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FARMING IN PERU (FORMERLY LEARNING FROM PERU: WHERE HAS ALL OUR BIODIVERSITY GONE?)
A film by Sharon Genasci
A 60 minute documentary that looks at Peruvian farming and biodiversity and at the small organic farming movement in the U.S., whose approaches follow practices from Peruvian culture over 10,000 year old. Filmed at 12,000 feet in the Altiplano and jungle areas, and working with Frederique Apffel-Marglin, a Smith College anthropologist, the film addresses food and how it is grown in today's world of undernourished and hungry people.
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FIGHT LIKE A GIRL
A film by Jill Morley
Girl In The Ring is a feature-length, first person documentary that goes inside the world of female boxers to meet the women who are passionate about fighting hard. In portraying these women and the world of boxing, Girl In The Ring sensitively captures the adversity the women face, and tells a larger story about abuse, trauma, sexism, and finally – healing.
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FLAT DADDY
A film by Nara Garber, Betsy Nagler & Peggy Sutton
As military families across America endure the repeated deployment of loved ones to Iraq and Afghanistan, many have attempted to fill the void with "Flat Daddies," life-sized cardboard cutouts of their husbands, wives, sons, and daughters serving overseas. Using these two-dimensional surrogates as a connecting thread, the documentary film Flat Daddy follows five such families over the course of a year to reveal the lasting impact of the war on those left behind.
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FLYING QUEENS: A BASKETBALL DYNASTY (FORMERLY FLIGHT TO CAMELOT)
A film by Kellie L. Mitchell
Against the social norms of 1950s Texas and the odds of socio-economic hardships, a lucky and talented few formed The Hutcherson Flying Queens – who would otherwise become known as the most winning (and glamorous!) amateur basketball team in US history! This hopeful heart-warming documentary follows them through triumph and defeat as they fought to raise a lasting dynasty.
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FOOTPRINT (FORMERLY THE POPULATION BOMB)
A film by Valentina Canavesio
Footprint is a feature-length documentary film investigating the biggest unspoken issue of the 21st century.
Asking how the Earth can sustain 9 billion inhabitants by 2050, the film seeks to examine the various challenges to population growth and focus on solutions.
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FOUR
A film by Joshua Sanchez
On the Fourth of July in Hartford, June, a sixteen year old white boy, meets up with Joe, a closeted, married black man he's met over the Internet. On the same night, in the same city, Abigayle, this man's sixteen-year-old daughter, agrees to go out with Dexter, a twenty-year old low-level drug dealer. In and around the city, on the American night of independence, these two couples get to know each other, moving from strangers to intimates. In lonely landscapes of movie theaters, fast food restaurants, darkened churches and public parks, they discover the limits of desire and the possibilities for transcendence.
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FROM BAGHDAD TO BROOKLYN
A film by Jennifer Utz
At the height of the Iraq war, Shiite Leader Ayatollah ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa against homosexuals. Mohamed, a 24-year-old gay man from Baghdad, was forced to flee his home. American journalist Jennifer Utz crosses paths with the eccentric former model and gradually becomes drawn into the whimsical world he creates to escape his harsh reality. From his life in exile to his new start in New York City, Utz chronicles Mohamed’s journey and the unlikely friendship that emerges.
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FUNNY BUSINESS
A film by Lyda Ely
What compels a person to cartoon? And what does it take to publish in The New Yorker magazine? Celebrated artists open their studio doors in this poignant exploration of a rarely examined art -- fueled by the filmmaker’s personal relationship with cartooning legend Charles Addams, and her late mother’s life-long quest to follow in Addams’ footsteps.
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GENOME: THE FUTURE IS NOW
A film by Marilyn Ness
GENOME: THE FUTURE IS NOW will be a six-hour cinema verite documentary series with exclusive access to the PGP (personal genome project) and its volunteers. The series will weave the compelling, unprecedented, and often unexpected personal experiences of the PGP volunteers and scientists and follow the emerging challenges arising almost daily for the leading scientists and doctors on the frontlines of genomics and ethics.
