In Waves and War
(Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk)
IN WAVES AND WAR follows three former Navy SEALs living with post-combat trauma as they seek healing, hope, and a new way forward through psychedelic-assisted therapy.
IN WAVES AND WAR follows three former Navy SEALs living with post-combat trauma as they seek healing, hope, and a new way forward through psychedelic-assisted therapy.
MARLEE MATLIN: NOT ALONE ANYMORE looks back on the life and career of Marlee Matlin, the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award, and explores the complexity of carrying that history as a public first.
MERCEDES spends a day in pre-pandemic San Francisco with Mercedes Weatherford, a woman in her 70s who still works full-time. Over the course of the 12-minute portrait, she reflects on her career and life journey as the film asks what work is worth.
A NIGHT AT THE STONE BURLESK traces the story of a Jewish American family whose grandparents secretly ran Detroit's Stone Burlesk for more than fifty years. Drawing on family archives and the theater's changing block, the film looks behind the curtain at an adult theater, an illicit business, and a city in decline.
THE CROOKED EDGE is a feature-length documentary about the recent and turbulent history of New York's Lower East Side. Rising from the rubble of a neighborhood abandoned after the financial crisis of the 1970s, the film follows the diverse, determined community forged amid the urban decay of the 1980s.
THE WHITE HOUSE EFFECT uses archival material to tell the origin story of the climate crisis and the political battle inside the George H.W. Bush administration that changed the course of global warming policy.
ONE WITH THE WHALE follows an Alaska Native family after their son becomes the youngest person to harpoon a whale for his village and faces a wave of online attacks from people far removed from his community and traditions.
LAND OF GOLD goes behind the scenes of Peter Sellars' San Francisco Opera production of John Adams' Girls of the Golden West, following cast members including Julia Bullock and J'Nai Bridges as they bring the Gold Rush story to the stage.
THE SEER AND THE UNSEEN is a magic realist documentary about invisible elves, financial collapse and the surprising power of belief, told through the story of an Icelandic woman - a real life Lorax who speaks on behalf of nature under threat. Through her story, SEER explores the surprising power of belief and the invisible forces - be they elves or the market - that shape our visible worlds and transform our natural landscapes.
Facing deportation, hundreds of refugee children in Sweden are afflicted with Resignation Syndrome, withdrawing from the world into a coma-like state, sometimes for years.
Athlete A spotlights the horrific sexual abuse of hundreds of young athletes by USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, and shines an even brighter light on the team of individuals working to hold USAG and Larry Nassar accountable.
Lead Me Home follows several people living on the streets in West Coast cities over the span of three years. By weaving individual stories with aerial vistas, time-lapse photography, and evocative details of contemporary urban life, the short film aims to spark a national conversation about the epic scale of this alarming and ever-growing problem.
AUDRIE & DAISY is an urgent real-life drama that examines the ripple effects on families, friends, schools and communities when two underage young women find that sexual assault crimes against them have been caught on camera.
After bringing democracy to his island nation President Mohamed Nasheed is faced with the imminent effect climate change will have on his country. Taking to the world stage Nasheed fights for an agreement at the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Summit.
San Francisco's Jewish heritage is brought to life in this fascinating documentary. The stories of Levi Strauss, Adolph Sutro, Isaias Hellman, and others convey the unique success many Jews found in a city that embraced them as their own.
JON SHENK (director) recently co-directed ATHLETE A with his film partner, Bonni Cohen. ATHLETE A (Netflix) was selected for the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. Jon co-directed and photographed AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER (Participant Media/Paramount) which premiered on opening night of the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, was shortlisted for the 2018 Oscars, and was nominated for a 2018 BAFTA for Best Documentary. In 2016, Jon co-directed and photographed the Peabody Award-winning film AUDRIE & DAISY (Netflix), which premiered in competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. In 2011, Jon directed THE ISLAND PRESIDENT (Goldwyn Films), winner of the 2011 TIFF’s People’s Choice Award and IDA’s Pare Lorentz Award. Jon was awarded the 2004 Independent Spirit Award for directing LOST BOYS OF SUDAN (Shadow Distribution/PBS), served as the DP for the 2008 Academy Award-winning SMILE PINKI, and won an Emmy for BLAME SOMEBODY ELSE (PBS), 2007.