-winning short film and photo exhibition WATER WARRIORS  (POV), a story about a community’s successful resistance to the oil and gas industry. It has since been rebroadcasted hundreds of times by PBS stations across the country, including annually in November. He also co-directed the participatory documentary SANDY STORYLINE (Jury Award winner at the Tribeca Film Festival), the site-specific performance  SANCTUARY (The Working Theater), and the PBS series VETERANS COMING HOME. Michael has directed, produced, and co-written original film, radio, and theater with numerous companies including The Foundry Theater, The Civilians, and the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps on NPR. Michael’s photography has appeared in publications like The Village Voice, The New York Times, and Het Parool. He has been an artist-in-residence with Camargo Foundation, The Laundromat Project, and the National Resource Defense Council. He is the recipient of an NBC News Studios Original Voices Fellowship, a Creative Capital Award, A Blade of Grass Artist Files Fellowship, and a New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Award.

About the filmmaker – In addition to being the Executive Director of Storyline Media Rachel Falcone is a documentary filmmaker and multimedia artist. She produced the short film and exhibition Water Warriors (POV), which won more than 10 awards and has screened at hundreds of festivals, schools and communities around the globe. Rachel co-directed the participatory web documentary and exhibition Sandy Storyline (winner of the Jury Award at the Tribeca Film Festival), the site-specific performance Sanctuary and the multi-platform project Housing is a Human Right. She has directed and produced dozens of short films for clients like the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Earth Island Institute. Previously, Rachel produced content with the award-winning national oral history project StoryCorps and EarSay, Inc., and was an associate producer on Incite Picture’s Young Lakota  (Independent Lens). She has taught oral history and storytelling in collaboration with institutions like the Museum of the City of New York and Parsons The New School for Design. Rachel is also a sound recordist for film and radio, including most recently Knock Down The House (Netflix) and To the End (Hulu).

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Reviews:

“Premo’s documentary (Homegrown) refuses to sensationalize its timely material, which only makes the picture that much more troubling. (T)he disturbing ordinariness of these men is chilling.” – Tim Grierson, Screen Daily

“Nuanced and profound” – Tommaso Koch, El Pais

“What Premo discovered was a movement that was far more multicultural than ofter depicted.” – Jada Yuan, Washington Post

“Illuminating and gripping” – The Guardian

“…among the most powerful and unforgettable of the 81st Venice FIlm Festival” – Di Carlo Pisani, NPC Magazine

“Premo’s commitment and grit are palpable — especially when one notes how close to the action he gets during the Capitol insurrection, so that the camera shows every jostle and bump.” –  Leslie Felperin, Hollywood Reporter

Hannah Peterson’s quietly compelling, slow-burn feature debut, set in the final weeks of a high school academic year, explores the long-term psychological and emotional aftermath of a school shooting on its survivors, graduating students and faculty both, with standout performances coming from Mina Sundwall as a young woman still mourning the death of her boyfriend, Moonlight’s Alex Hibbert as a basketball team star who’s been MIA since the  tragedy, and John Cho as the coach struggling to keep up a brave face through unendurable heartbreak. A somber and sobering portrait of a community searching for ways to heal, they turn to each other to find hope and a way forward. Director/ Writer / Editor Hannah Peterson joins us for a conversation on how for millions of school age young people in America the horrifying idea of a mass shooting in their classroom is not the stuff of fiction, what went into her approach to cast this exceptionally talented ensemble of young actors that also includes Yasmeen Fletcher, Ewan Manley, Maria Dizzia, and Kelly O’Sullivan, working with the award winning cinematographer, Carolina Costa, and her own trajectory as a filmmaker after working with Sean Baker and the film’s Co-Executive Producers John Cho and Academy Award winner Chloé Zhao.

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For more go to: futureoffilmisfemale.com/The Graduates

THE GRADUATES premiered at Tribeca Festival in 2023 where it was awarded Best Cinematography in U.S. Narrative.

The Graduates opens at Metrograph in New York on November 1

About the filmmaker – Director, Writer, Editor Hannah Peterson is a writer and director. Filmmaker Magazine named her one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” Her work has screened at Sundance Film Festival, MoMA, REDCAT, Tribeca Film Festival, and Slamdance Film Festival where she was awarded the AGBO fellowship for her short film, East of the River. She holds an MFA in Film Directing from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and a BA in Screen Studies from the New School. Prior to her work as a director, Hannah mentored under filmmakers Sean Baker and Chloé Zhao. For more go to: hannahloganpeterson.com

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94% on RottenTomatoes

“a moving slice of life, capped off with a stirring performance from Mina Sundwall.” – Kate Erbland, Indiewire

“If there was ever a film to watch about mourning and learning to adjust to a new normal, it’s Peterson’s poignant masterpiece.”- Mae Abdulbaki, Screenrant

“Void of emotional exploitation, Peterson’s film is a quiet drama that is searingly powerful.” – Emily Maskell, WeLoveCinema

“A quiet but wrenching drama.” – Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com

“A story that needs to be told, made by a filmmaker who we can only hope has many more tales to share.” “a moving slice of life, capped off with a stirring performance from Mina Sundwall.” – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

“Features a star-making performance from its lead, Mina Sundwall… A compelling drama with incredible performances across the board and confident direction.” – Taylor Gates, Collider

