Do you yearn for indie gems that delight, provoke and sit outside the mainstream? Keep your finger on the pulse of independent film with First Run Features đź—˝
#independentfilm #firstrunfeatures #resistthealgorithm
Director Mrugesh Thakor is a Brooklyn-based Indian American filmmaker who was first drawn to First Run Features for its personal and collaborative environment. FRF aligned deeply with his passion for independent filmmaking and its commitment to authentic, niche voices and stories.
Growing up between two cultures, Mrugesh became deeply sensitive to the nuances that shape identity, which his films explore through poetic realism and intimate yet objective storytelling. He is drawn to themes of the immigrant journey, the quiet struggles of coming of age, and searching for purpose, love, and belonging. He explores the fascinating ways people and places intersect, and through layered portraits of generational and cultural nuances.
Mrugesh admires how independent films amplify unique persoectives and experiences rather than catering to what a typical audience expects. His short film, @colorofgodfilm , was selected at many film festivals.
We believe that independent filmmakers like Mrugesh deserve an outlet and a resource to display their work. Sign up through the link in bio to be the first to find out more!
Thank you to all who joined us last night to see CHANGING LANES @laemmletheatres with director Ben Wolf and special guests Jacob Wessel from the L.A. Metro’s Office of Strategic Innovation & Bronwyn Breitner, an activist and Greenpoint mom featured in the film.
LA 🌴 join us this weekend 🍿
April 18, 10am Show @ Laemmle Glendale - moderator Andrew Wright, Communications Director for the California Bicycle Coalition.
April 20, 7pm show @ Laemmle Monica - moderator Alissa Walker, a Los Angeles-based writer and a former senior writer at Curbed, where she covered cities, transportation, and architecture for seven years. In addition we will have another special guest — Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis.
🌎 Celebrate Earth Month with Scrap, an environmental documentary about Beauty, Collection & Restoration. New at Journeys in Film!
Scrap explores the vast and strangely beautiful places where things go to die and introduces the people who collect, restore, and recycle the world’s scrap. The Scrap Discussion Guide can help you start conversations in your classrooms, public screenings and community education spaces about the circular economy, right to repair, upcycling, and urban exploration. For grades 6-12, adult/higher ed.
Tap @journeysinfilm and click on the link in our bio to get the Scrap Discussion Guide and educate, engage, and activate people in your community! 👆
#EarthMonth #RightToRepair #EWaste #Recycling #Upcycling
@firstrunfeatures is bringing Changing Lanes to Los Angeles, starting today @laemmletheatres , with director Ben Wolf!!! After that there are screening across the city with special guest, so hit @firstrunfeatures for the details.
Changing Lanes is about bikes and public space, but more importantly it’s about why it’s such a struggle to make these two things happen in moth cities. It’s also about who and how we can push for the changes!!!
See y’all tonight!!!
Featuring Talking Heads co-founder David Byrne and former NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, this new documentary investigates why our streets are designed the way they are, and what it will take to make them safer and more livable.
CHANGING LANES opens in LA at Laemmle Theaters 4/16 🌴🚴 Q+As w/ filmmaker Ben Wolf and Special Guests all weekend.
When a beloved teacher is tragically killed in a hit-and-run crash in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a grassroots movement emerges to transform a notoriously dangerous four-lane boulevard into a safer, two-lane street with protected bike lanes.
While many applaud the proposed change, it also sparks a backlash led in part by a powerful local business owner. As government support begins to waver, neighbors unite to challenge entrenched interests and fight for a safer Greenpoint.
Changing Lanes situates this local struggle within broader historical, political, environmental, and social contexts through interviews with politicians, activists, urban planners, entrepreneurs, and cultural icons – a compelling call to action for democracy at street level.
CHANGING LANES opens this week in LA 🌴🚴 Special Guests + Special Screenings below ⬇️
“Changing Lanes is more than a film about bikes and public space. It’s about who wields power, what defines a community, and how regular citizens can organize in the face of deep corruption and other seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
It is very much a movie made for the political and cultural moment the country finds itself in right now.”
- Doug Gordon, Co-host, The War on Cars podcast
Join us @laemmletheatres 🍿 Director Ben Wolf will participate in a Q&A following the prime show on Thursday, April 16, at the Royal with special guests Jacob Wessel from the L.A. Metro’s Office of Strategic Innovation & activist Bronwyn Breitner; the 10 AM show on Saturday, April 18, at the Glendale with special guest Andrew Wright from the California Bicycle Coalition; and after the 7 PM show on Monday, April 20, at the Monica Film Center with writer Alissa Walker and Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis.
QUIET VOICES IN A NOISY WORLD tells the story of the indomitable spirit of a group of Black volunteers who are advancing racial justice and reclaiming their community through public art and shared history.
Culminating 30 years of work in Jasper, FRF filmmaker Alan Govenar and Documentary Arts, in association with the Jasper-based Lone Star Youth Council, was proud to present a free community screening of the film.
Watch now on Amazon and Kanopy.
(Oooooo, celebrating 80yrs of community radio) Today’s @wkxlnhtalkradio NH Unscripted guest was Alan Govenar. His latest film, "Quiet Voices in a Noisy World: The Struggle for Change in Jasper, Texas", could not be more timely or urgent as it starts streaming on Amazon Prime late last year. Alan spent thirty years working alongside leaders in Jasper, culminating in a Texas premiere and community screening where he returned more than six thousand digitized photos by Black photographer Alonzo Jordan to the very people who lived that history. This was not just documentary work—it was a tangible act of community partnership, centered on preserving legacies so easily erased. Tremendous interview. Interested ears can go here: https://bit.ly/4sOSh94 #wkxl #nhunscripted #raydudley #alangovenar #quietvoicesinanoisyworld #documentaryarts #firstrunfeatures
🏆️ Happy Oscars anniversary to Ema Ryan Yamazaki's incredible short INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART! 🏆️
INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART earned Yamazaki a historical nomination at the 97th Academy Awards.
#happyanniversary #Oscars #instrumentsofabeatingheart
