GLOBAL POV

WAITING, HOPING

Tim Kressin

In Person: Filmmakers

For many migrant families stuck along the U.S.-Mexico border, staying in their home country was never an option. After traveling heroic distances to escape threats of violence, Claudia and her family have been waiting at a shelter in Juárez for nine months. Battling episodes of depression, Claudia wonders if she can continue to care for her son and remain a beacon of hope. As they await the phone call to have their asylum case heard, English classes and cooking with friends become bright spots in her life. This deeply personal story echoes the thousands of migrant families who are stuck along the border, waiting for a phone call from immigration that could change everything.

(USA, 2022, 10 min.)

Friday, 2:45 PM, Masons

Monday, 9 AM, Nugget

Mountain Man

Arun Bhattarai

Phuntsho Tshering is the only glaciologist in Bhutan. He is also the only person that has permission to climb the sacred mountains. Every year, he travels for days on foot to the most remote corners of the Bhutanese Himalaya, measuring the glaciers as they rapidly melt because of climate change. For Tshering’s 11-year-old daughter Yangchen, the mountain is the home of the “snow lion,” which is both dangerous and in danger of losing its home.

(Bhutan, 2022, 22 min.)

North American Premiere

DIRECCIONES (ADDRESSES)

María Luisa Santos, Carlo Nasisse

In Person: Filmmakers

In Costa Rica there are no street addresses. They may exist in some government offices, but the people have steadily resisted any effort to develop a centralized system. Instead, an address contains a series of directions in reference to various landmarks. In this film, a Costa Rican woman who has always felt pressing anxiety by this lack of order tries to understand its origins. In doing so she discovers a larger story about human memory and place.

(Costa Rica, 2023, 14 min.)

Colorado Premiere

KUMARI: A FATHER’S DREAM

Sean O’Connor

In Person: Filmmaker

Deep in rural Nepal, a group of childhood friends channels their resources and energy into fulfilling Jagat Lama’s promise to his dying father: to bring medical care to their home of Kumari. Led by Lama, the team begins developing a self-sustaining community centered around many of the region’s firsts: basic electricity, a women’s skill center, a local school, a working community farm and a medical hospital. Less than two years later, a massive earthquake hits Nepal, destroying the community’s progress. Wrestling with the continued challenges, Lama wonders if his promise to his father is slipping out of reach.

(USA, 2022, 17 min.)

Colorado Premiere

Parasolka

Rowan Ings, Faye Tsakas

Parasolka documents a moment in time for the women of the Fedyk family, who recently arrived in the suburbs of Sacramento, California — home to the largest Ukrainian diaspora in America. As the Fedyk family awaits refugee status at their temporary home, they endure endless days of uncertainty. Raising questions about what the future holds, Parasolka is a meditation on land, family and exile.

(USA, 2023, 9 min.)

Colorado Premiere

Die Laughing

JL Pomeroy, Tom Broecker

In Person: Filmmaker

Die Laughing illuminates the power of comedy, and the lengths comedians will go to inspire laughter while expressing the truth — where freedom of expression is a literal fight for freedom. Centered in Cairo, the entertainment hub of the Middle East, the film follows “Saturday Night Live Arabia,” which dared to deliver the kind of cultural humor the American version is known for; “Red Tomato,” a troupe of European and Egyptian street clowns; and “The Street Children,” who post satirical sketches to social media. These artists must balance humor with caution, knowing each performance and every punchline could land them in jail.

(USA, 2023, 19 min.)

World Premiere