Posted by Larry Gleeson

AFI DOCS has announced its Opening and Closing Night films, and Centerpiece and Special Screenings — with AT&T returning as Presenting Sponsor of the festival for the fifth consecutive year.

For its 16th edition, AFI’s annual celebration of documentary film in the nation’s capital will open with the world premiere of PERSONAL STATEMENT (DIRS Juliane Dressner and Edwin Martinez) and will close with UNITED SKATES (DIRS Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown).

This year’s program also includes ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW (DIR Rory Kennedy) as the Centerpiece.  The four Special Screenings will be the world premiere of THE COLD BLUE (DIR Erik Nelson), KINSHASA MAKAMBO (DIR Dieudo Hamadi), MR. SOUL! (DIRS Sam Pollard and Melissa Haizlip) and WITKIN & WITKIN (DIR Trisha Ziff).

The Opening Night screening of PERSONAL STATEMENT will be held on June 13 at the Newseum and will be followed by a Q&A with directors Juliane Dressner and Edwin Martinez.  The film centers on three Brooklyn high school seniors who are working as college counselors in their schools because many of their classmates have no one else to turn to for support.

The Closing Night screening of UNITED SKATES will be held on June 17 at the Landmark E Street Cinema and will be followed by a Q&A with directors Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown.  The film chronicles the fight to save roller-skating rinks, which have played a critical role in modern African-American culture.

The Centerpiece screening of ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW will take place at the National Air and Space Museum.  As NASA heads into its 60th anniversary, filmmaker Rory Kennedy looks back at the men and women who have built the institution, and whose boundless curiosity drives scientific progress forward.

Tickets to AFI DOCS, including Opening Night and Closing Night screenings, are now on sale at AFI.com/afidocs.

Descriptions of the films are below.

OPENING NIGHT SCREENING

PERSONAL STATEMENT:  Karoline, Enoch and Christine are Brooklyn high school seniors who just want to go to college, but like so many public school students, their schools don’t have enough college guidance support. But they refuse to give up and are determined to carry their classmates with them as they pursue their dreams.

CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING

UNITED SKATES:  Roller-skating has played a critical role in modern African-American culture, with rinks serving as both a haven of community and of artistic expression, and a flashpoint in the civil rights movement.  UNITED SKATES chronicles the fight to save these rinks, and the souls of communities nationwide.

CENTERPIECE SCREENING

ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA‘S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW:  Rory Kennedy tells the stories of the women and men behind the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s decades-long exploration of our solar system, our universe and our planet, in this enlightening film that celebrates NASA’s triumphs, mourns its tragedies and affirms the importance of its mission both in space and on Earth.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

THE COLD BLUE:  In 1943, legendary Hollywood director William Wyler crafted MEMPHIS BELLE, a celebrated tribute to the titular WWII bomber.  Using footage of the film from the National Archives, THE COLD BLUE features gripping narration from some of the last surviving B-17 pilots.  A meditation on youth, war and stunning bravery.

KINSHASA MAKAMBO:  Amid the backdrop of seemingly never-ending political and social unrest that hangs over the Democratic Republic of the Congo, three young activists take to the streets with their fellow countrymen to overthrow their country’s President and help enact much needed change in their politically beleaguered country.

MR. SOUL!:  An in-depth look at the late 1960s WNET public television series SOUL! and its producer Ellis Haizlip.  The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. SOLD OUT

WITKIN & WITKIN:  The artwork of septuagenarian twins Joel-Peter and Jerome Witkin transcends genres and traditional form.  WITKIN & WITKIN explores the brothers’ complicated relationship with one another, while examining depths and divisions in their work.  Joel-Peter’s stunning photography and Jerome’s powerful figurative paintings distinctly capture the human condition, reflecting differing emotional and intellectual approaches.

*Featured photo UNITED SKATES

(Source: afi.com)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

National Geographic photographer Neil Gelinas makes his directorial debut with INTO THE OKAVANGO, a visually stunning journey along the titular river that is the lifeline for wildlife throughout the African continent. Gelinas follows three passionate individuals — an ornithologist, bushman and a young scientist — as they embark on a four-month mission, plagued with uncertainty, to discover why the Okavango Delta is rapidly drying up. Spanning three countries, and witnessing Africa’s animal and bird population in visceral, jaw-dropping close-up, the team encounters the natural world in all its beauty, sadness and even danger, while trying to understand how to save one of the world’s last untouched wildernesses.

AFI spoke with director Gelinas about the film, which screens at AFI DOCS on Thursday, June 14, and Friday, June 15. Get tickets here.

AFI: There’s inevitably a point where, as a filmmaker, you read or see or realize something that lights that fire to make a subject into a documentary. When did that happen for you here?

