Cinematters NY Social Justice Film Festival Announces Lineup For Virtual Event Over MLK Weekend

The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan announces the lineup for its 2nd annual Cinematters: NY Social Justice Film Festival, which will run virtually January 14-18, 2021.

Building on the success of the inaugural event and national conversations around racial and social justice this year, the festival will present impactful films and conversations exploring inequality, injustice, advocacy, and social responsibility through the lens of issues such as racial discrimination, LGTBQIA+ rights, environmental justice, immigrants' rights, women's rights, and religious intolerance.

The festival aims to inspire participants to reflect and take action in order to create a community of civic-minded individuals. Timed to coincide with Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend and in the spirit of Dr. King's legacy, the festival's goal is to promote social action that leads to positive change in our society and beyond.

"When we launched Cinematters: NY Social Justice Film Festival in January 2020, we were blown away by participants' passion for some of today's most pressing issues," said Isaac Zablocki, Director of The Carole Zabar Center for Film, Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. "The Black Lives Matter movement and the resulting conversations around ending systemic racism have reaffirmed the crucial need for events such as this, which create an opportunity to learn, discuss, and advocate as a community for a better future."

Opening Night will feature a preview screening of the highly anticipated documentary MLK/FBI ahead of its release on January 15th and a conversation with director Sam Pollard. Based on newly declassified files, Pollard's resonant film explores FBI director J. Edgar Hoover's relentless campaign of surveillance and harassment against Martin Luther King, Jr.

There will be a special presentation of Oscar-winning actor Regina King's One Night in Miami. In her directorial narrative feature debut, she explores the night of February 25, 1964 in Miami, when Cassius Clay joins Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Malcom X as they discuss the responsibility of being successful black men during the civil rights movement.

The festival will wrap with a tribute to one of Dr. King's peers and fellow civil rights activists, the late Rep. John Lewis, with a screening of one of 2020's top documentary films, John Lewis: Good Trouble. The film explores the 60-plus years of John Lewis' social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health care reform, and immigration, leaving viewers-and the festival as a whole-with the urgent message that we must act now for a better, more just tomorrow.

"Once again, Cinematters has assembled a powerful, moving lineup of films to share in New York City, a place with a long history of social justice movements and excellence in storytelling," said the Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Anne del Castillo. "As we observe the Martin Luther King Day weekend, we're proud to support a film festival that seeks to bend our attention to the vision of a more just and equitable world."

Another highlight of the festival's programming is the New York premiere of Nevertheless, which follows the intimate experiences of seven individuals who have experienced sexual harassment in a workplace or school context, with an accompanying conversation that is particularly relevant given the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. Director Geeta Gandbhir and executive producer Soledad O'Brien's poignant film about youth and food insecurity, Hungry to Learn, is another must-watch addition to the festival lineup.

The early bird full festival pass is available for $75 and includes access to all conversations and films, which can be streamed on demand during the event. Access to individual screenings is $13 per film. To purchase tickets and find up-to-date schedule and speaker information, visit cinematters.film.