2017 Online New England Film Festival

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Dare to Be Remarkable

Sep 2017

2016 | Directed by Justin Andrews and Andrew Drachman

A disabled philanthropist fights against a deadly disease that was predicted to take her life at eighteen months. Now one of the oldest survivors of the condition, she works toward a cure with her organization, Working on Walking.

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Telling the Story of Slavery

Sep 2017

2016 | Directed by Kalim Armstrong

Telling the Story of Slavery is a short documentary film about the first museum in America dedicated to exploring the legacies of slavery.

Discussing the legacy of slavery in America is still a complex and difficult conversation to have. How do we confront this horrible and defining period of our shared history? This is a film about a place that is attempting to do just that: The Whitney Plantation. It’s a former plantation founded in 1752 and located in Louisiana along the historic River Road, which winds down the Mississippi towards New Orleans. John Cummings, a lawyer who founded the museum, spent sixteen years planning and over eight million dollars of his own money to restore this site, which honors the memory of those who were enslaved on plantations and whose labor helped build this country. The Whitney Plantation is not a place designed to make people feel guilt, or to make people feel shame. It is a site of memory, a place that exists to further the necessary dialogue about race in America. This is a film about this place, its founders, and how it is helping America understand it’s most unpleasant past.

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Game

Sep 2017

2017 | Directed by Jeannie Donohoe

A new kid in town shows up at the high school boys basketball tryouts and instantly makes an impression. Will talent and drive be enough to make the team?

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Tick Days

Sep 2017

2017 | Directed by Marnie Crawford Samuelson & Shane Hofeldt

At ground zero of a deepening health crisis of tick-borne diseases, bug guy Larry Dapsis is fighting to protect his Cape Cod neighbors.

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The Sisters

Sep 2017

The Sisters
2016 | Directed by Guangya Zeng

An intimate portrait documentary about a woman who runs an antique shop in downtown Boston.

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The Long Haul

Sep 2017

2015 | Directed by Chloe White

We follow one woman as she heads to sea on a fishing boat. In the eerie night or under the still bright sun, it’s not always clear where or when this is. It appears as a dream removed from the particulars of the woman’s circumstances and so in her melancholy narration she might not just be describing her own life alone, but also ours.

This film was made by possible thanks to the kind support from the Macdowell Colony.

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Imagine Kolle 37

Sep 2017

2017 | Directed by Michele Meek

“Imagine Kolle 37” is a short documentary/narrative hybrid film about two girls who imagine their way to Kolle 37, a real adventure playground in Berlin, Germany.

Recently called “the mother of all Berlin playgrounds” by The New York Times, Kolle 37 enables children to build and climb three-story wooden structures, make fire, and use hammers, saws and axes. Founded in 1990, Kolle 37 invites young people ages six through sixteen, without their parents, to embrace risky play in the “adventure playground” under the loose supervision of playworkers.

Although about 1,000 adventure playgrounds exist in Europe, there are only a few in the U.S. where the concept of “free play” is becoming an endangered concept. But adventure playgrounds not only encourage young people to play outdoors in all seasons, they also provide children a chance to face risk, learn skills, and build confidence.

Ultimately, “Imagine Kolle 37” poses the question—can we, as Americans, imagine Kolle 37, which in fact is a real children’s playground in Berlin?

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Spoken Word

Sep 2017

Spoken Word
2017 | Directed by Ilan Muallem

Race, perception and consequence become the center point of three lives, as Judge Matthews realizes that he can no longer overlook his actions from the bench.