Oscar-nominated director Matthew Heineman and late filmmaker Nancy Buirski will be honored at the Hamptons Doc Fest in New York next month.
Heineman, whose latest film, American Symphony, premiered to acclaim at the Telluride Film Festival, will receive the prestigious Pennebaker Career Achievement Award, named for the legendary filmmaker and pioneer of “direct cinema” D.A. Pennebaker. Heineman is expected to be on hand to receive the honor, which has previously gone to Richard Leacock, Susan Lacy, Barbara Kopple, Stanley Nelson Jr., Alex Gibney, Liz Garbus, Sheila Nevins, Frederick Wiseman, Dawn Porter, Sam Pollard, and to Pennebaker and and his wife and filmmaking partner Chris Hegedus.
Hamptons Doc Fest will screen American Symphony, which has been acquired by the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground through the former first couple’s deal with Netflix. The documentary about Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste and his wife, the musician Suleika Jaouad, and her struggle with cancer, earned six Critics’ Choice Documentary Award nominations earlier this week.
Hamptons Doc Fest will feature a special tribute to beloved and respected filmmaker Nancy Buirski, who died unexpectedly in August. Buirski, whose latest documentary Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy is in awards contention this year, will posthumously receive Doc Fest’s first Legacy Award. Buirski’s sister, Judith Cohen, will accept the award, and the presentation will be followed by screening of Buirski’s first feature documentary, The Loving Story. That film, about the couple at the heart of a U.S. Supreme Court case that ended anti-miscegenation laws, was later adapted into the fiction film Loving, starring Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton.
The festival, in partnership with NYWIFT, will also honor the work of Artemis Rising Foundation by presenting its Impact Award to the foundation’s founder and CEO Regina K. Scully, accompanied by a screening of Obsessed with Light, directed by Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum, a documentary about Loïe Fuller, a pioneer of modern dance in America in the late 1900s.
Hamptons Doc Fest also announced its lineup for the 16th edition of the festival, which unspools from Nov. 30-Dec. 6 in the Eastern Long Island town of Sag Harbor. In the Company of Rose, a film about poet Rose Styron, the widow of writer William Styron, will kick off the festival. Frank Marshall’s documentary Rather, about news man Dan Rather, closes the festival. The slate of 30 films continues Doc Fest’s tradition of “highlighting the best of non-fiction programming” along with its annual program for local schools, Young Voices… “dedicated to local community youth in middle and high schools, which will include a film and a hands-on workshop led by award winning filmmaker, Roger Sherman.”
Jacqui Lofaro, executive director of Hamptons Doc Fest, said in a statement, “During this time of disconnection, film and festivals like ours can play a powerful role in re-stitching our communities. Our 2023 documentary program promises you the power and experience of quality storytelling. Good stories surprise us. They make us think and feel. They stick in our minds and help us remember ideas and concepts. This is what the Hamptons Doc Fest is all about and even more so in its 16th year.”
The lineup for the 2023 Hamptons Doc Fest:
American Symphony Pennebaker Career Achievement Award to Matthew Heineman
Saturday, 12/2, 6:30pm, 100 min @ Bay Street Theater
Matthew Heineman will be in attendance for the award ceremony
DIRECTOR: Matthew Heineman
PRODUCERS: Lauren Domino, Joedan Okun
EDITORS: Sammy Dane, Matthew Heineman, JIm Hession, Fernando Villegas
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Tony Hardmon, Matthew Heineman, Clair Popkin, Thorsten Thielow
American Symphony follows Jon Batiste as he prepares his original musical composition for its premiere at Carnegie Hall while at the same time, supporting his wife, writer Suleika Jaouad, whose rare form of leukemia has returned after 10 years in remission. In September 2023, the film was acquired by Netflix and the Obamas’ production company Higher Ground. Variety’s
Screening of the film follows the Gala reception and Award ceremony.
In the Company of Rose Opening Night Film
Thursday, 11/30, 8:00pm, 85 min @ Sag Harbor Cinema
Director James Lapine in attendance for Q&A, Rose Styron by Zoom
DIRECTOR: James Lapine
PRODUCERS: James Lapine, Jack Shear, Grace Sin, Miky Wolf
EDITOR: Miky Wolf
CINEMATOGRAPHER: James Lapine
On Martha’s Vineyard, Tony-winning playwright and director James Lapine meets Rose Styron, the widow of the great American novelist William Styron. Over six years of periodic meetings, 95-year old Rose shares the fascinating story of her complex life as a poet, journalist, human rights activist, and life partner to William.
