Although the free jazz movement of the 1960s and ‘70s was much maligned in some jazz circles, its pioneers – brilliant talents like Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler, and John Coltrane – are today acknowledged as central to the evolution of jazz as America’s most innovative art form. FIRE MUSIC showcases the architects of a movement whose radical brand of improvisation pushed harmonic and rhythmic boundaries, and produced landmark albums like Coleman’s Free Jazz: A Collective Inspiration and Coltrane’s Ascension. A rich trove of archival footage conjures the 1960s jazz scene along with incisive reflections by critic Gary Giddins and a number of the movement’s key players.

Lane, Bertie and Fred once shared a polyamorous relationship in New Orleans. Lane loved Bertie, Fred loved Bertie, they had a balance that worked… until it didn’t, and Lane vanished from their lives. Two years later, Bertie and Fred have gotten married and are living at Fred’s family home in the countryside of southern France. When Lane unexpectedly shows up in Bertie’s seemingly idyllic new life, she finds her former lover much different than she remembers. Bertie is disillusioned in her jazz career, still grieving the loss of her mother, and clearly alienated in this small, white, European town. Lane attempts to recreate their old, carefree dynamic, hoping that her return might lighten Bertie’s mood — but Bertie isn’t having it. It seems time hasn’t healed all wounds… so Lane shifts her strategy when she meets Noa, a young artist and former soldier, quickly reigniting dormant jealousies.

MOGUL MOWGLI is the debut narrative feature from award-winning documentary filmmaker Bassam Tariq. It follows the story of a British Pakistani rapper (Riz Ahmed) who, on the cusp of his first world tour, is struck down by an illness that forces him to face his past, his family, and the uncertainty of his legacy.

The latest from Bruce LaBruce, Canada’s reigning “King of Kink," follows Dominic, a young man with a fetish… for himself. Nothing turns him on more than his reflection, with much of his time spent taking Polaroid selfies. When his loving grandmother dies, he discovers a deep family secret: his lesbian mother didn’t die in childbirth and he has a twin brother, Daniel, raised in a remote monastery by a depraved priest, held captive against his will! The power of destiny brings together the two beautiful, identical brothers, who, after being reunited with their mother Beatrice, are soon embroiled in a blasphemous web of sex, revenge and redemption. Set in the early 1970s and the afterglow of sexual liberation, SAINT-NARCISSE is a love letter to the psychosexual thrillers of that era. Elegant visuals are combined with LaBruce’s notorious punk provocations in “a wild ride that’s enjoyable in all its B-movie glory while also titillating the intellect” (The Hollywood Reporter).

Featuring seven stories from seven auteurs from around the world, the film chronicles this unprecedented moment in time, and is a true love letter to the power of cinema and its storytellers.

Master filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse, Cure, Tokyo Sonata) won the Silver Lion (Best Director) at the Venice Film Festival for this riveting, gorgeously crafted, old-school Hitchockian thriller shot in stunning 8K. The year is 1940 in Kobe, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. Local merchant and amateur filmmaker Yusaku (Issey Takahashi, Kill Bill) senses that things are headed in an unsettling direction. Following a trip to Manchuria, he becomes determined to bring to light the things he witnessed there, and secretly filmed. Meanwhile, his wife Satoko (Japan Society’s 2021 Honoree Yû Aoi) receives a visit from her childhood friend, now a military policeman. He warns her about Yusaku’s seditious ways and reveals that a woman her husband brought back from his trip has died. Satoko confronts Yusaku, but when she discovers his true intentions, she is torn between loyalty to her husband, the life they have built, and the country they call home.