Profiles in Courage: Short Documentaries from HBO

Description

Ebola in Liberia, LGBT rights protests in Cuba, a brave Nepalese couple seeking to regain their eyesight. HBO has long been the acknowledged leader in the documentary world, and never more so than now. These inspiring short films show the unique global perspective and entertaining storytelling style that make HBO such an important contributor to film culture.

Body Team 12—shortlisted for the Academy Award for documentary short—introduces Gairma Sumo, one of a team of body collectors working in Liberia amidst the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014. Often treated with suspicion and outright hostility by families who wish to perform traditional burial ceremonies for their loved ones, the men and women of Body Team 12 risk their lives to keep the disease from spreading.

The elderly couple featured in Irene Taylor Brodsky’s inspiring new short, Open Your Eyes, have been blind for years. When a mobile surgery team from the SEVA Foundation arrives in rural Nepal, the two make the day-long journey for the chance to regain their vision.

Mariela Castro, the bold daughter of the country’s current President, Raul Castro, was “born into a homophobic society.” She is now a tireless fighter for LGBT rights and the eradication of prejudice in her country and Mariela Castro’s March: Cuba’s LGBT Revolution introduces us to a rich array of stories and people as she continues to seize every opportunity to change hearts and minds. This screening is a sneak preview.