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  • ‘ANGELS WEAR WHITE’, ‘MINDING THE GAP’ Among Winners of 2018 RiverRun International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_28797" align="aligncenter" width="1249"]ANGELS WEAR WHITE ANGELS WEAR WHITE[/caption] RiverRun International Film Festival announced the Audience and Jury Awards for the 2018 Festival, which ran April 19 to 29 and presented 165 films. “We had more than 2,000 submissions for our 2018 Festival and we had many difficult choices to make in completing the program. The juries were very impressed with our competition films and agreed it was difficult to make their final decisions,” said Rob Davis, RiverRun Executive Director.

    NARRATIVE FEATURES COMPETITION

    Best Narrative Feature Award : ANGELS WEAR WHITE / China (Director: Vivian Qu) Jury statement: “In giving the narrative feature award to ANGELS WEAR WHITE we were enthralled by the thematic resonance and poignancy of the film as well as the brutality of the subject matter. Shot against a backdrop of natural beauty it drove a remarkable narrative that straddled the line between hope and devastation.” The Peter Brunette Award for Best Director – Narrative Feature was presented to: Vivian Qu, ANGELS WEAR WHITE / China Best Actor / Thomas Gioria / CUSTODY Best Actress / Meijun Zhou / ANGELS WEAR WHITE Jury Statement: “Additionally, in giving out the acting awards we were particularly impressed with the magnetic performances of young actors who brought a harsh reality to the plight of their characters.” Best Screenplay / Laurent Cantet & Robin Campillo / THE WORKSHOP RiverRun’s 2018 Narrative Features jurors included: Amman Abbasi, Benjamin Crossley-Marra, Neil Soffer and Lauren Vilchik. Previous winners of RiverRun’s Best Narrative Feature Jury Award include: After Love (2017), The Fits (2016), Memories on Stone (2015), Ida (2014), In the House (2013), Found Memories (2012), Bal (2011), Katalin Varga (2010), Three Monkeys (2009), The Edge of Heaven (2008), For the Living and the Dead (2007), A Wonderful Night in Split (2006), and Innocent Voices (2005).

    DOCUMENTARY FEATURES COMPETITION

    Best Documentary Feature: MINDING THE GAP / USA (Director: Bing Liu) Jury Statement: “For the Best Documentary prize, told with deep dedication and investment – both in terms of time and of heart – Bing Liu’s MINDING THE GAP is an astonishingly accomplished film that explores race, class, and masculinity, transcending cliches for a deeply honest and moving coming-of-age portrait of three young men.” Best Director / Mila Turajlic / THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING Jury Statement: “Mira Turajlic deftly mines the political for the personal in this complex double-portrait of her mother, Sribijanka—a university professor and activist—and the war-torn Serbia she has fought to call home. It’s a stunning directorial balancing act: too complicated to be a mere fawning portrait, it nevertheless gives life to Sribijanka’s fiery ideas with depth, rigor, and love.” Best Editing / Kieran Gosney & Dino Jonsäter / TIME TRIAL Jury Statement: “With precise and commanding technique, the editors take us on a ride into the middle of a sporting event most of us never watch or even understand… and into the experience of a rider on the ride of his life.” Best Cinematography / Julian Schwanitz / DONKEYOTE Jury Statement: “Lush, grounded, and patient. These words best describe the cinematography of Julian Schwanitz in DONKEYOTE. His gorgeous renderings of Southern Spain, his crisp capturing of sound, and the intimacy in which he portrays the film’s two main characters – Manolo, and his donkey, Gorrión, provide a tenderness and poetry that help this film soar.” RiverRun’s 2018 Documentary Features Competition jurors included: K. Austin Collins, Tom Haneke, Sierra Pettengill and Stan Wright. Previous winners of RiverRun’s Best Documentary Feature Jury Award include: Quest (2017), Salero (2016), The Chinese Mayor (2015), The Case Against 8 (2014), I Am Breathing (2013), The Boy Who Was a King (2012), Armadillo (2011), Last Train Home (2010), Unmistaken Child (2009), Up the Yangtze (2008), Manufactured Landscapes (2007), Taimagura Grandma (2006) and Parallel Lines (2005).

    SHORTS COMPETITION

    Best Documentary Short : XAVIER CORBERO: PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST IN WINTER / Spain / Director: Nathalie Biancheri Jury Statement: “The film is so funny, its central character so outrageous, that it’s easy to miss the meticulousness of the filmmaker’s work – the slowly circular camera movements that perfectly match the rounded forms of Corbero’s architecture and sculpture. It’s what a short film should be: an immersion into character without an extraneous moment.” Special Jury Prize: WHILE I YET LIVE / USA / Director: Maris Curran Jury Statement: “A group of women so unpretentious that they might not think to describe themselves as artists yet who unarguably are. We are grateful for a film that has perfectly captured this precious American artistic movement before it vanishes.” Best Student Documentary Short: THE SANDMAN / USA / Director: Lauren Knapp / Stanford University Jury Statement: “No film can do justice to an issue as fraught as the death penalty. This short film adds an unexpected and valuable contrarian voice.” RiverRun’s 2018 Documentary Shorts jurors included: Laura Coxson, Peter Gilbert, Thomas Lennon and Xiao Xiao. Best Narrative Short : GARAGE AT NIGHT / Canada / Director: Daniel Daigle Jury Statement: “With innovative uses of the cut, off-camera action, silence, and truly alive performances, our selection for Best Narrative Short tells the story of a brotherhood without ever leaving one room. Never making a false choice, we believe this film exemplifies what’s possible in the form, and we’re delighted to present the award to GARAGE AT NIGHT, directed by Daniel Daigle.” Special Jury Prize: WELCOME HOME / Norway / Director: Armita Keyani Jury Statement: “We chose to give an honorable mention to a charming and refreshing comedy about an Iranian couple who take an unconventional route to making friends in their new Scandinavian neighborhood. With super charismatic performances from leads Ashkan Ghorbani and Elnaz Asghari, we can see this short as the first chapter of a series about these two funny lovebirds. Our Special Jury Mention goes to WELCOME HOME by Armita Keyani.” Best Animated Short : SOG / Germany / Director: Jonatan Schwenk Jury Statement: “We give the Best Animated Short Award to SOG for its nuanced exploration of the conflicts that arise between neighboring groups, and its innovative blending of techniques.” Special Jury Prize: WEEKENDS / USA / Director: Trevor Jimenez Jury Statement: “As Honorable Mention, we would like to acknowledge WEEKENDS for its elegant storytelling, beautiful production design, and its ability to portray the subject of divorce from a child’s perspective in a non-judgemental way.” Special Jury Prize: Carlotta’s Face / Germany / Directors: Valentin Riedl & Frédéric Schuld Jury Statement: “As Honorable Mention, we would like to acknowledge CARLOTTA’S FACE for its poetic use of animation to help visualize the condition of face blindness and showcase it as an artistic tool to overcome adversity.” RiverRun’s 2018 Animated Shorts jurors included: Lizzi Akana, Joel Frenzer and Andy Kennedy.

    AUDIENCE AWARDS

    Overall Audience Award: IN PURSUIT OF JUSTICE / USA / Director: Gregg Jamback Kilpatrick Townsend Stockton Narrative Feature Audience Award: BYE BYE GERMANY / Germany / Luxembourg / Belgium / Director: Sam Garbarski Documentary Feature Audience Award: SILAS / Canada / South Africa / Kenya / Directors: Hawa Essuman and Anjali Nayar Altered States Audience Award: SAINTS REST / USA / Director: Noga Ashkenazi

    PITCHFEST

    In an effort to further promote the development of new filmmaking talent, RiverRun partnered with universities around the state to present the fifth annual PitchFest competition. Pre-selected student filmmakers from The Documentary Film Program at Wake Forest University, Elon University, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington pitched their documentary shorts projects to a panel of industry experts, received advice on how to proceed, and vied for prizes and industry recognition. The Piedmont Federal Savings Bank First Place winner received a $500 prize and the Runner Up received a $250 prize to assist in the production and completion of their films. Piedmont Federal Savings Bank First Place: NO SANCTUARY / UNCSA / Directors: Moriah Hall & Nathan Knox Second Place: DEAD IN THE WATER / UNC – Wilmington / Director: Lizzie Bankowsk RiverRun PitchFest 2018 jurors included: Celia Weston, Brett Ingram and Nick Price.

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  • 2017 IDA Documentary Awards – DINA Wins Best Feature

    [caption id="attachment_19891" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Dina Dina[/caption] Dina, directed by Dan Sickles and Antonio Santini, about a love story between two people who have autism spectrum disorder, won Best Feature at the 33rd International Documentary Association awards ceremony on Saturday in Hollywood. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4BSWA7pWuc Other winners at the IDA Documentary Awards include Edith+Eddie directed by Laura Checkoway snagging the prize for Best Short. The short film tells the story of America’s oldest interracial newlyweds.

