2024 Woods Hole Film Festival

<p>After a whale sinks his sailboat, Steven Callahan drifted across the Atlantic Ocean in an inflatable raft for an incredible 76 days. Forced to come to terms with his own limitations, Steven finds a strength he never knew he had. A gripping first-hand account of his NYT bestselling novel. Steve Callahan and producer Robert Sennott will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&amp;A.</p>

<p>Jimmie and De were classmates in 1965. Jimmie transferred his senior year from an all-Black high school to an affluent white high school in Charlotte &ndash; he was their first Black football star. Decades later, a shocking discovery reconnects the men and changes both their lives. Their story rooted in the South is also America&rdquo;s story &ndash; one of slavery&rsquo;s legacy and our current racial divide. It&rsquo;s a story of healing and shows a way forward as Jimmie and De explore their binding truth.</p>

<p>Taemin and Minji, a couple of Korean tourists, travel to the Northern part of the United States to see the Aurora Borealis for the first time. But, after Minji mysteriously disappears, Taemin becomes the main suspect, turning the desperate search of his girlfriend into a fight to stay alive.</p>

<p>Alhaji (28), an aspiring actor living in Los Angeles, is visited for a weekend by his younger brother, Sheku (25), a law student. Unknown to Alhaji, Sheku has come with a specific intention: to reveal the secret that he will be dropping out of law school and moving to LA to pursue acting, just like his older brother. Over the course of the weekend the brother&rsquo;s relationship is tested and tensions rise as they converse about a variety of subjects with differing views and life philosophies. Alhaji pushes back on Sheku&rsquo;s newfound dream as the facade of his own life begins to show. When bad news leads Alhaji to put himself in a precarious position, Sheku, the younger brother, comes to his aid and is a hero to his normally domineering older brother. Sheku leaves for the weekend and both brothers realize their relationship has changed for the better forever.</p>

<p>Upon meeting again the priest who abused him as a child, Roberto struggles with the feelings of aversion, lust, and affection that the priest arouses in him.</p>

<p>The Landrys gather for the weekend to fix up their family home in Chicago. But what starts out as a benign family get-together ends up spiraling out of control as some bombshell news threatens to tear everything apart.</p>

<p>A Ghanaian filmmaker follows four African undergraduates through MIT, America&rsquo;s premier technological university and his alma mater. The students embark on their MIT education with individual ambitions. And while their missions are distinct, they are fueled by a common goal: to become agents of positive change back home.</p>

<p>Former Afghan Olympic hopeful Alishah Farhang establishes Afghanistan&rsquo;s first ever ski club and the annual Afghan Ski Challenge competition in the ancient mountain town of Bamyan, bringing people together in an unlikely but joyful pastime.</p>

<p>Counted Out investigates the biggest crises of our time&mdash;political polarization, racial and economic inequity, a global pandemic, and climate change&mdash;through an unexpected lens: math.<br /> <br /> In our current information economy, math is everywhere. The people we date, the news we see, the influence of our votes, the candidates who win elections, the education we have access to, the jobs we get&mdash;all of it is underwritten by an invisible layer of math that few of us understand, or even notice.<br /> <br /> But whether we know it or not, our numeric literacy&mdash;whether we can speak the language of math&mdash;is a critical determinant of social and economic power.<br /> <br /> Through a mosaic of personal stories, expert interviews, and scenes of math transformation in action, Counted Out shows what&rsquo;s at risk if we keep the status quo. Do we want an America in which most of us don&rsquo;t consider ourselves &ldquo;math people&rdquo;? Where math proficiency goes down as students grow up? Or do we want a country where everyone can understand the math that undergirds our society&mdash;and can help shape it?</p>

<p>After the sudden deaths of her aging parents, Maria Gallucci returns to her childhood home on Cape Cod (Massachusetts). When Maria&#39;s estranged brother Nico (and his older girlfriend Sigrid) show up to help sort out the estate, tensions soon rise about how to best sell the decrepit house. While Maria and Sigrid forge an unexpected friendship, Nico&#39;s emotional volatility becomes increasingly unstable. Is it the effects of an old brain injury, the toll of revisiting past family traumas, or something related to the strange vibrating hum that only Maria seems to hear?</p>

