Here’s the press release:
DOC NYC, the festival for documentaries — celebrating its 17th edition in-person November 11-19 at IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Village East by Angelika and continuing online through November 29 — announced its Main Slate lineup today. The 2026 festival presents more than 115 feature-length documentaries (with Short List, Winner’s Circle, and Selects Encore sections still to be announced), including 26 World premieres and 27 U.S. premieres, among over 200 films and dozens of events, with filmmakers expected in person at most screenings.
“Each year, we are struck by the extraordinary range of stories that documentary filmmakers are bringing to the screen, and this year’s Main Slate is especially rich in its breadth, ambition, and artistry. From intimate portraits and deeply personal journeys to urgent investigations, stories of resistance, and films that explore the natural world, these documentaries offer fresh perspectives on the world around us and the people who shape it. We’re thrilled to present such a dynamic group of filmmakers and to give audiences the opportunity to experience their work,” said Jaie Laplante, Artistic Director of DOC NYC.
“DOC NYC was founded on the idea that New York should be a place where documentary filmmakers, audiences, and the broader film community can come together to discover important new work, and that mission remains at the heart of the festival 17 years later. This year’s lineup reflects the incredible vitality of documentary storytelling today, with more than 200 films and events, including dozens of premieres and filmmakers from around the world. We’re excited to welcome audiences to our theaters while continuing to make the festival accessible to viewers nationwide online,” said Raphaela Neihausen, Executive Director of DOC NYC.
Opening the festival on Nov. 11 at SVA Theatre will be the U.S. premiere of Èlia Gasull Balada and Matteo Norzi’s The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs, about 75-year-old Indigenous artist Sara Flores, who emerges from the Peruvian Amazon into the global contemporary art scene. Closing the festival on Nov. 19, also at SVA Theatre, will be the U.S. premiere of Kate Davis and David Heilbroner’s Totality, about the 2024 solar eclipse that swept across a path of communities in North America—and the power of collectively looking up to the heavens for a brief moment to take stock of our personal universes.
The festival’s Centerpiece screening is the NYC premiere of Union Town (Nov. 13, SVA Theatre), Barbara Kopple’s vigorous return to her greatest subject: union labor. The two-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker examines three sets of New York City laborers seeking better working conditions, unionization, and often basic human decency.
The Special Presentations program of the festival includes World premieres of Joe Berlinger’s stunning 1980s televangelist chronicle, Primetime Preacher$, and Abhay & Halavah Sofsky’s nuanced portrait of the scandal-ridden New Vrindaban commune, Palace of Gold. Colin Farrell produces and headlines the North American premiere of Rachel Fleit’s The Slightest Touch, about running a marathon alongside a close friend with a rare genetic disorder. Other highlights include Pretenders, Joss Crowley’s rocking and insightful portrait of the singular Chrissie Hynde, and the U.S. premiere of The Pervert’s Guide to Utopias, Sophie Fiennes’ newest collaboration with the irrepressible Slavoj Žižek.
The U.S. Competition, co-presented by Indiewire, consists of eight features making a World or U.S. premiere at the festival, on any subject, from U.S. producers or co-producers. The films selected for this year’s competition are Hugo Perez’s #SOSCUBA, Wyatt Maw’s Ashland, Trisha Ziff’s Frida: The Girl Just Doesn’t Go Away, Patrick Shen and Brandon Vedder’s Illuminations, Kevin Truong’s Mai American, James Longley’s Mohabat, Ivora Cusack and James June Schneider’s The Newsreel: Characterization of Subversive Organization, and Brandon Kapelow’s Under Fire.
The International Competition consists of eight features, making a World or U.S. premiere at the festival, on any subject, from producers or co-producers outside of the U.S. The films selected for this year’s competition are Lucas Paleocrassas’s Bugboy, Nolwenn Hervé’s The Cord, Miguel Eek’s Dryads, Maxence Voiseux’s Gabin, Èlia Gasull Balada and Matteo Norzi’s The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs, Mahsa Karampour’s Into The Jaws of the Ogre, Jens Schanze’s Materia Prima, and Adrian McCarthy and Brenda Morrissey’s Whiddy.
The Metropolis Competition consists of five features that highlight strong New York City stories or protagonists. The films selected for this year’s competition are Simon Mendes’s The Darkest Light, Bart Simpson’s The MAD World of Harvey Kurtzman, Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger’s Make Work, Deborah Riley Draper’s Romare Bearden: A Life in Collage, and Sabine Lidl’s Siri Hustvedt – Dance Around the Self.
Ten films are nominated for DOC NYC’s inaugural Archival Storytelling Competition, created in 2026 to celebrate a Main Slate film of exceptional merit that employs non-AI generated, sourced material as its primary story driver. The nominees are Cheri Gaulke’s Acting Like Women, Karen Hayes’ A Better Way: James Lawson, Architect of Nonviolence, Christopher Gruse’s Kenny: The Marxist Who Would Be Mayor, Bart Simpson’s The MAD World of Harvey Kurtzman, Ivora Cusack and James June Schneider’s The Newsreel: Characterization of Subversive Organization, Joss Crowley’s Pretenders, Joe Berlinger’s Primetime Preacher$, Deborah Riley Draper’s Romare Bearden: A Life in Collage, Adrian McCarthy and Brenda Morrissey’s Whiddy, and Juan C. Dávila Santiago’s Zenón and the Rebel Boats. This award was developed in collaboration with Archival Producers Alliance and is co-presented by Footage.Net, Fox Archives, and Global ImageWorks.
The festival’s non-competition sections include American Stories (gathering up a vision of the country’s current moment), Artists & Artisans, Big Blue (films about the natural world), Come As You Are (protagonists striving to find their sense of identity), Fight the Power (stories of activism), Game Face Cinema (the emotion of the sports world), Investigations, Portraits (about singular individuals), Resilience (films about standing strong in the face of trauma), and Sonic Cinema (music documentaries).
