Program A - Showtimes and tickets »

GLASS: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts

Director/Producer: Scott Hicks
Producers: Scott Hicks, Susanne Preissler
Executive Producers: Kerry Heysen, Roger Sexton
Digital 119 min. Australia
Ava Bridge Motion Pictures Pty. Ltd.

Filmmaker Scott Hicks gives us a unique glimpse behind the curtain into the life of a surprising and complex man. GLASS: a portrait of Philip in twelve parts is a remarkable mosaic of one of the greatest—and at times controversial—artists of this or any era. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer Scott Hicks

Program B (Documentary Shorts Program) - Showtimes and tickets »

Kick Like A Girl

Director: Jenny Mackenzie
Producers: Geralyn White Dreyfous, Jennifer Jordan & Jenny Mackenzie
Digital 25 min. USA
Jenny Mackenzie Films

Kick Like A Girl is the story of what happens when The Mighty Cheetahs, an undefeated third grade girls soccer team, competes in the boys division. As the girls get a taste of real competition, the adults slowly recognize their complicity in planting the seeds of sexism. Refreshing and triumphant, Kick Like A Girl reminds us of the lessons learned in competitive athletics and how sports have been some of the effective instruments of social change in our lifetime. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer Jenny Mackenzie

Smile Pinki

Director/Producer: Megan Mylan
Digital 39 min. India
Principe Productions, Inc.

Pinki is a five-year-old girl in rural India born desperately poor, and with a cleft lip. The simple surgery that can cure her is a distant dream until she meets Pankaj, a social worker traveling village to village gathering patients for a hospital that provides free surgery to thousands each year. Told in a vibrant, vérité style, rich with nuance and complexity, this real-world fairy tale follows its wide-eyed protagonist on a journey from isolation to embrace. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer Megan Mylan

Baghdad Twist

Director: Joe Balass
Producer: Germaine Ying Gee Wong
Digital 34 min. Canada/Iraq
National Film Board of Canada

It could be anywhere: A mid-1960s wedding reception captured on film, with a band playing and people filling the dance floor to do the latest craze: The Twist. But this is Baghdad. And for the city’s Jewish community, it is an evening of joy during a prolonged period of persecution. Within a few years, most of the wedding guests will have fled the city, and within a decade, the community, in place since Babylonian times, will be all but gone. Baghdad Twist is a visual memoir of one family in Iraq before their escape to a new home in Canada.

Carissa

Director/Producer: David Sauvage
Producers: Chad Troutwine, Carissa Phelps
Digital 23 min. USA
Tenth Street Films

Years ago, Carissa Phelps was abandoned in the lobby of the juvenile hall in Fresno. She ran away from group homes and ended up on the streets. Homeless and alone, she begged and stole to feed herself. With no one to turn to, Carissa was taken to “Motel Drive,” a street known for prostitution, and told what to do; she was 12 years old. Amazingly, Carissa turned her life around. Today she is a graduate student at UCLA, earning a law degree and an MBA. Carissa recounts her inspirational story as we travel back with her to the places where it happened. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer David Sauvage

Program C - Showtimes and tickets »

Dear Zachary: a letter to a son about his father

Director/Producer: Kurt Kuenne
Digital/16mm/Super 8/S-VHS 93 min. USA
Oscilloscope/MSNBC Films

On Nov. 5, 2001, Dr. Andrew Bagby was murdered in Pennsylvania; the prime suspect, his ex-girlfriend Dr. Shirley Turner, fled the US for Newfoundland, where she announced that she was pregnant with Andrew's child. She named the little boy Zachary. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne, Andrew's childhood friend, originally began this film as a way for Zachary to learn about his father. But when Turner was allowed to walk free on bail in Canada and given custody of Zachary while awaiting extradition to the States, the film's focus shifted to Zachary's grandparents, and their desperate efforts to win custody of the boy. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer Kurt Kuenne

Program D - Showtimes and tickets »

Made in America

Director: Stacy Peralta
Producer: Baron Davis
HDCAM - NTSC 93 min. USA

Renowned documentarian Stacy Peralta examines the story of South Los Angeles and the gangs that inhabit it. Blending archival footage and photos with interviews of current and former gang members, educators, historians, family members and experts, Peralta brings his dynamic visual style and storytelling ability to this often ignored chapter of America's history. Over 30 years, gang warfare has caused the death of over 15,000 people in Los Angeles, yet this epidemic of violence is virtually ignored and continues largely unchecked today. Made in America examines the cause of this gang warfare and explores how the cycle might be broken.

