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.

Beginning (2020) | June 3

In a sleepy provincial town, a Jehovah Witness community is attacked by an extremist group. In the midst of this conflict, the familiar world of Yana, the wife of the community leader, slowly crumbles. Yana’s inner discontent grows as she struggles to make sense of her desires. – JustWatch.com

Director: Dea Kulumbegashvili

Cast: Ia Sukhitashvili, Rati Oneli, Kakha Kintsurashvili, Saba Gogichaishvil, Giorgi Tsereteli, Ia Kokiashvili

Country: Georgia

Distributor: MUBI

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 2 hours, 6 minutes

Platform: MUBI

Special Events: Filmmaker Conversations

Where to Watch

Filmmaker Conversations

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