Living with Leopards

History of Jerusalem

Drama, heritage, soul; Actor Toma Ikuta trains for his first kabuki theater performance with his long-time friend, kabuki actor Matsuya Onoe.

In the 1970s, five men struggling with being gay in their Evangelical church started a bible study to help each other leave the “homosexual lifestyle.” They quickly received over 25,000 letters from people asking for help and formalized as Exodus International, the largest and most controversial conversion therapy organization in the world. But leaders struggled with a secret: their own “same-sex attractions” never went away. After years as Christian superstars in the religious right, many of these men and women have come out as LGBTQ, disavowing the very movement they helped start. Focusing on the dramatic journeys of former conversion therapy leaders, current members, and a survivor, PRAY AWAY chronicles the “ex gay” movement’s rise to power, persistent influence, and the profound harm it causes.

From award-winning director Mat Whitecross and featuring extensive unseen archive footage, Supersonic charts the meteoric rise of Oasis from the council estates of Manchester to some of the biggest concerts of all time in just three short years. This palpable, raw and moving film shines a light on one of the most genre and generation-defining British bands that has ever existed, and features candid new interviews with Noel and Liam Gallagher, their mother, and members of the band and road crew.

Meet John G Morris, 95, a legend of photojournalism, whose unerring eye for the best shot has moved and changed the world. Morris, former Picture Editor of Life Magazine & New York Times was instrumental in the early years of Magnum with his friends and peers Robert Capa & Henri Cartier Bresson. This film covers serious subjects; the coverage of conflict through photojournalism, a sensitive view of humanity and a search for peace in the world.

The Crusades: Crescent & the Cross presents the epic battle between two superpowers of the Middle Ages: the Christian Crusaders and the Muslims. Fought over two centuries, the conflict decided the fate of the Holy Land of the Middle East. Only a tiny strip of land, just a few hundred miles long, it contained the ultimate prize: the city of Jerusalem. The documentary is driven by the key personalities of the First, Second and Third Crusades, the popes, kings, sultans, and knights who, in the name of God, ruthlessly fought for land and power. Experience the murder, treachery, and bloodshed of this legendary chapter of history through the eyes of key historical figures such Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, King Louis VII and Nur al-Din. With breathtaking CGI-enhanced visuals, heart-pounding reenactments, and the stunning footage from rarely seen locations, The Crusades: Crescent & the Cross brings the first three Crusades alive for a new generation in conflict.

In 2012, one in three babies in America were delivered by c-section, despite the World Health Organization’s recommendation that Cesarean births remain below 15 percent. How can these disturbing trend be reversed? In recent years, the idea of a collaborative care practice where doctors and midwives manage women’s care together has begun to gain traction in the United States. The Mama Sherpas is a feature-length documentary film about women receiving their maternity care through midwife-doctor teams. We follow nurse midwives, the doctors they work with, and their patients to provide an investigative lens into how midwives work within the hospital system.

This extraordinary testament to survival from Emmy-winning producer/director Janet Tobias brings to light a story that remained untold for decades: that of thirty-eight Ukrainian Jews who survived World War II by living in caves for eighteen months. (TIFF)

This documentary promoting the joys of life in a Soviet village centers on the activities of the Young Pioneers. These children are constantly busy, pasting propaganda posters on walls, distributing hand bills, exhorting all to “buy from the cooperative” as opposed to the Public Sector, promoting temperance, and helping poor widows. Experimental portions of the film, projected in reverse, feature the un-slaughtering of a bull and the un-baking of bread.

Behind the scenes and with the fans of West Ham United as they move to a new home after 112 years at Upton Park.

Brett Story’s visionary look at New York City as it braces for an uncertain future.

As a visually radical memoir, CAMERAPERSON draws on the remarkable footage that filmmaker Kirsten Johnson has shot and reframes it in ways that illuminate moments and situations that have personally affected her. What emerges is an elegant meditation on the relationship between truth and the camera frame, as Johnson transforms scenes that have been presented on Festival screens as one kind of truth into another kind of story—one about personal journey, craft, and direct human connection.