Kuci: Film School

Director Tomas Gomez-Bustillo magical tale, CHRONICLES OF A WANDERING SAINT focuses on a tiny rural village in Argentina, where Rita Lopez, (Monica Villa) a pious yet insatiably competitive woman, decides that staging a miracle could be her ticket to sainthood. After discovering a lost statue in the back room of her chapel, she convinces her neglected but loving husband to help her orchestrate the grand reveal that will finally anoint her as the most admired woman in town. But before the unveiling, a jarring turn of events illuminates the hidden magic of her world, forcing her to reevaluate everything she once took for granted. Director / Screenwriter Tomas Gomez-Bustillo (Museum of Fleeting Wonders) stops by to talk about his inspiration for his delightfully off kilter, magical tale of flawed people doing very human things to and for one another, recruiting this wonderful cast of actors, led by Monica Villa, Horacio Moseinco, Dahyana Turkie, Noemi Ron and Ana Silvia Mackenzie, and his reaction to the three S

Nick August-Perna complex documentary feature TELL THEM YOU LOVE ME explores the story of Anna Stubblefield, an esteemed  Rutgers University professor who becomes embroiled in a controversial affair with Derrick Johnson, a Black man with cerebral palsy, and who has been non-communicative since his earliest days. Using a highly disputed technique Anna says she unlocked Derrick’s mind from his body by teaching him to communicate using a keyboard. In addition to Anna Stubblefield, we hear from Derrick’s brother John Johnson, their mother Daisy Johnson and a variety of academics and doctors who lend their perspective on the relationship and what follows from it. The relationship eventually leads to Anna’s arrest and a high profile criminal trial that would challenge our perceptions of disability and the nature of consent. Through exclusive footage and interviews with those on both sides of the case, the film weaves a riveting and endlessly nuanced story about communications, race and sex. Director and co-writer

Director Ilana Trachtman illuminating documentary AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND is the untold story of the first organized interracial civil rights protest in U.S. history. When five Howard University students sat on a Maryland carousel in 1960, the arrests made headlines. When the white community near Glen Echo Amusement Park joined the Black students in picketing, an extraordinary history-making partnership was born. The pickets attracted Nazis, Congressman, and a press avalanche. Picketing together over the sweltering summer led to partying together, and union organizers mentored student activists. Ten 1961 Freedom Riders, including Stokely Carmichael, were incubated on the Glen Echo picket line, and the carousel arrests were challenged in the Supreme Court case. With never-before seen footage, and immersive storytelling by Emmy-award winning director Ilana Trachtman (Praying with Lior, Black in Latin America, The Pursuit), four living protesters rescue this forgotten history, revealing the price, and

Filmmakers Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland feature length, speculative documentary, LYD follows the rise and fall of a 5,000-year-old metropolis, Lyd. It was once a bustling Palestinian town until it was conquered when the State of Israel was established in 1948. As the film unfolds, a chorus of characters creates a tapestry of the Palestinian experience of this city and the trauma left by the massacre and expulsion, while vivid animations envision an alternate reality where the same characters live free from the trauma of the past and the violence of the present. Using never-before-seen archival footage of the Israeli soldiers who carried out the massacre and expulsion, the personified city explains that these events were so devastating that they fractured reality, and now there are two Lyds — one occupied and one free. As the film cuts between fantastical and documentary realities, it ultimately leaves the viewer questioning which future should prevail. Lyd dares to ask the question: what would the cit

Gennadiy (Gena) Chabotarev is a queer artist from a small town in Russia, dresses in otherworldly costumes made from junk and tape, and protests the government on the streets of Moscow. Born and raised on the harsh streets of Magadan, a frigid outpost of the Soviet gulag, Gena is only 21. She stages radical performances in public that become a new form of art and activism. By doing that, she wants to change people’s perception of beauty and queerness and bring attention to the harassment of the LGBTQ+ community. The performances - often dark, strange, evocative, and queer at their core - are a manifestation of Gena’s subconscious. But they come at a price.  QUEENDOM boasts a top notch production team that also includes executive producers Jess Search (Citizenfour), David France ( How to Survive a Plague), Arnaud Borges (C’est tout pour moi), and James Costa (Hidden Letters). Director Agniia Galdanova and Producer Igor Myakotin join us for a conversation on the challenge that came from burrowing into the tumul

