Spotlight on Documentaries at #WFA2021

Goddess Snow and her close friends Ceara Lynch, Princess Rene, Astro Domina, Princess Meggerz and Sarah DiAvola have built a supportive underground punk scene of fetish content creators, empowering each other, their clients, fans and the rest of the adult population to engage in the fight for a shame-free, consensual, and safe exploration of one’s sexuality. Dancing between the worlds of online fetish content creation, and in-person domination sessions, Goddess Alexandra Snow has built a thriving empire which supports the empowerment of women, sex workers, and anyone who has ever felt like a misfit.

While Germany sits as one of the major democratic models, an ex-prisoner of the Stasi delivers from his former cell a frightening testimony that questions the sustainability of our contemporary democracies.

Racial profiling by police is a recurring problem in our society for people of color. Our documentary film shows two main characters, Demitrius and Niaja, who experienced racial profiling as young teenagers. Demitrius was followed, stopped and searched based on what he was wearing. While this experience affected Demitrius’ identity–how he dresses, walks and presents himself it also made him curious about black history and the roots of racial profiling.

An experimental autoethnographic documentary about queer joy, resistance, and resilience in the face of abuse, trauma, and transphobia.

Hear Me Out is a short documentary about the Ghanaian community journalist Helen Udanbila, who manages a local radio programme which seeks to give a voice to the young girls and women in Saboba, Northen Ghana, Africa. The documentary is produced in collaboration with Ghana Friendship.

High Flying Jade is the true story of a bipolar woman from Los Angeles who moved to Vietnam and joined the circus in Hồ Chí Minh City. In the US, Jade was an air traffic controller but repeated attempts at suicide culminated in hospitalization. She was eventually diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder. Now, she tries to manage her unique brain chemistry with learned-mindfulness and focused aerial training. We meet her one week before the opening night of her first ever performance in a real, big top circus.

I’m an Electric Lampshade is an offbeat, heart-warming portrait of the world’s least likely rock star. This documentary-narrative hybrid feature tells the story of Doug McCorkle, a buttoned-up, mild-mannered corporate accountant who, after retiring at age 60, puts his marriage and life savings on the line to chase his wildest dream. Shot in the United States, Mexico & the Philippines, the film features a strong cast of undiscovered talent from across the globe. Like Sean Baker’s Tangerine, the cast is a menagerie of real people portraying versions of themselves, bringing an authenticity to the film that would be impossible to fake. The result is a mind-bending musical odyssey in the tradition of Stop Making Sense and Searching For Sugar Man.

A small tavern in Queens, New York becomes the meeting spot for young hopefuls who move to NYC in pursuit of their dreams, forming a bond of friendship and building a neighborhood community spot likened to “Cheers”. Everything changes as COVID-19 transforms Queens into a major hotspot in the global pandemic; Sparrow Tavern is closed and its staff are among the tens of thousands of service workers laid off across the city. Observing strict COVID protocols and using remotely operated cameras, director Johnny Sweet creates a powerful testimonial that documents the psychological impact of COVID-19 on a group of young adults working in the hospitality industry, as well as the healthcare workers tirelessly fighting the virus on the frontline.

Alma W. Thomas broke color barriers on and off the canvas, yet did not receive national attention until she was 80. Born a generation after slavery, Alma Woodsey Thomas grew up in the South, in a home where education was a priority. At 16, with racial tensions high and no further schooling options, her family moved to Washington, DC, where she started her incredible life of firsts: the first Fine Arts graduate from Howard University (1924), the first African-American Woman to mount a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1972), and the first African-American woman to exhibit her paintings in the White House (2009).

The Oscar-nominated actor, best known for his role of Mr. Miyagi, left behind a painfully revealing autobiographical record of his much-too-brief time here on earth. More Than Miyagi traces his journey from being bed-bound as a boy to the bright lights and discrimination of Hollywood. Deep inside that sweet, generous, multi-talented performer seethed an army of demons that even alcohol and drugs couldn’t mask.

My Mama, A Man is a short documentary about Julie Middleton and her desire to spend a day as a man. When Julie was a child she was desperate to be a boy, when she hit adolescence she felt she lost that boy inside of her. Now Julie is approaching her 60th birthday and she has made a list of 60 things she wants to do, and right near the top of that list is to be a man for a day.

This short follows Rebecca Thomassie, an Inuk woman, around Kangirsuk as she learns the 52 Inuktitut words for snow.

On December 11, 2013, Víctor Álvarez Damián and other young men were arrested amid a joint security operation led by the local police of Veracruz, Mexico. Their whereabouts remains unknown to this day. Perla, Víctor’s mother, has been looking for him since then. Open the Earth portrays her painful and tireless fight to access to the truth and justice.

Escape “remotely” or “virtually” from home to India! Find local treasures with Rohini Chandra in the regions of Delhi, Haryana, & Kolkata where no commercial tour guide will take you. As your special tour guide, Rohini takes you to the country where her parents were born and brought up. Through the artistic perspective of her eyes and heart, this travelogue reveals the fresh & personal moments that travel can bring with exuberant joy and life lessons. The rustic & new India is now at your fingertips!

Eva Kaukai and Manon Chamberland practice the Inuk art of throat singing in their small village of Kangirsuk. Their mesmerizing voices carry through the four seasons of their Arctic land.