Fantastic Fungi, directed by Louie Schwartzberg, is a consciousness-shifting film that takes us on an immersive journey through time and scale into the magical earth beneath our feet, an underground network that can heal and save our planet. Through the eyes of renowned scientists and mycologists like Paul Stamets, best-selling authors Michael Pollan, Eugenia Bone, Andrew Weil and others, we become aware of the beauty, intelligence and solutions the fungi kingdom offer us in response to some of our most pressing medical, therapeutic and environmental challenges. Narrated by Brie Larson
Hatched
The World Before Your Feet
For over 6 years, Matt Green, 37, has been walking every street in New York City – a total of more than 8000 miles. The World Before Your Feet tells the story of one man’s unusual quest and the journey of discovery, humanity, and wonder that ensues.
The Last Laugh
Are we allowed to make jokes about the Holocaust? In this outrageously funny and thought-provoking film, The Last Laugh, filmmaker Ferne Pearlstein puts the question about comedy’s ultimate taboo to legends including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sarah Silverman, Gilbert Gottfried, Harry Shearer, Alan Zweibel, Jeffrey Ross, Judy Gold, Susie Essman, Larry Charles, and many other critical thinkers, as well as Holocaust survivors themselves. Through these interviews and clips from our favorite standup comedy, TV shows, and movies, The Last Laugh offers fresh insights into the Holocaust, our own psyches, and what else—9/11, AIDS, racism— is or isn’t off-limits in a society that prizes freedom of speech. In the process, The Last Laugh also disproves the idea that there is nothing left to say about the Holocaust, and opens a fresh avenue for approaching this epochal tragedy. Star-studded, provocative and thoroughly entertaining, The Last Laugh dares to ask uncomfortable questions about just how free speech can really be, with unexpected and hilarious results that will leave you both laughing and appreciating the importance of humor even in the face of events that make you want to cry.
Unzipped
This behind-the-scenes documentary takes a lighthearted look at the fashion industry through the launch of New York City designer Isaac Mizrahi’s 1994 fall collection. The film explores the inspirations Mizrahi drew from to create the line — which include Eskimos and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” — while revealing the harried reality of mounting a major fashion show. Along the way, a number of bold-faced fashion icons and actors crop up, including John Galliano to Richard Gere.
Koyaanisqatsi
PLEASE NOTE A CHANGE IN PROGRAM: this screening will now be shown in its original form/score and will not have a live sound performance.
The first part in Godfrey Reggio’s The Qatsi Trilogy, KOYANNISQATSI is a renowned documentary that reveals how humanity has grown apart from nature. Drawing its title from the Hopi word meaning “life out of balance,” it features extensive footage of natural landscapes and elemental forces, with a gradual evolution to scenes of modern civilization and technology. The film’s lack of narration or dialogue allows its purpose to be realized through creative uses of imagery and an inventive musical score.
