95 Never Looked So Good | USA | 2016 | 8' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Tymm Holloway
This Documentary short highlights Simeon Holloway accomplishments from early beginnings to the prominent historical record of his involvement in the elite first all-Black US B-1 Navy Band. The first African Americans to serve in the modern Navy at any general rank with no recognition from the Navy. Divulging the story of the oldest Negro Navy Band. He unveils a passion to stay on the road even if driving.
Screens in the short film block: Ageing Gracefully on Wednesday, March 21, 3:30 pm
Beyond the Beyonds | UK | 2017 | 30' | World Premiere
Director: Laurence Powell
Film on the life and work of Irish based artist, UK Birmingham born 81-year-old painter, John Kingerlee.
Screens in the short film block: Ageing Gracefully on Wednesday, March 21, 3:30 pm
BEYOND THE GRID | USA | 2017 | 29' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Vinit Parmar
This ethnographic portrayal poetically captures the lives of impoverished, remote island villagers in India’s Varanasi region. They have lived without electricity for eons, and now, quite possibly they are the first developing village to switch to renewable energy.
Screens in the short film block: Sustainable Communities on Sunday, March 18, 4:00 pm
BIG HIPS BIG DREAMS | USA | 8' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Melanie McLean Brooks
Big Hips, Big Dreams follows a woman during what seems like an ordinary day--through her daily routines, her thoughts on personal hygiene, love and a life-long pursuit to be comfortable in her own skin. As night falls, though, she finds solace in the glitz of New York City’s burlesque scene and finds that unraveling her layers of fringe and rhinestones is the perfect way to just be herself— Tina Tassels.
Screens with the documentary Transformer on Saturday, March 17, 9:30 pm
COMMON GROUND | Cyprus | 2017 | 20' | U.S. Premiere
Directors: Nicolas Iordanou & Sylvia Nicolaides
Following the war in 1974, in which more than 200,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots were displaced, the island of Cyprus has remained divided until today, separating the two communities that once lived together. An art project between children of the two communities that never actually met, but exchanged video messages between them and materials from their city, creates a communication bridge between them. English, Greek, Turkish with English subtitles.
Screens with the documentary Doing Nothing all Day on Saturday, March 17, 1:00 pm
DRAGTIVISTS | USA | 2017 | 6' | New York State Premiere
Director: Savannah Rodgers
Dragtivists is a short documentary about the intersection of activism and drag performance.
Screens with the documentary Transformer on Saturday, March 17, 9:30 pm
EILA | Demark | 2016 | 13' | U.S. Premiere
Director: Cecilie Nørgaard
The film is a sensuous, academically based, existential portrait of Eila - a 85 year old lesbian trans woman, who is struggling - a decade after her transition - to define herself as the woman she has always felt like being - and to get to understand how it happened that the circumstances that finally made her identity complete, felt like devastating others. Despite the relational complications, the story of Eila reminds us that it is never too late to become oneself.
Screens in the short film block: Ageing Gracefully on Wednesday, March 21, 3:30 pm
GOLD METTLE | USA | 2017 | 30' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Nicholas Carney
While this film is about the success of Delaware county’s soccer teams,it is firstly the story of a group of athletes who come together against all odds to achieve something greater than themselves. Gold Mettle is a film that inspires audiences to reach beyond themselves and support others in endeavors that build communities of support and celebration.
Screens in the short film block: Whose Disability? on Friday, March 16, 3:30 pm
Director: Matthew Gannon
This documentary explores the plight of the 3.5 million Americans who experience homelessness each year and calls on Congress to act on their behalf. In creating it, first-time student director Matt Gannon hopes to prompt people to stop and think about the issue of homelessness, in order to spark real and tangible change.
Screens in the short film block: Where is Home? on Monday, March 19, 3:30 pm
JOURNEY WITHOUT A MAP | USA | 2107 | 16' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Jill Woodward
In the short documentary Journey without a Map, Abdul discovers an unlikely passion in contemporary dance, tapping into the healing power of art as he seeks asylum in Greece from his native Afghanistan.
Screens in the short film block: Where is Home? on Monday, March 19, 3:30 pm
LIFE IN STRIDES | USA | 2017 | 19' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: The Institute for Documentary Filmmaking - Life in Strides team
Jake, a young man with autism, has become a champion in therapeutic horseback riding. Jake’s mother Joanne has been by his side throughout his riding career, helping her son stay calm on his horse. Now, Jake is put to the test as he enters his first non-therapeutic riding competition, where the circumstances are outside Jake and Joanne’s control.
Screens in the short film block: Whose Disability? on Friday, March 16, 3:30 pm
MERCEDES: PORTRAIT OF STREET SWEEPER | USA, Cuba | 2016 | 8' | N.Y. Premiere
Directosr: Amie Williams & Meena Nanji
In the final months before the embargo is lifted, Mercedes works as a street sweeper in Old Havana and shares her life and dreams.
Screens with the documentary Shiners on Saturday, March 17, 5:30 pm
OBJECTOR | USA, Israel | 2017 | 16'
Director: Molly Stuart
As a 19-year-old Israeli, Atalya is obligated to enlist in the armed forces. But she has witnessed military rule in the occupied Palestinian territories – a reality that most other young Israelis never experience – and one that leads her to become a conscientious objector. The film offers a window into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the perspective of a Jewish woman making an uncommon sacrifice.
