Socially Relevant Film Fest Opens Eyes in NY

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 17 March 2015 01:39

Written by Brad Balfour

Destination: Planet Negro

Making its home at the CUNY Graduate Center (365 5th Avenue), Tribeca Cinemas (54 Varick Street), and several other theaters across New York City, the SR Socially Relevant Film Festival (March 16 – 22, 2015), focuses on socially relevant films that use art to address controversial issues facing society today. There are over 50 films from 33 countries that address issues such as violence against women, institutionalized racism, the global industrial complex, and urban life in an uncaring, war torn world.

Films include:

• Cotton Road, dir. Laura Kissel
  Cotton Road follows the commodity of cotton from farm to factory, across industrial landscapes, to illuminate the human experiences within a global supply chain.

• Love is the Highest Law, dir. Liliya Anisimova
  A unique, firsthand look into three powerful stories connected through the strength of overcoming the stringent same-sex laws both in Russia and the United States and of love triumphing over hardship.
  
  
• Destination: Planet Negro, dir. Kevin Willmott
  In this slapstick comedy we see a witty satire about influential African-American figures, W.E.B. Du Bois and George Washington Carver. They time warp to the present to discover unbelievable developments like young men with drooping pants and the election of a black president.
  
  
• The Challat of Tunis, dir. Kaouther Ben Hania
  A man on a motorcycle known as The Challat terrorizes the women of Tunisia by slashing their bottoms with a razor. Ten years after these ‘incidents’ a young determined film director decides to investigate the mystery of the Challat of Tunis.
  
  
• All in Her Stride, dir. Fiona Cochrane
  This film depicts elements of Australian actor Leverne McDonnell’s life and documents her facing a terminal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, with discussion of the topic of euthanasia and her death.
  
  
• Lighter Than Orange, dir. Matthias Leupold
  Ten North Vietnamese veterans tell about their memories of the war and Agent Orange as well as the struggles they have faced as a consequence of both.

 The festival’s mission is to deliver films that address a wide range of issues without resorting to crass commercialism or gratuitous violence. SR spans theaters throughout New York, just as it spans hard hitting issues.

To learn more, go to: http://rated.sr/

SR Socially Relevant Film Festival
March 16 - 22, 2015

CUNY Graduate Center
365 5th Ave
New York, NY 10016

Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick St.
New York, NY 10013

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