In wealthy Sausalito floats one of the last free places in California. A vibrant liveaboard community of mariners, nomads, disaster survivors, and those cast out by high costs of living and no social safety net struggle against a harbormaster and a wealthy community that wants them gone. The conflict and class tensions between Sausalito’s anchor-outs, politicians and wealthier residents is a close look at a larger issue – the story here reveals a dark reality to how we treat people who live on the margins.

Sierra Leone is the second poorest country in the world. After overcoming one of the toughest and bloodiest civil wars, in 2014 they had to face one of the most devastating epidemics in living memory, Ebola. The consequences of those horrors ended up extinguishing the spark of development and plunging the population into total darkness in which they have been living since 1992. The lack of stable light supply is a major constraint for the development of medical work, directly affecting the life expectancy of Sierra Leone people.

"Gothenburg, Sweden trio Firebreather’s 2019 RidingEasy Records debut album Under a Blood Moon was a powerhouse that most certainly established the band’s incendiary potential. But none of us would be prepared for the suffocating onslaught that is Dwell in the Fog. While that album was in-your-face and raw, Dwell in the Fog rumbles and rages with a fury the band had only hinted at previously. Firebreather has a streamlined focus on driving, symphonic riffs in the vein of High on Fire, Inter Arma and their tour- and label-mates Monolord. The guitar and bass tones are, quite simply, entrancing. Paired with vocalist/guitarist Mattias Nööjd’s guttural yet melodic howls and drummer Axel Wittbeck’s groove based rhythms, their entire sound flows like thick, viscous lava. “The album is a cathartic journey inwards and a musical continuation from Under A Blood Moon, but with more emphasis on groove and feel,” Nööjd says. From the first notes of album opener “Kiss Of Your Blade” you’ll know exactly what he means. Like their preceding two albums, Dwell in the Fog was also recorded and mixed by engineer Oskar Karlsson at Elementstudion in Gothenburg. The band is joined by new bassist Nicklas Hellqvist on this album, who seems to have increased the thunder rumble tenfold. From the aforementioned album opener “Kiss Of Your Blade”, with its droning opening chords over a rollicking tom pattern, the band quickly shifts gears into a head bobbing, serpentine riff with a transcendent melodic hook. Elsewhere, as on the title track and “Weather The Storm” rapid-fire hummable riffs come and go in an ever-shifting mass of devastating swirling churn. It’s like the band has such an endless supply of great hooks that to, ahem, dwell for too long on any one would undo their constantly building momentum. That they somehow give each song, and the album as a whole, a streamlined and cohesive, monolithic groove is testament to their skill. And, proof that the album must be absorbed in its entirety to experience the overwhelming swaying and lunging low end growl that drives the band’s most captivating work to date. Dwell in the Fog will be available on LP, CD and download on February 25th, 2022 via RidingEasy Records."

Film distribution in the 21st century is constantly changing. Join a panel of film distribution company representatives for a discussion on the evolving media landscape. Topics will include: video on demand, streaming services, self-distribution, and how to develop a multi-pronged distribution strategy. This panel is moderated by Joe Brown, filmmaker and professor of film at the University of Denver. The panel includes Marc Mauceri from First Run Features, Jeffrey Winter from The Film Collaborative, and Kym Stanton from Films for Change.