An aspiring corrido composer from the drug capital of Mexico faces two choices to better his life: to traffic drugs or to cross the border illegally into the United States. From Sinaloa, Mexico, to the streets of South Central and East L.A., Al Otro Lado explores the complex world of drug smuggling, illegal immigration, and the corrido music that chronicles it all.

Have you ever wondered why Jews and Rastafarians share the same Star of David and references to Zion? Awake Zion is a story about unsuspecting cultural convergences. Through music, interviews, history, and performance, this film investigates the symbols, laws, culture, and themes shared by two communities that might appear to be on opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum.

Arranged marriages are a traditional custom in many societies. In rural Kyrgyzstan, bride kidnapping is a common practice that continues despite its illegal status. This film offers unprecedented access to four women's stories, documenting their abductions in harrowing detail-from their tearful protests to their physical restraint, to the tense negotiations between the respective families. While some of the marriages conclude happily or peacefully, others do not, and this sensitively crafted film portrays complicated notions about the nature of love and marriage.

By the mid-60s, the feminist movement in the West was advancing women's reproductive rights, but in Romania under the Ceausescu regime, women's reproductive rights were being managed by the state. Decree 770 criminalized contraception and abortion for women under the age of 40 unless they were already raising at least four children. This film interweaves state propaganda, documentary, and feature films with the candid testimony of public figures, gynecologists, and back-street abortionists to highlight the devastating consequences for women and their families.

This award-winning film is an animated tribute to Canadian animator Ryan Larkin. Thirty years ago, at the National Film Board of Canada, Ryan produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. But today, Ryan lives on welfare and panhandles for spare change in downtown Montreal. We hear the voice of Ryan himself, along with others who have known him, as well as see excerpts from his films. How could such an artistic genius end up in this situation?

This experimental documentary looks at the outsourcing of American jobs to India. Told from the perspective of an Indian immigrant living in the U.S., the film journeys into India's call centers, where telemarketers acquire American names and accents to service the telephone-support industry of the U.S. The film incorporates animation, live action, and archival footage to explore the complexities of globalization, capitalism, and identity.

Experimental filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt uses the phenomenon of "phantom limb syndrome" as a metaphor to explore his feelings about the death of his younger brother forty years ago. The film transposes reflections on grief and loss into chapters that refer to various stages of mourning. Blending family photos with archival footage and interviews, the film merges the personal with the universal, and the emotional with the psychological, underscoring the impermanence that we all face.

Sheree Farmer, a single mother of six living in a struggling neighborhood in Newark, faces the challenges of buying her first home with the help of a fashion industry executive turned social worker. Her story, as she attempts to achieve the American dream, is an intimate and touching commentary on race, class, and the future of America's cities.

From the maker of Mead Festival favorites -- Cannibal Tours and Cunnamulla -- comes a film about Afghanistan, land mines, survival, and love. It chronicles the love story of Habiba and Shah, two land-mine victims living together in Kabul and struggling to make ends meet. Part observational film and part essay, Land Mines is an anti-war film set in a country whose name has become synonymous with conflict.