Cocktail reception to follow. The film is sponsored by EPIC.
Rather Closing Night Film
Wednesday, 12/6, 7:00pm, 95 min @ Bay Street Theater
Martin Rather, Dan Rather’s grandson and participant in the film, via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Frank Marshall
PRODUCERS: Frank Marshall, Jenifer Westphal, Joe Plummer, Jeff Hasler, Ethan Goldman, Aly Parker
EDITORS: Curtis McConnell, Joe Fenstermaker
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Koshkin
Dan Rather’s 60+ year career coincides with some of the seminal moments in American journalism. From his days embedded in the Vietnam War, to his on-the-ground coverage of JFK’s assassination, to his presence at the foot of the Berlin Wall as it fell, Dan Rather has reported on an astonishing number of iconic moments in history. Now, as a 92-year-old reflecting on seven decades of service and looking to the future of democracy, we meet a man freed from the auspices of any overarching network or deadline and with a dedication to the truth.
The film is sponsored by Douglas Denoff/Sutton Square Entertainment.
Call Me Dancer Recipient of the 2023 Art & Inspiration Award
Thursday, 11/30, 5:30pm, 84 min @ Sag Harbor Cinema
Director Leslie Shampaine in attendance for a Q&A
DIRECTORS: Pip Gilmour, Leslie Shampaine
PRODUCERS: Cynthia Kane, Leslie Shampaine
EDITOR: Jennifer Beman
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Neil Barrett, Abhijit Datta
Manish, a young and talented street dancer from Mumbai, struggles against his parents’ insistence that he follow a traditional path that will enable their only son to support them. When he secretly attends an inner-city dance school and accidentally walks into a ballet class, he meets Yehuda, a curmudgeonly 70-year-old Israeli teacher, and a hunger develops within him. Ambitious and passionate, Manish is determined to make it as a professional dancer, but the odds are stacked against him.
The Gullspång Miracle
Friday, 12/1, 12:00pm, 108 min @ Bay Street Theater
Director Maria Fredriksson via Zoom for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Maria Fredriksson
PRODUCER: Ina Holmqvist
EDITORS: Orvar Anklew, Mark Bukdahl
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Pia Lehto
When May is injured in a freak accident on a rollercoaster ride, she and her sister Kari decide to buy a home in the small Swedish town of Gullspång. But when the siblings encounter the property’s seller, Olaug, they become convinced that she is their older sibling, Lita, who allegedly committed suicide some 30 years earlier. It is at this point that documentary filmmaker Maria Fredriksson, at the behest of the sisters, begins to investigate this strange history, resulting in a true-crime family drama that journeys down a series of surprising paths.
The Rainbow Warrior
Friday, 12/1, 2:30pm, 94 min @ Bay Street Theater
Director Edward McGurn in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Edward McGurn
PRODUCERS: Edward McGurn, Sophie Daniel, Chris Dallas-Feeney, Katie Buchanan, Eva Gunz
EDITOR: Chris Dallas-Feeney
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Andrew McGeorge, Neil Harvey, Ian Kerr, Matthew Pothier
On July 10th, 1985 two French secret agents bombed Greenpeace’s flagship The Rainbow Warrior while it was at port in Auckland, New Zealand. The operation, code-named “Satanic,” has been called one of the greatest intelligence failures in history. The Rainbow Warrior put Greenpeace on the map, caused international outrage and ended nuclear testing in the Pacific.
Orca – Black & White Gold
Friday, 12/1, 5:00pm, 92 min @ Sag Harbor Cinema
Director Sarah Nörenberg in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Sarah Nörenberg
PRODUCERS: Walter Köhler, Sarah Nörenberg, Michael Frenschkowski
EDITORS: Max Kliewer, Verena Schönauer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Sergei Amirdzhanov
This is a riveting docu-thriller exposing the illegal trade in endangered wild orcas fueled by American business practices. Ten years after the award-winning Blackfish opened our eyes to the cruel and inhumane treatment of whales in captivity, this film offers unprecedented access to activists, trainers, journalists and the catchers themselves and reveals the shocking truth behind the global orca trade.
