• By Mabel Pais

Screening

Director DHEERAJ AKOLKAR’s ‘Liv Ullmann – A Road Less Travelled’

Director/Co-Producer VINAY SHUKLA’s ‘While We Watched’

Director/Co-Producer ANDREW NADKARNI’s ‘Between Earth & Sky’

Director/Co-Producer VARUN CHOPRA’s ‘Holy Cowboys’

Director/Co-Producer AMAR WALA’s ‘Witness’

Director/Co-Producer VEENA RAO’s ‘You Can’t Shrink Love’

Director KARLA MURTHY’s ‘Love, Jamie’

Co-Producer AINS PRASAD’s ‘The Orchestra Chuck Built’

Director-Producer TALHA JALAL’s ‘Rite of Passage’

Director/Producer ARUN BHATTARAI’s ‘Mountain Man’

Co-Director Geeta GANDBHIR’s ‘How We Get Free’

Director/Producer ROOPA GOGINENI’s ‘Suddenly TV’

Producer RUCHI MITAL’s ‘Tomorrow, Tomorrow, Tomorrow’

Co-Producer GANNESH RAJAH’s ‘Puffling’

And many more

DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary festival that runs annually presents its 14th edition in-person November 8-16 at the IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Village East by Angelika and continues online through November 26, 2023. The 2023 festival presents 114 feature-length documentaries and 129 short films in its 14th edition, including 33 world premieres and 29 U.S. premieres with filmmakers expected in-person at most screenings.

“We are beyond proud to be celebrating the international documentary community’s incredible work this year,” said the festival’s artistic director Jaie Laplante. “These films reveal new insights into our interior lives and the world around us in complex, engaging and often prescient ways.”

The Festival Films are arranged in the following categories:

SPECIAL EVENTS, SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS, U.S. COMPETITION, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, METROPOLIS COMPETITION, KALEIDOSCOPE COMPETITION, AMERICAN STORIES, FIGHT THE POWER, GAME FACE CINEMA, INVESTIGATIONS, PORTRAITS, SONIC CINEMA, VOICE OF CANADA, SHORTS (in 20 programs). The complete list is given below.

The Special Events category has the Opening Night, Closing Night and Centerpiece films.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Opening Night

THE CONTESTANT (New York Premiere)

Director: Clair Titley

Producers: Andee Ryder, Megumi Inman, Ian Bonhote

In the earliest days of “reality TV” in the 1990s, an aspiring Japanese comedian found himself trapped alone and naked in an apartment for 15 months, unaware that his participation in a twisted reality show was being broadcast weekly to millions of viewers, transforming him into a TV superstar.

Closing Night

SOUTH TO BLACK POWER (World Premiere)

Directors: Sam Pollard, Llewellyn Smith

Producers: Sam Pollard, Kelly Thomson, R.J. Cutler, Elise Pearlstein

New York Times columnist Charles Blow calls for a “reverse Great Migration” of African Americans from the North back to the South to reclaim the land and culture they left behind, while building political representation. (HBO Documentary Films)

Centerpiece Screening

UNCROPPED (World Premiere)

Director: D.W. Young

Producer: Judith Mizrachy

A portrait of longtime Village Voice photographer James Hamilton, whose work during the heyday of alternative print journalism brilliantly captured some of the most remarkable people and stories of the past half century.

Special Presentations

ANSELM (NYC Premiere)

DAVID HOLMES: THE BOY WHO LIVED (World Premiere)

DEFIANT (NYC Premiere)

FLIPSIDE (US Premiere)

JUNE (World Premiere)

PATRIA Y VIDA: THE POWER OF MUSIC (New York Premiere)

U.S. COMPETITION

36 SECONDS: PORTRAIT OF A HATE CRIME (World Premiere)

THE COWBOY AND THE QUEEN (World Premiere)

HAPPY CAMPERS (World Premiere)

HOW TO COME ALIVE… WITH NORMAN MAILER (World Premiere)

MEDIHA (World Premiere)

OBSESSED WITH LIGHT (North American Premiere)

THE RIOT REPORT (World Premiere)

SHAKEN (World Premiere)

TAKING VENICE (North American Premiere)

TOMORROW, TOMORROW, TOMORROW (World Premiere)

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION 

AL DJANAT – THE ORIGINAL PARADISE (US Premiere)

THE CARAVAN (US Premiere)

DALTON’S DREAM (North American Premiere)

DANCING ON THE EDGE OF A VOLCANO (North American Premiere)

THE DMITRIEV AFFAIR (US Premiere)

THE HOME GAME (US Premiere)

LE SPECTRE DE BOKO HARAM (US Premiere)

NEIRUD (International Premiere)

SOMEONE LIVES HERE (International Premiere)

TOTAL TRUST (US Premiere)

METROPOLIS COMPETITION

NEW YORK STORIES

ASHIMA (World Premiere)

CONFESSIONS OF A GOOD SAMARITAN (NYC Premiere)

DIVERSITY PLAZA (World Premiere)

HOLDING BACK THE TIDE (World Premiere)

LUCHA: A WRESTLING TALE (World Premiere)

NATHAN-ISM (NYC Premiere)

PSYCHEDELICIZED: THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS STORY (World Premiere)

SCOOTER LAFORGE: A LIFE OF ART (World Premiere)

KALEIDOSCOPE COMPETITION

NEW DOCUMENTARY VISIONS

GRASSHOPPER REPUBLIC (NYC Premiere)

MEGAHEARTZ (North American Premiere)

THE WALK (World Premiere)

A WOLFPACK CALLED ERNESTO (US Premiere)

ZINZINDURRUNKARRATZ (New York Premiere) 

AMERICAN STORIES

STATES OF BEING IN THE UNION

BETWEEN LIFE & DEATH (New York Premiere)

CATERPILLAR (New York Premiere)

A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE (New York Premiere)

NAKED AMBITION: BUNNY YEAGER (World Premiere)

ONE WITH THE WHALE (New York Premiere)

TIME BOMB Y2K (NYC Premiere)

UNBROKEN (NYC Premiere)

UNSEEN (NYC Premiere)

FIGHT THE POWER

STORIES OF ACTIVISM

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? (NYC Premiere)

NO ONE ASKED YOU (World Premiere)

RAINBOW WARRIOR (North American Premiere)

THE COST OF INHERITANCE (World Premiere)

THREE PROMISES (New York Premiere)

WE ARE FIRE! (DRAW FOR CHANGE) (International Premiere)

YOURS IN FREEDOM, BILL BAIRD (World Premiere)

GAME FACE CINEMA

THE DRAMA OF SPORT

CANDACE PARKER: UNAPOLOGETIC (World Premiere)

INTO THE SHAOLIN (New York Premiere)

JESSZILLA (NYC Premiere)

THE MINISTER OF DEFENSE (World Premiere)

RIDERS ON THE STORM (New York Premiere)

RIGHT TO FIGHT (International Premiere)

UNSYNCABLE (International Premiere)

INVESTIGATIONS

EXPOSING THE TRUTH

BULL RUN (International Premiere)

EAT BITTER (NYC Premiere)

HOW TO HAVE AN AMERICAN BABY (New York Premiere)

POLISH PRAYERS (North American Premiere)

SEARCHING FOR NIKA (North American Premiere)

WHO I AM NOT (New York Premiere)

PORTRAITS

PROFILES OF SINGULAR INDIVIDUALS

BYE BYE TIBERIAS (New York Premiere)

THE LADY BIRD DIARIES (New York Premiere)

LIV ULLMANN – A ROAD LESS TRAVELLED (North American Premiere)

Director: Dheeraj Akolkar; Producers: Hege Christensen, Kaare Hersoug

MERCHANT IVORY (World Premiere)

