Tucson In The Spotlight In Annual Documentary Showcase WHAT'S UP, DOCS?

The University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film & Television in partnership with The Loft Cinema will present a special edition of What's Up, Docs?, the annual showcase of short documentaries made by film and television students.

Filmed during the pandemic with strict safety protocols, much of the line-up pays tribute to Tucson and explores topics that are current, newsworthy, poignant, funny, and sublime. The Loft Cinema will stream the fifteen films via their online platform from February 4-17, 2021. Total runtime of the program is approximately 120 minutes, and will be available for viewing for free starting February 4 at loftcinema.org/film/whats-up-docs/.

The documentary line-up includes Adia, a profile of UA Women's Basketball Head Coach Adia Barnes who took the team from basement-dwellers to Pac-15 contenders; Solution Number Two, an exploration of the UA operation that drew national attention for its testing of wastewater to identify outbreaks on campus; Be Our Guest, about local refugee support organization Casa Alitas; Tucson, Cinezona, which explores how The Loft Cinema is navigating the pandemic; Asian and American, which digs deep into what it means to be Asian-American today; Butterfly, featuring two Tucson women who find healing and strength in pole dancing; and Pandemic Pets, in which a rescue dog named Bryce Meryl Streep Feldstein provides comfort and sanity for a Tucson family. Watch the What's Up, Docs? 2021 trailer here.

TFTV Associate Professor Jacob Bricca, ACE leads the Documentary Production class and mentored the students: "I was extremely proud of our students for the work they created this semester," Bricca said. "Many of them were already very involved in the Tucson community through jobs, volunteer activities, and the like, and they used these connections to explore their world in meaningful ways. In many cases the stories they originally wanted to tell turned out to be less interesting than the one they ended up with. In some cases they told deeply personal stories, delving into stories of hardship, loss, transformation, and renewal, and finding out new things about their families and themselves. What is remarkable is how universal these stories are. There is something in this program that everyone in Tucson can relate to."