Oscar-winner ‘No Other Land,’ Barbara Boxer conversation among AmDocs Film Festival highlights

The American Documentary and Animation Film Festival (AmDocs) will feature Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” and a special conversation between journalist Soledad O’Brien and former U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer at its 14th annual event running Thursday through Monday at the Palm Springs Cultural Center.

This year’s festival, presented by the Supple Foundation, will showcase 240 films selected from over 2,000 submissions worldwide.

O’Brien’s documentary short “The Devil is Busy,” examining changes at an Atlanta abortion clinic after Roe v. Wade was overturned, will screen Friday at noon.

The conversation between O’Brien and Boxer discussing women’s rights following the 2024 elections will take place Monday at 4 p.m.

“No Other Land,” which won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in February, follows a Palestinian activist and Israeli journalist fighting against settlement policies displacing Palestinians in the West Bank. It screens Friday at 5 p.m.

Another acclaimed documentary, “Porcelain War,” winner of the Director’s Guild of America award and Sundance Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary, will screen Friday at 6:30 p.m. The film follows Ukrainian artists who remain in their country amid war.

The festival has previously attracted and honored filmmakers including Oscar winners Oliver Stone, Michael Moore, and John G. Avildsen, along with other notable figures such as Peter Bogdanovic, Pierce Brosnan and Dionne Warwick.

In addition to documentaries, AmDocs presents animated works and has introduced a new competition category for music videos in 2025.

Masha Ellsworth, lead technical director of characters at Pixar who worked on “Inside Out 2,” is among the featured animators. Since beginning at Pixar in 2007, she has contributed to films winning nine Oscars for Best Animated Films with combined worldwide earnings exceeding $13 billion.

NBC Palm Springs reporter Olivia Sandusky will present two features: “Restoring The Salton Sea” screening Saturday at noon, and “Tribes of the Coachella Valley: Culture, Tradition, Resilience” showing Monday at 11 a.m.

KESQ’s “Hilary, Aftermath,” examining the tropical storm that affected the Coachella Valley in 2023, screens Saturday at noon.

The festival has expanded its education programs through a donation from Ellen Goodman, foundation director at Palm Springs Unified School District. This year will include 30 student volunteers and film submissions from local high schools, screening Saturday at 11 a.m. free of charge.

Cathedral City High School senior Daisy Mejia Salazar’s “A Glimpse Into Sunnylands,” produced with the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, will screen twice during the festival.

Another featured film, “The Conspiracists,” follows Palm Springs resident Noelle Cook, filmmaker Liz Smith, and a January 6 insurrectionist on a road trip after the insurrectionist’s sentencing. It screens Monday at 11:30 a.m.

---

More information: Festival passes and tickets are available at the FilmFreeway website, with full schedule and film synopses at www.amdocfilmfest.com.

---