Guido seeks peace after his success but faces pressure from past collaborators. As he struggles with creativity, he reflects on his life and past romances.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: A CENTURY IN SOUND is a six part documentary that tells a 100-year history of Tokyo through music and memory, done so through the “unique-to-Japan” cultural phenomenon of music focused establishments known collectively as “ONGAKU KISSA” (lit. “music cafes”). Places where local residents have gathered for decades to give reverence to the music they love. From the “meikyoku kissa” (classical music cafes) that first sprung up in Tokyo in the early years of the Showa era (1920s / 1930s), to the “jazz kissa” that spread across the capital and beyond after Japan was defeated in World War II, to the “rock kissa” of the 1970s right through to the more contemporary iterations of more modern times, these have traditionally been spaces that are built with the sole purpose of serving the community with music. Not just showcasing this incredible culture to an audience outside of Japan for the very first time, the series explores the universal themes of what role music plays in our lives, be it holding the key to some of our most cherished memories, how it brings us together, how it shapes our identity and, for some of us, is our entire reason for living. The series also invites us to question our own relationship with music as listening habits have changed over the past two decades as the world marched towards a digital future where streaming and the AI revolutions have most certainly transformed the role that music plays in modern society. NY Premiere.

The improbable life of French poet Arthur Rimbaud unfolds with all the shock and playfulness of his poetry.

An ambitious young musician's life becomes entwined with that of his reclusive master in director Alain Corneau’s haunting portrait of composer Marin Marais and his teacher, Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. With a landmark score by Jordi Savall–whose viola da gamba recordings inspired novelist Pascal Quignard’s original story–Tous les Matins du Monde is a transporting meditation on artistic devotion, memory, and longing. Curated by Kamron Saniee and Emilie Meyer, the film will be preceded by a live performance and presentation of Baroque-era instruments by gambist Marc Armitano Domingo.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: This fascinating documentary profiles Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton as a blues powerhouse who shook American music to its core. Towering in voice and presence, she made “Hound Dog” a #1 hit before Elvis ever sang it, and her ferocious “Ball & Chain” launched Janis Joplin’s career. Defying gender norms in jeans, boots, and cowboy hat, Big Mama captivated audiences with raw energy, humor, and soul. From Alabama juke joints to European festivals, she lived hard, sang harder, and left an indelible mark on rock, R&B, and the blues. NY Premiere. Filmmaker Q&A following screening.

Billy Preston was 5 years old when he backed gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. Over the following six-decade career, Billy contributed his signature sound to the greatest artists of his time, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Barbra Streisand, Sly Stone, Ray Charles, Rufus, Eric Clapton, and others, while establishing himself as a GRAMMY-winning solo artist. Despite his success, Billy struggled to reconcile his deep relationship with the Black church with his sexuality, setting off a lifelong quest to find love and acceptance.

A young boy attempts to convince a woman that he is her dead husband reborn.

A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior. Presented by Brain Dead Studios. Pop-up shop open 30 minutes prior to screening. Doors: 7:30PM Showtime: 8PM

Set against the backdrop of World War II, Humphrey Bogart stars as Rick Blaine, the owner of a nightclub in Vichy-controlled Casablanca, whose life changes forever when his lost love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), walks into his club and back into his life.

When Nicole met handsome, charming, affectionate David, he was everything. It seemed perfect, but soon she sees that David has a darker side. And his adoration turns to obsession, their dream into a nightmare, and her love into fear.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: A story of defiance, creativity, and the search for freedom, and a cinematic portrait of Felix Leu, artist and patriarch of one of the most iconic and respected families on the international tattooing scene: the Leu Family, a bohemian clan that turned freedom and creativity into their way of life. Son of painter Eva Aeppli and assistant to Jean Tinguely, Felix grew up in Paris’s vibrant 1960s art world before embracing the revolutionary counterculture of the Beat Generation. In New York he met his lifelong partner, Loretta, and together they chose a nomadic path, raising four children while rejecting conformity and living with only time as their true wealth. In the late 1970s, Felix discovered tattooing, first as a way to support their travels, then as a form of expression in which he became a pioneer, founding what would become the legendary Leu Family Iron. Loretta’s voice guides us through their extraordinary journey through hardship, love, and enduring commitment to artistic exploration. More than a film about tattooing, this is a meditation on independence, identity, and daring to remain true to one’s dreams. Filmmaker Q&A following screening.