DUSTY AND STONES intimately chronicles the remarkable ride of cousins Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” Msibi, a determined duo of struggling country singers from the tiny African Kingdom of Swaziland* who long for their big break. When they are unexpectedly invited to record their songs in Nashville and compete in a Texas battle of the bands, Dusty and Stones embark on their long-awaited first pilgrimage to the ancestral heart of country music. Over a momentous ten-day road trip through the American South, Dusty and Stones bring their music to life in a top Nashville recording studio, explore the storied locales of their favorite country songs, and excitedly engage with the culture they’ve long felt part of from afar. But this sense of kinship is abruptly thrown into question when they arrive in the small town of Jefferson, Texas to compete in the battle of the bands. There, the hostile leader of the local backing band threatens to derail the cousins’ debut American performance. As their family and friends back home wait for good news, a shell-shocked Dusty and Stones must take the stage and fight to bring home an award for Swaziland, now known as Kingdom of Eswatini. Director Jesse Rudoy stops by to talk about how he discovered Dusty and Stones on Facebook, when he decided to embark on this remarkable journey that has lasted over four years, getting to know these two cousins, and seeing how their talent, following and legacy continues to grow in the Kingdom of Eswatini and around the world.

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For more go to: dustyandstonesfilm.com

Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature – Atlanta Film Festival

Jury Award for Best Director – RiverRun International Film Festival

Jury Award for Best Debut Feature – Florida Film Festival

Audience Award for Best Documentary – San Luis Obispo International Film

Festival Jury Award for Best Feature – Thin Line Festival

About the filmmaker – Jesse Rudoy is a filmmaker, musician, and born-again country fan based in New York City. He was most recently an editor on Season 2 of HBO’s The Jinx. Jesse has composed original music for brands like Adidas and National Geographic and released music on the record label Let’s Play House. His work has been supported by HBO, the Gotham Film & Media Institute, Film Independent, and Durban FilmMart. Dusty & Stones is his first film.

About the filmmaker – Melissa O. Adeyemo is a Nigerian-American producer and the founder of Ominira Studios, a New York-based production company. Her first feature, Eyimofe, premiered at the 2020 Berlinale, has shown at over 20+ festivals, and was acquired by Janus Films. It is currently a part of the Criterion Collection, where Melissa is the first-ever African female producer to be featured in her own standalone spotlight interview. Eyimofe was nominated for an NAACP Award and won five African Movie Academy Awards. Dusty & Stones is her first documentary feature film. Melissa started her filmmaking career with Spike Lee’s Inside Man and Steven Spielberg’s Munich.

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Reviews:

“An often captivating crowd-pleaser that weaves contemporary politics in its backdrop…a character study rife with terrific music and presence.” – The Film Stage

“A wondrous ten-day road trip through the American south.” – DOC NYC

“One of the most compelling and joyful music documentaries of the year.” – Living Life Fearless

“A triumph of musical storytelling.” – Sonic Cinema

Directed by Hasan Oswald and Executive Produced by Emma Thompson, this award-winning film is an incredible story of resilience. Mediha, a 15-year-old Yazidi girl, roams the fields surrounding a refugee camp in Northern Iraq with a camera, making intimate, poignant video diaries. Captured by ISIS and sold into sex slavery at age 9, Mediha was traded among four different men, while her mother, Afaf, went missing, her younger brothers, Adnan and Ghazwan, were also enslaved, and her entire community systematically murdered. Mediha turns her camera on herself to process her trauma after surviving captivity from ISIS. The film leaves us in awe of the budding activist, who has already lived many lives and is nowhere near done. In his sophomore feature, Hasan Oswald (HIGHER LOVE) sensitively tracks the devastating aftermath of her escape and survival, empowering Mediha to share her experience through her own eyes and voice, as she seeks legal justice with the help of Yazidi rescuers and mounts a courageous search for her mother, and, most of all, fights for healing. Hassan joins us for a conversation on this powerful story of unbelievable resilience and love for of family, including her brothers Adnan, Ghazwan, and Bazan, her uncles Gazan and Omar, her mother Afaf and her father Ibrahim.

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For more go to: medihafilm.com

For more on how you can help go to: Mediha/impact

About the filmmaker – Director and Producer Hasan Oswald has covered the water crisis in Flint, Michigan (Forgotten USA), drug trafficking and homelessness in Camden, NJ (Higher Love), and the international diaspora of conflict refugees for NatGeo (Hell on Earth). His latest documentary, Mediha, is executive produced by Emma Thompson and follows a teenage Yazidi girl processing her trauma after being held captive by ISIS. ‘Mediha’ won the Grand Jury Award and Audience Award runner-up at Doc NYC 2023. Hasan was also named one of Doc NYC’s 40 under 40 documentary rising stars to watch co-presented by HBO Documentary Films.

About the Subject – Mediha Alhamad (subject / cinematographer) was an integral part of the making of the Mediha documentary. She filmed herself and her family for three years, bringing the audience into the most authentic telling of her story. She’s brave and determined beyond her years and has become an advocate for her community. She has the potential to help other Yazidi women and girls in very similar circumstances, and we believe that she, a Yazidi survivor herself, is the best person to do this. 

