Fear No Gumbo / United States (Director: Kimberly Roberts, Producer: Kimberly Roberts, Co- Editors: Marshall Woodworth, Alex Wiltz) -Fear No Gumbo is structured as a tour through the 9th Ward through my eyes, questioning and sometimes confronting the "culture vultures" who have swooped into the neighborhood, alongside examples of corruption and systemic racism that still victimizes the residents that returned after Katrina. The film begins by revisiting the eyewitness footage I shot as Katrina devastated my neighborhood-then jumps ahead 10 years to shows the shocking images of that same neighborhood, at one time a thriving working class area, reduced a ghost town of decayed streets and entire blocks of empty lots and overgrown fields. Flashing back to my experiences as the photographer and subject of Trouble the Water - film festivals, Oscar parties, panel discussions - my hopes are raised that this attention would help bring recovery to New Orleans. Cast: Kimberly Roberts, Scott Roberts, Kenneth Baham, Joann Young. DAY ONE / OPENING NIGHT
The Kids We Lose / United States (Director: Lisa Q. Wolfinger, Writer: Lisa Q. Wolfinger, Producer: Mika Holliday Lentz, Editor: Tony Bacon) - The Kids We Lose is an unflinching expose' of how some of the most vulnerable, misunderstood kids are treated in our society. Kids with social, emotional and behavioral challenges, desperate for help, lash out against caregivers and teachers only to be punished, restrained and secluded, and ultimately sent to jail. The truth is that these kids want to be good, to belong, and to succeed. They just don't have the skills. DAY ONE / OPENING NIGHT
Official Secrets / United Kingdom (Director: Gavin Hood, Writers: Sara Bernstein, Gregory Bernstein and Gavin Hood) - She risked everything to stop an unjust war. Her government called her a traitor. Based on world-shaking true events, Official Secrets tells the gripping story of Katharine Gun (Keira Knightley), a British intelligence specialist whose job involves routine handling of classified information. One day in 2003, in the lead up to the Iraq War, Gun receives a memo from the NSA with a shocking directive: the United States is enlisting Britain's help in collecting compromising information on United Nations Security Council members in order to blackmail them into voting in favor of an invasion of Iraq. Unable to stand by and watch the world be rushed into an illegal war, Gun makes the gut-wrenching decision to defy her government and leak the memo to the press. So begins an explosive chain of events that will ignite an international firestorm, expose a vast political conspiracy, and put Gun and her family directly in harm's way. Cast: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Adam Bakri, Matthew Goode, John Heffernan, Ralph Fiennes, Indira Varma, Rhys Ifans, Conleth Hill, Tamsin Greig, Kenneth Cranham, Myanna Buring, Katherine Kelly, Shaun Dooley, Jeremy Northam. DAY TWO / NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER DAY
THE GREAT HACK / United States (Directors: Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim, Producers: Geralyn Dreyfous, Judy Korin and Pedro Kos) Data has surpassed oil as the world's most valuable asset. It's being weaponized to wage cultural and political warfare. People everywhere are in a battle for control of our most intimate personal details. THE GREAT HACK uncovers the dark world of data exploitation with astounding access to the personal journeys of key players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data scandal. Academy-Award nominees Amer and Noujaim (The Square, Control Room, Startup.com) continue their tradition of exploring the seismic ripples of social media with this riveting, complex film. THE GREAT HACK forces us to question the origin of the information we consume daily. What do we give up when we tap that phone or keyboard and share ourselves in the digital age? THE GREAT HACK premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. Cast: Brittany Kaiser, David Carroll, Carole Cadwalladr, Julian Wheatland, Paul Hilder. DAY TWO / NATIONAL WHISTLEBLOWER DAY
In Perspective / Iran (Director: Arshia Zeinali, Writer: Arshia Zeinali, Producer: Arshia Zeinali, Editor: Hossein Besharati, Music: Arad Asgari, VFX: Mehran Jebely, Sound design & Color Correction: Ali Mohammad Eghbaldar, Cinematography: Ali Barari) - "In Perspective" is a psychological drama about human or human beings who take place in an inappropriate place and time and... Cast: Arshia Zeinali, Kianoush Majnouni, Eslam Ghasali, Shayan Zeinali, Ali Barari, Ava Zeinali. DAY THREE
With My Own Two Hands / France (Director: Michaà «l Barocas, Writer: Michaà «l Barocas, Producer: Michaà «l Barocas, Cinematographer: Christophe Larue, Composer: Jean-Michel Bernard, Editor: Tony Bertrand) - The life of a man through his hands and the ones around him... Key Cast, Philippe Laudenbach, Nicole Gueden, Jean Charles Deval, Guillaume Monfraix, Christine Gautier, Anne Ribià ¨re. DAY THREE
Tank Man / United States (Director: Robert Anthony Peters, Writer: Robert Anthony Peters, Producers: Robert Anthony Peters, Curt Chatham) - Tank Man is the story of the iconic gentleman who stood in front of and stopped a line of tanks after the Tienanmen Square massacre of June 4, 1989. All that is known of this man are the images that were recorded of his acts. This film is a speculation of what he went through the day he took his courageous steps 30 years ago. Cast: Eddie Shan. DAY THREE
WHITLEBLOWERS / United States (Director: Stephen James Cole, Producers: Kathy Cole, Stephen James Cole) - Kathy Cole and her WHISTLEBLOWERS expose the common thread in New York States corrupt justice system: silence. New York will do whatever it takes, at the tax-payers expense, to keep their problems quiet. Cast: Kathy Cole, Frank Vetro, Mary Ellen Belding, Walter Wenger, Michael Carey. DAY THREE
THE GUARDIANS / Canada (Director: Billie Mintz, Producer: JB Sugar, Executive Producer, Producer: Billie Mintz, Executive Producer) - THE GUARDIANS is a revealing investigative documentary set in Las Vegas that exposes allegations of corruption within the Nevada Guardianship and Family Court system. The film shines a light on a lucrative business that drains seniors' life-savings. Victims and their families are caught in a scheme that has allowed corrupt court-appointed guardians to take total control over individuals' healthcare and financial decisions. Cast: Julie Belshe, Rudy North, Rennie North, Rick Black, Terry Williams. DAY THREE
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
