Shorts Program 5: Beyond Bars

Over the course of two years, How We Get Free follows Elisabeth Epps as she works to abolish cash bail in Colorado, first as an activist and then as a political candidate.nSet amidst the COVID-19 pandemic within the confines of San Quentin State Prison, What These Walls Won’t Hold chronicles the people who came together beyond the barriers of incarceration, to organize and respond to the prison crisis.
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project

Through intimate vérité, archival footage, and visually innovative treatments of her poetry, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project pushes the boundaries of biographical documentary film by traveling through time and space to reveal the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest living artists and social commentators.
The Body Politic

With unfettered access, The Body Politic follows Baltimore’s idealistic young mayor into office where he puts his personal and political future on the line to save his beloved city from chronic violence.
Breaking the News

A group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists, bucking the white male status quo, launch The 19th*—a digital news startup that asks who has been omitted from mainstream coverage and how they can be included?
Shorts Program 3: Out/Spoken

The Script explores the complicated relationship between trans and nonbinary communities and medical providers regarding gender-affirming care. The film invites its participants and audience to envision a liberated, gender-expansive future, beyond the rigidity of our current moment.nThis punk rock fairytale doubles as a portrait of Shoog McDaniel — a fat, queer, and disabled photographer whose work has transformed the way fat people view themselves and how a fat phobic society views fat bodies.nAs a young Chinese filmmaker returns to his hometown in search for himself, a long overdue conversation with his mother propels the two of them into a quest for acceptance and love.nMnM is an exuberant portrait of two emerging runway divas in the drag ballroom community, celebrating their joy, siblinghood, and unapologetic personas.
Stephen Curry: Underrated

The remarkable coming-of-age story of one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in the history of basketball: Stephen Curry.
Bad Press

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

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.
Uncharted

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.
Shorts Program 2: Unbreakable Spirits

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.