Posted by Larry Gleeson
Programming Includes Spotlight Screenings of MOSQUITO and THE REAGAN SHOW at the Newseum
Screening of I AM EVIDENCE with Mariska Hargitay and World Premiere of TOUGH GUYS
Day One of the AFI DOCS Forum
Washington, DC, Thursday, June 15, 2017 — AFI DOCS presents a full schedule of Thursday’s events including the Spotlight Screenings of MOSQUITO and THE REAGAN SHOW at the Newseum. Mariska Hargitay will join audiences for a Q&A of I AM EVIDENCE and TOUGH GUYS has its world premiere. The 2017 AFI DOCS Forum kicks off at the Festival Hub in the District Architecture Center. These events and festival screenings further the mission of AFI DOCS: to bring filmmakers, our nation’s leaders and audiences together in the heart of Washington, DC.
WHO: Director Su Rynard and film subjects including former CDC Director Thomas
Frieden, MD; MalariaWorld’s Bart Knols, PhD; and South Miami Mayor Philip
Stoddard, PhD.
WHAT: MOSQUITO – SPOTLIGHT SCREENING
MOSQUITO is an urgent exposé on humankind’s millennia-long war against one of the biggest threats to the survival of our species, and on the efforts of scientists to keep this deadly menace at bay.
WHERE: Newseum, Annenberg Theater, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC
WHEN: 6:30 PM
WHO: Director Sierra Pettengill
WHAT: THE REAGAN SHOW – SPOTLIGHT SCREENING
Ronald Reagan brought a host of Hollywood savvy to the White House, with his team making unprecedented use of staged moments to inform popular opinion. Whether riding horses or grappling with Gorbachev, his administration crafted the story.
WHERE: Newseum, Annenberg Theater, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC
WHEN: 8:45 PM
Tickets for select screenings are still available. Order online at AFI.com/AFIDOCS. Same day tickets must be purchased in-person at festival venues: Landmark E Street Cinema, the Newseum and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center.
I AM EVIDENCE SCREENING WITH MARISKA HARGITAY
6:00 p.m. I AM EVIDENCE at Landmark E Street Cinema Theatre 3. Thousands of untested sexual assault evidence kits are languishing in storage facilities across the U.S. — and law enforcement inaction means serial perpetrators are at liberty to strike again. This urgent and eye-opening film investigates the backlog through the intertwined stories of four victims and those leading the fight for justice. Introduction and Q&A with producer Mariska Hargitay, directors Trish Adlesic and Geeta Gandbhir, and moderated by The Washington Post’s Monica Hesse.
WORLD PREMIERE OF TOUGH GUYS
8:30 p.m. TOUGH GUYS at Landmark E Street Cinema Theatre 1. Told through the colorful stories of scrappy brawlers and amateur promoters, TOUGH GUYS brings to life the birth of mixed martial arts competitions in 1980s Pittsburgh. Spotlight Screening. Expected guests include directors Henry Roosevelt and W.B. Zullo and producers Craig DiBiase, Morgan Spurlock and Rachel Traub.
AFI DOCS FORUM: DAY ONE
10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. Festival filmmakers and industry professionals will meet at the AFI DOCS Festival Hub at the District Architecture Center (DAC) for day one of the four-day AFI DOCS Forum. Open to all AFI DOCS passholders, each day of the Forum will include breakfast and lunch. Each day the Forum will explore a unique topic with keynote presentations, conversations, panel discussions and micro-meetings. Thursday’s Forum schedule will include:
10:00 a.m. Going to the Source: Documentary Funders Share Their Insights
Industry insiders discuss current funding priorities and new initiatives while exploring the ever-shifting documentary landscape and emerging trends in the funding world. Panelists include Dan Cogan, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Impact Partners; Melissa Fondakowski, Program and Development, The Redford Center; Sheila Leddy, Executive Director, The Fledgling Fund; Maida Brankman, Founder, Genuine Article Pictures; and Jax DeLuca, Media Arts Director, Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts.
