Documentary Features Films

ALL OF US
Directed by: Emily Abt

ALL OF US is a feature documentary about a young Ethiopian-American doctor investigating the spiking rates of HIV/AIDS among African-American women. Her research takes us into the lives and relationships of her South Bronx patients, the women she meets on a trip to Ethiopia, and her privileged colleagues.

We learn that women across the boundaries of race, class and country (including the Harvard-educated doctor) must fight for their sexual rights. ALL OF US is about HIV/AIDS, but it is not a tragedy. It is a story of resilience, sisterhood, and courage.

FILM INFO: ALL OF US
USA/2008/82min/BETA/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Emily Abt
PRODUCER: Reva Goldberg/ Emily Abt
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Emily Abt

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ARUSI
Directed by: Marjan Tehrani

Filmmaker Marjan Tehrani chronicles her brother’s return to Iran as he travels with his American wife to have a traditional Persian wedding and explore his lost heritage. In weaving the couple's personal story with archival news footage, ARUSI considers the history and impact of the relationship between Iran and America. Behind the curtain of political tension, the film offers rare glimpses of both modern and traditional Iran, a vibrant and complex country that is sealed off to much of the West.

FILM INFO:ARUSI
IRAN/2007/63min/DIGIBETA/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Marjan Tehrani
WRITER: Azin Samari, Sheila Shirazi, Marjan Tehrani
PRODUCER: Marjan Tehrani
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kambiz Koushan

BALLOU
Directed by: Michael Patrei

BALLOU follows the talented Ballou High School Marching Band as its members overcome a negative environment filled with guns, drugs and violence and uplift the community with music, dedication, and personal sacrifice. They are on their way to a national band competition, but must overcome personal losses and cope with the repurcussions of the U.S. government’s neglect of their impoverished community, located just three miles away from the US Capitol building. Celebrities including Reverend Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, Congressman John Lewis, Marion Barry, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, and Chuck Brown are featured in the film

FILM INFO:BALLOU (New York Premiere)
USA/2008/90min/BETA/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Michael Patrei
WRITER: Michael Patrei
PRODUCER: Casey Callister
FEATURING: Darrell Watson, Rhia Hardman, Kenneth Horne, Lewis Franklin, Colin Powell, Rev Jesse Jackson, John Lewis, Denyce Graves, Chuck Brown, Marion Barry

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BIG SNOOP DOGG’S YOUTH AUTHORITY
Directed by: Gabriel London

BIGG SNOOP DOGG’S YOUTH AUTHORITY is a film collaboration between Snoop Dogg and the filmmakers Gabriel London and Jonathan Stack that tells Snoop’s own story as a way of teaching at-risk youths that alternatives exist to the streets-to-prison cycle that Snoop once lived. Snoop himself spent time inside California's notorious "Youth Authority" (known as the CYA), which in recent years has come under harsh criticism for failing to rehabilitate its young wards. The documentary interweaves the stories of youth still caught up in the lifestyle – both in and out of jail - with Snoop’s own eerily familiar story

BIGG SNOOP DOGG’S YOUTH AUTHORITY (New York Premiere)
USA/2007/42min/DIGIBETA/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Gabriel London
PRODUCERS: Jonathan Stack, Ted Chung, Colleen Hard, & Gabriel London
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Gabriel London

CALAVERA HIGHWAY
Directed by: RENEE TAJIMA PENA

When Armando and Carlos Pena set off to carry their mother’s ashes back to the Texas borderlands and reunite with their brothers, the road reveals more than they bargained for. CALAVERA HIGHWAY traces the brothers’ odyssey as they decipher a complex story – why their mother was cast out by her own family and what happened to their father, who disappeared during the notorious 1954 U.S. government deportation program, “Operation Wetback,” which forced over one million Mexican and Mexican Americans across the border.

CALAVERA HIGHWAY is a sweeping saga of seven brothers grappling with the meaning of masculinity, fatherhood, and the nature of family ties.

FILM INFO:CALAVERA HIGHWAY
USA/2008/83min/DIGIBETA/COLOR
FILM BY: Renee Tajima-Peña & Evangeline Griego
WRITER: Armando Peña & Renee Tajima-Peña
PRODUCER: Evangeline Griego & Renee Tajima-Peña
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jonathan Schell

FAMILIAR VOICES
Directed by: Danny Mendoza

FAMILIAR VOICES is a self-financed, feature length, and not-for-profit documentary that depicts global reactions to the ongoing crisis in Darfur. It seeks to engage those audiences in a respectful dialogue by helping them to clearly understsand their relationships to this crisis. The film includes interviews conducted throughout the U.S. and Canada and footage from South Darfur, Eastern Chad, and the Central African Republic. Through the voices of Nobel Peace Prize winners, soldiers, Darfuri refugees, celebrities, humanitarian aid workers, politicians, university level (and fifth-grade) activists, U.S. protesters, and others, messages of responsibility and hope are delivered in new, concrete, and accessible ways.

FILM INFO: FAMILIAR VOICES (New York Premiere)
USA-CANADA-SUDAN-CHAD/2008/77min/DIGIBETA/COLOR & B/W
DIRECTOR: Danny Mendoza
SCRIPT ASSEMBLY: Mimi Belt & Danny Mendoza
PRODUCER: Danny Mendoza
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Mimi Belt & William J. Gonzalez
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alan Jeffries
FEATURING: Mia Farrow, Professor Eric Reeves, Rebecca Hamilton, Jody Williams, Professor Elie Wiesel, Senator Romago Dallaire, Dr. David Pronka, & Ruth Messinger

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LA AMERICANA
Director/Producer: Nicholas Bruckman

Carmen never planned to leave her native Bolivia, but when her nine-year-old daughter Carla became gravely ill, Carmen made the dangerous and illegal move to New York City in order to earn enough money to support her ailing daughter. After six years of separation, the U.S. Congress proposes ‘amnesty’ legislation that could allow Carmen and Carla to be reunited again. Will Carmen stay and fight for the American dream, or return home as promised for Carla's quinceañera? Filmed in three countries and told through an intimate cinema-vérité narrative, Carmen's story lends a human face to the current and controversial debates surrounding U.S. immigration policy.

