Category Archives: Overviews

Festival:
DOC NYC

Dates:
November 8-15

Section:
International Perspectives, a look at stories from around the globe: Continue reading →

Festival:
The 22nd Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

Dates:
October 25-30

About:
More than 100 new and recent nonfiction features are presented in this Czech event.

Among the world premieres in the main competition, Opus Bonum, are: Alexandra Kandy Longuet’s VACANY, an observational study of an American motel; Jorge Pelicano’s UNTIL PORN DO US PART, about a religious woman trying to come to terms with her son’s gay porn career; Sanaz Azari’s BACKSTAGE ACTION, which focuses on film extras; NSD Mike Hoolboom’s AFTERMATH, an experimental portrait of four artists.

Filmmakers making their feature debut are spotlighted in the First Lights competition, with world premieres including: Dulce Ferreira Sanchez’s THE PARADISE, exploring Venezuela’s recent history through 15 years of the filmmaker’s home movies; Joaquín Maito’s OWNER’S PORTRAIT, an essay about animals, humans, and capitalism; Javier Bellido Valdivia’s CONNATURAL, profiling three generations of women and their connection to mortality; and Cyprien Clément-Delmas and Igor Kosenko’s BOY OF WAR, about a naive teen eager to join the war in Ukraine.

Works from Central and Eastern European are the focus of the Between the Seas competition, with several world premieres, including: Hilal Baydarov’s BIRTHDAY, a portrait of the filmmaker’s lonely mother; Alexander Mihalkovich’s MY GRANNY FROM MARS, about an old Ukrainian woman living in Russian-occupied Crimea; Simon Mozgovyi’s THE WINTER GARDEN’S TALE, on a crumbling conservatory that has just lost its longtime gardener; and Eugene Golovanevsky’s HEAVY METAL, which follows construction workers as they tear down a high-rise.

National cinema making its debut in the Czech Joy competition includes: Pavel Jurda’s GOOD MR BENDA, a portrait of an athletics-minded grandfather; Martin Páv’s VOTE FOR KIBERA, a hopeful profile of the people of Nairobi’s biggest slum; Jana Boršková’s PASSENGERS, a longitudinal portrait of former residents of a children’s home; and Jiří Holba’s FERAL, about a Czech man living as a hermit in the Australian outback since the 1980s.

Festival:
DOC NYC

Dates:
November 8-15

Section:
American Perspectives, which highlights stories from around the US: Continue reading →

Festival:
DOC NYC

Dates:
November 8-15

Section:
Metropolis, our competition section focused on stories about New York City: Continue reading →

Festival:
DOC NYC

Dates:
November 8-15

Section:
Viewfinders, our competition section highlighting features which demonstrate distinct directorial vision: Continue reading →

In just over two weeks, on Thursday, November 8, the ninth edition of DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, begins. As the event’s Director of Programming, I’ve led the film selection, and, as in years past, will briefly spotlight our programming here, section by section.

Section:
Special Events, our tentpole screenings: Continue reading →

Festival:
The 30th NewFest

Dates:
October 24-30

About:
NYC’s LGBT fest celebrates an anniversary year, presenting 15 docs among its 40+ offerings.

Nonfiction in key slots include closing night selection MAKING MONTGOMERY CLIFT, Robert Clift and Hillary Demmon’s intimate reassessment of the life, career, and legacy of the Hollywood legend; and doc centerpiece DYKES, CAMERA, ACTION!, Caroline Berler’s survey of queer women’s cinema.

Among the fest’s other documentaries are: Gustavo Sánchez’s I HATE NEW YORK, a portrait of three trans artists in NYC’s nightlife scene; Laura Marie Wayne’s LOVE, SCOTT, about the transformation a gay musician goes through after a vicious attack; Tristan Aitchison’s SIDNEY & FRIENDS, on the struggles of trans and intersex Kenyans; and Christian Sonderegger’s COBY, on life after transitioning for a transman in Ohio.

Festival:
The 42nd Margaret Mead Film Festival

Dates:
October 18-21

About:
NYC’s American Museum of Natural History presents this annual event, which this year showcases more than 30 documentary features.

