Basil Tsiokos is a Senior Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, focusing on nonfiction features. He was most recently with DOC NYC for nearly a decade, where he served as Director of Programming since 2014, and with the Nantucket Film Festival as its Film Program Director. Prior to those positions, Basil was the longtime Artistic and Executive Director of NewFest. He has been affiliated with Sundance since 2005 as a Programming Associate. Basil serves on the feature nominating committees for the International Documentary Association Awards and Cinema Eye Honors. He has written about documentaries daily since 2010 on what (not) to doc. Basil holds a Masters degree from New York University and two undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.
About: Boyhood dreams of treasure lead to a lifelong search when a retired missile scientist makes a monumental discovery and tempts fate for fortune as he hatches a secret plan to prove his claim.
Coming to HBO and HBO Max tomorrow, Tuesday, May 15: REVOLUTION RENT
Director: Andy Señor Jr, Victor Patrick Alvarez
World Premiere: DOC NYC 2019
Select Festivals: Miami, Key West
About: A Cuban American reconnects with his roots as he attempts to stage RENT on Cuba.
The film screened as part of DOC NYC, for which our program notes read: Theater director Andy is invited to bring the musical RENT to Cuba, his exiled parents’ homeland. Embarking on a personal journey to reclaim his complicated heritage, and to bridge cultural boundaries with Jonathan Larson’s inspiring musical, Andy is faced with the daunting task of opening the show just 12 weeks from first rehearsals. Will he be able to hone the raw young local talent he’s cast, contend with technical challenges and address RENT‘s controversial themes in Cuban society?
Select Festivals: Toronto, New York, IDFA, RIDM, Hong Kong, Busan, Jihlava, Camden, Hamburg, Denver, Glasgow, Philadelphia
About: A kaleidoscopic look at the inner workings of the city of Boston explores larger ideas about a country’s steps toward inclusivity and social reform.
About: The oldest LGBTQ film festival in the world presents just under 50 new features and episodics in a hybrid format, including approximately 20 works of nonfiction.
Select Festivals: Sundance, Human Rights Watch, Watch Docs
About: A look at how Israeli prisons have encouraged the development of the next generation of Palestinian leaders as well as future terrorist threats.