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Mediha Ibrahim Alhamad was 10 years old when Islamic State fighters raided her Yazidi village and sold her into sexual slavery. The gift of a film camera ‘saved her life’ and led to an award-winning documentary.” – Saeed Kamali Dehghan, The Guardian

“Through it all, Mediha remains a marvel, finding the inner strength to be there for her brothers at the same time as steeling herself to try to identify her kidnapper.” – Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film

“Revelatory…pulsates with a devastating optimism. Mediha offers what few documentaries covering this region’s conflicts do…By entrusting Mediha with the camera, Oswald has given her and her brothers an opportunity to exercise hope. They in turn have offered audiences a sacred invitation.” –  Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter

“Crushingly beautiful… One of the 10 Must-See Films at DOC NYC.” – David Ehrlich, IndieWire

“I am so honored to be a small part of this incredible film, which shines a light on forgotten voices and overlooked injustices. From the earliest versions I watched, I could see how gracefully and empathetically made the film was…” Brilliantly crafted… uniquely collaborative…it captures the raw reality.”  – Emma Thompson, Deadline

Based on a true story, THE KEEPER tells a sweeping story of US Army veteran George Eshleman, a man heavily impacted by his fellow veteran’s suicides, he decides to help raise awareness for military member suicides by hiking the entire nearly 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. On the trek, he carries 363 name tapes from the uniforms of military members who committed suicide, given to him by their families. Along the way he is given the trail name of “The Keeper” (of the names) and finds support and comfort from fellow hikers, civilians, military and veteran hikers (Michael Maclane, Haley Babula, Andrew Ferguson, Nicholas Asad) who shadow his hike, motivate his efforts along “Hiker Universe.” Despite their support, his depression threatens to overtake his judgment as the days pass. With his darkness only a few paces from his mind as he travels the trail, George struggles to prove his mettle, conquer his depression, and focus on the mission. Co-director, Co-Producer and lead actor Angus Benfield joins us to talk about the importance of remembering those who have sacrificed and died while in and out of uniform, how he sought to honor them and the support he received from his film crew, his cast and the people he met along the Appalachian Trail, many of whom are on the trail for the same reasons he made The Keeper. 

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For more go to: thekeepermovie.info

For more on the filmmaker go to: angusbenfield.com

About the filmmaker – Angus Benfield is an Australian-born, accomplished, multi-award-winning, and incredibly versatile actor, having acted in an extensive number of roles in film as well as roles in television and theater. Angus is also an award-winning director, producer, and writer and has appeared on multiple news shows and podcasts to talk about his body of work. Angus has acted alongside some of the biggest names in Hollywood including, Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Eric Roberts, Julia Garner, Bob Gunton, Brian Doyle-Murray, Angus Macfadyen, Doug Jones, Corbin Bernsen Brian Posehn, Kris Poloha, Cate Blanchett, Anna Chlumsky, Kathy Garver, Judy Norton, LL Cool J, Eric Christian Olsen and Chris O’Donnell. In 2023 demonstrated a broad range and versatility as an actor, starring as Pro Football Coach Stan Jacobs in STAN THE MAN, Army Veteran George Eschelan in true story THE KEEPER, DJ Connor McCloud in THE GREAT TURKEY TOWN MIRACLE, grieving father and accused murderer Jet Sanders in THE POST, as ex-cult member Ben Green in THE DEPROGRAMMER, crooked lawyer Jo Fortune in PURGATORY STATION and once successful P.R. Specialist, turned Grocery Store Manager, Jake Rush in YELLOW BIRD. Angus started off January 2024 co-starring alongside legendary American comedians Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid and Brian Doyle-Murray in Christmas Comedy, THE CHRISTMAS LETTER and Angus Macfadyen, Doug Jones and Corbin Bernsen in thriller THE WEIGHT OF DARKNESS (March 2024). Films featuring Angus have been released theatrically and can be found streaming on Amazon, AppleTV, Prime, YouTubeTV, Tubi, Vimeo, Roku, PureFlix, and many other digital platforms. For more: angusbenfield.com

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On May 7, 2023, a Washington Post/ABC poll revealed that only 42% of likely voters favored Joe Biden’s re-election, while 49% favored Former President Trump. “That poll,” declared legendary Democratic political operative James Carville, “it knocked me right off my fucking horse.” Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid chronicles eighteen tumultuous months inside what many consider the most consequential election in U.S. history from the distinctive vantage point of one of the most influential, charismatic, and combative voices in the Democratic Party: James Carville. The film features intimate interviews and verité footage with famed Republican operative—and James’s wife of over 30 years—Mary Matalin. Democratic Party luminaries such as Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulos, Paul Begala, Donna Brazile and others help trace the story of Carville’s rise from the bayou to the Beltway, culminating in his masterminding of Bill Clinton’s stunning presidential upset in 1992. Carville’s biography is intercut with his present-day efforts to shape the Democratic Party landscape by taking on the ultra-progressive “woke” wing of the party (which he believes subscribes to an election-losing ideology) and to get Joe Biden to step aside—a high-stakes gambit that puts him at odds with the very establishment he helped build. Interwoven throughout is the unlikely love story of Carville and Matalin—a union that defies political tribalism and offers a glimmer of hope in our highly polarized times. Their eccentric, endearing, and occasionally hilarious dynamic, captured in intimate moments and conversations, serves as a counterpoint to the gladiatorial nature of modern politics. Director Matt Tyrnauer (Where’s My Roy Cohn?, Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, Citizen Jane: Battle for the City) joins us for a conversation to talk about the inspirational tale that has been the life of  the most consequential voice for the people who “matter” inside the Democratic Party.