NG: In 2012, I took vacation time to meet Steve and his brother Chris in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. They were doing their research on cavity nesting birds and I took along a camera. I’d film them working and exploring, and eventually put together a little reel. Steve was clearly a compelling character and the delta landscape and wildlife were so cinematically rich that I knew this was going to be my first attempt at a feature doc.

AFI: There’s such an obvious and incredibly difficult craft to making a documentary like this. What would you say was the most difficult scene to accomplish?

NG: It was really clear to me how we should introduce Water and Adjany, but Steve was far more challenging, because we’re simultaneously introducing this place, the Okavango Delta. How do you make it informative, but also emotionally engaging, without becoming too saccharine? It took so many iterations and interviews to get the tone right. In the end, it became like a romance that Steve has with the wilderness. At least, that’s what Brian and I were going for.

AFI: Steve appears incredibly personable, even vulnerable, right from the start. Was he readily happy to appear like this on camera or did this develop over time?

NG: I’ve known Steve since 2011, and the majority of the filming took place in 2015. We’ve worked together to materialize both the project and the film. He’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother. So, by 2015, for him to be filmed by me, it was a safe place. He and I share a lot of trust and respect for each other. We have to. We’ve taken this giant leap together.

AFI: How did Water come into your life?

NG: Steve worked with Water years ago in the delta. Steve was a camp manager and Water was a guide. Steve had kept in touch with him over the years, and it was sort of a shot in the dark when he asked him to join on the 2015 expedition. I hadn’t met Water, and was counting on GB to fill that on-camera role. GB’s still in the film, but it was clear there’s something magical about Water. It was a four-month expedition, but I think it was by day two that I’d made up my mind that Water would be a leading character.

AFI: There’s so much happening beyond Steve’s mission, things like the difference in background of the people involved, Adjany’s first memory being one of war. How did you find that balance of capturing both the personal motivations and stories within the film and the vast scenes of wildlife and the wilderness?

NG: Before even starting the 2015 journey, I knew the expedition wasn’t going to be compelling enough to carry a feature doc all by itself. I could rely on natural history, but for this character-driven story to mean anything, the audience was going to have to care about them. And of course, each character moment has to be motivated by the larger narrative. So it turned … [into] a lot of time in edit trying to make a delicious sandwich that had the right combination and balance of meat, veg and bread.

AFI: What are you hoping that people will take away from this documentary?

NG: Beyond understanding what the Okavango is and wanting to help save it, I hope they…value the relationship we as humans have with wilderness, and that we need to conserve the few wilderness areas we have left. Not just for the sake of wilderness or nature, but for us as human beings.

(Source: afi.com)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

AFI DOCS has announced that it will pay tribute to Steve James as the 2018 Charles Guggenheim Symposium honoree. James is the remarkable, Academy Award nominated filmmaker best known for HOOP DREAMS (1994) and ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL (2016).

Each year, the AFI DOCS Charles Guggenheim Symposium honors a master of the nonfiction art form. Taking place at the Warner Bros. Theater at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, on June 14, the Symposium will include an in-depth conversation with James along with clips from his acclaimed works and episode one of his new Starz docuseries, AMERICA TO ME. The Symposium will be moderated by Michael Phillips, film critic of the Chicago Tribune.

Each year, the AFI DOCS Charles Guggenheim Symposium honors a master of the nonfiction art form. Taking place at the Warner Bros. Theater at the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, on June 14, the Symposium will include an in-depth conversation with James along with clips from his acclaimed works and episode one of his new Starz docuseries, AMERICA TO ME. The Symposium will be moderated by Michael Phillips, film critic of the Chicago Tribune.

In AMERICA TO ME, James returns to the subjects that have marked his career — class, race and how the two affect social and economic mobility. James follows students at a public high school in suburban Chicago that is considered the gold standard of diversity, yet on the ground, he discovers a different story.

The acclaimed HOOP DREAMS began James’ long and fruitful affiliation with Kartemquin Films. James’ next documentary, STEVIE (2002), won major festival awards in the U.S. and internationally. THE INTERRUPTERS (2011) was a hit on the festival circuit, winning a dozen awards. LIFE ITSELF (2014) premiered to critical acclaim at Sundance and was named the best documentary of the year by more than a dozen critics’ associations. ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL was a 2018 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, and was nominated for numerous other awards, winning Best Political Documentary at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.

James joins a renowned list of Guggenheim Symposium honorees: Charles Guggenheim (2003), Barbara Kopple (2004), Martin Scorsese (2006), Jonathan Demme (2007), Spike Lee (2008), Albert Maysles (2009), Frederick Wiseman (2010), Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker (2011), Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (2012), Errol Morris (2013), Alex Gibney (2014), Stanley Nelson (2015), Werner Herzog (2016) and Laura Poitras (2017).

