2024 Films (Archive) - American Film Showcase

2024 Features

15 Minutes of Shame

Runtime: 85 Minutes | A look at public shaming in modern day culture

15 Minutes of Shame

The 50

Runtime: 91 Minutes | While serving life sentences, 50 men embark on a radical journey to become some of the first incarcerated Substance Abuse Counselors

The 50

After Antarctica

Runtime: 106 minutes | A journey across both poles, following legendary polar explorer Will Steger's life journey

After Antarctica

Aftershock

Runtime: 88 Minutes | Aftershock explores the preventable U.S. maternal health crisis through the lived experiences of fathers, families, pregnant women and changemakers on the ground

Our Impact

Alaskan Nets

Runtime: 88 Minutes | For more than a century, two sacred traditions have defined Metlakatla: fishing and basketball

Alaskan Nets

A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks

Runtime: 89 Minutes | Exploring the power of images in advancing racial, economic, and social equality through the stories of Gordon Parks

A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Park

Chinatown Rising

Runtime: 82 Minutes | A young San Francisco Chinatown resident turns his lens onto his community

Chinatown Rising

Citizen Ashe

Runtime: 94 Minutes | The story of sports legend and social activist Arthur Ashe

Citizen Ashe

Daughter of a Lost Bird

Runtime: 67 Minutes | Kendra, an adult Native adoptee, reconnects with her birth family, discovers her Lummi heritage, and confronts issues of her own identity

Daughter of a Lost Bird

Descendant

Runtime: 108 Minutes | Follows descendants of the survivors from the Clotilda, the last ship that carried enslaved Africans to the United States, as they reclaim their story

Descendant

Fannie Lou Hamer's America

Runtime: 60 Minutes | A portrait of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and the injustices in America that made her work essential

Fannie Lou Hamer’s America

Finding Her Beat

Runtime: 89 Minutes | A bold effort to claim a cultural spotlight that has historically been reserved only for men

Finding Her Beat

Fireboys

Runtime: 82 Minutes | The untold story of young men incarcerated in California who are offered a way out: by fighting wildfires

Fireboys

Good Night Oppy

Runtime: 105 Minutes | Follows Opportunity, the Mars Exploration Rover affectionately dubbed Oppy by her creators and scientists at NASA

Good Night Oppy

Lucy and Desi

Runtime: 62 Minutes | Explores the unlikely partnership and enduring legacy of one of the most prolific power couples in entertainment history

Lucy and Desi

Master of Light

Runtime: 83 Minutes | An artist and former prisoner tries to heal broken relationships and paint family members in the style of the Dutch Old Masters

Master of Light

Of Medicine and Miracles

Runtime: 97 Minutes | Follows oncologist Dr. Carl June as he takes on the impossible: finding a cure for cancer

Of Medicine and Miracles

Say Hey, Willie Mays!

Runtime: 98 Minutes | Willie Mays’ life is a beacon of the “American Dream,” intersecting with a transformative era of the Black American experience

Say Hey, Willie Mays!

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

Runtime: 96 Minutes | Takes a deeper dive into Rosa Parks’ often overlooked breadth of accomplishments and the impact of her fight to overcome racial injustice

The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks

'Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen

Runtime: 84 Minutes | A panoramic celebration of the beloved genre of holiday films and television specials

’Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen

We Feed People

Runtime: 89 Minutes | Spotlights renowned chef José Andrés and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen’s incredible mission and evolution over 12 years

We Feed People

World Debut

Runtime: 88 Minutes | What were once lifestyle fads are now set to debut on the world’s biggest stage – the Olympic Games

World Debut

2024 Shorts

38 at the Garden

Runtime: 38 Minutes | In a hostile time for Asian Americans, the revisiting of an unlikely athlete’s story gives hope and shatters stereotypes on sport’s biggest stage.

