The Chelsea Film Festival 8th annual edition presented 130 Films from 18 countries. The Official line up included 115 Feature-length and short documentaries showcased on Film Festival Plus from October 15-25, 2020.

**FEATURE DOCUMENTARIES**

AMERICART 2019 By Christelle Bois
82 min | Documentary | USA | 2020
Synopsis: Who said Art and culture were only found in New York City or Los Angeles? Created and Directed by Brooklyn photographer EFDLT Studio, AMERICART 2019 is a documentary film featuring interviews of everyday Americans in America’s Heartland talking about how Art is important in their life. Filmed on location during a month-long road trip from NYC to Sonoma County, CA, across Montgomery County, MD, Franklin, TN, Wichita, KS, McPherson, KS, Pueblo, Co, Glenwood Springs, CO, Elko, NV, Baker City, OR, Reno, NV and Sonoma County, CA.

BALENTES – THE BRAVE ONES By Lisa Camillo
84 min | Documentary | Australia, Italy | 2019
Synopsis: When Sardinian-Australian Lisa Camillo, an anthropologist and film director, returns to Sardinia, an island of Italy, after a 18 year absence to find her homeland decimated by mysterious bombings, she uncovers a secret NATO mission with devastating consequences for her people and for future generations.

BIRTHGAP: THE PREQUEL By Stephen Shaw
79 min | Documentary | United Kingdom | 2020
Synopsis: After being shocked to learn that countries across Europe are soon to confront major social and economic challenges due to their long-term low birthrates, Stephen Shaw embarks on a journey to understand this recent phenomenon. Along the way, he discovers this trend goes far beyond Europe. This documentary is a prequel in more ways than one…

BORN BALEARIC: JON SA TRINXA AND THE SPIRIT OF IBIZA By Lily Rinae
70 min | Documentary | Japan, Spain | 2019
Synopsis: Adjacent to Ibiza’s party capital, resident DJ Jon Sa Trinxa has spent a quarter of a century on the beach spinning an eclectic mix of musical styles that stir the hearts of the Balearic artist community.

LESCAY by Alain Agat
50 min | Documentary | Martinique, France | 2013 – (SPECIAL PROGRAM)
Synopsis: Alberto Lescay Merencio, the “Maestro” of Santiago de Cuba tells us some episodes of his life and entrusts us with his reflections on art. There is no scholarly discourse, no analytical explanation of the work, only a simple and true conversation, an opportunity to expose a work both pictorial and sculptural.

MADE IN AMERICA By Kevin Bryce
57 min | Documentary | USA | 2019
Synopsis: Made In America explores the trauma of war; domestic and abroad. The story contrasts the life of a young man growing up in urban America against a young Iraq veteran. The two seek healing in a country vexed with screens, brands, and isolation.

RE-INVENTING THE WHEEL By Chelsea McEvoy
59 min | Documentary | Canada | 2020
Synopsis: A unique community of wheelchair users guide a newly injured paraplegic through his first year on wheels.

SIUDY: BETWEEN WORLDS (SIUDY: ENTRE MUNDOS) By Pablo Croce
60 min  | Documentary  | Venezuela, USA | 2019
Synopsis: This documentary tells the story of the now Miami-based Siudy Flamenco Dance Theater (SFDT), whose heritage and roots are in Venezuela and Spain, but who aspire as transplanted artists, refugees and immigrants to see themselves accepted in their adopted American homeland and society. And more poignantly, as artists who were celebrated in South America and Europe, their own, personal version of the American Dream is embodied by the vision of realizing success on (what they perceive to be a cultural and national pinnacle) – the professional stage in New York City, New York.

**SHORT DOCUMENTARIES**

BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS By Esteban Quesada
45 min | Documentary | Costa Rica | 2020
Synopsis: A young woman from a small town in Costa Rica dreams to become a professional Soccer Player. The story of Melissa Herrera, professional Soccer player of the State de Reims in France and Costa Rica National Women’s team.

GIFTS OF LIFE By Michael David Drucker
13 min | Documentary | USA | 2019
Synopsis: Meet Shelby, Jack and Jennifer, three young organ transplant recipients who each received the gift of life. Learn about their courageous struggles and the incredible gratitude they have for their donors.
The story culminates at the Eisenhower Park Donor Rose Garden in East Meadow, NY, where guests such as Mets great Ed Kranepool and many others gather to share their riveting stories of hope and survival.

ONE DAY IN JUNE By Johnny Sweet
21 min | Documentary | USA | 2020
Synopsis: After a devastating coronavirus outbreak in the spring, New Yorkers quarantine as hundreds of thousands lose their jobs. With the memory of Amadou Diallo and Eric Garner’s deaths not long forgotten, New York City is a ticking time bomb for change following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. For one day we follow two large protests in Manhattan and Brooklyn and the immediate effects it had on state legislation.

OPIOIDEMIC By Ilja Willems
13 min | Documentary | Netherlands, USA | 2019
Synopsis: In recent years, Fentanyl has caused a rather silent epidemic in the United States. Filmmaker Ilja Willems and her crew spent a week in an Ohio morgue, filming the comprehensive consequences of the opioid crisis with Cincinnati’s female coroner Lakshmi Sammarco. While the dead were all unknown Sammarco not so long ago, more and more familiar faces end up on her table.

SURVIVOR! 98 SECOND STORIES By Elizabeth Tobias
14 min | Documentary | USA | 2019
Synopsis: Survivor! 98 Second Stories is about the courage and conviction of 21 contemporary artists who participated in a public art project to help prevent sexual violence in the United States. Elizabeth Tobias amplifies her fusion of art, activism, and filmmaking to share this short documentary created from a live performance directed by Tobias for Diverse Art LA at The Los Angeles Art Show. Please be advised: Film is recommended for mature audiences and contains language which some viewers may find distressing.

THE BEE FARMERS By Steve Utaski
7 min | Documentary | USA | 2020
A short documentary profiling a one-of-a-kind program based in the Pacific Northwest that rents bees to residential customers which in turn are used to pollinate farms around the US.

THE DAY I HAD TO GROW UP By Stefano Da Fre, Laura Pellegrini
20 min | Documentary | USA | 2020
Synopsis: This is a political documentary about Youth Activism. The filmmakers invite five prominent activists to New York City. Each activist has a unique, diverse, personal connection to recent national events from school shootings in Parkland, to Florida’s Black Lives Matter protests to the Green New Deal movement.

Take Part in Chelsea Film Festival.

subscribe to our newsletter