SHARI & LAMB CHOP (World Premiere)

THE TRIALS OF ALAN DERSHOWITZ (World Premiere)

SONIC CINEMA

MOVIES ABOUT MUSIC

FANNY: THE OTHER MENDELSSOHN (New York Premiere)

FAMOUDOU KONATE – THE KING OF DJEMBE (US Premiere)

GARLAND JEFFREYS: THE KING OF IN BETWEEN (World Premiere)

PAUL MULDOON: LAOITHE’S LIRIC/A LIFE IN LYRICS (New York Premiere)

PLAY WITH THE DEVIL – BECOMING ZEAL & ARDOR (North American Premiere)

PRETTY UGLY – THE STORY OF THE LUNACHICKS (World Premiere)

THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER (NYC Premiere)

VOICES OF CANADA

A showcase of the Canadian titles that are represented throughout the festival’s sections.

Co-presented by the Consulate General of Canada in New York.

Feature Films:

EAT BITTER

SOMEONE LIVES HERE

THE TRIALS OF ALAN DERSHOWITZ

UNSYNCABLE

WHO AM I NOT

Short Films:

A Bear Named Jesus

Boat People

Grape Soda in the Parking Lot

Radio Bingo

Two One Two

Zug Island

SHORTS PROGRAMS

There are 104 shorts participating in the juried Shorts Competition, in the following 20 programs:

SHORTS: ANIMAL FARM 

These docs feature the dynamic relationships between humans and entertaining, sentient, magnificent animals.

Frank and His Dogs (Dir/Prod: Owen Markham)

Happy (Dir/Prod: Laura Rindlisbacher)

Not Wasting My Time (Dir /Prod: Derek Howard)

Visible Mending (Dir: Samantha Moore/Prod: Tilley Bancroft)

Willie’s Wings (Dirs: Alberto Vignati, Reina Daniels/Prod: Andrea Italia)

You Can’t Shrink Love (Dir/Prod: Veena Rao)

SHORTS: ARTSCAPES

A glimpse into the artistic process behind brilliant creators across disciplines.

Forbidden Pond (Dir/Prod: Eric Jenkins-Sahlin)

Love, Jamie (Dir: Karla Murthy/Prod: Andrew Fredericks)

The Promise of Spring (Dir: Anna Andersen/Prod: Katie Rose Vaughan)

Whitney Houston in Focus (Dir/Prod: Benjamin Alfonsi/Prod: Audra McDonald)

SHORTS: CARETAKERS

A selection of tenderhearted films taking care of memories, heirlooms, and family members.

Behind the Mask (Dir/Prod: Håvard Bustnes)

Caretaker (Dir/Prod: Verónica Rose Wood)

The Echo of Her Voice (Dir/Prod: Rodrigo Guzmán Espíndola/Prods: Daniela Contreras, Nicolas Défossé)

The Medallion (Dir: Ruth Hunduma/Prods: Lily Usher, Tolu Stedford)

My Cure and Me (Dir/Prod: Alan Bradley)

SHORTS: CHANGING TIDES

This program captures the shifting currents when we have a change of heart and forge a new outlook on life.

The Cities I Live In (Dir: Rabie Mustapha/Prod: Michael Hewitt)

I See You (Dir: Adam Weingrod/Prod: Kobi Mizrahi)

Looking Forward (Dir/Prod: Steven Ascher/Prod: Jeanne Jordan)

Marungka Tjalatjunu (Dipped in Black) (Dirs: Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch/Prods: Matthew Thorne, Patrick Graham)

When a Rocket Sits on the Launch Pad (Dir/Prod: Bohao Liu/Prod: Gene Gallerano)

Whiteness at Work (Dir: Peter Nelson/Prod: Evan Weselmann)

SHORTS: COLLATERAL DAMAGE

The outcomes of war go beyond the physical as these short documentaries capture the implications of modern warfare.