38 at the Garden

A Woman's Place

Runtime: 29 Minutes | Captures the stories of three chefs, their careers, and their shared experience as women in the culinary industry facing and overcoming sexism

A Woman’s Place

Deerfoot of the Diamond

Runtime: 27 Minutes | The story of Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American to play Major League Baseball

Deerfoot of the Diamond

Long Line of Ladies

Runtime: 27 Minutes | The story of a Karuk girl as she prepares for a traditional coming-of-age ceremony

Long Line of Ladies

Nuisance Bear

Runtime: 14 Minutes | Unconventional and visually arresting take on ecotourism’s impact on the annual polar bear migration through Churchill, Manitoba

Nuisance Bear

The Act of Coming Out

Runtime: 11 Minutes | One-by one, actors reenacts typical coming out scenes that become more infused with their own unique biographies as the film progresses

The Act of Coming Out

The Beauty President

Runtime: 10 Minutes | At the height of the AIDS pandemic, activist Terence Alan Smith made a historic bid for president of the United States as his drag queen persona

The Beauty President

The Best Chef in the World

Runtime: 20 Minutes | The story of the original founder of the French Laundry, Sally Schmitt.

The Best Chef In The World

The Flagmakers

Runtime: 35 Minutes | In the country’s largest American flag factory, refugees and immigrants sew American flags alongside their midwestern co-workers

The Flagmakers

The Martha Mitchell Effect

Runtime: 40 Minutes | A portrait of the unlikeliest of whistleblowers: Martha Mitchell, a Republican cabinet wife who was gaslighted by the Nixon Administration

The Martha Mitchell Effect

The Picture Taking Experiment

Runtime: 15 Minutes | An elderly man tells the story of when, in the summer of 1965, he inadvertently produced the first up-close image of another planet

The Picture Taking Experiment

The Sentence of Michael Thompson

Runtime: 24 Minutes | Michael Thompson is the longest serving non-violent offender in Michigan history and this year he is finally up for clemency

The Sentence of Michael Thompson

2024 Episodic Documentaries

37 Words

Runtime: 24 Minutes | The inspiring story of Title IX – the hard-fought battle to push for equal rights in education and athletics

Poster for the film: Chef's Table: Pizza (Episode 3: Ann Kim)

Chef’s Table: Pizza (Ep. 3: Ann Kim)

Runtime: 45 Minutes | Ann Kim fought societal barriers to serve kimchi on pizza. Now, she’s a James Beard winner with two restaurants

Chef’s Table: Pizza (Ep. 3: Ann Kim)

Dream On

Runtime: 50 Minutes | The story of the indomitable 1996 USA Women’s Olympic basketball team and their influence in forming the WNBA

Dream On

Growing Up

Runtime: 30 Minutes | Explores the challenges, triumphs, and complexities of adolescence through ten compelling coming of age stories

Growing Up

Light & Magic

Runtime: 60 Minutes | An adventure behind the curtain of Industrial Light & Magic, the special visual effects, animation and virtual production division of Lucasfilm

Light and Magic

Poster for the film: Our Great National Parks

Our Great National Parks (Ep. 4: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, USA)

Runtime: 52 Minutes | California’s vibrant coastline gets its close-up, with an emphasis on the delicate balance struck between wildlife and humanity

Our Great National Parks (Ep. 4: Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, USA)

Sketchbook

Runtime: 23 Minutes | An intimate instructional documentary series that takes the viewer onto the desks and into the lives of talented artists and animators

Sketchbook

Untold: Breaking Point

Runtime: 79 Minutes | Under pressure to continue a winning tradition in American tennis, Mardy Fish faced mental health challenges that changed his life

Untold: Breaking Point

Untold: Caitlyn Jenner

Runtime: 70 Minutes | Caitlyn Jenner’s unlikely path to Olympic glory was inspirational. But her more challenging road to embracing her true self proved even more meaningful

Untold: Caitlyn Jenner

Untold: Deal with the Devil

Runtime: 77 Minutes | Christy Martin broke boundaries and noses as she rose in the boxing world, but her public persona belied personal demons, abuse and a threat on her life