AFI DOCS is proud to have AT&T return as this year’s Presenting Sponsor. Passes and tickets to AFI DOCS, including the Charles Guggenheim Symposium, are now on sale at AFI.com/AFIDOCS.

(Source: afi.com)

Posted by Larry Gleeson

The Nation’s top documentary film festival has announced its 2018 film slate!

The American Film Institute’s AFI DOCS has announced its full slate of films for 2018 — with AT&T returning as Presenting Sponsor of the American Film Institute’s five-day documentary film festival in the nation’s capital.

The 16th edition will showcase 92 films representing 22 countries — including five world premieres, one international premiere, one North American premiere, eight U.S. premieres and four East Coast premieres.  This includes films in the VR showcase, which invites audiences to participate in immersive virtual reality experiences that represent the cutting edge of documentary storytelling.  AFI DOCS 2018 runs June 13–17 in Washington, DC, and Silver Spring, MD.

Audience Awards will be bestowed upon films based on the results of ballots cast by festival attendees.  The winners of the Audience Awards for Best Feature and Best Short will be announced on Monday, June 18.

As previously announced the festival will open with the world premiere of PERSONAL STATEMENT and will close with UNITED SKATES. ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW screens as the Centerpiece Screening.  Special Screenings include THE COLD BLUE, KINSHASA MAKAMBO, MR. SOUL! and WITKIN & WITKIN.

Passes and tickets to AFI DOCS 2018 are on sale to AFI members (at a discounted rate) and the public at AFI.com/AFIDOCS.  To become an AFI member, visit AFI.com/join.

Pictured at top: DON’T BE NICE

AFI DOCS 2018 PROGRAM 

OPENING NIGHT SCREENING – Wednesday, June 13

PERSONAL STATEMENT:  DIRS Juliane Dressner and Edwin Martinez.  USA.  Karoline, Enoch and Christine are Brooklyn high school seniors who just want to go to college, but like so many public-school students throughout the country, their schools don’t have enough college guidance support. Refusing to give up, they decide to work as college counselors in their schools, becoming the very resource they don’t have themselves.  World Premiere.

CLOSING NIGHT SCREENING – Sunday, June 17

UNITED SKATES:  DIRS Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown.  USA.  Roller-skating has played a critical role in modern African-American culture, with rinks serving as both a haven of community and of artistic expression, and a flashpoint in the civil rights movement.  UNITED SKATES chronicles the fight to save these rinks, and the souls of communities nationwide.

CENTERPIECE SCREENING – Friday, June 15

ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW:  DIR Rory Kennedy.  USA.  Rory Kennedy tells the stories of the women and men behind the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s decades-long exploration of our solar system, our universe and our planet, in this enlightening film that celebrates NASA’s triumphs, mourns its tragedies and affirms the importance of its mission both in space and on Earth.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS

THE COLD BLUE:  DIR Erik Nelson.  USA.  In 1943, legendary Hollywood director William Wyler crafted MEMPHIS BELLE, a celebrated tribute to the titular WWII bomber.  Using footage shot by Wyler from the National Archives, director Erik Nelson has made a new film, featuring gripping narration from some of the last surviving B-17 pilots.  A meditation on youth, war and stunning bravery.  World Premiere.

KINSHASA MAKAMBO:  DIR Dieudo Hamadi.  DRC, France, Germany.  Amid the backdrop of seemingly the neverending political and social unrest that hangs over the Democratic Republic of Congo, three young activists take to the streets with their fellow countrymen to overthrow their country’s President and help enact much needed change in their politically beleaguered country.  East Coast Premiere.

MR. SOUL!: DIRS Sam Pollard and Melissa Haizlip. USA.  An in-depth look at the late 1960s WNET public television series SOUL! and its producer Ellis Haizlip.  The series was among the first to provide expanded images of African Americans on television, shifting the gaze from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement.

WITKIN + WITKIN:  DIR Trisha Ziff.  Mexico.  The artwork of septuagenarian twins Joel-Peter and Jerome Witkin transcends genres and traditional form.  WITKIN & WITKIN explores the brothers’ complicated relationship with one another, and examines depths and divisions in their work.  Joel-Peter’s stunning photography and Jerome’s powerful figurative paintings distinctly capture the human condition, reflecting differing emotional and intellectual approaches.  U.S. Premiere.

FEATURE FILM SELECTIONS

209 RUE SAINT-MAUR, PARIS 10ÈME – THE NEIGHBOURS:  DIR Ruth Zylberman.  France.  After selecting a building at random in a Jewish neighborhood in Paris, French director Ruth Zylberman meticulously reconstructed its community of inhabitants during the German occupation.  What results is the spellbinding 209 RUE SAINT-MAUR, an experimental historiography that tells the emotional story of lives uprooted and destroyed under the Nazis.  U.S. Premiere.

