Cinemafile

AMERICAN SOLITAIRE explores the United States’ deep cultural connection to guns through the intimate story of a wounded veteran navigating the emotional aftermath of war. As he struggles to reintegrate into a society where firearms are revered and gun violence is pervasive, he embarks on a journey to heal himself and, by extension, challenge his country to allow for a broader vision of a soldier’s path to healing. Slinger came home from war. But the battle isn't over. American Solitaire stars Joshua Close (WAYWARD, FARGO) as a veteran unraveling in the aftermath of combat, adrift in a country that celebrates guns but has little language for the damage they leave behind. Written and directed by Aaron Davidman, the film is a raw, urgent portrait of one man's journey back to himself.

About the filmmaker - Aaron Davidman is a writer, actor, director and producer. He is drawn to stories of ethnic history and cultural complexity that challenge our assumptions of the “other”. To research AMERICAN SOLITAIRE, he traveled the U.S. for a year talking to people about guns. He has written, directed and performed at theatres around the country. His play, WRESTLING JERUSALEM, a solo performance about Israel/Palestine, toured internationally from 2014-2019. In 2016, the play was made into a feature film, starring Mr. Davidman (Amazon Prime + APPLE TV+). He designed post-screening programs for community dialogue and works with the Google School for Leaders, using his film as a catalyst for understanding Complexity and Multiple-Perspectives. Mr. Davidman received his theatrical training at Carnegie Mellon University, earned a BA from the University of Michigan and an MFA in creative writing/playwriting from San Francisco State University. He was a recipient of the TIKKUN Award in 2016 for WRESTLING JERUSALEM’S evocation of “radical empathy”. AMERICAN SOLITAIRE is his directorial cinematic debut.

Director Don Hardy’s (Citizen Penn) intimate documentary portrait Linda Perry: Let It Die Here chronicles the life and career of the Grammy and Golden Globe nominated songwriter, producer, and 4 Non Blondes frontwoman. Iconic in the nineties for the era-defining hit “What’s Up”, Linda Perry has spent the past three decades reinventing herself as one of pop music’s most prolific behind the scenes hitmakers. Her songwriting and production credits include Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, P!nk, Adele, Miley Cyrus, Celine Dion, Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, The Chicks, Ariana Grande, Weezer, and more.Beyond the scope of her career, Let It Die Here is an exploration of identity, vulnerability, and creativity. Filmed over several years, the documentary captures Perry as she confronts personal change and a crossroads in her career. The film features unprecedented access to Perry’s creative process, along with new performances and candid interviews with close friends, collaborators, and family, including Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, Brandi Carlile, Sara Gilbert, and Kate Hudson.

About the filmmaker - Don Hardy is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who recently completed production on a new feature documentary, Citizen Penn, that tells the story of the birth and growth of Sean Penn's aid organization J/P HRO after a catastrophic earthquake shook Haiti in 2010. Citizen Penn premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2020 and debuted on Discovery+ in May of 2021. Don wrapped the first season of a new documentary series for Disney+ called Pick of the Litter in early 2020. The series is based on the documentary film of the same name he produced and directed in 2018. The film was purchased by IFC Films/Sundance Selects and premiered in theaters and on VOD in August of 2018. It quickly became one of the most successful documentaries of the year. Don served as executive producer and show-runner for the Disney+ series and directed several of the episodes. Don's previous film, Theory of Obscurity, about the legendary music and art collective known as The Residents, premiered at SXSW in 2015 and was released theatrically by Film Movement in April of 2016.

An Autumn Summer is a coming of age love story that tells the tale of Kevin (Mark McKenna) and Cody (Lukita Maxwell), a young couple spending the final month before college in a magical Michigan lake town, chasing an endless summer. Per Jared Isaac: “The story is real, the place is real, and it’s a feeling I’ve wanted to bottle up and take with me wherever I am. It’s pure and uncynical, unapologetically romantic. It’s about the few individuals who stay with us forever, whether we’re conscious of it or not.” The film stars Apple+' hit series Shrinking's break-out actress Lukita Maxwell (upcoming in A24's Backrooms) and Wayne/Sing Street's Mark McKenna. An Autumn Summer can bee seen theatrically in select theaters, including Los Angeles, beginning on May 8th. It will also be expanding from there theatrically across the country and will be available on digital platforms to stream beginning on June 2.

