The festival says: "Renowned filmmakers and films about far-reaching subjects comprise this section highlighting our ongoing commitment to documentaries."
Resilience and Maya Angelou And Still I Rise
Eat That Question - Frank Zappa In His Own Words
(Country: France, Germany; Year: 2016; Director: Thorsten Schütte)
This encounter with the premier of sonic avant-garde is acidic, fun-poking, and full of rich and rare archival footage. This documentary bashes favourite Zappa targets and dashes a few myths about the man himself.
World premiere
Film Hawk
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: JJ Garvine, Tai Parquet; Writer: JJ Garvine, Tai Parquet; Stars: Robert Hawk, Kevin Smith, Edward Burns, Scott McGehee, David Siegel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Affleck, Ira Sachs, Rob Epstein, Kimberly Reed, Barbara Hammer, Lynda Hansen, Barbara Rick, Lynne Sachs, David Rosfeld)
Trace Bob Hawk's early years as the young gay child of a Methodist minister to his current career as a consultant on some of the most influential independent films of our time.
World premiere
Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato)
This examination of Robert Mapplethorpe's outrageous life is led by the artist himself, speaking with brutal honesty in a series of rediscovered interviews about his passions. Intimate revelations from friends, family, and lovers shed new light on this scandalous artist who ignited a culture war that still rages on.
World premiere
Maya Angelou And Still I Rise (Maya Angelou: The People's Poet)
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack; Stars: Maya Angelou, guy Johnson, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Common, Louis Gossett Jr, Cicely Tyson, Oprah Winfrey)
A documentary portrait of the legendary poet and activist.
World premiere
Lo And Behold, Reveries Of The Connected World and Film Hawk
Michael Jackson's Journey From Motown To Off The Wall
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Spike Lee)
Catapulted by the success of his first major solo project, Off the Wall, Michael Jackson went from child star to King of Pop. This film explores the seminal album, with rare archival footage and interviews from those who were there and those whose lives its success and legacy impacted.
World premiere
Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You
(Director: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady)
How did a poor Jewish kid from Connecticut bring us Archie Bunker and become one of the most successful television producers ever? Norman Lear brought provocative subjects like war, poverty and prejudice into 120 million homes every week. He proved that social change was possible through an unlikely prism: laughter.
World premiere. Day One film
Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Liz Garbus)
Gloria Vanderbilt and her son Anderson Cooper each tell the story of their past and present, their loves and losses and reveal how some family stories have the tendency to repeat themselves in the most unexpected ways.
World premiere
Resilience
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: James Redford; Writer: Jen Bradwell)
How childhood stress can have an impact on physical health in adulthood.
World premiere
Richard Linklater - Dream Is destiny
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Louis Black, Karen Bernstein)
This is an unconventional look at a fiercely independent style of filmmaking that arose in the 1990s from Austin, Texas, outside the studio system. The film blends rare archival footage with journals, exclusive interviews with Linklater on and off set, and clips from Slacker, Dazed and Confused, Boyhood, and more.
World premiere
Nothing Left Unsaid: Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper and Under The Gun
Under The Gun
(Director: Stephanie Soechtig)
The Sandy Hook massacre was considered a watershed moment in the national debate on gun control, but the body count at the hands of gun violence has only increased. Through the lens of the victims' families, as well as pro-gun advocates, the film examines why US politicians have failed to act.
World premiere
Unlocking The Cage
(Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Chris Hegedus, DA Pennebaker)
Follow animal rights lawyer Steven Wise in his unprecedented challenge to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans. By filing the first lawsuit of its kind, Wise seeks to transform a chimpanzee from a "thing" with no rights to a "person" with basic legal protection.
World premiere