ALONE IN THE GAME:  DIRS Natalie Metzger and Michael Rohrbaugh.  USA.  Outdated ideas and outright prejudice have made competitive sports one of the gay rights movement’s final frontiers.  ALONE IN THE GAME reveals how a new generation of queer and transgender athletes are scoring victories on and off the field by standing up for their rights — including the right to compete.  World Premiere.

AMÉRICA:  DIRS Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside.  USA.  At the heart of this film is 93-year-old matriarch América.  When an accidental fall lands her son in jail for neglect, her three freewheeling grandsons must reunite to get their father out of prison and their grandmother out of bed.  What emerges is an unforgettable and tender tale of familial love.

AMERICA TO ME:  DIR Steve James.  USA.  In this first episode of his excellent miniseries, Steve James returns to the subjects that have marked his career — class, race, and how the two affect social and economic mobility.  James follows students at a public high school in suburban Chicago that is considered the gold standard of diversity, yet on the ground, he discovers a different story.

BATHTUBS OVER BROADWAY:  DIR Dava Whisenant.  USA.  Steve Young is obsessed with industrial musicals, the often bizarre and hilarious productions commissioned by companies to celebrate their products at corporate conventions.  Follow him as he investigates this odd aspect of midcentury corporate culture, while continuing his search for gems like “Diesel Dazzle” and “The Bathrooms Are Coming!”

BISBEE ’17:  DIR Robert Greene.  USA.  Bisbee, Arizona, an old copper-mining town on the Mexican border, finally reckons with its darkest day: the deportation of 1,200 immigrant miners left to die in the middle of the desert in 1917.  Filmmaker Robert Greene captures the city’s residents as they commemorate this tragic event by staging a reenactment on its 100th anniversary.

BLOWIN’ UP:  DIR Stephanie Wang-Breal.  USA.  A New York City courtroom recommends a unique and compassionate intervention option to young women charged with prostitution: submit to free counseling sessions designed by a mentoring program to get you off the street, and your record will be expunged.  Are they ready to make that change?

CENTRAL AIRPORT THF:  DIR Karim Aïnouz.  Germany, France, Brazil.  A decade after ceasing operations, Berlin’s historic Tempelhof Airport has found a second life serving a new group of arrivals and departures: refugees now seeking asylum in Germany.  CENTRAL AIRPORT THF looks at the absurdity of life for migrants making the most of the long layover.

CHARM CITY:  DIR Marilyn Ness.  USA.  On the streets of Baltimore, the murder rate is approaching an all-time high, and distrust of the police reaches a fever pitch.  With neighborhoods in peril, residents attempt to diffuse the violence through cooperative efforts helmed by community leaders, compassionate law-enforcement officers and a progressive young city councilman.

COMBAT OBSCURA:  DIR Miles Lagoze.  USA.  Miles Lagoze was deployed as a combat photographer in Afghanistan, making videos for official Marine Corps recruitment purposes.  Compiled of outtakes from those videos, this disturbingly raw portrait of the conflict in Afghanistan exposes the gulf between the war we’re meant to see and the war as it really is.  East Coast Premiere.

CRIME + PUNISHMENT:  DIR Stephen Maing.  USA.  In 2015, a group of 12 whistleblower cops sued the NYPD for using illegal quotas despite a 2010 statewide ban on the practice.  A blood-boiling investigation into a corrupt organization, CRIME + PUNISHMENT follows these officers as they face retaliation for attempting to resist against racist practices.

DARK MONEY:  DIR Kimberly Reed.  USA.  A portrait of democracy under fire, DARK MONEY pulls back the curtain on big money in national politics.  Revealing how right-wing giants like the Koch brothers hide behind super PACs to do their bidding — in the forms of corporate-funded smear campaigns and dangerous legislation — this film is as timely as it is eye-opening.

THE DISTANT BARKING OF DOGS:  DIR Simon Lereng Wilmont.  Denmark, Finland, Sweden.  Taking an observational approach, this masterful film follows 10-year-old Oleg and his grandmother as they cope with life mere miles from the frontline of the war in Ukraine, showing how children navigate the trauma of conflict, while still seeing the world with naiveté and wonder.

DON’T BE NICE:  DIR Max Powers.  USA.  Following a diverse team of slam poets as they mine their feelings and personal experiences about race, sexuality, gender and popular culture to craft poems for national competition, DON’T BE NICE demonstrates how collaboration and communication between artists can allow them to better understand who they are and what they want to say.  U.S. Premiere.

FOR THE BIRDS:  DIR Richard Miron.  USA.  In Richard Miron’s surprising and empathetic film, we follow a woman named Kathy who lives with 200 pet birds.  What starts as a story about Kathy’s battle with local animal advocacy groups slowly transforms into an intimate drama about the toll of Kathy’s bird-hoarding — on her marriage and mental health.  North American Premiere.

