heightened scrutiny

Pre-Screening performance by Joy Clark.

Heightened Scrutiny (Sam Feder, 2025) - A look at the battles in the courts and in the media for trans rights. ACLU attorney Chase Strangio prepares to become the first transgender person to make oral arguments before the Supreme Court in the case, United States v. Skrmetti, which, once decided this year, will determine whether bans on transgender medical procedures for minors violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 89 min. 

Post screening discussion with director Sam Feder, producer Amy Scholder, and organizer Mariah Moore.

under false colors

Under False Colors (Mickaela Bradford, 2024) - The first transgender woman to testify before the U.S. Congress in 1866, and the Free Black community that she was part of. This short film, based in Reconstruction Era Memphis, Tennessee, follows two Black friends, Frances Thompson and Lucy Smith, who use tea, community, and the river to redefine freedom and heal each other after a historic massacre. 18 min. 

Post screening discussion with star Simone Immanuel.

the strike

The Strike (Lucas Guilkey, JoeBill Muñoz, 2024) -  The story of a hunger strike that turned into a national movement. The high-security Pelican Bay prison was designed for mass-scale solitary confinement, often for a decade or more, and with little due process. In 2013, 30,000 incarcerated people went on a hunger strike that spread into a feat of unity across California prisons. With extraordinary access to the prisoners and to footage from inside the prison, The Strike follows these solitary survivors who fought to abolish indefinite isolation. 86 min. 

Post-screening discussion with director Lucas Guilkey and Michael Saavedra, and Jack Morris, formerly incarcerated people who were part of the largest hunger strike in US history. Moderated by Amelia Herrera, Baton rouge organizer with voice of the experienced (vote)

emergent city

Pre-Screening performance by Sabine McCalla.

Emergent City (Jay Arthur Sterrenberg, Kelly Anderson 2024) - Through the story of organizing in one neighborhood, a look at the intersections of gentrification, climate crisis and development. Over a decade, within the borders of a single Brooklyn community district, residents face a tangled web of rising rents, a legacy of environmental racism and the loss of the industrial jobs that once sustained their community. When a global developer purchases a massive industrial complex on the waterfront - and begins to transform it into an “innovation district,” a battle erupts over the future of the neighborhood and of New York City itself. Emergent City is an observational civic epic. It sheds light on power and process, illuminating systems and giving viewers a front row seat to the public and private spaces where the city is shaped. With extraordinary access, it tracks an ensemble of participants and asks how change might emerge from dialogue and collective action in a world where too many outcomes are constrained by money, politics and business as usual. 99 min. 

Post-screening discussion with director Kelly Anderson, producer Brenda Avila Hanna and organizers from the film Carlos Menchaca and Antoinette Martinez.

power alley

Power Alley (Lillah Halla, 2023) A 17 year old in Brazil fights for an abortion in this powerful drama about queer friendship and the struggle for bodily autonomy. On the eve of a future-defining championship, Sofia, a 17 year old promising volleyball player, is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Seeking an illegal abortion, she becomes the target of a fundamentalist group determined to stop her at any cost – but neither Sofia nor those who love her are willing to surrender. 99 min.

This screening is a benefit for the Louisiana Abortion Fund.

DAHOMEY

Dahomey (Mati Diop, 2024) The African kingdom of Dahomey, which ruled over its region at the west of the continent until the turn of the 20th century, saw hundreds of its splendid royal artifacts plundered by French colonial troops in its waning days. Now, as 26 of these treasures are set to return to their homeland, filmmaker Mati Diop documents their voyage back. As with her layered, supernaturally tinged Atlantics, Diop takes a singular approach to contemporary questions around belonging in our postcolonial world, transforming this rich subject matter into a multifaceted examination of ownership and exhibition, and employing multiple points of view, including—most strikingly—those of the artifacts themselves as they sail in darkness over the ocean to their rightful home. Dahomey brilliantly negotiates a lost past and an unsure present. 68 min. 

