Female Director

Florida Premiere. When celebrity chef Susan Feniger decides to open her own restaurant without her longtime business partner Mary Sue Milliken, the task is daunting. With no support from their co-owned restaurant kitchens and staff, Feniger must use her home to test brand new recipes, figure out design and construction, gather the team, and basically start over like a “newbie.” Her dream is to open a new Los Angeles restaurant serving global street food: Susan Feniger’s STREET. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and Feniger’s spouse Liz Lachman, a constant companion on her journey, follows Feniger across the globe tasting street food and bonding with the street stand owners, and all the way back home where she tackles the logistics of the opening. In this wildly entertaining film, Lachman covers Feniger’s passions and struggles in a business where often it’s not about IF one fails…but HOW.

World Premiere. Curry Scent is a fresh tale of a young immigrant family that comes to Florida in search of the American Dream. As they navigate the pitfalls of their new life abroad, doing menial jobs that many new immigrants find themselves forced to do, they still find humor and an overriding desire to succeed in their new life. The story focuses on Geetha, the young daughter and center of her eight-member family as she navigates the dating world in hopes of finding a suitable match to legitimize her visa. In her journey she encounters the forces it takes to understand what she loves about her country and at what price she is willing to forsake it. Told with uplifting humor and a variety of situations, from their cramped living quarters to her various excursions on which the entire family seems to participate, Curry Scent is a genuinely feel-good story about a serious topic that will resonate with people of all ages and backgrounds.

East Coast Premiere. Puddysticks is a dark, joyously twisted comedy following Liz (Megan Seely), a workaholic at Braindead, a brutal, elite gaming company with the chance to be recruited by her gaming hero only if she’s the best at her job. One day she collapses from overwork and, despite the doctor’s warnings to take it easy, she chooses instead to join Puddysticks — a secret society that increases stamina and creativity, promising to make her the best at her work. She joins seeking a quick fix for work and instead revolutionizes her life but when she finally gains the courage to share her own deep-rooted shame, things don’t go as anticipated. Fresh, funny and smart, Puddysticks traces the odyssey of a young woman whose world turns upside down and who must find her own way to free herself of her past.

In Attendance: Megan Seely, Director

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 for them 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 emerging artist 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. Rumors about this “plot” have swirled for decades; Taking Venice lays it all out in thrilling fashion.

Florida Premiere. Nestled amongst the falling feathers of a chicken factory in industrial North Wales—and featuring the perennially uplifting music of Neil Diamond, Janis Ian, and Minnie Riperton—Chuck Chuck Baby follows Helen (Louise Brealey), a thirty-something woman packaging poultry by night and caring for her dying ex-mother-in-law by day. Her mundane routine is jolted when Joanne (Annabel Scholey), her secret childhood crush, returns home. As they reconnect, their romance begins to flourish, but can they move on from the weight of their pasts? With plenty of heart, director Janis Pugh delivers a joyful, honest story about finding the courage to let go and allow love to prevail.

Each winter, when the lakes freeze over, a motley gang of professional wrestlers leaves Winnipeg on a one-of-a-kind wrestling trip through remote Indigenous communities of Northern Manitoba. Wrestling insiders call it the “Death Tour” – both for the physical hardships endured on the road and the emotional toll it takes on those who experience it. Famous for its star-studded alumni, the trip offers wrestlers a rare taste of fame and a chance to see if they have what it takes to make it in professional wrestling. But the tour goes both ways: as the wrestlers develop their skills they also provide entertainment for the communities in the dead of winter and form personal connections with audience members, especially the kids. From the taunting and body slams comes a warm documentary that travels through Canada’s frozen North and into the wrestlers’ minds as they battle the elements, each other, and the impacts of North America’s colonial past.

In this lyrical, truly original coming of age story two women from different generations, have more in common than they are willing to admit. An empathic, young plant doctor gifted with extrasensory powers and an emotionally fragile, isolated artist must rescue each other to rediscover the essence of living. The two women have the potential to help each other, if they are open enough and see what’s right in front of them. Natalie McMahon’s gentle direction pushes the two main actress, and the others in the 100% female cast, to develop an equally gentle, strong rapport to explore their emotional connections with nature and each other.

