August 2019 volunteer in the spotlight: Nancy Price. What’s your occupation? Nancy: I am a multimedia journalist at GV Wire, a daily online news site based in Fresno. My focus is reporting on education and religion. What are some things you like to do in your free time?  Nancy: I love to travel, to explore…

Italian director Roberto Minervini’s powerful and deeply moving documentary “What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?” is a searing examination of racism that will open the Fresno Filmworks 2019-20 season on September 13. Shot in black and white in 2017, it weaves together four stories that reflect the effects of racism in the…

Our “Streaming Surprises” series calls attention to good movies new and old that our board members are watching. Titles are available from various streaming services. Brimstone & Glory (2017) Submitted by Linda Garcia. Streaming on Kanopy. Every year, Tultepec, Mexico hosts the National Pyrotechnic Festival, a 10-day celebration to honor San Juan de Dios, considered…

Our “Streaming Surprises” series calls attention to good movies new and old that our board members are watching. Titles are available from various streaming services. “The Central Park Five” (2012) Submitted by Jefferson Beavers. Streaming on Amazon Prime and Kanopy. With the summer buzz surrounding filmmaker Ava DuVernay’s latest project, “When They See Us,” a…

Our “Streaming Surprises” series calls attention to good movies new and old that our board members are watching. Titles are available from various streaming services. “The Brand New Testament” (2015) Submitted by Jefferson Beavers. Streaming on Amazon Prime. The official poster for Belgian filmmaker Jaco Van Dormael’s satiric comedy “The Brand New Testament” gives us…

As we look ahead to our 2019-20 season, Fresno Filmworks wants to give the most loyal cinema fans in Fresno a chance to pick the movie for our September season opener. Our all-volunteer board works diligently to track down first-run independent films that we believe need to be shown in Fresno. We discuss our film…

Our “Streaming Surprises” series calls attention to good movies new and old that our board members are watching. Titles are available from various streaming services. “Cold War” (2018) Like filmmaker Paweł Pawlikowski’s Oscar-winning drama “Ida,” “Cold War” is presented in stunning black & white. The dialogue is sparse, but the cinematography and the subtlety of…

German filmmaker Christian Petzold reminds us that the plight of refugees is not constrained by time or events. In his haunting dramatic thriller “Transit,” they are the collateral damage of war. Petzold based his latest film on the 1944 novel “Transit Visa” by Anna Seghers, herself a World War II refugee. This many-layered story, which…

Our “Streaming Surprises” series calls attention to good movies new and old that our board members are watching. Titles are available from various streaming services. “Meru” (2015) Just two months ago, filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin received Oscars for their 2018 documentary film “Free Solo,” the story of Alex Honnold and his historic…

Icelandic filmmaker Benedikt Erlingsson’s second major film, “Woman at War,” is the quirky tale of an environmental activist who battles Iceland’s government. The absurdist tale, which is Fresno Filmworks’ April 12 showing, successfully combines thrills with laughs. There are similarities to Erlingsson’s directorial debut, “Of Horses and Men”, especially the comedic tone and the beautiful…

February 2019 volunteers in the spotlight: The Bell family. Rita, Teule Sr., Teule Jr. and Amara Bell, with Dotty Mora, represent three generations of a family who volunteer with Fresno Filmworks. Rita, who serves as Fresno Filmworks’ vice president and box office coordinator, has volunteered since 2014. Volunteering with Filmworks seems to be a family…

Our “Streaming Surprises” series calls attention to good movies new and old that our board members are watching. Titles are available from various streaming services. “High Flying Bird” (2019) It’s 2019 and Steven Soderbergh has directed a film with a screenplay by “Moonlight” writer Tarell Alvin McCraney about the NBA, shot exclusively on an iPhone.…

“The Charmer,” the heartbreaking directorial debut from Iran-born filmmaker Milad Alami and Fresno Filmworks’ selection for its March 8 screening, captures with stunning realism the agony experienced by many immigrants struggling to find their place in a new land. Unlike some films that may comically deal with the topic of marrying to become a citizen,…