<p>After awkwardly coming out to her conservative parents, Asian-American teen, Twinkie, convinces her BFF Egghead to come along on a cross-country road trip to meet her online crush at a big lesbian dance party in Texas. Unfortunately, Egghead has no idea what he&rsquo;s being roped into, and he just confessed his long-hidden feelings for Twinkie with disastrous results.</p>

<p>First We Bombed New Mexico follows Hispanic cancer survivor Tina Cordova who has catalyzed a movement seeking justice for forgotten residents of southern New Mexico. These, (mostly Hispanic and Native ) Americans suffer multigenerational cancers which they tie to the poisoning of their land and water by the Trinity Bomb.<br /> <br /> This is the story that Oppenheimer doesn&rsquo;t tell. Tina discovers that Manhattan Project physicians had urged General Groves to evacuate residents before the blast. Concerns about litigation trumped citizen health.<br /> <br /> Tina also discovers that baby deaths in New Mexico spiked directly after the blast.<br /> <br /> Citizens downwind of nuclear tests in other states have received reparations from Congress since 1990.<br /> <br /> Tina&#39;s goal is to have Congress extend the act before it expires in June so Hispanic and Native American New Mexicans, the original downwinders, also receive compensation.</p>

<p>The epic journey of 7 mothers and their newborn calves from Florida to the Canadian Maritimes are followed in a deep dive into the lives of one of the most endangered whales on Earth, the North Atlantic right whale. With remarkable access, we experience the splendor and the plight of this great whale through the eyes of a closely-knit team of marine biologists, whale disentanglers, aerial survey teams, ocean advocates and indigenous leaders as they race against time to save the species from extinction.</p>

<p>Anxiety-ridden Walt embarks on a comic odyssey through Portland, Maine to retrieve his stolen dog before his girlfriend, Wendy, returns from her business trip, or risk losing them both. Along the way, his encounters with eccentric locals Marianne and Brent force him to confront his insecurities and embrace human (and canine!) connection.</p>

<p>Sequestered in a remote desert villa, the final five contestants on a reality dating show unite to confront their deceitful suitor and the producers who manipulated them into falling in love.</p>

<p>When a teenage girl in love expects a fun night with her boyfriend, she winds up on an emotional roller coaster that only friendship can save.</p>

<p>Led by star scientist Eske Willerslev, a team of researchers are sequencing DNA from before the Ice Age for the first time in history. A project that could revolutionise our understanding of the history of life itself.</p>

<p>After being brutally dumped, 17-year-old Sydnie discovers she is pregnant. Seeing this as an opportunity to get her ex back and give her life direction, she decides to keep the baby. She soon realizes that this won&rsquo;t be the quick fix she had hoped for and finds herself caught in a complicated love triangle and totally lost.</p>

<p>In the shark-filled waters off Cape Cod, Michael Packard has long tempted fate. As the region&rsquo;s last-remaining commercial lobster diver, the 57-year-old has had his share of harrowing experiences, which include close encounters with great whites. But what happened to him on a routine dive was something he never imagined possible, and many around the world refused to believe. In an experience of biblical proportions, Packard was engulfed by a humpback whale, caught in the watery cavity of its massive mouth. After some 30 seconds of a pitch-black captivity, in which he expected to die, he was spit out, fins first, to the surface, where Mayo and another fisherman rescued him. The publicity was similarly dizzying for the reclusive fisherman, whose survival story spread around the world in news dispatches. But what came after the limelight dimmed was even more significant for Packard.</p>

<p>A recent divorcee&rsquo;s holiday celebration with her adult children derails when she falls for her daughter&rdquo;s charming new boyfriend.</p>

<p>The Wards are about to lose everything due to crippling debt, when a mysterious stranger arrives, promising a new life &ndash; for the right fee. But last-minute doubts see the pair fighting for everything they were about to abandon.</p>

