Announcing the Documentaries screening at DCIFF 2016

Details and screening times coming soon. Keep checking back in this week as we continue to announce all the 2016 DCIFF Finalists.

A BRILLIANT GENOCIDE
(Australia/2016/77mins) World Premiere.
Directed by Ebony Butler
How an African dictator has been able to commit mass murder and still get a regular audience at The White House and 10 Downing Street.

A STRUGGLE FOR HOME: THE CRIMEAN TATARS
(Qatar/2015/44mins) DC Premiere.
Directed by Christina Paschyn
For more than 200 years, the Crimean Tatars struggled to free the Crimean Peninsula from Russian domination. By 2014, many believed their long battle was coming to a good end. They were wrong.

ARTSPEAK
(USA/2015/16mins) DC Premiere.
Directed by Bill Claps
“Artspeak”, the often incomprehensible language used by many curators, writers, and critics, has alienated much of the art-viewing public. The film follows New York artist Bill Claps discovering everyday people’s thoughts and feelings about contemporary art as he develops a video installation.

BEYOND RECOGNITION
(USA/2015/24mins) DC Premiere.
Directed by Michelle Grace Steinberg
After decades struggling to protect her ancestors’ burial places, now engulfed by San Francisco’s sprawl, a Native woman and her allies occupy a sacred site. A film exploring the quest to preserve one’s culture and homeland in a society bent on erasing them.

CASPIAN FISHERMEN
(Iran/2015./4:53mins) World Premiere.
Directed by Mohamen Hosein Abedini
A contemplation on fishing without machines.

FREAK THE LANGUAGE
(USA/2015/28:50mins) DC Premiere.
Directed by Lee Quinby and Sam Hampton
An exploration of the passionately creative and carefully crafted impulses of New York City poet David Mills.

LAST DAY OF FREEDOM
(USA/2015/31:50mins) DC Premiere.
Directed by Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
A richly animated personal narrative that tells the story of Bill’s decision to stand by his brother in the face of war, crime and capital punishment.

MADE OF CLAY
(UAE/2015/9:59mins) US Premiere.
Directed by Fayssil Bin Sahli
Ahmed is a passionate young stop-motion artist. Ahmed wants to pursue his dream, but finds it difficult to do so because of his father’s views on his art.

MIND/GAME: THE UNQUIET JOURNEY OF CHAMIQUE HOLDSCLAW
(USA/2015/57mins) DC Premiere.
Directed by Rick Goldsmith
Basketball super-star Chamique Holdsclaw’s roller-coaster attempts at recovery from near-suicide reveal an uphill battle against the stigma of mental illness. Ms. Holdsclaw played for the Washington Mystics from 1999-2004.

ORIENTED
(Israel/2015/81mins) DC Premiere.
Directed by Jake Witzenfeld
Challenged by their sexuality, outcast by their nationality; here is a new generation of Palestinians in Tel-Aviv during the Israel-Gaza conflict of 2014.

THE CLOSER WE GET
(UK/2015/88mins) US Premiere.
Directed by Karen Guthrie
A portrait of loyalty, broken dreams and redemption told by its director – reluctantly-dutiful daughter Karen, who takes you under the skin of the household she returns to for this long goodbye to a parent.

THE EYE OF ISTANBUL
(Turkey/2015/60mins) US Premiere.
Directed by Binnur Karaevli and Faith Kaymak
The story of Ara Guler, legendary Armenian-Turkish photographer, through a culmination of his retrospective exhibition in Istanbul.

THE INTERIOR
(USA/2015/24mins) US Premiere.
Directed by Jonathan Rattner
January, the Alaskan Interior, 56 mushing dogs, 4 humans, 5 hours of sunlight. This observational work – examines the interior worlds of its subjects and explores how to write with limited light.

TRY TO REMEMBER
(South Korea/2015/73mins) US Premiere.
Directed by Dae-Hyun Kim
The Story of The Kim Sisters, an iconic trio who were the first Asians to perform in Las Vegas, and make a strong appeal to America.

WILL TO WIN
(Portugal/2015/108mins) US Premiere.
Directed by André Banza
Biographical documentary on Anselmo Ralph, currently one of Africa’s major musical artists: On the road, at home, recording new songs in the studio, interacting with fans and visiting his Angolan roots.

WORLEY MOUNTAIN
(Canada/2015/4:36mins) US Premiere.
Directed by Allen Myers
For nearly a hundred years, Worley Mountain has been the source of a wild Christmas tree harvest that spans two weeks in late October before the snows come in.