Doug McCorkle a buttoned-up, mild mannered corporate accountant who retires at age 60 to become the world’s least likely rock star is an offbeat doc-narrative-music film that demands a genre of its own. His openness to pursuing dreams well outside of his comfort zone, both in far-away places and with various people and cultures (including LBGTQ) is refreshing and inspiring, and his struggles to achieve his dreams lay bare his inner doubts and fears. By the end of the final concert, filmed before thousands in Mexico City’s La Plaza Condesa, we are in love with Doug, his bravery and his heart. His journey and final transformation leave us with proof that it is never too late to pursue your dreams!

Awards: Feature Award Winner - Ignite Film Festival; Official Selections: Flickers’ Rhode Island Int’l, Doc Edge, Albuquerque Film & Music Experience, The Romford, FICAH, Doc Edge, Barnes, Cinequest Film & VR, Winter Film Awards International.

COLLECTIVE STASIS

Jamiel Laurence

10 min | 2020 | UK | Experimental | US Premiere

A meditation on the idea of looking at dance from the outside in. Dancers of Glasgow come to terms with their current state of inactivity during the isolation lockdown of 2020 and dance creators are forced to find new ways to develop and share their work.

47 {Iranian Program}

October 12, 2021

Alireza Ataollah Tabrizi and Ahmad Otraghchi

IRANIAN PROGRAM - Sponsored by Super Vanak International Food Market & Café
80 min | 2020 | Iran | East Coast Premiere

The directors tell 3 separate stories that become rivetingly interwoven, illustrating the difficulty of being a woman alone.

Official Selection: Fajr Int’l FF, Red Sea Int’l FF, Iranian FF - San Francisco.

GANDO

Teymour Ghaderi

8 min | 2020 | Iran | Boston Premiere

Girls in Sistan and Baluchestan provinces of Iran are tasked with going to the pond to bring water to their villages which can be quite a distance to walk. Most ponds are inhabited by the Iranian crocodile, the Gando and the saying and belief is that where there is a Gando so there is water. They will attack; thus, it is not uncommon for these children to lose a leg or hand to these creatures. This doc tells the story of a 9-year-old girl, Hawa and her experience with a Gando.

Official Selections: Inclús - Barcelona Int’l Disability FF, Scout Winter FF Vermont, Providence Children’s FF, IMFF Maine.

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POLITICS

Fardin Zarei

2 min | 2021 | Iran | World Premiere

The story of a carton of eggs and one egg that emerges as a leader.

Los Hermanos (The Brothers)

October 11, 2021

Ken Schneider & Marcia Jarmel

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Sponsored by Irving House of Harvard
80 min | 2020 | US/Cuba

Virtuoso Afro-Cuban-born brothers—violinist Ilmar and pianist Aldo—live on opposite sides of a geopolitical chasm a half-century wide. Tracking their parallel lives in New York and Havana, their poignant reunion, and their momentous first performances together, this film offers a nuanced, often startling view of estranged nations through the lens of music and family.

Featuring an electrifying, genre-bending score, composed by Cuban Aldo López-Gavilán, performed with his American brother, Ilmar, and with guest appearances by maestro Joshua Bell and the Grammy-winning Harlem Quartet.

Awards: Woodstock FF-Best Doc; Official Selections: DOCNYC, Mill Valley, Bend Oregon, GlobeDocs, Cinematters, Omaha Int’l, Ashland, River Run, Mountain Film.

CARMEN AT THE PARLOR OPERA HOUSE

Gérome Barry

2 min | 2020 | France | US Premiere

A quarantined Parisian goes to the opera in his own living-room.

Awards: Fool’s Gold Award - Play the Fool Int’l Short FF Canada; Official Selection: Abby FF – London, Linea d'Ombra FF – Italy, Festival Int’l De Cortometrajes Cine Mundo Online – Argentina, PhotoBrussels Festival, Belgium, Int’l Coronavirus Short FF – India, New Generation FF – Serbia, Festival Int’l de Cine La Perla – Ecuador, Covid 19 FF – Italy, Suikerzoet FF – Netherlands, Quarantine Images Short FF – Argentina.

Jack London's Martin Eden

October 10, 2021

Jay Craven

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE - Sponsored by Vinotta Restaurant
105 min | 2021 | USA | Boston Premiere

Filmed exclusively on Nantucket during the pandemic, director Jay Craven mystically takes you back in time to the turn of the century and introduces you to Martin Eden, a poor and unschooled sailor who unexpectedly meets a magnetic young woman of means and education. Based on Jack London’s autobiographical novel, this dynamic film captures the socio-economic class distinctions of the time.