    2017 IDA Documentary Award winners:

    Best Feature Dina Directors/Producers: Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles The Orchard Best Short Edith+Eddie Director: Laura Checkoway Producer: Thomas Lee Wright Kartemquin Films Best Cinematography Machines Cinematography by: Rodrigo Trejo Villanueva Kino Lorber Best Editing Dawson City: Frozen Time Edited by: Bill Morrison Kino Lorber Best Music Brimstone & Glory Original Score by: Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin Oscilloscope Laboratories Best Writing Donkeyote Written by: Chico Pereira, Manuel Pereira and Gabriel Molera Scottish Documentary Institute Pare Lorentz Award THE PARE LORENTZ AWARD RECOGNIZES FILMS THAT DEMONSTRATE EXEMPLARY FILMMAKING WHILE FOCUSING ON THE APPROPRIATE USE OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, JUSTICE FOR ALL AND THE ILLUMINATION OF PRESSING SOCIAL PROBLEMS. Watani: My Homeland (Recipient) Director: Marcel Mettelsiefen Intent to Destroy (Special Mention) Director: Joe Berlinger ABC News VideoSource Award THIS AWARD IS GIVEN EACH YEAR FOR THE BEST USE OF NEWS FOOTAGE AS AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT IN A DOCUMENTARY. LA 92 Directors: Dan Lindsay & TJ Martin National Geographic Best Curated Series Award Independent Lens Executive Producers: Lois Vossen and Sally Jo Fifer PBS Best Limited Series The Defiant Ones Executive Producers: Allen Hughes, Doug Pray, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Laura Lancaster, Jerry Longarzo, Michael Lombardo, and Gene Kirkwood HBO Best Episodic Series Award Planet Earth II Executive Producer: Michael Gunton BBC AMERICA/BBC Worldwide Best Short Form Series Award The New York Times Op-Docs Executive Producer: Kathleen Lingo The New York Times David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award THIS AWARD RECOGNIZES EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT IN NON-FICTION FILM AND VIDEO PRODUCTION AT THE UNIVERSITY LEVEL AND BRINGS GREATER PUBLIC AND INDUSTRY AWARENESS TO THE WORK OF STUDENTS IN THE DOCUMENTARY FIELD. Man on Fire Director: Joel Fendelman Producer: James Chase Sanchez University of Texas, Austin Career Achievement Award Lourdes Portillo Amicus Award Abigail Disney Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award Yance Ford Courage Under Fire Award The filmmaking teams and subjects of: City of Ghosts Cries from Syria Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS Last Men in Aleppo

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  • BRIMSTONE AND GLORY , CITY OF GHOSTS and STRONG ISLAND Lead Cinema Eye Honors Nominations

    [caption id="attachment_24386" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Brimstone and Glory Brimstone & Glory[/caption] Three films – Viktor Jakovleski’s Brimstone & Glory, Matthew Heineman’s City of Ghosts and Yance Ford’s Strong Island – lead the 2018 Cinema Eye Honors nominations with 4 apiece. Five films received three nominations: Yuri Ancarani’s The Challenge, Jeff Orlowski’s Chasing Coral, Agnès Varda and JR’s Faces Places, Brett Morgen’s Jane and Jonathan Olshefski’s Quest. City of Ghosts, Faces Places, Quest and Strong Island are joined in the Outstanding Nonfiction Feature category by Frederick Weisman’s Ex Libris: The New York Public Library and Feras Fayyad’s Last Men in Aleppo. Kitty Green (Casting Jon Benet) joins the aforementioned Yuri Ancarani, Yance Ford, Matthew Heineman, Agnés Varda and JR, and Frederick Wiseman as a nominee in the Outstanding Achievement in Direction category. With his nomination, Frederick Wiseman becomes the first filmmaker in Cinema Eye history to be nominated three times for Outstanding Direction, having been previously nominated for La Danse – The Paris Opera Ballet and In Jackson Heights. He also received Cinema Eye’s 2012 Legacy Award for his 1967 classic Titicut Follies. Agnès Varda won the Outstanding Direction Award in 2010 for The Beaches of Agnés. Outstanding Direction nominees Kitty Green and Yuri Ancarani were both previously nominated for Outstanding Nonfiction Short, Green in 2016 for The Face of Ukraine: Casting Oksana Baiul and Ancarani was nominated twice for Il Capo (2012) and Da Vinci (2014). Chasing Coral received three nominations, including a nod for Outstanding Cinematography for director Jeff Orlowski, an Honor he won in 2013 for Chasing Ice. Stefan Nadelman, nominated for his Graphic Design work on the Grateful Dead documentary Long Strange Trip, won the same award in 2016 for Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. Ten films were nominated for the annual Audience Choice Prize, which includes many of the year’s most popular and talked about nonfiction films, notably Brett Morgen’s Jane, Ceyda Torun’s Kedi, Amanda Lipitz’ Step, Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis’ Whose Streets? and Gethin Aldous and Jairus McLeary’s The Work. The winner in this category is voted on by the general public. This year’s Broadcast Nonfiction Filmmaking category includes a number of notable filmmakers, among them a previous Cinema Eye winner and a nominee. Fisher Stevens, a winner for Outstanding Production and Feature for The Cove (2010), is nominated this year with his co-director Alexis Bloom for Bright Lights: Starring Carrie FIsher and Debbie Reynolds (HBO). Ryan White, who was nominated for Production in 2015 for The Case Against 8, is up this year for his Netflix series The Keepers. Oscar nominee Ava DuVernay received her first Cinema Eye nomination for her Netflix film 13th, while veteran filmmaker Kristi Jacobson gets her first nod for the HBO feature doc  Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison. This year’s winners will be announced at the 2018 Honors Awards Ceremony on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. The ceremony will be hosted, for the third consecutive year, by award-winning nonfiction filmmaker Steve James (The Interrupters, Life Itself, Hoop Dreams), who is a Cinema Eye nominee this year for his latest film, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.

    2018 Cinema Eye Honors Award Nominations

    Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking

    City of Ghosts  Directed and Produced by Matthew Heineman Ex Libris: The New York Public Library  Directed and Produced by Frederick Wiseman Faces Places Directed by Agnès Varda and JR (Director) | Produced by Rosalie Varda Last Men in Aleppo  Directed by Feras Fayyad | Produced by Kareem Abeed, Stefan Kloos and Søren Steen Jespersen Quest  Directed by Jonathan Olshefski | Produced by Sabrina Schmidt Gordon Strong Island  Directed by Yance Ford | Produced by Joslyn Barnes and Yance Ford

    Outstanding Achievement in Direction

    Kitty Green | Casting JonBenet Matthew Heineman | City of Ghosts Yuri Ancarani | The Challenge Frederick Wiseman | Ex Libris: The New York Public Library Agnès Varda and JR | Faces Places Yance Ford | Strong Island

    Outstanding Achievement in Editing

    Bill Morrison | Dawson City: Frozen Time Joe Beshenkovsky | Jane TJ Martin | LA92 Keith Fraase and John Walter | Long Strange Trip Lindsay Utz | Quest Francisco Bello, Daniel Garber and David Barker | The Reagan Show

    Outstanding Achievement in Production

    Nominees to be Determined | Brimstone and Glory Matthew Heineman | City of Ghosts Heino Deckert, Ai Weiwei and Chin-Chin Yap | Human Flow Kareem Abeed, Stefan Kloos and Søren Steen Jespersen | Last Men in Aleppo Brenda Coughlin, Yoni Golijov and Laura Poitras | Risk

    Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

    Tobias von dem Borne | Brimstone and Glory Yuri Ancarani, Luca Nervegna and Jonathan Ricquebourg | The Challenge Andrew Ackerman and Jeff Orlowski | Chasing Coral TBD | Human Flow Rodrigo Trejo Villanueva | Machines

    Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score

    Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin | Brimstone and Glory Francesco Fantini and Lorenzo Senni | The Challenge Alex Somers | Dawson City: Frozen Time Philip Glass | Jane Dan Deacon | Rat Film Hildur Gudnadóttir and Craig Sutherland | Strong Island

    Outstanding Achievement in Graphic Design or Animation

    Chad Herschberger | 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene Matt Schultz and Shawna Schultz | Chasing Coral Grant Nellessen | Citizen Jane: Battle for the City Daniel Gies and Emily Paige | Let There Be Light Stefan Nadelman | Long Strange Trip

    Audience Choice Prize

    Abacus: Small Enough to Jail |Directed by Steve James City of Ghosts | Directed by Matthew Heineman Chasing Coral | Directed by Jeff Orlowski Faces Places | Directed by Agnès Varda and JR Jane | Directed by Brett Morgen Kedi | Directed by Ceyda Torun Quest | Directed by Jonathan Olshefski Step | Directed by Amanda Lipitz Whose Streets? | Directed by Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis The Work | Directed by Gethin Aldous and Jairus McLeary

    Outstanding Achievement in a Debut Feature Film

    Viktor Jakovleski | Brimstone and Glory Anna Zamecka | Communion Rahul Jain | Machines Theo Anthony | Rat Film Yance Ford | Strong Island

    Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Nonfiction Filmmaking

    13th  Directed by Ava DuVernay | Produced by Ava DuVernay & Howard Barish | For Netflix: Executive Producers Ben Cotner, Adam Del Deo and Lisa Nishimura Abortion: Stories Women Tell Directed and Produced by Tracy Droz Tragos | For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins, Senior Producer Sara Bernstein Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds  Directed by Alexis Bloom & Fisher Stevens | Produced by Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens, Julie Nives & Todd Fisher | For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins, Senior Producer Nancy Abraham Five Came Back  Directed by Laurent Bouzereau | Produced by John Battsek & Laurent Bouzereau | For Netflix: Executive Producers Ben Cotner, Adam Del Deo and Lisa Nishimura The Keepers  Directed by Ryan White | For Netflix: Executive Producers Ben Cotner, Jason Springarn-Koff and Lisa Nishimura Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison  Directed and Produced by Kristi Jacobson | Produced by Katie Mitchell and Julie Goldman | For HBO Documentary Films: Executive Producer Sheila Nevins, Senior Producer Nancy Abraham

