USA Director: Ryan Miningham
Murder. Robbery. Abandonment. Gary "Blue" Meekins' past is one he'd prefer not to remember. Even after surviving the rough streets of Harlem, Blue finds himself struggling to make it through the days. Now, with the help of an old coach and his emotionally damaged neighbor, this burgeoning prizefighter is finally getting his shot at the title. But after so much, will Blue make it to the fight of his life?
110 minutes
USA Director: Tina Mabry
They weren't the first to dream of escaping their small Mississippi town, but-raised among their family's vicious cycle of abuse, addiction, and lies—three young black children learn the hard way that their dreams will never be enough. Based on a true story, Mississippi Damned is the brutally honest tale of what happens when a family's haven is also its prison.
120 minutes
France / USA Director: Anne Aghion
"When you bear a child, you make its flesh, but not its heart." These are the words of a peasant woman reflecting on why neighbor turned on neighbor in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ten years in the making, this documentary by award-winning filmmaker Anne Aghion follows the victims—and perpetrators—as they learn to live side by side in the aftermath of the genocide.
Kinyarwanda with subtitles, 80 minutes
Bahamas Director: Maria Govan
When her grandma dies, 14-year-old Rain is sent to live with her drug-addicted mother in the poverty-stricken ghettos of Nassau. The irony of disease, drug addictions, prostitution, and poverty—set against the tourist-filled island backdrop—is difficult to ignore as these women struggle to find an inner strength to overcome their seemingly inescapable destiny.
93 minutes
USA Directors: Dan Sturman and Bill Guttentag
Relive the American civil rights movement through the soul-stirring folk songs that fortified protestors struggling for equality. This powerful doc pairs modern renditions by Wyclef Jean, John Legend, TV on the Radio, the Roots, and others with footage from the bitter days of segregation and emotional present-day interviews with the people (including Harry Belafonte and Congressman John Lewis) who fought and lived through it.
82 minutes
Ethiopia / Germany / USA Directors: Rasselas Lakew and Davey Frankel
In 1960, the barefoot Ethiopian marathon runner Abebe Bikila stunned the world by becoming the first African to win the Olympic gold medal. Then he won gold again four years later in Tokyo. But his story had just begun with Olympic medals. A few years later in Ethiopia, fate presents this champion with his greatest challenge. Seamlessly blending autobiography, biopic, drama, and documentary, The Athlete is a beautiful and moving investigation of a man who is ceaseless in his journey for greatness.
English, Amharic with subtitles, 93 minutes
