Reviews and Events

Eternal Spring (長春)” Hot Docs 2022 Audience Award Winner for Best Picture and the Rogers Audience Award for best Canadian film

Hot Docs 2022 Logo
ETERNAL-SPRING-Still-4-copyright-Lofty-Sky-Pictures

Jason Loftus latest film, the powerful animated documentary “Eternal Spring (長春)” winner of the Hot Docs Audience Award for best film and the Rogers Audience Award for best Canadian film at Hot Docs 2022.

This extraordinary harmony of animation & documentary has been awarded and acclaimed across Europe in its Film Festival run thus far for its groundbreaking animation – and of particular note, has been its incredible comic-book-style animation that transports the viewer into the brave and heroic world of a group of Falun Gong practitioners. “Eternal Spring ( 長春)” with its story of survival at all costs & battle for human rights continues to draw powerful comparisons to beloved Oscar nominee “Flee.”

This Canadian film was made for theatrical (it’s in 2.39 Cinema 4K and audiences are loving it on the big screen thus far from its international film festival run). The film will next screen after Hot Docs at the New York Human Rights Film Festival on May 23 rd at Lincoln Center & May 24th at IFC Center (one of 10 official selections and the US premiere), followed on Mat 31st & June 2nd at Krakow Film Festival  (Oscar-qualifying International Documentary Competition, Polish Premiere). Private screener links available upon request for review consideration. Many many thanks for your consideration and continued support of independent film!

  • New York Human Rights Watch Film Festival, May 23 @Lincoln Center and May 24 @IFC Center
    • (one of ten official selections, US Premiere)
  • Krakow Film Festival, May 31, June 2
    • (Oscar-qualifying International Documentary Competition, Polish Premiere)

“THE STORY WON’T DIE” Will be Released Theatrically in Los Angeles at Laemmle Cinemas on Friday, June 10th and in New York at Cinema Village, on Friday, June 17

TSWD_POSTER_FINAL

Director: David Henry Gerson
Producer: Odessa Rae (NAVALNY)
Co-Producers: Abdalaziz Alhamza (Subject of Matthew Heineman's CITY OF GHOSTS), Colleen Ritzau Leth and Martin Marquet (EPICENTRO, THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE)
Featuring: Medhat Aldaabal, Tammam Azzam, Diala Brisly, Abu Hajar, Bahila Hijazi, Omar Imam, Lynn Mayya, Anas Maghrebi and Mhd Sabboura (BBoy Shadow)
Genre: Feature Documentary
Rating: Not Yet Rated
Run Time: 1 hour 23 minutes
Country: USA/Germany

A WORLDWIDE VOD RELEASE ON MAJOR PLATFORMS WILL FOLLOW ON JUNE 21 (TIMED TO WORLD REFUGEE DAY)

VOD PLATFORMS INCLUDE: Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Google TV, Vimeo + and more

OFFICIAL SELECTION: Hot Docs, AFI Docs, Watch Docs and many more.

WINNER! Best Director at Doc LA and Best Feature Doc at FIC Autor Guadalajara. 

ETERNAL-SPRING-Photo: Lofty-Sky-Pictures
THE STORY WON'T DIE (Photo Credit RaeFilm Studios)
THE STORY WON'T DIE (Photo Credit RaeFilm Studios)

THE STORY WON’T DIE, from Award-winning filmmaker David Henry Gerson, is an inspiring, timely look at a young generation of Syrian artists who use their work to protest and process what is currently the world’s largest and longest ongoing displacement of people since World War II. The film is produced by Sundance Award-winning producer Odessa Rae (Navalny).

Rapper Abu Hajar, together with other celebrated creative personalities of the Syrian uprising, a post-Rock musician (Anas Maghrebi), members of the first all-female Syrian rock band (Bahila Hijazi and Lynn Mayya), break-dancer (Bboy Shadow), choreographer (Medhat Aldaabal), and visual artists (Tammam Azzam, Omar Imam and Diala Brisly), use their art to rise in revolution and endure in exile in this new documentary reflecting on a battle for peace, justice and freedom of expression. It is an uplifting and humanizing look at what it means to be a refugee in today’s world and offers inspiring and hopeful vantages on a creative response to the chaos of war. 