Screens with the documentary Hotel Everest on Tuesday, March 20, 9:30 pm
PEACEKEEPER | USA | 2017 | 13'
Director: Nicholas Markart & Tyler Knutt
Native Americans from Standing Rock speak out on the pipeline, the repetition of history, and their roles as water-protectors in a struggle for modern sovereignty.
Screens with the documentary Keep Believing on Sunday, March 18, 9:30 pm
REfUSE–A FOOD JOURNEY | UK | 2017 | 5' | World Premiere
Director: Nick Whitworth
Social enterprise REfUSE collects food that would otherwise go in the bin to make delicious Pay-As-You-Feel meals. Their vision is to reveal the true value of things, places and people that are unjustly wasted or overlooked.
Screens in the short film block: Sustainable Communities on Sunday, March 18, 4:00 pm
STREAMS OF PLASTIC | France | 2017 | 5' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Thierry Rigoine de Fougerolles
There is a Global Alert on Floating Trash. Rivers and creeks are like arteries flowing to our heart, the Ocean. Plastic pollution is like cholesterol trying to get to the heart, downstream. Join us for a journey to Central America and South-East Asia where groups are helping to stop the flow of community's "cholesterol" - plastic pollution before it impacts those downstream, or once at sea and along our coastlines and reefs. They are using the power of the Global Alert App tool to help inspire cleanups and long-term solutions to slow the flow of trash in their waters, with the "Don't Lose It" attitude before it is too late, and the plastic starts to impact the environment around them.
Screens in the short film block: Sustainable Communities on Sunday, March 18, 4:00 pm
THAT WAS NEW YORK | USA | 2017 | 6' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Bek Markas
Bek Markas a kid born and raised in New York City goes on a search to speak with his favorite characters who were once just like us trying to make it in this town when 'New York was New York.
Screens with the narrative feature Darcy on Thursday, March 22, 8:00 pm
THE FALL OF THE BAMBOO AND THE RISE OF A COMMUNITY
Directors: Raúl Capote Braña, Jan-Kåre Breivik & Solvei Stoutland
A short documentary around action learning and creation of a laboratory for social change based on two experimental university workshops (2014 and 2016) for master students from diverse fields (social science, community work, theatre/music) in Bergen, Norway. Key topics have been - physical ensemble work, dumpster diving, community music/drumming, photovoice, Facebook activism, ritual sharing/bartering, baking bread, and the art of making socially relevant parades etc.
Screens in the short film block: Sustainable Communities on Sunday, March 18, 4:00 pm
THE FORGOTTEN FARRAGUT | USA | 2017 | 9' | U.S. Premiere
Director: Sonya Shields
Located in Northern Brooklyn, DUMBO has become the borough’s most expensive neighborhood and New York City’s fourth richest neighborhood overall. Just blocks from DUMBO is NYC Housing Authority’s Farragut Houses, which has housed low-income Brooklynites since 1952. These are the stories of the residents of the forgotten Farragut Housing Projects, as told by Brooklyn Community Services.
Screens in the short film block: Sustainable Communities on Sunday, March 18, 4:00 pm
THE HAMMAMIS | USA | 2017 | 15' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Molly Bareiss
This short documentary takes an intimate look at the struggles of a Syrian refugee family and the new hope they've found upon settling in the US while touching on the contentious national dialogue surrounding the entrance of Syrian Refugees into the United States.
Screens in the short film block: Dreamers Having a Nightmare on Tuesday, March 20, 4:00 pm
THE WORLD IS ROUND SO THAT NOBODY CAN HIDE IN THE CORNERS–PART I | GERMANY | 2017 | 14' | N.Y. Premiere
Director: Leandro Goddinho
The journey of an African gay refugee seeking asylum in Germany.
Screens in the short film block: Where is Home? on Monday, March 19, 3:30 pm
WEAVERS OF IMAGINATION | Islamic Republic of Iran | 2017 | 21' | World Premiere
Director: Sadegh Jafari
The story of some unsighted people who weave carpets by using Brail. Weaving carpets requires precision and sight and it is difficult even for the sighted people. The unsighted people think if there was a place where the sighted people did not bother them, they would have a better life.
Screens in the short film block: Whose Disability? on Friday, March 16, 3:30 pm
YOUTH LOCAL COUNCILS: A PALESTINIAN MOVEMENT FOR CIVIC ENGAGEMENT | USA | 2017 | 7' | World Premiere
Directosr: Keenan Newman & Ben Henretig & Adam Warmington
Meet Lana Abu-Hijleh, a development expert and civil engineer who experienced first-hand the tragedies of conflict, and who founded a model of youth civic engagement that is spreading from the West Bank across the globe. The Youth Local Councils engage over 25,000 Palestinian youth in the West Bank, giving them a voice and stake in their communities. Through elected bodies, these youth are proposing, planning and executing community projects, and practicing leadership and good governance to transform their society, in an environment that bets against them.
Screens with the documentary Hotel Everest on Tuesday, March 20, 9:30 pm