THE DIVIDE
Monumental Divide is about a small rural town divided over politics, and follows a young couple as they come to terms with the social forces that drove them out. Stephanie, an outdoor enthusiast, moved into town two years ago with her boyfriend seeking recreation and a place to call home. Taking a job at the local non-profit, she inadvertently took sides in a bitter 20-year-old battle over land management. Now, four months pregnant, Stephanie navigates a town stuck in perpetual breakdown and questions whether she’s found the ideal community for her new family.Director's Bio:An award-winning producer and director, Brian's filmmaking career began in action sports, producing original content for Fox’s Fuel TV. Leveraging an expertise in outdoor and adventure stories, he developed youth-culture driven ad spots and branded content for clients like PepsiCo, 7Eleven and Toyota. Brian produced a feature documentary ‘Gorging’ – about the unique sport of canyoneering – and other short doc films. His latest film ‘Love of Place’ is touring the film festival circuit this year.
After coming home from a late night study session at the library, a black university student realizes he is locked out of his apartment building where he has a confrontation with a skeptical white man.Director's Bio:Tyler Evans is a director and screenwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. To escape the mundane routine of the suburbs during his childhood, he would go to the theatres weekly, which is where he discovered his love for storytelling. Tyler’s short film, I Live Here, premiered at Aspen Shortfest in 2022. His latest short film, Diaspora is a horror-thriller film about gentrification. Tyler’s main goal is to create original stories centred around Black people and people of colour.
After 25 years of service, U.S. Marine Mac McKinney returns home to Indiana filled with an all-consuming rage toward the people he had been fighting against. Still fueled by his desire to fight for his country, he plans to bomb the local mosque. But when he comes face to face with the community of Afghan refugees and others of Muslim faith that he seeks to kill, his plan takes an unexpected turn.Director's Bio:Joshua Seftel is known for directing the Emmy-winning breakthrough series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the feature film War, Inc. starring John Cusack, Marisa Tomei and Ben Kingsley, and the comedy series, My Mom in Quarantine he makes with his 84-year-old mother, Pat, which became a regular segment throughout the pandemic on CBS Sunday Morning. The New York Times wrote, "the word 'droll' seems as if it were invented for these two."
Sarah Crowell and Keith Hennessey are both dancers, teachers, and activists in the Bay Area. They have known each other for nearly 30 years. But they’ve never collaborated or connected deeply, until now. The Space Between Us is a radical experiment in the power of bearing witness, inviting vulnerability, and sharing movement, in a time of social distancing and racial reckoning.Director's Bio:Gabriel Diamond is the staff filmmaker for the Skoll Foundation where he documents the work of visionaries and social entrepreneurs. His subjects have included Malala, Al Gore, Kofi Annan, Bono, Jimmy Carter, Annie Lennox and many more.
One Buck Won’t Hurt follows four Black teenagers from New Orleans who support themselves by tap dancing for tips in the French Quarter. This coming-of-age story explores the reckless joys of youth and the bitter pains of growing up fast in the incarceration capital of America. Growing up in New Orleans is all trial by fire. Jaded well beyond their 15 years, each member of our crew has lost someone to gun violence, and many more to prison. Our tappers’ story lends a stark specificity to these national crises, revealing layer by layer the burdens that Black youth face, as we’re left to wonder what awaits our tap dancers in adulthood.Director's Bio:Originally from New Orleans, Christopher Stoudt is a documentary filmmaker based in Los Angeles. He is co-creator of the Webby Award-winning docuseries 60 Second Docs, for which he has produced over ninety episodes. His short, Camp Alec, was co-produced by the Kennedy/Marshall Company and acquired by Disney+. His latest short Four Seasons Total Documentary (MSNBC) was produced by Glen Zipper and is streaming on Peacock. He is currently in development on his first feature film with Vox Media.
Born in Mexico City, raised in the farmlands of Wisconsin, Dr. Eduardo Peña Dolhun is a family physician in San Francisco who passes the homeless every day on his walk to work. Moved by the social injustice and inhumanity of individuals sleeping on cold concrete every night, he decided to act. This inspirational story told by breathtaking photographs and intimate interviews of his unhoused neighbors is a global call to action.Director's Bio:FOG is directed by Michael Pedraza. His career in movie making started in post production that cultivated under Academy-Award-Winning picture editor Michael Kahn on a handful of Steven Spielberg films.