The town of Gonzalez, Texas is not what it used to be, Main street is desolate, the population is shrinking, but the culture and history live on through story and communal gathering at this once a week tradition that has been alive since the turn of the century.

On April 25th, 2004, 1.15 million women marched to the nation’s capital in Washington D.C. to protect and advance abortion rights. Band of Sisters is a retro feeling snapshot of the march filmed in multiple 16mm film stocks using a 1960’s Bolex film camera. Capturing a moment that is both specific and timeless, the film illustrates with basically no dialogue, the divisiveness, passion and stagnation …

Told through the lens of Muslims living in the United States, director Nausheen Dadabhoy offers a counter-narrative of pivotal moments in U.S. history and explores the impact of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policy on young Muslims who came of age after 9/11.

Kukan, a landmark color film that documented Chinese resistance to the Japanese invasion of China in the early days of World War II, was the first ever American feature documentary to receive an Academy Award® in 1942. When Robin Lung discovers a badly damaged film print of the “lost” Kukan, she pieces together the inspirational tale of the two renegades behind the making of it -- Chinese American …

In this dread-soaked cerebral thriller from filmmaker Sébastien Marnier (Faultless, The Origin of Evil), a teacher throws himself from a classroom window before the terrified eyes of his students. Despite the tragedy, six of them remain oddly cool and unemotional. Pierre (Laurent Lafitte), the new substitute teacher, notices the hostile, strangely violent behavior of this close-knit clique. Precocious …

Emily Dickinson has spent the 130 years since her death unfairly pigeonholed as the strange recluse in white. My Letter To The World is an in-depth exploration of her life and work, filmed in her hometown of Amherst, Massachusetts. Narrated by Cynthia Nixon and featuring behind-the-scenes clips from the Emily Dickinson biopic A Quiet Passion, this documentary journeys through the seasons of Emily’s …

UE/Wells follows an organizing drive by the United Electrical Workers Union at the Wells Foundry in Chicago. The multi-ethnic work force of Polish, Arab, Jewish, Hispanic and African American men and women unite together despite the company's efforts to use race as a wedge to divide them.

With his provocative question, “why is the killing of a million a lesser crime than the killing of an individual?” Raphael Lemkin changed the course of history. An extraordinary testament to one man’s perseverance, the Sundance award-winning film Watchers of the Sky examines the life and legacy of the Polish-Jewish lawyer and linguist who coined the term genocide. Before Lemkin, the notion of accountability …

Striking workers in one Chicago unemployment compensation office talk about working conditions that led to a walkout in July, 1975. Workers and claimants suggest possible solutions to the problems of understaffing and compulsory overtime. This tape was used to organize other offices to support the strike.

In 1981-2, the Kartemquin filmmakers returned to the Taylor Chain plant to show labor and management working together against the odds, trying to save the plant from becoming the latest victim of anti-union legislation and the globalization of cheap, exploitable labor. A sequel to Taylor Chain I: A Story in a Union Local.

A heavily atmospheric and harrowing portrait of the ways in which repressed family dynamics can influence and infect the lives of younger generations—not tangible, not namable, but inexorable. In a small town in 1970s West Germany, Stephanie (played by a charming Zelda Espenschied as a young child, and a surly Miriam Schiweck “ten years later”) is raised by two parents who have no business having … More

Duties of My Heart is a poetic fusion of American Sign Language, contemporary dance, and spoken word that explores the emotional depth of communication across silence and sound. Drawing inspiration from the experimental dance films of the 1940s, this short experimental film centers a Deaf poet who, after a long day, turns inward to compose a poem—not in written text, but in the expressive movement … More

Deaf Jam is the story of deaf teen Aneta's bold journey into the spoken word slam scene. In a wondrous twist, Aneta, an Israeli immigrant living in the Queens section of New York City, eventually meets Tahani, a hearing Palestinian slam poet. The two artists embark on a collaboration creating a new form of slam poetry that speaks to both the hearing and the Deaf.

After the announcement of the policy known as "Deferred Action", Vanessa, an undocumented teenager, contemplates the possibility of a future she was ready to give up on. How will this life-changing opportunity impact her life and the lives of those around her?

Stop Time tells the story of Lucio Pérez—a father, husband and worker who took sanctuary in a Massachusetts church for over three years in defiance of a deportation order. Lucio’s moving narrative provides a window into the forces that brought him to the United States, entangled him in the immigration system, and ultimately led him to sanctuary.

Soledad tells the story of a young woman from Central America who was imprisoned in the Eloy Detention Facility when she sought asylum in the United States. Soledad set out on a perilous journey from her homeland after enduring horrific persecution where she was kidnapped, sex-trafficked, tortured and nearly killed. Attorney Shefali Milczarek-Desai, who took the case pro bono, mobilized a dream team … More

The first Trump administration tried to shut down immigration to the United States, and even with no changes to the actual law, they nearly succeeded. Things didn't get much better when Biden came into office. But activist lawyers, mostly women, made it their mission to defend people's legal right to seek safety and refuge under our asylum laws. During the second Trump administration, the war on immigrants … More

Recreational cannabis use is legal in Washington, D.C. Recreational cannabis sales are not. Higher Power uses the stories of Black Washingtonians navigating this gray space while fighting to enter the legal cannabis industry to reveal the stark reality of 700,0000 disenfranchised American citizens and the urgent need for D.C. Statehood.

An educated citizenry is said to be the backbone of democracy and a crucial bulwark in an increasingly interconnected and hyper-competitive world. Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Act helped weave equal education for all into our shared social contract, but this promise has yet to be fully realized. Students who shuttle between their inner-city neighborhoods and the white suburban … More

Black Santas are local heroes, spreading joy and love to children and families at a bustling mall during the Christmas season. But even during this special time, the ugly shadow of bigotry falls on the season’s true spirit.