Short-form content is represented in the festival’s Academy Award- and BAFTA-qualifying Shorts Competition (72 films).
Returning this year to partner with DOC NYC is Subject Matter, which will award a $30,000 grant to support one social issue documentary’s marketing and impact campaigns, alongside a $30,000 grant to a nonprofit working on the issue featured in the film. A new award in 2026 is the first DOC NYC Shine Global Resilience Award, honoring a film that highlights and celebrates the inspiring strength, creativity, and power of children with a $2,500 cash prize and strategic support and consulting from Shine Global.
DOC NYC’s programming is led by Artistic Director Jaie Laplante, supported by senior programmers, some of whom oversee specific sections: Karen McMullen on Metropolis Competition and Sonic Cinema, Murtada Elfadl on Resilience, Brandon Harrison on Game Face Cinema, and Ruth Somalo on Big Blue. They also selected other titles in the festival alongside senior feature programmer Bedatri D. Choudhury and shorts programmer DeWitt Davis.
More news, including the features and shorts named to the festival’s Short List sections for the year’s leading awards contenders, the Winner’s Circle showcase of festival laureates, Selects Encore featuring highlights of DOC NYC’s year-round programming, The Louie Awards finalists, competition jury members, and other festival updates will be announced in the coming days.
“DOC NYC provides New Yorkers an affordable way to experience the best in documentary filmmaking and get access to unique, raw and truthful storytelling from a diverse range of voices,” said Commissioner Rafael Espinal of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. “Congratulations to all the filmmakers on their premieres and for having the courage to share your stories with the audiences of New York City.”
The following is a breakdown of programming by premiere statuses, with festival section (for screening details, visit www.docnyc.net):
WORLD PREMIERES
…AND DAMN, HE COULD PLAY: THE MARCUS BELGRAVE STORY (Sonic Cinema)
Director: Timashion Jones
Producer: Bradley Torreano
For more than six decades, gifted trumpeter Marcus Belgrave played alongside countless legends of American jazz and pop with no interest in fame.
#SOSCUBA (U.S. Competition)
Director: Hugo Perez
Producers: A.J. Leon, Melissa Leon, Jessie White, Ramfis Myrthil
As Cuban artists confront censorship and state repression, their creation of an independent biennial becomes an act of resistance, revealing the risks of making art outside official institutions.
ALL THE MUSIC IN THE WORLD (Portraits)
Director: Joseph Levy
Producers: Rebecca Cameron, Taz Goldstein, Joseph Levy, Alyssa Litoff
Concert pianist Emanuel Ax reveals his origin story and the path that led him to legendary status in the world of classical performance. Co-World Premiere with Tanglewood and the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center.
ASHLAND (U.S. Competition)
Director/Producer: Wyatt Maw
A lyrical and pastoral love letter to the inhabitants and vast landscapes of Montana.
THE BEST JUSTICE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD (Investigations)
Director/Producer: Suja A. Thomas
A lawyer makes us take a hard look at the fissures in the American justice system—a grim subject somehow made lighter through a deft use of humor.
THE BOY WHO STOLE BILLIONS? (Investigations)
Director: Nanette Burstein
Producers: Lesley Goldman, Timothy Moran, Kevin T. Fogarty
Sam Bankman-Fried built a $32 billion crypto empire before losing it all; was he a reckless fraudster or a brilliant risk-taker whose ambition spiraled catastrophically out of control?
ENOUGH (Fight the Power)
Directors: Kreshnik Jonuzi, Matthew Vigil
Producers: Matthew Vigil, Kreshnik Jonuz
A social justice portrait of a crusader who advocates for the families of Black Americans murdered by the police.
THE FLESH AND THE SOUL (Artists & Artisans)
Directors: Giuseppe Papasso, Barbara Tarricone
Producer: Giuseppe Papasso
Maestro cinema auteur David Cronenberg walks us through his life and career, punctuated with illustrative clips from his most iconic films.
FOREVER, FOR NOW (Come As You Are)
Director: Will Wertz
Producers: Will Wertz, Matthew Heineman, Matt Spear
Following 30 years of suffering from the effects of a devastating skiing accident, an unexpected happening complicates a man’s decision to end his life.
FRIDA: THE GIRL JUST DOESN’T GO AWAY (U.S. Competition)
Director: Trisha Ziff
Producers: Trisha Ziff, Juan Carlos Valdez Dragonné
From tattoos and drag queens to dolls and endless merchandise, Frida Kahlo’s image is everywhere. Artists, scholars, artisans, and devotees consider how a radical painter became a global brand.
ILLUMINATIONS (U.S. Competition)
Directors/Producers: Patrick Shen, Brandon Vedder
Lifelong partners in love and art, Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hiler’s ethereal experimental shorts embody the joy of creating films by hand, and the power of the cinematic image to expand consciousness and touch hearts.
KICK (Game Face Cinema)
Director: Julia Schwalb
Producers: Samantha Bloom, Grace Zahrah, Alex Schmider, Zackary Drucker, Julia Schwalb
On the road to the Olympics, American runner Nikki Hiltz kindles love and reconciles their identity as a trans nonbinary athlete with the undue scrutiny of a society that resists their place.
LET IT BE, LET IT BLEED: THE UNLIKELY ROCK N’ ROLL JOURNEY OF ETHAN RUSSELL (Artists & Artisans)
Director: Christopher Booker
Producers: Christopher Booker, Genna Terranova, Aron Baxter, Brice Matson
Photographer Ethan Russell’s extraordinary access to rock’s greatest stars allowed him to capture intimate images that reveal the people behind the mythology, visually documenting a seminal era in music history.
MAI AMERICAN (U.S. Competition)
Director/Producer: Kevin Truong
A queer filmmaker and his Vietnamese mother undertake a journey of understanding each other and find that the least painful middle ground of vulnerability lies in making art together.
MALL COUNTRY (American Stories)
Director: Brian Becker
Producers: Carrie Weprin, Brian Becker
The story of an immigrant who puts his life savings on the line to save an American institution: the shopping mall.