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For more go to: greenwichentertainment.com/carville-winning-is-everything-stupid

About the filmmaker – Matt Tyrnauer is an award-winning writer, journalist, and director whose films include Valentino: The Last Emperor, which was short-listed for an Academy Award for best documentary feature; the multi-part, Emmy-nominated series Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons, about the man behind the commercial empire; Where’s My Roy Cohn?, about the Svengali behind Joseph McCarthy and Donald Trump; Studio 54, about the famed New York City nightclub that became a cultural phenomenon; Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, about the secret history of sex in Hollywood in the pre-Stonewall era; and Citizen Jane: Battle for the City. His latest projects include The Reagans a four-part documentary series for Showtime that re-examines Reagans’ America and the impact of their politics, policies and beliefs on our society today, and the documentary series Home, for Apple. Tyrnauer’s upcoming projects include feature documentaries on James Carville, chef Nobu Matsuhisa, a series on disgraced crypto king Sam Bankman-Fried,  and the dramatic adaptation of Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood with Fox Searchlight, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. As a journalist, Tyrnauer has written for Vanity Fair, where he was editor-at-large and special correspondent. His work has also appeared in other publications including GQ, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, L’Uomo Vogue, and Numero. For more go to: altimeterfilms.com

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100% on RottenTomatoes

“Tyrnauer does an excellent job showing his audience exactly who James Carville is — and how he’s remained relevant all these years. No matter what you may think of his politics, there is no denying there will never be another “Ragin’ Cajun” like him.” – Jeanne Kaplan, Kaplan vs. Kaplan

“It helps a lot that “Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid” intersperses scenes depicting the high drama of the 2024 presidential race with the relentless evolution of Carville from political neophyte to indefatigable kingmaker.” – Joe Leydon, Variety

“Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid is a unique must-watch election season documentary, if only because it’s also the celebration of a legacy.” – Danielle Solzman, Solzy at the Movies

“A non-fiction affirmation of Carville’s belief that you can’t affect change without power, and you can’t attain power without winning.” – Nick Schager, The Daily Beast

An immersive viewing experience of sound and imagery, the film weaves together an intricate and poetic tapestry of our world. Ecologist Mansi sets out on a quest to study moths in one of the most vibrant places on earth. She teams up with Bicki, a young man from the indigenous Bugun community, to seek clues about what the future has in store for the moths. Together, Mansi and Bicki traverse the landscape, meticulously  working night after night to put up light screens that transform into a dynamic canvas with moths of varying sizes, designs and textures, creating a painterly effect with their form, movement and color. Meanwhile, the human beings wait, watch and listen with patient anticipation and wonder. By focusing on a small, ephemeral, nocturnal creature like the moth, NOCTURNES seeks to question a human-centric view of the world. The lush forest, throbbing with a vast diversity of life, emerges as a breath-taking character as the film responds to the symphony of sounds and the inherent rhythms of the trees, the wind and the rain. The result is a rare and transformative experience that invites us all to look with more attention and care at the hidden interconnections in nature. Co-directors Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan stop by to talk about meeting the ecologist Mansi and being struck by her dedication to understanding how these moths migration patterns, behavior and health might foreshadow a future for people living in eastern India, as well as their discovery of the nocturnal splendor of these magnificent creatures.

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For more go to: grasshopperfilm.com/film/nocturnes

Nocturnes co-directors Anirban Dutta & Anupama Srinivasan doing Q&A’s after 7:30 P.M. screenings on Friday, 10/25 & Saturday, 10/26 at the Laemmle Royal

Nominee

Grand Jury Prize ~ World Cinema: Documentary

2024 Sundance Film Festival

Winner

Special Jury Prize ~ World Cinema: Documentary

2024 Sundance Film Festival

About the filmmakers – Anirban Dutta is a filmmaker, still photographer and a media educator based in Delhi, India. He set up his company, Metamorphosis in 2003. He has directed and produced several documentary films and created many photographic essays on diverse topics such as children’s rights, biodiversity, environmental issues, health, and gender and sexuality. His films have traveled to various film festivals such as Busan International Film Festival, IDFA, New York Short Film Festival, the San Sebastian Human Rights Film Festival, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Al Jazeera International Film Festival, and Mumbai International Film Festival. ‘Flickering Lights’, the feature documentary that he co-directed with Anupama Srinivasan received the Best Cinematography Award at IDFA international competition 2023. Anirban has been a Visiting Artist at the University of Boise, Utah, USA (2009), Stanica Slovakia (2013) and exhibited in University of Lima, Peru (2007) in addition to having exhibitions in India. He was part of the Eurodoc Training Program for Creative Producing in 2021. He was also part of Film Independent’s Global Media Makers LA Residency in 2022 with the project ‘Nocturnes’ that he has produced and co-directed. ‘Nocturnes’ will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024 in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.

About the filmmaker – Anupama Srinivasan is a filmmaker, film educator and curator based in Delhi, India. She did her BA in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University and went on to study filmmaking at the Film & Television Institute of India, Pune. She has been making documentaries for the past two decades, often shooting and editing her own work. Her films have been screened at various film festivals including IDFA, Busan International Film Festival, 100 Years of Cinema Centenary Festival, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, FIPA Biarritz, Mumbai International Film Festival, Film Southasia Kathmandu, ImagineIndia Madrid Peloponnisos Film Festival and Kara Filmfest. ‘Flickering Lights’, the feature documentary that she co-directed with Anirban Dutta received the Best Cinematography Award at IDFA international competition 2023. Anupama was part of Film Independent’s Global Media Makers LA Residency in 2022 with the project ‘Nocturnes’ that she co-directed and co-edited. ‘Nocturnes’ will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024 in the World Cinema Documentary Competition. Anupama has been visiting faculty at National Institute of Design, Ashoka University, SUPVA Rohtak, and Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts & Communication and Indian Institute of Mass Communication. She was the Festival Director of the IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival for three years (2013-15), and of the Peace Builders International Film Festival in 2016.