DAVID HENRY GERSON is a filmmaker whose work has won prizes from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Sundance Film Festival, and has been acquired into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in NY. He is a graduate of Columbia University and the American Film Institute, where he was the recipient of the AFI Richard P. Rodgers Award for Creative Excellence. His film, ALL THESE VOICES, won the Student Academy Award®. David’s spec screenplay, ABOVE KINGS, was nominated to the Tracking Board Hit List and was a semifinalist for the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship. His documentary film ULTRA VIOLET FOR SIXTEEN MINUTES (“Totally engaging” - Al Maysles), screened at festivals worldwide, the Pompidou Museum in Paris, and was acquired into the permanent collection of the MoMA. THE STORY WON’T DIE is his debut feature.

“18½” Opens Across 50 Markets in North America on May 27th

Director: Dan Mirvish Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Comedy, Drama
Writers: Dan Mirvish, Daniel Moya
 Cast: Willa Fitzgerald, John Magaro, Vondie Curtis Hall , Catherine Curtin , Richard Kind, Sullivan Jones, Alanna Saunders, Claire Saunders, and the legendary voices of Ted Raimi , Jon Cryer,, and Bruce Campbell
Release Date (Theaters): May 27, 2022 Limited
Original Language: English
Run time: 1h 28m

The film "18½" humorously crafts its own narrative into the notorious gap in Nixon’s Watergate scandal. Taking place in 1974, "18½" is about a fictional  White House transcriber finds the only copy of the infamous 18½-minute gap in Nixon's Watergate tapes but her attempts to leak it to the press run afoul of hippies, swingers and nefarious forces. 

About Adventure Entertainment:
Sydney-based, and operating in 28 countries on 5 continents, Adventure
Entertainment is making literal and metaphorical waves in the adventure film world with over 10 film touring platforms, and dozens of feature films in recent distribution. Specializing in producing live, eventized, theatrical film screenings, AE is leading the way in innovative, community-based marketing and generating pre, and post-show buzz in the entertainment industry. In addition to "Rookie Season," other 2021/22 titles include National Geographic's" Torn, " Red Bull Media House's "La Liste: Everything or Nothing, " and "Buried, ” from Oscar-winning producers Evan Hayes and Michael Sugar. See more at   adventureentertainment.com

END OF THE LINE Out on Digital and Cable On Demand in U.S. June 14th

POSTER-END OF THE LINE (Gravitas Ventures)

Director, Editor and Produced: Emmett Adler
Executive Producer: Emmett Adler, Ian Mayer
Producers: Emmett Adler, Ian Mayer; Co-Producer Mariah Wilson
Genre: Feature Documentary
Rating: Not Yet Rated
Run time: 1 hour 5 minutes

End Of The Line Will Be Released On Digital and Cable On Demand Platforms in the United States On Tuesday, June 14 

VOD PLATFORMS INCLUDE: Apple/iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, Vudu, Microsoft and more.

OFFICIAL SELECTION: DOC NYC

Andrew Cuomo in Emmett Adler's END OF THE LINE(Photo Credit_ Gravitas Ventures)
Andrew Cuomo in Emmett Adler's END OF THE LINE(Photo Credit_ Gravitas Ventures)
Eric Adams in Emmett Adler's END OF THE LINE (Photo Credit_ Gravitas Ventures)
Eric Adams in Emmett Adler's END OF THE LINE (Photo Credit_ Gravitas Ventures)

Award-winning filmmaker Emmett Adler's feature documentary END OF THE LINE is a character-driven political drama about the New York City subway crisis and a long overdue reckoning on infrastructure. 

Establishing the vital economic importance and grandeur of New York City’s historic subway system, the film dives into its dire modern-day troubles picking up in the late 2010s when flooding, overcrowding, power failures, and derailments have become commonplace. After a particularly bad spate of disasters in the summer of 2017, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaims a state of emergency and hires a new international wunderkind executive named Andy Byford to save the subways. Byford, an earnest Briton with an impressive resume, enters as a charismatic would-be hero.

