In just four years,Thom Powers has made DOC NYC the largest documentary festival in the US. will take place at IFC Center (323 Sixth Ave) and the SVA Theatre (333 W 23rd St)with an expansive of films, panels and guests. DOC NYC will showcase 131 films and events, including screenings of 72 feature-length films and 39 shorts as well as 20 doc-related panel discussions and master-classes.
“New Yorkers love memorable characters and this festival is overflowing with them,” said DOC NYC’s artistic director Thom Powers “The films range from profound and mysterious to humorous and sexually provocative. Not only can you experience unforgettable stories on the big screen, you can also meet many of the makers, participants and other documentary lovers.”
This is a festival for everyone be they filmmakers (panels and awards) or discriminating audiences of diverse taste.
Opening Night: Director Errol Morris’s the Unknown Known, in which he engages in a verbal duel with former Secretary Of Defense Donald Rumsfeld over recent history. less a duel than a director’s encounter with a sociopath-like career politician audience watches a highly sophisticated dance between two people who seem to lack empathy except for each other. Watching the ever grinning and laughing former Secretary of Defense describe his understanding of torture and his friendship with Vice-President Dick Cheney is a form of torture itself for any sensitive documentary film lover
Special Events: Five standout films coupled with high-profile conversations with the directors and special guests. Oliver Stone presents the never-broadcast prologue to his epic Showtime series The Untold History of the United States, which looks at events leading up to World War II.
Two world premiere events: White Gold is a frontline exposé of the modern-day ivory trade, presented with an extended conversation with director Simon Trevor and producer Arne Glimcher (founder of Pace Gallery); and Inside the Mind of Leonardo 3D(dir. Julian Jones) is a hybrid documentary featuring the actorPeter Capaldi (Doctor Who) performing passages from the notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci.
What is Cinema? (dir. Chuck Workman) creates a visual essay from film clips of boundary-pushing cinema combined with eclectic interviews.
Among the films I am especially looking forward to are The Punk Singer (dir. Sini nderson) focuses on Kathleen Hanna, a leader of the riot grrrl movement with bands likeBK And L . Hanna always celebrityshy dropped from sight for about five years. The shocking reason why is revealed in Revenge of the Mekons (dir. Joe Angio) explores the endurance of the punk band he Mekons over four decades; the US premiere ofFinding Vivian Maier (dirs. John Maloof & Charlie Siskel), which uncovers one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers who kept her work secret; the world premiere ofIs the Man Who is Tall Happy? An nimated onversation with Noam Chomsky, presented b Patrolman P (dir. Ido Mizrahy) which re-opens a controversial NYPD corruption case from the 1970s.
Exposed (dir. Beth B) delves into the world of modern burlesque performers; A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power and Jason Blair at The New York Times (dir. Samantha Grant) interviews the main players behind the 2003 newspaper scandal. The Pleasures of Being Out of Step (dir. David L. Lewis) profiles Nat Hentoff, the renowned jazz critic and free speech advocate.Kids for Cash (dir. Robert May) uncovers the shocking story of a Pennsylvania judge who incarcerated young people at an alarming rate How to Lose Your Virginity (dir. Therese Shechter) a humorous look at ideas around virginity in modern culture.
American Commune (dirs. Rena Mundo Croshere & Nadine Mundo) follows the filmmaker siblings back to the counterculture commune American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs (dir. Grace Lee) profiles the 98-year-old social activist from Detroit who will attend in person.
International Documentaries of note include: The Traces of Dr. Ernesto Guevara (dir. Jorge Denti) which draws fromChe Guevara’s personal journals to trace his second journey across Latin America in 1952-53. The Abominable Crime (dir. Micah Fink) examines violent homophobia in Jamaica. Brave Miss World (dir. Cecilia Peck) follows an Israeli former Miss World campaigning against sexual violence. Touba (dir. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi) uses cinematography to document a Senegalese pilgrimage.
the buzz doc rom SXSW this year The Stuart Hall Project (dir. John Akomfrah) blends Miles Davis music and eclectic archival footage to profile the British cultural theorist.
is just a taste of what DOC NYC offers. Do go to their website and discover the panels and award competition as as more documentaries and special ticket pricing packages
