International Film Festival To Showcase Seven Revealing Documentaries

Among the exciting, curated selection of films from all over the world are seven revealing documentaries:

Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 – Andy Kaufman Is Me

Thursday, January 29th, 2026 – Speak.

Saturday, January 31st, 2026 – Stever Schapiro: Being There

Sunday, February 1st, 2026 – Natchez

Sunday, February 1st, 2026 – Drop Dead City

Monday, February 2nd, 2026 – Checkpoint Zoo

Friday, February 6th, 2026 – A Man With Sole: The Impact Of Kenneth Cole

“These compelling and very diverse documentaries to be screened during the Sun & Stars International Film Festival will bring the viewers into the heart of real-life stories. They include in-depth coverage of a provocative comedian, a fashionable philanthropist, a historic photographer, and precocious high school students, to films about animals surviving war and two great American cities facing change,” says Barbara Scharres, SASIFF Artistic Director.

In-person encounters with filmmakers are unique situations that round out the stories and afford the viewer the rare opportunity for face-to-face dialogue with the directors of several of SASIFF’s scheduled films.

The seven informative documentaries that will be shown during the upcoming Sun & Stars International Film Festival are:

Andy Kaufman Is Me

Documentary, 2025, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Clay Tweel. USA, 101-minutes

Audacious performer Andy Kaufman blazed a new trail for American comedy beginning with his guest appearance in the 1975 inaugural show of Saturday Night Live. Notoriety and fame burned brightly but he died of Cancer by the age of 35. Kaufman’s daringly over-the-top routines and impersonations: Mighty Mouse, Elvis, abrasive lounge singer Tony Clifton and the “foreign man” of sitcom Taxi made him the most unconventional of comedy stars, and one with a pronounced dark side. As chronicled through family stories, home movies, the revealing memories of personalities including David Letterman and Carol Kane, and scores of outrageously funny performance clips, Kaufman’s persona comes to life in all its in-your-face provocation.

Note: Producer Shannon Riggs and Director Clay Tweel will be present for audience discussion. The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center on Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.

Checkpoint Zoo

Documentary, 2024, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Joshua Zeman. UK/USA, 103-minutes

Exploding shells light the horizon and missiles strike within the perimeter of a popular zoo and eco-park in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, putting scores of animals from elephants and lions to penguins and amphibians in danger of imminent annihilation. While ever under fire their caretakers spring into action, mounting a massively daring rescue with improvised methods, makeshift transport, and the unlikely destination of a millionaire’s country mansion, where its myriad rooms are hurriedly spread with straw. This is an exciting yet perilous chronicle that serves as a metaphor for the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine as a small group of passionate humans risk their lives to save trapped and helpless animals in captivity.

Hooky Entertainment Delray Marketplace on Monday, February 2nd, 4:00 p.m.

Drop Dead City

Documentary, 2024, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Michael Yohatyn and Peter Yost. USA, 108-minutes

Like a desperate debtor on the run from angry creditors, the city of New York in 1975 was facing down the prospect of total bankruptcy. Essential workers were laid off in droves, garbage piled high in the potholed streets while protests erupted, and the comptroller was compelled to announce that the city appeared to keep no books. Mayor Abe Beame, President Gerald Ford and a host of experts and scoundrels are the key players in this thrilling cliff-hanger tale of political hijinks and financial derring-do studded with NYC-style black humor as the crown jewel of American cities attempts to save itself from the unthinkable, complete financial ruin. According to The New Yorker, the film tells “an enormously complex story of financial fine points and political maneuvering… with a deft touch and a brisk sense of wonder.”

Hooky Entertainment Delray Marketplace on Sunday, February 1st, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.

A Man With Sole: The Impact Of Kenneth Cole

Documentary / 2024, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Dori Berinstein. USA, 104-minutes

The Closing Night Screening of The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival©, presented by MorseLife.

Fashion Designer, Philanthropist and footwear purveyor Kenneth Cole knows his shoes. He also appears to know the Native American directive to walk a mile in the moccasins of others, as proven through his 40 years of attention-grabbing strategies for merging commerce and compassion to raise awareness for causes including AIDS, homelessness and LGBTQIA+ rights. From the glitter of the star-studded AIDS benefits he has mounted at the Cannes Film Festival to the humorous billboards in Times Square, Cole’s unique entrepreneurship sells a humanitarian message. Emmy-winning director Berinstein delves into Cole’s history, his passion for social justice, and the brilliantly engaging promo that makes caring as cool as buying hot designer shoes.

