In 1999, nine-year-old Emmanuel Durant and his family began filming their daily lives in America’s most dangerous neighborhood — just 17 blocks behind the U.S. Capitol. They've been filming ever since. Spanning two decades, 17 Blocks illuminates a nation's ongoing crisis through one family's raw, stirring, and deeply personal saga. -JM

An unusual combination of disorientation and euphoria occurs in the hours leading up to the birth of expectant mother Angelle's first child. 36 Hours is an immersive and tender document of quiet love, celebrating the natural processes of life and the labor involved in existence. -CM

A coming-of-age story that creates a new perspective on the myth of progress. A curious ten-year-old and his mother have been displaced from their farmland on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the construction of a condominium. As they watch the buildings take shape, this lyrical film exposes the hope and tension engulfing the country. -CM

An unlikely couple—a famous Austrian composer who's the son of Nazi parents, and a renowned African American sex educator—live a kinky lifestyle: she's his slave and muse, he's her master. While their relationship brings into question gender dynamics, race, and politics, Georg and Mollena are a heartwarming example of an unconventional and well-negotiated kinky partnership. -MR

Brand new collection of Bad Art! Brand new collection of hillarious art commentary! FREE SHOW (21up)

Alongside legendary Route 66 lies a place stuck in time. Not many people want to live in Barstow and those who stay look like they lost their chance to get away.  Structured like a skeletal Blues song, poet/inmate Spoon Jackson shares his story and of this town built on broken dreams. -CM

In an era of fake news and alternative facts, the controversial open source investigative collective known as Bellingcat utilizes digital technology and social media to expose truth. Above all else, this collective is on a mission to return a sense of journalistic integrity to the media landscape.

An eccentric sculptor works in the space between art and science. Nearing the end of his life, he looks back on a lifelong obsession with patterns. Never formally trained in mathematics, he studied mud cracks, bee hives and tree bark to create a geometric system that resulted in his art.

Bill Traylor was born into slavery in 1854 and only later did he start creating art. Traylor’s art is the sole surviving body of work made by a black artist of his era. He made well over a thousand drawings and paintings on discarded cardboard between 1939 and 1942. -JM

The breathtaking story of traditional hunters from the indigenous community of the Bering Strait in the Far East of Russia who are hunting to provide for their families and their village. In the midst of the white expanse of ice they stalk seals, circle the whales in the sea in their boats waiting for when the right moment for the harpoon has come. Their story of everyday survival is enriched with vividly animated local myths that at times prevail reality. These elements combine to produce a hybrid animated documentary that provides a haunting testimony of life in the Arctic. -CM

Wildlife trafficking and illegal poaching are threatening the world’s population of wild animals. Leading conservation efforts and the fight against criminal poachers are bold, courageous women committed to preventing the extinction of Africa’s most vulnerable animals. -MR

In Texas, construction workers face the deadliest conditions in the country. Building the American Dream is a feature documentary that follows three immigrant families who are rising up to seek justice and equality. A story of courage, resilience and community, the film reveals shocking truths in an industry rife with exploitation. -JM

Candice Vadala aka Candida Royalle began her career as an adult performer and in her thirties began to direct her own films focusing on women’s sexual pleasure, becoming the “godmother of feminist porn.” In her sixties when confronted with an ovarian cancer diagnosis, she is eager to tell her story in her words. -JM

Famed for his flamboyant drag, sky-high pompadour, and show-stopping flips, Cassandro’s trailblazing ascent as one of the first openly gay lucha libre wrestlers has resonated for a quarter century.  This tender documentary captures a prize-winning fighter who reinvented a staunchly macho sport, KOing opponents and coping with a body pushed to its limits. Cassandro's story—the underdog and a queer icon, simultaneously fragile and mighty—unfolds on both sides of the border. -CM

Eric Butler, a Hurricane Katrina survivor and pioneer of the restorative justice movement, relocates and finds work at an Oakland high school, where he enforces his no-nonsense approach to counseling vulnerable Black and Latino teenagers. Shot over two years, the film follows Butler's impassioned efforts to create juvenile justice reform. -JM

You probably remember the infamy of Milli Vanilli, but they don’t compare to the 1980s Den Harrow lip-syncing scandal that escalated into a bitter war between an American singer and an Italian male model. Who is the 'true' artist behind Den Harrow: the face, or the voice? -JM

After years of prescription medications failed her a suicidal young woman, Adrianne, turns to underground healers to try and overcome her depression, anxiety, and opioid addiction with illegal psychedelic medicine like magic mushrooms and iboga. -JR

Vinyl buyer Rick Wojcik walks us into the homes of strangers, digging through their jazz, soul, and hip hop records, purchasing their once-prized possessions. Each seller shares a common reason: they face a major life transition.  Akin to an album of songs, the film tells a collection of intimate narratives about love, loss and our connection to music. -CM