Global Watch 2018: Crisis & Social Action
Oct. 20–Jan. 17, 2019
A year-round documentary series that untangles the stories behind the headlines, sheds light in dark corners, and introduces us to the people working to make the world a better place.
Global Watch is programmed by Brian Ackerman, and Andrew Jupin, and Saidah Russell.
What is Democracy?
Jan. 17, 2019
Q&A filmmaker Astra Taylor with JBFC Programming Director Brian Ackerman
Director Astra Taylor’s (Examined Life, Zizek!) idiosyncratic, philosophical journey spans millennia and continents: from ancient Athens’ groundbreaking experiment in self-government to…
The Feeling of Being Watched
Dec. 13, 2018
Q&A filmmaker Assia Boundaoui and editor Rabab Haj Yahya
When journalist Assia Boundaoui investigates rumors of surveillance in her Arab-American neighborhood in Chicago, she uncovers thousands of pages of…
The Panama Papers
Nov. 26, 2018
Q&A filmmaker Alex Winter with JBFC Senior Programmer Andrew Jupin
The Panama Papers charts the story of the massive data leak that exposed the largest global corruption scandal in history.…
The Devil We Know
Oct. 2, 2018
Unraveling one of the biggest environmental scandals of our time, a group of West Virginia citizens takes on a powerful…
The Peacemaker
July 12, 2018
Q&A filmmaker James Demo with JBFC Executive Director Edie Demas
The Peacemaker follows the life and work of Padraig O’Malley, a man who has acted as a negotiator of reconciliation…
This is Home
June 12, 2018
This Screening Has Been Cancelled
THIS SCREENING HAS BEEN CANCELLED. Only 21,000 out of five million Syrian refugees have been accepted into the US since…
The Heart of Nuba
Apr. 28, 2018
Welcome to the war-torn Nuba Mountains of Sudan, where American doctor Tom Catena selflessly and courageously serves the needs of…
King in the Wilderness
Apr. 4, 2018
Q&A filmmaker Peter Kunhardt & producer Teddy Kunhardt with JBFC Programming Director Brian Ackerman
“Kunhardt’s film eloquently reiterates the case that King’s assassination is one of the historical tragedies that define America, and that…
Machines
Apr. 4, 2018
“A bracingly physical documentary about the true cost of cheap labor.” (Indiewire) Marrying stunning visuals with social advocacy, Rahul Jain’s…
Miss Kiet's Children
Mar. 12, 2018
“Much like a day at elementary school, this vérité wonder is exhausting, heartening, raucous, tender, occasionally dull, sometimes tearful, and…
Wasted! The Story of Food Waste
Mar. 8, 2018
Q&A Food Bank for Westchester President & CEO Leslie Gordon and Director, Operations and Food Sourcing Bob Silvia
Wasted! The Story of Food Waste aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. Through the…
Last Men in Aleppo
Mar. 2–8, 2018
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
Winner of the Grand Jury Documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival, this breathtaking work—a searing example of boots-on-the-ground reportage…
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Mar. 2–8, 2018
Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature
The saga of the immigrant Sung family, owners of Abacus Federal Savings, which serves clients in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Incredibly, Abacus…
Human Flow
Oct. 20–26, 2017
Westchester Exclusive!
