Living Together Film Series

Living Together Film Series

The Living Together Film Series is curated by Konstantia Kontaxis, Associate Dean of Research and Director of the Center for Communication, Culture and Change at the University of Miami School of Communication. The Film Series is part of Living Together, curated by Rina Carvajal, MOAD’s Executive Director and Chief Curator, and independent curator Joseph R. Wolin. Living Together is made possible by the generous support of Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture; and the City of Miami Beach, Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council.

Screenings take place at MDC’s Tower Theater and at the Bill Cosford Cinema at the University of Miami. The full schedule of screenings is as follows:

September 28, 7:00 PM
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami
I Am Not Your Negro (2017), 93 minutes, Director: Raul Peck, Switzerland/France/Belgium/USA

In 1979, James Baldwin wrote a letter to his literary agent describing his next project, Remember This House. The book was to be a revolutionary, personal account of the lives and successive assassinations of three of his close friends—Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. At the time of Baldwin’s death in 1987, he left behind only thirty completed pages of his manuscript. Now, in his incendiary new documentary, master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished. The result is a radical, up-to-the-minute examination of race in America, using Baldwin’s original words and flood of rich archival material. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of #BlackLivesMatter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of these three leaders, Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for.

October 26, 7:00 PM
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami
Whose Streets? (2017), 90 minutes, Directors: Sabaah Folayan, Damon Davis, USA

Told by the activists and leaders who live and breathe this movement for justice, Whose Streets? is an unflinching look at the Ferguson uprising. When unarmed teenager Michael Brown is killed by police and left lying in the street for hours, it marks a breaking point for the residents of St. Louis, Missouri. Grief, long-standing racial tensions, and renewed anger bring residents together to hold vigil and protest this latest tragedy. Empowered parents, artists, and teachers from around the country come together as freedom fighters. As the National Guard descends on Ferguson with military-grade weaponry, these young community members become the torchbearers of a new resistance.

November 9, 7:00 PM
MDC’s Tower Theater
Memories of a Penitent Heart (2016), 70 minutes, Director: Cecilia Aldarondo, USA/Puerto Rico

Like many gay men in the 1980s, Miguel moved from Puerto Rico to New York City; he found a career in theater and a rewarding relationship. Yet, on his deathbed he grappled to reconcile his homosexuality with his Catholic upbringing. Now, decades after his death, his niece Cecilia locates Miguel's estranged lover to understand the truth, and, in the process, opens up long-dormant family secrets. In English, Spanish with subtitles.

November 30, 7:00 PM
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami
Uncle Gloria: One Helluva Ride! (2016), 76 minutes, Director: Robyn Symon, USA

Filed under stranger than fiction, Uncle Gloria: One Helluva Ride! tells the astonishing true story of a 67-year-old macho owner of a South Florida auto-wrecking company named Butch, who undergoes a nasty second divorce and needs a place to hide. But the last place anyone would think to find him is in a dress, wig, and heels, living as a woman. What starts out as a trick to beat the system ends up changing Butch forever. Featuring risky surgeries, sex work, family dysfunction, activism, and falling in love, Gloria's life is one that must be seen to be believed. Fasten your seatbelt, this is most definitely one helluva ride! This film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at its Miami premiere.

December 14, 7:00 PM
MDC’s Tower Theater
The Reagan Show (2017), 74 minutes, Directors: Sierra Pettengill and Pancho Velez, USA

Constructed entirely from 1980s network news and videotapes created by the Reagan administration itself, Velez and Pettengill’s prescient documentary presents Ronald Reagan as the first made-for-TV president—a man whose experience as a performer and public relations expert made him a unique match for an emerging modern political landscape, and for his chief rival, charismatic Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

December 28, 7:00 PM 
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami
Tangerine (2015), 88 minutes, Director: Sean Baker, USA

 It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee (newcomer Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend (James Ransone, Starlet, Generation Kill) hasn't been faithful during the twenty-eight days she was locked up, the sex worker and her best friend, Alexandra (newcomer Mya Taylor), embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles.

January 25, 2018, 7:00 PM
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami 
Who Is Dayani Cristal? (2013), 85 minutes, Director: Marc Silver, Mexico/USA 

The body of an unidentified immigrant is found in the Arizona desert. In an attempt to retrace his path and discover his story, directors Marc Silver and Gael Garcia Bernal embed themselves among migrant travelers on their own mission to cross the border, providing rare insight into the human stories that are so often ignored in the immigration debate.

February 22, 2018, 7:00 PM
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami 
From Nowhere (2016), 89 minutes, Director: Matthew Newton, USA 

From Nowhere tells the story of three high-school students who are struggling with the issues that trouble all teenagers, but, in addition, these three have another issue which causes them constant concern. They are illegal aliens. They know that at any time, should someone require documentation from them, they could end up deported back to countries they don’t know and have never spent any time in. These children are really “from nowhere.” Each one wants to get papers but has to navigate the American legal system to do so. The lawyer who wants to help them makes it clear that the easiest way to obtain legal documentation is to apply for political asylum by “coming up with” some form of threat or abuse that they or their parents are afraid of if they are forced to return to their homelands. The wrenching drama was the winner of the Narrative Spotlight Audience Award at 2016’s SXSW Film Festival. The film also won the Audience Award and the jury-awarded Special Mention at the Champs-Elysees Film Festival. 

March 29, 2018, 7:00 PM
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami 
Do Not Resist (2016), 72 minutes, Director: Craig Atkinson, USA  

Do Not Resist is an urgent documentary that explores the militarization of local police departments—in their tactics, training, and acquisition of equipment—since 9/11. With unprecedented access to police conventions, equipment expos, and officers themselves, filmmaker Craig Atkinson, the son of a SWAT team member, crafts an eye-popping nonpartisan look at the changing face of law enforcement in America. This film merges the arts with contemporary and critical social issues in the U.S. today. Its creators see the film as an opportunity to create dialogue among criminal and social-justice advocates, policy makers, police leadership, and the public. In short, they see this film as a tool for education, discussion, planning, and action towards police reform in our communities. 

April 26, 2018, 7:00 PM
Bill Cosford Cinema, University of Miami 
The Yes Men Are Revolting (2014), 91 minutes, Directors: Andy Bichlbaum, Mike Bonanno, Netherlands/Denmark/France/Germany/USA 

The Yes Men Are Revolting chronicles the past five years of pranksters Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, the infamous activists known for duping the media with their impersonations of corporate shills and government stooges. This time they have climate change in their sights, which results in anxiety, improv, media whirlwinds, and a threat of legal action more serious than ever before.