Showcase of the best FILMS in the world today.
Audience Award Winners:
BEST Feature Film: ELEMENTAL
Best Nature Film: THE SUN RISES IN THE EAST
Best Environmental Film: 12TH HOUR
Best Long Form Short Film: OUR DYSLEXIC CHILDREN
Best Direction: A PEOPLEHOOD | AMIUT YEHUDIT
Best Historical Film: 80 YEARS LATER
Best Cinematography: FACING MONSTERS
Best Sound & Music: RISING – LIL BERETE
Watch the Audience Feedback Video for each film:
12TH HOUR, 52min,. USA, Documentary
Directed by Susan Kucera
Much of our population currently lives with hopeful delusions about climate change. These delusions, many of which are built in by evolution, hamper our ability to meaningfully address the problem.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
OUR DYSLEXIC CHILDREN, 44min., Documentary
Directed by Aaron Blevins
In 2010, a group of parents in a suburban school district near Columbus, Ohio discovered their children had something in common – they could not read. They were languishing in a reading intervention program and their dyslexia was not being identified or remediated as is required by federal law under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
ELEMENTAL, redefining our relationship with wildfire, 80min., USA, Nature/Environment
Directed by Trip Jennings
As fire seasons grow longer, more destructive and more deadly, it is clear that our approach to reducing wildfire risk is failing. This film brings cutting edge science and indigenous knowledge into focus. It forces us, from city dwellers to seasoned fire professionals to rural citizens , to question what we believe and offers a science based way forward to live and thrive with fire.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
FACING MONSTERS, 90min., Australia, Surfing/Life
Directed by Bentley Dean
Facing Monsters is a candid insight into a man caught between the love he has for his family, and a childhood dream that could ultimately destroy him.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
THE SUN RISES IN THE EAST, 58min., USA, History
Directed by Tayo Giwa
The Sun Rises in The East chronicles the birth, rise and legacy of The East, a pan-African cultural organization founded in 1969 by teens and young adults in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Led by educator and activist Jitu Weusi, The East embodied Black self-determination, building more than a dozen institutions, including its own African-centered school, food co-op, newsmagazine, publisher, record label, restaurant, clothing shop and bookstore.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
80 YEARS LATER, 50min,. USA, History
Directed by Celine Parreñas Shimizu
The feature documentary 80 YEARS LATER explores the racial inheritance of Japanese American family incarceration during World War II through multigenerational conversations with survivors and their descendants.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
THE WOMAN IN WHITE, 19min., Canada, Documentary
Directed by Roshanak Jaberi
“What an incredibly poignant film – it’s an amazing piece of work.”
—Samer Muscati, Human Rights Watch
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
A PEOPLEHOOD | AMIUT YEHUDIT., 23min,. Canada, Documentary
Directed by Marnie Salsky
A PEOPLEHOOD | AMIUT YEHUDIT examines Toronto’s contemporary Jewish community and, simultaneously, the emotional impact of today’s insidious antisemitism. The video is a non-linear narrative structured around themes of identity/diversity, community and antisemitism. Through items people encounter everyday (photos, newspaper, social media, voice) materials are montaged to create a space for the audience to contemplate the complex issues of Jewish identity, community and the impact of hate.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
RISING – LIL BERETE, 13min,. Canada, Documentary
Directed by Avery Harris Stedman
Short documentary dives into the personal story of Yay Berete p/k/a Lil Berete, a young rapper from Regent Park, Toronto’s most notorious and violent neighborhood. After one of his songs goes viral at the tender age of 16, Berete becomes one of the youngest rappers in Toronto’s history to recieve an international record deal.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
LIVING WHILE AMERICAN, 26min., USA, Documentary
Directed by Sosena Solomon
A freshman city councilman in Philadelphia brings the police to the table to reduce traffic stops by 30 percent, reducing needless interactions between officers and people of color.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
THE SHOT, 15min., USA, Documentary
Directed by John Mogor
We followed three patients’ journey from suffering, through treatment and over a year into recovery. All three credit SGB with changing their lives.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
CANDIDATO 34, 38min., Peru/Canada, Documentary
Directed by Ryan Marley
Bryan Russell is the first person in the world with Down syndrome to ever run for public office. CANDIDATO 34 is a documentary short that follows Bryan and his campaign team during the 2020 congressional election in Peru as he attempts to convince a reluctant public that he is capable of being a congressman, and an important voice for change.
WATCH HERE – The audience feedback video of the film!
Documentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto 