American Carnage

High in Lake Titicaca in the Andes Mountains, a large and homely frog once thrived, a species endemic to altitude and cold water named Telmatobius culeus. But over-collecting for human consumption, pollution and predation by introduced species have devastated the Titicaca water frog — which has a hard enough life as is, given its resemblance to a certain human sexual organ and the many unflattering nicknames that has spawned. In 2016, 10,000 frogs died all at once, and it wasn’t the first mass die-off this critically endangered species has experienced. This short film from The Redford Center shines a new light on these underappreciated animals, showing their amazing adaptability, crucial role in the aquatic ecosystem and what’s at stake — unless humans intervene.

Gerrymandering is a 2010 documentary feature film written and directed by Jeff Reichert. The film explores the history and the ethical, moral and racial problems raised by redistricting, i.e., the drawing of boundaries of electoral districts in the United States.Gerrymandering covers the history of the redistricting practice, how it is used and abused, how it benefits the two major major political parties, Democrats and Republicans. The documentary draws on the perspectives from different individuals, reporters, pundits and politicians.

An homage to Wim Wenders’ documentary Room 666. Over True/False weekend, a variety of True/False filmmakers will find themselves alone in a hotel room, facing a camera and a provocative prompt: “Is cinema a dead language, an art which is already in the process of decline?”

Two Narratives...

Made from footage captured at Brooklyn’s BAMcinemafest in June 2016 in which filmmakers were left alone in a hotel with a camera and a question: "Is cinema a dead language, an art which is already in the process of decline?" An homage to Wim Wenders’s documentary Room 666, in which the same question was posed to directors such as Steven Spielberg, Jean-Luc Godard, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, ROOM H.264: Brooklyn, NY, June 2016 serves as a revealing document about the current state of American independent film, as well as a provocative rumination about how we see and experience the world.

In response to the cancellation of film festivals around the world and disruption in the lives and work of filmmakers, Eric Hynes, Damon Smith, and Jeff Reichert filmed and edited the documentary ROOM H.264: Quarantine, April 2020 over the course of the last two weeks. Shot via Skype, it features those whose work was slated to screen at festivals like SXSW, CPH:DOX, Tribeca, First Look, and more. The documentary depicts a broad range of filmmakers, each sequestered in their own spaces in locations throughout North America, Europe, Africa, and beyond, responding to a question first posed by Wim Wenders in his classic 1982 documentary experiment Room 666, and perhaps newly resonant today: “Is cinema becoming a dead language—an art form which is already in decline?”

This film, to be shot, edited, finished, and screened all within the dates of the First Look festival, is an open-ended homage to Wim Wenders's documentary Room 666. As in Wenders's original, visiting filmmakers, alone with a camera in a hotel room, will answer the question "Is cinema a dead language, an art which is already in the process of decline?" Participants will include an international selection of filmmakers visiting for First Look 2018.

Amid the nation’s ongoing debate over health care reform, this bracing new documentary examines the everyday realities of Americans who lack access to affordable medical treatment. Filmed during three days in the operation of a “no-cost” clinic set up annually at Bristol, Tennessee’s NASCAR speedway, Remote Area Medical documents the range of medical care the eponymous organization provides to low-income patients in the heart of Appalachia.

In Luling, the "toughest town in Texas", two Latina high school girls compete to be the next Watermelon Thump Queen.

High in Lake Titicaca in the Andes Mountains, a large and homely frog once thrived, a species endemic to altitude and cold water named Telmatobius culeus. But over-collecting for human consumption, pollution and predation by introduced species have devastated the Titicaca water frog — which has a hard enough life as is, given its resemblance to a certain human sexual organ and the many unflattering nicknames that has spawned. In 2016, 10,000 frogs died all at once, and it wasn’t the first mass die-off this critically endangered species has experienced. This short film from The Redford Center shines a new light on these underappreciated animals, showing their amazing adaptability, crucial role in the aquatic ecosystem and what’s at stake — unless humans intervene.

Two Narratives...

Amid the nation’s ongoing debate over health care reform, this bracing new documentary examines the everyday realities of Americans who lack access to affordable medical treatment. Filmed during three days in the operation of a “no-cost” clinic set up annually at Bristol, Tennessee’s NASCAR speedway, Remote Area Medical documents the range of medical care the eponymous organization provides to low-income patients in the heart of Appalachia.

In Luling, the "toughest town in Texas", two Latina high school girls compete to be the next Watermelon Thump Queen.

A poetic documentation of the Long Beach Island, NJ community as they battle local politics, cope with personal tragedy, and band together after Hurricane Sandy.