Confessions of a Good Samaritan

Director Penny Lane’s decision to become a “Good Samaritan” by giving one of her kidneys to a stranger – someone she’s never met, and never will meet – launches her on a provocative, intimate, and unexpectedly funny quest to understand the nature of altruism. Confessions of a Good Samaritan is a provocative inquiry into the science, history, and ethics of organ transplantation, asking an ancient question in a whole new way: who is your neighbor, and what do you owe them?

I Like it Here

We talk or laugh about aging; its irritations and relentless progression, but we rarely confront the reality of dying or being left alone. Nor do we consider the lightness and calmness that can come when the success race seems not so crucial. I Like it Here is about all those things and, finally, about the pleasures of being alive. Filmmaker Ralph Arlyck tries to convey how it feels to be seeing the winding down of your life. He spends time with older friends from his past and present, most of them rather lively, plus children and grandchildren. Woven in with these scenes are personal reflections on the challenges of getting old; of feeling your joints and thoughts stiffen, as the camera confronts – both seriously and humorously — the obstacles that loom up in front of anyone who is on the last lap. The tone of the film isn’t sad; more wistful. The title’s declaration has a double meaning. The “here” that the filmmaker likes is both his immediate rural surroundings (the fields, water and neighbors he sees out his window) – and life itself.

Shorts Program 3: Out/Spoken

Out/Spoken explores the diversity, complexity, and vibrancy of queer lives and experiences. Through a dynamic range of stories, this program captures the joys, struggles, and triumphs of queer individuals and communities, highlighting their resilience, creativity, and unwavering spirit.