THE NEW EXTINCTION (Investigations)
Director: Kyle Lloyd Arpke
Producer: Jessica Knap
In a booming dinosaur fossil industry, commercial and scientific incentives clash when a Wisconsin professor and his paleontology team make a discovery.
THE NEWSREEL: CHARACTERIZATION OF SUBVERSIVE ORGANIZATION (U.S. Competition)
Directors: Ivora Cusack, James June Schneider
Producers: Ivora Cusack, James June Schneider, Annick Lemonnier
The story of how a group of fiery activists decided to create an archive of 1960s counterculture – the NYC institution Third World Newsreel.
THE NOBLES (Resilience)
Director: Khaula Malik
Producers: Khaula Malik, Afhnan Khan, Brit Fryer
A look at queer life in Pakistan through a community of Khawaja Saras, a traditional gender identity, as its members run a café that becomes a thriving space of dignity, community, and survival.
NOT ALL THE GIRLS (Resilience)
Director: Carolina Astudillo Muñoz
Producers: Carolina Astudillo Muñoz, Jaime Muguruza, Wendy P. Espinal, Macarena Aguiló, Fernando Fuentes, David Bassa Cabanas, Sílvia Pairó Vila, Xiana do Teixeiro, Andres Lizana
A filmmaker gathers women who, like her, grew up under Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile, and explores sisterhood, cinema, and the fragmented memories, silences, and traumas carried to this day.
PALACE OF GOLD (Special Presentations)
Directors: Halavah Sofsky, Abhay Sofsky
Producers: Fisher Stevens, Halavah Sofsky, Evan Williams, Jay Bulger
The story of New Vrindaban, one of America’s largest Hare Krishna cults, as you’ve never seen it before.
PRIMETIME PREACHER$ (Special Presentations)
Director: Joe Berlinger
Producers: Rachael Profiloski, Emma Ho, Michael Costigan, Jason Bateman
In the golden age of Christian broadcasting, Jerry Falwell, Jim Bakker, and Jimmy Swaggart transformed evangelical Christianity into a political force—until greed, rivalry, and scandal ignited a holy war.
RARE AS F@*K (Artists & Artisans)
Director: W. Zach Starr
Producers: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine
As her college-bound son struggles on his ongoing disability journey, designer Mindy Scheier creates a fashion week show of adaptive styles.
UNDER FIRE (U.S. Competition)
Director: Brandon Kapelow
Producers: Laurel Thomson, Brandon Kapelow
An Idaho fire captain undergoes experimental ketamine therapy to treat the mental scars of his past and live more fully in the present.
UNDERSTORY (Big Blue)
Director: Su Rynard
Producers: Nadine Pequeneza, Su Rynard, Marieke van den Bersselaar, Carles Brugueras
Scientists and thinkers Suzanne Simard, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Paco Calvo reveal the extraordinary intelligence of plants, inviting us to reconsider humanity’s place within an interconnected, more-than-human living world.
WHAT HAPPENED TO DANNY (Investigations)
Director: ManSee Kong
Producers: Lorraine Ma, Samuel J. Rong, Jennifer Ngo, Corinne Manabat Cueva, ManSee Kong
When Chinatown native Danny Chen dies while serving in Afghanistan, troubling questions surrounding his death compel his grieving family and New York community to embark on a determined search for answers.
WHIDDY (International Competition)
Directors: Adrian McCarthy, Brenda Morrissey
Producers: Maria Horgan, Adrian McCarthy
A small town on southwestern Ireland’s Whiddy Island copes with the decades-long ramifications of a devastating Gulf Oil terminal explosion.
U.S. PREMIERES
80 ANGRY JOURNALISTS (Fight the Power)
Directors: András Földes, Anna Kis
Producer: Lorand Balazs Imre
The story of Hungary’s largest independent newsroom crumbling under state-sponsored repression—and how its journalists fought to win back integrity and power within the institution.
BEL (Sonic Cinema)
Director: Louise Lockwood
Producer: Sarah Howitt
After singer-songwriter Bel dies at the height of her career, her sister completes the album she left behind, uncovering private struggles hidden beneath her rising success.
BUGBOY (International Competition)
Director: Lucas Paleocrassas
Producers: Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof
An introverted boy seeks solace and escape in a magical friendship with insects.
THE CORD (International Competition)
Director: Nolwenn Hervé
Producer: Estelle Robin You
At a time when reproductive rights are targeted all over the world, a real-life hero tries to effect change in women’s healthcare in Venezuela.
DEREK VS DEREK (Big Blue)
Director: James Dawson
Producers: James Dawson, Serena Kennedy
Two neighboring English farmers clash over their radically different worldviews on the best use of their land – one is committed to traditional agriculture, the other to rewilding.
DRYADS (International Competition)
Director: Miguel Eek
Producers: Miguel Eek, Jørgen Lorentzen
Three musicians find inspiration in the natural world and the enduring beauty of folk songs in this visually stunning and lyrical exploration of the elusive creative process.
FOR LIFE (Resilience)
Director: Ahmet Seven
Producer: Aslihan Eker Çakmak
In a moving portrait of resilience, a Palestinian woman is determined to have a child with her husband, a political prisoner of the Israeli occupation.
FROM DUST WE SPIN (Game Face Cinema)
Director: Julia Jansch
Producer: Sheena-Lee Hendricks
As lives spiral in Cape Town’s Cape Flats, two people find a way through the labyrinth with an unexpected shared passion: the sport of car spinning.
FROM GAZA WITH LOVE (Resilience)
Directors: Charles Villa, Suhail Nassar
Producer: Charles Villa
A tale of friendship between a Palestinian photographer and a French journalist amid the genocide in Gaza.
GABIN (International Competition)
Director: Maxence Voiseux
Producers: Cécile Lestrade, Elise Hug
A patient observational chronicle of a French farm boy’s life from the age of eight to 18.
