MFF 2019 Festival Catalog

Films
FICTION FEATURE
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
THIS TEACHER
Director: Mark Jackson
Producers: Mark Jackson, Dana Thompson, Gigi Graff,
Josh Mandel, Javier Gonzalez
Cast: Hafsia Herzi, Sarah Kazemy, Lucy Walters,
Kevin Kane, Lev Gorn
USA, 95 min.
Hafsia (Hafsia Herzi) is a young Parisian who travels to
New York City to meet up with her old friend Sarah (Sarah
Kazemy), an aspiring actress who seems to have made a
happy, prosperous life for herself in the big city. But Hafsia
is not satisfied with the trappings of contentment and,
seeking an escape, books a stay at a remote cabin upstate,
a place where she can get away from everything, including
herself. But as she experiences a chance encounter with
strangers, Hafsia finds that, for a young Muslim woman,
escaping your identity in America is an impossibility.
Sunday, May 5, 7:30 pm, Clairidge 3
Thursday, May 9, 5:45 pm, Clairidge 4
TIGERLAND
Director: Ross Kauffman
Producers: Xan Parker, Zara Duffy, Fisher Stevens,
Ross Kauffman
USA, 91 min.
Academy ® Award-winning New Jersey filmmaker Ross
Kauffman’s TIGERLAND tracks the story of how, in the
span of only a handful of generations, the tiger has been
transformed from a venerated creature into a major
source of illicit revenue. With the population of wild tigers
in Asia dropping from over 100,000 to less than 4,000,
TIGERLAND illustrates how shifting political realities in
Russia and India created a lucrative poaching underworld
that decimated the tiger population. Examining the
systems that allowed the tiger’s near extermination,
TIGERLAND is a stirring yet troubling portrait of our
relationship to nature in the Anthropocene age.
Sunday, May 5, 6:15 pm, Clairidge 5
Monday, May 6, 8:15 pm, Clairidge 2
FICTION FEATURE
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
THE TOMORROW MAN
Director: Noble Jones
Producer: Luke Rivett, Nicolaas Bertelsen,
James Schamus, Tony Lipp
Cast: John Lithgow, Blythe Danner, Derek Cecil,
Katie Aselton
USA, 94 min.
Ed Hemsler (John Lithgow) is a doomsday prepper,
convinced that the end of civilization is coming soon
and spending his days shopping and preparing for the
impending apocalypse. On an otherwise uneventful trip
for supplies, Ed meets Ronnie (Blythe Danner), a single
woman who soothes her own attachment to uncertainty
at the same store. Noble Jones’ THE TOMORROW MAN
is the story of two unlikely adults seeking a connection, a
late-blooming romance between two dreamers who are
looking for love and acceptance while trying not to get
lost in each other’s copious belongings.
Saturday, May 11, 7:30 pm, MKA Upper School
WALKING ON WATER
Director: Andrey Paounov
Producers: Izabella Tzenkova, Valeria Giampietro
Italy/USA, 100 min.
Andrey Paounov’s WALKING ON WATER is an intimate
portrait of renowned installation artist Christo and the
intense planning and construction of his 2016 art piece,
The Floating Piers, a dahlia-yellow walkway atop Italy’s
Lake Iseo. Taking us behind the scenes of the planning,
approvals, and construction of the piece (which Christo
has maintained are all a part of the art itself), the film
is an incredibly entertaining look at the experience of
contemporary art making. The film climaxes with the
exhibition, and the stakes couldn’t be higher when over
1.2 million visitors arrive to walk on water.
Sunday, May 5, 4:15 pm, Clairidge 2
Monday, May 6, 7:45 pm, Clairidge 5
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