BELOVED - Directed by Delilah Saul. Delilah is a sex worker and journalist-turned-filmmaker in pursuit of answers to a question that’s the central obsession of her life: What needs to change in society in order for sex workers to more easily find relationships where they are loved and supported, just the way they are.
BETWEEN HERE and WAR - Directed by Ollie Ieltsov. A financial analyst and a fashion model who left Ukraine to forge successful careers put everything on hold when Russia invaded their homeland in 2022. Camouflaged in blue and yellow, armed with cellphones and oversized drone-filled suitcases ready for departure, they fight for their independence from the frontlines of NYC.
DEATH BY 1,089 CUTS (AND COUNTING) - Directed by Usha Sookai. Laura Mata Lopez never wanted to research suicide prevention. But she couldn’t let her Latina immigrant community continue to die, so she got into Johns Hopkins’ PhD program and earned an NIH grant for her research. Then President Trump terminated her funding and mobilized ICE – unexpectedly uniting her fight for science and the survival of her community.
DON’T LOOK AWAY - Directed by Joseph Lingad. Don't Look Away follows Corey over six years as he navigates his career, relationships, and daily life while challenging common societal assumptions about facial differences. Who is really missing out when society looks the other way?
NOEL (I CARRY YOU WITH ME) - Directed By Ana Teresa Colón García. After her grandfather Noel’s death, filmmaker Ana Teresa Colón-García joins her father in packing up the home Abuelo left behind. As they uncover an archive shaped by decades of political struggle and FBI surveillance in Puerto Rico, the process becomes a meditation on absence, independence, and the stories we inherit.
PLUS MINUS ONE - Directed by Lynn Ma. Have you ever been through a friend breakup? What do friends mean to us? What do we do after a friendship ends? This is my first-person bittersweet love story about my best friend and plus one who called it quits.
ROOT FOR ME - Directed by Valerie Dowret. During the extremes of a Lower East Side summer, where tree cover and green space are indicators of both happiness and heat, neighbors from one NYC city block compete to see whose 5x9 foot curb-garden will be worthy of the coveted first prize. (A tree guard).
THE SCARS WE CHOOSE - Directed by Chris Colon. Sonny Calandrillo is a 36-year-old trans tattoo artist (and New Jersey native) who believes that tattoos are much more than skin deep; they are a means of healing from trauma and reclaiming the self. Through this trauma-informed ideology we question -- can tattoos heal as much as they hurt?
