The Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival – the longest-running documentary film festival in the United States – will celebrate 33 years at the American Museum of Natural History this November 12-15, 2009. The festival will screen an outstanding and varied selection of titles culled from more than 1,000 submissions.
Download the press release (PDF)...
August 31, 2009
June 1, 2009
Straightlaced Benefit Premiere
STRAIGHTLACED
Directed by Debra Chasnoff
With a fearless look at a highly charged subject, Straightlaced unearths how popular pressures around gender and sexuality are confining American teens. From girls confronting media messages about body image to boys who are sexually active just to prove they aren’t gay, this fascinating array of students bravely open up about the toll that deeply held stereotypes and rigid gender policing have on all of our lives. Interweaving the stories of students who are straight with those who identify in other ways, Straightlaced makes it clear that these cultural pressures profoundly affect all of our lives. Their intimate stories, filled with courage, pathos, and unexpected humor, offer both teens and adults a way out of anxiety, fear, and violence and point the way toward a more inclusive, empowering culture.
May 26, 2009
Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College
695 Park Avenue, New York, NY
7:00 Screening, 8:30 General Audience Reception
May 30, 2009
U.S. Premiere of Back Home, Tomorrow at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
BACK HOME, TOMORROW
Directed by Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini (Italy, 2008, 87min) In Dari, Nuba, and Arabic with English subtitles
In Back Home, Tomorrow, directors Fabrizio Lazzaretti and Paolo Santolini share the moving stories of two children affected by war to present the remarkable work of the Italian aid organization Emergency. Yagoub fled with his family from Darfur and now lives in the Mayo Refugee Camp in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. He has to undergo a serious heart operation, but neither his family nor his fellow tribesmen can come up with the money to pay for it. Then there’s Murtaza. He’s recuperating in a hospital in Kabul after losing his left hand to a landmine. The directors expertly interweave these two fascinating and heartfelt stories without commentary to create a film of rich complexities and emotional resonance.
Presented in association with FilmAid International, www.filmaid.org and Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival.
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
June 11-25, 2009
Friday June 19, 9:15pm filmmaker present
Saturday June 20, 4:00pm filmmaker present
Tickets available online or at the box office
Walter Reade Theater
West 65th Street, between Broadway & Amsterdam Aves on the upper level
May 27, 2009
U.S. Premiere of Look into My Eyes at the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
LOOK INTO MY EYES
Directed by Naftaly Gliksberg (Israel, 2008, 80min) In English and French, German, Hebrew, and Polish with English subtitles
Is anti-Semitism a buzz-word for all kinds of real or imagined slights? Is it an arcane expression that should be retired, or is there legitimacy to outcries worldwide that anti-Semitism is again on the rise? Filmmaker Naftaly Gliksberg sets out to investigate what anti-Semitism looks like today, crossing two continents to see how people react to direct questions about their attitudes toward Jews, Israel, and the notion that there is such a thing as anti-Semitism. It is a startling personal journey of painful discoveries as he explores representations and impressions of Jews and Israelis around the world. As he visits individuals in Poland, France, the United States, and Germany, Gliksberg discovers that people’s responses to his pointed questions are often a mixture of their own culture, some version of history, and a certain collective psychology.
Presented in association with 92YTribeca, The Harriman Institute, and Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, June 11-25, 2009
Sunday June 21, 2:00pm filmmaker present
Monday June 22, 6:30pm filmmaker present
Tuesday June 23, 4:00pm filmmaker present
Tickets available online or at the box office
Walter Reade Theater
West 65th Street, between Broadway & Amsterdam Aves on the upper level
April 11, 2009
U.S. Premiere of Antoine at the Tribeca Film Festival
Antoine
U.S. PREMIERE
Laura Bari, Canada, 2008, 82 min, in French with English subtitles
Antoine opens with a shot of a five-year-old using a typewriter to describe in great detail how he became blind at birth. The next scene is Antoine receiving a phone call from Madame Rouski, who dissolved into the water while taking a shower. Antoine's mission is to find Madame Rouski. Equipped with his two best friends and a mini boom microphone to help him find clues, Antoine spends two years of his life locating her. Is she in the yellow daffodils, in the air, in Vietnam, or has she turned into a monster?
Antoine is a daring, poetic, and playful docudrama that intimately explores the life of this brilliant and unique boy who is fully integrated into the regular school system in Montreal. Director Laura Bari, with Antoine's help, skillfully presents children's uninhibited and creative thought processes while creating an extensive sensory experience for the viewer. Antoine treats his blindness as a minor interference—he's an embracer of life, not afraid to ingest every possible moment. An inspiration to children and adults alike, Antoine's real and imaginary lives are cleverly intertwined in this debut film, creating an homage to human resilience, optimism, and creativity. --Sara Nodjoumi
TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL
Monday, Apr 27, 8:00 p.m. at AMC Village VII 6
Tuesday, Apr 28, 6:45 p.m. at AMC Village VII 4
Friday, May 01, 11:00 a.m. at AMC Village VII 6
April 10, 2009
Tracking the White Reindeer at the Rubin Museum of Art
Tracking the White Reindeer
PREMIERE
Hamid Sardar, France, 2008, 50 min
In the remote plains of northern Mongolia, the Tsaatan nomads are a proud people who live off hunting and gathering. They travel on the backs of reindeer, on which their survival completely depends. Quizilol, 18, and the beautiful Solongo are in love. But Solongo's father believes that the youth is not mature enough to marry his daughter. Only if Quizilol shows that he is capable of raising a herd of reindeer by himself will he marry Solongo. This is the third of Sardar's Central Asian films to be premiered at RMA. Like its predecessors, it was judged Best Film on Mountain Culture at the Banff Film Festival.
