The cast of luminaries that first-time filmmaker Lisa Hurwitz assembles in documentary The Automat have one thing in common – extreme adoration for the famed Horn & Hardart eateries, whose soaring ceilings, famed coffee and wholesome vending-machine meals for a nickel dominated the food scene in Philadelphia and NYC through much of last century.

Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould, Colin Powell, Starbucks founder Howard Shultz and the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg get kind of emotional recalling the thrill of putting a coin in a slot, opening a glass window and pulling out Salisbury steak, macaroni and cheese, creamed spinach. And dessert.

CRUTCH documents Bill Shannon's extraordinary journey: the history of his medical odyssey and his struggles with chronic pain, the evolution of his crutch dancing and skating, his rise to become a world-renowned performance artist, and his transformation from an angry skate punk to an international hero. CRUTCH dives into Bill’s provocative street performances, in which he exposes the hidden world of assumptions disabled people encounter in public, on a daily basis. While the film questions his early exploitation of strangers’ good Samaritan impulses, it also marvels at Bill’s ability to create solutions and empower others to navigate similar challenges. From childhood “cripple” to international provocateur, CRUTCH is an emotional story of a one-of-a-kind artist’s struggle to be understood.

The relationship between perpetrators of organized crime and law enforcement officers has long been dramatized by crime fiction. Yet the criminal-to-cop narrative of NYPD Deputy Inspector Corey Pegues, while reading like a subplot from The Wire, is the real deal. Immersive dramatizations and interviews tell the story of Pegues’ origins as a member of NYC’s infamous Supreme Team gang and his subsequent turn towards policing, where he became the first Black commander of one of the most violent precincts in the city. A timely reflection that centres questions of police reform, Cops and Robbers is a lucid tale of dueling intrapersonal identities brought to reckoning.

Visually mesmerizing and masterfully crafted, the Oscar-nominated Ascension is a work of hypnotic genius shot in 51 locations across the People’s Republic of China. Documenting the county’s industrial supply chain without text and narration, the film interposes opposing images-wealth and poverty, movement and stasis, worker and consumer-to reveal a staggering tableau of contemporary China, its behemoth market system and the human life that flourishes within it. Dubbed “a symphony of productivity” by The New York Times and garnering universal accolades on the film festival circuit, Ascension investigates our timeless and universal questions about the paradox of economic progress.

Le 22 mai 2015, Mario s’est logé une balle de calibre 22 dans la tête. En commettant ainsi l’un des 1200 suicides qui se sont déroulés au Québec cette année-là, il a plongé ses amis et ses proches dans un tourbillon de questionnements et de profonde tristesse, celui-là même qui assaille toute personne laissée brutalement dans le deuil par un départ volontaire et irrémédiable. Mario était le meilleur et le plus vieil ami du réalisateur de ce film. Dans ce documentaire, celui-ci décrit et décortique ce qui a précédé le geste ultime de Mario, de même qu’il démonte la mécanique du désarroi vécu par sa bande d’amis tissés serrés. Par extension, c’est le récit d’une expérience troublante que chacun de nous a malheureusement vécu ou vivra.