FOSTER:  DIR Mark Jonathan Harris.  USA.  Oscar^® winners Mark Jonathan Harris and Deborah Oppenheimer (INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS: STORIES OF THE KINDERTRANSPORT) roam courtrooms, foster homes, juvenile halls and the streets of Los Angeles to tell the moving human stories behind the largest county child protection agency in the United States.  World Premiere.

THE GOSPEL OF EUREKA:  DIRS Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher.  USA.  A tiny Arkansas town is home to a popular live-action Passion Play — and a tightknit gay community centered around a lively drag bar.  A touching, upbeat look at an enlightened town that maintains a peaceful coexistence of two seemingly divergent groups through tolerance, love and inclusion.

GURRUMUL:  DIR Paul Williams.  Australia.  With the release of his debut album, blind indigenous Australian musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu became an unlikely star in both his homeland and in the larger world music scene.  But as Gurrumul’s fame grew, the balance between his culture’s way of life and a career in music proved tricky to maintain.  U.S. Premiere.

HAL:  DIR Amy Scott.  USA.  Surveying the works of iconoclastic filmmaker Hal Ashby (HAROLD AND MAUDE, THE LAST DETAIL, COMING HOME), director Amy Scott identifies how Ashby’s brilliant and seminal works helped define both the New Hollywood of the 1970s and the American experience for a decade.

HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING:  DIR RaMell Ross.  USA.  Winner of a Special Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, RaMell Ross’ assured feature debut is a lyrical look at the lives of two young African-American men born and raised in Alabama’s Hale County, the community that surrounds them and the paths they follow throughout the years.

HAPPY WINTER:  DIR Giovanni Totaro.  Italy.  The escapism of being on holiday gets a fascinating twist in Giovanni Totaro’s shrewdly observant HAPPY WINTER.  Mondello beach in Palermo, Italy, is a seemingly pleasant circus of bronzed vacationers milling about.  But behind the happy goings-on is a different story of collective denial about the looming economic crisis.  U.S. Premiere.

HESBURGH:  DIR Patrick Creadon.  USA.  He counseled presidents and popes, served on corporate boards and infuriated Richard Nixon.  He was one of the only friends to whom Ann Landers turned for advice.  During his 35 years as president of the University of Notre Dame, Theodore Hesburgh became one of the most influential and inspiring people of the 20th century.  World Premiere.

INTO THE OKAVANGO:  DIR Neil Gelinas.  USA.  National Geographic photographer Neil Gelinas makes his directorial debut with INTO THE OKAVANGO.  This visually stunning film follows three passionate individuals as they embark on a four-month journey along the titular river — witnessing Africa’s animal and bird population in visceral, jaw-dropping close-up — to discover why the Okavango Delta is rapidly drying up.

INVENTING TOMORROW:  DIR Laura Nix.  USA.  Laura Nix’s inspiring film follows high school students from around the world, many of whom hail from dangerously polluted countries, as they tackle daunting environmental issues affecting their communities.  Watch as the teens then bring their ingeniously proposed solutions to “the science fair of science fairs” — the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

IT WILL BE CHAOS:  DIRS Lorena Luciano and Filippo Piscopo.  USA.  Follow an Eritrean man and a Syrian family on dual quests for freedom amid the refugee crisis in the eastern Mediterranean.  Tension mounts as they battle the rough seas, harsh conditions and red tape standing in their way.  Will they make it to a new life in Europe?

THE LIBERATION:  DIRS Christoph Green and Brendan Canty.  USA.  Therapy sessions, cooking lessons and raw personal stories provide the drama in THE LIBERATION, DC-based filmmakers Christoph Green and Brendan Canty’s story of the formerly incarcerated men and women struggling to get through DC Central Kitchen’s 14-week culinary training program.  Can they make it and turn their lives around?  East Coast Premiere.

LOVE, GILDA:  DIR Lisa D’Apolito.  USA.  Lisa D’Apolito’s moving documentary LOVE, GILDA looks back at the exuberant life and courageous death of Gilda Radner, the first female superstar of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.  Using an abundance of archival photos and clips, along with confessional narration by Radner, the film paints a loving portrait of her short but spectacularly eventful life.

MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A.:  DIR Stephen Loveridge.  UK.  Drawn from 22 years’ worth of personal video footage, MATANGI / MAYA / M.I.A. is an intimate look at the life of rapper, songwriter and activist M.I.A., from her childhood in war-torn Sri Lanka, to her eventual rise to international stardom as one of the most thought-provoking artists working in music today.

MCQUEEN:  DIRS Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui.  UK.  This intimate profile offers unparalleled access to one of the fashion industry’s brightest stars, Alexander McQueen.  Brilliant, bold and informed by a British punk aesthetic, the designer was known for his exquisite and strikingly original clothes and his legendary runway shows — theatrical spectacles influenced by contemporary art, theater and photography.