Directing Award: US Documentary, Sundance Film Festival. In 2021 an investigation of unmarked graves at an Indian residential school and long-circulating, long-denied, rumors of physical and sexual abuse at St. Joseph’s Mission, a Catholic-run Indigenous boarding school that operated until 1981 in British Columbia, ignite a reckoning in the lives of survivors and their descendants, including the film’s co-director whose father was born—and nearly buried—at the school. Both intimate and epic, Sugarcane follows co-director Julian Brave NoiseCat and others as the investigation ranges from the school grounds to the Vatican. Drawing on their backgrounds in activism and journalism — as well as NoiseCat’s own personal connection to the story and community — the filmmakers deftly weave together multiple strands to form this compelling, heartbreaking narrative. Demonstrating unparalleled humanity, compassion, and grace for the affected Indigenous communities in North America, their powerful documentary operates from a place of pure and total empathy. At the same time, NoiseCat and Kassie recognize the resilience of the survivors and their descendants, and their unflagging determination to seek answers to long-buried secrets.

Florida Premiere. Philosophy lecturer Sophia is an expert on love. She can effortlessly wield quotes from Plato and Schopenhauer, among others, on the subject. She is happily married in an amicable if passionless relationship with fellow intellectual Xavier. But her theoretical and analytical grounding in matters of the heart hasn’t prepared her for the instant, electrical connection she experiences when she meets Sylvain, the rugged building contractor she and Xavier have retained to renovate their new lake cabin. Canadian actress-tuned-director Monia Chokri establishes a rattling screwball-style dialogue pace early on, and combines cynical smarts and deceptively light handling of some undeniably mature themes to deliver a sexy, witty examination of romantic passion in a real-world environment. Sophia may know the nature of love, but there never are easy answers.

Florida Premiere. No One Asked You follows reproductive rights organization Abortion Access Front over five years at the frontlines of the escalating war over Roe Vs. Wade. Led by The Daily Show co-creator, comedian, and disruptor-extraordinaire Lizz Winstead, the intrepid team of activists and comics battles misogyny with comedy on their “Habitat for Humanity Meets USO Tour” to connect communities, eradicate abortion stigma and protect choice for all. Winstead and her merry band of activists take us to the very front lines, risking their own safety by coming face-to-face with clinic protestors by day and performing and raising awareness by night. An urgent and humorous account of the serious work that this audacious group is doing to battle misogyny and fight for reproductive rights in a divided country.

In Attendance: Andrea Raby, Producer

Florida Premiere. An intimate look at Israel Adesanya, the Nigerian born New Zealand based MMA champion, which goes beyond the ring and delves deep into an unlikely fighter’s journey. Exploring themes of masculinity, bullying and even the healing power of dance, this documentary is a poignant examination of the complex, exciting and sometimes controversial person known as “The Last Stylebender.” Zoe McIntosh traces Adesanya’s UFC career starting with his 2019 middleweight title win. In the process, she unwraps a fascinating portrait of the modern athlete, charismatic and complex in equal measure. Both MMA fanatics and those who have never seen a match will find Adesanya’s journey toward greatness captivating, engrossing, and illustrative of the larger-than-life personality you need to succeed in athletics.

Florida Premiere. Urgent, clear-eyed, and helmed with incredible conviction, Green Border finds master filmmaker Agnieszka Holland training her camera on a real-life geopolitical crisis. Set on the border of Poland and Belarus, the film offers a glimpse into the lives of refugees fleeing to the European Union and the humanitarian activists working to help them reach safety. When a family of Syrian asylum seekers is left stranded in the forest, a group of Belarusian border guards shepherds them into Poland. When they encounter the Polish military, they’re forced back over into Belarus. Julia, a psychologist who lives alone near the border, witnesses this cyclical, inhumane back-and-forth and joins up with a group of activists working to rectify the situation. This harrowing, urgent drama constructs an intricate account of the contemporary global humanitarian crisis, expanding out to encompass the interconnected lives of security patrol officers, activist lawyers, and civilians who put themselves on the line for strangers. Director Agnieszka Holland reaffirms both her unyielding commitment to political filmmaking and the ability of immersive storytelling to illuminate the darkest corners of the world.