    Spotlight Award

    Donkeyote | Directed by Chico Pereira An Insignificant Man | Directed by Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla Lots of Kids, a Monkey and a Castle | Directed by Gustavo Salmerón Plastic China | Directed by Jiuliang Wang Stranger in Paradise | Directed by Guido Hendrikx Taste of Cement | Directed by Ziad Kalthoum

    Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking

    Edith+Eddie | Directed by Laura Checkoway Heroin(e) | Directed by Elaine McMillion Sheldon Little Potato | Directed by Wes Hurley and Nathan M. Miller Polonaise | Directed by Agnieszka Elbanowska The Rabbit Hunt | Directed by Patrick Bresnan Ten Meter Tower | Directed by Maximilien Van Aertryck & Axel Danielson

    The Unforgettables | Non-competitive Honor

    Chanterelle Sung, Hwei Lin Sung, Jill Sung, Thomas Sung & Vera Sung |Abacus: Small Enough to Jail Bobbi Jene Smith | Bobbi Jene Abdalaziz Alhamza, Hamoud Almousa and Mohamad Almusari | For City of Ghosts Ola Kaczanowska | Communion Dolores Huerta | Dolores Dina Buno and Scott Levin | Dina Agnès Varda | Faces Places Daje Shelton | For Ahkeem Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov | Icarus Dr. Jane Goodall | Jane Jim Carrey | Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond Christine’a Rainey, Christopher “Quest” Rainey, PJ Rainey and William Withers | Quest Yance Ford | Strong Island Jennifer Brea | Unrest Brian, Charles, Chris, Dark Cloud, Kiki and Vegas | The Work

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  • DOC NYC 2017 to Close with NY Premiere of ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS + Announces Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_23415" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars[/caption] DOC NYC announced the full lineup of over 250 films and events for its eighth edition, running November 9 to 16 at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village and Chelsea’s SVA Theatre and Cinepolis Chelsea.  Special Events include Closing Night Film, the NYC premiere of Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars, directed by Lili Fini Zanuck, with the acclaimed musician in attendance; Centerpiece Film, the world premiere of Far From the Tree, director Rachel Dretzin’s adaptation of Andrew Solomon’s bestselling book; and the NYC premiere of Wormwood, an ambitious new project from Errol Morris exploring the 1953 death of a CIA agent.  The NYC premiere Greg Barker’s The Final Year, accompanied by members of the Obama administration, will open the festival. World premieres at the festival include A Murder in Mansfield, by Barbara Kopple (Miss Sharon Jones!), which explores the impact of a 1989 murder on a family; Maynard, by Sam Pollard (Two Trains Runnin’), about Atlanta’s first black mayor, Maynard Jackson; Naila and the Uprising, by Julia Bacha (Budrus), about the hidden role women played in the First Intifada, a project that won last year’s DOC NYC Pitch Perfect competition;  Father’s Kingdom, by Larry Feinberg, exploring the legacy of Father Divine, who attracted over a million followers and claimed to be God; The Iconoclast, by King Adz, about notorious art forger Michel van Rijn; and The Godfathers of Hardcore, by Ian McFarland, on the long-lived NYC hardcore punk band Agnostic Front. Among this year’s U.S. premieres are David Bowie: The Last Five Years, by Francis Whately, an intimate look at the creative final years of the music icon; Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco, by James Crump, a portrait of the most influential fashion illustrator of 1970s New York and Paris; Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, by Matt Tyrnauer, about the man who was the secret sexual procurer to the stars; The Stranger, by past DOC NYC award winner Nicole N. Horanyi, about a woman who discovers the man of her dreams has secrets; Armed with Faith, by Geeta Gandbhir and Asad Faruqi, which follows the heroic Pakistani Bomb Disposal Unit; Soufra, by Thomas Morgan, and executive produced by Susan Sarandon, about a woman who starts her own successful catering company in a Lebanese refugee camp; EuroTrump, by Stephen Robert Morse and Nicholas Hampson, on the Dutch Donald Trump, Geert Wilders; and The Beatles, Hippies and Hells Angels: Inside the Crazy World of Apple, by Ben Lewis, a look back at the wild early days of Apple Corps. “Documentary storytellers help us make sense of the tumultuous times we’re living in with artistry, humor and inspiring characters,” said Director of Programming Basil Tsiokos. “This year’s DOC NYC line-up gives audiences fresh insight into high profile figures and shines a light on lesser-known individuals who leave a big impression.” Tsiokos led the program selection in collaboration with Artistic Director Thom Powers and Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen. The festival is curated in 18 sections that include two new strands: New World Order, with 6 films about global issues in the news, including Sky & Ground, which follows an extended family of refugees as they escape Syria; and Spiral, about the alarming rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. Centerstage, an 8-title section focused on performing and performers, presents the world premieres of The Problem with Apu, in which a South Asian-American comedian explores the impact of the character from The Simpsons; and Repeat Attenders, about musical theater superfans. In the festival’s two feature competition sections, 8 films appear under the Viewfinders section for distinct directorial visions. They include the world premiere of Mole Man, about an autistic man who has built a 50-room structure in his backyard; and the U.S. premieres of The Judge, about the first female Shari’a judge in the Middle East, and Silas, about a Liberian environmental activist. In the Metropolis competition section, 7 films are dedicated to stories set in New York City. They include the world premieres of The Iron Triangle, about the resistance to the urban renewal of Queens’ Willets Point; Vigilante: The Incredible True Story of Curtis Sliwa and the Guardian Angels, an unfiltered look at the founder of the controversial group; and Miracle on 42nd Street, about an apartment complex providing housing to performing artists, including past residents Alicia Keys, Terrence Howard and Angela Lansbury. Other returning sections include high-profile Special Events; national and global takes inAmerican Perspectives and International Perspectives; and thematic sections Fight the Power (on activism), Sonic Cinema (on music), True Crime (on crime), Science Nonfiction (on science and technology), Modern Family (on unconventional families),Wild Life (on animals), Art & Design (on artists), and Behind the Scenes (on filmmaking). Short-form content (85 films in total) is represented by the festival’s Shorts Competition and DOC NYC U (showcasing student work). The following is a breakdown of programming by section:

    OPENING NIGHT

    THE FINAL YEAR Dir: Greg Barker (NYC PREMIERE) Greg Barker gives an unprecedented look at the shaping of US foreign policy by following key members of outgoing US President Barack Obama’s administration.

    CLOSING NIGHT

    ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS Dir: Lili Fini Zanuck (NYC PREMIERE) An intimate, revealing musical odyssey on the life and career of guitar virtuoso Eric Clapton, told by those who have known him best.

    CENTERPIECE

    FAR FROM THE TREE Dir: Rachel Dretzin (WORLD PREMIERE) An adaptation of Andrew Solomon’s bestselling book examining how parents face their children’s extreme differences, challenging ideas of “normalcy.”

    SPECIAL EVENT

    WORMWOOD Dir: Errol Morris (NYC PREMIERE) DOC NYC’s Visionaries Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Errol Morris (The Fog of War) investigates the 1953 death of a CIA agent in this innovative new project.

    VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION

    THE JUDGE Dir: Erika Cohn (US PREMIERE) A vérité legal drama about the first woman appointed to a Shari’a court in the Middle East, providing rare insights into both Islamic law and gendered justice. LOVE, CECIL Dir: Lisa Immordino Vreeland (NYC PREMIERE) An affectionate portrait of Cecil Beaton, a multi-talented photographer, writer and painter who also designed sets and costumes for films like My Fair Lady. LOVE MEANS ZERO Dir: Jason Kohn (NYC PREMIERE) Infamous and influential tennis coach Nick Bollettieri has trained champions that include Andre Agassi and Boris Becker, but greatness comes at a personal price. MOLE MAN Dir: Guy Fiorita (WORLD PREMIERE) An autistic man is faced with the possibility of losing the only home he has ever known—and the remarkable 50-room structure he’s built in the backyard. NAILA AND THE UPRISING Dir: Julia Bacha (WORLD PREMIERE) Filmmaker Julia Bacha (Budrus) reveals the hidden history of the key role women played in the Palestinian uprising known as the First Intifada. SILAS Dirs: Anjali Nayar, Hawa Essuman (US PREMIERE) A rousing profile of Liberian activist Silas Siakor, a tireless crusader against illegal logging and a symbol of resistance for a new generation. THE STRANGER Dir: Nicole N. Horanyi (INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE) Amanda, a 25-year-old single mother, meets the man of her dreams on Facebook… but she soon discovers that the charming, worldly Casper has secrets. THIS IS CONGO Dir: Daniel McCabe (NYC PREMIERE) Filmmaker Daniel McCabe examines multiple sides of the fractious war in the Democratic Republic of Congo in this stunningly shot film.