Obsessed with Light Recipient of the 2023 Impact Award, Regina K. Scully, Artemis Rising Foundation
Co-Presented with NYWIFT (New York Women in Film & Television)
Friday, 12/1, 7:30pm, 90 min @ Sag Harbor Cinema
Directors Sabine Krayenbühl and Zeva Oelbaum in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTORS: Sabine Krayenbühl, Zeva Oelbaum
PRODUCERS: Sabine Krayenbühl, Zeva Oelbaum
EDITOR: Sabine Krayenbühl
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Bob Richman, Claudia Raschke
The Artemis Rising Foundation is dedicated to supporting media projects that transform culture and challenge the status quo. Led by Founder and CEO, Regina K. Scully, the foundation champions powerful stories about some of the most challenging social justice issues of our time — including gender-bias, healing, trauma, mental health, addiction and women’s empowerment.
Obsessed with Light pulls back the curtain on Loïe Fuller, a wildly original dancer and inventor who pioneered the creative use of electric lighting for the stage. The documentary, produced with major support by Regina K Scully and Artemis Rising Foundation, delves into the astonishing influence Fuller’s work has on contemporary culture including artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Taylor Swift, and Shakira. Anyone who has been to a rock concert has seen a modern version of the lighting designs that Fuller patented over a century ago.
Cocktail reception to follow.
A Cooler Climate
Saturday, 12/2, 1:00pm, 75 min @ Sag Harbor Cinema
Director James Ivory in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTORS: James Ivory, Giles Gardner
PRODUCER: Bertrand Faivre
EDITOR: Giles Gardner
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Giles Gardner
In 1960, Oscar-winning filmmaker James Ivory made a trip to Afghanistan to shoot scenes for a documentary. The film was never completed and the footage stayed in a box unseen for 60 years. In 2022, aged 94, he decided to revisit this unique material as a means to look back at his younger self and to unravel how this unlikely journey far from his hometown in Oregon helped form the celebrated filmmaker he was to become.
James Ivory is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. For many years, he worked extensively with Indian-born film producer Ismail Merchant, his domestic as well as professional partner, and with screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. All three were principals in Merchant Ivory Productions, whose films have won seven Academy Awards. Ivory himself has been nominated for four Oscars, winning one in 2018 for Best Adapted Screenplay for Call Me By Your Name at the age of 89, making him the oldest recipient of an Oscar.
Invisible Beauty
Saturday, 12/2, 3:00pm, 115 min @ Sag Harbor Cinema
Director Bethann Hardison and Producer Lisa Cortés in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTORS: Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng
PRODUCER: Lisa Cortés
EDITORS: Chris McNabb, Frédéric Tcheng
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Mia Cioffi Henry, Frédéric Tcheng
Fashion revolutionary and model turned agent and activist Bethann Hardison knew that Black is Beautiful well before the fashion industry acknowledged the truth. From walking runway shows alongside Iman to discovering supermodels like Tyson Beckford and mentoring icons like Naomi Campbell, Hardison has been at the epicenter of major representational shifts in fashion.
The film is sponsored by Sarah Cuyler.
The Loving Story Posthumous Legacy Award to Nancy Buirski
Sunday, 12/3, 2:00pm, 77 min @ Bay Street Theater
Susan Margolin and Chris Hegedus in attendance to present the award to Judith Cohen
Hamptons Doc Fest is proud to honor Nancy Buirski with our first Legacy Award, accepted by her sister, Judith Cohen. In Nancy’s honor, the festival will screen the Emmy and Peabody award-winning documentary The Loving Story, her first feature as writer, director and producer, as well as the short film Daughter of Mine, where she acted as Executive Producer and mentor to the filmmaker.
DIRECTOR: Nancy Buirski
PRODUCERS: Nancy Buirski, Elisabeth Haviland James
EDITOR; Elisabeth Haviland James
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Rex Miller, Steve Milligan
The Loving Story is an unusual telling of a civil rights story. Though often overlooked among the pantheon of civil rights struggles, Mildred and Richard Lovings’ quest to live together as husband and wife in the state of Virginia was a pivotal one. A white man and a part-black, part-Rappahannock woman were in love and did not understand why their marriage was a criminal offense in the eyes of the state. Their effort to make this right – to not live in shame or in exile – is universal, metaphorically reminding us of oppressed and exiled people everywhere. The Lovings are paired with two young and ambitious lawyers who are driven to pave the way for Civil Rights and social justice through an historic Supreme Court ruling, changing the country’s story forever and making anti-miscegenation laws illegal.