Florida Premiere. In this droll, uniquely humorous, refreshingly intimate take on millennial alienation, filmmaker Joanna Arnow portrays Ann, a 30-something New Yorker suffering from aging millennial malaise with the various threads of her life each marked by a sense of discomfort and stagnancy. As she awkwardly shuffles from her low-level, corporate job – whose stated mission is to create her own obsolescence – through a series of carefully orchestrated, though just as self-effacing, submissive sexual encounters, dissociation gives way to hints of self-conscious introspection. While the introduction of her charmingly argumentative family provides context as to how relinquishing a sense of control and feeling yourself fade into non-existence might be liberating, Ann soon discovers there may be limits. With a deadpan, sardonic humor and an unabashed authenticity, Arnow’s boundary-pushing narrative debut speaks to the frustrations of a generation terrified of sincerely wanting anything.

Florida Premiere. Songs of Earth is a majestic symphony for the big screen. With director Margreth Olin’s 85-year-old father as a guide, we experience Norway’s most scenic valley, Oldedalen in Nordfjord. This is where he grew up and where generations before him have lived in balance with nature. Majestic images of wild mountains, calving glaciers, and bustling wildlife go side by side with her parents’ stories about the generations who trod the trails, the relationship we have with nature, and what is valuable in life. This is a stunning, cinematic work about life, death, nature and about simply being present in the world.

Florida Premiere. New Jersey’s Jesselyn Silva, a three-time national boxing champion, is on her way to superstardom, dominating the junior ranks at the age of 15. With her every step of the way is her father, Pedro, a single parent who helps her navigate coaches, training schedules, and the angst of teenage life. She doesn’t believe anything will ever be too hard for her. The teenager has been training hard since she was seven to reach the top in a male-dominated world, and she’s confident that she’s as tough as the best of them. Pedro also knows how tough she is, which only makes him worry about her more when she’s in the ring. When a devastating diagnosis threatens the father-daughter tandem, the pair turn to each other to fight their greatest opponent yet: cancer. With great access to Jesselyn and her father, director Emily Sheskin tells a multi-year, incredibly moving story of passion, determination and resilience that goes beyond the ring.

It is August 1971. Football teams from England, Argentina, Mexico, France, Denmark and Italy are gathering at Mexico City’s sun-drenched Azteca Stadium. The scale of the tournament is monumental: lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage, merchandise on every street corner and crowds of over 100,000 hollering fans turn this historic stadium into “a cauldron of noise and heat” match after match. A fawning media treat the players like rock stars. The atmosphere is reminiscent of the greatest moments in international soccer history. But this is a tournament unlike anything that’s happened before. The players on the pitch are all women. And it’s likely you’ve never even heard of it. This is Copa 71, the unofficial Women’s World Cup. Dismissed by both FIFA and domestic football associations around the world, this event has been entirely written out of history – until now. With the recent discovery of footage from that event, filmmakers Rachel Ramsay and James Erskine track down the players from across Europe and Latin America. For decades, these women scarcely had a chance to tell their story. But what a story they have to tell of battles on and off the field.The women were experiencing breakthroughs not only in sports, but also in understanding power, liberation, and self-fulfillment. With the support of Olympic gold medalists Brandi Chastain and Alex Morgan, who are interviewed, and Serena and Venus Williams, who serve as executive producers, Copa ’71 is both an emotional, action-packed sports story and a liberating outlet for the brave women who took part.

Florida Premiere. This intimate documentary reveals the story of a fierce rock ‘n’ roller, actress, muse to Brian Jones, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and mother who rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s. Using the words of her unpublished memoir, Anita brings us deep into her world, with the help of a supporting cast that includes her family – Marlon, Angela, their father Richards, Marianne Faithfull and others drawn to her unique appeal. Never-seen-before home movies and family photographs show life with the Rolling Stones: this is a bittersweet tale of adventure and misadventure. From the set of Barbarella to the Swiss Alps to New York’s Lower East Side, Anita Pallenberg was a woman ahead of her time.

