Winner of the audience award at Full Frame and a special jury prize at SXSW, THE WAY WE GET BY had its first New York sneak preview at Stranger Than Fiction last night and won over yet another sold out crowd. This moving film tells the story of an airport in Bangor, Maine where senior citizens volunteer and greet soldiers that are flying to or returning from war.  A strength of the documentary is that it steers clear of political trappings and instead focuses on the importance of supporting soldiers as fellow Americans who are serving their country.  The film also succeeds in shedding light on the many obstacles facing the elderly, demonstrating how volunteering at an airport provides them with a vital sense of purpose and community.  Director Aron Gaudet and producer Gita Pullapilly (photo) joined us for a Q&A in which they shared many entertaining anecdotes about the film’s protagonists. My favorite is that at the Cleveland Film Festival, audiences were so moved by the film that they showed up at the airport to send off film subject Jerry. Now that’s the power of a documentary!

The evening was copresented by the Camden International Film Festival (a wonderful Maine event now in its fifth year) and the highly esteemed PBS strand POV (that will broadcast THE WAY WE GET BY this coming fall). 

There were several films at Tribeca this year that piqued my personal interest as M.O.T. (Member Of the Tribe).  The first was PARTLY PRIVATE  , Danae Elon’s exploration of male circumcision.  While pregnant with a boy, Elon must confront her Algerian-Jewish husband’s strong preference for circumcising their future son, a belief which clashes with her own misgivings as a secular Jew.  What ensues is a trip around the world, questioning different cultural histories and views on the matter.  Particularly entertaining is her visit to Turkey where boys are circumcised at the age of 8 in the equivalent of a bridal banquet hall while wearing regal costumes.  Clowns, roller coasters and big screen televisions serve to entertain the kids in what would otherwise be quite an awful day.  After watching this film, all I can say is that I hope if I am ever pregnant – it’s a girl.

Beadie Finzie’s ONLY WHEN I DANCE is a moving portrait of two Brazilian teenagers who struggle to break out of their lives of poverty by using dance as their vehicle.  Beautifully shot, this captivating story shows the sacrifices their hard-working families must make to help them achieve their dreams of dancing abroad. 

The team behind SHADOW BILLIONAIRE – director Alexis Manya Spraic and producer Sasha Alpert – a documentary about the mysterious disappearance of the very wealthy DHL shareholder Larry L. Hillblom.

On Sunday afternoon, The Nation Institute hosted a reception for THE FIXER: THE TAKING OF AJMAL NAQSHBANDI, following its screening at Tribeca and a panel discussion with director Ian Olds, film subject Christian Parenti, New Yorker writer George Packer, and former fixer Naqeeb Sherzad. The film does an excellent job shedding light on the process of war-time reporting.  The reception was held fittingly at the Half King bar, known as a foreign correspondent hang-out.  Hamilton Fish, head of the Nation Institute (and occasional documentary producer), presided over a crowd of journalists, filmmakers and human rights activists.