Between Me and the Sea (Dir/Prod: Mohsin Mohi-Ud Din/Prod: Rafe Scobey-Thal)

Boat People (Dirs: Thao Lam, Kjell Boersma/Prods: Justine Pimlott, Jelena Popović)

Dictionary of Emotions in a Time of War (Dir/Prod: Leah Loftin)

Enemy Alien (Dir: Gabriel Murphy/Prod: Andrew McMartin)

Stones (Dir: Arman Ayvazyan/Prod: Vardan Hovhannisyan)

The Syrian Cosmonaut (Dir: Charles Emir Richards/Prod: Enis Ozkul)

SHORTS: COMMUNITY

Whether by nature or necessity, we find solace and support in our communities.

74 Messages Sent & Received (Dir/Prod: Danya Abt)

Addresses (Dirs: María Luisa Santos, Carlo Nasisse/Prod: Natalia Quesada)

Empress Nicole the Great (Dir/Prod: Dara Bratt)

Everything’s Fine, Potatoes in Line (Dir: Piotr Jasiński/Prod: Ondřej Šejnoha)

If Dreams Were Lightning (Dir/Prod: Ramin Bahrani/Prods: Pamela Ryan, Jason Orans, Ramin Bahrani)

Radio Bingo (Dir/Prod: Shelby Adams)

SHORTS: FAMILY MATTERS

Shorts about families we are born into, and those we choose.

A Bear Named Jesus (Dir: Terril Calder/Prods: Christa Couture, Michelle St. John)

Buttons and Dumplings (Dirs: Calvin Sang, Mei Ling Lee/Prod: Mei Ling Lee)

Grape Soda in the Parking Lot (Dirs: Megan Kyak-Monteith, Taqralik Partridge/Prod: Christa Couture, Michelle St. John)

MnM (Dir: Twiggy Pucci Garçon/Prods: Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney)

Parker (Dirs: Sharon Liese, Catherine Hoffman/Prods: Sharon Liese, Funmi Ogunro, Samantha Hake)

Trenton: To the Moon & Back (Dir/Prod: Josh Leong/Prods: Sam Gollob, Will Nelson, Sofia Bara)

SHORTS: HIDDEN HISTORIES

The backstories of under-recognized people and stories.

Black Godfather of Scuba (Dir: Matt Kay/Prod: Andrew Carver)

Jack & Sam (Dir/Prod: Jordan Matthew Horowitz/Prod: Andrew Carlberg)

Taking Back the Groove (Dir/Prod: Celia Aniskovich/Prod: Roddy Lindsay)

Tracing History (Dir: Jalena Keane-Lee/Prod: Reaa Puri)

SHORTS: INSIDE AND OUT

Honest vignettes of the prison industrial complex.

Breaking Silence (Dirs: Amy Bench, Annie Silverstein/Prods: Amy Bench, Monique Walton)

The Bus (Dir: Sandra Reina/Prods: Valérie Delpierre, Jaume Fargas Coll)

Ike Brown (Dir: Caleb Clowe/Prod: Matthew Veeder)

Rocko (Dirs: Emma Bergman, James Jones/Prod: Emma Bergman)

Tito (Dirs: Kervens Jimenez, Taylor McIntosh/Prods: Corbin J. Stone, Jean Roody St. Vilien, Taylor McIntosh)

SHORTS: LOVE LETTERS

Stories all about love.

And Then I Was Here (Dir/Prod: Alex Stergiou)

Blue Dots (Dir/Prod: Lorenzo Squarcia/Prods: Manuel Grieco, Simone Spampinato)

Freedom Waders: The Struggle to Integrate Chicago’s Rainbow Beach (Dir/Prod: Alex S. Hinton)

Pigeons Mate for Life (Dir/Prod: Tabitha Yong)

Ted & Noel (Dir: Julia Alcamo/Prods: Dan Hodgson, Mary Pattisson)

Tidal (Dir: Katrina Lillian Sorrentino/Prods: Bryn Silverman, John Condne, Alexandra Liveris)

SHORTS: THE MEANING OF WORK

This collection of shorts unpack capitalism through the process of labor.

