JustFilms Collection
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An Act of Worship
30 years of Muslim-American history recounted through the collective memory a community.
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Split at the Root
Split at the Root follows the emotional journey of mothers separated from their children at the U.S. border and the grassroots initiative that, against all odds, reunites those families. When a Guatemalan mother seeking asylum was separated from her kids under the Zero Tolerance Policy, a Facebook post by a mom in Queens coalesced into a movement as thousands of like-minded women across the US refused to stand by quietly. Immigrant Families Together was born – a rapid response group committed to doing what the government couldn’t – or wouldn’t do: reunite parents with their children separated by the Zero Tolerance Policy.
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Sanson and Me
Two Mexican migrants, a young man serving a life sentence in prison and a filmmaker who was his court interpreter, become intertwined through life and cinema.
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I Didn’t See You There
Spurred by a circus tent that goes up outside his Oakland apartment, a disabled filmmaker connects the ostensibly antiquated institution of the Freak Show with his own life. Shot from a camera held by director Reid Davenport or mounted to his wheelchair, the film serves as an unequivocal rebuke to the norm of disabled people being seen and not heard. I Didn’t See You There expands on the tradition of point-of-view film toward a new aesthetic for disabled filmmakers, creating film that is disabled through the artist’s own embodiment.
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Dr. Norman C. Francis: A Legacy of Leadership
When the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously to rename Jefferson Davis Parkway in Mid-City to Dr. Norman C. Francis Parkway in August 2020, it confirmed what many across the country knew: the retired Xavier University of Louisiana president is a living legend, an icon worthy of every tribute he has earned during a more than 70-year-long career. In a new WYES-TV documentary, Dr. Francis will reflect on his monumental life in a one-on-one interview with New Orleans broadcasting legend Sally-Ann Roberts.
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Neutral Ground
In 2015, director CJ Hunt began filming the New Orleans City Council’s vote to remove four Confederate monuments. But when the proposed removal was halted by death threats, Hunt sets out to understand why a losing army from 1865 still holds so much power in America. The result is The Neutral Ground, Hunt’s smart, and bitterly funny look at America’s troubled romance with “The Lost Cause.” While the film is an exploration of race in America – it is also an exploration of Hunt’s own racial identity as African American.
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A Cop Movie
A bold experiment in documentary and narrative storytelling sheds light on one of Mexico’s most controversial institutions, the police force and the causes of the impunity crisis plaguing the justice system.
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Primera
Over the course of a one year, Primera tells the story of the social uprising that evolved into a nation-wide movement, beginning with the student takeover of Santiago’s metro system and ending with the historic plebiscite that paved the way for the writing of a new constitution. The film offers an immersive look at the year-long process through the experiences of everyday Chileans who were affected by the violent police repression at the start of the social uprising.
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Storm Lake
Dark clouds hang over the cornfields of Storm Lake, Iowa, which has seen its fair share of change in the 40 years since Big Agriculture came to town. Farmers blow their life savings on new equipment they hope will keep their livelihoods intact. Migrant workers flock here —welcome and not—for their slice of the American Dream. The people of Storm Lake confront a changing community as global forces threaten their precarious existence. Enter: 63-year-old Pulitzer-prize winner Art Cullen and his family-run newspaper, The Storm Lake Times. Day-in and day-out, the Cullens deliver local news and biting editorials on a shoestring budget for their 3,000 readers. Come hell or pandemic, they’ll fight to preserve this town they call home. There’s simply too much at stake.
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PHILLY D.A.
A groundbreaking 8-part documentary series embedded inside the long shot election and tumultuous first term of Larry Krasner, Philadelphia’s unapologetic District Attorney, and his experiment to upend the criminal justice system from the inside out.
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Ailey
Alvin Ailey was a trailblazing pioneer who found salvation through dance. Ailey traces the full contours of this brilliant and enigmatic man whose search for the truth in movement resulted in enduring choreography that centers on the Black American experience with grace, strength, and unparalleled beauty.
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Users
As technology advances, USERS invites us to question how the machines we use every day may end up changing us forever.
Both intimate in scope and epic in scale, and featuring a score performed by the Kronos Quartet, Award- winning director Natalia Almada invites us on a cinematic journey to reassess our relationship with technology and its impact on our planet.