2024 Teaneck International Film Festival Documentary Series
The 2024 TIFF documentary series will be offered in January, February, March, and May.
Location
Online
About this event
- 98 days 2 hours
Join us for our 2024 series of films presented this winter and spring through the continued partnership between TIFF, The Puffin Foundation Ltd., PBS, and Indie Lens Pop-Up, a neighborhood series that brings people together for film screenings and community-driven conversations. Featuring PBS Independent Lens documentaries, Indie Lens Pop-Up brings residents, leaders, and organizations together to discuss what matters most, from newsworthy topics and social issues, to family and community relationships. Make friends, share stories, and join the conversation.
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Razing Liberty Square | Wed, Jan 24, 2024, at 7:30pm EST
By Katja Esson and Ann Bennett
The Liberty Square public housing community in Miami becomes ground zero for climate gentrification.
Description: Liberty City, Miami, was home to one of the oldest segregated public housing projects in the U.S. Now with rising sea levels, the neighborhood’s higher ground has become something else: real estate gold. Wealthy property owners push inland to higher ground, creating a speculators’ market in the historically Black neighborhood previously ignored by developers and policy-makers alike.
(Razing Liberty Square premieres on Independent Lens on Monday, January 29, 2024)
The evening will open with a screening of The 21 Film Series: Middlesex County short film from NJ PBS. The documentary shares the story of Middlesex County resident Celmira Cordero, an immigrant whose own challenges of overcoming language barriers and poor living conditions fueled her quest to educate and empower residents with resources through New Brunswick Tomorrow.
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Breaking the News | Wed, Feb 28, 2024, at 7:30pm EST
By Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston, Chelsea Hernandez, and Diane M. Quon
Women and LGBTQ+ journalists launch startup The 19th* to buck a broken news media system.
Description: Who decides which stories get told? A scrappy group of women and LGBTQ+ journalists buck the white male-dominated status quo, banding together to launch The 19th*, a digital news startup aiming to combat misinformation. A story of an America in flux, and the voices often left out of the narrative, the documentary Breaking the News shows change doesn’t come easy.
(Breaking the News premieres on Independent Lens on Monday, February 19, 2024)
The evening kicks off with a screening of The 21 Film Series: Warren County short film from NJ PBS. With unwavering love and courage, Laura Zhang Choi of Warren County embodies the change she wants to see: inclusive communities that embrace diversity, where everyone's stories are valued. A champion of educational equity, safe spaces, LGBTQ inclusion, and mental health awareness, she strives for a brighter tomorrow, free of conditions and qualifications for belonging.
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Matter of Mind: My Parkinson's | Wed, Mar 27, 2024, at 7:30pm EDT
By Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green
Three individuals navigate their lives with determination in the face of Parkinson’s disease.
Description: Three people—a political cartoonist, a mother turned boxing coach, and an optician—navigate their lives with resourcefulness and determination in the face of a degenerative illness, Parkinson’s disease.
(Matter of Mind: My Parkinson's premieres on Independent Lens on Monday, April 8, 2024)
The 21 Film Series: Union County documentary short from NJ PBS opens the evening with the story of Union resident Kashinda Marche. As a new mom, Marche faced a life-altering HIV diagnosis. She shifted her mindset, battled mental health struggles, and discovered her authentic self, fueling her mission to combat stigma and a passion for community outreach in Rahway through her 'Kreative on Purpose' program, aimed at empowering others.
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The Tuba Thieves | Wed, May 1, 2024, at 7:30pm EDT
By Alison O’Daniel
What does it mean to listen? An exploration of musicality set against a theft.
Description: Between 2011 and 2013, tubas were stolen from high schools across Southern California. Against this backdrop, hard of hearing filmmaker Alison O'Daniel generates new sensitivity to sound and meaning in an unconventional documentary experience.
(The Tuba Thieves premieres on Independent Lens on Monday, May 20, 2024)
There will be an opening screening of The 21 Film Series: Gloucester County from NJ PBS. Hear the story of Gloucester resident Anna Baldwin, who embraced her journey with Tourette Syndrome and has been educating others since her initial diagnosis in sixth grade. Through soccer and the TOPSports program, she found refuge—a space to connect with and inspire special needs children, encouraging them to embrace their uniqueness.