Chronicle of a Summer Day (Dir: Bronzeville Collective/Prods: Mike David Thomas, Kira Helm, Erica Duffy, Andrew Skalak, Kevin Cagnoletti)

Dust to Light (Dir/Prod: Erika Houle)

Fitting (Dir: Caitlin McMullan/Prod: Marissa Keating)

Fleshwork (Dir/Prod: Lydia Cornett)

The Last Carnival (Dirs/Prods: Tucker Morrison, Samuel Ott, Anthony Wilson/Prod: David Brown)

Ramboy (Dirs: Matthias Joulaud, Lucien Roux/Prods: Lionel Baier, Nicolas Wadimoff)

SHORTS: MUSICAL MEDLEYS

A loaded program for lovers of instruments, musicians, and music!

Do You See Me? (Dir: Camille Gottscheck/Prod: Ailed Cazares)

Last Song From Kabul (Dir: Kevin Macdonald/Prod: Lawrence Elman)

The Orchestra Chuck Built (Dir/Prod: Christopher Stoudt/Prods: Ryan Suffern, Maryann Garger, Bob Logan, Ains Prasad)

SHORTS: NEW YORK, NEW YORK 

Our beloved city through the eyes of many.

The Fish Doctor (a doc about the fish doc) (Dirs/Prods: Adam Levin, Riley Patterson)

Friendly Fridges (Dir/Prod: Ilja Willems)

Kingdome (Dir/Prod: Shawn Antoine II)

Rite of Passage (Dir/Prod: Talha Jalal)

Through Sunless Ways (Dirs/Prods: Kira Dane, Katelyn Rebelo/Prods: Andrea Yu Chieh Chung, Gretta Wilson)

SHORTS: OUR CLIMATE / OUR CRISIS

The inventive solutions and devastating realities of our climate crisis on film.

Conceiving Our Future (Dir/Prod: Annie Pancak Vogt)

Frozen Harvest (Dir: Mark Fleming/Prod: Lone Spruce Creative)

I am the Nature (Dir: Taliesin Black-Brown/Prods: Ramiro Vargas Chumpí Washikiat, Helena Sardinha, Rafael Thomaseto)

Mountain Man (Dir/Prod: Arun Bhattarai)

School of Fish (Dirs/Prods: Oliver Sutro, Colin Arisman)

The Shelmeca Serpent (Dir: Laura Bermúdez/Prod: Luis Flores Alvarenga)

When the Grass Must Go (Dir: Ilja Willems/Prod: Bert Janssens) 

SHORTS: THE PEOPLE VS.

Stories that command attention about those who fight for a better future for all.

Banned Book Club (Dir: Sinead Keirans/Prod: Em Shapiro, Mary-Elizabeth Esquibel)

How We Get Free (Dirs: Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles/Prods: Kathleen Lingo, Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney)

The Menstruation Station (Dir/Prod: Miguel Luis/Prod: Nicole Olwagen)

Sanctuary (Dirs/Prods: John Haley, Julia Szromba)

Suddenly TV (Dir/Prod: Roopa Gogineni) 

SHORTS: PHYSICAL PURSUITS

Athletic feats and strong bonds build this program of films on sport from across the globe.

Gloves Without Ring (Dir/Prod: Karen Sotolongo Menendez)

Kemonito: The Final Fall (Dir/Prod: Teresa de Miguel)

Outside Line (Dir/Prod: Jack Gordon)

Queen of the Sea (Dir: Kate Cox/Prod: Danielle Wright, Emory Ruegg)

The Ugandan Quidditch Movement (Dir: Ben Garfield/Prod: Kristina Budelis)

SHORTS: PROFILES

Portraits and profiles of unique individuals with filmmaking to match.

