SF/Arts Curator Insight

One of its strongest slates to date, UNAFF’s 60 social justice docs cover everything from the fate of Julian Assange and Roma jazz trumpeters in South Serbia to Hong Kong’s last days of freedom. Rebellion is the name of the game in “The Day Iceland Stood Still.” The title alludes to the bold strike for gender equality by the country’s women on one crucial day, in 1975, when 90% of them walked out of their homes and off the job, bringing their nation to a standstill. “Giants Rising” reveals secrets of the coastal redwoods, the tallest and oldest living things on Earth, silent witnesses that some view as mythical beings, while “Hollywoodgate” recounts the consequences of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, when we abandoned $7 billion in U.S. weapons and left the population, especially the women, at the mercy of the Taliban.