FISHIN 4 LUV is an interactive live catfishing comedy show where Ivy, Roey, and a panel of guests catfish men on a hookup and dating app to see how far being horny can go!

An unemployed cartoonist moves back in with his parents and younger brother Freddy. When his parents demand that he leave, he spreads rumors that his father is sexually abusing Freddy.

A young woman seeks to break a curse by raising $1000 for psychics in a pre-millennium alternate universe. She navigates the seedy underbelly of Trashtown via scooter, encountering bizarre characters along the way.

An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: Dónal Lunny is one of Ireland’s most outstanding artists, and this is the first film account of his life – a portrait that explores his peerless contribution to Irish culture and music. A founding member of Planxty, The Bothy Band and Moving Hearts, he played a central role in reviving and transforming Irish traditional and folk music for new generations. In this moving portrait, music fuses with the arc of Lunny’s biographical journey, and explores how pivotal moments in his creative and personal life intersected with major cultural, political and historical shifts in Ireland and around the world. The film also features rare and powerful performances, including an emotive reunion with Christy Moore. NY Premiere. Q&A following screening.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: Köln Tracks: The Legend of Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert The Köln Concert is one of the most legendary recordings in jazz history — the best-selling solo jazz album ever made. Yet the performance behind it almost didn’t happen. This documentary retraces Keith Jarrett’s famous 1975 concert in Cologne, where a series of unexpected obstacles — including a problematic piano and an exhausted musician — nearly caused the event to collapse. Through an investigation into the mysterious instrument and the fragmented memories of those involved, the film explores how a concert expected to be disastrous became an iconic recording. Blending storytelling and inquiry, it reveals how chance, limitation and improvisation can spark moments of extraordinary artistic creation. World Premiere.

Two friends start a concession stand at the foot of the Statue of Liberty. After the World Trade Center attacks, each of their dreams go up in smoke and yet they must endure the effect the attacks have on their lives.

An evening of phantasmagoria! Experimental projections and live music… Musical performances by Nathan Pittman, Luke Rathborne, & Elsie Fisher

An intimate, unconventional portrait of Marc Jacobs, crafted by Sofia Coppola to capture the genius and singular universe of the iconic American designer.

Five "disreputable" women from Brooklyn meet in the late-afternoon hours to throw back half-price drink specials and bitch uninhibitedly about life, libidos and lactation.

Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.

After a car crash kills her boyfriend, piano student Laura is taken in by Betty, who witnessed the accident. Living with Betty's family brings comfort, but Laura starts questioning their intentions as time passes.

Follows a wealthy New York City teenager who, eager to impress his activist crush, follows an online connection to Texas where he believes he can stop an act of extreme violence.

Marion is about to divorce from her husband and takes her 15-year-old niece Pauline on a vacation to Granville. She meets an old love...

As filmmaking grew into a popular and profitable medium, the ancient art of puppetry enjoyed a brand new resurgence. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, some animators created stop-motion films in which puppets came to life and magically moved on their own. Filmmakers also made more straightforward films featuring live marionettes and hand puppet performances. A bit later, when early television producers needed quick and affordable entertainment for child-oriented programming, show runners looked towards hand puppets and marionettes for an easy solution. Roxy Cinema hereby presents our 12th 'Peculiar Puppets' retrospective of forgotten vintage short films featuring hand puppets, ventriloquist dolls, marionettes, and stop motion creatures—all filmed in the 1930s through the 1970s. This peculiar potpourri of unnamed surprises is programmed by early animation archivist and historian Tommy José Stathes, and prints are hand-selected from his personal 16mm film archive. Warning: You may find some of the offerings to be rather unsettling, and possibly even creepy! 90-minute film presentation includes an intermission and will be followed by a live Q&A session with Stathes.

