A politically charged fable, “Capernaum” — Lebanese director/co-writer Nadine Labaki’s Cannes Jury Prize-winning drama — revolves around Zain (Zain Al Rafeea), a 12-year-old boy who decides to sue his mother and father. When the judge asks Zain why he’s bringing... Read more
Youth
Dark Fortune
Shortly after finishing her master’s thesis, child psychologist Eliane Hess (Eleni Haupt) is summoned to the hospital to help provide care for a young boy named Yves, the sole survivor of a horrendous car wreck that claimed the lives of his entire family. Yves is... Read more
Day One
“Day One” follows a group of teens from war zones in the Middle East and Africa as they are resettled in St. Louis and enrolled at Nahed Chapman New American Academy, a unique school in the St. Louis Public Schools system for refugees only. Traumatized on their... Read more
Doc Shorts: Black Voices
Doc Shorts: Method M Films
Fatherhood
A marvelously raw and heartfelt film about absent fathers and at-risk kids, “Fatherhood” is part music-video anthology, part confessional anthropology, part urgent social-issues documentary. Director Ben Gregor showcases four groups of young composers, lyricists,... Read more
Fiddlin'
If you’re a fan of Appalachia’s “good old-timey music” featured in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Fiddlin’” will exert a strong appeal. Largely focused on the 2015 Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Galax, Va. — which is billed as the “world’s oldest and largest” and... Read more
A Girl Named C
“A Girl Named C” addresses one of the most pervasive and taboo subjects in the United States — child sexual assault. One in three girls before the age of 18 is sexually assaulted in America, and experts estimate up to 50 percent of their perpetrators are other... Read more
Heaven Will Wait
“Heaven Will Wait” tells the story of two young women tempted by radical Islam. At 17, born-again Muslim Sonia intends to leave her family to join ISIS in Syria. At first convinced that jihad is the only way for her and her family to go to heaven, Sonia appears to... Read more
Inventing Tomorrow
“Inventing Tomorrow” follows six young scientists from Indonesia, Hawaii, India, and Mexico as they tackle some of the most complex environmental issues facing humanity today — right in their own backyards. The student are preparing original scientific research... Read more
Personal Statement
Karoline, Christine, and Enoch are Brooklyn high-school students who are determined to get their entire senior class to college, even though they aren't sure they’re going to make it there themselves. “Personal Statement” follows this inspirational trio through... Read more
Primas
“Primas” begins obliquely, with scenes of dreamily abstract imagery, a young woman’s whispered narration, and vérité snippets of her family life in a small Argentinian town. Only over time is it revealed that the young woman was the victim of a horrific rape when... Read more
The Pushouts
“I was in prison before I was even born.” So begins the story of Dr. Victor Rios, who, by 15, was a high-school dropout and gang member with three felony convictions and a death wish. But when a teacher's quiet persistence, mentor Martin Flores' moral conviction,... Read more
The Rainbow Experiment
Things spiral out of control in a high school in Manhattan when a terrible accident involving a science experiment permanently injures a teen. A whodunit that features a multiplicity of perspectives, “The Rainbow Experiment” — directed by New Filmmakers Forum alum... Read more
Rainbow Fields
In “Rainbow Fields,” a famous film director goes on a soul-searching journey, returning to his native village after hearing the news of a childhood friend’s death. The director must confront the unresolved vestiges of a terrible childhood accident in a bid for... Read more
Roma
The most personal project to date from Academy Award®-winning director and writer Alfonso Cuarón (“Children of Men,” “Y Tu Mama Tambien”), “Roma” follows Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a young domestic worker for a family in the middle-class neighborhood of Roma in... Read more
A Trip to the Moon
Tomas is an introverted teenager whose overbearing mother nags him about taking his anti-psychotic meds and studying for an upcoming important exam. If that weren’t stressful enough, Tomas is also haunted by a violent and painful childhood memory, which causes him... Read more
The Unafraid
“The Unafraid” follows three Dreamers — Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients — in Georgia, a state that has banned them from attending their top state universities and disqualified them from receiving in-state tuition at any other public college... Read more
Zoo
In 1941, marksmen from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, following a directive from the Ministry of Public Security, shot dead 23 animals at Belfast Zoo. During these turbulent times, a woman secretly walked a young elephant from the zoo each evening to the backyard... Read more