<p>Award-winning filmmaker Don Hardy explores the life of pioneering songwriter and producer Linda Perry in this intimate and revealing journey. It&rsquo;s a story of the strength and resilience of a gifted artist, daughter and mother who is finally able to embark on a search to find her own voice.</p>

<p>In 1775, a formerly enslaved couple faces obstacles as they seek to settle their homestead in the eastern hills of the territory now known as Vermont. Forty miles west, rebel instigator and land speculator Ethan Allen plots to drive out New York landlords who seek to impose their rule.</p>

<p>Luther Vandross started his career supporting David Bowie, Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, and more. His undeniable talent earned platinum records and accolades, but he struggled to break out beyond the R&amp;B charts. Intensely driven, he overcame personal and professional challenges to secure his place amongst the greatest vocalists in history.</p> <p>If you know, you know &mdash; there&rsquo;s only one Luther. Acclaimed Festival alum Dawn Porter invites audiences on a musical journey into the life of the iconic Luther Vandross, the man with the soulful velvet voice. An archival tapestry of performances and recording sessions immerse us in his legendary musical talent as a singer, songwriter, and producer. Porter then goes beyond the spotlight to delve into the man behind the music &mdash; insights from musicians and friends alongside archival interviews with Luther himself reveal his humor, frustrations, loneliness, and unwavering dedication to his craft.&nbsp;<em>Luther: Never Too Much</em> delivers a sensitive and jubilant celebration of Luther Vandross and his music that resonates with evocative power. Some will form newfound admiration for Luther, while others will be transported to moments when his timeless melodies were the soundtrack to their lives. Good luck not singing along and dancing in your seat.&mdash;SO</p>

<p>After a brush with death, Maya Gabeira makes history in the male- dominated world of big wave surfing.</p>

<p>Louie, an acclaimed writer, returns to his dilapidated hometown after his father&rsquo;s death. Confronted with a deluge of people from his past, Louie is forced to reconcile with the stories he&rsquo;s stolen, misrepresented, or downright exploited for profit.</p>

<p>Featuring artists Faith Ringgold and Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, PAINT ME A ROAD OUT OF HERE uncovers the whitewashed history of Faith&rsquo;s masterpiece &rdquo;For the Women&rdquo;s House&rdquo; and follows its 50-year journey from Rikers Island to the Brooklyn Museum in a heartbreaking, funny &amp; true parable for a world without mass incarceration.</p>

<p>Under roaring fighter jets and missile strikes, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind and fight, contending with the soldiers they have become. Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it&rsquo;s easy to make people afraid, it&rsquo;s hard to destroy their passion for living.</p> <p>And how does one continue to live when everything you love is under a vicious attack? <em>Porcelain War </em>argues that you can learn to fight back using all the tools you have, including your art, in order to avoid erasure. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re ordinary people in an extraordinary situation&rdquo; is how co-director Slava Leontyev describes their current life. Meanwhile, there is absolutely nothing ordinary about them &mdash; these artists, farmers, IT specialists &mdash; coming together to fight their oppressor. <em>Porcelain War </em>is a true cinematic gem. Leontyev and co-director Brendan Bellomo manage to gracefully capture the dissonance between the horrors of war and the fragile beauty of nature and artistic practice. Anya&rsquo;s and Slava&rsquo;s porcelain pieces come to life in delicately crafted animations that offer context to their makers&rsquo; story and a stunning outlet for processing grief.&mdash;AT</p>

<p>Disciplined high school athlete Dakota Riley lives his life within carefully-designed boundaries, a calculated blueprint upon which he&rsquo;s formed the basis of his identity. But when the reality of his identity is thrown into disarray, Dakota is forced to confront the consequences of denying himself, or come to terms with who he really is.</p>

<p>The film tells the story of Liz Carpenter, a trailblazing Texan who helped shape some of the most vivid moments and movements of the 20th Century. Journalist, White House official, political activist, and feminist leader: Liz was often front and center where history was unfolding leaving her own indelible mark on events and people. The film shows how her expansive personality, political know-how, and legendary wit gave her an outsized impact on historical events -- from the JFK assassination to the launch of Great Society programs to leadership roles in the National Women&#39;s Political Caucus, the National Women&rsquo;s Conference in Houston in 1977, and the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment.</p>

<p>A Nigerian single mother living in Los Angeles offers to help a perfect stranger reunite with her son. In doing so, she learns this simple act of kindness threatens to jeopardize her path to citizenship.</p>

<p>Vania has a simple plan for the afternoon: just end her life. But she wasn&rdquo;t expecting her grandma to show up unannounced.</p>

<p>When a spirited eight-year-old lands the part of Innkeeper in the school nativity play, she battles her perfectionist teacher who insists that she &rdquo;stick to the script.&rdquo;</p>

<p>A group of strangers from around the world band together to help reunite a Ukrainian refugee with her beloved cat, Arsenii.</p>

<p>Under the eyes of a moody cashier, a group of women in a supermarket queue have to deal with a crying baby.</p>

<p>The intimate story of one woman&rdquo;s attempt to uncover the truth about her father&rdquo;s participation in a lynching, find a way to hold her family accountable, and face the dawning awareness of her own unconscious racism.</p>

<p>After a young actor&rdquo;s second terrible audition for a masterclass hosted by his theatrical hero, he follows her to a cafe in search of advice.</p>

<p>When a Taiwanese American woman prepares lunches from her childhood, she struggles to forgive herself for pushing away her immigrant mother.</p>

<p>In this short film we consider the nature of optimism and pessimism in a world where humans face off against rapidly-evolving technology.&nbsp;<em>&ndash; Anita Raswant</em>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Haunted by her past kisses, Annie must confront the one kiss she refuses to acknowledge.</p>

<p>During her lunch break, a London businesswoman calls her boyfriend for phone sex. It doesn&rdquo;t quite go to plan.</p>

<p>A coming of age story about two men in a world of toxic masculinity.</p>

<p>A.J.&#39;s massage could have been better.</p>

<p>A broken-hearted filmmaker finds meaning as he documents punk band Show Me The Body record their latest album.</p>

<p>Guided by posthumous instructions to release her ex-wife&rsquo;s ashes, a reclusive book publisher embarks on a Surrealist odyssey (a d&eacute;rive) across New York City, experiencing a series of spontaneous connections along the way that challenge her to engage the world anew.</p>

<p>A home healthcare worker steals her dementia patient&rsquo;s winning scratch-off lottery ticket.</p>

<p>In this heart-wrenching drama, after a man drowns in the Mediterranean Sea, bureaucracy prevents his family from bringing his body home to Morocco.</p>

<p>An aspiring country singer on her way to a life changing audition collides with an undocumented worker who refuses medical care. The two engage in a struggle, each in pursuit of their own American dreams.</p>

<p>A native Hawaiian girl in 1915 Honolulu makes a special gift for the last monarch of Hawai`i, Queen Lili`uokalani.</p>

<p>Paralympic sprinter and long-jumper Jaleen Roberts was at her peak when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, postponing the 2020 Paralympic Games. What followed was a mental health crisis more challenging than anything she&rdquo;d ever encountered.</p>

<p>A later middle-aged woman searches for connection in a world that pays her no attention.</p>

<p>What would life be like if every two years you faced the reality of losing everything?</p>

<p>Sai is guilted into moving in with his father and step mother after nearly dying in an embarrassing autoerotic asphyxiation accident.</p>

<p>After one of his best friends makes a life changing announcement, Pat&rdquo;s normality is turned upside down.</p>

<p>Over the course of one night, a new father goes through a drunken crisis of masculinity</p>

<p>A thirty-year-old woman comes up with the perfect plan to lose her virginity on a one-night stand.</p>

<p>A young woman is reunited with her childhood friend at a pool party and reckons with the fact that he used to pee on her when they were kids.</p>