    METROPOLIS COMPETITION

    ANTONIO LOPEZ 1970: SEX FASHION & DISCO Dir: James Crump (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) A portrait of the most influential fashion illustrator of 1970s New York and Paris, known for discovering talents such as Pat Cleveland and Grace Jones. CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS Dir: Bartle Bull (NYC PREMIERE) Three amateur boxers compete for glory and life-changing opportunities in New York City’s legendary Golden Gloves tournament. THE IRON TRIANGLE Dirs: Prudence Katze, William Lehman (WORLD PREMIERE) Workers and owners of auto repair shops in Queens’ Willets Point face off against gentrification and urban renewal for the future of their livelihoods and community. MIRACLE ON 42ND STREET Dir: Alice Elliott (WORLD PREMIERE) The surprising history of Manhattan Plaza and its embrace of the performing arts, featuring famed former residents including Alicia Keys, Terrence Howard and Angela Lansbury. Screening with Lucy Walker’s Oh, What A Beautiful City (A City Symphony). A celebration of summertime in NYC. OH, RICK! Dirs: Dustin Sussman, Aaron Rosenbloom (WORLD PREMIERE) A profile of comedian Rick Crom, long-running emcee at Greenwich Village’s Comedy Cellar, featuring Ray Romano, Colin Quinn, Sarah Silverman and Wanda Sykes. STILL WATERS  Dir: Peter Gordon (WORLD PREMIERE) In Bushwick, where rapid gentrification is pushing out Latino families, a unique alternative after-school program serves as a haven for the community. VIGILANTE: THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF CURTIS SLIWA AND THE GUARDIAN ANGELS Dir: David Wexler (WORLD PREMIERE) An unfiltered look back at 1970s and ’80s NYC through the eyes of Curtis Sliwa, founder of the controversial crime prevention patrol the Guardian Angels.

    AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES

    12TH AND CLAIRMOUNT Dir: Brian Kaufman (NYC PREMIERE) Hundreds of hours of home movies, archival footage, illustrations and new oral histories offer multiple perspectives of the 1967 Detroit uprising. 32 PILLS: MY SISTER’S SUICIDE Dir: Hope Litoff (NYC PREMIERE) Years after the suicide of her sister Ruth, a talented but troubled artist, director Hope Litoff tries to make sense of her loss. FAIL STATE Dir: Alex Shebanow (NYC PREMIERE) Executive produced by Dan Rather, Fail State explores the dark side of higher education in America, focusing on the rise of for-profit colleges. FATHER’S KINGDOM Dir: Lenny Feinberg (WORLD PREMIERE ) In the first half of the 20th century, Father Divine, an African-American spiritual leader, gained over a million followers by claiming to be God. THE GROWING SEASON Dir: Evan Briggs (WORLD PREMIERE) An intimate, bittersweet portrait of growing up and growing old, set in a nursing home that also houses a preschool program. MAYNARD Dir: Sam Pollard (WORLD PREMIERE) Director Sam Pollard constructs a portrait of charismatic trailblazer Maynard Jackson, who became Atlanta’s first black mayor in 1973. METH STORM Dirs: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud (NYC PREMIERE ) DEA agents face the Sisyphean task of curbing the influx of Mexican ice, a more potent form of meth, into poor, rural communities in Arkansas. SHOT IN THE DARK Dir: Dustin Nakao Haider (NYC PREMIERE) Orr Academy’s high school basketball team is a refuge from the brutal realities of the streets of Chicago’s West Side.

    INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

    ARMED WITH FAITH Dirs: Geeta Gandbhir, Asad Faruqi (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) A suspenseful portrait of the men of the Pakistani Bomb Disposal Unit, who risk their own lives every day to combat homegrown and international terrorism. ASK THE SEXPERT Dir: Vaishali Sinha (NYC PREMIERE) A lighthearted look at India’s Dan Savage, Dr. Mahinder Watsa, a 93-year-old retired gynecologist. Is he a hero of progress or an enemy of traditional values? A BETTER MAN Dirs: Attiya Khan, Lawrence Jackman (US PREMIERE) Twenty years after their break-up, filmmaker Attiya Khan confronts her ex-boyfriend to take responsibility for their abusive relationship. CUBA AND THE CAMERAMAN Dir: Jon Alpert (NYC PREMIERE) For more than 40 years, acclaimed filmmaker Jon Alpert has enjoyed privileged access to Cuba, chronicling its changes from Havana to the countryside. ISLAND SOLDIER Dir: Nathan Fitch (NYC PREMIERE) Residents of the remote islands of Micronesia question whether the benefits of US protection are worth the human costs of fighting its wars. LOVESICK Dirs: Ann S. Kim, Priya Giri Desai (WORLD PREMIERE) In India, where marriage is a must but AIDS carries a stigma, Dr. Suniti Solomon serves as matchmaker for her HIV-positive patients. THE PINK HOUSE Dir: Sascha Ettinger Epstein (INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE) In a remote Australian gold-mining town, a genteel 70-year-old madam struggles to keep the oldest working brothel afloat in this entertaining portrait. Screening with Sam Ketay’s A Wonderful Place. Octogenarian Norma shares stories while giving a tour of her property atop her John Deere tractor. SOUFRA Dir: Thomas Morgan (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) Working with a diverse group of Middle Eastern women, Mariam Shaar attempts to expand her catering company, based in a refugee camp near Beirut.

    NEW WORLD ORDER

    EUROTRUMP Dirs: Stephen Robert Morse, Nicholas Hampson (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) An in-depth exploration of Geert Wilders, the “Dutch Donald Trump,” as the controversial politician seems poised to become the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. INSHA’ALLAH DEMOCRACY Dir: Mohammed Ali Naqvi (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) Following Pakistan’s former dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, as he runs for president, the filmmaker questions if democracy is truly possible in Pakistan. PLAYING GOD Dir: Karin Jurschick (US PREMIERE) A candid, complex portrait of compensation assessor Ken Feinberg, a man tasked with putting a dollar value on human lives in the wake of tragedies like 9/11 and Sandy Hook. RECRUITING FOR JIHAD Dirs: Adil Khan Farooq, Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen (NYC PREMIERE) Over several years, a journalist follows a charismatic, outspoken Norwegian missionary as he recruits young converts to Islam, and to fight for ISIS in Syria. SKY & GROUND Dirs: Talya Tibbon, Joshua Bennett (WORLD PREMIERE) A compelling, ground-level immersion into the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, accompanying a large, extended family by foot from Syria to asylum in Germany. SPIRAL Dir: Laura Fairrie (US PREMIERE) An urgent, alarming look at the rise of anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and physical and verbal assaults against Jews throughout Europe, particularly in France.

    CENTERSTAGE

    BEHIND THE CURTAIN: TODRICK HALL Dir: Katherine Fairfax Wright (NYC PREMIERE) American Idol contestant and RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Todrick Hall races to complete an autobiographical musical and take the live show on the road to his devoted fans. GETTING NAKED: A BURLESQUE STORY Dir: James Lester (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) Uncovering New York City’s neo-burlesque subculture, this entertaining film offers a lingering look at several sexy denizens of the nightlife scene. THE PROBLEM WITH APU Dir: Michael Melamedoff (WORLD PREMIERE) South Asian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his long-standing “nemesis,” Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, better known as the Kwik-E-Mart owner on The Simpsons. REBELS ON POINTE Dir: Bobbi Jo Hart (NYC PREMIERE) A globetrotting profile of NYC’s beloved Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, an all-male dance troupe that fuses camp humor with classical ballet performed in drag. REPEAT ATTENDERS Dir: Mark Dooley (WORLD PREMIERE) An entertaining portrait of musical theatre superfans, for whom shows like Les Miz,Starlight Express and Cats are an obsession, a refuge and a place where they belong. Screening with Ben Kitnick’s Catskills. An 86-year-old dancer remembers the heyday of the upstate resort community. SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME Dir: Sam Pollard (NYC PREMIERE) A star-studded roster of interviewees (including Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal) pay tribute to the legendary, multi-talented song-and-dance man. SIGHTED EYES/FEELING HEART Dir: Tracy Heather Strain (NYC PREMIERE) A moving account of the life of black playwright, communist, feminist, lesbian and outspoken trailblazer Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the Sun). STANDING UP Dir: Jonathan Miller (WORLD PREMIERE) An Egyptian lawyer, a couch-surfing custodian and an Orthodox Jew walk into a comedy club… and end up starring in a film about three unlikely aspiring stand-up comics.

    TRUE CRIME

    COLD BLOODED: THE CLUTTER FAMILY KILLINGS Dir: Joe Berlinger (SNEAK PREVIEW) Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger reexamines the infamous 1959 murder of a Kansas family that Truman Capote explored in his landmark nonfiction novel In Cold Blood. (USA, 86 min.) THE ICONOCLAST Dir: King Adz (WORLD PREMIERE) A portrait of a Dutch art connoisseur and descendant of Rembrandt – in truth, a con man who made millions trafficking in forged and stolen art and antiquities. A MURDER IN MANSFIELD Dir: Barbara Kopple (WORLD PREMIERE) Oscar®-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple explores the legacy of the 1989 murder of Noreen Boyle in Mansfield, Ohio and its impact on her family. WHAT HAUNTS US Dir: Paige Goldberg Tolmach (NYC PREMIERE) An investigation into a rash of suicides among the men in the filmmaker’s high school graduating class reveals a disturbing cover-up centered around a popular coach. Screening with Elivia Shaw and Paloma Martinez’s The Shift. Spend an overnight shift with the emergency dispatchers for the city of San Francisco. WHITE BOY Dir: Shawn Rech (NYC PREMIERE) The story of “White Boy Rick,” a legend of Detroit’s drug world in the 1980s, still imprisoned for a juvenile offense for the past 30 years.

