Written, produced, and directed by Emmy Award-winning documentarian, Horace B. Jenkins, and crafted by an entirely African American cast and crew, CANE RIVER is a racially-charged love story in Natchitoches Parish, a “free community of color” in Louisiana. A budding, forbidden romance lays bare the tensions between two black communities, both descended from slaves but of disparate opportunity—the light-skinned, property-owning Creoles and the darker-skinned, more disenfranchised families of the area. This lyrical, visionary film disappeared for decades after Jenkins died suddenly following the film’s completion, robbing generations of a talented, vibrant new voice in American cinema. Available now for the first time in nearly forty years as a brand-new, state-of-the-art restoration.

In the award-winning Bagdad Cafe, Jasmin (Marianne Sägebrecht) discovers an oasis of friendship and community in the desert in the form of the titular café and its proprietor Brenda (CCH Pounder). A quirky and touching comedy-drama with tremendously heartfelt performances from Sägebrecht, Pounder, and Jack Palance, Bagdad Cafe remains one of the standout independent films of the '80s.

Spirit Lake is unusually deep. No diver has ever managed to find the bottom, though many have tried. When Dr. Amelia Brooks disappears during a deep-water dive, her three daughters travel home to settle her affairs. But when the half sisters jokingly summon a local ghost, their relationship begins to unravel and they find themselves drawn deeper into the mysteries of the lake.

Pater Noster and the Mission of Light tells the story of Max, a young record store clerk who stumbles upon a rare vinyl LP and is drawn into the world of a 1970s hippie commune. An invitation to the remnants of the outlandish cult and their unholy spawn leads to grave and grisly circumstances for Max and her friends. The film's producers, led by cult director Christopher Bickel, have pulled off a no-budget coup in bringing this grim vision to life, with a team of award-winning practical special effects artists and a hauntingly atmospheric score that will immerse audiences in a world of relentlessly trippy terror.

A bare-boned independent drama with brief but meaningful touches of gentle comedy, Actual People is a poignant triumph, a simple but effective voyage into the mind of a young woman trying to find herself in a world that has somehow become hostile to those who refuse to find a place within its preconceived standards. As a debut, and a film in general, Zauhar’s work here represents an auspicious start to a very promising career for someone who is likely to become an essential voice in contemporary cinema, if this film is anything to go by.

An instant critic’s darling upon its release in 2006, Mutual Appreciation is at once an utterly timeless and distinctly mid-aughts portrait of the ebb and flow of twenty-something life in New York City. Richly observed and deeply humanist, the film follows Alan (Justin Rice), an aspiring musician, who crash-lands in town following the breakup of his band in Boston, immediately taking up with his old friends Ellie (Rachel Clift) and Lawrence (writer-director Andrew Bujalski) while negotiating the affections of a local radio DJ (Seung-Min Lee). In the tradition of Éric Rohmer, John Cassavetes and Jacques Rivette, Bujalski crafts a deft yet unassuming generational statement that finds its inspiration less in plot than in sharply drawn relationships and captivating conversations. Lovingly lensed in intimate 16mm black & white film, Mutual Appreciation is a generous and witty ode to the friendships that hallmark our awkward and enthralling post-collegiate years. Mutual Appreciation, along with 2002’s equally lauded Funny Ha Ha, signaled the triumphant arrival of indie auteur Bujalski, who has gone on to write and direct a suite of critically acclaimed features including Beeswax (2009), Computer Chess (2013), Results (2015) and 2018’s Support the Girls.

ANIMALS tells the story of a young couple that exist somewhere between homelessness and the fantasy life they imagine for themselves. Though they masterfully con and steal in an attempt to stay one step ahead of their addiction, they are ultimately forced to face the reality of their situation.

Directed by Giuseppe Andrews. the subject of Giuseppe Makes A Movie, in 2007. Two guys with badass haircuts are stuck in a lavish motel room and are broke, desperate, and slowly going insane. In fact, after watching a kangaroo fight on television, they make a pact to kill themselves at checkout time.