As the political turmoil behind the subway’s decline comes into sharp focus, scenes in barbershops, bodegas, and bakeries show the frustration and devastation among business owners and residents who are caught in the middle. 

Ultimately, the COVID-19 pandemic furthers this, and brings to light America’s need to shore up its infrastructure in cities across the country and the inequality struggles that are central to this debate. A heartfelt and scrupulous exploration, this film poses the question: what happens when the lifeline of a city goes flat?

Cynthia Nixon in Emmett Adler's END OF THE LINE (Photo Credit_ Gravitas Ventures)
Cynthia Nixon in Emmett Adler's END OF THE LINE (Photo Credit_ Gravitas Ventures)
Bill de Blasio in Emmett Adler's END OF THE LINE (Photo Credit_ Gravitas Ventures)
Bill de Blasio in Emmett Adler's END OF THE LINE (Photo Credit_ Gravitas Ventures)

This film is dedicated to the heroic New York City transit workers who lost their lives to the COVID-19 pandemic.

EMMETT ADLER is an Emmy-winning filmmaker who has taught art in Shenzhen, China, was once a chess champion in the state of Illinois and can juggle pins while walking on stilts. He has over a decade of experience as a freelance documentary and commercial film editor. In 2021, he made his directorial debut with the feature documentary END OF THE LINE which premiered to sold out audiences at DOC NYC film festival. 

ABOUT GRAVITAS VENTURES

Gravitas Ventures is a leading all rights  distributor  of independent  feature  films  and  documentaries. Founded  in  2006,  Gravitas  connects independent filmmakers and producers with distribution opportunities across the globe.  Working  with  talented  directors  and  producers,  Gravitas  Ventures  has  distributed thousands of films into over a hundred million homes in North America - over one billion homes worldwide. Recent releases include Queen Bees directed by Michael Lembeck, Our Friend directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, starring Casey Affleck, Dakota Johnson, and Jason Segel,Vanguard, directed by Stanley Tong and starring Jackie Chan, The Secret: Dare to Dream, directed by Andy Tennant and starring Katie Holmes; For more information, please visit www.gravitasventures.com, and follow @GravitasVOD on Twitter and @gravitasventures on Instagram.

ABOUT ANTHEM SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

Anthem Sports & Entertainment Inc.  is a global multi-platform media company with offices and studios in Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, New York, Kansas City and Toronto. Anthem's portfolio includes AXS TV,  a leading music, entertainment and lifestyle television channel and digital media company; global film distribution company Gravitas Ventures;  Fight Network, the world's premier combat sports channel; IMPACT Wrestling, one of the world's leading wrestling organizations specializing in original programming and live events; Invicta Fighting Championships, the world’s premier all-women mixed martial arts promotion; Game+, the leader in Esports and gaming content; GameTV, the home of game shows and competition-based reality series; and HDNET MOVIES, which features theatrically released films and documentaries. Anthem also has a significant ownership interest in Pursuit Channel, one of the top outdoor channels in the U.S. For more information, please visit anthemse.com .

W: www.endoftheline.doc
F: https://www.facebook.com/endoflinedoc
T: https://twitter.com/endoflinedoc
I:  https://www.instagram.com/endoflinedoc/

North American Premiere at Hot Docs 2022 Animated Doc “Eternal Spring (長春)” 

Confronted with government denunciations and human rights violations against their spiritual practice, a group of Chinese activists executes a bold and perilous plan to hack into state television. 

ETERNAL-SPRING-Photo: Lofty-Sky-Pictures
ETERNAL-SPRING-Photo: Lofty-Sky-Pictures

In March 2002, a state TV signal in China is hijacked by members of banned spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal is to counter the government narrative about their practice.

In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening a violent repression. But his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea.

Combining present-day footage with 3D animation inspired by Daxiong’s art, Eternal Spring retraces the event on its 20th anniversary, and brings to life an unprecedented story of defiance, harrowing eyewitness accounts of persecution, and an exhilarating tale of determination to speak up for political and religious freedoms, no matter the cost.

