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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Stranger Than Fiction, the weekly documentary film series hosted by Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen and presented by IFC Center, begins on Tuesday with a retrospective screening of SANS SOLEIL (May 6), Chris Marker’s 1983 masterpiece. Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum names it one of the key nonfiction films of our time and describes it as “a film about subjectivity, death, photography, social custom, and consciousness itself.” The screening will be accompanied by a conversation with filmmaker Jem Cohen, who cites Marker as a key influence on his own work. This presentation coincides with a month-long retrospective “Chris Marker & His Legacy” on Sundance NOW Doc Club, also curated by Powers.

The season bring many new films from STF alum to the IFC Center. Joe Berlinger‘s WHITEY: United States of America v. James J. Bulger (May 13) follows the trial of the infamous gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, using the courtroom action as a springboard to examine accusations of multi-faceted corruption within our nation’s law enforcement and legal systems. Acclaimed documentarian, Doug Block, has supported his career over the last two decades with a side business of videotaping weddings. In 112 WEDDINGS (June 3), he tracks down and interviews the more memorable of his 112 wedding couples. Marina Zenovich‘s ROMAN POLANSKI: WANTED AND DESIRED (June 17) revisits the key players involved Polanski’s controversial and complex sexual abuse conviction.

9-MAN (May 20) gives a glimpse into Chinese-American community through an athletic game that has been played exclusively Chinatowns across America since the 1930s. THE FRONT MAN (Thurs, May 29) is a non-fiction rock ‘n roll comedy love story about an everyman middle-class musician burdened by the desire for stardom.

The spring season closes with a special Wednesday screening of THE PLEASURES OF BEING OUT OF STEP (Wed, June 25), director David L. Lewis’ portrait of Nat Hentoff, a pioneer in music criticism, who has spent more than six decades championing jazz in the pages of the Village Voice, The Wall Street Journal, Down Beat, and numerous other publications. A New York story, the film won the DOC NYC Metropolis Grand Jury Prize in 2013.

The STF spring/summer season will take place weekly at the IFC Center for the next eight weeks. All screenings are Tuesday night at 8:00 pm, besides the special Thursday, May 29 screening of THE FRONT MAN, and the Wednesday, June 25 screening of THE PLEASURES OF BEING OUT OF STEP. Each event includes a discussion with the filmmakers, followed by a gathering at a nearby bar. The STF titles for May 27 and June 10 will be announced shortly.

Tickets are available for individual shows or season passes can be bought for $99 for 9 films.

With a season pass, you receive many perks including a free DVD from Docurama; free popcorn at every STF show; assurance that you never miss a sold out show (as long as you arrive by 15 min. prior); and the ability to transfer your pass to a friend, if you can’t come.

Click here to buy the Spring/Summer Season Pass.

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