Official Selection: World Premiere – Nantucket FF

THE YELLOW KITE

Yousuf Khan Noor
7 min | 2021 | Bangladesh | US Premiere

Two children…a kite. One a schoolboy, the other a garbage collector and for a few moments they forget that they are on different paths in life.

Official Selection: Peace Film Festival – Dhaka, Bangladesh

Mr. Emancipation: The Walter Perry Story

October 8, 2021

Preston Chase

63 min | 2020 | Canada | Massachusetts Premiere

The story of Walter L Perry’s determination to put on a celebration that would transcend divisions of race and class, he staged an Emancipation Day festival that was where everyone wanted to be. Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr, Jesse Owens all headed there because, as civil rights activist Dick Gregory said "The largest Juneteenth celebration was not in America, it was in Windsor, Canada.”

A celebration of ending slavery sounds grim but what Walter Perry organized was the exact opposite of grim. Imagine a miles-long parade. The smell of soul food. Whirling carnival rides. There was live music, talent shows and even the Miss Sepia beauty pageant (the first international beauty pageant for Black women). From 1936 until 1967, that's how Walter Perry celebrated freedom. Perry and his celebration got caught up in the overheated racial politics of the day, sabotage and race riots of 1967 in Detroit. His event never recovered that year and shortly after Walter Perry died…. but the spirit of Mr. Emancipation still lives on.

Awards: Platinum Remi Award - Worldfest - Houston International Film & Video Festival, Best Doc - International Diversity Film Festival, Best Documentary for History & Biography - Yorkton Film Festival, Best Educational Film - Cult Valley Global Cinefest, Best Doc - New York Movie Awards, Best First Time Director - Chicago Independent Film Festival, Best Documentary - Trinity Detroit Int’l FF.

Official Selections: Flickers Rhode Island Int’l FF, Urban FF, Greater Cleveland Urban FF, The Jozi FF, Garden Route Int’l FF, Rapport FF, The March on Washington FF, Franklin Int’l Indie FF, Lunenburg Doc Festival, Charlotte FF, Oakland Int’l FF, Reading FF, Hollywood South Urban FF, Forest City FF, Chicago South Side FF, Buffalo Int’l FF, Morehouse College Human Right Festival, Helsinki Educational FF, Soo FF, North Beach American FF, Seattle Film Summit, Montreal Independent FF.

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ONE

Carlos Carrasco

17 min | 2020 | US | East Coast Premiere

A traffic stop takes an unexpected turn when two young black men are cruising in a sports car listening to loud music. A white police officer pulls them over on a minor traffic infraction.

Awards: BEST DRAMA SHORT: Golden State FF CA, BEST ACTOR: CKF Int’l FF UK~ Official Selection: Manhattan FF NY, LA Shorts Int’l FF CA, Golden State FF CA, Ft. Lauderdale Int’l FF FL, among others.

Samos: The Faces of Our Border

October 6, 2021

Shams Abou El Enein

88 min | 2020 | Switzerland/Greece

A documentary that captures the complexity of the migration crisis at the doorsteps of Europe. At the border of the Schengen Area, international laws and conventions have forced thousands of people to live in inhuman camps; one such camp is the hotspot on the Greek island of Samos. Focusing on the people in and around this migrant camp, built for 600 persons and where more than 6000 live now, it also gives an insight on the European politics that have led to this catastrophic situation. This is not inspired by a true story.
These are true stories!
Their stories, making our History!

Awards: Best Doc – Dada Sahab Phalke FF, Best Doc – Tagore Int’l FF; Official Selections: Beyond Earth FF, Africa Human Rights FF, Social Justice FF, Jozi FF, BARCIFF Barcelona.

THE COLOR OF TIME

Hatip Karabudak

15 min | 2020 | Turkey | US Premiere

The 12-year-old Ali Raşid has lost his father during the war in Syria. He needs to support his mother and two siblings; thus, goes to Istanbul with a group of 6 immigrants. The youngest of the group, not speaking the language, Ali Raşid struggles for survival in chaotic Istanbul.

Official Selections: Diaspora Int’l Short FF, Taste of Anatolia/Films from Turkey.