Read Q&A with director Stacy Peralta

Program E - Showtimes and tickets »

War Child

Director/Producer: Karim Chrobog
Producer: Afshin Molavi
Executive Producers: Dal LaMagna, Jeff Weingarten, Rick Boden, Roshanak Ameli-Tehrani
Digital 92 min. Kenya/Sudan/USA
18th Street Films

War Child chronicles the tragic but ultimately hopeful life of Emmanuel Jal, a former child soldier of Sudan's brutal civil war and emerging international rap star with a message of peace for his country. His story mirrors his homeland: tragedy and terror mingling with hope and restoration. Orphaned, firing a gun that he (at age seven) could barely hold aloft, trekking through deserts in search of shelter, Jal was adopted by an aid worker. His rise from orphan to soldier to refugee to rap star represents one of the 21st century’s most inspiring and hopeful journeys. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer C. Karim Chrobog

Program F - Showtimes and tickets »

Of Time and the City

Director: Terence Davies
Producers: Solon Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter
Digital 75 min. United Kingdom
Hanway Films

Of Time and the City is a heartfelt, lyrical and bitingly humorous personal perspective on the process of change and time. The result is a love song and a eulogy to director Terence Davies’ birthplace, Liverpool.

Program G - Showtimes and tickets »

The Wrecking Crew

Director/Producer: Denny Tedesco
Producers: Suzie Greene Tedesco, Jon Leonoudakis, Mitchell Linden, Claire Scanlon
16mm/Super 8mm/BetaSP/Mini DV24p/DigiBeta/Digital 98 min. USA
Lunch Box Entertainment

You've heard them back up the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, the Monkees and Frank Sinatra, and they were Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. They performed on more number one singles than the Beatles. Most likely, though, you've never heard of this group. But if you knew who they were, you called them The Wrecking Crew. Prior to his father's death, Denny Tedesco set out to film Tommy Tedesco and other members of the Crew to capture their story firsthand. The film also features conversations with Brian Wilson, Cher, Nancy Sinatra, Mickey Dolenz, Herb Alpert, Dick Clark and Jimmy Webb. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer Denny Tedesco

Program H - Showtimes and tickets »

Project Kashmir

Directors/Producers: Senain Kheshgi, Geeta V. Patel
Executive Producers: Geralyn White Dreyfous, Diana Barrett
Consulting Producer: Ross Kaufmann
Digital 88 min. USA
DISHOOM Pictures

Filmmakers Senain Kheshgi and Geeta V. Patel, two American friends from opposite sides of the divide, investigate the war in Kashmir and find their friendship tested over deeply rooted religious biases. Project Kashmir explores war between countries and war within oneself by delving into the fraught lives of young people caught in the social/political conflict of one of the most beautiful, and most deadly, places on earth.

Program I - Showtimes and tickets »

The Matador

Directors/Producers: Stephen Higgins, Nina Gilden Seavey
Executive Producers: Scott Dunklee, Kristie Nova
Digital 76 min. Peru/Spain/USA
City Lights Pictures

The Matador is the epic tale of David Fandila's quest to become the world's top-ranked bullfighter. Heart-wrenching setbacks and thrilling successes dramatize 'El Fandi's' three-year journey across Spain and Latin America and into the pages of bullfighting history. As David struggles to achieve his place in the pantheon of Spain's greatest bullfighters, he is confronted by those who question the place of this ancient and brutal ritual in the modern world. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with directors/producers Stephen Higgins and Nina Gilden Seavey

Program J - Showtimes and tickets »

Pray the Devil Back to Hell

Director: Gini Reticker
Producer: Abigail Disney
Digital 72 min. Liberia
Fork Films

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the gripping account of a group of brave and visionary women who demanded peace for Liberia, a nation torn by a decades-old civil war. The women's historic, yet unsung achievement finds voice in a narrative that intersperses contemporary interviews, archival images and scenes of present-day Liberia. The film recounts the experiences and memories of the women who were instrumental in bringing lasting peace to their country. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director Gini Reticker

Program K - Showtimes and tickets »

