North By Current premiered at the 2021 Berlinale where it was nominated for the Teddy Award for Best Documentary and then went on to play the Tribeca Film Festival.
Taking the viewer home with him to rural Michcigan, trans director Angelo Madsen Minax pieces together the story of a family tragedy: the death of his sister Jesse’s child. This film comes to Utah with an audience that will have a special understanding of one of its many undercurrents – Mormonism. Minax’s family are converts to the faith, and he weaves a familiar but strange variety of Mormon folklore through the film.
Among tensions with faith, the film surfaces questions about creating life and experience, about responsibility for harm, and about what family does for and does to each other. The subject matter of the documentary is heavy, and rather than shying away, Minax lets every texture of it show. His singular creation allows the audience in on something deeply personal, lyrical, and layered.
– Mara Lemesany, Damn These Heels programming committee member
