Catherine Gund

Inspired by an exclusive interview and performance footage of Chavela Vargas shot in 1991 and guided by her unique voice, the film weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being.

Follows the lives of four queer masculine-presenting BIPOC – all assigned female at birth – as they challenge conceptions of gender identity while navigating life’s hardships and triumphs.

Afghani-American filmmaker Sedika Mojadidi shadows her father, a women's health specialist working to rebuild hospitals in war-torn Afghanistan, in this thought-provoking documentary filmed in the wake of the United States' invasion of the region. In a country where one in seven women dies during childbirth, many women are willing to travel for days to receive adequate care from a trained professional.

An exploration of the nexus of art, race, and justice through the story of art collector and philanthropist Agnes Gund who sold Roy Lichtenstein’s painting “Masterpiece” in 2017 for $165 million to start the Art for Justice Fund to end mass incarceration.

In an era when Dick, Jane, and discipline ruled America's schools, Albert Cullum allowed Shakespeare, Sophocles, and Shaw to reign in his fifth grade public school classroom. Through the use of poetry, drama and imaginative play, Cullum championed an unorthodox educational philosophy that spoke directly to his students' needs. Many of Cullum's projects were recorded on film by then novice filmmaker Robert Downey, Sr. Weaving stunning black and white footage and rare archival television broadcasts together with interviews of Cullum and his former students, this is a portrait of a maverick teacher who transformed a generation of young people by enabling them to discover their own inner greatness.

A cinematic omnibus rooted in New Orleans, challenging the idea of black cinema as a "wave" or "movement in time," proposing instead a continuous thread of achievement.

Black Lesbian journalist and organizer Ivy Young knows that mainstream society will not preserve her story after she's gone, so she rallies friends and her niece Jade to defy the past for the sake of a righteous future.

Born to Fly pushes the boundaries between action and art, daring us to join choreographer Elizabeth Streb and her dancers in pursuit of human flight.

Documentary exploring Ron Athey’s life and career as a queer HIV-positive body modification and performance artist, including several of Athey’s internationally staged works from the late 1990s.

A documentary about lesbians preserving their history, with a focus on the work of the Lesbian Herstory Archives. Includes interviews with Joan Nestle, Jewelle Gomez, and Mariana Romo-Carmona, among others. Profiled are Mabel Hampton, Marge McDonald, theater group 5 Lesbian Brothers, and Asian Lesbians of the East Coast.

A groundbreaking, immersive, nonlinear cinematic journey where artists' expressions blend with historical and real-life footage, unveils the profound impact of white supremacy on our human connections. Led by a dynamic team including Jacqueline Woodson, Catherine Gund, Erika Dilday, Meshell Ndegeocello, and M. Trevino, this collaborative masterpiece weaves together diverse visions, poignantly revealing how race, racism, and resistance shape our shared breath, not just in moments of crisis, but in the enduring, pervasive legacy of that risk.

A documentary collage of sex worker activist interventions created from footage captured by HIV/AIDS activist at the Fifth International AIDS Conference in Montreal in 1989.

In 1971, underestimated artist Faith Ringgold made a monumental painting for the women incarcerated at Rikers Island jail called “For the Women’s House.” Fifty years later, artist Mary Baxter, who at the age of twenty-five gave birth in prison, finds herself banding together with an eccentric bunch of activists, politicians, artists, corrections officers, and Faith Ringgold to free the painting with the ultimate goal of freeing the women.

On October 23, 1998, a sniper carrying a high-powered rifle assassinated Dr. Barnett Slepian in his home, altering forever a family, a community, and the bounds of our imaginings about anti-abortion violence. This horrific act punctuated a decade of escalating harassment and violence against women’s heath care providers – a decade marred by murders, assaults, death threats, stalking, clinic blockades, arsons, bombings, and chemical attacks. How do these events affect the personal and professional lives of abortion providers? What motivates them to continue their work in the face of such terrorism?

Intimate scenes of gentle sexuality and domesticity set to the mechanical cadence of a projector (evoking a feeling somewhere between the repetitive labour of a sewing machine and violence of a machine gun) are juxtaposed with images of police and sirens to highlight the alarming intrusion of America’s laws on queer people and women’s bodies in healthcare, sexual expression, and desire.

On October 18 2019, a student uprising was triggered in Santiago over the Chilean government’s increase in metro fare. As the country awakens to the unrelenting abuse of power enacted by a neoliberalist government, and a mistrust in the political class intensifies, we follow Angy and Felipe—two parents who embrace their new roles as activists and enlist in the expanding movement that is fighting for a new Constitution and a just society.

WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE is a witty and provocative documentary about kids and food politics. Filmed over the course of one year, the film follows two eleven-year-old African-American city kids as they explore their place in the food chain. Sadie and Safiyah take a close look at food systems in New York City and its surrounding areas. They formulate sophisticated and compassionate opinions about urban sustainability, and by doing so inspire hope and active engagement in others.

Catherine Gund interviews butch lesbians about the murder of Brandon Teena.

The first educational media project to examine the related policy initiatives of the radical right wing and illustrate how their hatred and bias hurts ordinary people. It presents three case studies of the democratic right: racist David Duke's electoral bids in Louisiana; the struggle over homophobic Amendment 2 in Colorado, which was ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in May 1996; and the scapegoating of immigrants, people of color, and women through Proposition 187 and Proposition 209 in California. In each case, When Democracy Works highlights the work of progressive grassroots organizers to thwart the radical right and uphold democratic values.

Dispatches from Cleveland is a focused on ordinary Clevelanders who have been long shaken by police misconduct, social discrimination, and poverty. Depicting intersecting movements in Cleveland, the series examines how residents' love for their hometown pushes them to work together to bring about real change in one of the most racially divided cities in America.