LA AMERICANA
USA-BOLIVIA-MEXICO/2008/65min/DIGIBETA/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Nicholas Bruckman
CO-DIRECTOR: John Mattiuzzi
PRODUCER: Nicholas Bruckman
CO-PRODUCER: Jesse Thomas
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Nicholas Bruckman, John Mattiuzzi, & Jesse Thomas

Malcolm’s Echo: The Legacy of Malcolm X
Directed by: Dami Akinnusi

MALCOLM’S ECHO: THE LEGACY OF MALCOLM X is a powerful and timely discussion of how Malcolm X’s thoughts and philosophies are being used as a foundation to create a new vision. The film looks beyond the stereotypes of Malcolm X and attempts to understand the real message of his legacy, as told by those who knew him. The film integrates contributions from Professor Small, Anthony Borwder, Dr Ben, Toure, Fab 5 Freddy, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique and more.

MALCOLM’S ECHO: A LEGACY OF MALCOLM X (East Coast Premiere)
UK/2007/84min/4:3/COLOR-B&W
DIRECTOR: Dami Akinnusi
WRITER: Dami Akinnusi
PRODUCER: Darkling Productions
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dami Akinnus
FEATURING: Professor James Small, Dr Yosef Ben, Anthony Browder, Dr John Henrik Clarke, Fab 5 Freddy, Dead Prez, Immortal Technique

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ONE BAD CAT
Directed by: Thomas Miller

ONE BAD CAT is about the transformative role art plays in the tumultuous life of 82 year-old African-American and renowned “outsider” artist Reverend Albert Wagner. Racism, ego and lust led him to the brink of ruin. Miraculously turned onto religion at age 50, he was inspired by God to paint. The product of a racist Southern upbringing, Albert’s artwork encouraged members of the African-American community to strengthen their spirituality and live up to their potential. However, he simultaneously accused them of self-oppression, a disregard for familial responsibility and a weakness for sexual gratification, which ultimately created as many detractors as champions.

ONE BAD CAT: THE REVEREND ALBERT WAGNER STORY (East Coast Premiere)
USA/2008/81min/BETASP/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Thomas G. Miller
WRITERS: Thomas G. Miller & M.R. Stiff
PRODUCER: Thomas G. Miller
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Shana Hagan

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SLINGSHOT HIP HOP
Directed by: Jackie Reem Salloum

SLINGSHOT HIP HOP weaves together the stories of young Palestinians living in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and separation walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.

SLINGSHOT HIP HOP
USA-PALESTINE/2008/83min/HDCAM/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Jackie Reem Salloum
PRODUCERS: Jackie Reem Salloum, Rumzi Araj, & Waleed Zaiter
FEATURING: Tamer Nafar, Suhell Nafar, Mahmoud Jreri, Mahmoud Shalabi, Mohammed Al Farra, Motaz Alhweihi, Mahmoud Fayad, Nahwa Abed Al’al, Safaa Hathoot, Abeer Al Zinati, Ibrahim Abu Rahala, Alaa Bishara, Adi Krayem, Anan Kseem

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SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING
Directed by: Robert Small

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING digs into the unexplored world of hip hop theatre– its history, its influence, its breakthroughs and its fight to be recognized. The film looks at how the movement has manifested itself around the world and the political potential it carries. It also explores Hip Hop culture as a lifestyle outside of the looming shadow of rap music, tracing where the culture was born and what messages have been lost in its commercialization.

SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING
USA/2007/64min/BETA/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Robert Small
WRITER: Robert Small
PRODUCER: Robert Small
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Brian Mait
FEATURING: Danny Hoch, John Leguizamo, Reg E Gains, Will Power, The Last Poets, Toni Blackman, & Jerry Quickly

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THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WATER
Directed by: Jeremy Robins

Part carnival, part vodou ceremony and part grassroots protest, Haitian Rara is one of the most breathtaking and contested forms of music in the Americas. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WATER follows a group of young immigrants who take this ancient music from the hills of Haiti and reinvent it on the streets of Brooklyn. The documentary tells the story of an unlikely band that comes to speak for a larger community and a music that manages to create a new meaning of home in the diaspora.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WATER (World Premiere)
USA/2008/73min/BETASP/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Jeremy Robins
PRODUCERS: Jeremy Robins & Magali Damas
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jeremy Robins
FEATURING: DJARARA

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THIS IS THE LIFE
Directed by: AVA DUVERNAY

THIS IS THE LIFE chronicles a group of young artists from South Central L.A. In the early 90s, these teenagers would gather weekly at The Good Life, a health food store on Crenshaw Boulevard, to create music together. Their underground recording in 1994 influenced such stars as Ice Cube, Mos Def and Black Eyed Peas. Largely unknown to mainstream audiences, these young people attracted an almost cult-like international following.

FILM INFO: THIS IS THE LIFE (New York Premiere)
USA/2008/97min/BETA/COLOR
DIRECTOR: Ava DuVernay
PRODUCERS: Ava DuVernay & Ellene Miles
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Issac Klotz