WFA 2023 Film Guide

After the death of his mother, Nico is in a crematorium waiting for her ashes. Nico begins working on an experiment with a virtual reality glasses to travel to a parallel universe and see his mother once again. Just like an hourglass, Nico will depend on the last grain of sand to accomplish his purpose.

Two descendants of the infamous 1857 Dred Scott Decision meet in a cafe off the New Jersey turnpike. Jim Taney, a descendant of Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney who penned the opinion, offers an apology from his family to the family of Walter Scott, a descendant of the formerly enslaved Dred Scott. Through a vulnerable conversation about racism in America, Jim awakens to his own ignorance and discovers why an apology alone just won’t cut it. This film is an adaptation of a short play written by Kate Taney Billingsley.

Dwight is a 49 year old Uber driver who still lives at home with his mother while holding onto his 80’s metal rock dream. He is unable to handle the aftermath of his incredible one-night stand with a married lady.

Four women in a wedding wardrobe use a Ouija board to prove that the family's grandmother was Salvador Dalí.

Wanda Johnson and Angela Williams, mothers of young Black men victimized by police brutality, come together and build a network of community-led support, mutual aid, and healing in Débora Souza Silva’s trenchant documentary spanning Oakland’s Fruitvale to the American South. Long before George Floyd’s murder and the BLM protests in 2020, Oscar Grant’s 2009 killing by a BART police officer seeded public awareness and cultural consciousness of systemic racism and its discontents. Paying forward lessons learned and advocating against anti-Black violence in memory of her son, Oscar, Wanda Johnson holds space for Angela Williams, whose teen son, Ulysses, survives a brutal police attack in Troy, Alabama, living to tell his story.

The everyday magic of dance is everywhere in a Bronx neighborhood. Near the ice cream truck, under the elevated train, and at the subway station, everybody becomes part of the daily dance.

Night after night, The Censor and his team mold Yoko’s memories into fantastical dreams. Tonight nothing happens as planned.

Differences in faith can be hard enough in a marriage, yet Tom and Lisa have made it work for twenty years. But when estranged friend Matt arrives presenting the opportunity of a lifetime and the only condition is a lie about God, well, what’s an American politician to do?

This short film depicts the author's fear of changes and distortions. How do you face these feelings in the past, present and in the future? It is as though the soul is broken into infinite pieces, but as long as we can survive, the depths of night passes eventually.

In Chile’s Atacama desert, where climate change continues to leave its mark, twelve-year old Antay and his friends see their town disappearing due to severe drought and the impact of copper mining. Soccer provides the only escape as they try to hang onto their childhood dreams and the ties that bind them.

From birth to sacralization, change is the infinite path of being.

The main character of the film is a Super Tusker named Lugard – he is considered a Kenyan national treasure. As large as Lugard is, he is not easy to find. Like most bull elephants, he is solitary. He is also not comfortable around humans. At 55 years old, Lugard has witnessed a multitude of atrocities including a massive poaching crisis in the ‘70s and ‘80s where the elephant population in the park was decimated. He continues to navigate the effects of climate change and is living through the worst drought the eastern horn of Africa has seen in 4 decades. The film also features Tsavo Trust, a remarkable NGO that works tirelessly to protect these incredible elephants.

Amy is a young Chinese-American girl working at her local grocery store during the height of the pandemic. Amy must confront growing racism towards Asian-Americans, while at home, she must mitigate her mother's expectations and personal bias towards African-Americans. After a brutal assault, Amy and her family must reevaluate their perceptions, and Amy must come to terms with who she really is and what she really wants.

Fé (Faith) is a music video of the Brazilian artist IZA. Known for her meaningful and aesthetic pleasing music videos, IZA reflects on the human trajectory and its relationship with faith, overcoming the obstacles it presents and finding its true essence on the process of being alive. It brings a poetic and impactful to the audiovisual, using photography, body expression and contemporary dance as power to create new ways of seeing the world. It’s a sensitive film about life and death, dreams, cycles, and the connection with the divine.

FINDING LIGHT is a multi-faceted film, which at its core seeks to use dance as a convener of conversation around issues related to the protection of human rights against bigotry and hate. The film explores how the events of 9/11 led a dance choreographer to seek deeper meaning in his work. Illuminated through the story of Holocaust survivor Naomi Warren, the film takes the audience on a journey that is simultaneously situated in the past while making relevant connections to the present told through the lens of dance.

With good intentions at the beginning, the young home tutor eventually can’t refrain from intruding into the family of a single mother and innocent son.

Grace Molotsi, a married nurse from the township, feels trapped and at her wits end due to an abusive husband who has made her life a living nightmare. As she finally makes the decision to end his life, her house is invaded by two thugs on the run from a cash-in-transit robbery gone wrong who take her hostage. Will the thugs be able to trust Grace when they discover her tied up unconscious husband in the bedroom? How will Grace be able to explain the various revelations that arise once her husband regains consciousness? FOUR WALLS provides insight on the systematic societal issue of gender-based violence (GBV), posing the question ... just how far do victims have to go to be heard and protected?

Guanglin is a blind boy in China who displays great skill at the ancient board game "Go", in which two players place black and white pieces on a grid in an attempt to dominate their opponent. Raised by a single father with limited means, Guanglin faces deep societal prejudice against the blind.

A personal journey to find mother’s love through this unique and popular hairstyle called “Grandma Perm” in Korea.

IN·SPI·RA·TION is a short documentary following three Isle of Man artists as they complete a piece of work, discussing their sources of inspiration and identity as artists. The film aims to demystify the artistic process, and demonstrate how everyone works differently, and there is no ‘right’ way to do art; it’s a personal journey.

Inside the Beauty Bubble is a short documentary film about a renowned collector of hair artifacts fighting to keep his desert dreams alive. The Beauty Bubble Salon & Museum in Joshua Tree is the magical and kitsch-filled brainchild of Jeff Hafler. The film covers a year in the life of Jeff and his roadside attraction as they face lockdowns, protests and massive societal change. It is a film about family, fabulousness and folk art, a film that reminds us it’s sometimes the strong people on the margins that hold a community together.

Sam, a corporate employee who dresses as a man, makes her journey back home at night after work. Her friend Alice gives her a list of possible riddles she might be asked by the predatory animal-headed men who rule this world. A corporate lion, a drunk pig, a gangster wolf and owl, and a fox roommate that does not understand boundaries, stop her path and won't let her pass until she answers the riddles correctly.

In a future where memories are stored like files, broken couples are offered the ability to wipe every trace of a relationship from their minds.

A determined mother's unusual exploration of healing, untangling trauma on the road with Olivia's 50 Barbies.

A routine errand at the dry cleaners unleashes a free-for-all of fat-shaming, body image demons and family dieting obsessions.