Synopsis

From award winning writer-director Mona Fastvold (The World to Come, The Brutalist) comes a speculative retelling of the extraordinary story of Ann Lee, founder of the religious sect known as the Shakers. Academy Award-nominee Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shakers’ irrepressible leader — who espoused gender and social equality while believing herself to be the female incarnation of Christ. The Testament of Ann Lee thrillingly imagines the ecstasy and agony of Ann Lee and her followers’ conviction and commitment to her own vision of utopia. More than a dozen original Shaker hymns are transformed into ecstatic “movements,” featuring choreography from Celia Rowlson-Hall (Vox Lux) and music by Academy Award-winning composer Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist). Screening in 35mm

Synopsis

From Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, Hamnet tells the powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Hamlet.

Synopsis

During his daily visits to his ailing mother Rose, Tony helps her remember the past in this quietly beautiful portrait of aging, loss, and shared tenderness between mother and son.

This film screens as part of Shorts Program 7: Documentary.

Synopsis

These films showcase the richness of the documentary form. Through observation, testimony, and poetic reimagining, six different complex corners of the world come into view.

In Dooni, preacher Walter Hawkins delivers the moving eulogy for legendary singer Sylvester, who died of AIDS in 1988. In Visiting Hours, Tony pays daily visits to his mother at a care facility, helping her ailing memory. Koki, Ciao is a humorous autobiography of a parrot named Koki, who rubbed shoulders with some of the most famous people of the 20th century. In Lanawaru, a community grapples with the disappearance of one of their own, as a young boy receives spiritual guidance from his grandfather. Through audio recordings created by a couple over the course of a season, Hold Me Close portrays and celebrates the love shared between two women. Hoops, Hopes, & Dreams is an investigation into how basketball has played a crucial role in the political lives of two of the defining figures of American history, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama.

Synopsis

When Israeli soldiers interrupt her commute home, a Palestinian doctor is forced down a desolate road and her future is thrown into disarray.

This film screens as part of Shorts Program 1: After Dark.