Part of First Look 20/21
Saturday, July 24, 2021, 7:00 p.m.
Museum of the Moving Image - Bartos Screening Room

Introduced by filmmaker Robert Greene

Jury award-winning student films from the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism, originally presented at the Stronger Than Fiction Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri. Jurors: Lauren Domino, Chris Boeckmann, Eric Hynes. All New York premieres

Gifts from Our Father
Dir. Armaja LaRue-Hill. 2021, 19 mins. A decade after meeting her father on Facebook, a filmmaker travels through the American south to meet her three paternal siblings for the first time. As she braces herself for the trip, she reflects upon her upbringing and interrogates her sense of self in order to open herself to her newfound brothers and sister. Winner of the Stronger Than Fiction 2021 Jury Prize for Best Film.

Ea La Mar’s
Dir. Jada Page. 2021, 21 mins. The smell of straighteners burning at 400 degrees lingers in the air of Ea La Mar’s Cosmetology and Barber College, mingling with the scents from Gates Barbeque across the street. Days here are never the same, and Shirley and Nicole wouldn't have it any other way. This multi-generational, intimate portrait reveals a mother and daughter determined to maintain their family-owned business and questions who will carry their legacy forward. Special Jury Prize for Best Director.

Sin Miedo
Dir. Marian Bouchot. 2021, 21 mins. Fredy has worked in the construction industry in Texas for the past eight years, trying to make the American dream his reality. But with white bosses taking advantage of immigrant workers because of their legal status and work ethic, will he ever feel like an American? Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Portraiture.

Little Soldier
Dir. Victoria Zeyen. 2021, 28 mins. An observational portrait of Little Soldier, a 14-year-old student athlete navigating her own path towards a goal that only she can make real. Special Jury Prize For Observational Filmmaking.