Restoration: A Concert Film

October 6, 2021

Native Son, Benny Starr, Rodrick Cliché

67 min | 2020 | US | Festival Circuit Premiere

In Spring 2020, the Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund collaborated with the South Carolina Lowcountry hip hop group, Native Son, to create the anthem for their campaign, ‘The Land’, their generation’s love offering to the struggle to protect 1.5 million acres of Black farmlands from USDA dispossession. The film explores southern Black agrarian stories of self-determination, land ownership, and folkwit; it amplifies ongoing struggles for restorative land justice in this country including the Black Farmers’ Appeal: Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign, and weaves together live musical performances from Native Son with the personal narratives of Black legacy farmers and land stewards. The Black Farmers’ Appeal: Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign is organizing on a grassroots level, popular education, and legal advocacy campaign to rectify the injustices of the Pigford v. Glick class action discrimination lawsuit. Inspired by David Walker’s impassioned entreaty against the chattel enslavement of Africans in the United States, the Black Farmers’ Appeal: Cancel Pigford Debt Campaign is a polemic against yet another form of racialized capitalism–unconscionable debt. Our coalition is comprised of a multigenerational tribe of farmers, attorneys, writers, artists, and musicians using our diverse magic to bring restorative land justice to our Black legacy farmers. We use diverse strategies to preserve the Black agricultural land base, exploring innovative collaborations that deepen the linkages of music, culture, ecocultural traditions, and cooperative economy to protect Black landownership and stewardship, while raising community awareness, collectivism, and action. We also merge the aims of our campaign with our cooperative economy works with fiber artists, heritage quilters, and keepers of material culture.

Official Selections: Justice for Black Farmers Act, Juneteenth Screening on Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund.

HELLO SUNSHINE

Joe Quint

13 min | 2021 | US | US Premiere

Roz Pichardo is more than a domestic violence and gun violence survivor, she’s a warrior. Despite of - or because of - being thrown off a bridge by an abusive ex-boyfriend, the unsolved murder of her brother, and the suicide of her identical twin sister, she’s able to channel her trauma into service by helping the often-forgotten people of North Philadelphia. From giving comfort to families of murder victims to saving the lives of over 500 men and women in active opioid addiction, Roz knows that her healing and her survival depends upon healing others.

Awards: BEST DOC SHORT/Brighton Rocks FF, New York Lift-Off Festival; Official Selections: Philadelphia Latino FF, Barnes FF, LA Rocks FF, Beyond the Curve Int’l FF, The Romford FF, Oxford Int’l Short FF, Street Movies Philadelphia.

Hacking for the Commons

October 6, 2021

Philippe Borrel

87 min | 2021 | France/Switzerland/India/US | Boston Premiere

Hacking for the Commons introduces us to those who, from India to the United States via Europe, are experimenting with the emancipation tools of "free software" in order to bring concrete solutions in a multitude of fields in which collective practices known as ‘open’ - thus ‘non-proprietary’ - are spreading in agriculture, medicines and in education.
You will hear from Richard Stallman, founder of The Free Software Foundation, a non-profit org founded in 1985 to support the free software movement which promotes the universal freedom to study, distribute, create and modify computer software with a preference for software being distributed under copyleft or share alike terms. The FSF was incorporated in Boston, MA where it is based and continues its work on legal and structural issues on behalf of the international movement and community.

Official Selections: FIDH 2019 Geneva, Festival Cinéma et Droits de l’Homme France, Festival du Film Vert Geneva, Festival Int’l du film des Droits de l’Homme Tunisia, Terra Festival Guadeloupe, SQL19 Semaine Québécoise de l’Informatique Libre Montreal, Sustainable Living Film Festival Turkey.

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CONTROL

Omer Peleg

3 min | 2021 | Israel | US Premiere

A shy programmer receives the power to decide punishment for others.

NAILED IT: Vietnamese & the Nail Industry

October 6, 2021

Adele Free Pham

59 min | 2019 | US | Boston Premiere

While ubiquitous in cities across the country, few Americans know the history behind the Vietnamese nail salons and the 20 Vietnamese refugee women, who in 1975, sparked a multibillion-dollar industry that supports their community to this day. Weaving powerful personal stories with insightful interviews, Nailed It, director Adele Free Pham, captures an unforgettable and often hilarious saga born of tragedy, charting the rise, struggle, stereotypes, and steady hold Vietnamese Americans have on today’s multiethnic $8 billion dollar nail economy. Nailed It celebrates the immigrant experience of entrepreneurship and offers a reminder of the value they bring to their new home country of the US. Official Screenings: Premiered on PBS American Documentary.

Led3Times

Alessandro Amaducci

3 min | 2020 | Italy | US Premiere

Dancing at the speed of light, a sci-fi fashion show…a robotic catwalk.