    SCIENCE NONFICTION

    THE EXPERIMENTAL CITY Dir: Chad Freidrichs (NYC PREMIERE) A fascinating chronicle of an almost successful attempt to build the city of the future by a visionary scientist and futurist comic strip writer in the 1960s. HAPPENING: A CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION Dir: James Redford (NYC PREMIERE) Seeking hope for a sustainable tomorrow, filmmaker James Redford crosses the country to chronicle the clean energy revolution already taking place. HOT GREASE Dirs: Sam Wainwright Douglas, Paul Lovelace, Jessica Wolfson (WORLD PREMIERE) A fascinating look at biodiesel, a growing industry with the potential to undercut the dominance of Big Oil—and it all starts with recycled cooking oil. THE NEW FIRE Dir: David Schumacher (NYC PREMIERE) Innovative young nuclear engineers attempt to develop next-generation reactors to provide clean and safe solutions to the world’s future energy needs.

    WILD LIFE

    DONKEYOTE Dir: Chico Pereira (NYC PREMIERE) A 73-year-old Spanish man dreams of walking the Trail of Tears with his donkey and his dog—but getting to America from Spain presents a challenge. EATING ANIMALS Dir: Christopher Quinn (NYC PREMIERE) Based on the book by Jonathan Safran Foer and produced and narrated by Natalie Portman, this unflinching exposé looks at the devastating costs of our dietary choices. RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE Dirs: Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer (WORLD PREMIERE) This quirky film follows bounty hunters and other colorful Gulf residents as they try to defend Louisiana from the invasive giant swamp rat known as the nutria. Screening with Olivier Bernier’s A Garbage Story. Over 30 years in the garbage business, Nick has become a bonafide trash connoisseur. SAMANTHA’S AMAZING ACROCATS Dir: Jacob Feiring (NYC PREMIERE) A woman pins her dreams of stardom on a traveling cat circus, but how long can she hold on as debt mounts and success seems elusive? Screening with Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman’s Nobody Loves Me. High in the Andes, a frog with an unusual appearance is threatened with extinction.

    ART & DESIGN

    44 PAGES Dir: Tony Shaff (NYC PREMIERE) A heartwarming, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the landmark 70th anniversary issue of beloved children’s magazine, Highlights. BIG TIME Dir: Kaspar Astrup Schröder (NYC PREMIERE) A portrait of superstar Danish architect Bjarke Ingels as he takes on his largest project yet, relocating to New York City to create the new 2 World Trade Center. FIVE SEASONS: THE GARDENS OF PIET OUDOLF Dir: Thomas Piper (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) A portrait of visionary landscape designer Piet Oudolf, known for public works like the High Line that redefine our conception of gardens as works of art. LARGER THAN LIFE Dir: Tiffany Bartok (NYC PREMIERE) An intimate look at the life and death of Kevyn Aucoin, who moved from small town Louisiana to become a legendary makeup artist to supermodels and celebrities. MADDMAN: THE STEVE MADDEN STORY Dir: Ben Patterson (NYC PREMIERE) The rags-to-riches story of designer footwear mogul Steve Madden, who nearly lost everything because of his connections to notorious “Wolf of Wall Street,” Jordan Belfort. MORE ART UPSTAIRS Dir: Jody Hassett Sanchez (NYC PREMIERE) Who gets to decide what is good art? A competition touting the biggest cash prize in the art world finds cultural elitism butting up against Midwest populism. MR. FISH: CARTOONING FROM THE DEEP END Dir: Pablo Bryant (NYC PREMIERE) Finding it increasingly challenging to publish his subversive art, will controversial political cartoonist Mr. Fish be forced to sell out in order to sell his art?

    MODERN FAMILY

    6 WEEKS TO MOTHER’S DAY Dir: Marvin Blunte (WORLD PREMIERE) In a remote jungle in Thailand, a unique democratic school provides orphans with education and empowerment under the watchful eyes of the woman they call Mother Aew. AMAZONA Dir: Clare Weiskopf (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) The director tries to make sense of the elder woman’s decision to leave her children behind to live in the jungle after a family tragedy. ELISH’S NOTEBOOKS Dir: Golan Rise (INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE) Discovering a secret cache of journals written for them by their late mother, Elisheva’s children confront their complex feelings for their emotionally distant parent. HARMONY Dir: Lidia Sheinin (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) Battle lines are drawn when an elderly Russian woman finds her comfortable apartment invaded by her family. Screening with Laura Checkoway’s Edith+Eddie. The love story of America’s oldest interracial newlyweds is threatened by a family feud. LIFE TO COME Dir: Claudio Capanna (US PREMIERE) Surrounded by the sounds of machines and doctors in white coats, severely premature twins Eden and Léandro fight for their survival. LOTS OF KIDS, A MONKEY AND A CASTLE Dir: Gustavo Salmerón (NYC PREMIERE) Spanish actor-turned-director Gustavo Salmerón captures his eccentric, extraordinary mother, who had three dreams: having lots of kids, a monkey and a castle. PLOT 35 Dir: Eric Caravaca (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) French actor-turned-director Eric Caravaca unearths personal family history in search of his sister Charlotte, who died as a toddler before he was born. Screening with Matt Sukkar’s Durango. Adolescent brothers cope with loss over a summer in bucolic Colorado. THANK YOU FOR COMING Dir: Sara Lamm (NYC PREMIERE) After learning she was conceived via a sperm donor, Sara becomes a genealogical detective, navigating ancestry databases and DNA tests for clues to his identity.

    BEHIND THE SCENES

    BLUE VELVET REVISITED Dir: Peter Braatz (NYC PREMIERE) Three decades after documenting the filming of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, the director crafts an unconventional yet accessible meditation on the cult classic film. JIM & ANDY: THE GREAT BEYOND… Dir: Chris Smith (NYC PREMIERE) Offbeat documentarian Chris Smith (American Movie) reveals just how fully Jim Carrey took on the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon. KING COHEN Dir: Steve Mitchell (NYC PREMIERE) A look at the heyday of guerrilla filmmaking through a celebration of the work of maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen, known as “the John Cassavetes of exploitation.” SAVING BRINTON Dirs: Andrew Sherburne, Tommy Haines (NYC PREMIERE) An eccentric collector is on a mission to restore and preserve a cache of early films and cinema memorabilia, the legacy of a pioneering but forgotten Iowa showman. SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD Dir: Matt Tyrnauer (US PREMIERE) A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.

    FIGHT THE POWER

    ATOMIC HOMEFRONT Dir: Rebecca Cammisa (NYC PREMIERE) A citizens’ movement confronts government bureaucracy to uncover the atomic secrets of St. Louis, Missouri in order to keep their families safe. BALTIMORE RISING Dir: Sonja Sohn Actress Sonja Sohn (HBO’s The Wire) returns to Baltimore in her directorial debut to chronicle the city in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death. MANKILLER Dir: Valerie Red-Horse Mohl (NYC PREMIERE) Wilma Mankiller rose from poverty to become the first female chief of the Cherokee nation, battling rampant sexism, political rivals and health challenges. NOTHING WITHOUT US Dir: Harriet Hirshorn (NYC PREMIERE) Female activists, scientists and scholars in the US and Africa demonstrates the vital role that women have played—and continue to play—in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING Dir: Mila Turajlic (NYC PREMIERE) A locked door in her family’s Belgrade home provides the gateway to understanding the filmmaker’s remarkable mother and Serbia’s tumultuous political inheritance. QUEERCORE: HOW TO PUNK A REVOLUTION Dir: Yony Leyser (NYC PREMIERE) Misfits in both the mainstream gay and homophobic punk scenes, Bruce LaBruce and GB Jones invented a radical underground subculture that spread around the world. UNFRACTURED Dir: Chanda Chevannes (INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE) Shot over the last year of the historic grassroots fight against fracking in New York state, a raw, intimate look at biologist and activist Sandra Steingraber. ZERO WEEKS Dir: Ky Dickens (NYC PREMIERE) In most countries, workers have paid leave and job security to care for a newborn or family emergency—but not in the US, costing us all a heavy price.

    SONIC CINEMA

    THE BEATLES, HIPPIES AND HELLS ANGELS: INSIDE THE CRAZY WORLD OF APPLE Dir: Ben Lewis (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE) An entertaining look behind the scenes at Apple Corps, which The Beatles hoped would allow them to spread their countercultural message throughout the world. BILL FRISELL: A PORTRAIT Dir: Emma Franz (NYC PREMIERE) A warm profile of Bill Frisell, a widely inventive guitarist who crosses musical boundaries, featuring Bonnie Raitt, Hal Willner, Paul Simon, Nels Cline, and more. DAVID BOWIE: THE LAST FIVE YEARS Dir: Francis Whately (US PREMIERE) An intimate look at the remarkably creative final years of David Bowie, through the production of his final two albums, and the stage musical, Lazarus. THE GODFATHERS OF HARDCORE Dir: Ian McFarland (WORLD PREMIERE) For over 35 years and still going strong, Agnostic Front’s Vinnie Stigma and Roger Miret have been synonymous with the New York punk scene. HELLO HELLO HELLO : LEE RANALDO : ELECTRIC TRIM Dir: Fred Riedel (NYC PREMIERE) Legendary Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo embarks on the recording of a new experimental concept album with a little help from some friends. ITZHAK Dir: Alison Chernick (NYC PREMIERE) Widely considered the greatest living violinist, Itzhak Perlman takes us on a journey through his music and life. STREETLIGHT HARMONIES Dir: Brent Wilson (WORLD PREMIERE) A who’s who of musicians trace the evolution of doo wop in the 1950s, from street corners to radio stations all across America.

