New Releases from New Day - 2024 Spring Edition
Spring is here! The growing season brings 7 new additions to our New Day Films collection, available for educational licensing through our website.
The unifying theme might well be expressed as, “New voices, demanding to be heard.” Young musicians advancing under the cloud of an oppressive government; immigrant advocates insisting America honor its promises to the oppressed; incarcerated men revealing the social underbelly of Covid; working reporters sounding the alarm about journalism, and democracy, under threat; citizens grappling with an explosive increase in cruise ship tourism; Black “Santas” unearthing racism and bigotry during Yuletide; and 5-to-10-year-olds, in all their innocence, teaching us lessons about what gender non-conforming means in real life.
Each of these films, in its own unique way, tells a poignant story that speaks volumes about the world we live in. And demonstrates what happens when the young, or disenfranchised, or dis-possessed, or once-silent take it upon themselves to rise up and be heard. These fresh, thoughtful and creative films, like the New Day films that preceded them, stimulate, educate and inspire.
We invite you to watch trailers and learn more about these films.
Newly-Released Feature Films
Children of Las Brisas
by Luisa De La Ville, 84 mins
Directed by Marianela Maldonado, this coming-of-age documentary unveils the lives of three young and talented Venezuelan musicians who strive to achieve their dreams amidst their country’s political and economic collapse. The children flourish under the “el Sistema” music program, their success is used for propaganda, as seven and a half million Venezuelans suffer through displacement. This decade-long story of struggle and perseverance explores the possibilities--and limits--of discipline and music as tools for survival. The film has been hailed world-wide, with festival screenings on four continents.
Cruise Boom
by Ellen Frankenstein, 55 mins
A small Alaskan town braces for a rapid expansion of cruise ship tourism, pushing residents to grapple with benefits, impacts and what they can control. Nestled between glacial mountains and an island studded sea, Sitka, Alaska is home of the Lingít Aaní (Tlingit) and a large small boat family fishery. Cruise Boom is a portrait of a town dealing with the possibilities and perils of global tourism. Who benefits from tourism? How much tourism is enough?
Las Abogadas: Attorneys on the Front Lines of the Migrant Crisis
by Careen Shannon and Laura Seltzer-Duny, 92 mins
A group of determined and tenacious immigration lawyers put themselves squarely in the middle of the nightmare at the southern border. While the U.S. government under President Trump upends every law meant to protect those fleeing from persecution, violence and war, the activist lawyers — mostly women — embark on a multi-year odyssey to defend people's legal right to seek safety and refuge under our federal asylum laws.
Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink
by Rick Goldsmith, 99 mins
Hedge fund Alden Global Capital quietly gobbles up newspapers across the country and guts them. No one knows why-- until journalist Julie Reynolds begins to investigate. Her findings trigger rebellions at Alden-owned papers across the country. Newsmen and women, backed by their NewsGuild union, clash with “vulture capitalist” owners in a battle to save and rebuild local journalism in America. Who will control the future of America’s news ecosystem: Wall Street billionaires concerned only with profit, or those who see journalism as an essential public service, the lifeblood of democracy?
What These Walls Won't Hold
by Adamu Chan, 43 mins
Transcending the grim realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, filmmaker Adamu Chan paints a poignant portrait of resilience and hope blossoming within the confines of San Quentin State Prison. Chan, formerly incarcerated himself, delves into his own journey towards freedom, while simultaneously amplifying the voices of his fellow incarcerated and their loved ones on both sides of the prison walls. He weaves a tapestry of the many threads of relationships that bind together his community.
Newly-Released Short Films
American Santa
by Avi Zev Weider, 24 mins
The experience of Black Santas in America presents a paradoxical duality: joy and magic that they bring to families during the holiday season, contrasted sharply with racism they face on a regular basis. Through a series of intimate interviews and candid moments, the film paints a complex picture of these men who embody the spirit of Santa Claus, capturing their laughter and warmth, as well as their resilience in the face of prejudice.
Mama Has a Mustache
by Sally Rubin and Jonathan Skurnik, 10 mins
This is the latest film in New Day’s Youth & Gender Media Project collection. It is a short, quirky, fully animated documentary about gender and family, as seen through children’s eyes. What is it like to grow up with trans and gender nonconforming parents? Driven completely by audio interviews of kids ages 5-10, the film uses these sound bytes combined with clip-art and mixed media to explore how children are able to experience a world outside of the traditional gender binary.