2023 Film Selections
Wednesday 8:00pm
U.S. Documentary
THE UNREDACTED
OPENING NIGHT! A group of men trained by al-Qaeda are transferred from Guantanamo to the world’s first rehabilitation center for “terrorists” located in Saudi Arabia. Filmed over three years, with unprecedented access, this film is a complex and nuanced exploration of the men we have heard so much about but never heard from.
Friday 8:00pm
THE EXILES
Produced by Steven Soderbergh and Chris Columbus, and featuring never-before-seen footage shot in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre, this film is an in-depth and personal investigation into one of the most significant events in modern history, as well as a meditation on the price of standing up for Democracy. Q&A with Ben Klein, Zhou Fenguso, Jianli Yang, Wuer Kaixi (an exiled hero of Tiananmen Square); Li Schoolland (mod)
Thursday 12:24pm
Short narratives
ALIEN
Sass is an idealistic young Alien on a family vacation traveling the galaxy, when her family comes across Earth. This planet has been deemed a "doofus civilization" because a privileged few use coercion and centralized power structures to control the many. Comedy-- and some learning--ensues.
Thursday 12:18pm
BABY FORMULA DRUG DEAL
In the midst of a government-caused baby formula shortage, this mother must go to any length to feed her baby.
Friday 1:10pm
Short documentaries
BITCOIN COWBOYS: WILL WYOMING BECOME THE NEXT CRYPTO CAPITAL?
Will Wyoming's unique approach to bitcoin regulation allow it to become the center of this innovative industry, or will it be a cautionary lesson of what can go wrong when straying from established regulatory norms?
Friday 9:00am
THE BROKEN BOYS OF KENOSHA
We thought we knew everything about the shootings of Jacob Blake and the killings of Kyle Rittenhouse. We don't. This is what really happened, with a common denominator that will shock you.
Thursday 9:00am
U.S. Narrative
CALL ME MULE
A man traveling with three mules fights to maintain his nomadic lifestyle in the American West. His confrontations with law enforcement have resulted in fines, arrests, even institutionalization. His story celebrates the creativity, courage and resilience to choose an extraordinary way of life and defend his place in the world. (Sneak peek, not in competition.)
Wednesday 11:30am
COOLIDGE: REDISCOVERING AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT
Coolidge stands as perhaps America’s most misunderstood and unjustly neglected president. A landmark new documentary film changes that, revealing a leader who offers urgent lessons for our age of inflation, exploding debt, and partisan rancor.
Saturday 2:10pm
International Documentary
THE DREAM OF A DECENT INCOME
Daniel, a self-employed gardener, delivery man, and baker in Argentina, struggles to make a better life for himself in an economy melting down from inflation and populist politics. What can be done to help ordinary workers like Daniel who are suffering from policies that keep them locked in poverty?
Friday 3:10pm
EVERYONE IS WELCOME
When DC Mayor Muriel Bowser mandated that bars and restaurants check the vaccination status of all patrons and deny service to those unvaccinated, Eric Flannery, owner of The Big Board in Washington, DC, took a stand and tweeted, “everyone is welcome.” In response, the city shut him down indefinitely. This is his story.
Friday 4:15pm
FOLLOW THE SCIENCE
Intensive scientific inquiry, personal firsthand accounts, and candid interviews all ultimately lead to the discovery that lockdowns were intrusive, damaging and ineffective at achieving the purported aim of mitigating the spread of the virus.
Thursday 3:30pm
International Narrative
FORBIDDEN TO SEE US SCREAM IN TEHRAN
The front woman for an Iranian death metal band risks everything as she plots to call the cops on her own underground concert in the hopes that the raid will help her secure her asylum in another country. Based on a true story.(In Farsi with subtitles.) Panel: "Using Film to Fight for Freedom in Iran"
Thursday 2:10pm
FORTUNE IN THE BOOK
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is free to attend, but students must pass a rigorous exam. What happened when the school board replaced the exam with a new admissions process that promoted “equity” rather than race-blind admissions?
Saturday 10:30am
FREE TO SPEAK
Is free speech an outdated idea? Should hate speech be banned? FREE TO SPEAK underscores why free speech is necessary for human survival as it presents thought-provoking, ironic, and often heartbreaking stories. Nadine Strossen will lead the post-screening panel to examine the power and controversy of free speech historically and today.
Friday 10:15am
FREE(D) BY FAITH
When a young man from Fairfield— the most dangerous city in Alabama— grows up without a single father figure to form him as a man, how does he find his way out of the poverty, violence, and cycle of broken men that surrounds him?
Friday 11:00am
FREE(D) BY FAMILY
When a young man and a young woman come from broken homes and families torn apart by poverty, drugs, and abuse— how do they form a family against all odds?The Black family is a powerful testament to the reality that you don’t have to come from a strong family to form one.
