Program reflects the growing diversity of nonfiction filmmaking forms in new films that investigate current events, explore unknown phenomena, reopen settled histories, and profile a host of unforgettable personalities, including John Belushi, Ruth Finley, Pope Francis, Joanna Harcourt-Smith,
Bill T. Jones, Jamal Khashoggi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barbara Lee, Shane McGowan, Sona Mohapatra, Lorine Padilla, Kenny Scharf, Nasrin Soutodeh, Tiny Tim, Billy Tipton, David Wojnarowicz, and Frank Zappa.
Viewfinders Competition Distinct Directorial Visions
40 YEARS A PRISONER
Dir/Prod: Tommy Oliver
Mike Africa, Jr. dedicates his life to exonerate his parents, members of the Black revolutionary group MOVE, imprisoned by police in Philadelphia in 1978.
A LA CALLE (World Premiere)
Dir/Prod: Nelson G. Navarrete, Maxx Caicedo
Prod: Shawna Brakefield-Haase, Marcus Cheek
Venezuela’s recent political upheavals are made vivid through this epic work exploring multiple perspectives in the national movement against the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.
ENEMIES OF THE STATE
Dir/Prod: Sonia Kennebeck
Prod: Ines Hofmann Kanna
Everything is not as it seems for an American family that flees to Canada to protect their hacker son from US government persecution.
JACINTA
Dir/Prod: Jessica Earnshaw
Prod: Holly Meehl, Nimisha Mukerji
After being released from the same prison in which her mother is incarcerated, a woman struggles to break the generational cycle of addiction and trauma.
LANDFALL
Dir/Prod: Cecilia Aldarondo
Prod: Ines Hofmann Kanna
An intimate and lyrical portrait of trauma, resilience, and resistance in Puerto Rico as the island faces new challenges in the aftermath of Hurricane María.
THE MEANING OF HITLER (World Premiere)
Dir/Prod: Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker
Prod: Mike Lerner, Dana O’Keefe
This provocative consideration of the lasting influence and draw of Hitler provides insight into the resurgence of white supremacy, antisemitism, and the weaponization of history.
SO LATE SO SOON
Dir: Daniel Hymanson
Prod: Trace Henderson, Josh Penn, Kellen Quinn, Noah Stahl
An intimate portrait of the energetic and beautifully eccentric Chicago-based artists Jackie Seiden and Don Seiden, married for five decades.
STATELESS
Dir: Michèle Stephenson
Prod: Lea Marin, Jennifer Holness
After the Dominican Republic strips the citizenship of residents of Haitian descent, attorney Rosa Iris fights to protect the rights of these now stateless people.
THINGS WE DARE NOT DO
Dir: Bruno Santamaría
Prod: Abril López Carrillo
An ephemeral profile of a Mexican teenager on the cusp of adulthood, conflicted between the desire to express their true sexuality and the expectations of family.
THROUGH THE NIGHT
Dir/Prod: Loira Limbal
Prod: Jameka Autry
A 24-hour childcare center proves indispensable for night-shift workers and single parents in this exploration of the personal cost of our modern economy.
THE VIEWING BOOTH
Dir/Prod: Ra’anan Alexandrowicz
Prod: Liran Atzmor
Filmmaker Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (The Law in These Parts) explores how willing people are to change their most deeply held beliefs when he asks an ardent supporter of Israel to reflect on footage of life in the occupied West Bank.
Metropolis Competition New York Stories
BLUE CODE OF SILENCE (International Premiere)
Dir: Magnus Skatvold, Greg Mallozzi
Prod: Håvard Wettland Gossé, Alex Fraioli
In the 1970s, NYPD Detective Bob Leuci turned informant on his own squad, becoming a hero to some, pariah to others.
CALENDAR GIRL (World Premiere)
Dir/Prod: Christian D. Bruun
Prod: Natalie Nudell
Ruth Finley, the nonagenarian queen of the fashion industry through her pink Fashion Calendar, founded in 1945, faces the end of an era as her iconic publication changes ownership. Co-presented by The Cut.
CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS (World Premiere)
Dir/Prod: Rosalynde LeBlanc, Co-Dir: Tom Hurwitz
Prod: Duana C. Butler
An engrossing examination of dance, love, and loss through the story of Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane’s signature performance piece on the devastation of AIDS. Co-presented by The WNET Group.
A COPS AND ROBBERS STORY (World Premiere)
Dir: Ilinca Calugareanu
Prod: Mara Adina
A decorated NYPD officer’s career is threatened when his political stances lead to revelations about his former life of crime.
DOPE IS DEATH
Dir: Mia Donovan
Prod: Bob Moore
With drugs ravaging New York City in the 1970s, the Young Lords and Black Panthers banded together to champion an alternative detoxification program: acupuncture.
FIVE YEARS NORTH
Dir: Zach Ingrasci, Chris Temple
Prod: Jenna Kelly
The parallel stories of an undocumented Guatemalan teenager and a Cuban-American ICE agent explore the complexity of the immigration debate.
HARLEM RISING: A COMMUNITY CHANGING THE ODDS
Dir/Prod: Rayner Ramirez
The inspiring story of the Harlem Children’s Zone Initiative, a revolutionary educational and social experiment which has transformed the lives of generations of children. Co-presented by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
LA MADRINA: THE SAVAGE LIFE OF LORINE PADILLA (World Premiere)
Dir/Prod: Raquel Cepeda
The “first lady” of the Savage Skulls reflects on the pivotal role of women in the 1970s New York City gang and her later shift to community activism.
MOMENTS LIKE THIS NEVER LAST (World Premiere)
Dir/Prod: Cheryl Dunn
Prod: Michael Karbelinikoff, Suroosh Alvi, Danny Gabai
In post 9/11 New York City, Dash Snow rejected a life of privilege to make his own way as an artist for a too brief but unforgettable time.
WOJNAROWICZ (World Premiere)
Dir/Prod: Chris McKim
Prod: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato
A powerful elegy to the late New York artist, writer, and filmmaker David Wojnarowicz, who embraced a defiant queer identity and fought against indifference to the AIDS crisis.
Individual tickets are $12 each ($9 for IFC Center members)
Five-Ticket Packs are $45, offering film lovers access to five festival selections.
End Part 2