    SHORTS

    Shorts: Body Language On the limits and potential of the human body, exploring dance, tattoos, pro wrestling, meditation and light sensitivity. Shorts: City Lights The ups and downs of city living, featuring artists, improv, hard work, boxing and table tennis. Shorts: Dream Weavers About fulfilling dreams and reimagining the world, featuring Cuban cigar factory workers, men seeking wives, a mail-order bride and more. Shorts: The Future is Feminine Everyday women and girls who inspire, including a housekeeper turned real estate entrepreneur, children’s rights advocate, unlikely athletes and special birthday girl. Shorts: Justice For All True crime and the criminal justice system, exploring death row, surveillance, juvenile offenders, police corruption, war criminals and capital punishment. Shorts: Mother Earth Protecting the planet, from Standing Rock and anti-fracking activism, to saving orangutans and sea turtles. Shorts: The New Normal America, before and after 11/8/16, exploring the Trump campaign, a divided electorate, immigration anxiety, fake news and disturbing parallels to past regimes. Shorts: Recorded Memory The past looms large in these affecting stories about confronting family relationships, reckoning with career decisions, remembering trauma and more. Shorts: Strange But True Quirky real life stories exploring insomnia, dreams, fetishes, first love, conspiracy theories and psychic abilities. Shorts: Surviving the System Finding oneself in and out of the criminal justice system, in stories about a police traffic stop that escalates into violence and a restaurant offering former prisoners a second chance.

    DOC NYC U

    DOC NYC U: THE NEW SCHOOL SHOWCASE Selections from The New School’s Documentary Media Studies program, featuring a tap dancer, migratory birds, New York life, selfies and a yodeling punk singer destined for greatness. DOC NYC U: NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY SHOWCASE NYFA selections profile a Hiroshima orphan, a Central Park mainstay, a wolf rescuer, a persecuted journalist and a lost city. DOC NYC U: NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SHOWCASE NYU’s NewsDoc offerings explore a controversial Tibetan boarding school program in China and the growing popularity of taxi driving as a career for women in India. DOC NYC U: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SHOWCASE Work from Columbia Journalism School’s Documentary Project profiles deportation fears under Trump, a drug crisis in the Muslim community and adult illiteracy. DOC NYC U: SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS SHOWCASE SVA’s SocDoc program presents profiles of artists, musicians, designers, a vintage barbershop, broken hearts and Native American activism.

    SHORT LIST

    ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL Dir: Steve James Steve James (Hoop Dreams) profiles a small, family-run Chinatown bank—the only financial institution indicted following the 2008 financial crisis. Courtesy of PBS Distribution. THE B-SIDE: ELSA DORFMAN’S PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY Dir: Errol Morris DOC NYC’s Visionaries Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Errol Morris (The Fog of War) profiles legendary large-format photographer Elsa Dorfman. Courtesy of NEON/Netflix. CHASING CORAL Dir: Jeff Orlowski Following his acclaimed film Chasing Ice, director Jeff Orlowski sets out to chronicle the environmental devastation happening to the world’s coral reefs. Courtesy of Netflix. CITY OF GHOSTS Dir: Matthew Heineman Anonymous Syrian citizen journalists risk their lives to stand up against ISIS and report the truth about the Syrian conflict. Courtesy of Amazon Studios/A&E IndieFilms/IFC Films. DINA Dirs: Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles An unforgettable couple, both on the autism spectrum, navigate the complexities of sex and romance in this Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning film. Courtesy of The Orchard. FACES PLACES Dirs: Agnès Varda, JR French New Wave legend Agnès Varda and acclaimed photographer JR travel the French countryside, celebrating ordinary people through extraordinary photo murals. Courtesy of Cohen Media Group. THE FINAL YEAR Dir: Greg Barker (NYC PREMIERE) Greg Barker gives an unprecedented look at the shaping of US foreign policy by following key members of outgoing US President Barack Obama’s administration. Courtesy of Motto Pictures/Passion Pictures. THE FORCE Dir: Peter Nicks An immersion into the beleaguered Oakland Police Department as it attempts to reform its scandal-ridden image. Courtesy of Kino Lorber/PBS Independent Lens. ICARUS Dir: Bryan Fogel An unexpected exposé of a complex doping operation at the heart of Russia’s Olympics program. Courtesy of Netflix. JANE Dir: Brett Morgen Brett Morgen (On the Ropes) reconstitutes 50-year-old National Geographic footage into a poetic look at primatologist Jane Goodall. Courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films. KEDI Dir: Ceyda Torun This infectious portrait captures Istanbul through the eyes of its colorful street cats.Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories/YouTube Red. ONE OF US Dirs: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady This year’s Visionaries Tribute honorees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) penetrate the insular world of New York’s Hasidic community. Courtesy of Netflix. RISK Dir: Laura Poitras Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) creates a complex portrait of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and his team. Courtesy of NEON/Showtime Documentary Films. STEP Dir: Amanda Lipitz The inaugural class of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women strives for success both academically and through its fierce step dancing team. Courtesy of Fox Searchlight. STRONG ISLAND Dir: Yance Ford Yance Ford explores the long-lasting impact on his African-American family of his brother’s murder, killed by a white man who was never punished for his crime. Courtesy of Netflix.

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  • 2017 Open City Documentary Festival Unveils Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_23329" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]MOTHERLAND OR DEATH, Vitaly Mansky MOTHERLAND OR DEATH, Vitaly Mansky[/caption] The 2017 Open City Documentary Festival today announced the program for the 7th edition of the festival, taking place in London from September 5 to 10, 2017. The festival opens on Tuesday September 5 with the UK Premiere of Ziad Kalthoum’s TASTE OF CEMENT an inventively cinematic portrait of exiled Syrian workers trapped in a skyscraper that they are building in Beirut and unable to shake off memories of the shelling of their own homes. The UK Premiere of Lee Ann Schmitt’s PURGE THIS LAND will close the Festival on Sunday September 10. The film retells the history of racism and slavery in modern America through the prism of John Brown – a white, militant abolitionist – who was sentenced to death in 1859 for a failed attempt to start an armed revolution. Poignant and thought-provoking, the film spans one hundred and seventy years of American history and will screen at Regent Street Cinema.

    IN FOCUS: VITALY MANSKY

    Open City will celebrate the distinguished career of Ukrainian-born Vitaly Mansky – one of Russia’s most acclaimed documentary filmmakers who now lives in exile in Riga. Mansky has tirelessly chronicled political and social developments in Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union through examining the struggles of everyday-lives. The films in this selection blend myth, reality, propaganda and fiction to reveal the many-sided legacy of the Soviet dream. PRIVATE CHRONICLES. MONOLOGUE, Vitaly Mansky, Russia, 1999 BROADWAY. BLACK SEA, Vitaly Mansky, Russia, 2002 GAGARIN’S PIONEERS, Vitaly Mansky, Russia, 2005 MOTHERLAND OR DEATH, Vitaly Mansky, Russia, 2011

    IN FOCUS: PIERRE-YVES VANDEWEERD

    Open City will also showcase the work of Belgian filmmaker Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd by screening his three most recent films – a loose trilogy – including the UK Premiere of this year’s THE ETERNALS. Filmed mostly in 16mm and Super 8, and with scores from British avant-garde musician Richard Skelton, these extraordinary works investigate the correlation between war, madness and memory through the lives of those who are victims of conflict and exile. LOST LAND, Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd, Belgium, 2011 FOR THE LOST, Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd, Belgium, 2014 THE ETERNALS (UK Premiere), Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd, Belgium, 2017

    AWARDS AND COMPETITIONS:

    GRAND JURY AWARD

    BITTER MONEY (UK Premiere), Wang Bing, China, 2016 FROM A YEAR OF NON-EVENTS (UK Premiere), Ann Carolin Renninger & René Frölke, Germany, 2017 PURGE THIS LAND (UK Premiere), Lee Anne Schmitt, USA, 2017 THE ETERNALS (UK Premiere), Pierre-Yves Vandeweerd, Belgium, 2017

    EMERGING INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER AWARD

    A MOON OF NICKEL AND ICE (UK Premiere), François Jacob, Quebec, 2016 ATELIER DE CONVERSATION (UK Premiere), Bernhard Braunstein, Austria / France / Liechtenstein, 2017 MEMORY EXERCISES (UK Premiere), Paz Encina, Paraguay, 2016 TASTE OF CEMENT (UK Premiere), Ziad Kalthoum, Germany / Lebanon / Syria / United Arab Emirates / Qatar, 2017

    OFFICIAL SELECTION

    ALMOST HEAVEN, Carol Salter, UK, 2017 BURNING OUT (UK Premiere), Jerome Le Maire, Belgium, 2016 CALABRIA (UK Premiere), Pierre-François Sauter, Switzerland, 2016 CONTEMPORARY COLOR (UK Premiere), Ross Bros, USA, 2016 CRAIGSLIST ALLSTARS (UK Premiere), Samira Elagoz, The Netherlands / Finland, 2016 DARK SKULL (UK Premiere), Kiro Russo, Bolivia / Qatar, 2016 DONKEYOTE, Chico Pereira, Germany / UK / Spain, 2017 LIBERA NOS, Federica Di Giacomo, Italy / France, 2016 LINEFORK (UK Premiere), Jeff Silver, USA, 2016 95 AND 6 TO GO (UK Premiere), Kimi Takesue, 2016 PHOTON (UK Premiere), Norman Leto, Poland, 2017 PUMP (UK Premiere), Joseph David, France, 2017 REBEL OF THE KEYS, Mark Charles, UK, 2016 SANCTUARY (UK Premiere), Ashley Sabin / David Redmon, Canada / USA / United Kingdom, 2017 SMALL TALK (UK Premiere), Hui-chen Huang, Taiwan, 2016 SPECTRES ARE HAUNTING EUROPE, Maria Kourkouta / Niki Giannari, France / Greece, 2016 THE LURE, Tomas Leach, UK, 2016