Saturday 1:10pm
THE GREAT EQUALIZER
When it comes to diversity and inclusion, effective patent rights are "The Great Equalizer." But patent rights are being actively dismantled by “Big Tech” greed and large corporations crushing the individual inventor. What good are "Diversity and Inclusion" when the patent system fails at its mission to be the "Great Equalizer"?
Thursday 1:30pm
HOUSE ON FIRE
“Is she sick, or is the world itself sick?" HOUSE ON FIRE, the debut graphic novel by writer/artist Matt Battaglia, teases out the difference in a personal-political cruise through a fallen world, where fear is rational and obedience your only refuge.
Saturday 12:00pm
IN THE PINES
IN THE PINES is a tragic tale of a blossoming, pluralistic society cut down in its infancy by power-hungry partisans bent on suppression and division. This film highlights the importance of a free press, free trade, and cooperation in upholding the ideals of truth and freedom.
Thursday 10:40am
INFRACTION
Based on the true story of Terrance Lewis, who was wrongfully convicted of second-degree murder, armed robbery, and criminal conspiracy. Post-screening panel includes Terrance Lewis and Dan Slepian of Dateline NBC, who has investigated the cases of over a dozen men who were wrongfully convicted.
Saturday 8:30am
ITHAKA
Julian Assange has become an emblem of international struggle over freedom of the press, government corruption, and unpunished war crimes. Weaving historic archive and intimate behind-the-scenes footage, ITHAKA tracks the journey of Assange's father, John Shipton, and Julian's wife, Stella Moris, as they advocate for Julian's release.
Friday 10:30am
MY DAD, THE HONOR FLIGHT DIRECTOR
Bob Morrison personally took thousands of veterans to see their memorials in Washington DC, but after years of working with the elderly, a sudden battle with dementia forced him to step back and refocus.
Saturday 1:00pm
PAPA CORIANDRE
Papa Coriandre is a determined entrepreneur in Burundi, the world’s poorest country, where running a business comes with huge risks of harassment, property destruction, and even imprisonment. But he has discovered a way to overcome these obstacles and prove that a better future is possible—for his company and his country.
Friday 12:50pm
RETURN TO THE CHILDHOOD HOME BEFORE THE LAST FAREWELL
A visit to the childhood home of the filmmaker in its present condition as a ruin. As the building is about to be demolished, the filmmaker makes an autobiographic re-visitation. The portrait of a Portugal of the past, filled with nostalgia and memory.
Thursday 3:10pm
SPLIT ENDS
Police surveillance cameras in Tehran have mistaken a young man for a woman because of his long hair, while a young girl who has shaved her head to avoid the law about covering her hair has also been arrested by the Tehran Morality Police. The two find a way to seek revenge. (In Farsi with subtitles.) "Panel: "Using Film to Fight for Freedom in Iran"
Saturday 4:10pm
STUDENT LOANS: DO THE MATH!
Student "aid" or lifetime debt? Learn how student loans work, what you'll really pay, and what you should consider before you sign on the dotted line. Panel: "How to Fix the Student Loan Crisis" Steve Forbes, Charles Santini, JoAnn Skousen
Friday 12:05pm
TO MY FATHER
Troy Kotsur is the first Deaf man to win an Academy Award for acting. During his emotional acceptance speech, Troy paid tribute to his dad, who made it his mission to excel at ASL so he could be the best possible father to Troy. TO MY FATHER is the story behind the speech that moved millions.
Wednesday 1:10pm
TRUST US
TRUST US traces the rise of American technocracy and governance by un-elected bureaucratic experts. These experts were convinced they could engineer solutions to all of our nation’s problems, but they caused irreversible damage to the country instead. This is a true story of bureaucratic arrogance gone wild.
Saturday 3:10pm
TUTTLE TWINS: THE INFLATION MONSTER
With their eyes set on a big carnival prize, Ethan and Emily learn that printing more tickets causes prices to rise. They visit Ancient Rome and Modern Zimbabwe to see the Inflation Monster at work, then rush back to save the carnival.
Thursday 12:05pm
THE VAMPYRE
Dark Comedy. Van Helsing encounters four worshippers with slight memory defects and one very persistent monster.
Wednesday 2:30pm
WE’RE HERE TO HELP
This comedy-drama is based on the bestselling account of Dave Henderson's titanic, chilling, absurd - and ultimately successful - battle with that most bureaucratic of bureaucracies, the tax department. Pre-screening panel and Q&A with Dave Henderson.
Friday 12:35pm
WHERE HAILEY LIVES
Mark Mucciaccio was making coffee one morning when a stranger knocked on the door of his Easton, Massachusetts, home. That’s how he found out the government was giving his family’s house to a private investment firm—leaving the Mucciaccios, including Mark’s young granddaughter Hailey, with nothing. How could something like this happen in the land of the free?
2022