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THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE
A film by Liz Marshall
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Animals are hidden in the shadows of our highly mechanized world.
THE GHOSTS IN OUR MACHINE illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world. Through the heart and lens of acclaimed animal photographer Jo-Anne McArthur we become intimately familiar with a cast of non-human animal characters. Are non-human animals property to be owned and used, or are they sentient beings deserving of rights?
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GIDEON'S ARMY
A film by Dawn Porter
What it is truly like to work as a public defender? Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up in their first year. Overworked and underpaid, even the criminal defense lawyers who want to provide competent defense struggle to keep up.
Jonathan Rapping, founder of the Southern Public Defender Training Center has dedicated his career to mentoring the lawyers who represent the people society would rather forget. Can he make a difference?
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A GIRL AND A GUN
A film by Cathryne Czubek
A riveting documentary investigating the realities of female gun ownership and the wide-ranging effects of guns on women's lives in a rapidly shifting gun climate in America. The film unravels the stories of four women who each share a unique relationship with guns; their motivations shedding light on rarely discussed contemporary women's issues. Penetrating well beyond the Hollywood image of the armed female, this documentary illuminates the clash between societal ideas of womanhood and gun ownership in the US.
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THE GLOBAL VILLAGE PROJECT
A film by Ella Jane New and David Rey
The Global Village Project follows the lives of 30 refugee girls who attend the Global Village School In Atlanta GA, as they tell their tragic but uplifting and often homorous stories of their journey from life in refugee camps all around the world to their new lives in the USA, and the struggles and hopes they face from adjusting to American culture, entering the public school system, and the opportuinty for an education at the Global Village School.
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GOOD PEOPLE GO TO HELL, SAVED PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN ( FORMERLY LEFT BEHIND IN LOUISIANA)
A film by Holly Hardman
Good People Go To Hell, Saved People Go To Heaven explores Rapture culture against the backdrop of America's hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast. The film focuses on Christians who believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible. To them the End Times are imminent -- when Jesus returns to "rapture them,” and the rest of humanity remains on earth to suffer the wrath of a vengeful God. With an objective eye, the film scrupulously questions the motives behind and consequences of fundamentalist/evangelical Christianity in today's world.
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THE GREAT INVISIBLE
A film by Margaret Brown
Peabody-Award winner Margaret Brown's new film THE GREAT INVISIBLE is a documentary thriller that goes undercover to reveal the hidden dramas behind the BP Oil Spill.
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THE GREATER GOOD (FORMERLY THE VACCINE MOVIE)
A film by Leslie Manookian, Kendall Nelson and Chris Pilaro
The Greater Good looks behind the fear, hype and politics that polarize people into emotionally charged pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine camps with no room for middle ground. Exploring the cultural intersection where parenting meets modern medicine and individual rights collide with politics, this character driven documentary weaves together the stories of three families whose lives have been forever changed by vaccination. By reframing the vaccine debate and offering, for the first time, the opportunity to have a rational and scientific discussion on how to create a safer and more effective vaccine program in America today, The Greater Good challenges viewers to think again.
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GREEN BANANAS
A film by Purcell Carson
What happens when the meanest company in agribusiness decides to turn over a new leaf? Chiquita Banana lived most of the 20th century as a despised giant. But the last decade has brought new ideas to its fields and boardrooms. A compelling cast of labor activists, environmentalists and farm managers have formed a fragile alliance and together learned to grow better bananas. Their work-and the film that documents it-shows new potential for corporate social responsibility.
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GRINGO TRAILS
A film by Pegi Vail and Melvin Estrella. Directed by Pegi Vail.
This documentary explores the tourism industry's pioneers--backpackers, and their long term impact on the economies and cultures of the developing world through their most important souvenirs... their stories. It investigates the relationships that arise when different cultures collide yet need one another: host countries looking for economic opportunities and travelers seeking authentic experiences. Filmed in Mali, Burkina Faso, Bolivia, and Thailand.
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GTFO
A film by Shannon Sun-Higginson
"T*ts or GTFO" is a term often used in gaming to diminish a woman's self esteem by objectifying her. This documentary explores the many challenges facing women in video games today, and the causes of these problems. The film will integrate game footage and screenshots with interviews of prominent game designers, critics, pro gamers, scholars, and other experts.
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GUNS, GRIEF & GRACE IN AMERICA (FORMERLY GUNS, GRIEF AND GRACE: EMERGING CONVERSATIONS AND CHANGING THE CONVERSATION)
A film by Janet Fitch
The Guns, Grief and Grace in America three-part documentary series reframes the gun violence debate in our country from one of Second Amendment rights to that of public health prevention. The two completed films and their accompanying education pieces have made a significant community impact; generating non-polarized, solution-based discussions with diverse audiences. In doing this, we pave the way to reclaim the public sphere for discussion of a complex societal topic relevant to diverse communities across the country.
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HABIBI RASAK KHARBAN
A film by Susan Youssef
Habibi Rasak Kharban (My Darling, Something's Wrong With Your Head) is a feature film project that is a modern retelling of the classical Arabo-Islamic tragic romance Majnun Layla. The Habibi Project serves as a bridge for understanding contemporary conflict, and as an illumination of the multi-textured character of Islamic civilization.
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THE HAND OF FATIMA
A film by Augusta Palmer
In 1971, NY Times music critic Robert Palmer was adopted by a Moroccan Sufi brotherhood, the Master Musicians of Jajouka. 35 years later, his daughter visits the Master Musicians in their remote village to find out who her father really was and how the music of Jajouka changed his life. Filmmaker Augusta Palmer examines her father's musical, mystical and personal legacy in this extended road trip from the American South to Morrocco's Rif Mountains.
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HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
A film by Katherine Brann Fredricks
Harriet Beecher Stowe was the best paid author of her day, male or female, American or European. Abraham Lincoln credited her novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, with starting the Civil War. "Uncle Tom" then entered the vernacular as a racial slur. 2011 was the 200th anniversary of Stowe's birth, yet no documentary on her exists. An Emmy winning cinematographer & editor, & two Pulitzer Prize winning authors are on the team videotaping Stowe's life story. Image courtesy of Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture: A Multi-Media Archive.
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HARRY'S GIFT, A NEW YORK STORY
A film by Peggy Stern and Alexandra Isles
When he received the call, Darryl Kelly the clean-up man, was unaware that his life was about to change. Harry Shunk was a photographer famous for his collaborations with Yves Klein, Andy Warhol and Christo. He had become a reclusive hoarder and died leaving no heirs. Darryl Kelly was hired to get rid of the stuff. This is the story of the unlikely meeting of two fates. One man with too much and one with too little. A story about a cosmic wink that changed a life.
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HECATE AND TRINLAY
A film by Melissa Hacker
Award winning filmmaker Melissa Hacker explores Tibetan Buddhism in her new film. This is a film about choice, destiny and rise of Tibetan Buddhism in the west as lived by one American woman and her son, who, when he was thirteen months old, was recognized as the reincarnation of a Tibetan Buddhist lama.
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THE HEN THAT CROWS
A film by Lindsay Rothenberg
THE HEN THAT CROWS will follow three women in and around New York City as they attempt to leave their forced and arranged marriages while retaining custody of their children. This documentary will provide an intimate look at the legal and emotional struggles, including questioning the extreme religions they were raised in, that these women go through, and will celebrate their strength and joys in adjusting to a new life of freedom.
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HERE ONE DAY
A film by Kathy Leichter
HERE ONE DAY tells the story of the filmmaker's mother, Nina, a charismatic teacher, poet, mother of two, and the wife of a New York State Senator. After twenty years of rapid mood swings between mania and depression and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, Nina committed suicide at age sixty-three. The film re-traces the circumstances that brought Nina to take her own life and intimately portrays the members of her family in the aftermath of her death. Shot by Kirsten Johnson, winner of the 2010 Excellence in Cinematography Award at The Sundance Film Festival, this unsensationalized, beautiful film paints a captivating portrait of how people cope with mental illness, loss, and the possessions the dead leave behind, both real and emotional.
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THE HERETICS
A film by Joan Braderman
"The Heretics" is a feature-length experimental documentary film about the Women's Art Movement of the 70's in the USA, specifically, at the center of the art world at that time, New York City. Joan Braderman tells the story of the Heresies Collective which published HERESIES: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics from 1977-1992.
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HERMANAS DE FE (FORMERLY FATE OF THE UNLEARNED)
A film by Cristina Kotz Cornejo
In this social thriller, a violent encounter on the streets of Mexico City destabilizes 19-year-old, prostitute, Luz Molina’s life, triggering an obsession with the American missionary who makes the ultimate sacrifice in her defense. In Spanish and English.
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HIDDEN BATTLES
A film by Victoria Mills
HIDDEN BATTLES is an intimate and powerful look at what it means to kill another human being during war, as told by men and women
who have pulled the trigger.
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HOMEGOINGS
A film by Christine Turner
A feature documentary that explores the African American funeral home - a 150 year-old institution that is now vanishing - through the eyes of a Harlem undertaker.
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HOONAH'S HEROES
A film by Samantha Farinella
During the Vietnam War, thirty-nine Tlingit men from the tiny village of Hoonah, Alaska saw combat. Thirty-eight came back alive, making Hoonah the American town with the highest per capita enlistment rate as well as the highest survival rate. While the soldiers were away, a new law prohibited village fishermen from acquiring greater catches than the year before – robbing retuning veterans of their livelihoods. This feature-length documentary traces the tension between the soldiers' prideful service and the racism they encountered at home.
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THE HOOPING LIFE
A film by Amy Goldstein
For perhaps the first time in recorded history, a kid’s toy, the hula-hoop, is spearheading an explosive subculture. Crossing cultural borders from South Central to South Africa, THE HOOPING LIFE chronicles the lives of a dozen “hoopers”, who overcome difficult circumstances to invigorate their communities. Hooping emerges as a vibrant affirmation of art, stirring hope for the disenfranchised.
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HOW TO LOSE YOUR VIRGINITY
A film by Therese Shechter
When a bridal consultant effusively tells filmmaker Therese Shechter, a 40-something sex-savvy feminist planning her first wedding, that she looks ‘virginal’ in a white wedding dress, it sets her on a journey to uncover why virginity still holds such importance in our otherwise hypersexualized American society. She engage a cast of abstinence ideologues, hymen repair specialists, sex educators, porn producers and teenage girls to help uncover the unexplored—and damaging—impact idealized, fetishized virginity has on young women.
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ILYA AND EMILIA KABAKOV: ENTER HERE (FORMERLY: ILYA AND EMILIA KABAKOV DOCUMENTARY)
A film by Amei Wallach
ILYA AND EMILIA KABAKOV: HOW TO MAKE A PARADISE probes art’s capacity to transcend oppression. Soviet-born luminaries, US immigrants Ilya and Emilia Kabakov prepare installations throughout Moscow, where his art was once forbidden, coming face to face with their catastrophic past in the dizzying present. Like the Kabakov’s evocative art, the feature-length documentary has the sweep of Russian novel and the intimacy of a family drama. It climaxes in 2012 with their “Ship of Tolerance” installation in Havana. The artists come full circle, bringing their message of hope and reconciliation to a Cuba still enmeshed in their Soviet past.
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IN EXILE
A film by Heather Tenzer
What’s causing some of the most observant Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem and New York to speak out on the streets around the globe against fellow Jews? IN EXILE tells the compelling story of Neturei Karta, a unique movement of Jews who support the Palestinian struggle for justice and oppose Jewish nationalism.
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IN THE NAME OF YESHUA
A film by Emma Mankey Hidem
In the Name of Yeshua explores the question, "Is it really possible to believe in Yeshua (Jesus) and remain Jewish?" Messianic Jews have endured persecution including physical assault, deportation from Israel, and being defined as a cult by the Jewish community. Yet some Messianic Jews invite the controversy, particularly the tendentiously named “Jews for Jesus,” who consistently anger the Jewish community with their confrontational proselytizing. Through the stories of individuals on both sides of this spiritual battle, the history, beliefs, controversy and future of Messianic Judaism will be revealed.
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INGRATAS (INGRATES)
A film by Florencia Davidzon
"Ingrates" examines the life and struggle of Marcelina Bautista, a young Oaxacan Mexican who, at the age of 12, was forced by her parents to work as a live-in maid in a home in Mexico City. Unable to speak Spanish initially and after overcoming many abuses at work, she became the President of household workers first in Mexico, and recently Latin American and the Caribbean. Today, she organizes maids, trains them in understanding their human rights in order to build their awareness, strengthen their voices, energize a movement that advocates for their justice and dignity and change labor laws.
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IRENA SENDLER: IN THE NAME OF THEIR MOTHERS
A film by Mary Skinner
Through the memories of 94-year-old Irena Sendler, 'In the Name of Their Mothers' tells the unknown story of a secret network of Poles who fought to aid the Jews during World War II. Sendler, a Polish Catholic social worker, led an underground operation to rescue 2,500 Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto. The film recounts her youth as a Polish socialist, wartime conspiracy work, Gestapo arrest and imprisonment, and her ongoing efforts to heal the childhood wounds of war.
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ISABEL ROSADO: NATIONALIST (FORMERLY OUR WOMEN, OUR STRUGGLE)
A film by Melissa Montero
At 102 years old, Isabel Rosado has become a revered symbol of colonial resistance in Puerto Rico and her life is a testament to the island’s unresolved struggle with political status, economic development, and century long struggle for independence. Isabel Rosado: Nationalist is an hour long documentary that chronicles the life of a humble woman who was ready to risk it all by dedicating her life to the Puerto Rican independence movement and as a result spent many years in prison.
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JERUSALEM, I LOVE YOU
For over 40 centuries untold numbers have flocked to Jerusalem while billions have worshipped it from afar. JERUSALEM, I LOVE YOU is a feature film in the Cities of Love™ series. The film explores the timeless themes of love and romance told in twelve episodes by twelve internationally acclaimed directors. Cities of Love™ films are part of a new movement in filmmaking. The journey started with Paris, je t’aime, was followed by New York, I Love You and continues with Rio, Shanghai, and Jerusalem. JERUSALEM, I LOVE YOU, like all Cities of Love™ films, will bring together multiple points of view by combining film segments carefully linked together to create a complete film experience leaving you moved by the city and buoyed by the hope of love.
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JESSICA GONZALES VS. THE U.S.A.
A film by April Hayes and Katia Maguire
In 1999, Jessica Gonzales' estranged husband abducted their three daughters in violation of a domestic violence restraining order. Jessica's repeated calls and visits to the police that night went unheeded. Nearly twelve hours after she first called the police, Jessica's estranged husband arrived at the police station and opened fire, and he was immediately shot and killed by the police. The bodies of the three girls were found in his bullet-ridden truck. Jessica's quest for answers and justice led her on a 10 year journey through the American legal system and beyond, and have turned her into an outspoken and charismatic advocate for victimized women and children everywhere. Jessica Gonzales vs. The United States of America is a feature-length documentary that follows the story of one woman, who in the wake of unspeakable tragedy and hardship embarks upon a journey to reclaim her voice and discover her own power to heal herself and others.
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JUST THE TIP OF FEMINISM (FORMERLY THE SOLIDARITY PROJECT)
A film by Golzar Naghshineh Selbe
This feature-length documentary highlights male feminists’ contribution to making this world a better place for women. It follows five men in their journey to develop a feminist identity and apply it to their lives. From the frat-boy athlete who discourages sexual bullying, to a musician who incorporates pro-feminist themes into his music, through the eyes of these men we see how feminism hasn’t castrated them, but challenges them to embrace a more positive masculinity.
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JUSTICE FOR MY SISTER
A film by Kimberly Bautista
Adela left home for work one day and never returned. She was beaten to death by an ex-boyfriend. Her story is hauntingly familiar in Guatemala, where over 4000 women have been brutally murdered since 2001. Her sister Rebeca is determined to see that the killer is held accountable. Rebeca braves Guatemala’s corrupt, victim-blaming justice system for two years. Transformed by her struggle, Rebeca emerges as a feminist leader in her rural community with a message for others: justice is possible.
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KASHMIR
A film by Vaishali Sinha and Madhuri Mohindar
‘Kashmir’ follows the lives of three young students as they strive to achieve their dreams in one of the most contentious and militarized regions in the world, Kashmir, India. The film presents notions of identity and self for a young generation that has lost its childhood to conflict but ultimately holds the key to determining Kashmir's future.
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KATHLEEN & EDDIE
A film by Desireena Almoradie
KATHLEEN & EDDIE is a documentary film that tells the story of three strangers connected by a single act of terrorism. It charts one woman's journey to transform the violence of her brother's murder at the hands of terrorists into a compassionate encounter with the women who killed him.
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KINGS PARK: STORIES FROM AN AMERICAN MENTAL INSTITUTION
A film by Lucy Winer, Co-produced by Lucy Winer & Karen Eaton
On June 21, 1967, at the age of 17, Lucy Winer was committed to the female violent ward of Kings Park State Hospital following a series of failed suicide attempts. Over 30 years later, now a veteran documentary filmmaker, Lucy returns to Kings Park for the first time since her discharge. Her journey back sparks a decade-long effort to face her past and learn the story of the now abandoned institution that once held her captive. Her meetings with other former patients, their families, and the hospital staff reveal the painful legacy of our state hospital system and the crisis left by its demise.
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LADIES' ROOMS AROUND THE WORLD
A film by Maxi Cohen
Since 1980, I have been photographing and videotaping ladies rooms. From the Aboriginal Outback to Tel Aviv, Bombay to Rio, the lens captures vulnerable moments where a plethora of the Secrets of Women is disclosed. This year I filmed shorts at Burning Man and a Sexuality Conference. Each short film is very different, ranging from social outcry to celebration. The project includes photography, film, a book, museum exhibitions, and an interactive website designed for exchange and change.
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THE LIST
A film by Beth Murphy
THE LIST is a modern-day Oskar Schindler story that focuses on Kirk Johnson, a young American fighting to save thousands of Iraqis whose lives are in danger because they worked for the U.S. to help rebuild Iraq. After leading reconstruction teams in Baghdad and Fallujah, Kirk returns home only to discover that many of his former Iraqi colleagues are being killed, kidnapped or forced into exile by radical militias. Frustrated by government bureaucracy in the U.S., Kirk begins compiling a list of their names and helps them find refuge and a new life in America.
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LOOK AT US NOW, MOTHER! (FORMERLY MY NOSE THE BIGGER VERSION)
A film by Gayle Kirschenbaum
In MY NOSE, Gayle Kirschenbaum focuses on her mom’s quest to get her to have a nose job. Barely touching the surface of their highly complex and charged relationship, Kirschenbaum knew it needed deeper exploration. The poignant journey is told in her new film, MY NOSE: THE BIGGER VERSION. What emerges is a uniquely cinematic family study with humor and pathos in the midst of conflicts and affections that bind mother and daughter. It is an enlightening and inspirational film.