North American premieres at the festival include: Georgina Barreiro’s TARA’S FOOTPRINT, following four siblings in a sacre Buddhist village; Ljiljana Šišmanović and Davor Borić’s THE FLYING FRIAR, about a priest working to preserve Croatian music in rural Bosnia and Herzegovina; and Helin Celik and Martin Klingenböck’s WHAT THE WIND TOOK AWAY, about two Yazidis living in a refugee camp after escaping from ISIS.

Mead’s US premieres include: Anja Reiss’ TRUTH DETECTIVES, on the use of technology to uncover human rights violations; Carmen Torres’ AMANECER (DAWN), which follows the filmmaker as she seeks out her birth mother; Kurt Reinhard and Christoph Schreiber’s CIAO BABYLON, on the vanishing languages of NYC; Marcia Mansur and Marina Thomé’s THE SOUND OF BELLS, on the significance of church bell ringers in Brazil; and Łukasz Borowski’s RUNNERS, about a treacherous ultramarathon in Poland.

Finally, NYC premieres include opening night film, Gemma Atwal’s STOLEN DAUGHTERS: KIDNAPPED BY BOKO HARAM; Ben Crosbie and Tessa Moran’s THE GUARDIANS, about the struggle of Mexican indigenous people to protect their land, the migatory home of monarch butterflies; Tenzin Phuntsog and Joy Dietrich’s RITUALS OF RESISTANCE, a personal exploration of Tibetan resistance to Chinese occupation; and Charlie Samuels’ VIRGIN BLACKTOP, a look back at a skateboarding crew in Nyack NY in the late 1970s.

Festival:
The 29th New Orleans Film Festival

Dates:
October 17-25

About:
Filmmakers and industry continue to be drawn to this popular and well-regarded Southern regional event, which presents nearly 40 docs among its 60+ feature offerings.

Among the films competing in the Documentary Competition are: Emily Harrold’s WHILE I BREATHE, I HOPE, which follows Bakari Sellers uphill struggle as he runs for lieutenant governor in South Carolina; Nadia Shihab’s JADDOLAND, a portrait of the filmmaker’s mother, an Iraqi artist in Texas; and Hao Zhang’s GIMME A FAITH, which follows evangelical Christian Chinese students studied in North Carolina.

The Louisiana Competition’s nonfiction titles include: Mark K Brockway and Timothy Givens’ MISSISSIPPI MADAM: THE LIFE OF NELLIE JACKSON, about an African-American divorcee-turned-brothel madam; Allison Bohl Dehart and Peter Dehart’s BENDING LINES: THE SCULPTURE OF ROBERT WIGGS, a portrait of an artist and his unique scientific approach to his work; and Lily Keber’s BUCKJUMPING, a look at New Orleans’ dance traditions.

Other sections featuring documentaries include: Spotlight Films, with upcoming DOC NYC opening night selection, John Chester’s THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM, which follows a couple’s odyssey to establish a biodynamic farm; Caribbean Voices, with Jose Hiriart’s PÉP SOUVREN (SOVEREIGN PEOPLE), about activists fighting for true democracy in Haiti; and Change-Makers, which includes Harry Moses’ GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY, a case study exposing the injustices in New Orleans’ criminal justice system; Ada McMahon and Wendi Moore-O’Neal’s THIS LITTLE LIGHT, about a woman forced to stay closeted to do relief work post-Katrina; and Rodrigo Dorfman’s THIS TACO TRUCK KILLS FASCISTS, about a traveling theatre project exposing the impact of immigration on New Orleans.

As DOC NYC’s Director of Programming, I’m excited to share that the full lineup for America’s largest documentary festival has just been revealed. DOC NYC’s ninth edition will run November 8-15, and includes 135 features, representing 42 world premieres, 3 international premieres, 4 North American premieres, 7 US premieres, and 68 NYC premieres, in addition to short films and our parallel DOC NYC PRO series of industry programming.

Our website has full information here, and ticketing is live now.