Saturday, August 3, 2024
Zero Gravity w/ Shattering Stars
While it’s true today’s 11-year-olds will one day run the world, middle-schoolers in San Jose, CA are taking their summer break to get a head start. Immersed in their own space race, a diverse group of ambitious students enter the Zero Robotics ISS (International Space Station) Competition.
Their mission: compete with teams across the country to write the most strategic code for surveying satellites, which will help map out a GPS system to successfully orbit Mars in the future, opening the door to infinite opportunities and exploration on the Red Planet.
The Yin & Yang of Gerry Lopez
The path to enlightenment begins at the world’s deadliest wave, the Banzai Pipeline. Gerry Lopez, AKA Mr. Pipeline, is one of surfing’s most enigmatic heroes—a Zen Buddhist on land who built his early career on aggressive surfing. He is a radical; as he is Zen. He is one of the most influential surfers and surfboard shapers of all time, transcending categorization and pioneering surfing to new frontiers.
The Thief Collector
In 1985, Willem de Kooning’s “Woman-Ochre,” one of the most valuable paintings of the 20th century, vanished into the Arizona desert after being cut from its frame at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. 32 years later, the $160 million painting was found hanging in the home of Jerry and Rita Alter in rural New Mexico. The Thief Collector takes a deep look at how, and why, this mild-mannered couple pulled off one of the greatest art heists of a generation, exploring the complicated dynamics of family, the contours of criminality, and just how far people will go to weave their own grandiose narratives.
The Territory w/ ᎤᏕᏲᏅ (What They’ve Been Taught)
The Uru-eu-wau-wau Indigenous Surveillance Team defends their land against a network of Brazilian farmers intent on colonizing their protected territory. Their fight for survival forces Bitate and Neidinha – a young Indigenous leader and his female mentor – to find new ways to protect the rainforest from the encroaching invaders. Through intimate access to both the Indigenous community and the opposing farmers network, the film brings audiences directly into the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
The Long Rider
When Filipe Leite leaves his adoptive home of Canada, the aspiring journalist sets out on an epic quest to ride from Calgary to his family”s home in Brazil – and later beyond – entirely on horseback. Inspired by Aimé Tschiffely”s 1925 equestrian journey, Filipe”s 8 year odyssey of over 25,000 kms across 12 international borders, sees the young immigrant battle intense heat, drought, speeding transport trucks, nature”s wrath and corrupt border guards on his history-making long ride home.
The Lake at the Bottom of the World
An international team of scientists explores a subglacial lake buried 3,600 feet beneath the Antarctic ice to reveal hidden truths about our planet’s dynamic past. As they struggle against the ferocity of the ice and wind, they consider how our relationship with nature – and with one another — will impact humanity’s future and the future of all life on our rapidly changing planet.
The House We Lived In
A decade in the making, a young filmmaker confronts addiction, family, and memory as he chronicles his father‘s journey to recover lost memories following a traumatic brain injury. Using experimental approaches with projected installations, he attempts to find those missing memories in hopes of finding the dad he used to know. As memories return in the form of dreams the family struggles with acceptance of this new version of their father.
The Chisels Are Calling
John Monteleone is one of the world’s greatest guitar builders, and a living artist on permanent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Featuring musical tributes and interviews with Mark Knopfler, Ben Harper, David Grisman, Woody Mann, Julian Lage and others, the film covers the multi-faceted artist whose guitars are known not only for their incredible sound, but also for their visually striking and innovative designs.
Butterfly in the Sky
Reading Rainbow introduced millions of kids to the wonder and importance of books. Not only did the series insist on having kids speak to kids about their favorite stories, but Reading Rainbow introduced the world to one of the most adored television hosts of all time in LeVar Burton. Thanks to his direct, non-patronizing and, most importantly, kind delivery, Burton became a conduit to learning for children of every background—an entrancing guide to subjects unknown. In this wonderfully nostalgic look back at the origin story of Reading Rainbow, you’re invited to learn about the foundation of a show that for 25 years dedicated itself to not only bringing literature into children’s lives but delving behind the pages to the people, places, and things each new story explored.
Scrum
Frank McKinney is the first (and only) Black college rugby coach in the U.S. When Frank is hired to build a new rugby team at a predominantly white Southern university, his dream was of bringing diversity to the game that he loved was suddenly within reach. Character and good grades required. Rugby skills? Optional.
Ranger
Set within Kenya’s Maasai homeland, an intimate and contemporary story of self-discovery unfolds, as 12 women become East Africa’s first all-female anti-poaching unit. Upending the male-dominated, reliance upon military-style training to make a wildlife ranger, Virginia, Liz, Momina and Damaris instead undergo a year-long program of deep trauma-release and healing, triggering profound transformation within themselves and sending shockwaves through their communities.
On These Grounds
A video goes viral, showing a white police officer in South Carolina pull a Black teenager from her school desk and throw her across the floor. Healer-Activist Vivian Anderson uproots her life in New York City to support the girl and dismantle the system behind the assault at Spring Valley, including facing the police officer.
Of Medicine and Miracles
At the age of six, Emily Whitehead was diagnosed with leukemia and the lives of her and her parents were suddenly thrust into uncertainty. Through bracingly honest interviews and home videos, Of Medicine and Miracles details her family’s experience bouncing from hospital to hospital, trying to stay hopeful amidst hopelessness, and their fateful correspondence with Dr. Carl June, whose research could hold the key to her survival. But time is of the essence.
MAU
Over the span of his career, creative dark horse Bruce Mau has completed the transformation from world-class graphic designer to designer of the world. From advising global brands like Coca Cola and Disney, to rethinking a 1000-year plan for Mecca, Islam’s holiest site. From working with the greatest living architects (Rem Koolhaas & Frank Gehry) on books and museums to rebranding nations such as Guatemala and Denmark. Bruce Mau is a pioneer of transformation design and the belief that design can be used to create positive change in our world.
Master of Light
George Anthony Morton is a classical painter who spent ten years in federal prison for dealing drugs. While incarcerated, he nurtured his craft and unique artistic ability. Since his release, he is doing everything he can to defy society”s unlevel playing field and tackle the white-dominant art world.
Girl Talk
Set in the cutthroat, male-dominated world of high school debate, where tomorrow’s leaders are groomed, five girls on a top-ranked Massachusetts high school debate team strive to become the best debaters in the US. As the Newton South girls remain steadfast in their determination to overcome the odds, they remind us that equal rights and freedom of expression are worth fighting for, both within debate and beyond.