Hunger Ward

October 6, 2021

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Skye Fitzgerald

40 min | 2020 | US/Yemen | World Premiere

Nominated for a 2021 Oscar, HUNGER WARD is the third film in the Refugee Trilogy by 2x Oscar & Emmy nominated director Skye Fitzgerald. Filmed from inside two of the most active therapeutic feeding centers in Yemen, HUNGER WARD documents two women health care workers fighting to thwart the spread of starvation against the backdrop of a forgotten war. The film provides an unflinching portrait of Dr. Aida Alsadeeq and Nurse Mekkia Mahdi as they work to save the lives of hunger-stricken children within a population on the brink of famine. With unprecedented access within a sensitive conflict-zone, HUNGER WARD reveals a world of bravery and commitment-to-care for war-stricken children amidst desperate need.

Official Selections: LA Shorts Int’l Film FF, Melbourne Doc FF, Sebastopol Doc FF CA, BraveMaker FF, CA, Doc Edge FF/ Auckland, New Zealand, Mountainfilm/Telluride, CO, Luminous Frames/Arena Midt, Denmark, One World/Prague, Czech Republic, Carmarthen Bay/Llandello, UK, Minneapolis-St. Paul Int'l/ Minneapolis, MN, IRC Refugee FF/San Diego, CA, Malibu Int’l FF/Malibu, CA, Human Rights FF/Berlin, Germany, Portland Int’l FF/Portland, OR, HUMAN Int’l Doc F/Oslo, Norway, DOC NYC/ Virtual Festival/ New York, HollyShorts/Virtual Festival/Los Angeles, CA.

CELLMATE

Behzad Khodaveisi

12 min | 2019 | Iran | US Premiere

An innocent, naïve girl’s youth is stolen in marriage. CELLMATE is meant to highlight the 12 million young girls that are married off before the age of 18.

There Will Be No More Night

October 6, 2021

Eleonore Weber

76 min | 2020 | France | US Premiere

A fascinating yet terrifying documentary which looks to decipher and reflect upon images filmed by helicopters on operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. Filmmaker Éléonore Weber shares video recordings of French and American missions and what begins as a monotone video essay gradually develops with powerful tension; as viewers we find ourselves in the pilot’s seat. We catch fragments of conversations between crew members; we look, zoom in, interpret, hesitate—and then comes the explosion. A documentary that captures the tremendous tension between observation and interpretation in nighttime war zone missions, decisions being made with far-reaching consequences, a captivating journey that opens a door into the world of war that is generally closed to us.

Awards: Special Mention & Young Jury Award - Cinéma du Réel; Official Selection: IDFA, Amsterdam, IndieLisboa International Independent Film Festival, Ji.hlava Int’l Doc FF.

HUNTING SEASON

Dimitris Theocharidis

20 min | 2020 | Greece | East Coast Premiere

Nikos is a low-key man who works as an assistant accountant at an insurance company, that is facing financial problems. The company's chief accountant and Nikos’ superior, is a demanding and rude man who exploits Nikos. One night, on his way home, after work, Nikos stumbles across two men threatening Mr. Alexandridis and decides not to help, leaving him at his own fate. The balance in Nikos' life changes.

Awards: Best of Festival/ MoziMotion FF Netherlands, Silver Prize/ Festival del Cinema di Cefalù Italy; Official Selections: Kalakari FF India, Güzel Ordu Kısa FF Turkey, Int’l FF of Detective Films and Television Programs Russia, Sinevizyon Cyprus, Noble Int’l FF India, Int’l Inter University Short FF Bangladesh, CineMAZ - Festival Int’l de Cinema Independente Brazil, Tlanchana Fest Mexico, Prestige FF CA, The Hague FF Netherlands, International Micro μ Festival Greece, among others.

Lost at Sea

October 6, 2021

Johnny Burke

48 min | 2020 | UK/US | US Premiere

An epic tale of the sea, told through one young man’s personal journey to understand his father, Peter Bird, a pioneer in ocean rowing and adventure was the first person to single-handedly row the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Australia in 1982. There were multiple attempts from 1992 to 1996 to row the Pacific again, a time from Russia to the US and in 1996 during another attempt at the row, Russian Rescue Centre picked up an emergency signal from him. A few hours later the boat was found but Peter was lost at sea. Peter’s son Louis was just four years old when his Dad died, and now nearly 25 years later, he sets out to discover who his father really was, and why he spent so many years of his life alone at sea.

Awards: Best Film Adventure + Exploration - Banff FF; Official Selection of the London Mountain FF, Vancouver Int’l Mountain FF.