THE HUMMINGBIRD PAINTS FRAGRANT SONGS (Opening Night, International Competition)
Directors: Èlia Gasull Balada, Matteo Norzi
Producers: Matteo Norzi, Èlia Gasull Balada, Maria Altamirano
At 75, Shipibo artist Sara Flores journeys from the Peruvian Amazon to international acclaim, transforming visionary paintings rooted in Indigenous knowledge into a powerful force for cultural and territorial resistance.
INTO THE JAWS OF THE OGRE (International Competition)
Director: Mahsa Karampour
Producer: Mathilde Raczymow
A poetic musical tribute from a sister to her punk rocker brother, two Iranians amid vast American landscapes.
LESBIAN LINES (Come As You Are)
Director: Cara Holmes
Producer: Evan Horan
Across Ireland, underground lesbian helplines became lifelines for women facing isolation and repression.
LOW LIES THE LAND (Big Blue)
Director: Emanuele Gerosa
Producers: Sigrid Dyekjær, Harry Vaughn, Fleur Engels
Generations of Italian winegrowers resist unprecedented stresses to their livelihood and legacies.
THE MAD WORLD OF HARVEY KURTZMAN (Metropolis Competition)
Director: Bart Simpson
Producers: Ina Fichman, Aimara Reques
The irreverent, countercultural point of view of MAD Magazine founder Harvey Kurtzman inspires a generation of illustrators and signals a shift in American humor.
MATERIA PRIMA (International Competition)
Director: Jens Schanze
Producers: Jens Schanze, Thomas Tielsch
A lyrical film that, over six years, observes Bolivia’s lithium reserves and how they attract Europe’s interests and greed.
MOHABAT (U.S. Competition)
Director: James Longley
Producers: Alex Gibney, Mohammad Sharif Hotak, James Longley
After losing his father, 12-year-old Mohabat finds his way under Taliban rule in a cinematic coming-of-age story.
MYSPACE (American Stories)
Director: Tommy Avallone
Producers: Van Toffler, Trent Johnson
The rise and fall of MySpace, the 2000s social media platform that introduced a generation to a phenomenon that would change all of our lives.
THE PERVERT’S GUIDE TO UTOPIAS (Special Presentations)
Director: Sophie Fiennes
Producers: Katie Holly, Evan Horan, Martin Rosenbaum, Shani Hinton, Sophie Fiennes, Jožko Rutar, Miha Černec, Ineke Kanters, Lisette Kelder, Andrew Grant
A zippy trip about human culture, as interpreted through popular movies by the irrepressible Slavoj Žižek, that appeals to cinephiles of varying intensities.
ROBERT RICHARDSON: THE WHITE DEVIL (Portraits)
Director: Jana Ojdova
Producers: Matěj Chlupáček, Jana Hojdová, Nela Schlaichertová
A convincing filmic argument for three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson’s auteur status.
THE SICKLING (Resilience)
Director: Gabriel Badejo
Producers: Diana Warmé, Gabriel Badejo
Living with sickle cell disease, Gabriel confronts excruciating pain and racial bias within Canada’s healthcare system. An experimental stem cell treatment then offers the possibility of a life transformed.
SIRI HUSTVEDT – DANCE AROUND THE SELF (Metropolis Competition)
Director: Sabine Lidl
Producers: Andreas Schroth, Irene Höfer, Karin Koch
Acclaimed writer Siri Hustvedt reflects on art, feminism, the mind, illness, and her life with Paul Auster in an intimate portrait of a relentlessly curious thinker confronting love and loss.
THE SLIGHTEST TOUCH (Special Presentations)
Director: Rachel Fleit
Producers: Claudine Farrell, Colin Farrell, Trevor Birney, Eimhear O’Neill, Frank Marshall, Rachel Fleit
Close friends Colin Farrell and Emma Fogarty journey through a crossroads of pain, friendship, and resilience.
THE TASTE OF DEMOCRACY (Artists & Artisans)
Directors: Péter Akar, Ambrus Fatér
Producer: Rita Balogh
An explosively entertaining behind-the-scenes look at the workings of a Michelin-starred restaurant in Budapest.
TOTALITY (Closing Night)
Directors: David Heilbroner, Kate Davis
Producer: Q-Ball Productions
An immersive portrait of the 2024 total solar eclipse that explores what drew an estimated 50 million North Americans to share in the cosmic spectacle.
TRACES (Fight the Power)
Director: Alisa Kovalenko, co-director Marysia Nikitiuk
Producer: Olha Bregman, Natalia Libet
Ukrainian women who have survived sexual assaults by Russian soldiers recount their stories of trauma, in Ukraine’s International Feature submission to the 99th Academy Awards.
WITH LOVE AND RAGE (Fight the Power)
Director: Bojina Panayotova
Producers: Michel Klein, Anne Mattatia, Stanley Woodward
A feminist lesson from the 1960s gains an eerie resonance today as American women continue to fight against a war-hungry government for the sake of future generations. .
NEW YORK CITY PREMIERES
32 METERS (Resilience)
Director: Morteza Atabaki
Producers: Morteza Atabaki, Murat Ones
Discovering friendship, confidence, and an unexpected sense of freedom, a determined group of women challenges tradition by training together for a shooting competition in rural Turkey.
ACTING LIKE WOMEN (Artists & Artisans)
Director: Cheri Gaulke
Producers: Cheryl Bookout, Anne Gauldin,, Meg Linton, Liz Yale Marsh
Rare archival footage illuminates the feminist artists of 1970s and ’80s Los Angeles who turned performance, collaboration, and collective action into radical tools for challenging the art world and society.
ALL ABOUT THE MONEY (Come As You Are)
Director: Sinead O’Shea
Producers: Sinead O’Shea, Katie Holly, Claire McCabe, Sigrid Dyekjaer, Harry Vaughn
A provocative portrait of an expatriate American millionaire that exposes contradictions of wealth, power, and ideology.
