Four engaging short films about people live life fully and on their own terms. Stay after the films for a Q&A with filmmakers.

Show starts 7:30pm

$15 (or festival pass) / $12 senior or student with ID / Tickets: https://albanyfilmfest.org/2022-thursday-october-13

Cheri Gaulke, MISS ALMA THOMAS: A LIFE IN COLOR (Documentary Short, 20:00) Alma W. Thomas lived a life of firsts: the first Fine Arts graduate of Howard University (1924), the first Black woman to mount a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1972), and the first Black woman to have her paintings exhibited in the White House (2009). Yet she did not receive national attention until she was 80. This film explores Thomas’ incredible life through the lens of curators, art specialists, scholars, her family, and award-winning actress Alfre Woodard as the voice of Miss Thomas. Trailer

Khalid Akil White, Dana TherActivist Johnson THERACTIVIST: THEY, THEM, THEIRS (Documentary, 30 min). A Black transmasculine and nonbinary social worker and community leader who uses intersectional "therapeutic activism" or TherActivism to create positive change. Filmed in the Bay Area. This compelling and personal documentary portrays Johnson's childhood in Oakland, their “coming out” experience, and their advocacy work for the Black LGBTQIA+ community. Trailer

Ian Kim, THE WHITE ROSE (Animated Short, Youth 13-17, 2:30) The story of the German students who resisted the Nazis by distributing incendiary leaflets.

David Baram, BALL AND VASE (Narrative Short, 31:59) When an ailing and widowed 92-year-old magician (Austin Pendleton) learns his grandson will not be visiting for his last Christmas, he struggles to reconnect with the world — and himself — one last time, by attempting to perform at a local pub that he used to visit with his wife. Trailer

Thanks to Alan Kaplan for underwriting this screening.