Spirit of the Marathon

Director/Producer: Jon Dunham
Producer: Gwendolen Twist
Executive Producer: Mark Jonathan Harris
Digital 105 min. Greece/Japan/Kenya/USA/United Kingdom
Calico 1880, Land of the Gods LLC

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Mark Jonathan Harris comes the first-ever nonfiction feature film to capture the drama and essence of the famed 26.2 mile running event. Filmed on four continents, Spirit of the Marathon brings together a diverse cast of amateur athletes and marathon luminaries. As six unique stories unfold, each runner prepares for and ultimately faces the challenge of the Chicago Marathon. More than a sports movie, Spirit of the Marathon is an inspirational journey of perseverance and personal triumph, a spectacle that will be embraced by runners and non-runners alike. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with filmmakers Jon Dunham and Mark Jonathan Harris

Program L - Showtimes and tickets »

Fire Under the Snow

Director/Producer: Makoto Sasa
Executive Producer: Maura Moynihan
Co-Producers: Vladan Nikolic, Jim Browne
Digital 75 min. India/Italy/Nepal/Tibet/USA
Imakoko Media, Inc.

The Venerable Palden Gyatso, a Buddhist monk since childhood, was arrested by the Chinese Communist Army in 1959. He spent 33 years in prison for the “crime” of demonstrating peacefully. He was starved and tortured. His nation and culture were destroyed, his teachers, friends and family displaced, jailed or killed under Chinese occupation. Despite this, he remained unbroken, and kept the flame of his spirit ablaze.

Read Q&A with director/producer Makoto Sasa

Program M - Showtimes and tickets »

ONE BAD CAT: The Reverend Albert Wagner Story

Director/Producer: Thomas G. Miller
Producers: Nancy Dickenson, Morgan Stiff
Digital 81 min. USA
Tesseract Films

Meet renowned African-American outsider artist Reverend Albert Wagner—outrageous and unforgettable. Miraculously transformed by religion at age 50, Albert was called by God to paint, and he used this gift to renounce a life of sin and inspire others. Still, controversy surrounds the Reverend's work, which at times provokes unexpected religious and racial tension in both the Black and White communities. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer Thomas G. Miller

Program N - Showtimes and tickets »

Memory Books

Director: Christa Graf
Producer: Jörg Bundschuh
Digital 90 min. Uganda
KICK Film GmbH

In Uganda, AIDS-infected mothers have begun writing what they call Memory Books for their children. Memory Books are a way for families to come to terms with the inevitable death that they face. Hopelessness and desperation are confronted through the collaborative effort of remembering and recording, a process that inspires unexpected strength and even solace in the face of death. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director Christa Graf

Program O - Showtimes and tickets »

FLOW

Director: Irena Salina
Producer: Steven Starr
Executive Producer: Stephen Nemeth
Digital 80 min. USA
the group entertainment; Oscilloscope Laboratories

Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigates what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century: the world water crisis. Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel. Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question, “Can anyone really own water?” Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director Irena Salina

Program P - Showtimes and tickets »

An Unlikely Weapon

Director/Producer: Susan Morgan Cooper
Executive Producer: Cindy Lou Adkins
16mm/Digital 85 min. USA
Morgan Cooper Productions

Eddie Adams photographed 13 wars, six American Presidents and every major film star of the last 50 years. History was changed through his lens. But the photo that made Eddie famous would haunt him his entire life. In 1968, he photographed a Saigon police chief, General Nygoc Loan, shooting a Vietcong guerilla point blank. The photo brought Eddie worldwide recognition and a Pulitzer Prize, but he was haunted by the man he had vilified. He would say, "Two lives were destroyed that day- the victim and the general." Others would say three lives were destroyed. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director/producer Susan Morgan Cooper

Program Q - Showtimes and tickets »

The Forgotten Woman

Director: Dilip Mehta
Producers: David Hamilton, Noemi Weis
Digital 90 min. India
Hamilton-Mehta Productions and Filmblanc

Following the international success of the Oscar-nominated film Water (directed by Dilip Mehta's sister, Deepa), the filmmakers received thousands of letters from audience members wanting to know more about the state of widows in India today. The Forgotten Woman brings the understanding of the destitution and marginalization of millions of widows who are forced by age-old traditions to live out their remaining years isolated and shunned by society. In the 21st century, many issues still surround women's search for economic independence in order to attain a modicum of self-sufficiency and basic human dignity. Watch the trailer

