October 8, 2015

THE BLACK PANTHERS: VANGUARD OF THE REVOLUTION

Against a backdrop of civil unrest and the radical transformation of American society in the mid-1960s, the black nationalist organization known as the Black Panthers emerged as leaders of the expected revolution. Interweaving fascinating archival material with gripping first-hand accounts from members of the group’s rank and file, director Stanley Nelson’s definitive history reveals the […]

October 8, 2015

THE INVADERS

WORLD PREMIERE Inspired by militant black leaders like Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael, a new, radicalized generation of civil rights activists made up of young college students, Vietnam vets, musicians, and intellectuals emerged in Memphis in 1967. The Invaders espoused Black Power and, when pushed, did not limit themselves to non-violence. Prichard Smith uncovers the […]

October 8, 2015

NO MÁS BÉBES

NYC PREMIERE When Latina immigrants checked into Los Angeles County hospital to give birth in the 1960s and ’70s, the last thing they expected was to leave sterilized. Was there informed consent, as the physicians who performed the procedures maintain, or was this part of an insidious, racially motivated plan to limit the population of […]

October 8, 2015

BADDDDD SONIA SANCHEZ

NYC PREMIERE “I want to tell people how I became this woman with razor blades between her teeth.” So says Sonia Sanchez, a seminal figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, a poet who has harnessed her gift for words as a champion against racism, sexism and war, fusing art and activism over the past […]

October 8, 2015

CIRCLE OF POISON

WORLD PREMIERE When the federal government bans a chemical, deeming it harmful to the well-being of its citizens, few know that they actively encourage the manufacturer to export it abroad for profit. Evan Mascagni and Shannon Post’s pointed exposé reveals this disturbing practice, focusing on the global trade in banned pesticides, their devastating environmental and […]

October 8, 2015

FRACKMAN

US PREMIERE When Aussie everyman Dayne Pratzky left Sydney to build a home in rural Tara, he never expected he’d find himself in a battle over one of today’s most contentious issues: fracking. After the gas companies arrive to exploit the coal seam gas trapped beneath his land, Dayne learns he has no legal recourse […]

October 8, 2015

A GOOD AMERICAN

NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE The explosion of information in the digital age left government agencies like the NSA struggling with bureaucracy and technology to keep up with the changing times. Responding to the challenge, NSA technical director Bill Binney and a small team of codebreakers develop ThinThread, an astonishingly effective data collecting and sorting program that […]

October 8, 2015

I AM SUN MU

US PREMIERE After fleeing his native North Korea to defect to the south, the artist Sun Mu works under a defiant alias meaning “no boundaries” to criticize the repressive regime of Kim Jong-un. A former propaganda artist, he subverts familiar images which once glorified the Supreme Leader, transforming them into satirical political pop art. Offered […]

October 8, 2015

A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES: PEACEKEEPERS

US PREMIERE Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy (Saving Face) teams with filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir to follow a group of Bangladeshi women police officers on a UN peacekeeping mission to Haiti. We come to feel the emotional toll of a risky and grueling year abroad. Muslim women are often kept at a distance in the Western […]