AMAZING LIVE SEA MONKEYS (American Stories)
Directors/Producers: Mark Becker, Aaron Schock
The heiress to Sea-Monkeys, a 1960s oceanic novelty, struggles against a company looking to control the brand created by her late husband, inventor and white supremacist Harold von Braunhut.
THE ASCENT (Game Face Cinema)
Directors: Edward Drake, Scott Veltri, Francis Cronin
Producers: Edward Drake, Scott Veltri
Climber Mandy Horvath ascends Mount Kilimanjaro in the aftermath of the unsolved attack that resulted in her losing both of her legs.
BABY/GIRLS (American Stories)
Directors: Alyse Walsh, Jackie Jesko
Producers: Melissa Leardi, Alex Waterfield, Kelly Rohrbach Walton
Three teenagers from the Bible Belt navigate unexpected pregnancies and new motherhood in the face of poverty, family trauma, and the daunting challenge of creating a future while still growing up themselves.
A BETTER WAY: JAMES LAWSON, ARCHITECT OF NONVIOLENCE (Fight the Power)
Director: Karen Hayes
Producers: Karen Hayes, Pamela Tom
A hidden architect of the Civil Rights Movement, the Rev. James Lawson championed equality alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., using faith and nonviolence to combat injustice throughout his career.
BLACK SUNFLOWERS (Resilience)
Director: James Marcus Haney
Producers: Pedram Rezaee, Mikayla Jean Miller, Yevhenii Zdorovylo, Samy Mosher, Eric Maldin, Volodymyr Yatsenko, Anna Yatsenko, Vlad Bolyelov
On front lines and urban back streets, 10 young Ukrainians, ranging in age from 18 to 26, grapple with the impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
BOATBUILDERS (Artists & Artisans)
Director: Luke Lorentzen
Producers: Kellen Quinn, Luke Lorentzen
A team of craftsmen spends a year together, building toward a common purpose, in an Americana portrait of a community in time.
A CITY IN THE FOREST (Big Blue)
Directors: Lev Omelchenko, Nolan Huber
Producers: Ike Rofé, Lev Omelchenko, Nolan Huber, Jaime Chew, Annie Woods
Atlanta activists fight to protect a city-owned forest from becoming “Cop City,” confronting police violence and political obstruction as their struggle for the land grows into a movement for democracy.
THE DAO OF THAO (Come As You Are)
Director/Producer: Khai Thu Nguyen
An emotional (and often very funny) meditation on motherhood, sexuality, and cultural legacy—and a call to open our minds about who we allow ourselves to be.
THE DARKEST LIGHT (Metropolis Competition)
Director: Simon Mendes
Producers: Simon Mendes, Heidi Reinberg
Beloved singer, songwriter, and holy teacher Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach is posthumously accused of sexual abuse, triggering a reckoning and a call for healing across denominations of the Jewish faith.
DARLENE LOVE: I KNOW WHERE I’VE BEEN (Sonic Cinema)
Director: Barry Avrich
Producers: Taraji P. Henson, Barry Avrich, Mark Selby
From girl-group beginnings, to singing backup with American pop greats, to late-life stardom, Darlene Love’s extraordinary voice and irrepressible spirit continue to shine through decades of trials and triumphs.
DRIFT (American Stories)
Director: Deon Taylor
Producers: Roxanne Avent Taylor, Inbal B. Lessner, Kaitlin McLaughlin
Photographer Isaac Wright channels his PTSD and thirst for adventure by scaling sky-high structures to capture breathtaking art, until his illegal climbs ignite a fight for justice and creative freedom.
DUAL CITIZEN (Come As You Are)
Director/Producer: Rachelle Salnave
When Rachelle brings her America-loving, Haitian-born father home to Haiti in a joint quest for his nationality and her citizenship, bureaucracy, family, and unexpected memories rekindle his connection to the country he left behind.
FIGARO UP, FIGARO DOWN (Sonic Cinema)
Director: Javid Soriano
Producers: Javid Soriano, Rob Richert
Though charismatic opera singer Tim Blevins’ personal demons derailed his brilliant career, his perseverance and phenomenal voice may yet lift him from the streets and back into the spotlight his talent deserves.
GIMME TRUTH (American Stories)
Directors: Brad Abrahams, Simon Ennis
Producers: Aeschylus Poulos, John Galway
As anti-vaxxers, flat-earthers, and truthers of all kinds explore how they’ve come to their world-shattering revelations, the question of why they pursue these causes comes into focus.
HOW TO CLEAN A HOUSE IN 10 EASY STEPS (Resilience)
Director: Carolina González Valencia
Producers: Brenda Avila-Hanna, Olga Segura
A documentary that bends the rules of nonfiction filmmaking to celebrate the inherent joy of a mother-daughter relationship that has persisted in the face of pain and separation.
JANE ELLIOTT AGAINST THE WORLD (Portraits)
Director: Judd Ehrlich
Producers: Judd Ehrlich, Max Powers, Elena Gaby
The story of how a schoolteacher in rural Iowa changed the way her students (and much of the country) saw racism through a controversial classroom lesson, and became a crusader against racial discrimination.
KENNY: THE MARXIST WHO WOULD BE MAYOR (Fight the Power)
Director: Christopher Gruse
Producers: Ben Ellenberg, Branden McClure
Brash, brilliant, Corvette-driving Marxist lawyer Ken Cockrel takes on racially charged cases in 1970s Detroit, battling a system stacked against the Black community, and winning.
LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY (American Stories)
Director: Leah Galant
Producer: Elijah Stevens
A Jewish American filmmaker studies her family’s past in Germany to parse through old trauma. There she finds herself in a present where her pain is weaponized to justify Palestinian suffering.
THE LAST CRITIC (Portraits)
Director: Matty Wishnow
Producers: Paul Lovelace, Joe Levy, Ben Wu
A fascinating exploration of the voice and sensibility of veteran critic Robert Christgau, who possesses a legendary ability to capture the essence of music in words.
