Upcoming Events

Joan Baez I Am A Noise

Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium 901 G STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC, United States

I Am A Noise is a deeply revealing psychological exploration of legendary folk singer and activist Joan Baez, who despite six decades of fame, has never told the full truth of her life, until now.

Shorts Program 1: Against the Grain

Edlavitch Jewish Community Center, Cafritz Hall 1529 16TH STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036, DC, United States

From a rented mansion in suburban Texas, a group of young men sell a hyperbolic, alpha-male version of themselves on the internet.nThe U.S. Supreme Court decision Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization from June 2022 sparked a national response, particularly in the Jewish community. Inspired by the lived experiences of Jewish women, lawsuits are currently being launched by rabbis, Jewish organizations, and interfaith leaders to challenge the overturning of Roe v. Wade - on the grounds of religious freedom.nOver 50 years ago, Assemblyman George Michaels cast a single vote on New York's abortion bill that changed the course of American history but destroyed his political career in the process.nIn 2009, Daryl Johnson, a Department of Homeland Security intelligence analyst wrote a highly controversial report laying out the rising threat of right-wing extremism. Today, many of the report’s most dire predictions have materialized.nRunning out of time and money, Editor and Publisher Laurie Brown battles an oil bust, a global pandemic, and a growing mistrust of the media as she tries to keep her newspaper alive in rural Texas.

Natalia

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 5th Floor Auditorium 8TH AND G STREETS NW, WASHINGTON, DC, DC, United States

A 29-year-old novice nun leaves behind a promising career in engineering and a lively romantic life to embrace the passions of her faith. Through beautifully shot black-and-white footage, director Elizabeth Mirzaei provides an intimate and meditative portrait of Natalia through the transitory period of her life as she approaches her vows.

Shorts Program 2: Unbreakable Spirits

Eaton Cinema 1201 K STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC, United States

With thousands of miles and a war between them, two sisters are determined to stay connected to each other before it's too late.nThe Silent Witness is a documentary about Tomiko Morimoto West’s horrifying experience as a 13-year-old girl in Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb dropped. The film details how she survived, what she witnessed, and how she was affected.nBubjan tells the story of Parwiz Zafari, a former member of the Iranian parliament who worked toward making Iran a progressive, modern, and free society - until the Islamic Republic swept it all away in 1979, and he was forced to leave behind everything he knew.nSummer 2021, as Kabul falls to the Taliban, members of the Under-18 Afghan National Women’s Football Team attempt a daring evacuation from their homeland.

Pay or Die

Edlavitch Jewish Community Center, Cafritz Hall 1529 16TH STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036, DC, United States

The US healthcare system is the most expensive in the world and close to half of all Americans reportedly struggle to pay for their healthcare. Pay Or Die explores the crushing financial reality for millions of insulin dependent Americans living with diabetes, as pharmaceutical companies push the price of this life saving medication to exorbitant levels, making record breaking profits.

Uncharted

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 5th Floor Auditorium 8TH AND G STREETS NW, WASHINGTON, DC, DC, United States

Uncharted goes behind the scenes of Alicia Keys' "She Is The Music" songwriting camp in this revealing look at the music business. Through the experiences of young Black and Brown women, we show how hard it is to succeed in a world granting very little access and opportunity for them.

20 Days in Mariupol

Eaton Cinema 1201 K STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC, United States

An AP team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting atrocities of the Russian invasion. As the only international reporters who remain in the city, they capture what later become defining images of the war.

Bad Press

Edlavitch Jewish Community Center, Cafritz Hall 1529 16TH STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036, DC, United States

When the Muscogee Nation suddenly begins censoring their free press, a rogue reporter fights to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle that will have ramifications for all of Indian Country.

Kokomo City

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, 5th Floor Auditorium 8TH AND G STREETS NW, WASHINGTON, DC, DC, United States

A wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary that passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City – Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver - as they hold nothing back while breaking down the walls of their profession.

DC/FRAME: Lost & Found

Eaton Cinema 1201 K STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC, United States

American citizen Emad Shargi is taken hostage while visiting Iran, his country of birth, as a pawn in ongoing nuclear negotiations. His wife Bahareh and daughters are forced into unlikely roles to bring him home.nSolitude and community; aging and migration; local and world history in a single historic apartment building in Mt. Pleasant, Washington DC.nIn 1838, Jesuit priests sold 272 enslaved people in order to keep Georgetown University afloat. Six generations later, with the aid of digital DNA databases, their descendants are finding each other and regrowing their family trees.

Art For Everybody

Edlavitch Jewish Community Center, Cafritz Hall 1529 16TH STREET NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20036, DC, United States

Thomas Kinkade’s pastoral landscapes made him the most collected and despised painter of all time. After his shocking death, his family discovers a vault of unseen paintings that reveal a complex artist whose life and work embody our divided America.