Grasshopper Film (Firm)

Filmmaker Travis Wilkerson investigates his great grandfather S.E. Branch's 1946 murder of Bill Spann, an African American man, in Dothan, Alabama, asking questions about the culture that allowed Branch to get away with the crime without any measure of punishment.

A rapid-fire eye-popping and ear-pleasing study of textile patterns around the world. Filmed over five years, in fifteen countries, director Jodie Mack places textiles against surprising backgrounds, editing the imagery to a homemade pop soundtrack.

His profile takes us inside the life, struggles, philosophy and humor of a man who credits his success to the deliciousness of peanut butter. Featuring delightful animated interludes and interviews from colleagues, editors and his nine children, this look at Stevenson's life - who is also a noted writer of children's books and a columnist for The New York Times - is a testament to observing the world from an original perspective.

A poetic documentary circling the origin of the death myth from the Chinookan people in the Pacific Northwest, MALNI - TOWARDS THE OCEAN, TOWARDS THE SHORE follows two people as they wander through their surrounding nature, the spirit world, and something much deeper inside.

Mara and Jo, in their twenties, have been close friends since middle school. It soon becomes apparent that Jo, despite her intellectual gifts, is unreliable in her professional life, losing and acquiring jobs at a troubling rate. Substance abuse may be responsible for Jo's instability, but some observers suspect a deeper problem. Over a decade, the more stable Mara sometimes tries to help, sometimes backs away to protect herself, but never leaves...

"Once upon a time, villagers in a tiny hill town in Tuscany came up with a remarkable way to confront their issues: they turned their lives into a play. Every summer, their piazza became their stage and residents of all ages played a part - the role of themselves. Monticchiello's annual tradition has attracted worldwide attention and kept the town together for 50 years, but with an aging population and a future generation more interested in Facebook...

For 18 months Pacho Velez and Courtney Stephens traveled the US to document sections of the wall that are on display in over 75 locations, ranging from the serious (Fort Benning) to the bizarre (Main Street Station Casino in Las Vegas) and even the campus of nearby Capital University. Along the way, interviews with unusual characters who own, maintain, and interact with pieces of the wall offer a window into American culture, and through the film...

"In a small clinic in the rain-drenched city of Kaili, two preoccupied doctors live ghost-like lives. One of them, Chen, decides to fulfill a family wish and sets off on a train journey to search for his brother's abandoned child, only to find himself in a dreamlike world where past, present, and future - as well as fantasy and reality - become one.

Drawing upon the rich mythology of Ghana, this magical short film combines semi-autobiographical elements with local folklore to tell the story of a young American woman who returns to West Africa for her father's funeral, only to discover his hidden double identity.

"This haunting, gorgeous documentary drops us inside an Istanbul retirement home, where the battle-scarred residents bask in the camera's attention. A creaky-voiced woman confides her personal account of the Armenian genocide. A sweetly deluded pianist performs a composition before confessing his love. A blind photographer fiddles with his flash as he points his own camera back at us. Shevaun Mizrahi's playful, immaculately controlled film finds hypnotizing...