75 Park: e pluribus unum

Director- Everette Hamlette Producer- Graham Meriwether

At its heart, 75 Park: e pluribus unum is the story of miraculous healing.

Our guide throughout is Everette Hamlette, who inwardly transforms from an upbeat and unassuming college kid into a world-beating documentarian with the courage to demand acknowledgment and the audacity to imagine a new Bronx healthy for everyone.

Externally, our structure is driven by the renovation of Everette’s neighborhood park; we see the gradual destruction and reconstruction of this public space throughout. Internally, Everette grapples with the divergent history of the park- one equal parts troubling and magnificent.

Game on

Director- Theresa Loong

“My life, in many ways, is a game space. Game dev - I guess any life - there's stress. And sometimes it's incredibly creative, but a lot of times, especially if you're doing it right, you don't necessarily know how it's going to turn out.” - Brenda Romero, “Game On”

A female game designer with over 50 game titles to her credit, Brenda Romero succeeds in the overwhelmingly male-dominated game industry. Her journey mirrors that of an epic video game: from a childhood in upstate New York to a career in Savannah, Santa Cruz, and Galway, Ireland. Brenda’s quests took her through the help desk for Wizardry on the Apple II computer to designing multiplayer console and social media games; from creating Playboy: the Mansion to devising The New World, a board game about the human suffering and cost of the Middle Passage.

Golf Alpha Yankee

Director- Rick Flynn

Golf Alpha Yankee, follows five gay Iranian refugees who’ve applied for political asylum in Turkey. It paints a deeply personal portrait of their lives-in-limbo as they await the UN’s decision about their future. Through intimate interviews, raw verite footage, and original animation, we become part of the inner world of these exiles. Living along with them, we experience their despair and debauchery, love and sex, fear, and hope.

Breaking the typical representation of refugees, the documentary is an empathetic and surprising look into the lives of gay men fleeing Iran. Heartfelt, hilarious, and risqué, the film shines an intimate light on the real life of the gay Iranian refugee.

The Haters

Director- Birgit Rathsmann

The Haters is an animated comedy about the power of fear in our lives. Dawn, Chico and Matteo are each afraid of different things. The collision of their fears conjure a monster so mean, so big, so scary, it almost ends them. When they are about to surrender, they discover a beautiful world.

The Spirit of Japan

Director- Joseph Overbey

The Spirit of Japan is the story of the Wakamatsu family, who have been making the traditional Japanese distilled spirit, shochu, at their Yamatozakura Distillery in Kagoshima Prefecture since the 1850s. We follow 5th generation toji (master brewer/distiller) Tekkan Wakamatsu (41) as he takes the traditions passed down by his father Kazunari Wakamatsu (77) and strives to adapt to a changing world. The film follows Tekkan, while he balances the rigors of making handmade shochu, running the family business, and maintaining a healthy family life.
 
In a world of mass consumerism and commodification, the Wakamatsu family have maintained the 500 year old tradition of brewing and distilling sweet potato shochu by hand. Director Joseph Overbey and Producer Stephen Lyman lived with the family and began the project of documenting their craft in 2016. The Spirit of Japan offers a rarified and intimate cinematic portrait of shochu making and home life in a modern, rural Japan.

Who Will Feed Us?

Producer- Charles Lavoie

A meditative reflection on what inspires people to farm. A hard-hitting exposé of the concentration of power in the meatpacking industry. An exploration into the minds and plans of the leading farmers in America. A personal journey of a family who sets out to feed themselves in the midst of a pandemic.

This mosaic of short visual stories is a glimpse into the past, present and promise of America’s agriculture.