First Run Features (Firm)

The Professor: Tai Chi's Journey West is a feature documentary about Tai Chi and one of its greatest masters, Cheng Man-Ching, a man who brought Tai Chi and Chinese culture to the West during the swinging, turbulent 60's. Though Cheng is an important transformational figure, his teachings have been overlooked. This documentary film tells the story of his remarkable life and features Tai Chi as a martial art and a spiritual practice..

In 2015 what is commonly questioned, “Justice,” and how it’s applied. Our 40 minute documentary short tells the stories surrounding the perception of justice and unarmed incidents. The dynamic documentary features legal experts, local activists, and law enforcement officers delving into ongoing charges of inequality, unfair practices, and politicized manipulations of America's judicial system.. Additionally, the Black Lives Matter movement and...

Argentina explores the heart of traditional Argentine folklore via a series of choreographed tableaux retracing a history rich in original culture. The unique mise en scene of the dance mixed with awe-inspiring traditional songs performed by the musicians make it unique. Poetic, riveting and moving, this live performance choreographed by Carlos Saura calls on the entire history of a country set to the tune of guitars and accordions. Argentina shows...

Troublemakers unearths the history of land art in the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s. The film features a cadre of renegade New York artists that sought to transcend the limitations of painting and sculpture by producing earthworks on a monumental scale in the desolate desert spaces of the American southwest.. Today these works remain impressive not only for the sheer audacity of their makers but also for their out-sized ambitions to break...

What does a single, working woman have to go through to have a child of her own, without a husband, boyfriend or lover? Following a group of eight New York City women for over two years, And Baby Makes Two tells their provocative and emotionally loaded story; a story of women who, earlier in life, had taken every precaution to prevent pregnancy, and who now actively pursue it - without the help of a partner. What emerges is a complex, emotional and...

Today, Europe's fastest growing Jewish population is in Berlin.. Germany is considered one of the most democratic societies in the world, assuming the position of moral leader in Europe as it embraces hundreds of thousands of refugees. None of these developments could have been imagined in 1945. Through personal stories Germans & Jews explores the country’s transformation from silence about the Holocaust to facing it head on. Unexpectedly, a nuanced...

One of the breakout hits of Spain's burgeoning low-budget filmmaking scene, Carlos Vermut's debut, Diamond Flash, instantly established the young filmmaker as a deft practitioner of the thriller genre. Vermut's follow-up, Magical Girl, employs a classic noir premise, taking his exploration of the darkest side of human nature to exhilarating new extremes. Luis (Luis Bermejo) is desperate to fulfill his terminally ill daughter's last wish: to own the...

In 2012, Atsushi Funahashi presentedNuclear Nation, his film about the consequences of the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Daiichi. 1400 people from nearby Futaba were evacuated to a school building in a Tokyo suburb. Funahashi documented people’s desperation with true empathy and showed the full extent of the destruction. This year, he presents the sequel.. We learn that the former mayor – previously a fervent advocate of nuclear energy...

The War After is a powerful, 70-minute documentary featuring nine U.S. veterans transitioning from active duty to the unexpected challenges of civilian life. Our film is told through the voices of dynamic young men and women from diverse economic and racial backgrounds and varied branches of military service.. Join these brave and honest veterans as they share their surprising journeys into military service, the intense and at times harrowing experiences...

In an era when Dick, Jane, and discipline ruled America’s schools, Albert Cullum allowed Shakespeare, Sophocles, and Shaw to reign in his fifth grade public school classroom. Through the use of poetry, drama and imaginative play, Cullum championed an unorthodox educational philosophy that spoke directly to his students’ needs.. Many of Cullum’s projects were recorded on film by then novice filmmaker Robert Downey, Sr. Weaving stunning black...