<p>Two people on a first date mask and ignore their insecurities until an event forces them to say what they&#39;re really thinking.</p>

<p>One night, Barry, a lonely, non-speaking coroner discovers a pair of magic glasses.</p>

<p>The question &rdquo;When are we gonna have kids?&rdquo; ignites a panoply of surreal fears and fantasies as a mid-thirties married couple hunt for the answer while on a walk in Prospect Park.</p>

<p>When Chip receives his DNA test results in the mail, he discovers he is related to a family of billionaires and travels to ask them for $20.</p>

<p>Two brothers from Boston try using Ai to replace their agent.</p>

<p>The experience of seeing Anyuka is one of immediate intimacy, like sitting beside loved ones while flipping through a family photo album. Filmmaker Maya Erdelyi has crafted a moving and colorful experimental collage using both analog and digital techniques that centers on her grandmother, Veronica Földes Frame. Splicing together hand-drawn and stop-motion animation, photographs and ephemera, hours of audio recordings, and Super 8 home movie footage, the film vividly tells the story of Veronica&rsquo;s forced migration from Hungary during the Holocaust. She first travels to Venezuela, living there before finally settling in the United States. Despite the pain of grief, separation, and loss of home, she blends three cultures and two faith traditions to create one family. Anyuka (which means mother in Hungarian) memorializes the root of Erdelyi&rsquo;s thriving multigenerational lineage, celebrating the matriarch&rsquo;s spirit of resilience.</p>

<p>When a middle-aged actor gains too much pandemic weight to pull off his survival gig as a George Clooney impersonator, he finds himself trying to justify to his nine-year-old daughter&mdash; and to himself&mdash; why he&rsquo;s still chasing his dream.</p>

<p>Two childhood friends, both now stand-up comics, explore their past trauma together.</p>

<p>Eight lives intersect in a municipal courthouse bathroom and find a surprising humanity.</p>

<p>While navigating a myriad of life challenges, Anjelica turned to the outdoors to improve her mental health only to discover a noticeable lack of other plus-size women of color on trail. By posting a simple flyer looking for more women to hike with, Anjelica created a community she never could have imagined.</p>

<p>A black family tries to defend their land against invaders but gets caught between a mischievous witch and a tortured spirit eager for revenge.</p>

<p>Late at night, a lone fisherman discovers he is not the only one hoping to hook something.</p>

<p>A family&rdquo;s life is thrown into chaos when the father doesn&rdquo;t return home one night.</p>

<p>A freakish, throbbing growth torments Ash while she is stuck caring for her vitriolic, dementia-ridden mother.</p>

<p>In a post economic collapse America, a woman (Anna Camp) travels alone towards the promise of a utopian dome on the horizon. When she negotiates a ride with strangers, we learn&hellip; trust no one on the road to the Neo-Dome.</p>

<p>Four people are about to take part in a dangerous experiment. The rules are simple: if you want to live, you have to go to sleep.</p>

<p>In the wild, pods of orcas have been known to hunt blue whales, the largest creature on earth. Human brutality imitates animal brutality.</p>

<p>A young child tries to convince her local community she wants to become a statue, bringing her on a surreal voyage.</p>

<p>Using long, elegantly composed takes juxtaposed with frenetic editing and a percussive soundtrack, this immersive portrait of a simple day in the life of a flock of sheep on a Maine farm is by turn meditative and kinetic. We linger on tactile close-ups of sheep&rsquo;s wool shortly before it is removed in a frenzy of shearing. But what else does the day have in store? Divided into three short chapters, Elephant offers an intricate, richly textured perspective on the rhythms of nature and the circle of life.</p>

<p>As Timo prepares his nest ready for mating season, his call is answered&hellip; But the source of the reply is not what he had hoped.</p>

<p>Boston beekeeper Bill Perkins shares his knowledge and love of bees with his community, which sometimes means riding through a busy city with 10,000 bees on the back of your bike.</p>

