Feature Documentaries in Competition
Dissidents directed by Yi Chen (USA/2025/75 mins) An artist’s sculpture is burnt down, a protestor is charged with a criminal case, and a democracy movement is violently attacked. Not even exile is safe.
Capturing Kennedy directed by Steele Austin Burrow (USA/2024/95mins) The untold story of Jacques Lowe, a Holocaust survivor and young immigrant who, at just 28, became the personal photographer to President John F. Kennedy.
Healing Hope directed by Elio Cassaghi (France/2024/64mins) The underground medical use of MDMA has shown promise in curing the notoriously hard-to-treat PTSD. Recent studies have shown the effectiveness of psychedelics in treating various mental disorders.
Diminished Returns: The Black Wealth Gap in Washington, D.C. directed by Sabiyha Prince (USA/2025/49.11mins) The wealth gap is starkly illustrated by the disparity in net worth between Black and white households in the D.C. Metropolitan area. Advocates are pushing for reparative solutions that address the root causes of the Black wealth gap.
A Good Wolf directed by Ramey Newell (USA/2024/93mins) There has been a 40-year conflict over a single tract of land adjacent to Denali National Park—a volatile struggle between state and federal authorities, fur trappers and wildlife advocates, and competing human interests on public lands.
North Putnam directed by Joel Fendelman (USA/2024/90mins) A year in the life of a rural Indiana school district and the community it serves. Public education is wracked with challenges that threaten to subsume it but this is primarily a story of hope.
Feature Documentaries Out of Competition
Only Roundup Remains directed by Brian Liu (USA/2023/78mins) In central Montana, the Highwood Cattle Roundup has been happening exactly the same way since 1912. As the world changes and modernizes, this proud iconic American culture struggles to preserve its way of life.
Short Form Documentaries in Competition
On Beyond Fences, directed by Lara Jacqueline Hartzenbusch, Tom Donohue, Jack Kudas, Wes Smith, Silvia Sonntag (USA/2024/21.22 mins) Inside Maine State Prison, where efforts to reform the historically brutal institution (the basis for Stephen King’s novella and the feature film, “The Shawshank Redemption”) have dramatically shifted the prison culture, the way “residents” do their time and, ultimately, how they return to their communities.
Back to the Sky directed by Amin El Siwi (USA/2024/12.46mins) The journey of Suzanne Shoemaker, a dedicated licensed falconer whose passion for raptors has reshaped her life and home.
The Cavalry directed by Alina Orlov (Canada/2024/16.13mins) The involuntary role of animals in human conflict. Filmed during January to September 2023 in Israel and the West Bank, the film provides a glimpse into daily life in the months preceding the Israel-Gaza War.
Money Maker directed by Johannes Thuermer and Martina Schuster (Germany/2024/29mins) Saygin Yalcin wanted to become a millionaire so he could help his seriously ill sister. And he did.
Space Coast directed by Justin Barber (USA /2024 / 23.32mins) People from around the world gather on the Space Coast to witness the launch of Artemis-1, the ‘world’s most powerful rocket.’ But Mark, a veteran of the Space Shuttle Program, doubts this ‘moondoggle’ will ever fly.
Noumenon directed by Maya Theresia and Janna Kyllästinen (USA / 2024 / 8.45mins ) A reflection on the relation between reality and perception from a neuroscience perspective, and on parallels with the Hindu concept of maya, or cosmic illusion.
Window Treatment directed by Naomi Uechi and Thomas Southerland (USA / 2024 / 10.40mins ) The long-standing American military occupation of Okinawa is explored via an elderly man receiving new windows.
The Last Puppet Show directed by Lonnie Frazier (USA / 2024 / 22mins ) The unique world of West Virginia University’s endangered puppetry major, where a group of talented students fights to save their program with a puppet-powered performance of Hamlet.