Special Programs

Accepted

USA
Directed By Dan Chen
Running Time: 92 Minutes

In rural Louisiana, where education standards are among the lowest in the country, Michael and Tracey Landry wanted to be part of the solution. Their mission began with just five students in their kitchen, but their ambitious T.M. Landry College... {more}

After Sherman

USA
Directed By Jon-Sesrie Goff
Running Time: 88 Minutes

When the real estate of the southern U.S. coast is eyed by the wealthy, tax hikes and land auctions threaten the homes of the Gullah people who live there and have been stewards of the region for generations. Under the... {more}

Americanish

USA
Directed By Iman Zawahry
Running Time: 90 Minutes

This charming rom-com follows Pakistani-American sisters and their newly immigrated cousin as they juggle their love lives, careers, and familial expectations in Jackson Heights, Queens, NY. The three young Muslim women must contend with equal pressures of family and career.... {more}

Boycott

USA
Directed By Julia Bacha
Running Time: 73 Minutes

When a news publisher in Arkansas, an attorney in Arizona, and a speech therapist in Texas are told they must choose between their jobs and their political beliefs, they launch legal battles that expose an attack on freedom of speech... {more}

Daughter of a Lost Bird

USA
Directed By Brooke Pepion Swaney
Running Time: 66 Minutes

Kendra always knew she was adopted, and she loved her parents and childhood growing up in her predominantly white Oregon community. When encouraged to seek out her birth family, Kendra discovers her Lummi heritage from the Lummi Nation in Northwest... {more}

Dealing with Dad

USA
Directed By Tom Huang
Running Time: 106 Minutes

The Chang siblings live vastly different lives: Margaret is a perfectionist, Roy is sad about his divorce, and Larry has no interest in leaving his parents’ house. When Margaret gets word that their dad isn’t acting like himself and has... {more}

Messwood

USA
Directed By Emily Kuester, Brad Lichtenstein
Running Time: 94 Minutes

Football players were dwindling for teams at Milwaukee’s Messmer (urban and predominately Black) and Shorewood (affluent and largely white) high schools. To give boys the opportunity to play under the famous Friday night lights, the communities decided to merge their... {more}

Midwives

MYANMAR, CANADA, GERMANY
Directed By Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing
Running Time: 91 Minutes

In 2016 Myanmar, a predominantly Buddhist country, began an ethnic cleansing campaign began against Rohingya Muslims, blaming them for all of the problems in their communities. Over the last few years, tens of thousands of Muslims have been killed in... {more}

Mija

USA, MEXICO
Directed By Isabel Castro
Running Time: 88 Minutes

Doris Muñoz desperately longed for better representation in the indie music she listened to as a teenager. At 23, she took matters into her own hands and began a career in music talent management, passionately advocating for rising Latinx artists.... {more}

On the Divide

USA
Directed By Maya Cueva, Leah Galant
Running Time: 79 Minutes

The Whole Women’s Health Clinic in McAllen, Texas is the only remaining facility that provides abortions along the U.S./Mexico border. Just down the street, the Women’s Health Clinic (purposely named to create confusion) boasts free pregnancy tests and sonograms, encouraging... {more}

One Pint at a Time

USA
Directed By Aaron Hosé
Running Time: 89 Minutes

To Shaun Harris, co-owner and brewmaster of Harris Family Brewery, the first Black-owned brewery in Pennsylvania, sharing a beer with someone is a way to establish common ground and start conversations that matter; brewing beer is his contribution to the... {more}

Primera

CHILE
Directed By Vee Bravo
Running Time: 96 Minutes

“What you don’t share will be lost.” This call to solidarity is the heartbeat of PRIMERA. When a student revolt against inflated metro prices sparks a national revolution in Chile, the Primera (“First Line”) is established by the people. Armed... {more}

SELL/BUY/DATE

USA
Directed By Sarah Jones
Running Time: 97 Minutes

When Sarah Jones wrote and performed her one-woman off-Broadway production Sell/Buy/Date, she aimed to tackle the age-old question, “Is sex work empowering or exploitative?” For her work, Jones received a plethora of praise for tackling the complexities and nuanced viewpoints... {more}

Terrible Children

USA
Directed By Shanti Thakur
Running Time: 57 Minutes

In TERRIBLE CHILDREN, director Shanti Thakur shares a deeply personal account. Her father, Hari, gives her a letter written by his dad that he didn’t open for 20 years. When he hands it to her, he says, “maybe you can... {more}

Wildhood

CANADA
Directed By Bretten Hannam
Running Time: 107 Minutes

In Indigenous communities, the term “two-spirit” is used to describe individuals who have both a masculine and a feminine spirit within one body. Lincoln, a two-spirit teenager of Mi’kmaw heritage, has grown up estranged from both his Native community and... {more}