Synopsis

Karen and Markus live with their children in the idyllic countryside home of Karen’s youth. Markus’s birthday is approaching, offering the perfect occasion for a family get-together. As guests begin to arrive — everyone from their reclusive neighbor to their collegiate daughter to Karen’s impetuous sister — so do simmering resentments, snide gossip, and verbal slights. Still grieving the death of her overbearing mother, Karen’s mounting stress hurtles the family toward a fiery confrontation.

Masterfully crafted and expertly observed, The Sparrow in the Chimney explores the explosive, aggressive potential of everyday human interaction. The cramped country house becomes a character in itself, its ghosts seeming to haunt its inhabitants as they flit in and out of ingeniously cluttered frames, begging the question: Are we ever able to truly leave the past behind us?

Synopsis

Ivan Dixon’s The Spook Who Sat By the Door is a radical adaptation of Sam Greenlee’s 1969 novel and a seminal work of American political cinema. The film stars Lawrence Cook as Dan Freeman, the first Black CIA agent, who secretly utilizes his training to build a guerrilla army on the south side of Chicago aimed at toppling the U.S. government. Freeman’s covert operations highlight the militant struggle for Black liberation that intensified in the wake of the civil rights movement.

Blending satire with serious political commentary, Dixon’s explosive narrative remains a powerful critique of systemic racism and oppression. Restored to its original glory, the film’s urgency and revolutionary spirit continue to resonate today, showcasing its timeless relevance and incisive portrayal of Black resistance.

Restored by The Library of Congress and The Film Foundation. Funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Synopsis

Suçuarana is the name of a mythical place, a lush landscape that appears in the weathered photo of her mother that Dora carries with her always. Dora has been on the road for a long time, hitching rides through Brazil’s mining region in search of her family’s homeland. But no one seems to know this place, seemingly lost to time. And the open road can be troubling for a woman traveling alone, as the generosity of strangers is suddenly eclipsed by danger. After an accident, Dora seeks refuge in an abandoned factory; there, a group of workers have formed a village and a community bond that feels akin to the home Dora searches for, if just for a moment.

The first feature collaboration between Clarissa Campolina and Sérgio Borges, Suçuarana infuses the road-movie genre with ethereal magical realism, longing for a sense of belonging that is always just out of reach.

Synopsis

Accompanied by his friend Miyata, a heartbroken Sano returns to Izu, the Japanese coastal resort where Sano fell in love with his wife, Nagi, five years prior. With the hotel set to shutter in the coming days, Sano checks in one last time and ponders the exhilarating pangs of his lost love. Adrift, he wanders the grounds, and his memories of Nagi begin to take hold.

Narratively playful and profoundly affecting, Super Happy Forever is an unconventional seaside romance. Extended flashback sequences blend memory with reality to create a moving portrait of a relationship’s beginnings while reflecting on its untimely end. A crackling chemistry between leads Hiroki Sano and Nairu Yamamoto combines with director Igarashi Kohei’s elegant visual style to create a beautiful ode to a love gained and lost.

Synopsis

A successful trans actress proudly occupies the space in the world that she has earned. She relishes in the prestige from her glittering career and the attention that it grabs from those around her, including from a handsome Mexican lawyer. As their love blossoms into marriage, making a home and building a family, she traces the course of her life and weaves it into a new trans narrative: one that demands the right to enjoyment, ambition, desire, glamor, and security as well as flaws and contradictions.

Adapted from the homonymous novel by contemporary trans actress and writer Camila Sosa Villada, Thesis on a Domestication shines a spotlight on Villada herself, who masterfully embodies a protagonist who refuses to succumb neither to norms of success and family nor the expectations of life as a trans woman. A bold portrait of a woman who defies definition, and must navigate the cost of her iconoclastic life.