The Space Race
Synopsis
Pioneers in civil rights and outer space, Black astronauts like Guion Bluford, Victor Glover, and Chicago’s own Mae Jemison boldly ventured where no Black Americans had ever gone before. The Space Race is the untold story of their adventures in flight and the social forces they endeavored to transcend. Anchored by the story of Ed Dwight — who was handpicked by JFK to be the first African-American in space before he was dropped from the mission — the film chronicles the personal and political battles these pioneers encountered through the decades.
Filled with rich historical footage and candid interviews with many self-proclaimed “Afronauts,” the film connects their ambitions with cultural forces like the Black Power movement and the Afrofuturism of icons like musician Sun Ra and author Octavia Butler. Expansive, moving, and uplifting, the film is a profound act of reclamation, giving voice to a group of trailblazers, who have been largely missing from the official history — until now.
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Media
Film Credits
- Alexandra Bowen, Aly Parker, Mark Monroe, Keero Birla, Lisa Cortés, Diego Hurtado de Mendoza
- Frank Marshall, Tony Rosenthal, Carolyn Bernstein, Leland Melvin
- Kennedy/Marshall Company
Sponsors
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Cynthia Stone Raskin
Black Perspectives Program Sponsors
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The Taste of Things La passion de Dodin Bouffant
Synopsis
Juliette Binoche stars alongside her real-life ex Benoît Magimel in this sumptuous romantic drama, about a famed gourmet (Magimel) in 1880s France whose twenty-year relationship with his private chef (Binoche) has mellowed into a soulmate bond. He desperately wants to marry her. She’s skeptical, preferring their current arrangement to a conventional partnership. The thing that keeps them together is their obsession with food: preparing it, eating it, talking about it. So what better way for him to convince her to settle down than to cook her a meal?
Director Anh Hung Tran (The Scent of Green Papaya) combines culinary and sensual delight in the tradition of the best cinematic “food porn,” opening with a 40-minute cooking sequence that’s as rich and mouthwatering as a pat of butter in a sizzling hot pan.
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Film Credits
- Olivier Delbosc
- Tran Anh Hung
- Juliette Binoche, Benoît Magimel
- Christine De Jekel
- Curiosa Films, Gaumont, France 2 Cinema, UMedia
Sponsors
Film Sponsor
Film Supporters
Joseph and Mary Plauché
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The Teachers’ Lounge Das Lehrerzimmer
Synopsis
When Carla Nowak, a dedicated sports and math teacher, starts her first job at a high school, she stands out for her idealism. Then, one of her students is suspected in a series of thefts at the school, and Carla decides to investigate the matter on her own. Carla tries to mediate between outraged parents, opinionated colleagues and aggressive students, but is relentlessly confronted with the rigid structures of the school system. The more desperately she tries to do everything right, the more the young teacher threatens to break.
This gripping drama about conformity, racism, and rebellion — Germany’s entry into the Oscars — is an incisive look at the rapidly shifting power dynamics and complex search for truth in contemporary society.
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Film Credits
- Ingo Fliess
- İlker Çatak, Johannes Duncker
- Gesa Jäger
- Judith Kaufmann
- Leonie Benesch, Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachoviak, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Eva Löbau, Kathriin Wehlisch, Sarah Bauerett, Leo Stettnisch, Oscar Zickur, Antonia Küpper, Elsa Krieger, Vincent Stachowiak, Can Rodenbostel, Padmé Hamdemir, Lisa Marie Transe
- Marvin Miller
- if...Productions
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The Zone of Interest
Synopsis
The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig strive to build a dream life for their family in a house next to the camp. The two play host to all manner of guests, tend to a lavish garden, and take in the surrounding natural beauty, all the while the horrors of the Holocaust rage just beyond their garden wall. As the war nears its end, Hedwig refuses to abandon her “idyllic” homelife, while her husband works to further distinguish himself among the Nazi rank-and-file, both existing in a state of moral squalor and permanent denial.
Scathing, incisive, and unforgettable, The Zone of Interest is a masterpiece of the medium. Crafted with exacting precision by visionary director Jonathan Glazer (Under the Skin), the film poses timely questions and uncovers uncomfortable truths about the banality of evil and humanity’s capacity for willful ignorance.
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Film Credits
- James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
- Jonathan Glazer
- Paul Watts
- Łukasz Żal
- Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller
- Mica Levi
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They Shot the Piano Player
Synopsis
In this lively animated music documentary, a New York journalist named Jeff Harris (Jeff Goldblum) goes on a quest to uncover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of a young Brazilian jazz pianist, Tenorio Jr., in the 1970s. The film switches back and forth between Harris’ present-day investigations in Brazil and Argentina, where he tracks down and talks to music virtuosos like Gilberto Gil and João Gilberto, and beautifully envisioned memories of the Bossa Nova music scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s.
From the directors of the Oscar-nominated animated feature Chico and Rita, They Shot the Piano Player is both an engaging political murder mystery and a snapshot of the creative freedom and musical innovation that took place during a turning point in Latin American history, just before the continent was engulfed by totalitarian regimes.
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Film Credits
- Cristina Huete
- Fernando Trueba
- Arnau Quiles
- Jeff Goldblum
- Nano Arrieta, Fabien Westerhoff
- Fernando Trueba P.C., Les Films d’Ici, Submarine Animanostra
Sponsors
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