Director Amanda Nell Eu feature film debut, TIGER STRIPES, focuses on the life of a rebellious and carefree twelve-year-old girl, Zaffan, as she starts to experience horrifying physical changes to her body. Struggling to maintain being normal at school, Zaffan is in denial of her inevitable changes and tries to cover herself. Zaffan’s friends however attack her, when all hysteria breaks loose — one by one teenage girls drop to the floors in fits, turning it into a spread of mass hysteria across the school. Hsoon discovers that Zaffan may be the root of their problems and steps in to perform an exorcism on her. The whole community watches, as the Medical Officer uses extreme methods to shame and physically hurt Zaffan. And like a tiger who has been dragged out of its habitat and poked because we fear it, because we don’t know it — Zaffan decides to finally reveal her true self, her wrath, rage and her beauty, to everyone. Director and screenwriter Amanda Nell joins us to talk about Eu where the story for Tiger

Samuel Habib’s goals are pretty typical for a 21-year-old. Moving out of his family’s New Hampshire home. College. Establishing his career. Dating. Sex. Yet every rite of passage is fraught with challenges. Unexpected seizures and uncontrollable movements caused by his rare genetic disorder. Friends’ homes that are inaccessible to his wheelchair. His labored speech and use of a communication device are barriers to a social life. He craves more independence and a family of his own one day. “But no one tells you how to be an adult,” he says, “let alone an adult with a disability.” Samuel is determined to avoid the statistical realities: unemployment, isolation, institutionalization. A turning point comes when he starts talking to disabled adults, who have been through all he is going through now. And when he begins to channel their insights, a roadmap for himself, and for other young adults like him, begins to take shape. Co-director Samuel Habib and Daniel Habib join us to talk about their collaboration , gett

Straddling the line between childhood and adulthood, 14 isn’t an easy age for anyone, least of all Abby (Sierra McCormick, The Vast of Night), who’s forced to find her way in the world after her mother’s death. On the cusp of turning 15 and at a delicate moment in life, she’s forced to move in with her father (Jason Butler Harner, Ozark) and his younger girlfriend (Sabina Friedman-Seitz). Feeling alone in the world, the angry and determined teen strikes up a possibly dangerous friendship with the carefree and rebellious Caroline (Ryan Simpkins, The Fear Street Trilogy, The House), while exploring new personas, drugs and sexual experiences on the path to finding her place in life. Emily Robinson (Eighth Grade), Dominique Gayle and Nadezhda Amé co-star in the film, which also features Drew Scheid, Anthony Del Negro and Mike Manning. Co-directors, co-producers and co-writers Sophia Sobella and Pablo Feldman join us for a conversation on the process of casting the lead, Sierra McCormick, and the rest of the actor

Banel and Adama is a great romance, a West African dreamscape, a tragic fable, and a feminist paean. Young, fiery Banel loves her soft-hearted husband Adama with singular passion. She also hates to do chores with other village women, slings stones at small creatures, and fantasizes a liberated life of cattle-herding outside the village in the dunes. Adama is next in line for village chief but resists the responsibility. When a catastrophic drought hits, the curse weighs on his sense of duty, and the chasm between them drives Banel into a feverish, mystical chaos. Senegal’s official submission to the 2024 Oscars®, BANEL & ADAMA was the only debut feature in Cannes’ Official Competition in 2023, and marked Sy as just the second Black woman to compete for the Palme d’Or, after her French-Senegalese compatriot Mati Diop (Atlantics), in the festival’s 76-year history. Director and writer Ramata-Toulaye Sy joins us for a conversation on her breathtaking feature film debut. For more go to: kinolorber.com/banel-

Tayarisha Poe’s spectacular sophomore film finds Celestina, (Kiersey Clemons, DOPE, Hearts Beat Loud) on her wedding day. All that stands between this young woman and marital bliss with her soon-to-be husband, River, (singer/songwriter Leon Bridges) is surviving the chaos and expectations of family and friends, each intensifying her spiraling panic. THE YOUNG WIFE is the story of a young woman grappling with the meaning of love in the face of an uncertain world, "The Young Wife" is a a wholly new take on the wedding film as we follow Celestina over the course of her “non-wedding” day. The frenetic happenings are beautifully captured by cinematographer Jomo Fray (Selah and the Spades, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt). Boasting a superb supporting cast of award winning actors that also includes: Kelly Marie Tran, Michaela Watkins, Aya Cash, Sandy Honig, Brandon Micheal Hall, Lukita Maxwell, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Judith Light, Aida Osman, Connor Paolo, Jon Rudnitsky and Lovie Simone. Director and Writer Tayarisha Poe j