Note: Kenneth Cole and Director Dori Berinstein will be present for audience discussion

Glazer Hall in Palm Beach on Friday, February 6th, 2026, Cocktail Reception from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.; premiere screening at 7:30 p.m.

Natchez

Documentary, 2025, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Suzannah Herbert. USA, 86-minutes

Billowing hoop-skirts sway, Southern drawls charm, and opulent antebellum decor draws wows—all trademarks of plantation tourism through which the canny owners of once-crumbling historic properties have revived the economy of Natchez, Mississippi. Under the folksy facade of perfect racial harmony and entrepreneurial community spirit there lurks the remnants of an unsettled history. Director Herbert conducts one of the most fascinating and revealing documentary explorations of the year, venturing into the restored mansions where portraits of Confederate ancestors hang in honor and heirloom silver graces the table, observing way behind the scenes where the thoughts often left unsaid are inadvertently revealed. Hailed by Stephen Saito in The Moveable Fest as “one of the great documentaries of the 21st century,” NATCHEZ has won seven festival awards, including Best Documentary Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Hooky Entertainment Delray Marketplace on Sunday, February 1st, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.

Speak.

Documentary, 2025, Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman. USA, 104-minutes

Acclaimed as the opening night film of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Speak is a dynamic high-stakes journey through the lives, challenges and ambitions of five precocious high school students as they prepare for the world’s largest oratory competition. Florida’s own Esther Oyetunji vies for a rare third national win in this veritable Olympics of the spoken word in which past winners have included Oprah, Brad Pitt, Josh Gad, and Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson. Powerful and persuasive personal essays seem ripped from the soul as the five give reasoned unabashed voice to views on subjects including disability rights, LGBTQ identity, school shootings and family suicide, exhibiting a passion and maturity clearly rooted in deep emotion and personal experience.

The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center on Thursday, January 29th, 2026 at 7:00 pm

Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere

Documentary, 2025, North Palm Beach County Premiere. Directed by Maura Smith. USA, 90-minutes

The Centerpiece Screening of The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival©, presented by MorseLife.

This fascinating film documents the firsthand stories of photographer Steve Schapiro along with his vast archive of iconic images. Over six decades, he bore witness to some of the most significant social and cultural moments in modern American history and his pictures were published in The New York Times, Life, Look, Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone and more. His notable subjects have included Andy Warhol, Mohammad Ali, James Baldwin, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Lewis, Rosa Parks, Ray Charles, etc., and he produced publicity stills and posters for mega-hit films like The Godfather, Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, Chinatown, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

Note: Director Maura Smith will be present for audience discussion.

The Rinker Playhouse at the Kravis Center on Saturday, January 31st, 2026 at 7:00 p.m.

For more information about SASIFF including a complete list of scheduled screenings or to purchase tickets, please visit: www.sasiff.org.

About The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival:

The Donald M. Ephraim Sun & Stars International Film Festival©, presented by MorseLife, aims to bring highly anticipated, critically acclaimed, and thought-provoking films to Palm Beach County. As a world-class film festival, it represents a major contribution to the cultural life of Palm Beach County and returns next month for its fourth season with screenings at the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse from Sunday, January 25th, 2026 -Saturday, January 31st, 2026, Hooky Entertainment Delray from Sunday, February 1st, 2026 - Thursday, February 5th, 2026 with the closing night screening at glamorous new Glazer Hall in Palm Beach on Friday, February 6th, 2026. SASIFF was co-founded by film buffs and cultural philanthropists Donald M. Ephraim and Terri Sriberg.

For more information about purchasing tickets or becoming a sponsor, please visit: www.sasiff.org - At: www.facebook.com/DME.SASIFF - And: www.twitter.com/dmesasiff - Or: www.instagram.com/dme_sasiff - Email: info@sasiff.org. Or call: (561) 220-6735.

About MorseLife:

MorseLife serves more than 3,600 seniors every day on its campus in West Palm Beach and through its community outreach programs. Founded in 1983, MorseLife is a provider of health care and residential services for seniors in Palm Beach County. A charitable, not-for-profit organization, its programs also include short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, independent and assisted living, memory care assisted living, hospice, home health care, care management, meals-on-wheels, and PACE. Since its beginnings, MorseLife has built a reputation and tradition of caring for seniors with excellence, dignity, and compassion.

For more information, visit: https://morselife.org - Or: www.facebook.com/MorseLife - Or: www.twitter.com/MorseLifeHealth - Or: www.instagram.com/morselifehealth - Or: www.linkedin.com/company/morselife-inc-/ - Or contact: info@morselife.org.