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86% on RottenTomatoes

‘Immersive visuals and richly rewarding soundscape”  – Screen International

“Nocturnes positions nature as a wonder to behold”  – POV Magazine

“Meditative and mesmerising…unlike anything you’ve ever seen…Intimate and expansive…breathtakingly vivid….Anirban & Anupama have created a film that stimulates your senses” – Hindustan Times

“Dazzling. An introspective and captivating documentary. A True Cinematic Escape.” – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

“By night, Shreyank Nanjappa’s inspired sound design captures the furious beating of wings and, layered on top of them, the shuffling and chirrupping and all the curious calls of the moths as they rush in to land.” – Jennie Kermode, Eye for Film

“It’s in transporting viewers into the heart of this jungle, where the moths calibrate the ecosystem, that Nocturnes most its most compelling case for protecting these exquisite creatures and our planet.” – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

“Dutta and Srinivasan have effectively reverse-engineered an aesthetic approach from the basic concept at the heart of these entomologic studies, with sheets painted in light as the central object of allure for the moths, and for the audience.” – Siddhant Adlakha, Variety

“Nocturnes, an insightful documentary that hopes to whisper the poetry of such creatures to its audience, is an educational and compelling look at these curious insects.” – Kristy Strouse, Film Inquiry

From F. Javier Guiterrez, director of BEFORE THE FALL and RINGS comes a dark, brooding folk horror thriller that’s a “macabre descent into hell”. Deep in the Andalusian countryside, Eladio (Victor Clavijo) has been hired to watch over the hunting grounds of Don Francisco’s estate, somewhere in rural Spain. The estate is divided into ten hunting stands, spaced far enough apart to avoid incidents. After three years of service, Don Carlos — Don Francisco’s second in command — offers him a bribe to add an additional three stands to the property. Eladio initially hesitates, but his wife eventually convinces him to take the money. Eladio’s greed has unfortunate consequences that drag his entire family to perdition, and plunges him into the depths of guilt, hatred, and revenge. Director F. Javier Gutierrez joins us for a conversation on the films and filmmakers from whom he drew inspiration from, particularly in his use of close-ups and framing shots,his casting of Manuel Moron, Pedro Casablanc, Ruth Diaz and the breakout performance of Victor Clavijo, as well as all the production roles he took on; director, screenwriter, producer, editor and production designer.

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Available at filmmovementplus.com/The Wait (La Espera)

NOMINATED FOR BEST MOTION PICTURE AT SITGES,

THE HAUNTING TALE OF LOSS AND REVENGE

AVAILABLE NOW VIA VOD & DIGITAL

About the filmmaker – Known as one of Spain’s most acclaimed independent filmmakers, his work has earned over a hundred film prizes and nominations worldwide, being selected in Festivals such as Berlin, Shanghai, Moscow, Karlovy Vary, AFI Fest, Edinburgh, Vancouver, Sitges, etc. Two-time “Golden Melies” nominee (Best European Fantastic Film), Javier’s filmography crosses genres such as drama, horror, sci-fi and thriller. Before the Fall, Javier’s first feature, premiered in the Official Section “Panorama Special” at the Berlin Film Festival. In Spain, the film received top honors at Malaga Spanish Film Festival (Best Film and Best Screenplay), and the TVE Miradas Awards (Best Motion Picture of the Year). After its North American premiere at AFI Fest, the film came to the attention of the US industry, landing #3 in the Hollywood International Watchlist. That same year, Before the Fall received an offer for a remake from legendary filmmaker Wes Craven. Javier’s second film, Rings, the third installment of The Ring franchise, was produced by Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald for Paramount Pictures. Praised by Koji Suzuki, author of “The Ring” novels, Rings opened #2 in the US box office and grossed $83M worldwide. Javier’s latest work, THE WAIT, had its world premiere at the 30th Oldenburg Film Festival (Germany), and has been selected in Festivals worldwide such as Vancouver International Film Festival, Sitges International Film Festival, and Moscow International Film Festival.

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85% on RottenTomatoes

“Clavijo gives a gripping performance as a man driven to desperation in more ways than one….” – Joseph Perry, Horror Fuel

“A slow burn film done right …” – Emilie Black, Cinema Crazed

“…Best enjoyed for its haunting visuals and grime embedded aesthetic. It is precise filmmaking on many levels” – Nadine Whitney, AWFJ.org

“Love letter to the horror/fantasy genre,” that “takes viewers along on a macabre descent into hell.” – Screen Zealots

“A brooding, potent tale of calamity, loss, revenge, and class divides. It would do it a disservice to call it merely a horror film, as there is so much more here and plenty of food for thought.” – Martin Unsworth, Starburst

Ricocheting between comedy, apocalyptic horror, and swooning soap opera, Rumours follows the seven leaders of the wealthiest democracies in the world at the annual G7 summit, where they fumble their way towards an attempt to draft a provisional statement regarding an unidentified looming global crisis. With unexpected, uproarious performances from a brilliant ensemble cast that  includes; Cate Blanchett, Alicia Vikander, Roy Dupuis, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Takehiro Hira, Rolando Ravello, Zlatko Burić, Denis Ménochet, and Charles Dance, these so-called leaders become spectacles of incompetence, contending with increasingly surreal obstacles in the misty woods as night falls and they realize they are suddenly alone. A genre-hopping satire of political ineptitude, the latest film from  directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson is a journey into the absurd heart of power and institutional failure in a slowly burning world. All three filmmakers join us for a conversation on a prolonged creative process led them to pack Rumours with a mash-up of genre tropes and wildly funny storylines, as well as working with an immensely talented cast of international actors.