Visionary artist and filmmaker Ai Weiwei (Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry) returns with a haunting new documentary following the plight of 65 million displaced…
Intent to Destroy
Sep. 10, 2017
Q&A director Joe Berlinger with JBFC founder Steve Apkon
“…a smart and affecting portrait of the powerful effects of living in a culture where media can both reflect and…
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power
Aug. 4–10, 2017
A decade after An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change into the heart of popular culture, a riveting and rousing follow-up shows just…
Tickling Giants
May 12, 2017
Q&A filmmaker Sara Taksler with JBFC Creative Culture Director Sean Weiner
The astonishing career of Egyptian heart surgeon-turned-political satirist Bassem Youssef is chronicled in this documentary directed by Daily Show producer…
Behemoth
Apr. 10, 2017
From acclaimed filmmaker Zhao Liang comes the mesmerizing Behemoth. Poetic and understated, this stunningly photographed documentary begins with a mining…
Disturbing the Peace
Feb. 21, 2017
In a world filled with conflict, in an area where people have abandoned the idea of peace, emerges an energy…
In the Shadow of the Hill
Feb. 6, 2017
In the lead-up to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, the Brazilian government initiated a series of programs aimed…
Tower
Dec. 12, 2016
August 1st 1966 was the day our innocence was shattered. A sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of…
The Uncondemned
Dec. 1, 2016
Q&A Sara Dareshori with Stephen Apkon
The Uncondemned tells the gripping and world-changing story of a group of young international lawyers and activists who fought to…
Marathon: The Patriot’s Day Bombing
Nov. 16, 2016
In the latest documentary from acclaimed filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg (In My Father’s House, Joan Rivers: A Piece…
The Ivory Game
Nov. 9, 2016
From executive producer Leonardo DiCaprio, The Ivory Game is an epic documentary feature that goes undercover into the dark and sinister underbelly…
A Revolution in Four Seasons
Oct. 17, 2016
Q&A filmmaker Jessie Deeter
The story of secular journalist Emna and Islamist Parliament member Jawhara, two women with opposing political views who fight for…
Sonita
Oct. 10, 2016
Q&A filmmaker Rokhsareh Ghaem Magham
Originally scheduled for Sept 7 Winner of the Audience Award and the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize in Documentary at the…
When Two Worlds Collide
Oct. 10, 2016
In this tense and immersive tour de force, audiences are taken directly into the line of fire between powerful, opposing…
Audrie & Daisy
Sep. 21, 2016
Q&A filmmaker Jon Shenk
The story of two underage girls who went to parties, drank alcohol, passed out, and were sexually assaulted by guys they’d…
Trapped
June 29, 2016
Q&A Jennifer Sandman, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
What remains of a woman’s right to choose? Since 2010, 288 laws regulating abortion providers have been passed by state…
Thank You For Your Service
June 14, 2016
Q&A and Reception
The US military faces a mental health crisis of historic proportions. The Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that PTSD afflicts 20%…
The Fear Of 13
Apr. 21, 2016
Special Preview Screening! I rarely ever stand on my chair and shout that people must see a film, but after…
Looking at Radicalization through Film and New Media
Mar. 17, 2016
with Filmmakers-in-Residence Maryam Ebrahimi and Hind Bensari
How have film and media portrayals about the radicalization process shaped the conversation around the world? Join us for a…
Dear President Obama
Mar. 16, 2016
Pipeline Event!
Narrated by actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, the film is a direct appeal to President Obama as he shapes his…
Where to Invade Next
Mar. 4–24, 2016
The most influential documentary filmmaker of this generation, Michael Moore, is back with a terrific— and entertaining— movie that does…
The Look of Silence
Feb. 25, 2016
Oscar Nominee, Best Documentary Feature
The Look of Silence is Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to the Oscar nominated The Act of Killing. Through Oppenheimer’s footage of…
Jim: The James Foley Story
Feb. 23, 2016
Audience Award Winner: US Documentary, Sundance Film Festival
On Thanksgiving Day 2012, American photojournalist James Foley was kidnapped in Syria and went missing for two years before the…
Frame by Frame
Jan. 14, 2016
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, taking a photo was a crime. After the regime fell from power in 2001, a…
Dreamcatcher
Dec. 17, 2015
“You got any dreams you wanna catch?” Sundance award winner Dreamcatcher takes us into a hidden world through the eyes of…
Cartel Land
Nov. 18, 2015
Produced by Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), Cartel Land is a riveting and visceral on-the-ground look at…
Of Men And War
Nov. 11, 2015
Providing a visceral and unflinching look into the lives veterans, Of Men and War’s lens intimately follows the recovery efforts of twelve veterans suffering from PTSD.…
(T)ERROR
Oct. 26, 2015
The first film to capture an FBI sting as it unfolds, (T)error is a gripping real-life thriller. When FBI informant Saeed “Shariff”…
Welcome To Leith
Oct. 13, 2015
Welcome to Leith chronicles the attempted takeover of a small town in North Dakota by notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb. As…
He Named Me Malala
Oct. 9–22, 2015
An intimate portrait of Malala Yousafzai, who was wounded when Taliban gunmen opened fire on her and her friends’ school bus…
Peace Officer
Oct. 2–8, 2015
Peace Officer is a documentary about the increasingly militarized state of American police as told through the story of Dub…
This series is sponsored by:
Louis & Anne Abrons Foundation
Theodore & Renee Weiler Foundation
This series is presented with generous support from:
