AIN'T NO BACK TO A MERRY-GO-ROUND Documentary to Stream on Kinema

After screenings across the country and film festival accolades in 2025, the documentary Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round (2024) will be available on Kinema.com from January 15 to January 20, 2026, during Martin Luther KING JR. Day. 

In addition, all customers who purchase an online ticket during this period will also receive a special invitation to a virtual Q&A with director Ilana Trachtman and subjects from the film.

The latest film by Emmy-award-winning filmmaker Ilana Trachtman (Praying with Lior, Mariachi High, Black in Latin America) recounts a watershed moment in American history: the first time Black civil rights activists were joined by an organized white community to protest segregation. 

Together, they demonstrated against Washington, D.C.’s whites-only Glen Echo Amusement Park in 1960, provoking the first counter-protests by the American Nazi Party. These actions also lured civil rights giants A. Phillip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Adam Clayton Powell to the picket line and led to a challenge of protester arrests in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ain’t No Back to a Merry-Go-Round has received dozens of film festival awards nationwide, including Best Documentary Feature at DC Black Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Boston Jewish Film Festival. In addition to continuing its theatrical run, the film is also available in a one-hour feature version, which can be used in classrooms, libraries, and learning programs to teach civil rights history. This 60-minute version can be paired with a brand-new, 100-page teacher’s guide, which provides educators with the tools to spark meaningful discussions about racial justice and grassroots activism. 

The film features never-before-seen archival footage along with narration featuring the voices of Jeffrey Wright as the Black press and Mandy Patinkin as the mainstream press. Letters to the editor and other published materials are voiced by Bob Balaban, Peter Gallagher, Dominique Thorne, Tracie Thoms, and Lee Grant.

Upcoming 2026 Theatrical Dates:

SAVOY, IL | 1/11 | The Chabana Film Society

EASTON, MA | 1/16 | Temple Chayai Shalom

DAMARISC0TTA, ME | 1/18 | The Lincoln Theater

MANLIUS, NY | 1/18, 1/19 | Theater Manlius Cinema

BOISE, ID | 1/19 | Wassmuth Center for Human Rights

BALTIMORE, MD | 1/19 | Reginald F. Lewis Museum

ROCHESTER, NY | 1/25 | The Little Theatre

WILLIAMSBURG, VA | 1/25 | The Virginia Peninsula Jewish Film Festival

PALM BEACH Jewish Film Festival | 1/28, 2/11 

RESTON, VA | 2/18 | The Leila Gordon Theatre

HONOLULU, HI | 2/20, 2/28 | Honolulu Museum of Art

CHERRY HILL, NJ | 3/23 

Watch the trailer below: