When artist Maleonn realizes that his father suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, he creates “Papa’s Time Machine,” a magical, autobiographical stage performance featuring life-size mechanical puppets. Through the production of this play, the two men confront their mortality before time runs out and memories are lost forever.

Dujuan is in his classroom, wanting to leave Alice Springs.

Dujuan speaks of the history of the Aboriginal people.

Nana Carol and Dujuan are in their home.

Dujuan speaks with his relative about his culture.

Ten-year-old Aboriginal Dujuan is a child-healer, a good hunter and speaks three languages.Yet Dujuan is ‘failing’ in school and facing increasing scrutiny from welfare and the police. As he travels perilously close to incarceration, his family fight to give him a strong Arrernte education alongside his western education. We walk with him as he grapples with these pressures and shares his truths.

Leila meets with a therapist in Turkey and shares her story. We find out that Leila had a happy childhood, earned a university degree, and worked as a teacher. We also discover that Leila was married to a violently abusive drug addict, applied for and was denied a divorce, had an affair with Sahand, and bore his child.

Sahand reads aloud the decision in his case. His application to UNHCR for refugee status has been rejected. This is especially devastating because Leila and Mani have been approved. They share the news with Mani, who is upset that they may leave without his father. Sahand tries to comfort his son, saying that, “People who want a better life have to go through hard times and this is our hard time.”

After a tense but successful trip to the Iranian consulate to obtain valid divorce certificates, Sahand and Leila rush to get married in time to send proof of marriage to the UNHCR before it closes Sahand’s case and permanently denies him refugee status. Their attempt is almost thwarted because they don’t have the correct pictures or health documents, but the kindness of a clerk saves them.

Leila, Sahand, and Mani flee Iran. They fear they’ll be caught and they fear for the safety of family they have left behind, who may be targeted because of the couple’s actions.

With the therapist, Sahand recalls childhood memories of people publicly whipped and stoned for having an extramarital affair. He also shares that when he was a teenager, he participated in a protest and was arrested. Iranian secret police used implied threats of torture, imprisonment, or death to coerce him to become an informant.

Sahand seeks help from a lawyer to appeal the UNHCR’s denial of his status. It illustrates some of the sometimes absurd bureaucratic hoops that refugees must jump through, like getting proof from Iranian intelligence that Sahand worked with them as a secret informant.

The clip highlights the work of two young photographers in particular: Denise and Russell Akemon, then 4th graders.

Denise’s series of dream photographs are set in a neighboring graveyard and feature her younger twin brothers, one of whom is on a quest to kill his vampire other.

Sue looks through the published collection of portraits and reminisces about the project and how she sees it now in relation to her work as teacher.

As the community portraits are shown, a brief audio recording from young Gary explaining his ideas about community plays.

Johnny describes the dangers of coal mining. We see a series of Johnny’s family portraits and hear him reflect about the challenges of his fatherless childhood, his childhood play, and his current success as a father and heavy equipment operator.

Portraits and Dreams revisits photographs created by Kentucky schoolchildren in the 1970s and the place where the photos were made. The film is about the students, their work as visionary photographers and the lives they have led since then, as well as the linkage of personal memory to the passage of time.

With adultery being punishable by death in Iran, a young couple make the fateful decision to flee the country with their son. Love Child follows the new family on their life-threatening journey to seek asylum in Turkey, and witnesses a mother’s heart breaking fight to keep her family together and secure a future for her son.

Maneesha describes how she carves out time for herself, despite all the distractions of family.