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Flannery. (preview)
Filmmaker, Elizabeth Coffman, in Attendance With animations, never-before-seen archival footage and soul-raising music, FLANNERY illustrates the biography of the brilliant, young writer from Georgia, U.S.A. Flannery O’Connor’s story is brought to life with Mary Steenburgen’s voice and through the eyes of Alice Walker, Tommy Lee Jones, Mary Karr, Tobias Wolff, Alice McDermott, Conan O’Brien, Mary Gordon and many more. These artists share their insights about O’Connor’s violent, redemptive work, while musicians—Lucinda Williams and Bruce Springsteen—share their Flannery-inspired music in this feature-length, NEH-funded film.
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From Tonga
Patrick Vahe in attendance Euless, TX is home to one of the largest Tongan populations in the United States. As a result, the Polynesian presence heavily influences the city's high school football team.
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Gary: The Yard Artist
Filmmakers and Gary in attendance An eccentric man displays old neon signs and different objects on his porch all year round as a way to give back to his community.
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him
A look into the life of a transgender rights activist, Ethan, as he fights for equality in conservative Texas.
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Hope Uncloaked
Filmmaker in Attendance A story about a man rediscovering a moment in his past where he came close to being murdered, had a divine force not intervened. We follow him back to the actual location where it happened all those years ago, as he reconciles with the young man he once was.
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The Last Cassette Tape Studio
Annour runs the last cassette tape studio in a small town in Chad's northern desert. It's where he gets most of his sewing done.
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Letter to the Editor
Independent filmmaker Alan Berliner considers the power of photography and what may be lost as daily newspapers face extinction, in this documentary exploring his near-lifelong obsession with clipping and indexing photos. For 40 years, filmmaker Alan Berliner has clipped out from the pages of The New York Times photos that caught his eye, keeping them meticulously filed and cross-indexed as a self-appointed archivist and librarian. Driven by his obsession, Berliner has completed the work of nearly a lifetime, transforming and reinterpreting his collection of images into a statement about the nature of humankind. Letter to the Editor is a filmic essay with multiple themes and a stunning array of thousands of photographs from Berliner's collection. Throughout his distinguished career, Berliner has approached documentary like an artist and memoirist, through films about his family such as Nobody's Business to his meditation on insomnia Wide Awake (where he gave a glimpse of his archiving compulsion). This film delivers poignant reflections on the power of photography, the importance of print publications, and what it means when technology brings a dramatic change to century-old traditions. Berliner narrates his exploration with humour and insight. The flow of images pays homage to the ability of photo journalism to capture the scope of human experience from war to whimsy. The span of his archive, starting in the late-'70s, chronicles the small and large changes that the world has undergone. Every picture tells a story and Berliner weaves them into a profound tapestry. At a time when it seems inevitable for the daily print newspaper to go extinct, this documentary "letter" is a clarion call to recognize what's at stake.
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LILY
Artist, fugitive, trailblazer the incredible true story of Lily Rene, who escaped Nazi-occupied Vienna as a teenager, and went on to become one of the true pioneers during the Golden Age of comics.
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Midnight Traveler
When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili's head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows firsthand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.
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Mr. Toilet: The World's #2 Man
What do you get when you cross an eccentric self-made man with a load of crap? Jack Sim. To a stranger, he’s a guy obsessed with toilets, but to those who know him, he’s “Mr. Toilet,” a crusader for global sanitation. Born in the Singapore slums, Jack Sim knows firsthand the agonies of not having a proper loo. Now he’s dedicating his life to a crisis no one dares talk about: Shit. Not having a place “to go” isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a problem that impacts 2.4 billion people worldwide. In India alone, 200,000 children die each year from lack of safe sanitation, while women are regularly raped because they have to defecate in public spaces. Jack’s kids describe him as a 12-year old trapped in a 60-year old’s body. He’s full of jokes and it can be hard to take him seriously. But, he uses humor as his weapon to fight an uphill battle against bathroom taboos. He founded the World Toilet Organization and spent the last 13 years lobbying 193 countries to raise awareness for proper sanitation. He even successfully lobbied the United Nations to create World Toilet Day – the first international day of celebration for the toilet. Now he is plunged into his biggest challenge yet when asked to secure 6 million toilets for the “Clean India” initiative. But with few resources and no help from the government, his epic project and reputation are in jeopardy. Jack’s once supportive staff begins to doubt him; and when his family bonds start to fray over his obsessive dedication, he wonders if he’s finally met his match. Mr. Toilet realizes there is a price to pay for being the world’s #2 man, but as a su-poo-hero he can’t quit.
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Mr. Zoot Suit
After putting his dreams on hold, a university housekeeping supervisor follows his passion for dancing and educating others about the history of the zoot suit.
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