“Rêve Party” by Justine Bo

Logline: Rêve Party is a journey through the dreamlife of 9-year-old Goran and his little brother, River. Thanks to their imaginary time-traveling machine, they escape their single mother’s modest Brooklyn apartment and transform daily life into a supernatural jungle. At the border between reality and fantasy, memories of their dad appear.

Justine Bo was born at some point. Since then, she has learned to walk, talk, travel, and return. She has written two novels and directed several narrative and documentary projects. Also, she is still learning how to keep silent.

“The King of Coxinha” by Laura Salaberry

Logline: Thales Ribeiro, a Brazilian cook, decides to return to his home country after 33 years of living in the U.S. The film shows those last days in New York as he reflects on his past and future, and makes the specialty Brazilian dumpling that has brought him success — coxinha.

Laura Salaberry is a visual designer and documentary filmmaker from Brazil. She has worked as an art director for newspapers and magazines and more recently has been making videos and illustrations for companies in both the U.S. and Brazil. She is the author of the cookbook Cozinha Pop about food from movies. 

“The Pull” by Jonathan Bjerg Moller

Logline: Jared is a competitive World Yoga Champion and one of New York’s most popular yoga teachers. But how does an ancient Indian tradition, originally practiced in caves and jungles, fit into the urban lifestyle of the Big Apple? This is a story about the body, the mind, and finding happiness.

Jonathan Bjerg Moller is a documentary still-photographer who has worked around the world on issues of climate change, poverty, and urbanization. His work can be defined as journalism or anthropology since he often finds long-term projects that appeal to his curiosity about human behavior.

“Looking For The Hook” by Päivi Kankaro

Logline: Looking For The Hook observes the creative work of a group of young people from unstable backgrounds who collaborate on music in the safe environment provided by the Soho youth organization, The Door. Through the eyes of Kiddo, 18, and Pamela, 20, we follow the day-to-day progress of the Vanguard Development Project (VDP), a music production workshop immersed in songwriting and recording and led by professional producer and songwriter, Akira Shelton.

Päivi Kankaro is a curly-haired artist from Finland with a Master’s degree in Media Studies from the University of Turu. Her professional work as an online producer led her to the world of multimedia, photography, and film. A sense of empathy and a passion to comprehend the ways of humankind inspire her pursuit of the art of documentary film.

“Yainis [Jey – nees]” by Alexandra Brown

Logline: Yainis Ynoa, a talented and ambitious first generation Puerto Rican-Dominican American actress, raised in the Bronx, takes on the challenges of the New York television and indie film industry. Yainis auditions for her next role, doesn’t get a callback, navigates the actors’ union, SAG, and lands her first television role. Resilient and determined to help support her family, she strives to realize her goals with passion, humor, and technique.

Alexandra Brown studied anthropology at Columbia University and has worked in the film industry as a location scout, location assistant manager and producer’s assistant in New York and L.A. She decided to study documentary film to bridge the gap between her interest in ethnography and her passion for filmmaking.

“Heavy Fog Tonight” by Nathan Reich

Logline: Beneath the campus of Pratt Institute, Conrad Milster, 80, chief engineer since 1967 of New York City’s oldest running steam power plant, prepares for the annual steam whistle show. For the past fifty years, he has nurtured the machines of the vanishing industrial age while adjusting to the technologies of the contemporary world.

Nathan Reich, a San Francisco East Bay native, has spent the past seven years as a traveling songwriter. He brings to film a fascination for storytelling and a deep interest in the ways we connect to the past.

“Virtual Dreams” by Henry Laurence

Logline: “I don’t know…I couldn’t sleep one night and I just took my phone and started making videos. this is what we do when we can’t sleep on a school night Not that long bc i got tired of editing lolol Y U NO SLEEP?!?! Second most boring video you will ever see. Hey guys, I’m JAC and I’m new to Youtube. Thanks you so so much for watching my videos if u do and please subscribe. Vlogin at 1:15 in the morning… 7:00 in the morning…NO SLEEP!”