11:30 a.m. Meet the Funders Meetings
Filmmakers connect with documentary funders in one-on-one, 15-minute micromeetings. Directors will sharpen their pitches, talk funding or get a focused critique of their work in progress trailer. Panelists include Pamela A. Aguilar, Senior Director of Programming and Development PBS; Maida Brankman, Founder of Genuine Article Pictures; Jax DeLuca, Media Arts Director at National Edowment for the Arts; Melissa Fondakowski, Program and Development at The Redford Center; Tamara Gould, Senior VP of National Productions and Strategic Partnerships at ITVS; Sheila Leddy, Executive Director of the Fledgling Fund; Wendy Llinas, Associate Director of Programming and Development PBS; Justine Nagan, Executive Producer at POV; and David Weinstein, Senior Program Officer at National Endowment for the Humanities.
2:00 p.m. Documentary: The Art of Canada
From the birth of motion pictures, Canada has been a driving force in documentary, and it’s easy to see why. Shot near Inukjuak, Quebec, Robert J. Flaherty’s 1922 film NANOOK OF THE NORTH is considered one of the world’s first documentaries — and it was Flaherty’s work that inspired John Grierson, father of the National Film Board, to coin the term “documentary.” So what’s up with our doc friends up north today? Find out as Hot Docs’ Shane Smith talks with the Canadian filmmakers featured in this year’s AFI DOCS.
A LOOK BACK AT WEDNESDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
At the Newseum on Wednesday, June 14, AFI DOCS kicked off its 15th edition with the Opening Night Gala and East Coast Premiere screening of ICARUS, from director Bryan Fogel. A panel discussion with director Bryan Fogel was followed by a reception.
OTHER THURSDAY EVENTS:
11:45 a.m. THE GROWN-UPS
AFI SILVER THEATRE 2
In Maite Alberdi’s delightful, award-winning portrait, a group of middle-aged adults with Down syndrome attend culinary classes in Chile. The students navigate life, love and making the perfect pastries, while dreaming of living independently.
12:30 p.m. SHORTS PROGRAM 1: YOUTH CULTURE
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 6
Featured films: EDUCATION, KOJO: A SHORT DOCUMENTARY, SHIVANI, “THE TALK” TRUE STORIES ABOUT THE BIRDS & THE BEES and WAITING FOR HASSANA. Expected guests include SHIVANI director Jamie Dobie and composer Jonathan Meiburg.
1:00 p.m. STEP
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 1
Meet the “Lethal Ladies,” the amazing step dance team from the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women. Amanda Lipitz’s inspiring portrait will have you cheering as the Ladies attempt to finish first in the city’s dance competition and to become the first women in their families to go to college.
1:30 p.m. SHORTS PROGRAM 4: FRAMING THE IMAGE
AFI SILVER THEATRE 3
Featured films: 116 CAMERAS, BETWEEN THE SAND, A FEW THINGS ABOUT ROBERT IRWIN, JOE BLAUSTEIN AND THE FLOOD OF FLORENCE, THE KODACHROME ELEGIES, THE MOVING CAMERA PROJET, TURTLES ARE ALWAYS HOME and WINTER’S WATCH. Expected guests include 116 CAMERAS director Davina Pardo, JOE BLAUSTEIN AND THE FLOOD OF FLORENCE director Alan Griswold and WINTER’S WATCH director Brian Bolster.
1:45 p.m. THE GIRL DOWN LOCH ÄNZI
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 7
Juggling the awkwardness of adolescence, the loneliness of rural life and the magnetism of a local legend, Alice Schmid’s hybrid doc follows 12-year-old Laura as she navigates life on a remote Swiss family farm. With humor and aplomb, Laura attempts to find a friend who can join her in searching a gorge for the titular mythological girl.
1:45 p.m. FOR AHKEEM
AFI SILVER THEATRE 2
Behind the headlines of Ferguson, MO, is 17-year-old Daje “Boonie” Shelton, a young woman from nearby North St. Louis struggling to make it to graduation, a goal further complicated by an unexpected pregnancy. Intimate and affecting, this delicately told coming-of-age story underscores the complexities of race and class in America. Expected guests include directors Jeremy S. Levine and Landon Van Soest, and producer Iyabo Boyd.
2:45 p.m. THE WORK
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 6
A moving story of redemption and renewal unfolds in this remarkable vérité film that follows a group of “outsiders” into California’s Folsom Prison to join inmates in an intense four-day therapy session. THE WORK garnered the top documentary prize at this year’s South by Southwest Film Festival. Expected guests include director Jarius McLeary, and producers Alice Henty and James McLeary.