Screening Schedule

  • Hot Docs, May 3 @ Varsity Cineplex and May 6 @ TIFF Bell Lightbox
    (Canadian Spectrum Competition, First-time Filmmakers Competition and Audience Award eligible, North American Premiere)

ETERNAL SPRING (長春) TRAILER from Lofty Sky on Vimeo.

Director and Writer: Jason Loftus
Additional Writers: Masha Loftus, The Pearman Brothers
Producer: Jason Loftus
Producers: Yvan Pinard, Kevin Koo
Executive Producer Masha Loftus
Director of Photography John Tran, csc
Animation Director David St-Amant
Editor: David Schmidt
Lead Concept, Storyboard, and 2D Artist Daxiong
Music By Tom Hill
Casting & Voice Director for Animation Masha Loftus
Featuring: Daxiong, Jin Xuezhe ("Mr. White"), Lan Lihua ("Xiao Lan"), Wang Jianmin, Zhang Zhongyu , Wang Liansu, Wang Huilian
Animation Cast: Daxiong Himself, Jin Xuezhe "Mr. White" Henry Guo, Liang Shi Jian, Big Truck Ben Li, Little Wei Yu Feng, Zhang Wen Tan Junfeng, Lei Ming Yu Zhicheng, Liu Weiming Tony Bai, Aunt Zhou Zhang Yuhuan, Sister Chen Xiao Yanrong 

VMI Worldwide Presents “RANDY RHOADS Reflections of a Guitar Icon” Available on Video On Demand May 6th

Randy Rhodes poster

A FILM BY ANDRE RELIS

A look into the life of legendary guitarist Randy Rhoads best known for his gut-wrenching guitar solo in Crazy Train with Ozzy Osbourne.

AVAILABLE ON VIDEO ON DEMAND
FRIDAY, MAY 6th

Randy Rhoads, the legendary guitarist known for his unmatchable guitar riffs, re-shaped rock’n’roll as the lead guitarist for Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne. After forming Quiet Riot with bandmates Kelly Garni, Drew Forsyth, and Kevin DuBrow in the 70s, the band quickly became one of the most popular acts in the Los Angeles club circuit. However, their music failed to land them a legitimate record deal. After playing with Quiet Riot for over 10 years, Randy received an opportunity to be the lead guitarist for former Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne. Randy played with Ozzy for a few short years, recording legendary songs such as Crazy Train, which includes Randy’s groundbreaking guitar solo. After touring with Ozzy in the early 80s, Randy was tragically killed in a plane crash on March 19, 1982 at the young age of 25. His body died that day, but his soul and music live on forever.   

RT: 85 Minutes | Not Yet Rated

Genre: Documentary

RANDY RHOADS: Reflections of a Guitar Icon is directed by Andre Relis. Narrated by Tracii Guns. Written and edited by Michael Bruining. Produced by Relis and Jessica Bennett. Executive Produced by Relis and JD Beaufils. Cinematography by Rich Buhrman. Music by Sean Kelly. A VMI Worldwide production.

Interviews: Delores Rhoads, Kelle Rhoads, Laura 'DuBrow' Mandell, Rudy Sarzo, Drew Forsyth, Eddie Van Halen, Lori Hollen, Jodi Vigier, Kim McNair, Brian Reason, Peter M. Margolis, Frankie Banali, John Donais, Joel Hoekstra, Bruce Kulick, Doug Aldrich, Gary Moore, Dweezil Zappa, George Lynch, and Ozzy Osbourne.

Pan African Film & Arts Festival Announces 2022 Jury and Programmers’ Awards

PAFF Awards picl

The Pan African Film & Arts Festival’s (PAFF) 30th edition concluded on Sunday, May 1st.  Held both in person at the Cinemark Baldwin Hills 15 and XD and online, PAFF announced its 2022 juried film award winners during their annual Awards Brunch in Los Angeles on Monday, May 2nd.  Three groups determined the winners: 1) an external panel of judges, 2) the PAFF Programmers, and 3) the audience.  PAFF took place in Los Angeles from April 30-May 1, 2022. 