When Eva (Kahyun Kim), the daughter, accidentally shoots her White hippie fiance, Peter (Craig Newman), dead, her parents, June (Margaret Cho), and Sam (Keong Sim) insist on getting rid of the body in order to protect Eva. As the family collides with each other on what is the right thing to do, tension and long-buried secrets about the family's journey to America begin to surface. Faced with this expanded understanding of their collective past and sacrifices, Eva eventually makes the hard decision to save her family by getting rid of her fiance's body in a way only she knows how. Director and co-screenwriter Zao Wang’s wildly inappropriate and uproariously funny narrative short film stops by to talk about the origin story behind the film, premiering at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, assembling a terrific cast that includes the incandescent Margaret Cho as June and the film’s Executive Producer.

Executive produced by Moby, ROWDY GIRL showcases the inspiring work of Renee King-Sonnen, a former Texas cattle rancher who in 2015, after a spiritual awakening, left the cruel cycle of animal agriculture. After going vegan, King-Sonnen and her husband, Tommy Sonnen, transformed her husband’s beef operation into Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, a farm animal sanctuary that seeks to rescue farm animals from factory farming. Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, located between San Antonio and Houston, in Waelder, TX, has a mission to educate the public about the cruelties of factory farming, to advocate a vegan lifestyle, and to inspire other ranchers to experience a paradigm shift and help them move from participating in the cruelty of factory farming to living with compassion towards the animals whose lives usually end in brutal death. Renee has lived on both sides of the fence, proving that there is a common ground between farmers and vegans: a shared mission of compassion and sustainability. Filmmaker Jason Goldman’s verité style d

Award-winning documentary filmmaker Vanessa Hope’s takes full advantage of her unprecedented access to the first female president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen. Thorough, incisive and bristling with tension, INVISIBLE NATION is a living account of Tsai’s tightrope walk as she balances the hopes and dreams of her nation between the colossal geopolitical forces of the U.S. and China. Hope’s observational style captures Tsai at work in her country’s vibrant democracy at home, while seeking full international recognition of Taiwan’s right to exist. At a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated the ever-present threat of authoritarian aggression, INVISIBLE NATION brings punctual focus to the struggle of Taiwan as it fights for autonomy and freedom from fear. Director and Co-Producer Vanessa Hope (William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America) joins us for a conversation on the high-wire diplomacy facing President Tsai daily, her ability to engage her constituents

Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there) is a 4-part documentary series all about inventive farmers and maverick scientists building a path to solving climate change with hooves, heart and soil. Can an underutilized way to graze cattle, that mimics the way bison once roamed the land, help get farmers out of debt, restore our depleted soils, rebuild wildlife habitat and draw down huge amounts of carbon? Cattle have been seen as eco-villains for a long time. What if they can help save us from catastrophic climate change? ROOTS SO DEEP is guided by director and wrangler of scientists Peter Byck as he meets farmers on both sides of the fence – the folks practicing an adaptive way to graze, and their neighbors set in their family’s generations-old method of doing things. Byck’s team of outcast scientists are measuring what’s happening on both sides of the fences – exploring if this adaptive grazing could help slow down climate change. And one question looms over the whole series: even if the science shows

Haley Watson directorial debut MOTORCYCLE MARY, documentary short, brings the remarkable life of Mary McGee’s to the big screen with stunning never-before-seen archival footage and photographs. McGee’s racing career spanned thirty years and saw Mary shatter gender norms while mastering multiple racing disciplines. Born in Alaska on the eve of World War II, Mary’s early life is riddled with fear but despite that she conquers her apprehensive nature and discovers the art of composure—a skill that serves her to take on the racetrack. Following in her brother’s footsteps, her remarkable racing odyssey begins in the world of cars, where she outshines her male competitors, only to later discover her greatest sense of freedom racing motorcycles. She was the first woman to race motorcycles in the United States. Confronted by sexism and personal tragedy, Mary perseveres, pushing herself to greater and greater heights—culminating in her most hair-raising challenge: Becoming the first person ever to solo the grueling Ba