LOS LOBOS NATIVE SONS (Sonic Cinema)
Directors: Doug Blush, Piero F. Giunti
Producers: Doug Blush, Piero F. Giunti, Rafael Agustín, Robert Corsini, Patricia Harris DiLeva, Flavio Morales
Steeped in Mexican musical tradition, Los Lobos rise from the streets of East LA to international stardom with their unique, genre-bending style.
LOVE APPTUALLY (Investigations)
Director: Shalini Kantayya
Producers: Shalini Kantayya, Elizabeth Woodward
As dating apps reshape how we find love, users and experts reveal the intoxicating highs, painful lows, and hidden consequences of turning romance into a swipe.
MAKE WORK (Metropolis Competition)
Directors: Linda Saffire, Adam Schlesinger
Producers: Linda Saffire, Adam Schlesinger, Adrian Danchig-Waring
Choreographers navigate the joy and pressure of making new works at the New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute in this intimate exploration of the creative process, celebrating the expressive possibilities of the human form.
MY NDA (Fight the Power)
Directors: Juliane Dressner, Miriam Shor
Producers: Elizabeth Woodward, Hanna Gray Organschi, Juliane Dressner, Miriam Shor
Three people risk their careers by breaking NDAs designed to silence them, exposing how corporations weaponize secrecy to shield themselves from accountability.
THE NAVIGATOR (American Stories)
Director: Jordan Manley
Producers: Kathy Muneno Thompson, Laura Yale
Fifty years after Nainoa Thompson became the first native Hawaiian in 600 years to use only traditional wayfinding techniques to reach Tahiti, he embarks on a journey with a new generation of navigators.
NEIGHBOURS OF THE BEAST (Big Blue)
Director/Producer: Sarthak Verma
The growth and dwindling of the tiger population in the Indian city of Panna change the way an entire community lives and earns a living in the forests.
PRETENDERS (Special Presentations)
Director: Joss Crowley
Producers: Ian Grenfell, Dan Braun, Joss Crowley
A rocking and insightful portrait of the singular Chrissie Hynde and the band she built around her.
RAPINOE (Game Face Cinema)
Director: Rebeca Huntt
Producers: Rebeca Huntt, Dan Cogan, Zoe Potkin, Kate Barry
A startling portrait of American women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe and her heroic milestones of activism and athleticism.
ROMARE BEARDEN: A LIFE IN COLLAGE (Metropolis Competition)
Director: Deborah Riley Draper
Producer: Jarobi Moorhead
Through rare archival footage and vibrant artwork, this portrait of Romare Bearden reveals the multitalented painter and collagist who transformed Black American life, history, and creativity into groundbreaking art.
THE SANDBOX (Resilience)
Director: Kenya-Jade Pinto
Producer: Shasha Nakhai
An examination of how surveillance systems and military technology control the global refugee crisis and decide who gets rescued and who’s allowed to die.
SCHOOL FOR DEFECTORS (NYC Premiere)
Director: Jeremy Workman
Producers: Sona Jo, Jeremy Workman
Living lives shaped by stigma surrounding their parents’ escape from North Korea, South Korea’s next generation learns to step into a future of promise in a tiny school in Busan.
SUMMER 2000: THE X-CETRA STORY (Sonic Cinema)
Director: Ayden Mayeri
Producers: Barry Rothbart, Rachael Fung, Ayden Mayeri
When a secret album recorded in their tween years unexpectedly becomes an early pandemic-era sensation, four childhood friends reunite to see if their old dreams—and friendships—are worth rekindling.
SUMO: SPIRIT WEIGHS NOTHING (Game Face Cinema)
Director: Erik Shirai
Producers: Teddy Leifer, Sam Stanley, Sigrid Dyekjaer, Yusuke Kamata, Erik Shirai, Carolyn Hepburn
At the Sakaigawa stable in Tokyo, a group of young sumo wrestlers takes on the physical and cultural mantle of Japan’s national sport.
UNION TOWN (Centerpiece)
Director: Barbara Kopple
Producers: Hannes Hosp, Barbara Kopple, Peter Palandjian
Delivery industry workers in New York City take on some of the world’s most powerful corporations, revealing the challenges, passion, and humanity at the heart of the American labor movement.
ZENÓN AND THE REBEL BOATS (Fight the Power)
Director: Juan C. Dávila Santiago
Producers: Juan C. Dávila Santiago, Camila M. Rodríguez Estrada
A David-and-Goliath story of Puerto Ricans mounting a resistance campaign against the powerful US Navy from their fleet of small fishing boats on the Caribbean Sea.
ZERO INTENTION OF LIVING QUIETLY (Portraits)
Director: Edward Lovelace
Producers: John Battsek, Sarah Thomson, Fleur Nieddu, Edward Lovelace, Howard T. Owens, Ben Silverman
Actor Adam Pearson, who lives with the genetic condition neurofibromatosis type 1, mentors young Ellie as she pursues her dream of performing, forging a friendship shaped by cinema, courage, and self-acceptance.
VOICES OF CANADA
A showcase of the Canadian titles and directors that are represented throughout the festival’s sections. Co-presented by the Consulate General of Canada in New York.
Feature Films:
DARLENE LOVE: I KNOW WHERE I’VE BEEN
ENOUGH
GIMME TRUTH
THE MAD WORLD OF HARVEY KURTZMAN
THE NAVIGATOR
THE SANDBOX
THE SICKLING
UNDER FIRE
UNDERSTORY
Short Films:
The Deli
Wild East
SHORTS PROGRAMS
There are 72 shorts participating in the juried Shorts Competition, in the following 18 programs:
SHORTS: ARTSCAPES
Cinematic journeys into the lives and minds of artists, each offering a distinct lens on their unique creative process.
Maurice and Marvin (Dir/Prod: David Friend/Prods: Meghna Rao, Katie Schiller)
Print (Dir: Em Vaughn/Prod: Aderet Fishbane)
Respirateur (Dir/Prod: Paul Moakley/Prod: Cressida Leyshon)
SEKKA – Snow Crystals (Dir: Misaki Matsui/Prods: Quarta Kenji, Akio Takai)
SHORTS: BECOMING
Bearing witness to growing up and into one’s true self.
Buried Under Years of Dust (Dir/Prod: Sophie Sartain/Prods: Marta Kauffman, Robbie Rowe Tollin, Hannah KS Canter)
Dear Mae (Dirs:Josiah Mendoza, Zoey Franklin/Dir/Prod: Mona Patterson)
Mix (Dir: Klaudia Szott/Prod: Agata Golańska)
SHORTS: BODY & SOUL
Stories of resilience and strength where possibilities lie beyond the confines of the human form.
Anatomy of a Portrait (Dir/Prod: Juan Felipe León/Prod: Cristian Hidalgo)
Animas (Dirs/Prods: Fernando Rocha, Eduardo Rodriguez)
Be Still, My Soul. (Dir/Prod: Simon Cave)
The Hotline (Dir/Prod: Ricki Stern/Dir: Jesse Sweet)
SHORTS: CREATORS
Visionaries using their creativity to provoke, educate, and entertain.
CHRISTIAAN, That’s Me! (Dir/Prod: Ilja Willems/Prod: Remco Bikkers)
Dingo (Dir: James Marcus Haney/Prod: Margaret Seid)
A Short Documentary About A Giant Pencil (Dir/Prod: Daniel Straub/Prods: Austin Straub, Bryce Cyrier)
SHORTS: CROSS COUNTRY
Portraits of challenge and triumph from communities across America, revealing diverse threads of everyday life.
Black Soil (Dirs/Prods: Nicholas Weissman, Caitlin Ochs/Prods: Darcy McKinnon, Dr. Emmanuel Harris II)
Escalation (Dir: AJ Schnack/Prod: Shirley Moyers)
A Life Aloft (Dir: Clayton Simoncic)
SHORTS: DIFFERENT DRUMMERS
Celebrating mavericks and makers boldly pursuing their unique paths.
Fred’s Basement Bijou (Dir: Michael T. Vollmann/Prod: Chris James Thompson)
Hurt (Dir/Prod: Simon Halsall)
Safety is a Name (Dir: Tim Kressin/Prod: Davis Love)
Sole (얼) (Dir: Haneol Lee/Prod: Blake Winston Rice)
SHORTS: GATHERED ECHOES
The past reverberates through our present reality in these conceptual documentaries.
Mother Creature (Dir: Maria Tórgarð/Prod: Gustav Ahnelöv)
Now It’s a Strange House (Dirs/Prods: Ethan Rosenthal Grossman, Cate Knothe)
Pelo Lindo (Dir: Josué García Prado/Prods: Ursula Roldan, German Alvarez)
SHORTS: GENERATIONS
Histories, rituals, and links that bind families and communities together across the ages.
Another Day Shall Come (Dir/Prod: Aida Kaadan/Prod: Carol Mezher)
The Floor Remembers (Dir/Prod: Jayme Kaye Gershen/Prod: Joy Castañeda)
Mother’s Influence (Dir: Meg Wriggles/Prod: Léa Luiz de Oliveira)
SCREENAGERS (Dir/Prod: Angela Suh-Young Kim)
This is the House: If I Don’t See You, I Love You (Dir: Claudia Owusu/Prod: Lauren Todd)
SHORTS: GET UP, STAND UP
Fighting the power, one good story at a time.
Manufacturing Resilience (Dir/Prod: Rodrigo Guevara)
Tampons & Taxes: Or How to Play The Ole Boys Club and Win (Dir/Prod: Emily Harrold/Prod: Robin Hessman)
Wild East (Dir: Maia Wikler/Prods: Cecilia Brown, Audrey Popa)
Women Count (Dir/Prod: Davina Pardo/Prod: Alisa Payne)
SHORTS: GOTHAM
New York City shorts that exemplify the grit, grace and groove of our great city.
10 Days Later (Dir/Prod: Celia Aniskovich/Prod: Leah Culton Gonzalez)
Bird Aid (Dir/Prod: Catherine Tambini)
The Deli (Dir/Prod: Kabir Birk/Prod: Ekas Rai)
Running Home (Dirs/Prods: Pat Sheils, Gabi Freeda)
Terri & Richard (Dir: Alex Bijan Zandi/Prods: Taylor Ervin, Taylor Brophy, Daniel Pravit Fethke)
SHORTS: HEARTBEATS
Celebrating affairs of the heart and love in all of its wondrous forms.
And I Saw Your Name on the Dust of the Houses (Dir/Prod: Isay Peña)
The Dreaming Game (Dir/Prod: Jordan Salvatoriello)
Jason (Dir/Prod: Gabriella Canal)
Last Days on Hassell Street (Dir/Prod: Ben Strang)
Tag Sale (Dir/Prod: Alison Crouse)
SHORTS: HIDDEN HISTORIES
Explore the untold histories of people and communities whose unknown stories exemplify resilience, self-determination, and courage.
Boomerang Atomic (Dir/Prod: Rachid Bouchareb/Prods: Ruth Yoshie Linton, Bilal Bouchareb, Forest Whitaker)
The Other Roe (Dir/Prod: Wendy Eley Jackson/Prod: Elisa Gambino)
The Right to Forget (Dir/Prod: Lisa Mazenauer/Prods: HGK Basel FHNW, Chus Martínez)
Vanishing Time (Dir/Prod: Zoe Valery)
SHORTS: KEEPING THE FAITH
Perseverance in the face of uncertain futures, and what awaits on the other side.
