| Enter the heart of an American family living in the shadows of a state that has criminalized their existence. Walk the beat of the nation’s most recognized lawman as he stares down charges of his own.
The parents of 9-year-old Katherine Figueroa are arrested when America’s Toughest Sheriff raids a Phoenix carwash suspected of hiring illegal workers. As young Kathy fights to save her parents from deportation, a community group succeeds in pressuring the County Board to investigate Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s spending priorities. When the sheriff retaliates against his political foes, his actions spark outrage, and a federal investigation. |
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The Arizona Republic - In a fair fight, Sheriff Joe is no match for 9-year-old girl Politics Uncuffed - David vs. Goliath in ‘Two Americans’ film: Goliath still rules |
The Vigil
Produced by Jenny Alexander
Friday, November 20th, 2015 8:00 pm at Star Hall on Center Street
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The Vigil is the story of Gina and Rosa, undocumented immigrant mothers who, armed with their faith and traditions, set out to stop America’s most controversial immigration law. |
 Jenny Alexander, Director/Producer Alexandra de Gonzalez, Editor/Co-Producer Gabriela Uzcategui, Producer Hannah Engelson, Production Assistant Liana Asim, Intern Alexandra Piñeros-Shields, Advisor |
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The Look of Silence |
Synopsis The Look of Silence is Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to the Oscar®-nominated The Act of Killing.
Through Oppenheimer’s footage of perpetrators of the 1965 Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discovers how their son was murdered, as well as the identities of the killers. The documentary focuses on the youngest son, an optometrist named Adi, who decides to break the suffocating spell of submission and terror by doing something unimaginable in a society where the murderers remain in power: he confronts the men who killed his brother and, while testing their eyesight, asks them to accept responsibility for their actions. This unprecedented film initiates and bears witness to the collapse of fifty years of silence. |
| A ghost story for 99% of us: Human Resources Conspire Films Keil & Aaron Troisi Saturday, November 21st, 2015 8:15 pm at Star Hall on Center Street |
NEW YORK CITY: In the fall of 2011, amidst widespread protests against “the 1%”, the sibling filmmaker team of Keil and Aaron Troisi set out with a low budget and an ambitious agenda. “We wanted to make a thriller about corporate exploitation yet keep it purely entertaining, the kind of scary movie that progressives like us would be excited to find one dark and stormy night.” The result is the genrebending supernatural thriller Human Resources. Director and cowriter Keil Troisi described how the film was designed to embrace the conventions of the genre but with an allegorical twist. “Ghost stories are fundamentally about victims of wrongdoing striving for justice. They serve as both revenge fantasies and cautionary tales. That narrative fits naturally in the world of whitecollar crime, and we haven’t seen that before.” Learn more about this unusual social justice "horror film?" by watching the featurette on Vimeo. |
Frame by Frame
Directors: Alexandria Bombach, Mo Scarpelli
Stars: Massoud Hossaini, Wakil Kohsar, Najibullah Musafer
Sunday, November 22nd, 2015 6:00 pm at Star Hall on Center Street
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When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, taking a photo was a crime. After the regime fell from power in 2001, a fledgling free press emerged and a photography revolution was born. Now, as foreign troops and media withdraw, Afghanistan is left to stand on its own, and so are its journalists. Set in a modern Afghanistan bursting with color and character, FRAME BY FRAME follows four Afghan photojournalists as they navigate an emerging and dangerous media landscape – reframing Afghanistan for the world, and for themselves. Through cinema vérité, intimate interviews, powerful photojournalism, and never-before-seen archival footage shot in secret during the Taliban regime, the film connects audiences with four humans in the pursuit of the truth. | ||
The Road to Home
from Dominic Brown
Sunday, November 22nd, 2015 8:00 pm at Star Hall on Center Street
The Road to Home (2015), tells the story of Benny Wenda, the Nobel Peace Prize nominated West Papuan independence leader, in his ongoing struggle to free his people from Indonesian colonial rule.
Since his dramatic escape from an Indonesian prison in 2002, where he was held in isolation and tortured as a political prisoner, Benny has been an unceasing crusader on the international scene, campaigning to bring about an end to the suffering of his people at the hands Indonesia’s brutal colonial regime.
Granted political asylum in the UK, Wenda’s freedom of movement was restricted in 2011 when, at the behest of the Indonesian government, Interpol issued a ‘red notice’ putting him at extreme risk of extradition should he travel. The following year the ‘red notice’ was lifted after being deemed “predominantly political in nature”. Wenda then embarked on a world-wide “Freedom Tour” to build support and awareness for the West Papuan Independence Movement. To date Benny has performed and spoken in such diverse places as New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, Poland, the United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the United States of America, and many others.
British filmmaker / activist Dominic Brown of Dancing Turtle was given exclusive access, over a two year period, to follow the Nobel Peace Prize nominated freedom fighter and document his inspirational journey to gain independence for his people
