Author: Josh Hornbeck

Josh is the founder of Cinema Cocktail, and he is a writer and director, podcaster and critic, and communications and marketing professional living and working in the greater Seattle area.

Asako I & II (2018) | June 3

Asako lives in Osaka. She falls in love with Baku, a free-spirit. One day, Baku suddenly disappears. Two years later, Asako now lives in Tokyo and meets Ryohei. He looks just like Baku, but has a completely different personality. – IMDb.com

Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Cast: Erika Karata, Masahiro Higashide, Rio Yamashita, Sairi Itoh, Kōji Seto, Daichi Watanabe, Kôji Nakamoto, Misako Tanaka

Country: Japan

Distributor: Grasshopper Film

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 59 minutes

Platform: Kanopy, Hoopla

Where to Watch

Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema, Parts 10-12 (2019) | June 3

As told through clips from 183 female directors, this epic history of the cinema focuses on women’s integral role in the development of film art. Using almost a thousand film extracts from thirteen decades and five continents, Mark Cousins asks how films are made, shot and edited; how stories are shaped and how movies depict life, love, politics, humour and death, all through the compelling lens of some of the world’s greatest filmmakers – all of them women. – JustWatch.com

Director: Mark Cousins

Cast: Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Kerry Fox, Debra Winger, Thandiwe Newton, Sharmila Tagore

Country: United Kingdom

Distributor: Janus Films

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 3 hours, 12 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Programming: Documentary Cinema, Long-Form Cinema

Where to Watch

Polina (2016) | June 3

Polina is a young dancer from a modest family. After years of ballet academy, she is accepted by the Bolshoi; still, she decides to try and audition of a modern dance company in France. She makes it, but her journey will not end there… – JustWatch.com

Director: Valérie Müller, Angelin Preljocaj

Cast: Anastasia Shevtsova, Juliette Binoche, Niels Schneider, Miglen Mirtchev, Aleksey Guskov, Kseniya Kutepova, Bakhtiyar Askarov, Jeremie Belingard

Country: France

Distributor: Oscilloscope

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 1 hour, 48 minutes

Platform: OVID, Kanopy

Where to Watch

Shook (2020) | June 2

When Mia, a social media star, becomes the target of an online terror campaign, she has to solve a series of games to prevent people she cares about from getting murdered. But is it real. Or is it just a game at her expense. – IMDb.com

Director: Jennifer Harrington

Cast: Daisye Tutor, Emily Goss, Nicola Posener, Octavius J. Johnson, Grant Rosenmeyer, Stephanie Simbari, Joy Gohring

Country: United States

Distributor: Shudder

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 28 minutes

Platform: Shudder

Special Programming: Midnight Movies

Special Events: Filmmaker Conversations

Where to Watch

Filmmaker Conversations

Even the Rain (2010) | June 2

As a director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia, local people rise up against plans to privatize the water supply. – JustWatch.com

Director: Icíar Bollaín

Cast: Gael García Bernal, Luis Tosar, Raúl Arévalo, Najwa Nimri, Karra Elejalde, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Raúl Arévalo

Country: Spain

Distributor: Vitagraph Films

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 43 minutes

Platform: Netflix

Where to Watch

Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Cinema, Parts 7-9 (2019) | June 2

As told through clips from 183 female directors, this epic history of the cinema focuses on women’s integral role in the development of film art. Using almost a thousand film extracts from thirteen decades and five continents, Mark Cousins asks how films are made, shot and edited; how stories are shaped and how movies depict life, love, politics, humour and death, all through the compelling lens of some of the world’s greatest filmmakers – all of them women. – JustWatch.com

Director: Mark Cousins

Cast: Tilda Swinton, Jane Fonda, Kerry Fox, Debra Winger, Thandiwe Newton, Sharmila Tagore

Country: United Kingdom

Distributor: Janus Films

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 3 hours, 12 minutes

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Programming: Documentary Cinema, Long-Form Cinema

Where to Watch

Residue (2020) | June 2

A young filmmaker returns home after many years away, to write a script about his childhood, only to find his neighborhood unrecognizable and his childhood friends scattered to the wind. – JustWatch.com

Director: Merawi Gerima

Cast: Obinna Nwachukwu, Dennis Lindsey, Taline Stewart, Derron “Rizo” Scott, Jacari Dye, Julian Selman, Tyree Wormley

Country: United States

Distributor: ARRAY Releasing

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Platform: Netflix

Special Events: Filmmaker Conversations

Where to Watch

Filmmaker Conversations

Homegoings (2013) | June 2

Through the eyes of funeral director Isaiah Owens, the beauty and grace of African-American funerals are brought to life. Filmed at Owens Funeral Home in New York City’s historic Harlem neighborhood, Homegoings takes an up-close look at the rarely seen world of undertaking in the Black community, where funeral rites draw on a rich palette of tradition, history and celebration. Combining cinéma vérité with intimate interviews and archival photographs, the film paints a portrait of the dearly departed, their grieving families and a man who sends loved ones “home.” – JustWatch.com

Director: Christine Turner

Cast: Isaiah Owens

Country: United States

Distributor: Public Broadcasting Service

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hour

Platform: The Criterion Channel

Special Programming: Documentary Cinema

Where to Watch