Oscar-winning filmmaker Errol Morris interviews David Cornwell aka John Le Carre, who describes this as the “definitive” interview before his death. Crucial to the narrative is Cornwell’s relationship to his father Ronnie, a con artist who was endlessly on the run from the mob or the police. Morris keeps the visuals as lively as the […]
The Tunisian mother Olfa Hamrouni gained prominence in 2016 when two of her four daughters ran away to join the Islamic State in Libya. She grew outspoken in the hope of preventing other mothers from suffering her loss. Now filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania takes a novel approach to telling this story by casting two actors […]
Ukrainian journalist Mstyslav Chernov arrives at the strategically key city of Mariupol, Ukraine just as Russian forces begin assaulting the city on the first day of their full-scale invasion. Sending dispatches to AP, Chernov and his team bear witness as the beautiful city is ravaged with death, bombings, and disintegration, one devastating day at a […]
NYC PREMIERE Musician Jon Batiste was riding high in 2022 with 11 Grammy nominations and a planned event at Carnegie Hall to present a new composition called “American Symphony.” But the year grows more complex when his life partner Suleika Jaouad, a writer and musician, learns that her cancer has returned after a decade in […]
Bobi Wine, a popular Afrobeats musician, directs his charisma to politics as he runs for office as Uganda’s presidential opposition candidate, challenging longtime leader Yoweri Museveni. The film unfolds like a thriller as Wine faces a brutal pushback. “It’s a gripping piece of film-making: a propulsive, kinetic account of a grassroots campaign captured at what […]
The term “intersex” covers a broad range of people who are born with reproductive anatomy that doesn’t easily fit the categories of male or female. Often their stories have been shrouded in mystery and shame by the medical establishment and media. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julie Cohen (RBG) captures a new generation of intersex people who are […]
Nikki Giovanni is a trailblazing poet who rose to be a key figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and remains just as vibrant today. Filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson capture her artistry and spiky personality in this warm portrait. “She is a vibrant, prickly, unpredictable presence in both private and public […]
One of the greatest injustices ever committed on North American soil is examined in sweeping historical detail by filmmakers Jesse Shortbull and Laura Tomaselli. As American settlers moved west, the U.S. government signed treaty after treaty with Lakota and other Indigenous tribes, only to continually break their legal and moral commitments with complete impunity. As […]
Lisa Cortés’ Sundance opening night documentary tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock ‘n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, the film unspools the […]
NYC PREMIERE In his book Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, author Dr. Ibram X. Kendi explored the history of anti-Black racist ideas and their impact on the United States. Oscar-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams takes inspiration from Kendi’s work to explore those themes with an array of powerful […]