MINDING THE GAP:  DIR Bing Liu.  USA.   First-time filmmaker Bing Liu turns the camera on himself, his family members and his skateboarder friends in this deeply moving depiction of three young men in a small Midwestern town grappling with issues of class, race and learning to overcome the cycles of family violence.

A MURDER IN MANSFIELD:  DIR Barbara Kopple.  USA.  Two-time Oscar^® winner Barbara Kopple takes on true crime, revisiting a horrific 1989 domestic murder in Ohio.  Collier Boyle was 12 when his father killed and buried his wife under the flooring of a remote countryside home.  Now an adult, Collier returns to Mansfield to face the lingering impact of his mother’s murder.

ON HER SHOULDERS:  DIR Alexandria Bombach.  USA.  Filmmaker Alexandria Bombach follows Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who gained international attention after escaping captivity by the Islamic State.  Forgoing sensationalism, Bombach’s award-winning film offers a fresh perspective on Nadia’s new life as a human rights activist raising awareness for her people and their plight.

OVER THE LIMIT:  DIR Marta Prus.  Poland, Germany, Finland.  As the 2016 Summer Olympics loom, Russian gymnast Margarita Mamun prepares to represent her country at this historic event.  But the path to the Olympics is not an easy one in this unflinching portrait of an athlete straining to retain her humanity while going for gold.  U.S. Premiere.

PICK OF THE LITTER:  DIRS Dana Nachman and Don Hardy.  USA.  Shortly after birth, five Labrador puppies enter the intensive two-year training program at California’s Guide Dogs for the Blind.  Here, only the best pups will make the cut to protect and serve blind partners, while others will have to change careers for good.

THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING:  DIR Nathaniel Kahn.  USA.  An examination of the contemporary art market through the eyes of artists, dealers and collectors, THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING is the latest work from Oscar^® nominee Nathaniel Kahn.  Illuminating complex dynamics between artistic intention and consumer behavior, the film begs the question: What value do we place on the priceless?

THE PROVIDERS:  DIRS Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green.  USA.  THE PROVIDERS follows three “country doctors” — health care providers working for a small network of clinics in northern New Mexico — as they confront the challenges of keeping those in their poor and opioid-plagued communities safe.  As the film movingly shows each doctor’s day-to-day responsibilities, a complex portrait emerges of small-town America.

SHIRKERS:  DIR Sandi Tan.  USA.  In 1992, Sandi Tan shot a film in Singapore with her friends and her American mentor, Georges.  As the film neared completion, Georges disappeared with the footage, leaving Sandi heartbroken.  Twenty years later, the footage is discovered, and the strange mystery of Georges begins to unravel.

THE SILENCE OF OTHERS:  DIRS Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar.  USA, Spain.  A quest for justice by those who suffered under the repressive regime of General Francisco Franco is at the heart of this powerful and provocative film.  Those who were tortured or had family members murdered are demanding the truth be told to the Spanish people, and the remaining perpetrators put on trial.  U.S. Premiere.

STUDIO 54:  DIR Matt Tyrnauer.  USA.  An Icarus tale unfolds to a disco beat in STUDIO 54, an intimate peek behind the velvet ropes, where mirror balls twinkled over Liza Minelli, Diana Ross, Mick Jagger and Andy Warhol in Matt Tyrnauer’s illuminating history of the rise and fall of the legendary New York nightclub.

THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES:  DIR Gene Graham.  USA.  Diving inside an unexpected subculture of Newark, THIS ONE’S FOR THE LADIES follows a group of women who throw weekly underground male exotic dance parties.  Exploring sexual identity and the meaning of community, the film is a unique portrait of the black experience in 21st-century America.

TRANSMILITARY: DIRS Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson.  USA.  Gabriel Silverman and Fiona Dawson make their stirring feature debut with TRANSMILITARY, following four individuals who come out as transgender to top officials at the Pentagon — a brave move that puts their military careers in jeopardy, and shows a struggle for equality that is more relevant than ever.

TRE MAISON DASAN: DIR Denali Tiller.  USA.  With a parent in prison, three Rhode Island boys tackle adult realities few of their peers can even imagine.  Unfettered access to three troubled but promising young lives produces an unforgettable perspective on the multigenerational consequences of U.S. incarceration, where one out of 14 kids has a parent with a prison history.

UNDER THE WIRE:  DIR Chris Martin.  UK.  In 2012, acclaimed journalist Marie Colvin illegally crossed the Syrian border to cover the country’s civil war.  She became one of the only voices reporting on the atrocities being committed against the Syrian people.  With breathtaking footage, UNDER THE WIRE profiles one woman’s drive to uncover the truth, no matter the cost.  International Premiere.

