INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES – Eight films go globetrotting.
Every Last Child
Dir: Tom Roberts, 2014, World Premiere
After the Taliban bans polio vaccinations and spreads misinformation, Pakistan suffers devastating outbreaks of the disease, prompting strategic problem-solving from the World Health Organization.
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
Dir: Mami Sunada, 2013, NYC Premiere
Offering animation fans a rare look inside Japan’s Studio Ghibli, this fascinating film profiles its most famous creators, Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), and his friendly rival and business partner, Isao Takahata (Pom Poko). GKIDS, opens Nov. 28.
Marmato
Dir: Mark Grieco, 2014, NYC Premiere
Exploring the intersection of economic development, environmental impact and globalization, this is an intimate and richly observed portrait of Marmato, a rural mining town threatened with destruction.
Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile
Dir: Norah Shapiro, 2014, World Premiere
A Tibetan teenager travels from Minneapolis to India to compete in a most unlikely beauty pageant.
The Return
Dir: Adam Zucker, 2014
How does one claim an identity in a vacuum? Living in Poland, the four young women in this engaging film learned of their Jewish roots after growing up Catholic. Seventh Art Releasing.
A Small Section of the World
Dir: Lesley Chilcott, 2014, NYC Premiere
In equal measures inspiring and endearing, this film spotlights a group of Costa Rican village women who form a coffee-growing collective—despite not knowing the first thing about growing coffee. FilmBuff, opens Dec. 5.
A Small Section of the World screens with the short film Santa Cruz del Islote (Luke Lorentzen, 19 min.). Inhabitants of a remote Colombian island paradise face an uncertain future in changing times.
Vessel
Dir: Diana Whitten, 2014, NYC Premiere
Moved by the plight of desperate women in countries with restrictive reproductive rights, a Dutch physician uses laws governing international waters to bring much-needed abortion and contraceptive services on the high seas.
When People Die They Sing Songs
Dir: Olga Lvoff, 2014, NYC Premiere
Under the watchful eyes of her dutiful daughter Sonia, Regina recalls the Yiddish and French songs of her youth through music therapy sessions following a stroke.
When People Die They Sing Songs screens with the short film The Lion’s Mouth Opens(Lucy Walker, 28 min.). A young woman is about to learn whether she has inherited her father’s incurable, terminal disease.