(TEANECK, NJ) -- The Teaneck International Film Festival offers an online screening of the documentary film Home Court by Erica Tanamachi, Jenn Lee Smith, and Brandon Soun on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. The screening is part of a five documentary film series called Indie Lens Pop-Up.
The film follows Cambodian American teenager Ashley Chea, a basketball prodigy whose life intensifies amid college recruitment, injury, and triumph. It is available to screen on demand from 7:30pm to midnight.
Filmed over three years of Ashley’s high school career, Home Court is a coming-of-age story that relays the highs and lows of her immigrant family, surmounting challenges, and personal trials that include a devastating knee injury. Despite the intensity of basketball recruiting, Ashley’s playful spark shines through, and her natural talent inspires the support of those around her. Home Court highlights both joy and heartache while exploring the high stakes of following the American dream. Watch the film and stay for the talkback!
The screening is free, but sign-up is still required. Click here to reserve your ticket.
Jeremy Lentz, Executive Director of the Teaneck International Film Festival “is proud to launch our fifth season of Indie Lens Pop-Up. These films continue to empower our community to come together and talk about topics that might be otherwise difficult to discuss with one another. With this continued partnership, we’re not only able to share films from the award-winning INDEPENDENT LENS series, but we also create open, safe forums to talk about important issues affecting our neighborhoods today, hopefully providing useful resources for those who need them.”
Through its roster of five documentary projects this season, Indie Lens Pop-Up will ignite conversations on a range of topics, including a Cambodian American basketball prodigy, the American institution of public libraries, and the history of funk music. This season’s topics also aim to expand perspectives through deeply personal stories, like what it means to live with Alzheimer’s disease and the bond between father and son. Each film will make its television debut on INDEPENDENT LENS, PBS’s award-winning documentary anthology series, and will be available to stream on the PBS app.
Locally, The Teaneck International Film Festival has partnered with the Teaneck Public Library and The Puffin Cultural Forum on presenting this five-month series. Remaining films in the series include “Free for All: The Public Library” and “Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's”.
Indie Lens Pop-Up is a community series that brings people together for film screenings and conversations. Featuring documentaries seen on PBS's INDEPENDENT LENS, Indie Lens Pop-Up draws local residents, leaders, and organizations to discuss what matters most.
INDEPENDENT LENS is an Emmy® Award-winning PBS documentary series. With founding executive producer Lois Vossen, the series has been honored with 10 Academy Award nominations and features documentaries united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of independent filmmakers. Presented by ITVS, INDEPENDENT LENS is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Acton Family Giving, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Park Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and National Endowment for the Arts. Stream anytime on the PBS app.
Teaneck International Film Festival draws over 4,000 filmgoers each year. Films and talkbacks illustrate what TIFF is about – making untouchable topics part of everyday conversation by addressing racism, oppression, the environment, the LGBTQ+ community, women’s issues, threats to democracy, immigration, and more -- stories of ordinary citizens whose voices are not often heard. With the theme, Activism: Making Change, the festival is an excellent starting point for fostering appreciation of differences, understanding all that we share, and encouraging efforts to help make the world a better place.