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For more go to: bleeckerstreetmedia.com/rumours

About the filmmaker – Guy Maddin was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, to Herdis Maddin (a hair-dresser) and Charles “Chas” Maddin (grain clerk and general manager of the Maroons, a Winnipeg hockey team). Maddin studied economics at the University of Winnipeg, working as a bank manager, house painter, and photographic archivist before becoming a film-maker. Maddin produced his first film in 1985, and since then his distinctive style of recreating and renovating silent film conventions and international critical acclaim have made him one of Canada’s most celebrated directors. Guy Maddin is a writer, visual artist, and award-winning filmmaker who has directed 13 feature-length films, including THE GREEN FOG (2018), THE FORBIDDEN ROOM (2015), MY WINNIPEG (2007), and THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD (2003), as well as innumerable shorts. Additionally, he has produced over seventy performances around the world of his films each featuring live elements such as orchestra, sound effects, singing, and narration. THE GREEN FOG won the LA Film Critics Association prize for Best Experimental Film of 2018. Twice Maddin has won America’s National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Experimental Film, with ARCHANGEL (1991) and THE HEART OF THE WORLD (2001). He has been bestowed many other awards, including the Telluride Silver Medal in 1995, the San Francisco International Film Festival’s Persistence of Vision Award in 2006, and an Emmy for his ballet film DRACULA: PAGES FROM A VIRGIN’S DIARY (2002).

About the filmmaker – Evan Johnson is a Canadian filmmaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba is most noted for his frequent collaborations with Guy Maddin. He was codirector of Maddin’s The Forbidden Room, which was the winner of the Toronto Film Critics Association‘s Rogers Best Canadian Film Award at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2015. Evan Johnson is a Canadian filmmaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba, most noted for his frequent collaborations with Guy Maddin. He was co-director of Maddin’s The Forbidden Room, which was the winner of the Toronto Film Critics Association‘s Rogers Best Canadian Film Award at the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards 2015.

About the filmmaker – Galen Johnson is a Canadian filmmaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba is most noted for his frequent collaborations with Guy Maddin. He was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Art Direction/ Production Design at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016 for his work on Maddin’s The Forbidden Room. He and his brother Evan Johnson were also codirectors of Maddin’s short films Bring Me the Head of Tim Horton (2015),  Seances (2016), The Green Fog (2017),  Accidence (2018), Stump the Guesser  (2020) and The Rabbit Hunters (2020), as well as the feature film Rumours  (2024). In 2020, Johnson released the experimental short film Thursday, which was shot entirely from his and Evan’s bedroom windows during the lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

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80% on RottenTomatoes

“Absurd and hilarious. ‘Night of the Living Dead’ meets ‘Dr. Strangelove.’” – Inverse
“Bizarre and brilliant.” – The Telegraph

“The legendary Guy Maddin’s funniest film to date.”– Vulture
“A laugh out loud political satire. Cate Blanchett is impishly funny.” – Variety
“A wild romp.” – Screen Anarchy

“Hilarious and deceptively thought-provoking.”– RogerEbert.com
“Smart, sharp, and quirky.” – Deadline

Matt Cascella’s feature film debut, HANGDOG, follows the disheveled Walt (Desmin Borges, Only Murders in the Building, FX’s You’re the Worst), a fish out of water in his own skin. He’s now also a fish out of water in Portland, Maine, having recently moved with his girlfriend, Wendy (Kelly O’Sullivan, Ghostlight, Saint Frances), to be closer to her parents. Without a job or a plan, and with a new dog competing for Wendy’s affections, Walt has reached peak anxiety.When Wendy leaves town for the most important business trip of her career, she entrusts Walt with one task: taking care of her fur baby, Tony.  After a careless mistake gets Tony stolen, Walt embarks on a wild goose chase to retrieve the dog before Wendy returns, or risk losing them both. Along the way, he connects with locals Marianne (Barbara Rosenblat, Orange is the New Black), a wisecracking nonconformist, and Brent (Steve Coulter, Oppenheimer), a recent widower, who force him to confront his anxieties and embrace human (and canine!) connection.

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To watch, go to: hangdogmovie.com or instagram.com/hangdogmovie

About the filmmaker – Matt Cascella was a hyperactive child, with fits of singing and laughter amplified by an untethered attention span. Teachers didn’t like him, and coaches even less. Thankfully when he was 12 years old, a mini DV camcorder fell into his hands and he was immediately lovestruck. A way to channel his hyperactivity, filmmaking became an anchor. After many scrappy short films and a BA in Directing from the School of Visual Arts in NYC, Matt stumbled into the wonderful world of documentary at Maysles Films in Harlem, where he had the pleasure of getting yelled at by Albert Maysles for bad boom operating. Since then, as Editor and Story Producer, Matt’s work has been nominated for two Emmys (Netflix’s LONG SHOT and ESPN’s RUN MAMA RUN) and a Critic’s Choice Award (The Atlantic Selects’ THE UNCONDITIONAL), and has premiered at Sundance (I AM YUP’IK / 2016), Tribeca (RUN MAMA RUN / 2017 & ESPN’s ENHANCED / 2018), and Telluride (LONG SHOT / 2017). His commercial directing credits include MoMA, Amazon, Ancestry.com, and the Maine CDC. His most recent short, TALKING DOG, premiered at the Camden International Film Festival and was a Vimeo Staff Pick. 

About the filmmaker – Jen Cordery grew up in six countries, speaks four languages, holds two passports, and is one-half Uruguayan. She has a B.S. in Communication from Boston University, an apt acronym for the value of the degree. Jen has written comedy for McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Ancestry.com, and Audible; crafted scripts for Leguizamo Does America, L’Oreal, NFWF, and Amazon; and produced TV for Oprah, Rev Run, and MSNBC. In their “Best Humor Writing of the Year,” Vulture once said Jen’s writing “would make Paul Feig proud.” She lives in Portland, Maine with Matt and their dog, Ollie, who elicits grotesque displays of affection from her. HANGDOG is her first feature screenplay. 