October, 2008. Young nun Colleen (Addison Timlin) is avoiding all contact from her family, until an email from her mother (Ally Sheedy) announces, Your brother is home. On returning to her childhood home in Asheville, NC, she finds her old room exactly how she left it: painted black and covered in goth/metal posters. Her parents are happy enough to see her, but unease and awkwardness abounds. Her brother is living as a recluse in the guesthouse since returning home from the Iraq war. During Colleen's visit, tensions rise and fall with a little help from Halloween, pot cupcakes, and GWAR. Little Sister is a sad comedy about family, a schmaltz-free, pathos-drenched, feel-good movie for the little goth girl inside us all.

Videofilia (and Other Viral Syndromes) begins with a teenage misfit spending her first days out of school slacking, experimenting with drugs and cyberspace. She meets Junior online. He’s an aspiring amateur porn dealer, who's into conspiracy theories and is convinced that the Mayan Apocalypse is happening. Once they meet in the 'real world,' a series of bizarre events unfold in this contemporary non-love story portraying postmodern Lima as a glitchy computer virus full of corruption, psychedelia and ancient ruins.

Empty Metal follows five groups of characters, each emblematic of a different extreme political ideology, as they attempt insurrection against the status quo: a queer noise band is coerced into a dangerous assassination plot by a family of militant Native Americans who are aided by a Rastafarian computer hacker who is old friends with a Buddhist hermit whose son is a local militia leader. This tangled web of marginalized voices is as diverse and contradictory as the nation that spun it, but there is a common thread: all the characters teeter on the dull knife blade that is contemporary American politics, but they refuse to fall right or left. Instead, they lash out from the soul, and under the radar, in an attempt to achieve what their mainstream predecessors have yet to accomplish.

Vacation! is an existential beach party movie about life, death, sex and drugs. When four college friends reunite for a girls’ week at the beach, it’s all bikinis, piña coladas and dance parties at first. But the fun soon fades away… After procuring a psychotropic drug from a sketchy surfer dude, the girls take a very strange trip into the abyss.

For many, Peter Anton's house embodies an end-of-life nightmare: the utility companies long ago shut off the heat and electricity, the floorboards are rotting, and the detritus of a chaotic life is precariously stacked to the ceiling. But for the filmmakers Dan Rybicky and Aaron Wickenden, Anton's home is a treasure trove, a startling collection of unseen and fascinating paintings, drawings, and notebooks, not to mention Anton himself, a character worthy of his own reality TV show.

A Kind of Professionalism, a new video interview with Andrew Bujalski.

Pickle is an ode to man's capacity to care for all creatures throughout their sometimes greatly protracted existence until their occasionally sudden and unfortunate demise.

When Joy's fairytale romance crashes and burns on the eve of her 35th birthday, the TICK-TOCK of her biological clock pushes her to try new things.

The city of Cleveland was abuzz on September 27, 1986. Over 1.5 million balloons were about to be released at once, breaking the world record. What could go wrong?

A village engulfed by the 1950 Red River flood experiences a surreal resurrection.

Two gallery employees realize they've made a huge mistake and race to fix it before anyone finds out.

Everyone freaks out at a Christmas party when Kim goes missing.

Elaine, a beautiful young witch, is determined to find a man to love her. In her gothic Victorian apartment she makes spells and potions, and then picks up men and seduces them. However, her spells work too well, leaving her with a string of hapless victims. When she finally meets the man of her dreams, her desperation to be loved will drive her to the brink of insanity and murder. With a visual style that pays tribute to Technicolor thrillers of the ‘60s, THE LOVE WITCH explores female fantasy and the repercussions of pathological narcissism.

WILD COMBINATION is director Matt Wolf’s visually absorbing portrait of the seminal avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist, and disco producer Arthur Russell. Before his untimely death from AIDS in 1992, Arthur prolifically created music that spanned both pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art. Now, over fifteen years since his passing, Arthur's work is finally finding its audience. Wolf incorporates rare archival footage and commentary from Arthur's family, friends, and closest collaborators—including Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg—to tell this poignant and important story.

From Lance Bangs and Spike Jonze comes a deeply moving tribute to Maurice Sendak, a seminal talent whose conflicts with success and lifelong obsession with death have subtly influenced his work. Sendak was best known for WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, which he wrote twelve years into his career as a writer and illustrator. The WILD THINGS book would go on to become one of the most beloved and critically lauded children's books of all time and, much to Sendak's chagrin, would come to define his career.