Post-screening discussion with scholars Jeri Hilt and Shana M. griffin.

Birth From The Earth

Birth from the Earth (Katy Walker Mejia, 2023) - This inspiring and insightful documentary features Nubia Earth Martin, the founder of Birth From the Earth, a non-profit, dedicated to making home birth safe, sacred, and accessible to those who need it the most.   As a midwife and educator, Nubia has made it her mission to address maternal health disparities that negatively impact BIPOC women, mothers, babies, and their families. Her commitment to creating equity, quality, and love through her birthing center has offered hundreds of women an alternative to the broken for-profit medical system. The film also features mothers and partners empowering home birth experiences and intimate photos and videos documenting the magical side of birthing at home. 16 min.

Post-screening discussion with Nubia Earth Martin and Louisiana birth workers and Public health workers Nicole Deggins, Stephanie Kennedy, and Frankie Robertson. moderated by Taslim van Hattum.

An Orange from Jaffa

An Orange from Jaffa (Mohammed Almughanni, 2024) (27 MINS) -Mohammed, a young Palestinian, is desperately looking for a taxi to take him through an Israeli checkpoint. The driver, Farouk, discovers that Mohammed has already failed to cross the checkpoint. Trouble begins.

A Short Film About Kids

A short film about kids (Ibrahim Handal, 2023) (10 MINS) - Four kids from a refugee camp, in Bethlehem, decide to visit the sea for the first time in their lives.

Waiting

Waiting (Amir Rooini, 2022) (3 MINS) - Two children wait for their parents - the solidarity of children.

Palestine Islands

Palestine Islands (Nour Ben Salem, Julien Menanteau, 2023) (22 MINS) - A 12 year old girl in the Balata Refugee Camp tries to bring joy to her grandfather.

Don’t Be Long Little Bird

Don’t be Long Little Bird (Reem Jubran, 2024) (24 MINS) - An angsty young Rima is unwillingly whisked in time from California to 1930s Ancestral Palestine, where she is found by her great-grandmother. On her quest to find her way back to the present, she learns a few valuable lessons on the way.

Post-screening discussion with director Reem Jubran and members of Palestine Film Day.

Solidarity Ride: Convergence, Resurgence, Healing & Justice

Solidarity Ride: Convergence, Resurgence, Healing & Justice. (Michael McKenzie, 2024) Environmental racism, social injustice, and the resilience of communities leading the charge for change. Solidarity Ride documents environmental injustice while uplifting narrative justice and ensuring the voices of impacted communities are heard, valued, and amplified.  22 min. Filmmakers present.

What You Hear, What You Say - The Practice of Story Circles

What You Hear, What You Say - The Practice of Story Circles (Cooperation Gumbo/Maya Pen, 2025) - The process of building resistance and organizing through sharing our stories. Filmmaker present. Cooperation Gumbo is a collaboration between residents, cooperators, and artists to uplift the histories and ongoing presence of Black and Indigenous cooperation in New Orleans. 4 min.

This program will feature a post-screening story circle featuring founder of Rise St James Sharon Lavinge, land steward of Lincoln Beach Sage Michael, climate activist and organizer Gwen Jones, and Solidarity Ride filmmaker Michael McKenzie. This program is moderated by Timeless.

Assembly

Assembly (Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons, 2025) - Assembly follows internationally acclaimed artist Rashaad Newsome as he embarks on his most ambitious project yet — a multimedia exhibition and performance at New York’s historic Park Avenue Armory. Once a bastion of white military power, the Armory is transformed into a vibrant celebration of Black and queer culture through video projections, holograms, sculptures, collages, music, dance, and African fractal patterns. This reimagining challenges colonial power structures while honoring the complexity and resilience of Black experience. Through innovative hybrid storytelling, breathtaking visual effects, and the ongoing presence of ancestors, Assembly transcends traditional documentary as it weaves together Rashaad’s creative process, dynamic performances, and the lives of his collaborators. Powerful moments, such as a memorial for murdered Black trans women that evolves into a protest march, highlight art’s capacity to reclaim agency and inspire change, offering a vision of intergenerational resilience, transformation, and hope. 98 min. 