Anselm (in 3D)
Co-presented with Sag Harbor Cinema
Sunday, 12/3, 4:00pm, 93 min @ Bay Street Theater
DIRECTOR: Wim Wenders
PRODUCER: Karsten Brünig
EDITOR: Maxine Goedicke
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Franz Lustig
This immersive 3D documentary chronicles the art of German innovative painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer. The film illuminates his work, life journey, creative process, and the artist’s fascination with myth and history. Director Wenders called the film “a labor of love.”
Wim Wenders is a major figure in New German Cinema. Among many honors, he has received three nominations for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for Buena Vista Social Club, Pina, and The Salt of the Earth. He is the former President of the European Film Academy, and is also a member of the advisory board of World Cinema Foundation, founded by Martin Scorsese, that aims to find and reconstruct world cinema films that have been neglected.
Hidden Master: The Legacy of George Platt Lynes
Sunday, 12/3, 7:00pm, 96 min Sag Harbor Cinema
Director Sam Shahid in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Sam Shahid
PRODUCERS: Sam Shahid, Matthew Kraus, Nando de Carvalho, John MacConnell,
EDITOR: Conor McBride
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew Kraus
Hidden Master features a stunning collection of photography from the 1930s-50s, uncovering the less-known life of celebrity photographer George Platt Lynes: his gifted eye for the male form, his long-term friendships with Gertrude Stein and Alfred Kinsey, and his lasting influence as one of the first openly gay American artists.
26.2 to Life
Monday, 12/4, 12:00pm, 90 min @ Bay Street Theater
Director Christine Yoo in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Christine Yoo
PRODUCERS: Christine Yoo, Carolyn Mao, Sara Sluke, Hella Winstron, Zahava Hirsch
EDITOR: Marcos Moro
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Cliff Traiman
Set at San Quentin, California’s oldest prison, 26.2 TO LIFE explores the crisis of over incarceration through the stories of three men living out life sentences. As they work to better themselves and be productive despite surviving behind bars, the men train for the most unique marathon in the world – 105 laps around an uneven dirt and concrete path that loops the prison’s crowded Lower Yard.
The Eternal Memory
Monday, 12/4, 3:00pm, 85 min @ Bay Street Theater
DIRECTOR: Maite Alberdi
PRODUCERS: Maite Alberdi, Rocio Jadue, Juan de Dios Larrain, Pablo Larrain
EDITOR: Carolina Siraqyan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Pablo Valdés
Augusto Góngora, a veteran Chilean political journalist, dedicated himself in the 1970s and 1980s to bringing the iniquities of the Pinochet regime to public attention and later to conserving that national memory for future generations. So it is somewhat ironic that now Góngora struggles with his own memory as he contends with the ravages of Alzheimer’s. What gives the film heart is the love story between Góngora and his devoted wife and caretaker, former Chilean culture minister Paulina Urrutia.
The Disappearance of Shere Hite
Monday, 12/4, 5:30pm, 116 min @ Bay Street Theater
DIRECTOR: Nicole Newnham
PRODUCERS: R.J. Cutler, Kimberley Ferdinando, Nicole Newnham, Molly O’Brien, Trevor Smith, Elise Pearlstein
EDITOR: Eileen Meyer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Rose Bush
Shere Hite’s 1976 bestselling book, The Hite Report, liberated the female orgasm by revealing the most private experiences of thousands of anonymous survey respondents. Her findings rocked the American establishment and presaged current conversations about gender and sexuality. So why did Shere Hite disappear from public view in the decades before her death in 2020?
La Singla
Monday, 12/4, 8:00pm, 95 min @ Bay Street Theater
Director Paloma Zapata in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Paloma Zapata
PRODUCERS: Paloma Zapata, Nadja Smith, Paola Sainz de Baranda
EDITOR: Paloma Zapata
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Iñaki Gorraiz, Dani Mauri
Antonia Singla was once considered the best flamenco dancer in the world. Born deaf in the slums of Barcelona and unable to speak until she was a teenager, dance became the language through which she expressed herself. La Singla’s striking movements—and intense gaze—were seared with passion and revolutionized the art form. Then, suddenly, at the height of her fame, she vanished without a trace.
The Camera of Doctor Morris
Tuesday, 12/5, 1:00pm, 73 min @ Bay Street Theater
DIRECTORS: Itamar Alcalay, Meital Zvieli
PRODUCERS: Itamar Alcalay, Meital Zvieli
EDITORS: Itamar Alcalay, Meital Zvieli
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dr. Reginald Morris
For decades, Dr. Morris filmed his family. Their lives were captured on 8mm – years of births and deaths, joys and tragedies, dramas and quiet days spent in the sun – a strange British bubble all unfolding in the heat of the Israeli desert. Long after his death, the footage is rediscovered, along with the shattering story of his two young daughters.
Mourning in Lod
Tuesday, 12/5, 3:00pm, 73 min @ Bay Street Theater
Director Hilla Medalia in attendance for the Q&A via Zoom
DIRECTOR: Hilla Medalia
PRODUCER: Hilla Medalia
EDITORS: Erez Laufer, Doron Djerassi
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Avner Shahaf, Hanna Abu Saada
In this film, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is retold through three people whose fates become inextricably linked in a vicious cycle of violence. Lod is a “mixed” city inhabited by Arabs and Jews who live side by side in a strained coexistence. The outpouring of love, anger, and forgiveness that unfolds when the two cultures collide following a tragedy offers a glimpse of morning light to offset a collective state of seemingly endless mourning.
Dusty & Stones
Tuesday, 12/5, 5:30pm, 83 min @ Bay Street Theater
Director Jesse Rudoy in attendance at the Q&A via Zoom
DIRECTOR: Jesse Rudoy
PRODUCERS: Melissa Adeyemo, Jesse Rudoy
EDITORS: Jesse Rudoy, Loulwa Khoury
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Michael Koshkin
Dusty & Stones is a continent-crossing hero’s journey story told through country music. The film intimately chronicles the remarkable ride of cousins Gazi “Dusty” Simelane and Linda “Stones” Msibi, a determined duo of struggling country singers from the tiny African Kingdom of Eswatini (known as Swaziland) who long for their big break. They embark on their pilgrimage in order to compete in a Texas battle of the bands.
999: The Forgotten Girls of the Holocaust Recipient of the 2023 Human Rights Award
Tuesday, 12/5, 8:00pm, 99 min @ Bay Street Theater
Director Heather Dune Macadam in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Heather Dune Macadam
PRODUCERS: Heather Dune Macadam, Jane Schonberger, Beatriz M Calleja, Jay Heit, Stephen Hopkins
EDITOR: Beatriz M Calleja
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stephen Hopkins
The first official Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz were all young women, but for 80 years their story was overlooked by historians. In the spring of 1942, the Nazis ordered the Slovak government to send a slave labor force and received 999 teenage, Jewish girls. Their government paid the Nazis 500RM, the equivalent of $4,000 per girl today. Their railway ticket was a one-way trip to Auschwitz. The bonds between these women were unbreakable. It kept them alive. This untold story is important both to Holocaust history and to women’s history.
Award-winning author of the international best-seller, 999: The Extraordinary Young Women of The First Official Transport To Auschwitz, Heather Dune Macadam is the foremost U.S. scholar on the first Jewish Transport to Auschwitz. Her critically acclaimed book has been translated into nineteen languages and was a Pen Award Finalist for Biography. This documentary is based on that book, and the result of eleven years of research and interviews, which she filmed.
The film is sponsored by Leslie & Andrew Siben.
Shari & Lamb Chop
Wednesday, 12/6, 2:00pm, 92 min @ Bay Street Theater
Director Lisa D’Apolito in attendance for Q/A by Zoom
DIRECTOR: Lisa D’Apolito
PRODUCERS: Lisa D’Apolito, Nicholas Ferrall, Cassidy Hartmann, Morris Ruskin, Douglas Warner
EDITOR: Andrea Lewis
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Anne Etheridge
As a young female ventriloquist with big aspirations, Shari Lewis was searching for a voice who could say things that a young woman in the 1950s could not, and found it in a sock puppet named Lamb Chop. The duo debuted on the CBS children’s television series CAPTAIN KANGAROO in 1956 and went on to attain cultural icon status in the U.S. by the end of the 20th century. The documentary examines Shari Lewis’ surprising personal journey, as well as her professional one, which included winning 13 Emmys and a Peabody and authoring 60 children’s books.
