Documentary Feature
World Cinema Documentary
98 min
World Premiere
More than just a global fashion icon, footwear designer Kenneth Cole has put cause before commerce for 40 years, driven by heart and 'sole.' Undoubtedly a trendsetter, Cole inspired and mobilized cultural norms and perceptions for the better as a pioneer of corporate social action; he advocated for social causes—from HIV/AIDS…
Directed By Dori Berinstein
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
117 min
East Coast Premiere
Tony and Emmy Award® winner Jeffrey Wright stars in this biting comedy as Thelonius “Monk” Ellison, an under-appreciated author fed up with the state of Black literature in America. When he uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, he is propelled into the hypocritical madness he claims to disdain.
Directed By Cord Jefferson
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
84 min
Newly engaged couple David (Jon Bass) and Meg (Meghan Leathers) plan to introduce their parents for the first time over Shabbat dinner at David's parents’ Upper West Side apartment. As the finishing touches for the evening come together, a dead body throws a wrench into this high-stakes affair. This day of rest is anything but,…
Directed By Daniel Robbins
Narrative Feature
Views from Long Island
106 min
North American Premiere
On Christmas Eve, the Balsano family gathers for what could be their last holiday in their ancestral home on Long Island. As the night wears on and generational tensions arise, teenager Emily (Matilda Fleming) and her cousin Michelle (Francesca Scorsese) sneak out with their friends to claim the wintry suburb for their own. In…
Directed By Tyler Taormina
Narrative Feature
Spotlight
98 min
North American Premiere
Griffin Dunne (THE DISCOVERERS, HIFF 2012) stars as Peter Pearce, a New Yorker reeling from his parents’ recent divorce and his own wife (Rosanna Arquette, reuniting with her AFTER HOURS co-star) leaving him after 35 years. When he crashes his son Nick’s (James Norton) bachelor party in Tulum, Peter soon realizes he’s not the…
Directed By Noah Pritzker
Documentary Short
Short Films
27 min
World Premiere
In showcasing David Hempstead, Sr.'s journey from slavery to freedom on Long Island's East End, this insightful short also follows the Plain Sight Project, uncovering legacies of people of color in the…
Directed By Sam Hamilton, Julian Alvarez
Narrative Feature
Spotlight, Views from Long Island
119 min
In her debut as a writer-director, actress Jennifer Esposito (''Blue Bloods,'' SUMMER OF SAM, CRASH) brings late 1980s Staten Island to vivid life through the lens of Rose Larusso (Emily Bader), an inquisitive young girl who discovers her father (Domenick Lombardozzi) is an emerging mafia kingpin. Rose’s growing desire to break…
Directed By Jennifer Esposito
Documentary Short
Compassion Justice & Animal Rights, Short Films
22 min
US Premiere
Happy the elephant was captured as a baby and has been confined for the past 40 years. An historic court case examines the question: is she also a…
Directed By Laura Rindlisbacher
Documentary Feature
Conflict & Resolution
109 min
New York Premiere
In the summer of 2020, director Michael Premo follows three right-wing activists—a newly politicized father-to-be in New Jersey, an Air Force veteran organizing conservatives in New York City, and a charismatic activist from Texas—as they crisscross the country campaigning for Donald Trump and building a movement they hope will…
Directed By Michael Premo
Documentary Feature
World Cinema Documentary
85 min
Venus Xtravaganza emerged as a global trans icon after being featured as a glamorous "ball walker" in the groundbreaking 1991 documentary PARIS IS BURNING. Before the film's release, Venus was tragically murdered at the age of 23. Her killer was never found. Now, decades later, I'M YOUR VENUS picks up a trail gone cold as her…
Directed By Kimberly Reed