Spring 2023 Season
The Port Jefferson Documentary Series is sponsored by:
Maggio Environmental and Wellness and Covati and Janhsen, CPAS PC
see information below…
Please visit the TICKET PAGE to purchase tickets for individual films
1. DR. TONY FAUCI
Monday, March 6, 2023 @ 7:00 PM
Screening at Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777
Guest Speaker: Mark Mannucci, Director
Q&A moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
Directed by Mark Mannucci
This intimate film chronicles Fauci at home, in his office and in the corridors of power as he battles the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the political onslaught that upends his life and calls into question his 50-year career as the United States of America’s leading advocate for public health. From heated discussions about the vaccine with Black residents in downtown Washington, DC, to his explanation for how the NIH-funded lab in Wuhan, China, could not have created the virus that made COVID-19, Dr. Fauci is candid, truthful and passionate. Nothing Fauci had previously faced, including the impassioned activists who challenged him during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, prepared him for the vitriol, political backlash, and the threats against his safety and that of his family. DR. TONY FAUCI will examine the life of the man behind the podium – a scientist, husband, father and public servant who discusses how he might have done things differently.
Running Time: 113 minutes
This screening is graciously sponsored by
Danfords Hotel & Marina and The Waterview at Port Jeff Country Club, in Port Jefferson, NY.
https://www.danfords.com/
2. IMMEDIATE FAMILY
Monday, March 13, 2023 @ 7:00 PM
Screening at Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777
Guest Speakers: Denny Tedesco, Director
Q&A moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
Directed by Denny Tedesco
If you listen to 1970s pop music, you’ve undoubtedly heard these guys play, but do you know their names? IMMEDIATE FAMILY highlights five talented men—Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, Waddy Wachtel and Steve Postell—who shunned the spotlight for themselves, yet enjoyed decades of success as session musicians on iconic tracks. Kortchmar, Sklar and Kunkel made up three-quarters of “The Section”, best known for both their studio and live work in support of some of the top selling singer/songwriters and solo singers in the history of music, as well as their own acclaimed instrumental albums. They were later joined by Wachtel. Collectively, “The Section” helped define the sound of a generation by supporting the top singer-songwriters of the last five decades: James Taylor, Carole King, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Keith Richards, Neil Young, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Don Henley, Phil Collins, Bonnie Raitt, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, Bryan Ferry, Lyle Lovett, David Crosby and Jimmy Buffett and producers Lou Adler and Peter Asher – many of whom are interviewed in IMMEDIATE FAMILY. These super-star artists reflect on their relationships and deep history with the legendary players featured in IMMEDIATE FAMILY, sharing why they’ve trusted them to shape their sound, and in many cases, extended their roles to include writing, co-writing and music producing. It doesn’t end there! In the film we see that in recent years, Kortchmar, Sklar, Kunkel and Wachtel have again teamed up, joined by guitarist Steve Postell (who worked with David Cosby and John Oates), to perform on stage and record as The Immediate Family. They play a repertoire of hits they either wrote or co-wrote for famous artists. The film won the Audience Award at the 2022 Woodstock Film Festival. Denny Tedesco is also director and producer of the 2008 multi-award winning music documentary, THE WRECKING CREW. Running Time: 102 minutes
This screening is graciously sponsored by:
Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame
Danfords Hotel & Marina and The Waterview at Port Jeff Country Club, in Port Jefferson, NY. https://www.danfords.com/
3. A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS
Monday, March 20, 2023 @ 7:00 PM
Screening at John F. Kennedy Middle School
200 Jayne Blvd., Port Jeff. Sta., New York, 11776
Guest Speaker: Simon Lereng Wilmont, Director via pre-recorded Zoom
Q&A moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
Directed by Simon Lereng Wilmont
As the war in Eastern Ukraine takes a heavy toll on poor families living near the frontlines, a small group of strong-willed social workers works tirelessly in a special kind of orphanage to create an almost magical safe space for kids to live in while the state decides the fate of the child and family. The film follows four unrelated children—Sasha, Eva, Kolya, and Alina, with many, many more populating the background—as they navigate the temporary accommodations. They come from alcoholic parents, guardians self-medicating to cope with despair. Each kid initially appears unencumbered by their respective situation, but Wilmont slowly peels back the cycles—drinking, self-harm, violence—that these children have either fallen into or are dangerously close to adopting. Simmering underneath the flicker of their smiles, the glint of their laughs, are old souls forced to grow up far too soon. Simon Lereng Wilmont won the prestigious 2022 Sundance Film Festival Directing Award for A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS and the film is nominated for a 2023 Oscar in the documentary film category!