Henry Laurence arrived in New York from London in 2014. He is interested in pop culture and youth culture. After he graduates from the Doc Studies program at the New School, he plans to develop Virtual Dreams as a series of films that explore user generated video content as an important site of identity construction.

“Resident Alien” by Naiara Eizaguirre-Paulos

Logline: Carlos was born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, reportedly a city with the world’s highest homicide rate outside a war zone. At the age of 15, he saw his best friend shot dead in front of him. As a witness, he would be obligated to join the gang responsible or be murdered. Carlos chose an alternative yet almost equally dangerous path. He was one of 60,000 unaccompanied children to cross the U.S. border from Central America in 2014, fleeing drug cartels that use children as foot soldiers. Along their treacherous route they ride atop La Bestia, the infamous freight train to the border. 52,000 were caught crossing the border last year. Not Carlos. 

Naiara Eizaguirre-Paulos was born and raised in San Sebastian, Spain. She is a multimedia journalist, passionate about the work of informing the public. Mostly, her career has focused on television, working as a full-time reporter, presenter, producer, and audiovisual manager. Her motto is to go beyond her limits. After ten years of professional experience, she clearly knows her next career step: the craft of documentary cinema, society’s moral witness.

“Hello, Oriental” by Michelle Cura

Logline: Oriental Pastry & Grocery has been a fixture on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn Heights for forty years. However, the neighborhood once known as Little Syria has vastly changed, and many of the old ways are beginning to disappear. Yet stepping into this Brooklyn bazaar is still an authentic experience of Middle Eastern hospitality—a hospitality extended to the filmmaker by Gary, one of three brothers who own this popular neighborhood spot.

Michelle Cura was born in Brooklyn to Argentine parents. She possesses the ability to speak almost all the Spanish accents that surrounded her while growing up in Miami. In 2006 she moved to New York City to follow her calling, the role of the Successful Vagabond.

“Kayfabe” by Erich Hehn

Logline: ‘Kayfabe’ is a term that refers to the integrity of believability in professional wrestling, a kind of necessary suspension of disbelief. Formerly rejected by mainstream sports media, pro wrestling has now begun to experience new and ironic signs of life in an increasingly post-modern world. Following the thoughts of indie pro wrestlers Casanova Valentine and Rick Cataldo, Kayfabe is an immersive portrait of the New York City indie wrestling scene.

Erich Hehn began making movies with a Handycam in the wee hours of his childhood in Monticello, Illinois. Next came the travel bug and a compelling curiosity to explore, but after three years teaching abroad and four more back home designing instruction manuals, he is now focusing his energies on film.   

“ACT 718” by Sean Regan

Logline: ACT 718 follows the Brooklyn ACT team, a mobile mental health unit that treats patients where they live—at home, in shelters, or on the street. With access to the team’s daily work on the ground, the film follows its diverse members—psychiatrists, social workers, peer counselors—as they serve individuals living with severe mental illness. This innovative program is the current result of a community treatment model first developed in the early 1970s by physicians in Madison, Wisconsin.

Sean Regan was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is the youngest of six children. After graduating from New York University with a Bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature, he worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative for ten years in Brooklyn. Sean draws his inspiration from documentaries about public and global affairs, sports, and history. Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams is his all-time favorite film.

“Here’s Looking At You” by Ian Cumming

Logline: Featuring the work of New York City artists, Here’s Looking at You is an observational, voyeuristic, musical, time-bending exploration of people-watching in the urban space.

Ian Cumming has lived all over the U.S but considers himself a Connecticut native. After attaining his Bachelor’s degree in Film Studies from The State University of New York at Purchase College, he moved to New York to pursue graduate work in documentary filmmaking at The New School. His love of the arts and his fascination with the urban environment inspired the making of this film.