17th Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival Honors "Wicked" Actress & Showcases Films From Around the World

Details

Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 24 March 2025 21:08

Written by Brad Balfour

Don't Look Away

The 17th annual ReelAbilities Film Festival is a disability-focused fest with an international tableau of cinema. Running April 3 to the 9th in NYC, the RAFF features over 30 films from around the world. The festival opens with a special event at The Shed with an appearance by Marissa Bode (Wicked), who will receive the festival’s Spotlight Award in recognition of her groundbreaking contributions to disability representation on screen. 

The opening night film is the NY premiere of the film The Trouble With Mr. Doodle. From the makers of Exit Through the Gift Shop, Waiting for Sugarman and Man on Wire, this documentary reveals the world of Sam Cox, better known as Mr. Doodle. His compulsive doodling turned him into a global sensation, with social media videos amassing millions of views and revealing the intricate complexity between creativity and chaos.

Making its world premiere at the fest is the documentary An Unquiet Mind. Shattering common myths about OCD through the interweaving stories of Vinay and Natasha, a reality far more complex than perfectionism or repetition is revealed. As the camera follows their daily lives at work and home, we witness their raw struggles with intrusive thoughts and difficulty relating their experiences to others.

Don’t Look Away follows Corey as he navigates daily life, career, and relationships while challenging common assumptions about facial differences. Through candid conversations and everyday moments, Corey shares his perspective on identity, connection, and the complexities of human interaction and his passion for film.

Special events during the festival include an Industry Summit that looks at topics of accessibility, inclusion and representation in all aspects of the film and performing arts industries, panel discussions with the filmmakers, a comedy night, and more.

To learn more, go to: https://reelabilities.org/newyork

ReelAbilities Film Festival
April 3 - 9, 2025

Various Venues in NYC

Socially Relevant Film Festival NY Tells Stories From Around the World

Details

Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 11 March 2025 14:35

Written by Brad Balfour

Film has the power to reflect the world around it and give voice to those without one. And that is the heart of the Socially Relevant Film Festival. The 12th edition of SR Socially Relevant Film Festival NY runs March 11 to 16 in NYC and opens at the National Arts Club and screenings at Cinema Village.  The Mission of the SR Film Festival is to spotlight filmmakers who tell compelling, socially relevant, human-interest stories without resorting to violence or violent forms of storytelling. SRFF believes in the power of film to raise awareness of social problems.

The official selection of documentaries includes films on combating disease (Rare), feminist restaurants (A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot), the people of Beirut (We Never Left), and more. The festival also includes the Voices of Canada selection of films, with five works from Canadian filmmakers, with the US premiere of Calmer Waters, a documentary about the first quadriplegic woman in Quebec to give birth.

Narrative features include Love & Vodka, about an aspiring screenwriter who falls in love with a Ukranian woman trying to survive the Russian attacks on the country, the political drama Widowbird, and the women’s health dramedy Lady Parts.

Festival Founding Artistic Director Nora Armani says "Twelve years have speeded by. We are proud to have had the opportunity to present over 750 socially relevant films from 40 countries. The work of talented and dedicated filmmakers has offered us the bonus of learning about the human condition and filmmaking while engaging with an audience as a first step toward raising awareness of social issues. We could not have done it without the valuable support of our sponsors, partners, and friends." SRFF was founded by Actress/ Filmmaker Nora Armani in 2013 in response to the proliferation of violence and violent forms of storytelling in media and entertainment. Following a family tragedy that cost the lives of two of her dearest and nearest, namely her cousin Vania and uncle Jack Exerjian, Armani founded the festival to commemorate them meaningfully.

To learn more, go to: https://www.ratedsrfilms.org/

Socially Relevant Film Festival NY
March 11 - 16

Various venues in NYC

The 15th Anniversary Athena Film Festival: The Cinematic Voice of Women From Around the World

Details

Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Tuesday, 04 March 2025 21:41

Written by Brad Balfour

Empire Waist

Now celebrating its 15th anniversary, The Athena Film Festival is dedicated to celebrating and advancing a new understanding of what women’s leadership looks like. Held at Barnard College of Columbia University in NYC, the festival runs from March 6th to the 9th with shorts, documentaries, and features that  feature a woman or women protagonist at the center of the story. Along with the slate of films, the festival hosts filmmaker workshops, master classes and panels on a variety of topics relevant to women in the film industry. 

Features include Empire Waist, in which a clothes-loving teenager is about to set the world on fire with her own line of inclusive fashion designs. Lilly tells the story of a poor, Alabama tire factory worker whose  fight for justice takes her all the way to the Supreme Court and then the corridors of Congress. Tatami is the first feature film to have both an Iranian and an Israeli director, Leila, an Iranian judo athlete is put in political danger when her government tells her to fake an injury and withdraw from the world championships rather than face an Israeli rival in the final forcing her to make a life-or-death decision that could put the lives of her, her coach and her family in danger.

Screenings are complemented by panels, filmmaker Q&As, and other events that investigate the intersections of gender, power, culture and society.

To learn more, go to: https://athenafilmfestival.com/

The 15th Anniversary Athena Film Festival
March 6 - 9, 2025

Barnard College
3009 Broadway
New York, NY 10027