“This year’s film roster reflects the times we are in,” said PAFF General Manager Asantewe Olatunji. “Many focus on social justice issues such as gender equality, police and community relations, and the changing lifestyle norms. Of course, several of the PAFF 2022 films focus on our well-known and sometimes obscure sheroes and heroes whose stories told by their own people give a new perspective of history and view of our world.”

Olatunji continued, “I predict this is just the beginning of the melting of the system’s iceberg that once limited access and the types of stories that are being told. Not only are these films Black films from the world over, but they are also films being made by Black women and LGBTQ+ filmmakers that authentically reflect their world. These are films by people who never had a seat at the table let alone a voice in the conversation. 

 

"As programmers, myself and the other PAFF programmers are happy to be a part of this process of helping to shift the paradigm of what stories are told and by whom. To present these stories and provide access for both filmmakers and their audiences is a great privilege.”

The 2022 PAFF featured over 200 films from 55 countries, in 18 languages, including 58 World and 32 North American premieres.  Of the films selected for the Festival, 46% were helmed by female, queer or non-binary filmmakers, and 80% were directed by filmmakers of African descent. 

For additional information about PAFF visit paff.org.

2022 PAFF AWARD WINNERS

Jury Awards

 

Best Feature Narrative  - Lingui, the Sacred Bonds (Chad) – Directed by Mahamat-Saleh Haroun 

 

Best First Feature Narrative  - Queen of Glory (US) – Directed by Nana Mensah 

 

Best Feature Documentary - Buddy Guy: the Blues Chase the Blues Away (US) -- Directed by Charles Todd & Devin Amar 

 

Best First Feature Documentary - Africa and I (South Africa) -- Directed by Othmane Zolati & Chris Green

 

Best Short Narrative - Slow Pulse (US) – Directed by Marshall Tyler 

 

Best Short Documentary - Cuba in Africa (Cuba/US) -- Directed by Negash Abdurahman 

 

Programmers’ Awards

 

Programmers’ Award: Narrative Feature - Ayinla (Nigeria) – Directed by Tunde Kelani

Programmers’ Award: Documentary  - Race Today (UK) -- Directed by Wayne G Saunders

Programmers’ Award: Short Narrative - 2 Eye Drops from Normal (US) -- Directed by Mora Carew 

Programmers’ Award: Short Documentary  - For Love & Legacy (US)--Directed by A.K. Sandhu 

 

Audience Awards

 

Audience Favorite: Feature Narrative - Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story (US) -- Directed by Denise Dowse

Audience Favorite: Feature Documentary (tie) - The Dream Whisperer (US) – Directed by Eric Drath and Ferguson Rises (US) – Directed by Mobolaji Olambiwonnu 

 

Audience Favorite: Short Narrative - Contraban (US) – Directed by Chelsea Hicks

 

Audience Favorite: Short Documentary - Crawford - The Man the South Forgot (US) – Directed by Carol Devoe

 

Ja’net Dubois Awards

 

Narrative - A Brother’s Whisper (US) -- Directed by Jacinto Taras Riddick

 

Documentary- Grandpa was an Emperor (US/Canada/Ethiopia/France/Germany/Jamaica/UK) -- Directed by Constance Marks 

 

Festival Sponsors and Partners

 

PAFF is sponsored in part by the City of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell through the Department of Arts and Culture, LA Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, LA Councilmember Curren Price, LA Councilmember Herb Wesson, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, LA Arts COVID-19 Relief Fund with the California Community Foundation, and the LA County COVID-19 Arts Relief Fund administered by the LA County Department of Arts and Culture.

 

The 30th Pan African Film & Arts Festival’s sponsors include Major Festival Sponsors: Stocker Street Creative, FX Networks, and Glassdoor.