UNITED WE FAN:  DIR Michael Sparaga.  Canada.  UNITED WE FAN follows the ingenious save-our-show campaigns that have been spurred by passionate television uber-fans throughout the decades.  From STAR TREK to CAGNEY AND LACEY and CHUCK — plus many more — this delightful doc highlights the grassroots efforts needed to save beloved TV shows.  U.S. Premiere.

YOURS IN SISTERHOOD:  DIR Irene Lusztig.  USA.  More than four decades after the birth of Ms. Magazine, director Irene Lusztig combs the publication’s archives and pairs some of the most memorable letters, many never published, with contemporary readers to comment on just how far we’ve come — and what we still have to accomplish.

SHORT FILM SELECTIONS

THE ARTIFACT ARTIST:  DIR Russ Kendall.  USA.  An urban archaeologist unearths 300 years of New York City garbage to create 21st-century art.

BABY BROTHER:  DIR Kamau Bilal.  USA.  Chaos ensues when the youngest sibling moves back in with his parents.

BROTHER:  DIRS Daniel Klein and Hunter Johnson.  USA.  An American soldier befriends the Afghan translator who helped save his life.

LOS COMANDOS:  DIRS Joshua Bennett and Juliana Schatz-Preston.  USA.  In El Salvador, gang violence has overrun the country. Los Comandos de Salvamento is one of the few institutions standing up to the gangs’ reign of terror.

CRISANTO STREET:  DIR Paloma Martinez.  USA.  These are the moments that shape a childhood.

DEAD. TISSUE. LOVE:  DIR Natasha Austin-Green.  UK.  A female necrophile recounts her life experience and sexual awakening.

THE EARTH IS HUMMING:  DIR Garrett Bradley.  USA.  In Japan, earthquake preparedness is a way of life — and a full- blown industry.

EARTHRISE:  DIR Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee.  USA.  In 1968, the first image of Earth was captured from space. The world would never be the same.

EVERYTHING IS STORIES: REVILED AND MALIGNED:  DIR Daniel Navetta.  USA.  A Massachusetts mortician finds himself in the center of controversy over an infamous decedent.

FANTASY, FANTASY:  DIR Kaspar Astrup Schröder.  Denmark.  A charming look at the crucial years of development for autistic twin sisters Molly and Smilla.

FOOTPRINT:  DIR Sara Newens.  USA.  A contemplative view of how visitors experience and interact with the World Trade Center Memorial.

GIVE:  DIR David de Rozas.  USA.  A reverend seeks to preserve the monumental visual archive he has created, which displays centuries of black achievement.

GRAVEN IMAGE:  DIR Sierra Pettengill.  USA.  An exploration of the history of Georgia’s Confederate Memorial Carving and the memorial’s close ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

JULIUS CAESAR WAS BURIED IN A PET CEMETERY:  DIR Sam Green.  USA.  Visit the final resting place of some legendary companions.

KOKA, THE BUTCHER:  DIR Bence Máté.  Germany.  A young pigeon flyer leads his birds into a battle for the skies over Cairo.

MINI MISS:  DIR Rachel Daisy Ellis.  Brazil.  Amid the sparkle and the glamour, five preschoolers compete to be crowned Mini Miss Baby Brasil.

MY DEAD DAD’S PORNO TAPES:  DIR Charlie Tyrell.  Canada.  A filmmaker seeks to connect with his late father through the personal belongings he left behind.

ONE TWO ZERO:  DIR Anna Pawluczuk.  Poland.  Enter the intense world of Justyna, a nine-year-old girl training in rhythmic gymnastics.

PERIOD. END OF SENTENCE.:  DIR Rayka Zehtabchi.  India, USA.  In a rural village in Northern India, a group of local women acquire a new skill that helps them gain independence in more ways than one.

PERSONAL TRUTH:  DIR Charlie Lyne.  USA.  A look at how “fake news” and conspiracy theories emerge — and why they linger in the imagination.

PRACTICE:  DIR Iyabo Kwayana.  USA, Guyana.  Students near the Shaolin Temple engage in simple yet rigorous rehearsals.

QUIET HOURS:  DIR Paul Szynol.  USA.  A poet laureate lives in the fragile space between loneliness and welcome solitude.

REBUILDING IN MINIATURE:  DIR Veena Rao.  USA.  A displaced Iraqi artist makes incredibly detailed dioramas of places he has read about but has never seen.

ROOM 140:  DIR Priscilla Gonzalez Sainz.  USA.  Immigrants just released from detention centers spend their first night in an Oakland motel, paid for by one of the motel workers.

SKYWARDS:  DIR Eva Weber.  UK.  Filmmaker Eva Weber’s latest meditation on urban environments features striking scenes of pigeon enthusiasts in Delhi, India.