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Reviews:

“….one of the best feature filmmaking debuts of the year. This thoroughly charming film features an extraordinary ensemble cast, all the people Walt meets during his multi-day adventure…making indelible impressions.” – Laura Clifford, Reeling Reviews

“Walt is the hero you didn’t know you needed. He is so ordinary and so fallible and his personal triumph so hard-fought that he is an easy character to root for and it is an easy film to love.” – Pamela Fortier, Media Women Worldwide

“Frustration can be a great launching point for laughs, and the comedy “Hangdog” revels in it.” – Roger Moore, Movie Nation

“Director Matt Cascella and writer Jen Cordery have made a film that’s charming, original, and sweet in its own deliberately shaggy way.” – Maine International Film Festival

“A heartwarming, nerve-snapping, dognapping comedy.” – JP Devine, Morning Sentinel

“Hangdog is less about the out loud laughs and more about finding the quiet humor of everyday life.” – Richard Propes, TheIndependentCritic.com

Filmmaker Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough THE BODY POLITIC documentary feature is a harbinger of hope in a country plagued by gun violence. Brandon Scott is a young Mayor who grew up during Baltimore’s most troubling years and sets out, with unyielding idealism, to change the course of his battered and beloved city. He is elected Mayor amid nationwide unrest following the murder of George Floyd. With unfettered access, cameras follow Brandon throughout his first year in office as he introduces an ambitious plan for violence reduction and police reform that he promises will lower the city’s murder rate. Pundits claim Brandon’s political health and the city’s health are tied to the number 348 – the total murders Baltimore had the previous year, more homicides than New York City, a city 15 times its size. After entering office and barely getting a chance to enact his first safety reforms, violence surges to new highs. As the media and political foes attack his holistic approach, his commitment to his plan and principles put his political future in jeopardy. Will his holistic approach lead to healing and serve as a blueprint for the rest of the nation? Director Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough (Agave: The Spirit of a Nation) for a conversation on ascendency of unconventional politician willing do scuttle his own career in service to breaking the cycle of violence that has decimated generation after generation of his fellow citizens.

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For more go to: thebodypoliticfilm.com

Definition of Body Politic: A metaphor by which the people of a city, state or nation are seen as a group or body of citizens. Collectively, the well-being of each individual is linked to the health of the whole.

About the filmmaker – Gabriel Francis Paz Goodenough is a proud third-generation resident of Baltimore, Maryland. He is passionate about crafting documentaries that challenge conventional narratives about people from places like his hometown. He began his career as a production assistant on the TV series HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREETS, later becoming a camera assistant on projects such as A BEAUTIFUL MIND & THE SOPRANOS. He served as a camera operator on the HBO series K STREET and has been a cinematographer on documentaries for PBS, Netflix, and HBO. In 2017, he co-produced the Mexican / United States co-production of the feature documentary AGAVE: THE SPIRIT OF A NATION (SXSW, 2018). From 2018-19, he worked in the Philippines photographing and co-producing Ramona Diaz’s Emmy Award-winning documentary A THOUSAND CUTS (Sundance, 2020) about Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa. After returning from the Philippines, Gabriel was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer. Treatment for the disease has left him disabled and without full mobility in his right leg. Unable to return to his previous career as a full-time vérité cameraperson, he has kept his passion for documentaries alive by shifting his focus to directing. THE BODY POLITIC represents his first time as a feature documentary director. Gabriel is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and a 2018 Katherine Davis Fellow For Peace. He is fluent in Spanish and has worked on several projects in Latin America.

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Reviews:

“I am knocked out by this movie… I can’t say enough… it’s a beautifully crafted piece of art.” —Ann Hornaday, Movie Critic, The Washington Post

“The Body Politic is another great example of the new generation of politicians, young people who deeply care about their community, doing everything they can to improve it. You have to hope that in the future people like Brandon Scott won’t be a standout, they’ll be the norm.” – FILM CARNAGE

In “The Last of the Sea Women,” an extraordinary band of feisty grandmother warriors wage a spirited battle against vast oceanic threats. Often called real- life mermaids, the haenyeo divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island are renowned for centuries of diving to the ocean floor — without oxygen — to harvest seafood for their livelihood. Today, the majority of haenyeo are in their 60s and 70s. Kim puts this generation at the centre of the film while also including a pair of younger women using TikTok to document their dives. The future of haenyeo life is now in peril thanks to ever-increasing amounts of sea garbage and its toxic effect on marine  creatures, changing ocean temperatures due to global warming, and the release of water contaminated by the Fukushima nuclear accident into the seas where they ply their trade. This threat galvanizes the haenyeo to organize politically to sound an alarm. One elderly woman even flies to Geneva to testify before the United Nations. The power of their story won the support of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who joined the film as an executive producer. The Last of the Sea Women is an emotional journey that will leave you fervently rooting for the preservation of these gutsy and noble warriors of the sea. Peering into what drives haenyeo young and old, this moving documentary zeroes in on their tight-knit friendships, savvy independence and infectious sense of empowerment. Director and Producer Sue Kim (The Speed Cubers) joins us for a conversation on she got to know the haenyeo divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island, working with Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and the personal and professional joy of chronicling this uplifting tale of women taking on world powers to protect their beloved ocean and inspire a new generation.

