Farther and Sun: A Dyslexic Road Trip

Could dyslexia be a gift? Or can it only ever be a disability? Documentary maker Richard Macer sets off on a road trip with his dyslexic son Arthur to find the answer. En route, they meet Richard Branson and Eddie Izzard, and many other successful dyslexic people. - BBC

Comedy Against the Odds

10-year-old Austin Eletto has autism. He’s also an aspiring stand-up comic. This short documentary spotlights the struggle of growing up with labels, and how Austin uses comedy to embrace and overcome them. Through the intimate story of Austin as he faces adversity and hardships, our audience will be thoroughly connected to his childhood experience, making the inevitable laughs bigger and more inspired.

Sick Girls

In recent years, the number of diagnoses of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder has skyrocketed. What are the reasons? Does a society geared towards efficiency use the label ADHS to weed out anyone who does not fit its frames? What are the consequences of the fact that medication treatment has become almost ubiquitous? Could Ritalin and the like have become the doping of the performance society?

The Musical Mind: A Portrait in Process

Sparked by the impending 25th anniversary of the Academy award-winning film Shine, this documentary explores the power of the musical brain. Featuring exclusive, intimate footage of superstar international musicians in their private worlds, it opens an intriguing portal into the musical mind.

We Can Be Heroes

Sometimes, finding your tribe requires a bit of magic. For attendees of a live action role-playing (LARP) camp in upstate New York, the deeply accepting environment has given neurodivergent, queer, and self-proclaimed "nerdy" teenagers the space and community for self-discovery that they have never found anywhere else. As the campers immerse themselves in this imaginative world, they discover inner strength, heal from past traumas, and emerge as the heroes they are meant to be, both in the fantasy realm and in real life.

Altas capacidades (Out of the box)

coping.

Three individuals describe their unique ways of coping with everyday stress, anxiety, and mental health. A narrative short film presented as documentary-style interviews, exploring the honest, messy reality of coping mechanisms and neurodivergent life.

Because We Have Each Other

Janet Sharrock has two children and Brent “Buddha” Barnes has three; the pair has a meet-cute at the local RSL, marry and unite their families, Brady Bunch style. Now grown up, Becky (famous for being one of only 80 people in the world with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory), Jessica (a comedian living with depression), Brendan (who aspires to take over Buddha’s repair shop), and young Kylie and Dylan laugh, cry, contemplate existence and dream big with their parents, finding joy and stability in one another as they face immense change.

A Brief History of Circles

An experimental video essay which uses circles and waves to explore neurodivergent experience.

Kin

Growing up Mell wished her autistic brother could speak - now, in adulthood, she realises you don’t have to talk to explain what you need. KIN is a coming of age story between two sisters (Mell and Janine) and their neurodivergent and autistic brother (Carl), exploring sibling relationships, family duty and care.

Leveret Road

The Tragedy of an Artist

The Tragedy of an Artist, is an experimental short shot over the course of a week. This film is meant to illustrate who Hero Foltz is as a person and his struggles with self identity

I Am Sam

Sam, a neurodivergent man, has a daughter with a homeless woman who abandons them when they leave the hospital, leaving Sam to raise Lucy on his own. But as Lucy grows up, Sam's limitations as a parent start to become a problem and the authorities take her away. Sam convinces high-priced lawyer Rita to take his case pro bono and in turn teaches her the value of love and family.

A Spot for Frog

Locked out of the school art room, a creative non-binary teen named Frog grapples with anxiety as they seek a new place to eat lunch. Imagination blurs with reality in this hybrid work of live action and animation about finding a place to belong.

Bodies of Desire

Using Varsha Panikar's poetry series by the same name, it follows the journey of a poet as they rediscover love, passion, and identity after encountering their muse.

Secret Identity

When a young Autistic boy, suddenly manifests superpowers on his 9th Birthday, he and his family are forced to deal with the potential ramifications.

monster & me

Join the fluffy gentle giant, Motmot, as he navigates life through the bleak world of Strugart, until one day his life is drastically turned upside down by an unknown creature, a human boy.

Undertow

Anxious to make a good impression, an autistic university student attempts to 'fit in' for the sake of potential friendship, what could possibly go wrong?

Taken at a Truck Stop: A Black Girl Missing Movie

Kai is thrown into a harrowing manhunt after her sister Madison’s neurodivergent daughter is abducted by an online predator. Kai leverages her loyal trucking network and social media influence to launch a grassroots rescue mission to find her niece.

plants with spikes or thorns

An experimental short film about sensory seeking behaviour in childhood. Filmed on VHS.

Elstree 1976

A documentary about ten very different lives connected by having appeared onscreen wearing masks or helmets in Star Wars.

Girl Rising

Nine filmmakers each profile a young girl from a different part of the world to weave a global tapestry of youth in the 21st century.

Spider-Man: All Roads Lead to No Way Home

JB Smoove and Martin Starr host a celebration of 20 years of "Spider-Man" movies, from the Sam Raimi trilogy to Marc Webb's movies and the trio from Jon Watts.

Extremis

A purely observational non-fiction film that takes viewers into the ethically murky world of end-of-life decision making in a public hospital.

Naqoyqatsi

A visual montage portrait of our contemporary world dominated by globalized technology and violence.

The Captains

The Captains is a feature-length documentary film written and directed by William Shatner. The film follows Shatner as he interviews the other actors who have portrayed starship captains in the Star Trek franchise.

Cameraperson

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.

High School

Documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman takes us inside Northeast High School as a fly on the wall to observe the teachers and how they interact with the students.

Life in a Day

A documentary shot by filmmakers all over the world that serves as a time capsule to show future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010.

What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

A documentary exploring the legacy of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the reasons it went from the black sheep of Star Trek to a beloved mainstay of the franchise, and a brainstorm with the original writers on what a theoretical eighth season of the show could look like.

American Teen

A documentary on seniors at a high school in a small Indiana town and their various cliques.

Transcendent Man

The compelling feature-length documentary film, by director Barry Ptolemy, chronicles the life and controversial ideas of luminary Ray Kurzweil. For more than three decades, inventor, futures, and New York Times best-selling author Ray Kurzweil has been one of the most respected and provocative advocates of the role of technology in our future.

Wormwood

In this genre-bending tale, Errol Morris explores the mysterious death of a U.S. scientist entangled in a secret Cold War program known as MK-Ultra.

Avatar: The Deep Dive - A Special Edition of 20/20

An inside look at one of the most anticipated movie sequels ever with James Cameron and cast.

Powaqqatsi

An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.

Above Majestic

A look at the origins, history and conspiracies behind the "Majestic 12", a clandestine group of military and corporate figureheads charged with reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology.

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction

An impressionistic portrait of the iconic actor Harry Dean Stanton comprised of intimate moments, film clips from some of his 250 films and his renditions of American folk songs.

Sidney

This revealing documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier—iconic actor, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. Featuring interviews with Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, Halle Berry, and more.

Baraka

A paralysingly beautiful documentary with a global vision—an odyssey through landscape and time—that attempts to capture the essence of life.

Showrunners: The Art of Running a TV Show

“Showrunners” is the first ever feature length documentary film to explore the fascinating world of US television showrunners and the creative forces aligned around them. These are the people responsible for creating, writing and overseeing every element of production on one of the United State’s biggest exports – television drama and comedy series. Often described as the most complex job in the entertainment business, a showrunner is the chief writer / producer on a TV series and, in most instances, the show’s creator. Battling daily between art and commerce, showrunners manage every aspect of a TV show’s development and production: creative, financial and logistical.