<p>With an avaricious appetite, no native predators, and rapid reproduction rates, the invasive lionfish is one of the planet&rdquo;s greatest eco-disasters.</p>

<p>In Alaska, community and famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma come together to honor king salmon and the birch trees for collective healing.</p>

<p>Deb Kapell mounted her camera to a microscope and now photographs the microscopic life from puddle samples in New York City</p>

<p>Inspired by the sketches in his late grandmother&rsquo;s sketchbooks, artist and filmmaker Max Romey retraces her travels to the remote beaches of Katmai Alaska with Ocean Plastics Recovery. There, he joins a group of marine debris experts and discovers there are a lot of people making footprints on Katmai without ever visiting.</p>

<p>Around the horizon of a black hole, an edge of the universe, light is captured, spun into orbit by the black hole&rsquo;s powerful gravitational pull. Lying within the orange donut in the famous first image of a black hole, this &ldquo;photon ring&rdquo; would be a prize to measure&mdash;it would reveal the nature of spacetime itself, directly, near the horizon. Indeed, the shape of this pure ring of light tells everything about the black hole. With the stakes this high, a new collaboration&mdash;physicists, astronomers, engineers from around the world&mdash;has formed to loft a spacecraft that capture the photon ring. We are at the beginning of what is probably a ten-year effort&mdash;this is a film about the start of that adventure.<br /> <br /> A film by Peter Galison, Michael Johnson, and Chyld King</p>

<p>A single mother struggles with loss and hardship, but through the resilience of her three young sons, she finds hope and joy once again.</p>

<p>On a camping trip in Wales, an eight year old girl witnesses the emotional breakdown of her father, and becomes his emotional support system.</p>

<p>A non-binary child struggles to find the perfect Father&rdquo;s Day gift for their disapproving dad.</p>

<p>A little girl takes an unexpected ride in her wealthy family&rdquo;s rolling laundry cart &ndash; and learns their secrets.</p>

<p>After a grade-schooler with crippling anxiety reluctantly spends time with his free spirited Aunt Sally he learns the powerful lessons of taking risks, making mistakes and dealing with adversity.After a grade-schooler with crippling anxiety reluctantly spends time with his free spirited Aunt Sally he learns the powerful lessons of taking risks, making mistakes and dealing with adversity.</p>

<p>Adele is a young girl who struggles with confidence in her body. When she&rdquo;s challenged by a group of kids during an afternoon at the swimming pool, Adele is forced to confront her insecurities and decide whether she will fit in or not.</p>

<p>While under the influence of anesthesia during plastic surgery, Lily meets a grandmother she never knew who helps her think differently about her heritage.</p>

<p>In the Summer of 2004, James, a teenage boy grappling with his masculinity, embarks on a weekend trip to Cape Cod. As he confronts toxic expectations about what it means to be a man, James must make a life-changing decision that will shape his future.</p>

<p>The last of a dying breed, daytime lighthouse keeper Cliff must justify his seemingly unnecessary job while struggling to keep his own inner light shining.</p>

<p>A regular at an early morning coffee shop begins to get a little too friendly with the young woman working there.</p>

<p>Beth is getting married in 36 hours and her mother hasn&#39;t seen her dress. If this sounds low stakes, you aren&#39;t a fat woman with a mother who hates herself. Grab a piece of Danish and dig into this comedic tragedy about mothers, daughters, and who gets to be a bride.</p>

<p>Lois Weber, a pioneer of cinema, is a successful Hollywood filmmaker whose new film &rdquo;What Do Men Want?&rdquo; threatens to expose her true feelings about her relationship, and men in general.</p>

<p>Sourdough Creek, a logging town few miles north of nowhere, is sprucing up for a major motion picture shoot. The town&rsquo;s corrupt mayors, Jeb and Zeke, plan to raze a fishing village to build a resort, crushing all resistance at the barrel of a gun. But in their way stands the combined force of Hellbug, a fearsome super-insect that inhabits the adjoining woods, and Slide, a masked avenger who doubles as a guitar-playing cowboy at the local watering hole.</p>

