The 2019 GlobeDocs Film Festival is Coming to the Coolidge

The annual GlobeDocs Film Festival is a six-day documentary festival designed to engage, promote, and celebrate film and production talent.

With GlobeDocs, The Boston Globe furthers its reach as an organization dedicated to shedding light on the truth by presenting the work of filmmakers near and far who are also focused on telling important stories, large and small.

The Coolidge is thrilled to host GlobeDocs again this year, with five screenings including the festival's opening and closing night films. To purchase tickets and see all the films screening at the festival, please visit their website here.

Gay Chorus Deep SouthA scene from Gay Chorus Deep South, the opening night film of the 2019 GlobeDocs film festival.

Opening Night Film: Gay Chorus Deep South

2019, USA, 100 minutes

Directed by David Charles Rodrigues

Produced by Bud Johnston, Jesse Moss

Co-Presented with Wicked Queer and Spirit Magazine

To confront a resurgence of faith-based, anti-LGBTQ laws brought about in the Trump era, conductor Tim Seelig leads 300 singers of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus on a bus tour of the deep South. The road trip forces Seelig and other Chorus members who fled the South to confront their own fears, pain, and prejudices on a journey toward reconciliation. In a time of great divide in this country, director David Charles Rodrigues reveals a timely exploration of LGBTQ issues that both challenges and reinforces notions surrounding the South.

Wednesday, October 2, 7pm

Guest: Director David Charles Rodrigues

Moderator: Linda Henry, Boston Globe managing director

Closing Night Film: Six Locked Doors

2019, USA, 69 minutes

Directed by Zachary Graves-Miller

Produced by Zachary Graves-Miller, Michele Shapiro

Six Locked Doors: The Legacy of Cocoanut Grove examines the story behind the deadliest nightclub fire in American history. On November 28, 1942, the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston attracted a mix of socialites, athletes, celebrities, and military personnel. With double the allowed occupants, locked doors, and flammable materials, the fire left 492 people dead. Featuring interviews with survivors and local notables including The Boston Globe’s Kevin Cullen and former mayor Ray Flynn, Six Locked Doors explores how corruption, greed, and a former gangster-run speakeasy led to an unimaginable tragedy.

Sunday, October 6, 7pm

Guests: Director Zachary Graves-Miller, Producer Michele Shapiro, Subject Ray Flynn

Moderator: Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen

Circus of Books

2019, USA, 92 minutes

Directed by Rachel Mason

Produced by Rachel Mason, Kathryn Robson, Cynthia Childs, Adam Baran, Camilla Hall

Co-presented with the Boston Jewish Film Festival

For over 35 years, the gay porn shop, Circus of Books, was an epicenter for LGBT life and culture in Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to many in the community it served, the store was cultivated and cared for by its owners, Karen and Barry Mason; a straight couple with three children. Circus of Books is a charming and intimate portrait of the Masons and their journey to become one of the biggest distributors of hardcore gay porn in the United States. Their incredible story unfolds through the lens of their daughter, filmmaker and artist, Rachel Mason.

Sunday, October 6, 4:30pm

Guest: TBD

Moderator: Meredith Goldstein, Boston Globe features writer

Human NatureA scene from Human Nature, screening as part of the 2019 GlobeDocs film festival.

Human Nature

2019, USA, 93 minutes

Directed by Adam Bolt

Produced by Meredith DeSalazar, Sarah Goodwin

A scientific breakthrough called CRISPR has given us unprecedented control over the basic building blocks of life. It opens the door to curing diseases, reshaping the biosphere, and designing our own children. Human Nature is a provocative exploration of CRISPR’s far-reaching implications, through the eyes of the scientists who discovered it, the families it’s affecting, and the bioengineers who are testing its limits. Featuring scientists and writers from Harvard and MIT, we now have the opportunity to see the future, our changing relationship with nature, and how genetic engineering will affect us all.

Thursday, October 3, 7:30pm

Guest: Executive Producer Elliot Kirschner

Moderator: Sharon Begley, STAT senior writer

Made in Boise

2019, USA, 84 minutes

Directed by Beth Aala

Produced by Beth Levison, Beth Aala

Co-Presented with WGBH

Made in Boise explores the unique world of surrogacy in the most unexpected of places. As the number of surrogate births surges across the country, the epicenter of the movement is Boise, Idaho, where hundreds of women are choosing to be surrogates. For gay couples, single men, and women who struggle with infertility, this booming yet unregulated industry is often the last resort to becoming a parent. Filmmaker Beth Aala intimately follows four surrogates, and the parents whose children they carry, as they navigate the rigors of pregnancy and the mixed feelings of their own families through this unique process.

Thursday, October 3, 5pm    

Guest: Producer Beth Levison

Moderator: Beth Teitell, Boston Globe features writer

To purchase tickets and see all the films screening at the festival, please visit their website here.

This Week

  • With unparalleled special effects, Stanley Kubrick's science fiction epic is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen in all its glory. 

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  • Denis Villeneuve's sequel to his Oscar winning adaptation of Frank Herbert’s seminal bestseller.

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  • Nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, from director Wim Wenders. 

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  • From writer/director Julio Torres comes a surreal adventure through the equally treacherous worlds of New York City and the U.S. Immigration system.

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  • From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story.

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  • Nobuhiko Obayashi’s deranged fairy tale is one of Japanese cinema’s wildest supernatural ventures and a truly startling debut feature.

     

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  • The Third Man

    HUNTED... By a thousand men! Haunted... By a lovely girl!

     

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  • Based on the book If It’s Not Impossible…: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton by Barbara Winton.

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  • The new horror film from Michael Mohan starring Sydney Sweeney.

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  • Giuseppe Tornatore pays tribute to Ennio Morricone in a moving and comprehensive documentary portrait of the composer.

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  • Marsha and the Positrons specialize in fun songs about science & how the world works with positive social messages! 

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  • Once you enter Silent Hill, there is no turning back.

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  • Peter Jackson brings J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings from page to screen in this epic, Academy-Award winning trilogy, in 35mm!

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  • Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Zeppo Marx are at their very best in their funniest and most popular film.

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  • Musician and Brandeis instructor James Heazlewood-Dale elucidates the musical genius of Ennio Morricone.

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  • With a thrilling score by composer Max Steiner (Casablanca)!

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