Gaza Friends Club (Dirs/Prods: Lauren Capps, Isabeau Doucet/Prod: Adrienne Haspel)
Replikka (Dir/Prod: Heloisa Passos/Dir:Piratá Waurá/Prods: Mark Slagle, Yula Rocha)
Testing Testing Sandi Bachom (Dirs/Prods: David France, Paul McGuire/Prod: Rose Arce)
You’re Not So Lucky (Dir/Prod: Giles Perkins/Prod: Owen Halstad)
SHORTS: SHE STORIES
Stories of intimacy, strength, and self-determination, made by and about women.
How to Catch a Butterfly (Dir: Kiriko Mechanicus/Prod: Ilja Roomans)
Inside (Dir: Dorota Vlnová/Prod: Roman Pivovarník)
Our Songs: By Way of Revolution (Dir: Alex J. Bledsoe/Prod: Jalena Keane-Lee)
SONIA (Dirs/Prods: Sarah Colt, Emily Schuman)
SHORTS: SHIFTING
Capturing the shifting currents when we have a change of heart and forge a new outlook on life.
Ephemeral River (Dirs/Prods: Bentley Brown, Tahir Ben Mahamat Zene)
Hourglass (Dir: Eric Teo/Prod: Charis Chua)
No Kidding (Dir/Prod: Sarah Ford)
Project Utopia (Dirs/Prods: Frederick Bernas, Nico Muñoz)
The Quiet Invasion (Dir/Prod: Inuk Jørgensen)
Some Kind of Refuge (Dir: Alexandra Kern/Prod: Colin Cadarette)
SHORTS: SING IT PROUD
A program for lovers of instruments, musicians, and rhythm!
A New Day Begun: The Black National Anthem (Dir/Prod: Keith Michael Brown)
Q-Pop (Dir: Adri Murguia/Prods: Jamie Rogers Caballero, Alpita Patel)
A Song for the Snow Lion (Dir/Prod: Pawo Choyning Dorji/Prods: Ben Mandelkern, Charlie Clark, Ryan Booth)
SHORTS: THE PEOPLE VS.
Stories about those who fight for a better future for all.
Awake (Dirs/Prods: Dan Fipphen, Elyse Kelly/Prods: Molly Kaplan, Deema Salem Syed)
Bigger Than Luigi (Dir/Prod: Miléna Mikael-Debass/Prod: Emma V.F.)
Jimmy’s Corner: One More Round (Dir/Prod: Olivier Bernier/Prods: Justin Noto, Michael Capone)
Memories of a Window (Dirs/Prods: Mehraneh Salimian, Amin Pakparvar)
SHORTS: WE BELONG TOGETHER
Finding strength in community and friendship.
Maybe Tomorrow (Dirs: Waad Al-Kateab, Wafa Mustafa/Prods: Joanna Natasegara, Abigail Anketell-Jones)
Of Your Tenderness (Dir: Zoulikha Tahar/Prod: Amélie Quéret)
Tamai (Dir: Enoch J. Lui/Prod: Connor Dean)
Update (Dir/Prod:Vicente González Monroy)
PARTNER EVENTS
BLOOMBERG GREEN DOCS
Bloomberg launched the Green Docs competition in 2022. Each year they put out a global call for short documentary films that address the urgency of climate change. Join us for screenings of the top five films from the competition and the $25,000 grand prize winner announcement. A filmmaker Q&A will follow.
MAKING AMERICA: IMMIGRANT STORIES (Co-presented by Creatively Speaking, a program of the New School’s Institute on Race, Power & Political Economy)
Five intimate portraits reveal the unsung heroes woven into the fabric of our country: immigrants and first-generation Americans whose courage, sacrifice, and determination exemplify the best of the American promise. A cobbler, a lawyer, an equestrian, a singer, and some deli owners; their stories illuminate the many ways immigrants contribute to the beauty and strength of our nation. A filmmaker Q&A will follow.
THE LOUIE AWARDS (Co-presented by Lynn & Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation)
DOC NYC unveils the three short film winners of The Louies, a new $100,000 fund sponsored by the Lynn & Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation. The three films, among the season’s top award-contending shorts, will be followed by a conversation with the filmmakers behind each work.
WILL POWER
When a catastrophic stroke destroys the creative half of his brain days before his international breakthrough, a celebrated rebellious Russian performer wakes paralyzed – unable to walk, speak, swallow, or sing. Filmed over several years, Will Power follows his fragile and nonlinear rehabilitation as fame fades and his family turns away. What begins as a medical recovery becomes something deeper: a dramatic confrontation with identity, limitation, and choice. Challenging the certainty of prognosis, the film explores the possibility that the boundaries defined by science are not always the limits of human will. A Q&A with the creative team will follow.
SPONSORS
The festival is made possible by:
Leading Media Partner: THIRTEEN
Major Sponsors: Apple Original Films; HBO Documentary Films; Outlier Film Fund
Major Media Partner: Variety
Supporting Sponsors: Andscape; National Geographic Documentary Films; Netflix
Supporting Media Partners: IndieWire; WNYC
Signature Sponsors: Audio-Technica; Frankfurt Kurnit; NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment
Event Sponsors: Amazon MGM Studios; B&H; Bloomberg Green Docs; ESPN Films’ 30 for 30; Firelight Media; Fox Archives; Gigantic Studios; Impact Partners; JustFilms | Ford Foundation; Peabody Awards; Portrait x Theorem; Reavis Page Jump LLP; Shine Global; Sony; Subject Matter; Village East by Angelika; Wheelhouse Creative; Watermelon Pictures, Wrapbook
Friends of the Festival: 3rd Impression; AgileTix; Archival Producers Alliance; Art21; Audio Network; BAFTA North America; CineSend; Consulate General of Canada in New York; Creatively Speaking @ The Institute on Race, Power & Political Economy – The New School; DCTV; Documentary Accountability Working Group (DAWG); Footage.net; Global ImageWorks; Jewish Film Institute; Kickstarter; Posteritati; Ptex Group; Shiftboard; Think Tank Photo; Villa Albertine
DOC NYC is produced and presented by IFC Center, a division of AMC Global Media.
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