<p>Flying through space in a crystal ship, Modnar encounters an annoying nemesis.</p>

<p>When we are in harmony with the beauty of nature, and the moon is as round as a banjo, that&rsquo;s when you know everything is hunky dory.</p>

<p>If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you&rsquo;ve seen the work of Lino Tagliapietra, one of the world&rsquo;s greatest glass blowers. Now facing the end of his career, learn the history of this Italian master, his luminous prot&eacute;g&eacute;s, his time working in Seattle, and how his legacy will live on.</p>

<p>Emilio learned to read from recipe books and to cook from his mother. And his restaurant on Houston Street in Manhattan is a secret &ndash; but it&rsquo;s not a secret. You know what I&rsquo;m talking about?</p>

<p>Stewart Udall, America&rsquo;s most famous Secretary of Interior, was also a fighter for racial justice, peace, the arts, and environmental protections.</p>

<p>A journey through the beloved world of children&#39;s picture books, led by three contemporary stars of the new &quot;golden age&quot; of kids&#39; lit, using, archival access, untapped insights, and stop-motion paper animation to explore timely new work.</p>

<p>Inspired by a picture book, Max Romey heads to a remote beach on Alaska&rdquo;s coastline in search of marine debris. What he finds is a different story altogether.</p>

<p>An investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.</p> <p>Filmmakers Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie deliver a multilayered film that invites audiences to confront profound questions about morality and justice, and to bear witness to the lasting intergenerational legacy of trauma from the residential school system &mdash; including forced family separation, physical and sexual abuse, and the destruction of Native culture and language. Drawing on their backgrounds in activism and journalism &mdash; as well as NoiseCat&#39;s own personal connection to the story and community &mdash; the filmmakers deftly weave together multiple strands to form this compelling, heartbreaking narrative. Demonstrating unparalleled humanity, compassion, and grace for the affected Indigenous communities in North America, their powerful documentary operates from a place of pure and total empathy. At the same time, NoiseCat and Kassie recognize the resilience of the survivors and their descendants, and their unflagging determination to seek answers to long-buried secrets. Ultimately, <em>Sugarcane</em> reminds us to respect the humanity in ourselves as well as in others.&mdash;BB</p>

<p>In the segregated Memphis of the 1960s, blues masters and beatniks created a music festival that rocked the foundations of a conservative world. The Blues Society weaves together hypnotic and unforgettable performances with animation, archival images, and a chorus of diverse voices to create a moving image mixtape that both celebrates the music and re-evaluates the era.</p>

<p>A musician reflects on his role in preserving and sharing a unique musical identity in Washington D.C.</p>

<p>In Baltimore, Brandon Scott, an idealistic young leader with an ambitious plan to stop chronic violence in the city, is elected mayor. Throughout his first year in office, he fights powerful political forces to save lives in Baltimore and reveal a pathway toward healing for the nation.</p>

<p>An impassioned surfer creates a functional surfboard with 10,000 littered cigarette butts collected from California beaches. The surfboard becomes a global platform to spark ocean stewardship and the symbol of a grassroots campaign to hold Big Tobacco accountable for their toxic, plastic waste.</p>

<p>Javi, an undocumented immigrant facing imminent deportation, unexpectedly reunites with his long-lost best friend, Hunter, a vivacious bachelor seeking deeper connections. Together, they embark on a heartfelt journey to prevent Javi&rsquo;s expulsion from the only country he has ever called home.</p>

<p>In the internet era, the dream of the struggling artist is to go viral. That&rsquo;s what happened to Philip Labes, a singer-songwriter who found a following on TikTok after posting his clever, heartfelt songs during the pandemic. When his music reached the ears of one of his heroes, Grammy-winner Jason Mraz, he was invited on his very first tour and a chance to play live in front of thousands &ndash; a chance he hopes will lead to a real career in music where he isn&rsquo;t relying on the whims of an algorithm.</p>