Read Q&A with director Dilip Mehta

Program R - Showtimes and tickets »

Yodok Stories

Director: Andrzej Fidyk
Producer: Torstein Grude
Executive Producers: Torstein Grude, Bjarte Mørner Tveit, Miroslaw Grubek, Therese Jebsen, Jan Ramstad
Super16mm/HDCam 82 min. South Korea
Kudos Family Distribution/Norwegian Film Institute/Piraya Film

North Korean Great Leader Kim Il Sung ordered the seed of class enemies destroyed to the third generation. Anyone in a family with a “criminal” is considered guilty by association. That is why entire families are sent to labor camps with life sentences, and without court hearings. Today more than 200,000 are imprisoned, subject to the worst kinds of slave labor and torture. Of the many hundreds of thousands who have lived and died in the camps, only a few have escaped. In Seoul, South Korea, these escapees decided to expose the camps through a controversial musical based on their own experiences.

Read Q&A with director Andrzej Fidyk

Program S - Showtimes and tickets »

The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)

Director/Producer: Ellen Kuras
Co-Director: Thavisouk Phrasavath
Producer: Flora Fernandez-Marengo
16mm/35mm/8mm Super/VHS/Hi8 96 min. Laos/USA
Pandinlao Films

Filmed over the course of 23 years, The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) is the epic story of a Laotian soldier family's journey from war-torn Laos to the mean streets of New York. Thavisouk Phrasavath tells his own deeply personal story as a young man struggling to survive a war and the later hardships of immigrant life, counterpointed by his mother's astonishing tale of perseverance. Renowned cinematographer Ellen Kuras' directorial debut is a remarkable collaboration with Phrasavath-a poetic, cinematically resonant film about the hidden, human face of war's "collateral damage."

About ArcLight Cinemas

ArcLight Cinemas, created by Pacific Theatres, represents an evolution in the movie going experience. ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood, which opened in March 2002, and the new ArcLight Sherman Oaks location offer an unprecedented combination of technology, amenities, comfort, and customer service. Facilities include the historic Cinerama Dome (only at the Hollywood location) and state-of-the-art "black box" auditoriums as well as a café bar and a cinema-focused gift shop. Tickets can be purchased online without a fee and printed at home, at the theaters' automated ticketing kiosks, lobby box office and over the phone. ArcLight offers a free membership program with purchasing rewards and other members-only benefits. ArcLight Cinemas Hollywood is located at 6360 W. Sunset Boulevard, between Vine and Ivar. ArcLight Sherman Oaks is located in the Sherman Oaks Galleria at 15303 Ventura Blvd., at the corner of Sepulveda and Ventura. For membership, tickets and show times, visit www.arclightcinemas.com. For more information about ArcLight visit www.arclightexperience.com.

International Documentary Association presents:
The 12th Annual DocuWeek Theatrical Documentary Showcase: August 22-28, 2008

DocuWeek is a public theatrical exhibition of outstanding new documentary films --a week-long journey of color, music, human drama, laughter and tears. This year DocuWeek will showcase 23 diverse and extraordinary documentary feature and short films at ArcLight Hollywood and ArcLight Sherman Oaks.

• General Admission $12
• ArcLight members $9 (IDA members, seniors, and students must also be registered as an ArcLight member to receive the discount. ArcLight membership is FREE and easy; click here to join now.)

Ticket Purchase Online: NOTE SCREENING LOCATION PRIOR TO PURCHASING TICKETS. Tickets for ALL DocuWeek theatrical showcase screenings (programs A-S) are available for purchase online at www.arclightcinemas.com .

Onsite Ticket Purchase at ArcLight Box Offices: Box offices will only sell tickets for film programs playing in that respective location.

• ArcLight Hollywood box office sells tickets for DocuWeek programs A-H only.
• ArcLight Sherman Oaks box office sells tickets for DocuWeek programs I-S only.

Parking

• ArcLight Hollywood is $2.50 for 4 hours with validation.
• ArcLight Sherman Oaks is free for 4 hours with validation.

Note: So guests may enjoy their film presentations uninterrupted, no one will be seated 5 minutes after show time.

PRESENTING SPONSOR:

CONTRIBUTING SPONSORS:

MEDIA SPONSORS: