New Releases from New Day Films - Fall 2024
The new additions in New Day Films’ fall collection – available for educational licensing through our website – are extraordinary for the actions taken by the protagonists therein.
Each is a story about great, sometimes life-threatening conflict– due to race prejudice, between enemy nationalities, of individuals against an oppressive system, even within extended families. We come to see what is possible when the human heart, combined with faith in humanity, ingenuity and the courage to take action, can lead to an uplifting reconciliation, even in the most challenging of situations.
Like the other titles in our catalog, our new additions illuminate, inspire and challenge.
We invite you to watch trailers and learn more about these films:
Higher Power, by Dewey Ortiz and Rafi Aliya Crockett. 63 min.
The District of Columbia voted to legalize cannabisnand many Black Washingtonians relied on the law to carve out space for themselves and their businesses. Higher Power reveals how Congress thwarted local democracy, creating the paradox that weed is legal, but you can’t acquire it the way you’d buy anything else.
The Last Thing Lost, by Jake Siam Solomon, 42 min.
Sarith Ou's narrow escape from the Khmer Rouge genocide took him on an improbable journey to small-town Wisconsin. His past still haunted him. After becoming a leader in the Cambodian & refugee community, he felt a call to do more. He returned home to Cambodia with his new friend Roger, a Vietnam veteran turned psychologist, and the two set out to bring hope to rural Cambodia, while healing their own decades-old wounds.
An Act of Conscience(Digitally Remastered 4K Version) by Robbie Leppzer, 90 min.
For fourteen years, Randy Kehler and Betsy Corner of Colrain, Massachusetts publicly refused to pay federal taxes as a protest against war and military spending. Their home was seized by U.S. marshals and IRS agents while the couple was joined by hundreds of supporters from across the country, including noted activist priest Fr. Daniel Berrigan and folksinger Pete Seeger in a political and moral battle much larger than what they originally bargained for.
Samurai in the Oregon Sky, by Ilana Sol, 48 min.
Japanese pilot Nobuo Fujita conducted the only manned aerial bombings of the U.S. mainland during WWII. He never dreamed he would one day meet and reconcile with the American civilians who lived in the area of his former target. “An exceptional film, … a beautiful story of peace and reconciliation.” Audience Award - New York Japan Cinefest. (Available in English and Japanese language versions.)
Newly-released short films:
Always Danny, by Tomer Keysar, 36 min.
Tomer Keysar's brother was killed in 1998 from a defective crib. Decades later, filmmaker Keysar reconstructs this harrowing story, which explores both the legacy of trauma within his heartbroken family and his parents' inspiring fight against the juvenile product safety system for adequate protective manufacturing laws.
Someone You Should Meet, by Salome Chasnoff and Debra Chasnoff, 30 min.
Two filmmakers who only recently discovered they were related organize an extended family gathering. Intimate cinéma verité footage explores their shared history and evolving sense of Jewish identity punctuated with up-close, engaging interviews that reveal backstories both painful and profound. Someone You Should Meet offers a primer on how to throw a family reunion. But ultimately, it is a story of the power of belonging.