    SPECIAL EVENTS:

    MARC ISAACS: OUT OF TIME In his first ever video exhibition, filmmaker Marc Isaacs will present four new works offering an encounter with intimacy, human fragility and the passage of time. Isaacs goes back to original material gathered over a fifteen year period and which has mostly never been screened before. THE PLAYROOM BOOTHS / DON’T ASK, DON’T APOLOGISE Three story enclaves will bring together an immersive set, video projection and interviews taking people into the story of rave, soundsystem and queer culture – exploring how these alternative scenes not only changed the musical landscape but also, by physically reclaiming city space changed how we relate to its invisible power structures. THE ISLAND OF ST MATTHEWS Open City will present a special prelude to Tate Modern’s So I Can Get Them Told season, a retrospective of the films of American artist Kevin Jerome Everson. This screening features Everson’s 16mm feature film The Island of St. Matthews, a poem and paean to the citizens of Westport, Mississippi, recalling all that was lost during the 1973 flooding of a nearby river. EDGE The Edge project is a narrative driven exploration of contemporary situated practice in ‘edge’ urban settings, focusing on in-between spaces and the creative ways to which these can be used. Screenings will be held at three locations each of which are situated on the High Speed 1 rail link (HS1) route between London and Folkestone and will explore one of the symposiums’ three key themes – Gateway, Periphery and Border. In association with Urban Labs, Film + Place + Architecture and The Bartlett School of Architecture. WHICKER’S WORLD FOUNDATION PRESENTS: WE WERE KINGS Open City will host the World Premiere of We Were Kings in partnership with the British Library, a rediscovery of Burma’s lost royal family. Deposed and exiled by Britain, they are now emerging from the shadows in a country experiencing seismic change. This intriguing documentary won the Whicker’s World Foundation inaugural Funding Award for historian and first time director, Alex Bescoby. ANAGRAM PRESENTS THE DAY IS MY ENEMY This special live event will bring together rarely seen film archive charting the story of how music subculture has shaped the metropolis with a live soundtrack scored in collaboration with musicians.

    SHORTS:

    This year’s shorts’ program promises an eclectic selection of shorts from across the globe and compilations include A PLACE TO BE, FRAGMENTS OF THE INFINITE, LOST IN TIME and SMALL HOURS. The nominees for the Best UK Short Award include Duncan Cowles’ ALEXITHYMIA, Oliver Wilkins’ HIDDEN, Tom Jeffrey’s INHERENT and Marie-Cécile Embleton’s THE WATCHMAKER. DocHeads will also be partnering with Open City to present a special program of some of the best short form documentaries made in the UK. JOHN SMITH: LOST IN LEYTONSTONE John Smith’s short films, known for their anarchic wit and oblique narratives, create mysterious and sometimes fantastical scenarios from documentary records of everyday life. Open City will screen a trio of his short films (THE BLACK TOWER, SLOW GLASS and BLIGHT) which all focus on the built environment and were made between 1985 and 1996, while Smith was living in short-term housing in Leytonstone. BY HYPER MEDIA, FOR HYPER MEDIA Lost Futures will present a series of recent artists’ moving image works exploring the internet, digital technologies, virtual realities and other forms of networked existence. Together these short films open a window into outer realms of the digital present, ruminate on our connected past, or speculate towards unknown futures.

    INDUSTRY EVENTS:

    Open City offers a comprehensive package for industry delegates which includes entry to press and industry screenings, workshops, surgeries, panels and access to the Festival Video Library. Highlights from the industry programme include: a Vitaly Mansky masterclass, Mania Akbari talking The Body Politic, John Smith’s Give Chance a Chance, a workshop discussing the fictionalising turn in Radical Anthropological film, the Essay Film Festival workshop on bringing experimental sensibility into documentary film culture, a day dedicated to sound and audio including sessions presented by In the Dark and School of Sound and a masterclass on intimacy and performance from Kaitlin Prest of The Heart podcast. There will also be five days of VR exhibition and discussion. On Wednesday 6 September, Digital Catapult will host six sessions with leading international immersive and interactive storytellers. Speakers include Arnaud Colinart (Notes on Blindness), Lindsey Dryden (Unrest) and William Uricchio (MIT Open Documentary Lab). From Thursday 7, eight of the best current VR experiences will be on public exhibition at Bargehouse, Southbank.

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  • GOD’S OWN COUNTRY, GLORY, DONKEYOTE Win Top Awards at Edinburgh International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_22334" align="aligncenter" width="1777"]God’s Own Country God’s Own Country[/caption] The Edinburgh International Film Festival today announced the Award Winners for this year’s 71st edition, with the winner of the prestigious Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film going to British filmmaker Francis Lee’s directorial debut, God’s Own Country, which received its UK Premiere at the Festival. The Michael Powell Award honors imagination and creativity in British filmmaking. The Michael Powell Jury said: “We present the Michael Powell Award to God’s Own Country, directed by Francis Lee, a film with a singularity of storytelling and consistency of vision. Assured direction with raw and endearing performances result in a film that has an authenticity that is both tender and brutal, a juxtaposition of landscape and emotion, which explores the question of what it means to be a man.” Francis Lee said: “I am thrilled with this honor for God’s Own Country, especially when you consider the British films that have won before. After premiering at Sundance and Berlin it has been wonderful to see how the film has created a real resonance with people and that is why the Michael Powell Award feels so brilliant.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1YAhyU6-tA The award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film went jointly to actresses Emily Beecham for her role in Daphne and Anne Reid for her roles in Kaleidoscope and Romans, and was also selected by the Michael Powell jurors. The Michael Powell Jury said: “In the category of Best Performance in a British Feature Film, the Michael Powell Jury recognizes two actors, Emily Beecham and Anne Reid, portraying fascinating, complex and flawed characters who didn’t strive for your affection but commanded your attention – real in the best sense of the word.” The award for Best International Feature Film went to Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov’s Glory, which received its UK Premiere at this year’s Festival. The International Jury said: “Deftly acted, beautifully photographed and directed, we loved this film. The subtlety of the performances and the story-telling was defined with such a lightness of touch which led to the immoral and moral choices having a heavy impact on this Jury.” Petar Valchanov said: “It is a great honor for us to receive this award from Edinburgh International Film Festival, which has been preserving the traditions of good cinema the longest and carrying them over the generations. This award is a recognition not only for us, but also for Bulgarian cinema, which is currently on the rise again. Thank you for being there!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fmm7i05z88 The award for Best Documentary Feature Film went to Chico Pereira’s contemplative Donkeyote, which studied Pereira’s uncle whose wonderful spirit of adventure belies all of his 73 years. Special mention was given to Thomas Riedelsheimer’s Leaning Into The Wind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ8j7WRE63A Chico Pereira said: “On behalf of the entire Donkeyote team I’d like to say thank you so much for this recognition. For some of us who live or lived in Edinburgh, it holds an extra special meaning: our formative cinema experiences have been with EIFF, and just to return for our UK premiere is an honor in itself. I dedicate this also to my family, and in particular Manolo and Gorrión who teach us how to be truly modern and to enjoy life.” The award for Best Short Film went to The Full Story, directed by Daisy Jacobs, with Kevin Pickering’s Close to the Bone and Gordon Napier’s 1745 receiving a special mention from the jurors. Daisy Jacob’s said: “It is an honor to receive the Best Short Film Award from such a prestigious Festival, we are delighted.” Voted for by the Festival audience, the McLaren Award for Best British Animation, this year went to Paloma Baeza’s Poles Apart. The winner of this year’s EIFF Works in Progress and recipient of the £2,500 award is Piano to Zanskar by Michal Sulima. Michal Sulima said: “We are delighted to have been selected for the EIFF Works in Progress award this year. It was a real privilege to be part of the showcase and to pitch our documentary to an audience full of industry professionals, which resulted in a number of meetings and expressions of interest. It’s only fair to say that we were heartily impressed by the quality of all the films presented, so the award comes to us as a great surprise! Given that our film has been entirely self-funded, it will go a long way towards helping us reach completion. We’re very grateful to the wonderful team at the EIFF for giving us this opportunity.”  

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  • 20 Feature Films to Compete for Golden Gate Awards at 2017 San Francisco International Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_19940" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]In Loco Parentis A film still from In Loco Parentis by Neasa Ní Chianáin and David Rane[/caption] 10 narrative feature films and 10 documentary feature films will compete for the Golden Gate Awards (GGAs), and nearly $40,000 in total prizes at this year’s 2017 San Francisco International Film Festival taking place April 5 to 19. “The SF Film Society has been a champion of emerging and international filmmakers since its first edition 60 years ago,“ said Rachel Rosen, SF Film Society Director of Programming. “We continue to believe that festivals are in a unique position to advocate for films from a variety of cultures and viewpoints, often in languages other than our own. The Golden Gate Awards provide an opportunity to bring additional exposure and awareness to these artists and their work.” The GGA New Directors Prize winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000, the GGA McBaine Documentary Feature winner will receive $10,000 and the GGA McBaine Bay Area Documentary Feature winner will receive $5,000.