Denial (Dir/Prod: Paul Moakley/Dir: Daniel Lombroso)

Echo (Dirs: Ben Wolin, Michael Minahan/Prods: Michael Yuchen Lei, Melissa Fajardo)

Funny Not Funny (Dirs/Prods: Marc D’Agostino, Ben Feldman)

House of Tulip (Dir: Cydney Tucker/Prod: Zaferhan Yumru)

Pitch Black (Dir/Prod: Guillym Davenport)

SHORTS: SHE STORIES 

Women share their stories from in front of, and behind, the camera.

A Home on Every Floor (Dir/Prod: Signe Rosenlund-Hauglid)

Bear (Dir: Morgane Frund/Prod: Volko Kamensky)

Daughter of the Sea (Dirs: Nicole Gormley, Nancy Kwon/Prods: Min Chul Shin, Sooyoung Kim, Nicole Gormley)

The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Dir/Prod: Molly O’Brien/Prod: Lisa Remington)

SHORTS: VANTAGE POINT

Films taking a different perspective or way of viewing the world.

Incident (Dir/Prod: Bill Morrison/Prod: Jamie Kalven)

Landline (Dir/Prod: Samuel Wright Smith)

Of Dreams in the Dream of Another Mirror (Dir: Yunyi Zhu/Prod: Eric Prigent)

There’s Not Much We Can Do (Dir: Erica Monde/Prod: Clara Harris)

Two One Two (Dir/Prod: Shira Avni)

Zug Island (Dir/Prod: Nicolas Lachapelle/Prod: Guillaume Collin)

SHORTS: THE WISE ONES

A lovely program dedicated to our wise, wonderful elders.

Bubjan (Dir/Prod: Nicholas Mihm/Prod: Lisa Rudin)

Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma) (Dir/Prod: Sean Wang/Prods: Sam Davis, Malcolm Pullinger)

The Queen Vs Texas (Dir/Prod: Emil Lozada/Dir: Raemonn James)

The Silent Witness (Dirs/Prods: George Kunhardt, Teddy Kunhardt/Prods: Aleks Gezentsvey, Matthew Henderson

DOC NYC U COMPETITION

DOC NYC U features 10 short documentaries from students across the five boroughs. Restyled as a competition for the first time this year, these two programs showcase finalists from Brooklyn College, Columbia University, Hunter College, The New School, New York Film Academy, New York University, Pratt Institute, and the School of Visual Arts.

DOC NYC U: PORTRAITS

Student documentaries that profile unique individuals and the lives they lead.

Allies Welcome (Dirs/Prods: Tavleen Tarrant, Shakeeb Asrar, Columbia University)

I Told You So (Dir/Prod: Malak AlSayyad/Prods: Amann Stewart, Loren Townsley, Columbia University)

Just Story Hour (Dir/Prod: Lu Yao, School of Visual Arts)

Second Act (Dir/Prod: Britney Bautista, New York University)

Slice of Goodness (Dir/Prod: Usman Chohan, Brooklyn College)

DOC NYC U: REBIRTH

Student documentaries that document the metamorphosis when things start anew.

A Good Death (Dirs/Prods: Boya Sun, Jean Chapiro, Columbia University)

It Smells Like Springtime (Dir/Prod: Mackie Mallison, Pratt Institute)

Land (Dir/Prod: Satoko Saito, Hunter College)

More Than Brothers (Dir/Prod: Andrea von Siebenthal, New York Film Academy)

Through a Glass Eye (Dir/Prod: Lola Granger-Jourdan, The New School)

For updates and more information on the festival, visit docnyc.net.

TICKETS AND PASSES

Festival Tickets and Passes for individual films or packages for in-person and online access are available. Seniors, Children and IFC members get discounted rates. Learn more at docnyc.net/tickets-and-passes.

DOC NYC

Learn more at docnyc.net.

Mabel Pais writes on The Arts and Entertainment, Social Issues, Spirituality, Education, Cuisine, Health & Wellness, and Business.