AFI Docs 2018 Overview

Festival:
The 16th AFI Docs

Dates:
June 13-17

About:
This Washington DC event showcases approximately 50 documentary features.

While the bulk of its lineup includes a well-curated mix of films that have debuted at other notable events, the fest offers a few world premieres, including Opening Night Film PERSONAL STATEMENT, by Juliane Dressner and Edwin Martinez, which follows three high school seniors who become de facto college guidance counselors in the absence of official school support. The event’s Closing Night Film is Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown’s Tribeca debut on African American skating rink culture, UNITED SKATES, while Centerpieces are Rory Kennedy’s Discovery Channel profile ABOVE AND BEYOND: NASA’S JOURNEY TO TOMORROW, and Steve James’ Sundance-premiering docuseries AMERICA TO ME, presented in conjunction with the festival’s annual Charles Guggenheim Symposium celebrating the work of a notable documentarian.

Among AFI Docs’ other world premieres are: Patrick Creadon’s HESBURGH, a portrait of the longtime University of Notre Dame president who served as a counselor to presidents and other influential figures; Natalie Metzger and Michael Rohrbaugh’s ALONE IN THE GAME, spotlighting the emergence of out queer and trans athletes in competitive sports; Mark Jonathan Harris’ FOSTER, focused on LA’s child protection agency, the largest in the country; and Erik Nelson’s THE COLD BLUE, a meditation on war composed of archival film of B-17 bombers shot by William Wyler.