About the filmmaker - Jared Isaac is a writer, director, and producer. He attended the University of Miami, where he studied mathematics and economics before turning fully to filmmaking. An Autumn Summer marks his feature directorial debut, which he independently wrote, produced, and directed, drawing from personal experience and long-standing creative relationships. The film premiered on the festival circuit, where it received strong critical and audience response, including Best Director Phoenix Film Festival 2025. Following An Autumn Summer, Isaac adapted Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage for Samuel Goldwyn Films, expanding his work into literary adaptation and studio-backed feature development. He is currently developing future narrative projects.

About the filmmaker - Brandon Somerhalder is an American cinematographer/producer raised between Colorado and Kansas, and currently based in Los Angeles. After initially studying analog photography, he attended University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. After graduating with a degree in Film Production, he continued his pursuit of telling real-world stories by photographing issue-driven documentaries around the world; He was the co-director of photography on the Oscar-nominated short documentary A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION. He was producer and cinematographer on Oscar-winning short documentary THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL. Recent projects as Director of Photography include the Netflix documentary series LIVE TO 100: SECRETS OF THE BLUE ZONES, THE EYES OF GHANA, executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, and the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Audience Favorite Award winning documentary COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT, acquired by Apple TV+ and Academy Award nominated for Best Documentary Feature 2026. AN AUTUMN SUMMER marks his first and only narrative feature to date.

Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere is both an intimate final conversation with a man who was the quintessential “fly on the wall” and a dazzling reminder of the power of photography to bear witness, inspire change, and preserve legacy. Over the course of his career, Schapiro’s images appeared on the covers of Life, Look, Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, People, and Paris Match. An activist as well as a documentarian, he brought the Civil Rights Movement to the world through indelible images of the March on Washington, the Selma to Montgomery march, and the struggle for voter registration across the South. From Andy Warhol, David Bowie, James Baldwin, and Barbra Streisand to Muhammad Ali, John Lewis, and Ray Charles — and no fewer than six U.S. Presidents, Kennedy, Nixon, Johnson, Carter, Clinton, and Obama — Schapiro’s camera was everywhere. He was with Robert F. Kennedy and his family on his last Christmas morning, at the Lorraine Motel in the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, and on the sets of The Godfather, Taxi Driver, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off among others. His work not only chronicled history, it helped define how history is remembered.

About the filmmaker - As a graduate of the USC Cinema Department, Maura Smith went on to direct "Towing" with Sue Lyon and Joe Mantegna. While being an honors student in the MFA Screenwriting Program at Columbia University, Smith received first prize for the Zaki Gordon Memorial Award for Excellence in Screenwriting. Smith has directed for such companies as Sony Music, BBC TV, and Paramount. Her most recent work, Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere chronicles the life and work of her husband, Steve Schapiro

Filmed over eight years, this five-part documentary series from director Debra Granik combines a remarkable, against-the-odds story of grit, survival, and redemption with an incisive look at the harms of America’s prison industrial complex. After years in and out of prison, former drug dealer turned entrepreneur Coss Marte is determined to take control of his future by building Conbody, a New York City gym with a unique social purpose: to employ formerly incarcerated people like himself in an attempt to combat the high rate of recidivism. As Marte wages an uphill battle against the stigma of incarceration and the realities of a relentlessly gentrifying city where second chances are hard to come by, what emerges is both an inspiring portrait of a man on a mission and a powerful examination of a system that continues to punish people even after they have served their time.