 

Additional sponsors include:  ALLBLK, University of Southern California (USC), Procter & Gamble (P&G), Showtime, Paramount+, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA), Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), Union Bank, Sony Pictures Entertainment, STARZ, Unilever (Dove), Kaiser Permanente, Bank of America, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), Los Angeles Lakers, Directors Guild of America, Motion Pictures Association, West Basin Municipal Water District, SAGindie, Water Replenishment District, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Theater, Film & Television, 100 Black Men of Los Angeles, IKEA, Cinemark, Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, Warner Media, TV One.

 

About the Pan African Film Festival

 

Established in 1992 by Hollywood veterans Danny Glover (The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon), the late Ja’Net DuBois (“Good Times”), and Ayuko Babu (Executive Director), the Pan African Film Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has remained dedicated to the promotion of Black stories and images through the exhibition of film, visual art, and other creative expression. PAFF is one of the largest and most prestigious Black film festival in the U.S. and attracts local, national, and international audiences. In addition, it is an Oscar qualifying festival for animation and live-action films, and one of the largest Black History Month events in America.

Adventure Entertainment’s Watergate Thriller/Comedy “18½” in Theatres Nationwide

Adventure Entertainment continues to acquire extraordinary stories with the award-winning thriller/comedy feature film  “18½” from Dan Mirvish (“Between Us,” “Bernard and Huey” and a Slamdance Film Festival Co-founder), having scored the coveted 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, this indie gem has played in over 20 festivals around the globe. “18½”  is a 101 Films International, Bugeater Films and Kyyba Films production in association with Syncopated Daydreams and Terry Keefe Media. Adventure Entertainment  will release “18½” theatrically in cinemas in over 50 markets across North America on May 27th, beginning with Laemmle theaters in Los Angeles and expanding coast-to-coast on June 3rd, with the filmmakers in attendance for Q&A’s in all key markets.

The film "18½" humorously crafts its own narrative into the notorious gap in Nixon’s Watergate scandal. Taking place in 1974, "18½" is about a fictional  White House transcriber finds the only copy of the infamous 18½-minute gap in Nixon's Watergate tapes but her attempts to leak it to the press run afoul of hippies, swingers and nefarious forces. 

"18½" acclaimed cast is led by stars Willa Fitzgerald (Amazon’s “Reacher”) , John Magaro (“First Cow”),  Vondie Curtis Hall (“Harriet”),  Catherine Curtin (Netflix’s “Stranger Things”), Richard Kind (“Argo”),  Sullivan Jones(“The Gilded Age”), Alanna Saunders, Claire Saunders, and the legendary voices of Ted Raimi  (“Spider-Man”), Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”), and Bruce Campbell (“Evil Dead”) as President Richard Nixon.

Directed by Dan Mirvish, "18½" features a screenplay by Daniel Moya, story by Dan Mirvish & Daniel Moya, with classic cinematography by Elle Schneider. The film is produced by Dan Mirvish, p.g.a., Daniel Moya, p.g.a. and Terry Keefe. Executive producers are Tel K. Ganesan, Ashwin T. Ganesan, Richard Schenkman and Sebastian Twardosz, co-executive producers are Paul Orzulak, Kyra Rogers, Elisabeth Jereski, Jarrod Phillips, Dana Altman, Frédéric Forestier. 

About Adventure Entertainment:
Sydney-based, and operating in 28 countries on 5 continents, Adventure Entertainment is making literal and metaphorical waves in the adventure film world with over 10 film touring platforms, and dozens of feature films in recent distribution. Specializing in producing live, eventized, theatrical film screenings, AE is leading the way in innovative, community-based marketing and generating pre, and post-show buzz in the entertainment industry. In addition to "Rookie Season," other 2021/22 titles include National Geographic's" Torn, " Red Bull Media House's "La Liste: Everything or Nothing, " and "Buried, ” from Oscar- winning producers Evan Hayes and Michael Sugar. See more at   adventureentertainment.com

VIEW TRAILER BELOW!

The 30th Pan African Film & Arts Festival Closing Night Screening TV One’s “STALKER”

PAFF30_LOGO

Tanya Moore (Meta Golding) is a well-known Hollywood actress, who is tormented by a stalker, who calls her one night, telling her to search her soul and fix her past.