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LOVE AND MONSTER TRUCKS
A film by Cristina Ibarra
A feature-length narrative film that follows the return home of a Chicana art student. Sexual tension blossoms between Impala and Letty, old high school friends, as they cruise in a lifted 4x4 truck, the streets of the US-Mexico borderlands, in a story blending animation, drama and fantasy.
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LUCKY (FORMERLY A LUCKY YEAR)
A film by Laura Checkoway; Produced by Neyda Martinez
Despite having grown up in a foster and welfare system that makes her feel like a nobody, Lucky Torres has big dreams of becoming somebody. Masking herself in tattoos, the defiant Bronx lesbian has forged an identity all her own and now she wants the world to know about her will to survive.
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MAESTRA (TEACHER)
A film by Catherine Murphy
Maestra tells the story of eight women, who as teenage girls taught on the 1961 Literacy Campaign in Cuba, where 250,000 volunteer teachers taught more than 700,000 illiterate adults learned to read and write in one year. Over half of the teachers - and students - were women. This film looks at a controversial and transformative time through the eyes of the women teachers, and explores how this experience changed their sense of themselves and what they saw as possible.
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MAINE-LAND
A film by Miao Wang
MAINE-LAND is a story about three adolescents from China’s emerging upper-middle class coming of age in an American prep school. Set against the backdrop of capitalist China as a rising superpower, their fresh and humorous adventures span from Chinese metropolises to rural Maine, from a collectivist upbringing to individualist angst. While their stories begin with a search for competitive advantage and a “superior” education, their perceptions distort and evolve into dreams of their own as they adjust to their new life. But will they be able to reconcile these dreams with the life they came from and may return to?
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MAKE ME NORMAL
A film by Mitch McCabe
Are we medicalizing normal human behavior? MAKE ME NORMAL explores recent controversies in psychiatry, the rise of diagnosed mental illness, psychopharmacology and our new definition of "normal"— all set against the backdrop of new psychiatric guidelines in the new DSM-5 (the "Psychiatry Bible"). Traveling the country to high-profile psychiatrists, senate investigators, researchers, peer advocates and pharma reps, the film gives a much-needed, hard-boiled look at the current state of mental illness treatment, ultimately forcing the question: What is normal?
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MARY LOU WILLIAMS: THE LADY WHO SWINGS THE BAND
A film by Carol Bash
Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band is a story of tragedy and triumph seen through the eyes of a prodigy. From World War I through the Vietnam War, from the birth of jazz to the height of rock and roll, we journey the 20th century through the lens of one of its leading musical innovators who is determined to create in a world that could not see past her race or gender.
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MATCH+: A STORY ABOUT LOVE IN THE TIME OF HIV
A film by Priya Giri Desai and Ann S. Kim
How do you find love and marriage when you are HIV-positive? And how do you do that in India, where marriage is a must but HIV/AIDS is unspeakable? MATCH+ is a character-driven documentary film chronicling the personal stories of men and women looking for mates (often while keeping their HIV status a secret), and the matchmakers who help them.
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MEAT HOOKED!
A film by Suzanne Wasserman
Meat Hooked! is a documentary about meat and the rise and fall and rise again of butchers and butchering. As cities become more alike, there is a yearning to go back to a seemingly more authentic time, to a time when a sense of place was concrete, not virtual. Butchers and butcher shops fit into that yearning. It allows the consumer to have more control over what we eat and a face to face experience in an increasingly virtual world.
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MEET BESS
A film by Nicole Franklin
When twenty-one year old Anne Brown walked into George Gerswhin's apartment to audition for his opera about a black man named Porgy, she sang her way into history as the woman known as Bess. Finalist for the IFP Gordon Parks Award for Emerging Directors.
