The winter season of Stranger Than Fiction, our weekly documentary film series hosted by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen and presented by IFC Center, has been announced! Each screening features a conversation with the filmmaker or other special guests, followed by a gathering at a nearby bar. The winter slate opens with OXD: ONE EXTRAORDINARY DAY, focusing on Elizabeth Streb’s Extreme Action Company with director Craig Lowy and Streb in person. Other highlights include a sneak preview of Dawn Porter’s TRAPPED, about abortion providers struggling to stay in business, soon after its Sundance Film Festival premiere; and the 15th anniversary screening of Kate Davis’ SOUTHERN COMFORT, about a transgender couple in the American south, that’s being staged this winter as a new musical at the Public Theater.

“This season’s stories are truly stranger than fiction with death-defying acrobats, mysterious disappearances, and utopian inventors,” said Artistic Director Thom Powers. “We invite newcomers to join our community of documentary lovers for special guests, lively conversations and receptions.” The eclectic range of characters on screen include a visionary battling the government in NEWMAN; a prisoner determined to escape in THE MIND OF MARK DEFRIEST; media pioneers in HERE COMES THE VIDEOFREEX; and Pakistani madrasa students in AMONG THE BELIEVERS. Two screenings honor films on their 10th anniversaries: ABDUCTION: THE MEGUMI YOKOTA STORY about North Korea’s kidnapping program and DARKON about live action role-players.

The STF winter season takes place at the IFC Center every Tuesday night at 7:30 for eight weeks (plus an added special screening on Thurs, Mar 17). The winter season closes on March 22. The full season schedule appears below. For more information, visit ifccenter.com.

Stranger Than Fiction: Winter 2016 Season 7:30pm Tuesdays at IFC Center, Feb 2 – Mar 22
Each show features a Q&A with the director or other special guests

Feb 2: Opening Night – OXD: ONE EXTRAORDINARY DAY (2015,Q&A w/ dir Craig Lowy & choreographer Elizabeth Streb)

Feb 9: ABDUCTION: THE MEGUMI YOKOTA STORY (2006, Q&A w/ Robert Boynton, author of “The Invitation-Only Zone”)

Feb 16: TRAPPED (2016, Q&A TBA)

Feb 23: HERE COME THE VIDEOFREEX (2015, Q&A w/ dirs. Jon Nealon & Jenny Raskin)

Mar 1: SOUTHERN COMFORT (2001, Q&A w/ dir Kate Davis)

Mar 8: NEWMAN (2015, Q&A w/ dir Jon Fox)

Mar 15:  THE MIND OF MARK DEFRIEST (2014, Q&A w/ dir Gabriel London)

Mar 17: Thursday Special – DARKON (2006, Q&A w/ dirs Luke Meyer & Andrew Neel)

Mar 22: Closing Night – AMONG THE BELIEVERS (2015, Q&A w/ dirs. Hemal Trivedi, Mohammed Ali Naqvi, & writer Jonathan Goodman Levitt)

Tickets for Stranger Than Fiction screenings are $16 for the general public and $13 for IFC Center members. A Season Pass, good for admission to all 9 evenings in the winter season, is available for $99 ($80 for IFC members).

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Our twenty-seventh season begins with KING GEORGES following Philadelphia’s famed chef Georges Perrier as he faces pressures to close his restaurant Le Bec-Fin. The line-up includes sneak previews of highly anticipated docs such as SUNSHINE SUPERMAN and THE WOLFPACK along with revivals of classic docs such as Alan and Susan Raymond’s THE POLICE TAPES (1977) and Nick Broomfield’s AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER (2003).

“Spring is a time for discovery and that’s what this season offers,” said STF Artistic Director Thom Powers. “For people who have never been to STF or haven’t come in a while, this line-up has a little of everything – food, art, true crime, politics, history and characters who truly embody the phrase Stranger Than Fiction.”

Download the STF Spring Calendar here.

The season starts on April 14 with KING GEORGES, playing only a few days after its world premiere at the Full Frame Documentary Festival. Several other STF titles have won recognition on the festival circuit including AFTER THE DANCE (April 28) about an Irish filmmaker looking for lost family in NYC; MADINA’S DREAM (May 5) set against the backdrop of war in South Sudan; SUNSHINE SUPERMAN (May 19) about BASE-jumping pioneers; and THE WOLFPACK (closing night of the spring season on June 2) about six brothers who grew up locked inside a Lower East Side apartment. Playing as a work-in-progress NAM JUNE PAIK & TV LAB (April 21) explores the father of video art and an experimental era of public television. Three nights bring acclaimed veteran doc makers to STF: AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER (a special Thursday presentation on April 23) with Nick Broomfield; THE POLICE TAPES (May 12) with Alan and Susan Raymond; and HOT TYPE: 150 YEARS OF THE NATION (May 26) with Barbara Kopple.