Running Time: 87 minutes
4. I AM NOT
Monday, March 27, 2023 @ 7:00 PM
Screening at John F. Kennedy Middle School
200 Jayne Blvd., Port Jeff. Sta., New York, 11776
Guest Speaker via Live Zoom: Ehud Levy, Oren’s Father and Subject in Film
Q&A moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
Directed by Tomer Heymann
A touching and humorous film about loss, life chances, love, family, illness, the end and the beginning. It is also about the search for roots and the therapeutic role of cinema, which can be an escape or create new worlds. This bittersweet family story is abundantly saturated with emotions, although its main character has serious difficulty showing them. Oren Levy, a young Israeli man, who is an adopted child with Asperger’s, faces challenges adapting. Suddenly, his life changes with the help of the camera, which becomes an extraordinary therapy tool assisting him on a long journey which takes Oren and his family to Guatemala in search of his identity. Running Time: 96 minutes
This screening is graciously sponsored by
North Shore Jewish Center in Port Jefferson Station and Temple Isaiah in Stony Brook.
5. LIFT
Monday, April 10, 2023 @ 7:00 PM
Screening at Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777
Guest Speakers: David Petersen, Director and Steven Melendez, Principal Dancer & Artistic Director at the New York Theatre Ballet and Subject in the Film
Q&A moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
Directed by David Petersen
LIFT shines a spotlight on the invisible story of homelessness in America through the eyes of a group of young homeless and home-insecure ballet dancers in New York City. The story centers around ballet dancer and mentor Steven Melendez, who was a seven-year-old boy living in a Bronx homeless shelter who had his life turned around when he was the recipient of the New York Theater Ballet (NYTB) Project LIFT’s generosity. NYTB’s mentoring initiative saved and centered him and after years of study he became an international star. Years later Melendez returned to the Bronx shelter where he grew up to give back to his community, offering a ballet workshop to children. His unexpected reaction to the shelter from his childhood sends him on a journey with three kids, to reckon with a past he had escaped from through ballet. Young dance students, Victor, Yolanssie and Shaira face the same challenges that Steven had faced in a world of invisible homelessness . He mentors his protégés with patience and determination and they in turn offer him insight into turning trauma into dance. Together they make an artistic expression of their own as they step from the shelter to the stage.
Over ten years, cinematographers Gary Griffen, Alan Jacobsen and Director David Petersen captured the heart of Melendez’s determination, the insecurities of the children he mentored and the creative process he used to turn their mutual experience into a life affirming dance piece.
Running Time: 87 minutes
6. BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT
Monday, April 17, 2023 @ 7:00 PM
Screening at John F. Kennedy Middle School
200 Jayne Blvd., Port Jeff. Sta., New York, 11776
Guest Speaker: TBA
Q&A moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
Co-directed by Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo
First-time co-directors Christopher Sharp and journalist Moses Bwayo tell the story of Bobi Wine, the musician-turned-politician leading the opposition to the 35-year regime in Uganda. The country has one the youngest populations in the world and one of its most flagrantly anti-democratic governments. A straightforward portrait turns into an astonishing record of an on-the-ground fight for democracy when Wine announces his campaign to run for president in 2021. Uganda’s youth are ecstatic, filling parks and streets for every speech, and singing Bobi’s anthems of peace and freedom. But then comes the crackdown, orchestrated by Yoweri Museveni, a brutal dictator who has ruled Uganda for 36 years. Withstanding arrests, torture, and violence from the government, Bobi Wine and his wife Barbie risk their own lives and the lives of their children to lead their country towards freedom. BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE”S PRESIDENT is a brave exposition of an authoritarian government that highlights the power of documentary journalism. The film won the Hamptons Film Festival 2022 Best Documentary Audience Award. Running Time: 120 minutes
7. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Monday, May 22, 2023 @ 7:00 PM
Screening at Theatre Three
412 Main Street, Port Jefferson, New York, 11777
Guest Speaker: Alison Klayman, Director
Q&A moderated by Tom Needham, Host of The Sounds of Film at WUSB radio.
Directed by Alison Klayman
An intimate look at the formation and legacy of the WNBA, and its flagship team, the New York Liberty’s, dramatic 2021 season, as they play for acceptance, respect, and the future of basketball. Director Alison Klayman (AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY) blends two approaches, offering us an introduction to the league itself, as well as a closer look at the New York Liberty team. There are wonderful interviews with legendary players like Teresa Weatherspoon, Rebecca Lobo, Crystal Robinson and Sue Wicks, setting the stage for a time — 1995 to be exact — when the idea of a professional women’s league was barely even a dream. The film is named for a song “Unfinished Business” written for the New York Liberty basketball team in 2001 by Joan Jett, herself a Liberty super-fan who appears in the film. Running Time: 90 minutes
Please visit the TICKET PAGE to purchase a Season Pass or tickets for individual films
Thank you to our sponsors:
Maggio Environmental
88 Old Dock Rd., Yaphank, NY 11980
https://www.maggioenvironmental.com
Covati & Janhsen CPAS PC
12 Walnut Street
Port Jefferson, NY 11777
631-928-6300