Post-screening discussion with filmmakers Rashaad Newsome & Johnny Symons, and artist kai lumumba barrow.

It was All a dream

It Was All a Dream (dream hampton, 2024) - The year is 1993 and hip-hop is primed for its eventual global takeover. Wu-Tang’s “Enter The Wu-Tang” and A Tribe Called Quest’s “Midnight Marauders” are released on the same day, while Doggystyle breaks into the Billboard 200 at number one. Constructed from director dream hampton’s personal archive, It Was All a Dream is a visual memoir reflecting on the dawn of the golden era of hip-hop. It takes viewers inside the studio with intimate access to some of rap’s most celebrated minds, including hampton’s neighbor The Notorious BIG, Wu Tang’s Method Man, Mobb Deep, Snoop Dogg and many more. With narration constructed from her previous work as the astonishing footage unfolds, hampton not only provides insight to this era of hip-hop but also firmly establishes her place in its story. 83 min

Post-screening discussion between filmmakers dream hampton and Zac Manuel.

Sunday, April 6, 12pm

Dear PATOIS community: We intended to show the film Following Harry at this time slot. However, we recently learned that the producers made edits to this film that we find unacceptable, Involving the removal of Palestine solidarity-related content.

“You can cage the singer, but not the song.”

- Harry Belafonte

Paint Me a Road Out of Here

Paint Me a Road Out of Here (Catherine Gund, 2024) - Featuring artists Faith Ringgold and Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, Paint Me a Road Out of Here uncovers the whitewashed history of Faith's masterpiece "For the Women's House" and follows its 50-year journey from Rikers Island to the Brooklyn Museum in a heartbreaking, funny & true parable for a world without mass incarceration. 90 min 

Walter Rodney:

What They Don't Want You to Know

Walter Rodney: What They Don't Want You to Know (Arlen Harris and Daniyal Harris-Vajda, 2023) - An anticolonial historian, Black Power, Cold War conspiracies, the end of empire, and how that connects to the policing and surveillance practices of today. This film delves into the life and legacy of Dr. Walter Rodney, a prominent historian, activist, and champion for civil rights. Through a series of enlightening interviews and footage captured across Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica, Tanzania, the United States, and the United Kingdom, the film presents a comprehensive portrait of a man who dedicated his life to fostering unity in the face of adversity. Special thanks to The Walter Rodney Foundation and the Ameena Gafoor Institute. 72 min.

Post screening discussion featuring Walter Rodney scholar Timeless.

I Am Gitxsan

I Am Gitxsan (Hossein Martin Fazeli, 2024) - The impact of colonialism on one Indigenous community, I Am Gitxsan follows Phoenix Apperloo, a recent high school graduate reconnecting with his Indigenous heritage. The documentary highlights the impact of colonialism on the Gitxsan community, culminating with a moving message of hope and determination, emphasizing the power of the Gitxsan people’s enduring spirit, the beauties of their culture, and their commitment to future generations. A testament to the resilience of Indigenous communities in their battle to preserve and protect the best of our shared humanity. 64 min. 

Post-screening discussion with filmmaker Hossein Martin Fazeli and Jeffery U. Darensbourg.

family tree

Family Tree (Jennifer MacArthur, 2024) - Two Black families cultivating a dream of restorative abundance. In the US South, Black forest owners fight to maintain their family legacy and create sustainable forests for generations to come. They face challenging family dynamics, unscrupulous developers, and changing environmental needs. Despite setbacks, they work to create sustainable land to pass on to the next generation. 93 min.

Post-Screening discussion with filmmaker Jennifer MacArthur and Land Steward and SToryteller Annette Hollowell.

After Party at bar at The Broadside!