2023 FEATURE FILMS
Dir. Theo Montoya; 2022; 72 min.
Blurring the lines of reality, director Theo Montoya leads the viewer through a magical-realism journey to recover the memories of his friends and chosen family.
Dirs. Adéla Komrzý & Tomáš Bojar; 2022; 102 min.
Through amusing and frustrating moments at a prestigious Czech art institute, professors set up an elaborate enrollment test for prospective students.
Dirs. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker & Joe Peeler; 2022; 98 min.
A fearless indigenous journalist fights for independent media and democracy in her community. Presented by Paytient
Dirs. Christopher Sharp & Moses Bwayo; 2022; 114 min.
Activist-musician Bobi Wine runs for the presidency of Uganda daringly opposing a 35-year-long regime. Presented by Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy
Dir. SU Ming-Yen; 2022; 85 min.
In a Taiwanese sex-doll hotel, glimpses of the workers’ lives and a haunting disembodied monologue reverberate.
Dir. Gregoris Rentis; 2022; 78 min.
Armed guards, hired to protect ships from Somali pirates, restlessly live their everyday lives while constantly anticipating an attack.
Dir. Terra Long; 2023; 90 min.
In California’s Coachella Valley, miles of imported date palms, planted over generations, tell the story of a landscape and community in transition.
Dir. Burak Çevik; 2023; 70 min.
A couple meditate on their long-past relationship while delving deeply into the recesses of the decay of time and memory.
Dir. Alessandro Comodin; 2022; 102 min.
Sleepy summer days unfold in this hybrid portrait of a gregarious local police officer on patrol through the Italian countryside.
Dirs. Michèle Stephenson & Joe Brewster; 2022; 102 min.
An Afrofuturist exploration of renowned poet Nikki Giovanni’s life, legacy, and hopes for the future.
Dirs. Alejandra Vasquez & Sam Osborn; 2022; 104 min.
In Southern Texas, a group of talented young musicians and their formidable coach vie for a chance to win the state championship in mariachi.
Dir. Sofia Paoli Thorne; 2022; 72 min.
Healing from the trauma of the Paraguayan dictatorship, Celsa uses herbs to mend deep wounds left from her imprisonment and torture.
Dir. Leslie Tai; 2023; 117 min.
A kaleidoscopic portrait of the birth tourism industry, following Chinese mothers in a Californian “maternity hotel.”
Dirs. Silvia Del Carmen Castaños & Estefanía “Beba” Contreras; 2023; 78 min.
Two filmmakers find healing in their everyday joyful antics on the streets of Laredo, Texas.
Dir. Victoria Linares Villegas; 2022; 84 min.
A revelation about her family connection to an influential Dominican director from the 1940s sets a filmmaker on her own playful path of self-discovery.
Dir. Sierra Urich; 2022; 103 min.
A filmmaker attempts to break down language barriers with her Iranian grandmother to finally understand her relationship to her heritage.
Dirs. Sebastián Pinzón Silva & Canela Reyes; 2022; 77 min.
Decades after they were forced to flee their village in the Colombian jungle, a community makes a poetically rendered return home.
Dir. Deborah Stratman; 2023; 50 min.
An experimental, science fiction-meets-science fact meditation on the evolution and extinction of human life from the point of view of rocks.
Dir. Daniela Muñoz Barroso; 2021; 77 min.
In this verité search for a late, legendary female conga musician, a filmmaker with progressive hearing loss seeks to find traces of herself.
Dir. Amiel Courtin-Wilson; 2022; 97 min.
Intimate observation and loving testimony are mixed with poetic moments in this thoughtful portrait of a terminally ill man who has scheduled his death.
Dir. Milisuthando Bongela; 2023; 128 min.
Interrogations of the past fuse profoundly with investment in the future in this kaleidoscopic look at apartheid through its victims and the filmmaker’s own self.
Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf; 1996; 78 min.
An Iranian filmmaker seeks to reconcile through recreating the moment when he stabbed a police officer during a political rally. Curated by Victoria Linares Villegas as part of the True Vision retrospective program.
Dir. Anita Mathal Hopland; 2022; 87 min.
A biracial director meditates on identity, relationships, and home in this striking personal portrait shot over 15 years between Denmark and Pakistan.
Dir. Elizabeth Mirzaei; 2023; 76 min.
A young woman pursues her faith, in the face of societal pressures, to become a nun.
Dir. Claire Simon; 2022; 168 min.
Director Claire Simon follows doctors and patients at a gynecology ward in France. Presented by Flow’s Pharmacy
Dir. Alexander Abaturov; 2022; 89 min.
A Siberian village fights apocalyptic wildfires without help from Moscow. Institutional neglect vies with mythic elemental forces in this intimate portrait of a community.
Dir. Mohanad Yaqubi; 2022; 71 min.
Films about the Palestinian liberation struggle—housed in a Japanese archive—are interwoven to create an essay on transnational solidarity and cinema as propaganda.
Dir. Victoria Linares Villegas; 2023; 83 min.
An actress interviews several pregnant teenage girls in preparation for playing a fictional film character, which raises questions over her suitability for the role. Presented by Restoration Eye Care
Dir. Kit Vincent; 2023; 94 min.
Diagnosed with a terminal illness, a filmmaker documents the power of family and friendship in the face of adversity.
Various directors; 92 min.
Each short in this program intricately weaves stories of growth, potential, and overcoming cultural barriers through our love of art and everyday humanity. (Featuring: “Aqueronte,” “Margie Soudek’s Salt and Pepper Shakers,” “Jill, Uncredited”, “Before it Breaks”, and “Away”)
Various directors; 100 min.
Soaring from outer space to the depths of the earth’s core, the program blends films from different genres and mediums to explore the intrinsic connection between the universe and humanity. (Featuring: “The Empty Sphere”, “Visão do Paraíso”, “Echo”, “Aralkum”, “Language Unknown”, Tierra de Leche”, and “Anima”)
Various directors; 77 min.
From undying love to heartache, cell phone screens to 16mm footage, the shorts in this program make up a kaleidoscope of emotions, feelings, and relationships. (Featuring: “Moomin”, “love at first byte”, “Example # 35″, “No Elements”, “While the Night Falls/Mientras Anochece”, and “You Are Not Here”)
Dirs. Kristen Lovell & Zackary Drucker; 2023; 85 min.
A filmmaker documents their personal connection to the rich history of the trans community in New York City’s Meatpacking District.
Dir. Chloe Abrahams; 2023; 75 min.
In an attempt to salvage the long-strained relationship between her mother and grandmother, a filmmaker confronts traumatic family secrets with her camera.
Dir. Dervis Zaim; 2022; 93 min.
In this imaginative verité film an infamous scam artist, who is suffering with diabetes, is released from prison and given a last chance at redemption.
Dir. Maksym Melnyk; 2022; 85 min.
As he documents life in a rural region of Ukraine, a filmmaker becomes part of village life himself. Presented by Show Me Quality Consulting
Dirs. Brian Becker & Marley McDonald; 2023; 80 min.
An immersive, all-archival retelling of the “Y2K” millennium bug and the mass hysteria that changed the fabric of modern society. Presented by Van Matre Law Firm
Dirs. Raphaël Grisey & Bouba Touré; 2022; 122 min.
A textured range of archive material and testimony interwoven in this evocation of Somankidi Coura, an anti-colonial farming collective in Mali.