The regular STF spring season takes place at the IFC Center every Tuesday night for eight weeks, starting April 14 (plus a Thursday special on April 23). Each event includes a discussion with the filmmaker or special guests, followed by a gathering at a nearby bar.

Tickets for Stranger Than Fiction screenings are $16 for the general public and $13 for IFC Center members. Click here to purchase tickets and watch trailers. A Season Pass, available for $99 ($80 for IFC Center members), covers admission to all 9 evenings, plus additional perks including free popcorn at each STF screening and a free DVD courtesy of Docurama. Click here to order a season pass.

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Join us this season for an eclectic mix of sneak previews and retrospectives, including appearances by filmmakers Marc Levin, Ian Olds, Liz Garbus and film subject Seymour Bernstein.

Our season opens on Feb 3 with THE HAND THAT FEEDS, winner of the DOC NYC Audience Award, focusing on a labor battle at a Hot & Crusty restaurant on the Upper East Side. The STF line-up features four other sneak previews: Marc Levin’s FREEWAY: A CRACK IN THE SYSTEM (Feb 10) about drug dealer “Freeway” Rick Ross; Ethan Hawke’s SEYMOUR: AN INTRODUCTION (Mar 10) about piano teacher Seymour Bernstein; Anthony Baxter’s A DANGEROUS GAME (Mar 12); about protestors fighting Donald Trump; and, for the season’s closing night, THE MUSES OF ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER (Mar 24), directed by Shaul Betser & Asaf Galay, about the Nobel prize winning author and his harem of translators. The season also features four retrospective screenings: THE BEST OF EGG THE ARTS SHOW (Feb 17) celebrating the WNET arts program that was ahead of its time; OCCUPATION: DREAMLAND (Feb 24), the 2005 Iraq war doc by Ian Olds & the late Garrett Scott for its 10th anniversary; THE FARM: ANGOLA, USA (Mar 3), the 1998 Oscar-nominated prison doc by Liz Garbus & Jonathan Stack; and TO TELL THE TRUTH: A HISTORY OF DOCUMENTARY 1928-46 (Mar 17) Cal Skaggs & David Van Taylor’s profiles of non-fiction film pioneers. The STF winter season takes place at the IFC Center every Tuesday night at 8:00 pm for eight weeks, plus special screenings on Jan 19 and Mar 12. Each event includes a discussion with the filmmakers, followed by a gathering at a nearby bar.

“Sharing great documentaries with an audience is a great way to beat the winter blues,” said Artistic Director Thom Powers, who also programs for the Toronto International Film Festival, DOC NYC and SundanceNOW Doc Club. “This selection of films will entertain, inspire, anger and illuminate.”

Tickets for Stranger Than Fiction screenings are $16 for the general public and $13 for IFC Center members. Click here to purchase tickets and watch trailers. A Season Pass, available for $99 ($80 for IFC Center members), covers admission to all 9 evenings, plus additional perks including free popcorn at each STF screening and a free DVD courtesy of Docurama. Click here to order a season pass.

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We’ve just announced the STF Winter ’15 Season! The season will showcase an eclectic mix of sneak previews and retrospectives, including appearances by filmmakers Marc Levin, Ian Olds, Liz Garbus and film subjects such as Seymour Bernstein.

Save money with a winter season pass that gains you admission on Jan 19 and all STF winter screenings, a total of 10 films for $99 (or $80 for IFC Center members). Additional perks include:

• Free popcorn at all STF shows
• a free DVD courtesy of Docurama
• AND if you can’t attend, you can transfer your pass to a friend.

 

Tickets and season passes now available! Click here to purchase a season pass, or to buy individual tickets.

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	BROOKLYN CASTLE directed by Katie Dellamaggiore
	THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE Directed by David McMahon, Ken Burns and Sarah Burns
	ESCAPE FIRE: THE FIGHT TO RESCUE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE directed by Matthew Heineman and Susan Froemke
	FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED directed by Alan Berliner
	WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington directed by Sebastian Junger

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