January 13th at 7pm ET
9to5: The Story of a Movement
Documentary - 86 Minutes
Directed by Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar
Description: The latest film from Oscar-winners Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar (American Factory , DOC NYC 2019) explores a pivotal but little remembered intersection of women’s rights and labor rights. In the early 1970s, secretaries and other female office workers were underpaid, undervalued, unable to advance, and often subject to sexual harassment. In the wake of the Women’s Liberation Movement, a group of women in Boston finally had enough, joining together to begin 9to5, a movement that would sweep the nation with irreverent, attention-getting actions to demand meaningful change—and later inspire the eponymous hit film and song.
Sponsored by Bergen County (NJ) Chapter of the Links, Inc.; Jewish Standard; League of Women Voters of Teaneck; National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Bergen / Passaic Chapter; National Council of Jewish Women Bergen County Section; Sandi Klein’s Conversations with Creative Women; Teaneck Women Together; The Whole Woman; The Woolfer Community; Wise Older Women; YWCA of Northern New Jersey
Talkback with State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg; Mary Jung, a 9to5 organizer featured in the film | Moderated by Sandi Klein, Conversations with Creative Women
February 17th at 7pm ET
Mr. SOUL!
DOCUMENTARY - 90 Minutes
Directed by Melissa Haizlip, Samuel D. Pollard
Description: In 1968, producer Ellis Haizlip developed a new show aimed at Black audiences, one that used the familiar variety-show format to display and celebrate the breadth of Black culture. For five years, the public television series SOUL! highlighted Black literature, music, and politics, and often paired guests in unexpected juxtapositions that gave them an opportunity to shine in unique ways. Haizlip presided over the show as an unusual, unassuming host who conducted interviews with both an intense interest and laid-back style, attracting notable, eclectic figures to the show, and providing a national platform for previously unheard voices.
The show quickly gained critical praise and public support as one of the first platforms to expand the image of African Americans on television and shift their representation from inner-city poverty and violence to the vibrancy of the Black Arts Movement. Despite pressure from producers and government administrations, the show never wavered in its celebration of all facets of Black culture, from ballet dancers to blues singers. Mr. SOUL! delves into this critical moment in television history, as well as the man who guided it, through participants’ recollections and archival footage, highlighting a turning point in representation whose impact continues to resonate to this day.
Talkback with Melissa Haizlip - Writer, producer, and director of Mr. SOUL! | Moderated by Daniel Calderon - Brand strategist, film producer, & founder of Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow and #WORKFROMHOME
Sponsored by FDU School of the Arts, Theo Lacey, Ray & Vivian Chew, YWCA Northern NJ, Dreamers Unite, Jeannette Curtis-Rideau, Zoe Flowers, Native Son
March 10th at 7pm ET
Coded Bias
DOCUMENTARY - 90 Minutes
Directed by Shalini Kantayya
Description: Modern society sits at the intersection of two crucial questions: What does it mean when artificial intelligence increasingly governs our liberties? And what are the consequences for the people AI is biased against? When MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini discovers that most facial-recognition software does not accurately identify darker-skinned faces and the faces of women, she delves into an investigation of widespread bias in algorithms. As it turns out, artificial intelligence is not neutral, and women are leading the charge to ensure our civil rights are protected.
Talkback with Gurbir Grewal - New Jersey Attorney General; Dr. Riad Nasser - Professor, Fairleigh Dickinson University, A.I. expert; Karen Thompson - Senior Staff Attorney at the ACLU of New Jersey | Moderated by Karen Hao, senior A.I. reporter at MIT Technology Review
Sponsored by FDU School of the Arts, League of Women Voters of Bergen County, Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, Addie Wijnen, Susan Lesh & David Bland
April 7th at 7pm ET
Philly D.A.
DOCUMENTARY - 110 Minutes
Directed by Ted Passon and Yoni Brook
Description: In 2017, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania had one of the highest incarceration rates of any major city in the United States. And it’s become the epicenter of a historic experiment that could shape the future of prosecution in America for decades to come. When civil rights attorney Larry Krasner mounted a long-shot campaign to become District Attorney, he ran on a bold pledge: to end mass incarceration by changing the culture of the criminal justice system from within. He shocked the establishment by winning in a landslide.
Now, the bureaucrats he spent his campaign denigrating are his co-workers; the police he alienated are his rank-and-file law enforcers. Pressure comes from all sides of a system resistant to reform. Krasner’s unapologetic promise to use the power of the DA’s office for sweeping change is what got him elected; now that he’s in office, that same stubbornness threatens to alienate those he needs to work with the most.
From the eye of this political storm, District Attorney Krasner has allowed filmmakers unprecedented access into his office and behind the scenes of the criminal justice system. Over the course of eight episodes, Philly D.A. explores the most pressing social issues of our time—police brutality, the opioid crisis, gun violence, and mass incarceration—through the lens of one man attempting fundamental overhaul from within the system.
Talkback with Larry Krasner – Philadelphia D.A. & subject of film; Mike Lee – Assistant Philadelphia D.A., Director of Legislation & Government Affairs; Mark I. Bernstein - Retired Judge, Philadelphia County; Ted Passon – Director, Philly D.A. | Moderated by Jennifer Sellitti — Office of Public Defender in NJ
Sponsored by The Jewish Standard; Wise Older Women; Katz & Koutsantanou, PC; Susan Davison
May 19th at 7pm ET
The Donut King
DOCUMENTARY - 90 Minutes
Directed by Alice Gu
Description: The Donut King is Ted Ngoy's rags to riches story of a refugee escaping Cambodia, arriving in America in 1975, and building an unlikely multimillion-dollar empire baking America’s favorite pastry, the donut. Ngoy sponsored hundreds of visas for incoming refugees and helped them get on their feet teaching them the ways of the donut business. By 1979, he was living the American Dream—but a great rise often comes with a great fall.
Talkback with Snehal Batra, Esq. - Managing Attorney, Raritan office of NPZ Law Group, PC; Karen Monken - HIAS Director of Pre-Arrival & Initial Resettlement, U.S. Programs; Ayda Zugay – Refugees International, Refugee Leader | Moderated by David Bland - TIFF Committee Member
Sponsored by Teaneck Chamber of Commerce; Nachman, Phulwani, Zimovcak (NPZ) Law Group in memory of Michael Phulwani, Esq. & Walter Distler; A fan of TIFF and donuts; HIAS; Jewish Standard