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MEN: A LOVE STORY
A film by Mimi Chakarova
“Men: A Love Story” is a feature-length documentary that sets out to explore how men perceive women and love. Filmmaker Mimi Chakarova travels across America and pieces together a rich tapestry of vignettes, woven from stories shared by men of every race, age, and socio-economic background. The result is a stunningly honest, unapologetic and decidedly un-politically correct glimpse into the minds of American men, and what the word 'love' means to them. From tiny blues bars in the deep South to investment banks in lower Manhattan. From rodeo riders in New Mexico to corn farmers in the Midwest, “MEN: A Love Story” is, at times, a dark comedy. But ultimately it is a poignant journey of the heart.
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MINOR DIFFERENCES
A film by Heather Dew Oaksen and Caroline Cumming
Simple differences may separate the adolescent boy who does crazy, immature things from the adolescent boy in prison. For instance, the neighborhood he lives in. Or one influential adult who pays attention. Or having a better sense of which lines not to cross. MINOR DIFFERENCES chronicles the fifteen-year post-prison journey of 5 former juvenile offenders. Their first-person commentaries shed light on why and how jail exacts a long-term, often lifetime, toll on youth who grow up behind bars.
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MISSING IN ACTION: THE WOMEN BEHIND TV'S GOLDEN AGE
A film by Molly Sackler and Jason Wulkowicz
This documentary is the untold story of the unsung women who helped to invent television in post-war New York. They were television's first directors, producers, writers, and PA's; but no one knows who they are today. This documentary turns the spotlight on these behind-the-scenes pioneers, toppling stale ideas of 1950's Woman and of Television's Golden Age.
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MOTHERS OF A NATION
A film by Ansley West
This documentary tells the story of a group of empowered Ugandan women living with HIV and their fight for survival through sustainable farming methods. Narrated by Florence, a 55-year-old woman who has been living with the virus for over 13 years, the story follows the lives and histories of four Ugandan women of different ages who have all been diagnosed with HIV and have decided to seek treatment. These women see their only opportunity for survival is through agriculture and unity. Their stories of betrayal and suffering unfold, ultimately leading to voices of strength and hope thanks to the gardens and women's support group. MOTHERS OF A NATION leads you into their world, through their eyes and with their voices.
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MR. ANGEL
A film by Dan Hunt
MR. ANGEL chronicles the extraordinary life of transgender activist, educator and porn pioneer, Buck Angel. His in-your-face style of activism has audiences outraged by his insistence that he is simply "a man who has a vagina." Buck has spent a lifetime facing relentless opposition and yet, lives his truth with no apology. The feature-length documentary explores the source of his unwavering message of self acceptance and his drive to publically confront the male/female binary head on. This is a story of amazing perseverance and an unlikely hero.
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MR. SOUL! ELLIS HAIZLIP AND THE BIRTH OF BLACK POWER TV
A film by Melissa Haizlip
Before Oprah – before Arsenio – there was Mr. SOUL! From 1968-73, America got “SOUL!” – television’s first “black Tonight Show.” The film celebrates the groundbreaking PBS series from its genesis to its eventual loss of funding against the backdrop of a swiftly changing political and social landscape, while profiling Ellis Haizlip, the charismatic man behind one of the most culturally significant and successful television shows in U.S. history.
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THE MYSTERY OF MARIE JOCELYNE
A film by Martha Shane and Dan Nuxoll
The Mystery of Marie Jocelyne and the Queens International Film Festival tells the astonishing story of Marie Castaldo, a French woman who has been accused of being a con artist and of running fraudulent film festivals and film companies in the United States for nearly thirty years. Through in-depth interviews with Marie herself, as well as short vignettes telling the unbelievable stories of the people who claim to have fallen victim to her schemes (including co-director Dan Nuxoll), The Mystery of Marie Jocelyne uses the filmmakers’ voyage of discovery to structure the film as a suspense-filled mystery.
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