In Attendance: Co-Director Svetlana Zill

Florida Premiere. In an America where more and more women and trans people are losing legal bodily autonomy, the history of Bill Baird’s long fight for women’s right to abortion is as relevant as ever. Called the devil incarnate, pervert, CIA agent, saint, the unsung hero of the birth control battle, the man who successfully challenged the U.S. law banning the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried people is the subject of Rebecca Cammisa’s powerful new documentary. Baird, now 91, looks back at his life and mission that began in the early 1960s when he became the clinical director of EMKO Pharmaceuticals, a company that manufactured and sold contraceptive foam. He saw a great deal of suffering in the hospitals he visited and was profoundly changed. Cammisa weaves in the present-day story of Jada Portillo, an Arkansas high school student whose research for presentation on the history of birth control connects her with Baird. An inspiring and deeply felt look at what one person achieves, and who he inspires, in the pursuit of justice.

In Attendance: Rebecca Cammisa, Director

UnBroken chronicles how the seven Weber siblings, ages 6 -18, evaded certain capture and death, and ultimately escaped Nazi Germany using their own cunning instincts following their mother’s incarceration and murder at Auschwitz. Their lives changed forever when a benevolent farmer put them in the back of his truck and drove them to his fruit orchard 60 kilometers east of Berlin, where they were put into hiding in a laundry hut and spent two years on their own in war torn Germany. Emboldened by their father’s mandate that they “always stay together,” the children fought through hunger, loneliness, rape, bombings, and fear. Climactically, separated from their father, the siblings declared themselves as orphans in order to escape to a new life in America. Unbeknownst to them, their only salvation would be what ultimately tears them apart, until reunited 40 years later. Filmmaker Beth Lane, daughter of the youngest Weber sibling, embarks on a quest to retrace their steps seeking answers to long-held questions about her family’s survival. The film examines the journey of the Webers as told through conversations with living siblings – now in their eighties and nineties – while Beth and her crew road trip across Germany, following the courageous, tumultuous, and harrowing path taken by her family seventy-plus years ago.

In Attendance: Beth Lane, Director

International Premiere. It is 1968 in Lithuania, a time when nobody could foresee the collapse of the communist regime twenty one years later. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t dissent. That year, the highly praised theater director Jonas Jurasas directed a scandalous, avant-garde, allegorical and thinly-veiled anti-Soviet production entitled “The Mammoth Hunt”. The performance played to packed houses, word got back to Moscow, and the performance was condemned as anti-Soviet and was abolished from the repertoire that ultimately led to Jarasas and his family to leave the country for America (and eventually to Sarasota) to continue his stellar career. Nobody expected the performance to be revived, but two months later a closed cast locked themselves in the theater and filmed the play. In The Mammoth Hunt Aistė Stonytė attempts to track down that film and along the way gathers recollections from a number of surviving participants, follows Jurasas’ new life in the US and his return to Lithuania to witness a new country in the post-Soviet world. Stonytė tells an incredible story of creativity, bravery, spying and the life of a talented, committed theater director.

In Attendance: Jonas Jurasas; Aistė Stonytė, Director

Atlanta-based singer-songwriters Amy Ray and Emily Saliers began performing together in high school before becoming the acclaimed folk-rock duo Indigo Girls. After playing local clubs for years, Indigo Girls and their distinctive vocal harmonies slipped into mainstream consciousness in the late 1980s and early ’90s with a Grammy win and hit song “Closer to Fine.” Over the years, Ray and Saliers have maintained musical careers on their own terms with their resolutely political lyrics and commitment to LGBTQ rights and visibility. Since 1993, they have also found purpose in partnering with Indigenous activist Winona LaDuke in the fight for environmental justice.

Tells the story of when the world shut down, its greatest Circus went into freefall. Within 48 hours Cirque du Soleil closed all its 44 shows; within a week it let 95% of its workforce go. The show seemed over for the billion-dollar brand. Now, more than a year later, a group of world-class artists, athletes and crew at “O”, Cirque’s flagship production, face uncertainty as they prepare to bring their show back to life. With unprecedented access, this film documents their extraordinary journey as they attempt a return to stage after one of the world’s greatest crises. Opening night film.

In Attendance: Dawn Porter, Director.