THEY JUST COME AND GO:  DIR Boris Poljak.  Croatia.  A Croatian beach town plays host to aging regulars and raging revelers in this sly observational study.

TRUE LOVE/TRUE CRIME ON AN AMERICAN BUS:  DIR Nicholas Coles.  USA.  A couple on a bus are helping to save historic Los Angeles one crime scene at a time.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND PLAYED AT MY HIGH SCHOOL:  DIRS Robert Pietri and Tony Jannelli.  USA.  An animated remembrance of a legendary band’s not-so-legendary gig.

THE WATER SLIDE:  DIR Nathan Truesdell.  USA.  Tragedy strikes the world’s tallest water slide.

VR SHOWCASE

AUTHENTICALLY US: SHE FLIES BY HER OWN WINGS:  Lead Artist: Jesse (Jesus) Ayala.  USA.  Driven by the military tenet of “Leave No One Behind,” Shannon Scott urges freedom and justice for all — from the marbled halls of Washington, DC, to the hallowed ground of those who championed equality before her.

DINNER PARTY:  Lead Artists: Angel Manuel Soto, Charlotte Stoudt, and Laura Wexler.  Puerto Rico.  Based on the true story of Betty and Barney Hill, an interracial couple who in 1961 reported the first nationally known UFO abduction, DINNER PARTY dramatizes with dazzling immersive intensity the radically different accounts that each of the Hills recalled through hypnosis.

GREENLAND MELTING:  Lead Artists: Catherine Upin and Nonny de la Peña.  USA.  In September 2016, NASA scientists went to Greenland to better understand what’s causing the ice to melt so fast. Experience what it’s like to be in Greenland: stand in the water in front of a glacier, fly at low altitudes over some of the world’s most stunning scenery and dive beneath the ocean’s surface to see what NASA’s studies are revealing.  East Coast Premiere.

THE HIDDEN:  Lead Artist: Lindsay Branham.  India.  Ten years ago in southern India, a family took out a loan of $70 U.S. dollars. When it wasn’t repaid, the creditor enslaved them, and their very bodies became a promissory note in an illegal debt scheme.  When the Indian government discovered the case, they set out to free the family.

MY AFRICA:  Lead Artists: David Allen, Dr. M. Sanjayan.  Kenya.  MY AFRICA is a virtual-reality journey to Northern Kenya, where the futures of wildlife and humans are intertwined.  Stand amid a thundering wildebeest migration, witness a lioness snatch her prey, go nose-to-trunk with an inquisitive baby elephant and meet a community dedicated to saving Africa’s wildlife.

MY AFRICA: ELEPHANT KEEPER:  Lead Artists: Adam May and Elliott Round.  UK, USA.  Learn more about the remarkable work undertaken at the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in Kenya as you become an elephant keeper.  Audiences can welcome and feed the baby elephant, Dudu, at the sanctuary, with real-world props creating an innovative and photorealistic interactive VR experience.

SANCTUARIES OF SILENCE:  Lead Artists: Adam Loften and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee.  USA.  Silence just might be on the verge of extinction, and acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton believes that even the most remote corners of the globe are impacted by noise pollution.  In SANCTUARIES OF SILENCE, join Hempton on an immersive listening journey into Olympic National Park, one of the quietest places in North America.

THIS IS CLIMATE CHANGE: FEAST:  Lead Artists: Danfung Dennis and Eric Strauss.  USA, Brazil.  Witness the beautiful expanse of Brazil’s ecologically valuable rainforest, threatened by loggers as massive trees are cleared to make way for sprawling industrial cattle ranches.  Can the Amazon survive the growing global demand for beef?

THIS IS CLIMATE CHANGE: FAMINE:  Lead Artists: Danfung Dennis and Eric Strauss.  USA, Somalia.  Audiences are transported directly into the arid expanse of Somalia, where crushing drought caused by rising temperatures has made once-fertile lands into a year-round desert, and has put the survival of a generation of malnourished children at great risk.

THIS IS CLIMATE CHANGE: FIRE:  Lead Artists: Danfung Dennis and Eric Strauss.  USA.  In just the last three decades, changes in climate have doubled the amount of land burned by wildfires in the western United States. Experience the scorching California fires of 2017, and follow the dedicated fighters — by air and on the ground — whose jobs have turned into year-round battles against these catastrophic blazes.

WHERE THOUGHTS GO:  Lead Artist: Lucas Rizzotto.  USA.  An intimate, social VR experience, WHERE THOUGHTS GO is set in a world where all human thoughts exist as sleeping creatures, each holding a voice message left by a previous visitor.  As they awaken, they reveal the dreams, experiences and fears of other people, and give the participant the opportunity to leave their own for others to find.

(Source: AFIDOCS Press Release)