Deep Rising
Recipient of the 2023 Environmental Award
Wednesday, 12/6, 4:30pm, 93 min @ Bay Street Theater
DIRECTOR: Matthieu Rytz
PRODUCER: Matthieu Rytz
EDITOR: Elisa Bonora
A gripping tale of geopolitical, scientific, and corporate intrigue that exposes the machinations of the International Seabed Authority, a secretive organization empowered to greenlight massive extraction of metals from the deep sea floor that are deemed essential to the electric battery revolution. The film examines humanity’s destructive pattern of extracting materials from this last pristine environment for profit.
Young Voices Program – for students, faculty & family only
Wednesday, 12/6, 10:00am @ Bay Street Theater
Our Young Voices program has hosted hundreds of students who filled the theater to watch curated films and to better understand the language of film within a context of art, history and society. The Young Voices program at the festival expands on this theatrical viewing experience with a hands-on orientation workshop in filmmaking, with a focus on the professional development of young filmmakers.
SHORTS & BREAKFAST BITES – Program 1
Saturday, 12/2, 10:00am, 74 min @ Bay Street Theater
The ABCs of Book Banning, 27 min
DIRECTORS: Trish Adlesic, Naz Habtezghi, Sheila Nevins
PRODUCERS: Sheila Nevins, Trish Adlesic, Naz Habtezghi
In recent years, more than 2,500 books have been removed from school districts around the U.S., labeled as banned, restricted, or challenged, and made unavailable to millions of students. This film is a love letter to reading and education that begs us to consider what gets lost as books continue to be banned across the country.
The Bridge, 12 min
Director Carl Sturgess in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: Carl Sturgess
PRODUCER: Casey Bannon
Bob Rubin and his wife Stéphane Samuel founded The Bridge Golf Foundation, a year-round sports youth-development program based in Harlem. The students get college prep tutoring and golf lessons and in the summer live and work at Rubin’s club in Bridgehampton, Long Island.
The Barber of Little Rock, 35 min
Co-Director John Hoffman in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTORS: John Hoffman, Christine Turner
PRODUCER: Christina Avalos
This film explores America’s widening racial wealth gap through the story of Arlo Washington, a barber in Little Rock, Arkansas, whose visionary approach to a just economy is found in the mission of People Trust, the nonprofit community bank he founded.
SHORTS & BREAKFAST BITES – Program 2
Sunday, 12/3, 10:00am, 104 min @ Bay Street Theater
The Orchestra Chuck Built, 22 min
DIRECTOR: Christopher Stoudt
PRODUCERS: Ryan Suffern, Maryann Garger, Bob Logan, Brainz Prasad
Less than 2% of the professional orchestra workforce in the U.S. is black. Chuck Dickerson, a former lawyer-turned-conductor, is on a mission to change that. The film is a loving portrait of a tireless mentor and a testament to the transformative power of music.
Rocks 4 Sale!, 16 min
Director David Dibble in attendance for Q&A
DIRECTOR: David Dibble
PRODUCER: David Dibble
A slice-of-life look at how kids in the former mining town of Silverton, Colorado stay busy in the summer by “mining” and selling rocks to tourists. These “rock stars” learn history, social skills, and become little entrepreneurs while delighting tourists from around the world.
Last Song from Kabul, 30 min
DIRECTOR: Kevin Macdonald
PRODUCERS: Katie Buchanan, Sophie Daniel
The devastating reality of Afghanistan after the Taliban occupation: Music has been banned and musicians are forced into hiding. Can a group of daring young musicians find their voices again?
Daughter of Mine, 36 min
DIRECTOR: Vanessa Martino
PRODUCER: Javier Parra
A mother works decades to keep her daughter’s killer in prison after she was murdered delivering Girl Scout cookies in 1973. Nancy Buirski was the Executive Producer.