About the filmmaker - Debra Granik started working in film and video in the Boston grassroots media movement in the late 80’s. She studied politics at Brandeis University and her first forays into operating a camera and collaborating on political documentation were with Boston based media groups such as the Women’s Video Collective. While in Boston she had the good fortune to be able to take classes at Mass College of Art, Studio for Interrelated Media, which exposed her to a great variety of film work and traditions. At NYU, she made several short films, one of which, Snake Feed, garnered an award at Sundance, which led to involvement in the Sundance Screenwriting and Directing Labs. She expanded the story from Snake Feed into a longer script which formed the basis for the feature Down to the Bone, created with her producing partner, Anne Rosellini. Down to the Bone, was awarded the Best Director prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. Her next film, Winter's Bone, was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Picture, and won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Granik and co-writer Anne Rosellini were Oscar nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Her most recent film, Stray Dog, created with Tory Stewart is a feature length documentary.

Undeterred by armed soldiers, smooth-talking politicians, and riot police, journalist Amy Goodman has reported some of the most consequential stories of our time. Steal This Story, Please! is a gripping portrait of the trailblazer whose unwavering commitment to truth-telling spans three decades of turbulent history. From the frontlines of global conflicts to the organized chaos of her daily news show Democracy Now!, Goodman broadcasts stories and voices routinely silenced by commercial media. Oscar-nominated filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (Trouble the Water, The Janes) take us behind the scenes with the warm, wisecracking granddaughter of an Orthodox rabbi — raised in a tradition of asking hard questions – as she navigates a news landscape reshaped by technology, corporate consolidation, and political assaults on truth itself. Urgent, provocative and unexpectedly funny, Steal This Story, Please! is both a call to action and a celebration of resistance, posing the question: what happens to democracy when the press surrenders to power?

About the filmmakers - TIA LESSIN and CARL DEAL are award-winning filmmakers and collaborators. They made the critically acclaimed feature documentary, TROUBLE THE WATER, about survivors of Hurricane Katrina, which was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Gotham Independent Film Award and Sundance Grand Jury Prize. Their second feature, CITIZEN KOCH documenting the origins of the MAGA movement premiered in competition at Sundance and was shortlisted for an Oscar. Most recently, Lessin directed THE JANES, a film about the underground abortion service in 1960s Chicago, for HBO Original Documentaries, along with Emma Pildes. After its premiere in competition at Sundance, THE JANES won three Emmy Awards (Outstanding Documentary, Best Social Issue Documentary, and Best Directors), the DuPont Columbia Journalism Award, and was shortlisted for an Oscar in 2023. Lessin and Deal’s first film collaborations together were on Academy Award®-winning BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and FAHRENHEIT 9/11, winner of the Palme d'Or (she as supervising producer, he as archival producer). They went on to produce Michael Moore’s CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, WHERE TO INVADE NEXT, and FAHRENHEIT 11/9.

In his award-winning feature film debut director Cole Webley drops us into the lives of a struggling family, a young girl and her brother are awoken by their father (John Magaro, Past Lives) as they load themselves into the car on an early morning in 2008. As they road trip across the American West, she discovers the truth about their seemingly spontaneous journey. A poignant, coming-of-age drama that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

In her award-winning feature film debut Sophy Romvari takes us back to the late 1990s, eight-year-old Sasha and her Hungarian immigrant family relocate to a new home on Vancouver Island. Their fresh start is interrupted by increasingly dangerous behaviour from Jeremy, the family’s oldest child.

About the Director: Sophy Romvari is a Canadian-Hungarian filmmaker based in Toronto. Her critically acclaimed short films have travelled the international festival circuit and were featured in a collection on the Criterion Channel, including Still Processing which was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. Her latest short film It's What Each Person Needs is available on The New Yorker and MUBI. Blue Heron is her feature debut.