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For more go to: a24films.comthe-last-of-the-sea-women

About the filmmaker – Sue Kim is a Korean-American director and producer, originally from the Detroit area and currently based in Los Angeles. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in English literature and then receiving an associates degree for graphic design, she ran an independent record label before landing in the advertising industry as a commercial producer. She spent almost 20 years making award-winning content, commercials and short form documentaries for brands like Nike and Adidas before pivoting into directing. Her directorial debut, “The Speed Cubers,” launched in July 2020. “The Speed Cubers” went on to be nominated for a Critics Choice and Peabody Award as well as shortlisted for an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Short Subject. Kim recently executive produced a documentary series about K-pop set to launch on Apple TV+. She is currently in development on a biographical documentary about two-time snowboarding Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim. 

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96% on RottenTomatoes

“Kim’s compelling storytelling…immerses viewers in the calm beneath the waves and turmoil on land, exploring the struggles and triumphs of these “sea women” as they navigate societal change, pollution, and personal loss.” Sherin Nicole, AWFJ.org

“Kim makes “The Last of the Sea Women” a perfect mixture of elegy and epic, mourning the dwindling numbers while burnishing the legacy of the culture at the same time.” – Dan Bayer, Next Best Picture

“What’s most lovely about “The Last of the Sea Women” is the humanism of its portrait of the haenyeo, balancing humor and friendship and creativity with serious concerns and a sense of elegy.” – Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times

“There are no solutions offered here, alas, other than a call for awareness, and the film instead remains a beautifully photographed and elegiac depiction of a lifestyle that’s slowly fading even as the women within it burn bright.” – Kevin Maher, Times (UK)

“It perfectly honors these women. It’s an intimate and global story. You might not even realize how much this film is until you’re done with it. It washes over you, fittingly. It’s quite something.” – Christopher Campbell, Nonfics

Director Nicholas Ma’s LEAP OF FAITH follows 12 diverse Christian leaders, who over the course of a year, struggle to find hope and fellowship at a series of boundary-breaking retreats in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brought together by Michael Gulker of The Colossian Forum, five women and seven men explore some of today’s most contentious issues; Immigration, Race, Gun Control, Gender Identity, Class, Abortion, Racism, and Same Sex Marriage. The divisions between them become apparent and test both their common belief in the universal importance of love and kindness and the bonds they build over the course of a year. LEAP OF FAITH explores whether we can disagree and still belong to each other in a divided world. Director Nicholas Ma joins us for a conversation on what led up to his decision to move forward with this project, how he was able to capture the awkward, disquieting and the transformative moments, gaining the confidence and trust of 13 individuals who came their to be honest and vulnerable and working again with his Executive Producer Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom, Won’t You Be MY Neighbor). 

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Featuring:

Michael Gulker, President of the Colossian Forum

Molly Bosscher, Rector, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

Kim Delong, Pastor, Wyoming Park United Methodist Church

Ashlee Eiland, Co-Lead Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church

Troy Hatfield, Co-Lead Pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church

Ben Kampeier, Campus Pastor City Harbor Church

Artie Lindsay, Pastor of Spiritual Formation, Tabernacle Community Church

Tierra Marshall, Pastor of Formation and Strategic Leadership, Fellowship Reformed Church

Chase Stancle, Lead Pastor, Unison Christian Church

Dr. James Spokes, Senior Pastor, New Life Tabernacle Church of God

Cornelius Ting, Pastor, Grand Rapids Chinese Christian Church

Joan Vandessell, Associate Pastor and Director of Community Outreach and Mission, Grand Rapids First United Methodist Church

Andrew Vanover, Lead Pastor, Thornapple Covenant Church

About the filmmaker – Nicholas Ma is an award-winning director, writer and producer based in Brooklyn. He produced the documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? about the life of Fred Rogers, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, and most recently the WNBA documentary Unfinished Business, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.His feature directorial debut, Mabel (San Francisco International Film Festival, 2024), which he co-wrote with Joy Goodwin, was awarded the Sloan Prize. Previously, he directed the award-winning short documentary Suite No. 1, Prelude (New York Film Festival, 2019). Nicholas has been a DOC NYC fellow and Film Independent Fellow. Prior to his career in film, he covered global economic policy on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, after working as a consultant in New York and Shanghai. He received his M.F.A. from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and is a graduate of Harvard College.

About the filmmaker – Morgan Neville, the filmmaker behind Focus Features’ upcoming animated documentary Piece by Piece, which recently played the Telluride Film Festival as well as the Toronto International Film Festival, is an Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award-winning director and producer known for his work as a cultural documentarian. His acclaimed film Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, a documentary about Fred Rogers, was released by Focus Features in 2018 and has become one of the best-reviewed and highest-grossing documentaries of all time. His 2013 film, 20 Feet From Stardom, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Music Film. His film, Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, premiered theatrically in 2021, and was the highest grossing documentary of the year. Other films include the Emmy-winning Best of Enemies, about the debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, about the production of Orson Welles’ final film and Keith Richards: Under the Influence, about the rock legend. Recent projects include STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces for Apple TV+, The Saint of Second Chances for Netflix and Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming with Dave Letterman, and a docu-special for Disney +. For TV, Neville directed Shangri-la about music producer Rick Rubin, Watch The Sound with Mark Ronson, Abstract: The Art of Design, Song Exploder, Ugly Delicious, and The Painter and the Thief.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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Reviews:

“‘Leap of Faith” features stunning cinematography (shot by four different camera people). Even the interiors showcase beautiful compositions and lighting. It makes for an engaging visual side to what is frequently a talk-filled movie.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Film Festival Today

“‘Leap of Faith’ is exactly that – a leap of faith, a calling of sorts into choosing love over not just via some artsy t-shirt but by wrestling with the conflicts, taking off the masks, choosing to be present, and willing to be transformed.” – Richard Propes, TheIndependentCritic.com