A team of commandos on a mission in a Central American jungle find themselves hunted by an extraterrestrial warrior.

The Lunachicks, an all-female punk band renowned for their unabashed humor and unwavering pro-women ethos, made their mark on NYC’s underground music scene in the ‘90s. A rollercoaster of drugs, romances, and creative conflicts ultimately led to their 2000 breakup, but can love of the music reunite them for one last show? Buoyed by energetic storytelling, gritty '80s-'90s nightclub footage, insightful interviews, and high-voltage performances, this is a must-watch for music history enthusiasts.

An irreverent biopic vividly realized through fantastic psychedelia and handmade sets with an ever-topical feminist approach, Revelations of Divine Love is inspired by and adapted from the memoir of 14th-century mystic and philosopher Julian of Norwich and an account of religious ecstasy, plague, and revolt considered to be the first book to be authored by a woman in English. The film envisions the life of Julian in the lead up to her anchorage—through her illness and the onset of her godly visions—and follows her through the years as she indulges in her desire to write and becomes a revered and holy figure to those in her town and beyond the city walls.

Slacker, directed by Richard Linklater, presents a day in the life of a loose-knit Austin, Texas, subculture populated by eccentric and overeducated young people. Shooting on 16 mm for a mere $23,000, writer-producer-director Linklater and his crew of friends threw out any idea of a traditional plot, choosing instead to create a tapestry of over a hundred characters, each as compelling as the last. Slacker is a prescient look at an emerging generation of aggressive nonparticipants, and one of the key films of the American independent film movement of the 1990s.

A lonely Frankenstein (Bale) travels to 1930s Chicago to ask groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious (five-time Oscar nominee Annette Bening) to create a companion for him. The two revive a murdered young woman and The Bride (Buckley) is born. What ensues is beyond what either of them imagined: Murder! Possession! A wild and radical cultural movement! And outlaw lovers in a wild and combustible romance!

A happily engaged couple is put to the test when an unexpected turn sends their wedding week off the rails.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: Award-winning visual artist Tony Foster has spent nine of the past thirty-five years living in a tadpole tent, using his art as a platform to advocate for the conservation of wild land and raise awareness of climate change. Part explorer, part artist, he routinely risks his life to find the perfect undiscovered landscape. He does not use photography or sketches but paints on site, often in the most difficult weather and uncomfortable circumstances. On one occasion, Foster spent twenty-three days in the Grand Canyon at a single location. His paintings are not simply landscapes: by their inclusion of written notes and symbolic objects, they record his observations and experiences creating a visual diary of his experiences. In 2001, the Royal Geographical Society awarded Foster the Cherry Kearton Medal for artistic portrayal of the world’s wilderness areas. From 2019 to 2023, David Schendel and his film crew shadowed him, culminating in an eight-day, 100-mile canoe exploration of the Green River Wilderness to its confluence with the Colorado River in Utah. Responding to the necessities of shooting far from electrical outlets, Painting at the Edge is one of the only fully solar powered documentary productions ever completed. Together, Foster and Schendel have created an impressively adventurous and intimate filmic portrait. NY Premiere. Filmmaker Q&A following screening.

A screening of 4 shorts and a series, all focused on modern life. Presented by SARA’S and the Roxy Cinema. Featuring “Art Boy” by Taylor Ervin, “Our Friend Just Died” by Asher Bentley and Clay Mills, “Little People” by Creston Brown, “My Soul is a Cage on the Outside of My Body” by Clay Mills, and “Beautiful Room in Vibrant And Cultural Neighborhood — Available Immediately” by Jesse Zhou. Modern life does not satisfy. The happiness we make for ourselves is ersatz, filling in for a mythical good life, which for the most part, no one is really interested in anymore. How then, do people continue to live, despite it all? This is a survey of new American filmmaking at a time when the way people have lived the past 40 years is in the midst of breaking down, making way for something new. These four films and one series take narrative, observation and humor as their methods to find where life is not meeting its own parameters, leaving the audience with one question: “why do I live like this?”