See the lineup for this year's Greater Farmington Film Festival

Farmington-Hills based nonprofit organization KickstART Farmington announces the film lineup and schedule for the 2022 Greater Farmington Film Festival.

The Greater Farmington Film Festival takes place Oct. 6-9 at the Riviera Cinema, Farmington Community Library, and the Zekelman Holocaust Center, with a selection of recently released feature films and documentaries that engage the heart and mind, explore important contemporary issues, and inspire action: good films for a better world. 

Thursday, Oct. 6

7 p.m. at the Riviera Cinema

"The Art of Making It"

Documentary, 94 minutes

This is a film about who gets seen and who gets left behind in today’s seductive, secretive and unregulated art world. The Art of Making It follows a diverse group of compelling young artists on the brink of unimaginable success or failure as they challenge systems, break barriers and risk it all with the goal of making it in an industry where all the rules are currently being rewritten.

Friday, Oct. 7

7 p.m. at the Riviera Cinema

"Mission: Joy. Finding Happiness in Troubled Times"

Documentary, 90 minutes

Deeply moving and laugh-out-loud funny, Mission: JOY is a documentary with unprecedented access to the unlikely friendship of two international icons who transcend religion: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu. In their final joint mission, these self-described mischievous brothers give a master class in how to create joy in a world that was never easy for them. They offer neuroscience-backed wisdom to help each of us live with more joy, despite circumstances.

Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage shot over 5 days at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, the film invites viewers to join these luminaries behind the scenes as they recount stories from their lives, each having lived through periods of incredible difficulty and strife. With genuine affection, mutual respect and a healthy dose of teasing, these unlikely friends impart lessons gleaned from lived experience, ancient traditions, and the latest cutting-edge science regarding how to live with joy in the face of all of life’s challenges from the extraordinary to the mundane.

9:15 p.m. at the Riviera Cinema

"Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America"

Documentary, 118 minutes

Jeffery Robinson had one of the best educations in America. He went to Marquette University and Harvard Law School and has been a trial lawyer for over 40 years – as a public defender, in private practice, at the ACLU, and now at The Who We Are Project. In 2011, Robinson began raising his then 13-year-old nephew and, as a Black man raising a Black son, struggled with what to tell his son about racism in America. How, he wondered, did we get here? And when he started looking at our Nation’s history, Robinson was shocked by what he had not known. For the past 10 years, in community centers, concert halls, houses of worship, and conference rooms across America, he has been sharing what he learned.

In Who We Are – A Chronicle of Racism in America, Robinson faces his largest audience, asking all of us to examine who we are, where we come from, and who we want to be. Anchored by Robinson’s 2018 performance at NYC’s historic Town Hall Theater, the film interweaves historical and present-day archival footage, Robinson’s personal story, and observational and interview footage capturing Robinson’s meetings with Black change-makers and eyewitnesses to history. From a hanging tree in Charleston, South Carolina, to a walking tour of the origins of slavery in colonial New York, to the site of a 1947 lynching in rural Alabama, the film brings history to life, exploring the enduring legacy of white supremacy and our collective responsibility to overcome it.

Saturday, Oct. 8

2 p.m. at the Farmington Community Library

The Best of the 2022 New York International Children’s Film Festival

Lively collections of short animation, live action, and documentary films reflect NYICFF’s commitment to storytelling and diversity and are sure to spark meaningful conversations. This free screening is recommended for kids young and old.

7 p.m. at the Riviera Cinema

"Mama Bears"

Documentary, 91 minutes

Mama Bears is an exploration of the journeys taken by two “mama bears”—conservative, Christian mothers whose profound love for their LGBTQ+ children has turned them into fierce advocates for the entire queer community—and a young African American lesbian whose struggle for self-acceptance perfectly exemplifies why the mama bears are so vitally important.Mama Bears is the story of women who have allowed nearly every aspect of their lives to be completely reshaped by love. Although they may have grown up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians, mama bears are willing to risk losing friends, family, and faith communities to keep their children safe — even if it challenges their belief systems and rips their worlds apart.

9:15 p.m. at the Riviera Cinema

"Flee"

Animated Documentary, 89 mins

Flee tells the story of Amin Nawabi as he grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for twenty years, one that threatens to derail the life he has built for himself and his soon to be husband. Recounted mostly through animation to director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, he tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan.

Flee was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Sunday, Oct. 9

12:30 p.m. at the Zekelman Holocaust Center

"Charlotte"

Animated Drama, 93 minutes

Charlotte is an animated drama that tells the true story of Charlotte Salomon (Keira Knightley), a young German-Jewish painter who comes of age in Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. Fiercely imaginative and deeply gifted, she dreams of becoming an artist. Her first love applauds her talent, which emboldens her resolve. But the world around her is changing quickly and dangerously, limiting her options and derailing her dream.

When anti-Semitic policies inspire violent mobs, she leaves Berlin for the safety of the South of France. There she begins to paint again and finds new love. But her work is interrupted, this time by a family tragedy that reveals an even darker secret. Believing that only the extraordinary will save her, she embarks on the monumental adventure of painting her life story.

The festival also includes several free virtual screenings, including "Driving While Black: Race, Space and Mobility in America," "Kiss the Ground," and "The Revolution Generation."

Tickets are on sale now at www.gffilmfest.com and are $7 each or a full festival pass can be purchased for $40.