Upcoming Specialty Film Previews: Docs on ‘Our Land’, ‘American Agitators’, and Barbara Kopple’s ‘American Dream’ May Day Rerelease

Lucrecia Martel’s award-winning documentary Our Land, alongside American Agitators and the remastered rerelease of Barbara Kopple’s American Dream, will debut in limited release beginning May 1, coinciding with Labor Day celebrations in many countries. These films will be complemented by a lineup of independent films, including Damian McCarthy’s Hokum, Andy Serkis’ animated adaptation of Animal Farm, Renny Harlin’s Deep Water, and RZA’s One Spoon Of Chocolate.

Hokum, Neon’s latest horror film, is set to launch on 1,850 screens. Starring Adam Scott as a horror writer who visits an Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes, the plot unfolds as he discovers the inn’s rumored haunting by a witch. The film debuted at SXSW earlier this year, receiving critical acclaim. McCarthy’s Oddity, which also premiered at SXSW 2024, earned the Audience Award in the Midnighter Section and grossed $1.2 million domestically for IFC Films.

Hokum marks the first release from Neon in partnership with Spooky Pictures, which collaborates with global studio Image Nation. Upcoming titles in this agreement include Alex Ullom’s 4×4: The Event and Mora, a feature adaptation of Sam Evenson’s viral short film. This Irish folk tale adds to Neon’s ongoing collaborations with Waypoint’s Cweature Features, following Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks and Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs, which achieved the highest grossing for an indie film in 2024 at $75 million. Cweature Features is also attached to Mora.

Adam Scott was present at Neon’s CinemaCon presentation in Las Vegas this April to discuss the film.

Animal Farm, produced by Angel Studios and featuring Andy Serkis’ animated adaptation of George Orwell’s novel, will open on 2,600 screens. The film boasts a star-studded voice cast including Seth Rogen, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin, and Woody Harrelson, with a screenplay by Nicholas Stoller. The narrative follows farm animals led by Napoleon the pig as they overthrow their human overlord to create an equitable society, which ultimately succumbs to tyranny.

Deep Water, a shark thriller from Renny Harlin and Bob Yari’s Magenta Light Studios, will debut across 1,675 screens. Featuring Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley, the film tracks an eclectic group of international passengers whose plane is forced to make an emergency landing in shark-infested waters on a flight from LA to Shanghai.

The revenge thriller One Spoon Of Chocolate is set to debut as the inaugural film under RZA’s 36 Cinema Distribution label. Premiering on 636 screens with a complete theatrical release, the film involves an ex-military convict seeking redemption in a small town. RZA, who directed, wrote, and produced the film, has enlisted longtime collaborator Quentin Tarantino for its presentation. The cast includes Shameik Moore, Blair Underwood, RJ Cyler, Paris Jackson, Emyri Crutchfield, Michael Harney, and Harry Goodwins. It premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Festival.

Casa Grande, by Seismic Releasing and ESX Entertainment, will open on 225 screens. Directed by Juan Pablo Arias Munoz, the film tells the story of a prodigal daughter who returns home during a challenging period for her family, as her ailing father faces both a terminal diagnosis and rival pressures. The film stars Lou Diamond Phillips, John Pyper-Ferguson, Madison Lawlor, Christina Moore, Javier Bolaños, Kate Mansi, Daniel Edward Mora, Loren Escandon, Bruce Davison, Shalim Ortiz, and Charley Debenedetti, and is based on the bilingual series that followed intertwining lives in Northern California’s farmlands.

Lucrecia Martel’s documentary Our Land (Nuestra Tierra) will launch at the Film Forum in New York City. The film, which premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, garnered the top award at the BFI London Film Festival, along with additional accolades at international competitions. It recounts the story of Javier Chocobar, a member of the indigenous Chuchagasta community in Argentina, who attempted to protect his people from eviction by a local landowner in 2009, resulting in his death. The documentary features community voices and trial footage, produced by Rei Pictures, Louverture Films, and Piano, in collaboration with Pio & Co., Lemming Film, and Snowglobe.

American Agitators, directed and produced by Raymond Telles, will premiere at NYC’s Quad Cinema. This documentary sheds light on labor organizer Fred Ross Sr. and the historic movements he inspired, emphasizing how collective action can confront racism and injustice. Narrated by playwright Luis Valdez, the film features Fred Ross Jr. and highlights the contributions of civil rights leaders and grassroots activists.

Janus Films is releasing a 4K restoration of Barbara Kopple’s Oscar-winning documentary American Dream in time for May Day and the film’s 35th anniversary. The 1990 documentary chronicles the 1985-86 labor strike against Hormel Foods in Austin, Minnesota, detailing the community’s struggle amid dangerous working conditions and wage cuts, which ultimately led to a yearlong walkout. The unrest escalated as some workers sought to cross the picket line, fracturing an already divided community.

Additionally, Janus is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Kopple’s Harlan County, USA with screenings in 4K restoration at many of the same venues. Both films earned Kopple the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, and she will be present at the IFC Center on Friday and Saturday to introduce both screenings.

Francesco Sossai’s The Last One For The Road from Music Box Films is set to premiere at Film At Lincoln Center in New York, followed by a showing at Laemmle Royal in LA next week. This film explores the friendship between two middle-aged small-time crooks who, while vowing each drink will be their last, encounter a shy architecture student and take him on an odyssey through the Venetian countryside. The film premiered at Cannes.

Kino Lorber will release Two Pianos by Arnaud Desplechin at the Angelika in NYC and the Laemmle Royal in LA. The narrative follows pianist Mathias, portrayed by François Civil, who returns to France after years of self-imposed exile at the invitation of his former mentor, Eléna (Charlotte Rampling). As he prepares for a series of concerts in his hometown of Lyon, an unexpected encounter disrupts his plans, leading him back to his first love, Claude (Nadia Tereszkiewicz). The film was screened at the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema earlier this year.