RUBIN MUSEUM OF ART
150 West 17th Street, New York, NY
www.rmanyc.org
212.620.5000 x344
Wednesday, April 1, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 4, 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 5, 6:00 p.m.
NY Premiere of In My Genes at the NY African Film Festival
In My Genes
NEW YORK PREMIERE
Lupita Nyong'o, Kenya, 2009, 78 min.
What is it like to be "white" in a "black" society? Agnes, a woman with albinism, overcomes the difficulties of being born with no pigment in a society that discriminates against the condition. In My Genes asks us to consider how it feels to be a member of one of the most hyper-visible and yet effectively invisible groups of people in a predominantly black society.
16TH ANNUAL NEW YORK AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL
Sunday, April 12th, 9:15 p.m.Tuesday, April 14th, 5:00P p.m.
Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center
Through the lenses of emerging directors and veteran filmmakers, the 16th Annual New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) will take an introspective journey across the African continent, with films that create a vision of Africa's future through a deconstruction of its past. Under the banner "Africa in Transition," the festival will present a lineup of 35 films from 16 countries throughout Africa and the African Diaspora. Presented AFF and The Film Society of Lincoln Center, the 16th annual NYAFF runs at The Film Society of Lincoln Center's Water Reade Theater April 8th & 14th and continues with 'Beyond the Rainbow: 15 Years into South Africa's Democracy,' a panel discussion held at Columbia University's Institute of African Studies, April 15th.
The festival concludes with screenings at BAMCinematek from May 22nd - May 25th.
June 1, 2008
The Recruiter comes to the Human Rights Watch Festival
The Recruiter
NEW YORK PREMIERE
Edet Belzberg - USA - 2008 - 86 min. - In English
Bringing new meaning to the slogan "An Army of One," The Recruiter follows US Army Sergeant First Class Clay Usie, one of the most successful recruiters in America, as he seeks out the young men and women of Houma, Louisiana. Sergeant Usie's infectious 'can do' spirit draws in the kids, and he begins working with some of them three to four years before they are able to enlist. He becomes their mentor, their role model, and in some cases their surrogate father, as he trains beside his recruits and pushes them to their physical limits to prepare for Army basic training boot camp. But the realities of the war hit closer to home as the death count in Iraq for soldiers from the Houma area begins to rise and fewer and fewer civilians are willing to enlist. Four of Sergeant Usie's recruits - Chris, Bobby, Lauren, and Matt - enter boot camp inflated with Sergeant Usie's vim and vigor and talk of brotherhood and pride, but are soon confronted by the realities of the day-to-day life of a soldier. Sergeant Usie has prepared them for the physical brutality of boot camp, but can anyone prepare them for the emotional and psychological hardship that separation from their families, boot camp, and actual combat will bring?
Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
June 12 - 26
Friday, June 13, 4:00pm
Saturday, June 14, 9:15pm
Sunday, June 15, 1:00pm
Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center
165 West 65th Street, upper level
Complete details...
April 2, 2008
Award-Winning Soccer Film Premieres at Tribeca Film Festival
Football Under Cover
US PREMIERE
Ayat Najafi & David Assmann - Germany - 2007 - 86 min. - 35 mm - In Farsi, English, German with English subtitles
The members of the Iranian women's international football team (we call it "soccer") possess a dedication to the sport rivaling that of any other league in the world. What they lack, however, is a team to play against. When Marlene, the left back of a German soccer club, learns of their situation, she becomes determined to correct it, putting into motion plans for her club to travel to Tehran for a friendly match against the Iranian women. – Peter Scarlet
Tribeca Film Festival
April 23 - May 4
Sunday, Apr 27, 3:45pm, AMC Village VII Theater 7
Sunday, Apr 27, 8:00pm, AMC Village VII Theater 6
Monday, Apr 28, 9:45pm, AMC Village VII Theater 7
Wednesday, Apr 30, 5:00pm, AMC Village VII Theater 6
Saturday, May 03, 5:30pm, AMC 19th St. East Theater 1
Complete details...
March 20, 2008
Awaiting For Men Featured at the African Film Festival
Margaret Mead Film and Video Festival and African Film Festival co-present...
Awaiting for Men (En Attendant Les Hommes)
Katy Léna N'Diaye - Belgium - 2007 - 56 min. In Hassania with English subtitles
In the haven of Oualata, a red city on the far edge of the Sahara desert, three women practice traditional painting by decorating the walls of the city. In a society apparently dominated by tradition, religion and men, these women unabashedly express themselves freely, discussing the relationship between men and women.
African Film Festival
April 9 - May 26
Saturday, April 12, 3:30pm
Tuesday, April 15, 1:30pm
Walter Reade Theater
165 West 65th Street
Complete details...
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