Basil Tsiokos is a Senior Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, focusing on nonfiction features. He was most recently with DOC NYC for nearly a decade, where he served as Director of Programming since 2014, and with the Nantucket Film Festival as its Film Program Director. Prior to those positions, Basil was the longtime Artistic and Executive Director of NewFest. He has been affiliated with Sundance since 2005 as a Programming Associate. Basil serves on the feature nominating committees for the International Documentary Association Awards and Cinema Eye Honors. He has written about documentaries daily since 2010 on what (not) to doc. Basil holds a Masters degree from New York University and two undergraduate degrees from Stanford University.
Coming to theatres this Thursday, December 2: SO LATE SO SOON
Director: Daniel Hymanson
World Premiere: True/False 2020
Select Festivals: DOC NYC, Cleveland, Big Sky Doc, Indie Memphis
About: An exploration of the artistic process and life of a long-married couple.
The film screened at DOC NYC, for which our program notes read: An intimate portrait of the energetic and beautifully eccentric Chicago-based artists Jackie Seiden and Don Seiden, married for five decades. Director Daniel Hymanson follows the couple over time while they face their impending fragility with raw honesty and eerie elegance. Graciously shot, the documentary offers a privileged window into their art making, domesticity, frictions, and the ultimate project of aging and caring for each other.
About: After three decades of releasing album after album in relative obscurity, a Black transgender trailblazing musician finally finds success at the age of 74.
About: In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months.
About: Over a thirty-six year period, this film follows Rob, Freddie, and Deliris on a relentless ride through the streets and prisons of Newark, New Jersey’s largest city.
About: From a Latinx LGBTQ activist to a Black Catholic school principal, six small businesswomen hit California’s newly legal cannabis trade, but struggle as aggressive regulations upend the market.