How Far Is Heaven
Miriam Smith and Christopher Pryor
2012 | 99 minutes | New Zealand
U.S. Premiere | Directors in Attendance
This is a story of powerful dualities: Maori and Christian spirituality, gang parties and prayers, pig hunting and perfume appreciation. It unfolds in an isolated village known both as Jerusalem and Hiruharama, home for the last 120 years to New Zealand’s only homegrown Catholic order, the Sisters of Compassion. Through the four seasons, the film focuses on Sister Margaret Mary, the newest sister, as she and the other two remaining sisters engage with the broader community. Conflicting feelings arise as their daily spiritual practices meet those of the Maori community, as the juxtaposition reveals parallel but ultimately fundamentally different approaches to navigating the harsh realities of life.Queen of the Desert
Alex Kelly
2012 | 28 minutes | Australia
New York Premiere | Director in Attendance
Starlady Nungari, a real-life Priscilla Queen of the Desert, is a flamboyant hairdresser trainer and youth worker who, armed with only a bottle of bleach, a pair of scissors, and an irrepressible nature, first opened a salon in the indigenous community of Kintore in Central Australia. Now she takes her show on the road, traveling thousands of miles to bring her mobile hair workshops to some of Australia’s most isolated teenagers. Her efforts to engage the kids in Areyonga, a remote Pitjantjatjara town, reveal the ongoing battle with depression and drug abuse that besets the entire region. Will she be able to pull off Areyonga’s first-ever fashion show against the odds?