Director Michelle Ferrari’s comprehensive documentary THE RIOT REPORT tracks a time in recent American history when Black neighborhoods in scores of cities erupted in violence during the summer of 1967. After four consecutive summers of urban violence, President Lyndon Johnson appointed the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders - informally known as the Kerner Commission, (named after its chair, Governor Otto Kerner Jr. of Illinois) - to answer three questions: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could be done to prevent it from happening again? The bi-partisan commission’s 708 page final report, issued in March of 1968, just days before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., would offer a shockingly unvarnished assessment of American race relations - a verdict so politically explosive that Johnson not only refused to acknowledge it publicly, but even to thank the commissioners for their service. THE RIOT REPORT explores this pivotal moment in the nation’s history and the fraught so

At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government is determined to fight Communism with culture. The Venice Biennale, the world’s most influential art exhibition, becomes a proving ground in 1964. Alice Denney, Washington insider and friend of the Kennedys, recommends Alan Solomon, an ambitious curator making waves with trailblazing art, to organize the U.S. entry. Together with Leo Castelli, a powerful New York art dealer, they embark on a daring plan to make Robert Rauschenberg the winner of the Grand Prize. The artist is yet to be taken seriously with his combinations of junk off the street and images from pop culture, but he has the potential to dazzle. Deftly pulling off maneuvers that could have come from a Hollywood thriller, the American team leaves the international press crying foul and Rauschenberg questioning the politics of nationalism that sent him there. Director Amei Wallach (Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Enter Here) stops by for an in-depth conversation on a time and place where the long re

Based on a true story, THE KEEPER tells a sweeping story of US Army veteran George Eshleman, a man heavily impacted by his fellow veteran's suicides, he decides to help raise awareness for military member suicides by hiking the entire nearly 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. On the trek, he carries 363 name tapes from the uniforms of military members who committed suicide, given to him by their families. Along the way he is given the trail name of “The Keeper” (of the names) and finds support and comfort from fellow hikers, civilians, military and veteran hikers (Michael Maclane, Haley Babula, Andrew Ferguson, Nicholas Asad) who shadow his hike, motivate his efforts along "Hiker Universe.” Despite their support, his depression threatens to overtake his judgment as the days pass. With his darkness only a few paces from his mind as he travels the trail, George struggles to prove his mettle, conquer his depression, and focus on the mission. Co-director, Co-Producer and lead actor Angus Benfield

In the next decade, NASA intends to send astronauts to Mars for the first time. To succeed, crew members will have to overcome unprecedented life-threatening challenges. And while many of these hazards are physical, the most elusive are psychological. Throughout their three-year absence, crew members won’t be able to communicate with Earth in real time due to the immense distance. The psychological impact of this level of disconnectedness and isolation—both from mission control and loved ones—is impossible to predict, endangering the mission itself. Directed to mitigate this threat is Dr. Al Holland, a NASA psychologist whose job is to keep astronauts mentally stable in space. Space: The Longest Goodbye follows Holland, rookie astronauts Kayla Barron and Matthias Maurer, and former astronaut Cady Coleman, among others, as they grapple with the tension between their dream of reaching new frontiers and their basic human need to stay connected to home. This conflict transcends space travel: how do humans balance

This twisted tale of love and death begins and ends with Ray, an ordinary man who runs an ordinary business in the fictional town of LaRoy, Texas. He longs for his wife Stacy-Lynn’s affections, but Ray discovers that his wife is cheating on him and decides to end his life in a motel parking lot. Just before taking action, a stranger breaks into his car, thinking he is dealing with the killer he hired. Disconcerted by this misunderstanding, Ray ends up accepting the mission, convinced that people will finally respect him. The plan had to be simple. But very quickly Ray finds himself caught in a spiral from which he will have to get out before it is too late… LaRoy, Texas is a complex plot involving love triangles real and fake, blackmail, counter-blackmail and manslaughter duly unfolds around inadvertent detective duo Ray and Skip, who will have to solve the mystery at the heart of their community. LAROY is at once a film about friendships forged from fragile masculinity and a dark Western that probes the afte