3:30 p.m. ACORN AND THE FIRESTORM
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 1
Filmmakers Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard go behind the headlines and fake news reports to tell the story of the 2008 demise of ACORN. The longstanding community activist group was brought down by an undercover sting concocted by right-wing journalists impersonating a prostitute and her pimp. Expected guests include directors Reuben Atlas and Sam Pollard.
4:00 p.m. SHORTS PROGRAM 5: LABORS OF LOVE
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 7
Featured films: FIRST POLE ON MARS, THE FORGER, HAND.LINE.COD., THE RABBIT HUNT and STYROFOAM. Expected guests include THE FORGER director Alexandra Garcia and THE RABBIT HUNT producer Maida Brankman.
4:00 p.m. RESURRECTING HASSAN
AFI SILVER THEATRE 3
In Montreal, a family of blind street musicians cope with the death of their youngest member. As their lives begin to slowly fall apart, the family make a desperate attempt to overcome their tragedy by trying to find a way to bring their fallen kin back from the dead. Expected guests include director Carlo Guillermo Proto.
4:15 p.m. MUHI – GENERALLY TEMPORARY
AFI SILVER THEATRE 2
MUHI tells the story of a young boy from Gaza, separated from his family, whose very existence depends on the loving care he receives from an Israeli hospital. This deeply affecting film makes a compelling case against the border walls that divide families and communities. Expected guests include directors Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander and Tamir Elterman.
5:45 p.m. NO MAN’S LAND
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 6
In 2016, a well-armed band of anti-government militants led by the sons of renegade rancher Cliven Bundy took control of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon in an act of defiance against the feds. NO MAN’S LAND is the riveting account of the siege that followed and its aftermath. Expected guests include director David Byars.
6:15 p.m. THE CAGE FIGHTER
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 1
In this unflinching and intimate portrait, Joe Carman, a blue-collar Washington state dad, can’t shake his compulsion to compete in mixed martial arts. The violence in the ring only serves to intensify the family drama, as Carman’s wife and four daughters try to come to grips with his brutal hobby. Expected guests include producer Andrea Meditch and sound engineer Frank Scheuring.
6:15 p.m. WAITING FOR THE SUN
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 7
China has the largest number of prisoners on death row worldwide. The children of the condemned face social stigma and few options. Enter Grandma Zheng, a former prison guard who, via her orphanage Sun Valley, provides housing, education and a second chance for a normal life.
6:30 p.m. MAMA COLONEL
AFI SILVER THEATRE 2
In a country still recovering from the scars of war, the headstrong Colonel Honorine Munyole leads a special police unit in the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo — with the mission to serve and protect the women and children of her country when no one else will. Spotlight Screening. Expected guests include director Dieudo Hamadi and film subject Colonel Honorine (schedules permitting).
6:45 p.m. DONKEYOTE
AFI SILVER THEATRE 3
The symbiotic relationship between man and animal is front and center in Chico Pereira’s portrait of a 73-year-old Spaniard and his two beloved companions, a dog and a donkey. As he attempts a quixotic plan to travel to the U.S. to walk with them along the Trail of Tears, DONKEYOTE shows how the journey can be even richer than the destination.
8:15 p.m. A GRAY STATE
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 6
In 2010, Iraq and Afghanistan veteran turned filmmaker David Crowley began crowdfunding a large-scale action film forewarning of a future America gone police state. As chronicled here via his obsessive video journaling, he became a rising star among fringe right-wing groups over the next five years, all the while spiraling toward a violent, tragic and inexplicable end. Expected guests include director Erik Nelson.
8:45 p.m. WHAT LIES UPSTREAM
LANDMARK E STREET CINEMA THEATRE 7
Cullen Hoback’s trip to his home state of West Virginia to find out why the drinking water in Charleston has developed a strange smell turns into an eye-opening investigation into the dismal state of our nation’s water supply and the broken regulatory system behind America’s epidemic of dirty water. Expected guests include director Cullen Hoback and producer John Ramos.
8:45 p.m. LA CHANA
AFI SILVER THEATRE 2
Winner of the Audience Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, LA CHANA celebrates the incomparable talent and spirit of Spain’s greatest gypsy flamenco dancer as she reflects on her storied past while preparing for a return to the stage in her 70s. Expected guests include director Lucija Stojevic.
9:00 p.m. A GREEK WINTER
AFI SILVER THEATRE 3
In the wake of the Greek debt crisis, a spirited family from Thessaloniki must face the impossible choice of keeping their small business afloat or helping neighbors in need. In chronicling interactions with customers, the film presents the human toll of financial strife with restraint and emotional resonance. Expected guests include director Ingeborg Jansen.
About the American Film Institute
Celebrating its golden milestone, the American Film Institute began its mission on June 5, 1967 — to preserve the heritage of the motion picture, to honor the artists and their work and to educate the next generation of storytellers. Established by Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidential mandate in the White House Rose Garden, AFI is America’s promise to educate today’s audiences and tomorrow’s artists. The Institute was anchored by a foundation of luminaries from the film community including Gregory Peck as Chair, Sidney Poitier as Vice Chair, George Stevens, Jr., as Director and CEO with board members Francis Ford Coppola, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and Jack Valenti.
In 1969, AFI opened the Center for Advanced Film Studies, now called the AFI Conservatory, an elite MFA program whose inaugural class included Terrence Malik, Caleb Deschanel and Paul Schrader. The program’s acclaimed film and television alumni include Andrea Arnold, Darren Aronofsky, Julie Dash, Patty Jenkins, Janusz Kamiński, David Lynch and Robert Richardson, among others.
In addition to the AFI Conservatory, AFI programs include the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and the AFI Archive, which preserve film heritage for future generations; the AFI Life Achievement Award, the highest honor for a career in film; AFI AWARDS, honoring the most outstanding movies and TV series of the year; AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies television events and movie reference lists, which have introduced and reintroduced classic American movies to millions of film lovers; year-round and special event exhibition through AFI FEST presented by Audi, AFI DOCS and the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center. For more information about AFI, visit AFI.com or connect with AFI at twitter.com/AmericanFilm,
facebook.com/AmericanFilmInstitute, instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute and youtube.com/AFI.
About AFI DOCS
AFI DOCS is the American Film Institute’s annual documentary festival in Washington, DC. Presenting the year’s best documentaries, AFI DOCS is the only festival in the U.S. dedicated to screenings and events that connect audiences, filmmakers and policy leaders in the heart of our nation’s government. The AFI DOCS advisory board includes Ken Burns, Davis Guggenheim, Chris Hegedus, Werner Herzog, Rory Kennedy, Barbara Kopple, Spike Lee, Errol Morris, Stanley Nelson, D A Pennebaker, Agnès Varda and Frederick Wiseman. Now in its 15th year, the festival will be held June 14–18, 2017, in landmark Washington, DC, venues and at the historic AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, MD. Visit AFI.com/AFIDOCS and connect on twitter.com/AFIDOCS, facebook.com/AFIDOCS, youtube.com/AFI and instagram.com/AmericanFilmInstitute.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, business, mobile and high speed internet services. We offer the nation’s best data network* and the best global coverage of any U.S. wireless provider.** We’re one of the world’s largest providers of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. Nearly 3.5 million companies, from small to large businesses around the globe, turn to AT&T for our highly secure smart solutions.
AT&T Products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at facebook.com/att and YouTube at youtube.com/att.
© 2017 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. AT&T, the Globe logo and other marks are trademarks and service marks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
*Claim based on the Nielsen Certified Data Network Score. Score includes data reported by wireless consumers in the Nielsen Mobile Insights survey, network measurements from Nielsen Mobile Performance and Nielsen Drive Test Benchmarks for Q3+Q4 2016 across 121 markets.
**Global coverage claim based on offering discounted voice and data roaming; LTE roaming; and voice roaming in more countries than any other U.S. based carrier. International service required. Coverage not available in all areas. Coverage may vary per country and be limited/restricted in some countries.
(Press materials provided by: Gabrielle Flamand, AFI DOCS PR, 202.339.9598 or gabrielle@prcollaborative.com, Liza Ameen, American Film Institute, 323.856.7885 or LAmeen@AFI.com)