<p>After his incarceration, Sincero returns to his graffiti writer roots, becoming an established portrait muralist while using his art to commemorate his home-town of Santa Ana.</p>

<p>A musician&rsquo;s journey journey through the Alaskan wilderness turns the lonely and sometimes dark moments of life into flashpoints for growth and creation.</p>

<p>Over the course of a night, a storyteller captures bar patrons with his tale of mysterious magic and petty crime. As new customers enter the bar and new events unfold in the story, we dive into the listener&rsquo;s imaginations to reveal a unique version of the oddball characters the rhapsodist has created.</p>

<p>Over four centuries ago, William Shakespeare collaborated with others on a play about the historical figure Sir Thomas More. In it, he wrote a speech in which More passionately articulates a defence of refugees, culminating in a poignant reference to their plight. Fast-forward to the present: Aleppo, in the midst of the Syrian civil war. Amira, a paediatric surgeon, performs a life-saving operation during the darkest days of the conflict. Through an unexpected twist of fate, she and her daughter become central characters in a dangerous tale that intricately interweaves the lives of five families spanning four continents and redefines all of their existences. Versions of this story continue to repeat themselves over the centuries. For this reason, Shakespeare aptly named this plight &ldquo;The Strangers&rsquo; Case&rdquo;.</p>

<p>Follow the psychological and emotional journeys of California prisoners as they organize the largest hunger strike in US history. Intimate interviews and never-before-seen footage recount their struggle to regain their freedom from decades of solitary confinement.</p>

<p>Chris Johns made some of the the most recognizable pictures of our time. He&rsquo;s the only field photographer to rise through the ranks of National Geographic to become Editor-In-Chief, heading the world&rsquo;s most iconic magazine during a period of industry disruption, digital transformation and ecological crises. After spending a career as a journalist walking the tightrope between worry and wonder, he&rsquo;s now being shadowed by a visual artist with her own distinct ethos. His daughter Louise Johns, who picked up a camera as a child during her father&rsquo;s last field assignment, is shaping her own photography vision one image at a time.</p>

<p>In 1970, at the height of the sexual revolution, Bobbie is determined to lose her virginity on the day of her 17th birthday, but she will lose more than that. When she discovers her mother&rsquo;s infidelity and acts out furiously, she sets off a chain of confrontations that forces her father and mother to face their own insecurities as accomplished middle-class intellectuals. On each of their birthdays, hopes are dashed, and secrets revealed.</p>

<p>Filmed at Seattle&rsquo;s Hazel Wolf K-8 school, this doc introduces Jamshid Khajavi, an Iranian American immigrant, school counselor, chicken rescuer, and Ultimate Frisbee coach tirelessly devoted to the city&rsquo;s immigrant kids.</p>

<p>A stateless journalist born and raised in Dadaab, the world&rsquo;s second largest refugee camp, becomes a voice for the voiceless through the camp&rsquo;s radio station, amplifying stories of climate, migration, and hope.</p>

<p>A story of courage and determination, betrayal and corruption, death threats and murder, and of unexpected victories in the countryside and in the courts, that asks how economic development can grow in harmony with environmental protections and why we tolerate unbridled greed and profiteering at the expense of human life and our precious planet. Above all, Water For Life illuminates a growing recognition of Indigenous rights and a rising demand for corporate responsibility and environmental justice that&rsquo;s being seen around the world.</p>

<p>Rayelle Martin works as a commercial cleaner in Gary, Indiana. She&#39;s mischievous, playful, and skilled at adapting to her surroundings. One day while at work, Ray is approached by Dr. Neeraj Patel, a therapist who hires her to work as his housekeeper. Who&rsquo;s going to say no to extra money? Not Ray.<br /> <br /> Dr. Patel then presents her with another offer she can&#39;t refuse: a second job cleaning his mistress&rsquo;s home. At first Ray is just an observer, but then, after growing tired of being a witness, she impulsively tells one small lie: that she can speak to the dead. As Ray attempts to gain ownership over her own identity, she finds herself in an odd new position of power.</p>