Film & Media Culture

Inspired by true experiences of grief, girlhood, and growing up, Jessie Barr’s directorial debut, SOPHIE JONES, provides a stirring portrait of a sixteen year old. Stunned by the untimely death of her mother and struggling with the myriad challenges of teendom, Sophie (played with striking immediacy by the director’s cousin Jessica Barr) tries everything she can to feel something again, while holding herself together, in this sensitive, acutely realized, and utterly relatable coming-of-age story. (1 hour 25 minutes).

A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.

2021 Academy Award Nominee for Best International Feature Film. Aida is a translator for the UN in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army takes over the town, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the UN camp. In Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, English, Dutch, and Serbian with English Subtitles. (1 hour 41 minutes).

A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.

African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) 2021 Award Winner - Best Foreign Film. A young man is sent to “La Maca,” a prison in the middle of the Ivorian forest ruled by its inmates. As tradition goes with the rising of the red moon, he is designated by the Boss to be the new “Roman” and must tell a story to the other prisoners. Learning what fate awaits him, he has no choice but to make his story last until dawn. In French and Dyula with English Subtitles. (1 hour 33 minutes). 

A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.

Official Selection for New Directors/New Films 2020. Sundance Film Festival 2020 - Winner for World Cinema Dramatic. Identifying Features tells the story of Magdalena, a mother who embarks on a journey in search of her son who disappeared en route to the US border. Traveling through the foreboding towns and landscapes of northern Mexico, she meets Miguel, a young man recently deported from the United States who is making his way home. In Spanish, North American Indian, and English with English Subtitles. (1 hour 35 minutes).

A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.

This slam poetry musical is set in Los Angeles during a heatwave and follows the lives of 25 young Angelinos as they intersect over the course of a single day. It was developed with 27 young poets, all of whom served as co-writers. (1 hour 35 minutes).

A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.

Sudan, province of Aljazira, nowadays - When Muzamil was born, a prophecy by the holy man of the village predicts that he will die when he is 20 years old. Muzamil’s father cannot stand the doom and travels away from home. Sakina, as a single mother, raises her son with over protection. In Arabic with English subtitles. (1 hour 43 minutes).

A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.

Please join us for a master class on Farewell Amor with the director Ekwa Msangi and producer Josh Penn. Registration link here.

1969. Marighella, Brazil’s number one enemy, has no time for fear. On the one hand, a violent military dictatorship, with its heinous crimes of torture and infamous censorship. On the other, an intimidated people. Alongside guerrilleros 30 years younger than him and willing to fight, the revolutionary leader opts for action – all the while trying to a keep the promise of reuniting with his son, who he distanced himself from in order to protect. In Portuguese with English subtitles. (2 hours 35 minutes).

A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.

After 17 years apart, Angolan immigrant Walter is joined in the U.S. by his wife and teen daughter. Now absolute strangers sharing a one bedroom Brooklyn apartment, they struggle to overcome the emotional distance between them. (1 hour 35 minutes). Free. Following the screening, please join us for a Q&A with Director Ekwa Msangi and Producer Josh Penn on Zoom at 8pm. 

A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.

In this collection of six shorts, filmmakers gaze at themselves and their world, attempting to make sense of what they see reflected back. From gripping drama to heart-warming comedy, Our Right to Gaze: Black Film Identities features timely stories from Black artists that take us outside of the ordinary. (1 hour 22 minutes).

Following the screening, please join us on Zoom at 8pm for a Q&A with Directors Antu Yacob and Zora Bikangaga and Curator Curtis Caesar John. A Hirschfield International Film Series event. Free.