    2017 GGA NEW DIRECTORS (NARRATIVE FEATURE) COMPETITION

    Duet, Navid Danesh, Iran (North American Premiere) After a Tehran musician instigates an encounter with his college girlfriend in an attempt to address the poor end their relationship suffered, their lives and the equilibrium of their spouses are thrown into existential crisis. Navid Danesh’s resonant and moving depiction of the impact the past has on the present lives of its protagonists is both culturally specific and universal in its reach. Everything Else, Natalia Almada, Mexico/USA/France Academy Award-nominee Adriana Barraza (Babel) gives a masterfully controlled performance as Doña Flor, a solitary bureaucrat whose lifelong service in a government office has left her markedly unsympathetic towards her clients. Shot with an attentive and deeply empathetic lens, documentarian Natalia Almada’s narrative debut is a starkly intimate portrait of a woman at odds with her life who may still have a chance to escape her isolation. God’s Own Country, Francis Lee, UK Filmed on the Yorkshire hillside where he grew up, Francis Lee’s debut feature tells the rich and sexy story of John Saxby, a hard-drinking lad who keeps his emotions in check until an irrepressible Romanian immigrant comes to help out on the family farm and upends the young man’s life. Full of gloriously captured details about the care and breeding of animals, God’s Own Country is one of the year’s most moving romantic dramas. Godless, Ralitza Petrova, Bulgaria/Denmark/France In post-Communist era Bulgaria, where the shadow of oppression drives selfish behavior and hidden economies, outwardly impassive Gana works as a home care nurse—a job which provides ample opportunity to supplement her income with stolen ID cards to maintain the morphine habit she shares with her boyfriend. When Gana’s actions threaten the one glimmer of hope in her fatalistic world, will she break the cycle of corruption or spiral deeper? Godless is a bold first feature from Ralitza Petrova. Heaven Sent, Wissam Charaf, France/Lebanon Absurdly funny sequences punctuate this stylized comedy drama from Lebanon. Omar is a heavyset bodyguard who gets the assignment of his dreams, protecting a gorgeous TV personality, though matters are complicated when his brother Omar, a former militiaman presumed dead, magically reappears. Charaf’s surprising and inventive debut reflects on a country rife with absurdities and still reeling from its fraught history. The House of Tomorrow, Peter Livolsi, USA (World Premiere) When a sheltered teen named Sebastian meets an aspiring punk rocker and falls for the boy’s older sister, the stage is set for a cheerful and energetic comedy that tackles matters of friendship, young love, and musical dreams with equal aplomb. Ellen Burstyn is once again wondrous as Sebastian’s grandmother who is devoted to the life and scientific work of Buckminster Fuller. The Human Surge, Eduardo Williams, Argentina/Brazil/Portugal Eduardo Williams has steadily made a name for himself with a series of indelible shorts featuring young protagonists adrift in strange environments. In his debut feature, a prizewinner at Locarno, he takes the premise further, crafting a dreamlike three-part drama where youths from Argentina, Mozambique, and the Philippines are connected by invisible, electronic, or even subterranean means. Consistently inventive, The Human Surge burrows into three continents and finds surprising associations. Life After Life, Zhang Hanyi, China As the inexorable progress of industrialization in China makes its way into the lives of village residents Mingchun and his son Leilei, a surprise haunting by Leilei’s dead mother, who has an impassioned plea for her husband, points to a time when more attention was paid to the earth and its bounty. Produced by Jia Zhang Ke, this evocative and poetic debut depicts a rapidly disappearing way of life with a gorgeous visual sensibility and a subtly wry humor. Park, Sofia Exarchou, Greece/Poland The formerly grand stadiums and swimming pools of the 2004 Athens Olympics have become modern-day Greek ruins, a place for disaffected kids who’ve come of age since the Games to run wild. First-time director Exarchou, working mostly with non-professional actors, develops a compellingly anarchic style where the threat of violence and socio-economic troubles are omnipresent and the young characters act out their frustrations through boisterous, sometimes dangerous, horseplay. The Wedding Ring, Rahmatou Keïta, Niger/Burkina Faso/France (US Premiere) The Wedding Ring is a rare achievement, a wondrously complex dramatic feature directed by an African woman that explores female desires and empowerment in a traditional Muslim society. Rahmatou Keïta tells the story of Tiyaa who returns to Niger with lingering romantic feelings for the handsome man she left behind in France while grappling with family members who wish to arrange her marriage.

    2017 GOLDEN GATE AWARDS MCBAINE DOCUMENTARY FEATURE COMPETITION

    Brimstone & Glory, Viktor Jakovleski, USA Burning Man has nothing on Tultepec’s charging toritos and exploding castillos. Mexico’s weeklong National Pyrotechnic Festival is sheer unbridled madness. Scars that tourists take away from fireworks-exploding bulls and towering infernos are earned with pleasure, apparently, as this dynamic documentary keeps explanation to a minimum while maximizing the experiential through GoPro camera POVs and gorgeous abstractions. Filmmaker Viktor Jakovleski has created a visually rapturous, immersive, sensory experience of this extraordinary event, capturing the danger and mayhem in all its glory. The Cage Fighter, Jeff Unay, USA (World Premiere) With the emotional force and power of a Bruce Springsteen song, Jeff Unay’s cinema vérité portrait of Joe Carman packs an emotional wallop. A family man who has promised not to return to competitive mixed martial arts fighting, the dangerous sport that gives him the most complete sense of purpose he’s been able to find, Joe risks everything for one more chance in the ring. The Challenge, Yuri Ancarani, France/Italy Italian artist Yuri Ancarani melds his luminous cinematic vision with the ancient sport of Arab falconry in The Challenge, an evocative and visually dazzling portrait of a celebrated hunting competition set in the coastal deserts of Qatar. Modern technology, such as GPS, augments a practice dating to antiquity as participants track their prized raptors across the austere plains, reconnecting with desert custom in the shadow of a falcon’s wing. The Cinema Travellers, Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya, India A moving homage to the bygone era of celluloid, The Cinema Travellers exquisitely captures the splendor of the moving image through India’s traveling movie caravans. Shot over five years, this intimate documentary takes the viewer on a cinematic journey joining the undaunted technicians, the projectionists who create movie magic, and the boisterous, overflowing crowd that await at each stop. Donkeyote, Chico Pereira, Spain/Germany/UK A Spanish man’s quest to defy barriers and borders in search of the American West by planning a journey on the Trail of Tears with his donkey by his side is its own quixotic trail of laughter and tears. The understanding between man and animal has rarely been so intimately conveyed as it is in Chico Pereira’s winning tale, a stunningly photographed film that hovers between documentary and fiction, one inspired and performed by a real-life character with outsized dreams. The Force, Peter Nicks, USA For the powerful second film in his trilogy concerning the relationship between public institutions and the communities they serve, Peter Nicks (The Waiting Room) takes a powerful, immersive look at the Oakland Police Department. Filming from 2014-2016 with astonishing access, Nicks captures a particularly turbulent time in Bay Area law enforcement history. Intended as a catalyst for conversation and change, Nicks’ empathetic and observational style avoids easy generalizations and upends expectations, resulting in a rich, thought provoking real-time conversation about social justice and the mutual responsibilities of police officers and those they serve and protect. Half-Life in Fukushima, Mark Olexa, Francesca Scalisi, Switzerland/France Five years after the devastating 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, elderly farmer Naoto Matsumura struggles to restore his life in the radioactive red zone, wandering through an empty dystopian nightmare of concrete ruins; abandoned, weed-filled facilities; contamination cleanup crews; and the haunting fragments of a city swept away by tsunami.  With minimal commentary and a graceful and sympathetic eye, Half-Life in Fukushima underlines the danger inherent in nuclear power in its depiction of Fukushima’s sinister remnants and Matsumura’s lonely last stand. In Loco Parentis, Neasa Ní Chianáin, David Rane, Ireland/Spain Irish filmmaker Neasa Nî Chianáin and David Rane present a charming and deeply intimate portrait of a year at Headfort boarding school in picturesque Kells, Ireland. Following devoted and wryly funny educators John and Amanda Leyden as they battle through another season of Latin, Shakespeare, and kids playing “Wild Thing,” In Loco Parentis shows how the level of attention and concern the teachers have for their students lead to remarkable transformations in everyone’s lives. Muhi – Generally Temporary, Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, Tamir Elterman, Israel/Germany (World Premiere) Muhi, a cherubic Palestinian toddler with a life-threatening immune disorder, was transported to an Israeli hospital as a baby for emergency treatment. He and his devoted grandfather have lived there ever since, stuck in a bizarre no man’s land, with their extended family living on the other side of a fiercely guarded checkpoint. Their unique and moving story takes place within the crucible of the relentless Israeli-Palestinian conflict that impacts everyone in its orbit. Serenade for Haiti, Owlsley Brown, USA “Music is our refuge,” says a student at the Sainte Trinité Music School in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Shot over a seven-year period both before and after Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, this vibrant tribute to the students and teachers of Sainte Trinité testifies to the role that art can play in creating community and sustaining hope under the most difficult of circumstances.

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