New Releases from New Day Films - Summer, 2025
“Risk-taking in response to great challenges” is the theme that connects the four films of New Day Films’ Summer 2025 collection of new additions. When faced with life-changing threats to self, family, community or country, what do we do? A family confronting financial ruin, a mother standing up to the marginalization of her disabled daughter, a community on the cusp of transformation by speculative developers, three artists in repressive countries threatened with censorship or worse. What do their journeys teach us, how do they move us? What do they suggest about what can be done by everyday people to protect what they treasure, then push to change and transform the situation? Our filmmakers have brought these tales to life with verve, originality and spark. Like the other titles in the New Day Films catalog, our new additions illuminate, inspire and challenge.
We invite you to watch trailers and learn more about these films:
FEATURE LENGTH FILMS:
Emergent City
by Kelly Anderson, Jay Arthur Sterrenberg and Brenda Ávila-Hanna, 100 min.
Within the borders of a single Brooklyn community district, a microcosm of American democracy emerges. Sunset Park residents face rising rents, environmental racism and the loss of the industrial jobs. When a global developer purchases Industry City - a massive industrial complex on the waterfront - and begins to transform it into an “innovation district,” a fierce battle breaks out over the future of the neighborhood-- and of New York City itself.
Emergent City sheds light on power and process. With an ensemble of participants-- the community’s city council member, real estate developers and a handful of community members—the film asks, “In a world where too many outcomes are constrained by money, politics and business as usual, how might change emerge from genuine dialogue and collective action?
Watch the trailer:
Growing Through COVID-19
by Genevieve Skehan and Elizabeth Russell-Skehan, 91 min.
In March of 2020, owners of a 144-year-old Garden Center had to shut its doors. The rise of the big box stores and the emergence of the internet in the early 2000’s had already taken a toll. But the onset of COVID-19 plunged this multi-generational family more than 1 million dollars into debt, as their remaining customers spent more leisure time online and less time outside. Battling the odds, the family alters their business strategy in an uphill battle to keep their staff of 50 employed as they struggle to re-open. During the pandemic's darkest hours, with passion and grit, they help thousands of new people go green, many trying gardening for the first time.
Watch the trailer:
SHORT FILMS:
Thirteen
By Allison Norlian and Kody Leibowitz, 19 min.
A devoted mother is determined to honor her profoundly disabled child with a Bat Mitzvah, a rite of passage she believes her daughter deserves. Her aspirations clash with tradition as the synagogue’s rabbi opposes the ceremony, citing longstanding practices. As tensions rise, secrets from the rabbi's past emerge, challenging the congregation and forcing the rabbi to confront the dilemma: to preserve tradition or embrace change for a more inclusive future.
“Thirteen is a touching demonstration of the importance of acceptance, disrupting cultural norms and accepting everyone for who they are. A disability doesn’t define an individual, and Thirteen allows this sentiment to shine.”
– Adam Roth, Regional Director of Disability Services, Jewish Federation of Southern NJ
Watch the trailer:
The Art of Exile
By Dara Kell and Veena Rao, 21 min.
This powerful three-part short documentary series explores the lives and work of artists who have faced imprisonment, censorship, and exile for their creative expressions. From Guantánamo Bay to Egypt to Vietnam, these intimate portraits, each their own way, reveal how art becomes a means of resistance and survival in the face of oppressive regimes. Featuring curated art, music, and poetry alongside the films, The Art of Exile is both a celebration of artistic defiance and a call to connect marginalized voices with new audiences. This series is a must-watch for those interested in censorship, human rights, and the enduring power of art to inspire change.