Seventy films and documentaries will be screened at the 25th annual DC Independent Film Forum, taking place from Wednesday, February 21 to Sunday, February, 25. The movies hail from all over the globe: On the schedule is “The Concierge,” a Japanese adaptation of the beloved manga series, “Wolfpack,” a French thriller in which the young take revenge on the old, and a special preview of “Meeting Zelensky,” a British documentary about the Ukrainian actor-turned-wartime president. But if you’re looking for films that focus on subjects closer to home, you’ll find a handful of documentaries with DC-area connections, too. Here are three to check out.
Feast Your Ears: The Story of WHFS 102.3 FM
Where: Avalon Theater, 5612 Connecticut Ave., NW
When: Thursday, February 22, at 7:15 PM
The first DC screening of the long-awaited documentary is finally here. Ten years in the making, the nostalgia-inducing film tells the story of a Bethesda radio station, familiar to those who tuned in from the ‘60s to the early ‘80s. At the time, if you craved music that went beyond the Top 40 hits, you listened to WHFS 102.3. Broadcasted from a cramped office in Bethesda’s Triangle Towers apartments, the DJs put cutting-edge artists—think Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, and Jimmy Buffett—on the airwaves, giving voice to a rising countercultural movement. Director Jay Schlossberg, a WHFS devotee who worked at the station in his teens, dives into what made the progressive, freeform station so beloved that people are still talking about it more than 40 years after its demise. Buy tickets here. A Q&A session with former DJs and music to follow after the preview.
District of Second Chances
Where: Regal Gallery Place, 701 7th St., NW
When: Friday, February 23 at 6:20 PM
Takoma Park-based director Wynette Yao explores the power of second chances within DC’s criminal justice system in this 76-minute documentary that details the stories of three local men. Anthony “Pete” Petty, Gene Downing, and Colie Levar Long were all sentenced to life in prison during their youths after committing serious crimes. Now adults, the trio are suddenly confronted with the possibility of a second chance at life, thanks to new legislation in DC that grants freedom to certain reformed convicts sentenced as young people. The film features local experts who explain the rationale behind “second look” laws, which are spreading across the country. Ultimately, the doc makes the argument that long-term incarceration for reformed inmates makes no one safer. Buy tickets here.
The Test
Where: Regal Gallery Place, 701 7th St., NW
When: Sunday, February 25 at 2:45 PM
Two American University film professors teamed up to produce this 15-minute documentary short, focusing on the relationship between Eric Frimpong, a Ghanaian maintenance technician at the Goodwin House Alexandria, a retirement community in Virginia, and two elderly residents. Frimpong plans to bring his wife and children from Ghana to the United States after not seeing them for eight years—but first, he needs to pass a citizenship test. In the process, he befriends two residents who are determined to help him pass. The film, which Frimpong collaborated on, won Best Documentary Short at the Santa Fe International Film Festival. Buy tickets here. Your ticket includes admission to three other women-directed shorts, which you can read about here.