Tanya goes home to the house she grew up in, where her estranged younger sister Shelly (Tationna Bosier) is living; visiting his parents’ empty house next door is Tanya’s high school boyfriend Damon (Christian Keyes). 

Tanya, Shelly and Damon are on a mission to figure out who is tormenting Tanya from a slew of suspects including a menacing cop, to Tanya’s ex or a married teacher that Tanya was involved with in high school.

“Stalker” is produced for TV One by Swirl Films, with Eric Tomosunas and Robert A. Boyd II, serving as Executive Producers. James Seppelfrick, Ron Robinson and Keith Neal serve as Producers for Swirl Films. Bobby Yan serves as Director for TV One, Jason Ryan and Robyn Greene Arrington are Executive Producers in Charge of Production, Donyell Kennedy-McCullough is Senior Director of Talent & Casting and Susan Henry is Senior Director of Original Programming and Production.

WHAT:
Join the cast and producer of “Stalker” for an exclusive screening, followed by a Q&A, on the closing night of the 30th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival

WHO:
Christian Keyes (Damon), Tationna Bosier (Shelly) and Keith Neal (producer).

WHEN:
Sunday, May 1, 2022

 TIME:
Red Carpet: 6:00 pm PST
Program: 7:00 pm PST
Panel to follow directly after screening.

WHERE:
Pan African Film Festival
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza 15 and XD
4020 Marlton Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90008

AN ACT OF WORSHIP World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival 2022

Photo 3-(L-R) Khadega in Nausheen Dadabhoy's AN ACT OF WORSHIP (Photo Credit_ Capital K Pictures)

Director: Nausheen Dadabhoy
Producer: Sofian Khan, Kristi Jacobson, Heba Elorbany
Running Time: 1 hour 23 minutes
Language: English, Arabic
Country: USA

PUBLIC SCREENING SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 9 at 5:00PM at Village East - WORLD PREMIERE
Friday, June 10 at 6:00PM at Cinepolis - 2nd Public Screening
Sunday, June 12 at 8:15PM at Tribeca Film Center - 3rd Public Screening

(L-R) Aber and her mother in Nausheen Dadabhoy's AN ACT OF WORSHIP (Photo Credit_ Capital K Pictures)
(L-R) Khadega in Nausheen Dadabhoy's AN ACT OF WORSHIP (Photo Credit_ Capital K Pictures)
(L-R) Aber in Nausheen Dadabhoy's AN ACT OF WORSHIP (Photo Credit_ Capital K Pictures)
(L-R) Aber in Nausheen Dadabhoy's AN ACT OF WORSHIP (Photo Credit_ Capital K Pictures)

AN ACT OF WORSHIP is a polyphonic portrait of the last 30 years of Muslim life in America. Told through the lens of Muslims living in the United States, the film offers a counter-narrative of pivotal moments in U.S. history and explores the impact of anti-Muslim rhetoric and policy on young Muslims who came of age after 9/11. Due to their first-hand knowledge and intimate access to the Muslim community, the filmmaking team is able to take charge of the account, which has previously been shaped by outsiders.

ABER’s father was deported when she was 16. Now, she’s a community organizer leading a sanctuary city initiative in New York. KHADEGA is an 18-year-old Sudanese immigrant living in Michigan. While she feels compelled to advocate for her community, she struggles to overcome society's expectations of her and find her own way. AMEENA is a civil rights lawyer in California, but as a mother, she’s conflicted between caring for her three young children or sacrificing her time with them to fight for change.

Weaving together observational footage of these three women with community home videos, and evocative recollections from individuals impacted by incidents of Islamophobia, AN ACT OF WORSHIP opens a window into the world of Muslim Americans through collective memory. 

NAUSHEEN DADABHOY, is a director and cinematographer whose work spans fiction and documentary. She lensed an Oscar nominated film, an Emmy winning documentary, and films that have played at Sundance, TIFF, Locarno and on Al Jazeera, HBO and PBS. Her directorial debut THE GROUND BENEATH THEIR FEET premiered at IDFA.

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2022

Link to buy tickets: https://tribecafilm.com/films/act-of-worship-2022 #Tribeca2022