A romantic vacation goes awry when a volcanic eruption strands Bethany (Charli XCX) and her soon-to-be fiancé, Rob (Will Madden) in Warsaw, Poland. Bethany takes the explosive event as a sign to ditch her baggage, reunite with childhood friend Nel (Lena Góra) and traipse across lofts, clubs and back alleys, all the while becoming entangled in an emotional web that challenges her sense of self. From American maverick Pete Ohs, who wrote, directed, edited, photographed, and produced this dizzyingly charming European postcard, comes Erupcja, a delightful anti-romantic comedy about the pains and pleasures of being in love.

About the filmmaker - Pete Ohs has been hailed by Indiewire as “a rising filmmaker well worth the attention,” Pete works as a director, producer, writer, editor and cinematographer. He has produced and directed five feature films in the past five years. In 2025, he was at Sundance with OBEX, a fantasy adventure feature he produced, co- wrote and shot. This was followed by THE TRUE BEAUTY OF BEING BITTEN BY A TICK, a genre-bendinghorror satire he directed, co-wrote and shot premiering at SXSW.

About the filmmaker - Lead actor, Writer and Producer, Charli XCX is an iconic figure in the arts, having helped expand the landscape of popular music over the last decade by seamlessly traversing the underground and mainstream with her artistic output. Over the course of a trailblazing career, the multi-hyphenate creative has earned critical acclaim for her innovative style and entrepreneurial spirit and seen her forward-thinking approach reshape pop culture in the process. Her sixth album ‘BRAT’ was released last June and was the most critically acclaimed album of 2024, winning Charli five BRIT Awards and three Grammy Awards. On screen, Charli is producing and starring in A24’s ‘The Moment’, an original concept created by her and the first co-production venture from studio365. In addition, Charli is co-executive producing the score for the A24 film ‘Mother Mary’ with Jack Antonoff and will star in the Daniel Goldhaber remake of 1978 cult horror film ‘Faces of Death’ , Greg Araki’s erotic thriller ‘I Want Your Sex’, Cathy Yan’s upcoming independent film ‘The Gallerist’ , Julia Jackman’s period fantasy ‘100 Nights Of Hero’ , Romain Gavras’ satirical action ‘Sacrifice’ and Pete Ohs’ intimate drama ‘Erupcja’.

Ben Wolf’s utterly fascinating new documentary, CHANGING LANES, chronicles the tragic death of a beloved teacher killed in a hit-and-run crash in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. That death becomes the catalyst for a grassroots movement emerges to transform a notoriously dangerous four-lane boulevard into a safer, two-lane street with protected bike lanes. While many applaud the proposed change, it also sparks a backlash – led in part by a powerful local business owner. As government support begins to waver, neighbors unite to challenge entrenched interests and fight for a safer Greenpoint. Featuring Talking Heads co-founder David Byrne and former NYC Transportation Commissioner and Janette Sadik-Khan, this new documentary investigates why our streets are designed the way they are, and what it will take to make them safer and more livable. Director and Cinematographer Ben Wolf joins us for a conversation on the twists and turns of the effort to bring about change and safety for a community at the crossroads. changinglanesdoc.com

About the filmmaker - For over two decades, Ben Wolf has served as cinematographer and co- producer on a wide variety of projects, including the feature documentaries Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037 (dir. Ben Niles), Ride Rise Roar (dir. Hillman Curtis), Loving Lampposts (dir. Todd Drezner), Obit (dir. Vanessa Gould), The Happy Film (dir. Hillman Curtis/Stefan Sagmeister) and Keeper of Time (dir. Mike Culyba). He also contributed extensively to the photography of Gary Hustwit’s films Helvetica, Objectified, Urbanized and Rams. Ben’s career has paralleled the rise of digital technology, and he has leveraged the new tools in his documentary shooting practice, constantly pushing to use smaller crews to get higher quality, more intimate and dynamic footage. At the same time, he appreciates that, ultimately, film-making is a deeply humanistic craft, requiring sensitivity, collaboration and thoughtfulness. Ben earned a BA in Philosophy from Yale and an MFA in Film from Columbia. Splitting his time between Brooklyn and Sicily, he is an avid cyclist, and Electric Avenue is his feature documentary directing debut.