School Life (99 min) Directed by Neasa Ní Chianáin, Co-Directed by David Rane August 31, 2017 Full Frame Theater @ American Tobacco Film starts at 7:00 pm, Doors open at 6:30 pm Free, ticket required For more than 40 years, John and Amanda Leyden have taught children at Headfort, a rare Irish primary-age boarding school. When the film opens, the new school year is just beginning. Boys and girls bid farewell to their parents, the pangs of…

Read this exclusive Q+A with director Jonathan Olshefski about the making of QUEST.         QUEST (105 minutes) Directed by Jonathan Olshefski September 21, 2017 Hayti Heritage Center Film starts at 7:00 pm, Doors open at 6:30 pm Free, ticket required Filmed over the course of ten years, QUEST is a thoughtful and nuanced observation of the Rainey family—led by father Christopher (“Quest”) and mother Christine (“Ma”). From the start, first-time filmmaker Jonathan…

Read this exclusive Q+A with director James Payne about the making of Far Western. Far Western (83 minutes) Directed by James Payne September 28, 2017 The Cary Theater Film starts at 7:00 pm, Doors open at 6:30 pm Free, ticket required Country and western music may be the soulful sound of the mountain, far, and Deep South, but after World War II, it also shaped a generation growing up in the Far East. Far Western is a…

I Am Not Your Negro (93 minutes) Directed by Raoul Peck October 5, 2017 The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Film starts at 7:00 pm, Doors open at 6:30 pm Free, ticket required 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,…

The Cinema Travellers (96 minutes) Directed by Shirley Abraham, Amit Madheshiya October 19, 2017 The Cary Theater Film starts at 7:00 pm, Doors open at 6:30 pm Free, ticket required   For seven decades, villages across India have gathered to await the wonder of the traveling cinemas, and the magic of the movies that they bring. In the Cannes prize-winning documentary The Cinema Travellers, directors Shirley Abraham and Amit Madheshiya journey across India with traveling cinemas.…

Brooklyn Castle  (102 minutes) Directed by Katie Dellamaggiore November 28, 2017 The Carolina Theatre Film starts at 11:00 am, Doors open at 10:30 am Free for Durham Public School teachers and students. Please contact education@fullframefest.org for more information. Brooklyn Castle tells the compelling stories of five members of the chess team at junior high school I.S. 318 in Brooklyn, that has won more national championships than any other in the country. The film follows the challenges…

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail Directed by Steve James In the 1980s, Thomas Sung was a busy lawyer in New York City, but he saw a need. There was no bank serving the Chinese immigrant community. Motivated to help, Sung founded Abacus Federal Savings Bank in Manhattan’s Chinatown. In the decades that followed, his daughters joined him at the family company, and the business grew. And then, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis,…

Strong Island Directed by Yance Ford In 1992 filmmaker Yance Ford’s older brother William was fatally shot during an argument with an auto mechanic. When the white assailant goes unindicted for the killing of the young black Long Island schoolteacher, the Ford family, like an appalling number of families in the years that follow, faces life-altering grief and incomprehensible outrage. A formally inventive investigation and memoir, the film unearths histories both personal and procedural and…

JANE Directed by Brett Morgen Drawing from over 100 hours of never-before-seen footage that has been tucked away in the National Geographic archives for over 50 years, award-winning director Brett Morgen tells the story of JANE, a woman whose chimpanzee research challenged the male-dominated scientific consensus of her time and revolutionized our understanding of the natural world. Set to a rich orchestral score from legendary composer Philip Glass, the film offers an unprecedented, intimate portrait…

Join us April 5 – 8, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight doc fest of over 100 films, panel conversations, and southern hospitality. The festival landscape is extremely walkable. In fact, it’s only a 10-minute walk end to end. Here are some tips on how to navigate the festival landscape. Visit the VENUES page for: Location and seating capacity of screening venues Location and hours for the Festival Box Office and Pass Pick…