Descriptions below are from the Mead Film Festival web site (http://www.amnh.org/explore/margaret-mead-film-festival):
Circus Without Borders
Susan Gray, Linda Matchan, and Northern Light Productions
2015 | 70 minutes | Canada, Guinea, U.S.A.
New York Premiere | Directors in Attendance
World-class acrobats and good friends Guillaume Saladin and Yamoussa Bangoura come from very different corners of the globe—the Canadian Arctic and Guinea, West Africa. Despite the distance, they share the same vision: to bring hope and change to their struggling communities through circus.
Banana Pancakes and the Children of Sticky Rice
Daan Veldhuizen
2015 | 93 minutes | Netherlands, Laos
New York Premiere | Director in Attendance
As the monsoon rains lift, a remote village in northern Laos transforms from a sleepy hamlet into a tourist hotspot…
El Cacao
Michelle Aguilar
2015 | 19 minutes| Panama, U.S.A.
Neoliberal ideology, human rights, and the economics of the global chocolate industry collide in this exposé of the dark side of Latin American chocolate production. Examining Fair Trade from the perspective of an Ngäbe farmer in Panama, the film highlights a pronounced disconnect between the rising demand for chocolate in developed countries and the over-promised, under-delivered incentives to small producers around the world.
http://elcacaomovie.com/trailer/
Driving with Selvi
Elisa Paloschi
2015 | 74 minutes | India, Canada
New York Premiere | Director in Attendance
At 18 years old, Selvi escaped an abusive marriage she had been forced into by poverty and patriarchal norms. Over the next decade, she embarked on an unlikely and stirring transformation: leaving a transitional shelter, finding work, fulfilling the almost impossible dream of getting her licenses to drive a cab and then a bus, and starting her own taxi company. Despite the tremendous hardships of her past, her unwavering spirit and sense of forward momentum enabled her quest to become South India’s first female taxi driver. Driving with Selvi is at once a scathing examination of women’s roles in India and a celebration of one exceptional woman’s desire to transcend, all set in the famously chaotic Indian traffic.
The Funeral Singer
Thanh Hoang
2015 | 15 minutes| Vietnam, U.S.A.
New York Premiere | Director in Attendance
Anh chi Bay makes a living composing melodies for the recently deceased in a village in northern Vietnam. His task is to celebrate life and family through the process of death and grieving, and his relationship with mortality is intimate. Traditionally, he would pass on this unique role to his oldest son—but Anh chi Bay has only daughters. Through his eyes and those of his eldest daughter, The Funeral Singer explores how we find purpose in our work and how we understand our legacy.
Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World
Charles Wilkinson
2015 | 75 minutes | Canada, Haida Gwaii
U.S. Premiere | Director in Attendance
Eighty miles off the Northwest coast of British Columbia, the mountainous archipelago Haida Gwaii rises above the Pacific Ocean. These islands have been home to the Haida people since 13,000 BC, and it was here that they developed the world’s first totem poles. Though smallpox from European settlers killed a staggering nine out of ten residents and industrial overfishing and commercial logging have threatened them, a vibrant community thrives there today. In Haida Gwaii: On the Edge of the World, award-winning director Charles Wilkinson turns his camera on the fight to preserve the land, sea, and people of Haida Gwaii. The film celebrates the Haida chiefs, organic farmers, scientists, and local artists who have come together on the islands today to explore creative ways of building a sustainable society.
The Last Refuge (Le Dernier Refuge)
Anne-Laure Porée and Guillaume Suon
2013 | 65 minutes | Cambodia, France
In the heart of Cambodia, the Bunong people have inhabited the forest for over two thousand years, practicing animism and living in close accord with their natural environment. Recently, though, the region has fallen victim to one of the world’s most aggressive deforestation campaigns, with 2.85 million hectares of Cambodian forest leveled for rubber cultivation. The Last Refuge, produced by celebrated Cambodian director Rithy Panh and directed by Anne-Laure Poreé and Guillame Soun, follows a young woman from the community as she returns to document the devastation of the environment and the resistance by the Bunong people.
Love Marriage in Kabul
Amin Palangi
2014 | 85 minutes | Afghanistan, Australia
New York Premiere
Mahboba Rawi is a strong-willed Afghan-Australian woman dedicated to improving the lives of young people in need. The founder of the organization Mahboba’s Promise, she is a mother figure to thousands of orphans and widows whom her programs support. Abdul, one of these orphans in Kabul, is in love with Fatemeh, the girl next door. The two have been exchanging romantic letters for almost a year and hope to marry each other one day. Fatemeh’s father has other plans—and a dowry demand that goes far beyond Abdul’s means. As Mahboba intervenes on Abdul’s behalf, a drama unfolds that delineates the vulnerabilities of the disenfranchised in Afghanistan, the sometimes-cruel realities of traditional marriage arrangements, and the resilient power of love.
One Dollar Series: The Guide Boy (Episode 5)
Phally Ngoeum
2014 | 8 minutes| Cambodia
On a mountain known equally for its mythical associations and its history during the Khmer Rouge period, 12-year-old Chre works as a tour guide, eking out a meager living. Though his hardships seem insurmountable—his mother died when he was a toddler and his sister migrated to Thailand, leaving him the sole provider and caretaker of his sick father—his resilience is their equal, as he dreams of getting an education and improving his professional prospects.
One Dollar Series: Lady Stone (Episode 3)
Roeun Narith
2014 | 9 minutes| Cambodia
At the foot of the mountains in southern Cambodia, a woman scrabbles in the white dust to turn rocks into pebbles, which she will sell for 35 cents a sack. She once owned land, but malaria carried everything away: her money, her rice field, and her husband. Selling the pebbles with plans to seek employment in Phnom Penh, she tenaciously hangs on to hope and a new life in the big city.
One Dollar Series: Minister of Papaya (Episode 1)
Roeun Narith
2013 | 8 minutes | Cambodia
Armed with a brightly colored motorbike, a wide smile, and an engaging sense of humor, Mao Bora roams the streets of Phnom Penh selling papayas and bringing positive energy wherever he goes. This small but mighty film is a joyful reminder of how the simplest actions can produce hope and inspiration.
One Man’s Trash
Kelly Adams
2015 | 17 minutes | U.S.A.
Director in Attendance
In an East Harlem garage sits the unusual museum: Treasures in the Trash. The museum is the life’s work of Nelson Molina, a 34-year veteran of the New York City Department of Sanitation and a collector of discarded ephemera of interest. The film follows Molina on his route as, with a keen eye and an open mind, he plucks gems from what others have thrown away and assigns new value to them.
The Tentmakers of Cairo
Kim Beamish
2015 | 98 minutes | Australia, Egypt
U.S. Premiere | Director in Attendance
Amid the tumult of the Arab Spring in Cairo, vendors in a small souk observe the political upheaval while seeking to preserve an ancient tradition of fabric making. The result is a fascinating microcosm of a transitioning nation. In the wake of President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, street celebrations turn to conflict—shops burn to the ground, propaganda spreads, and the fraternal spirit of the marketplace is shattered. The Tentmakers of Cairo traces this story from the beginning and follows each character as they develop with the times. Filmmaker Kim Beamish captures some of the most remarkable close-up footage of one of the defining political crises of the decade.
