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NEW YORK, NY (SMI-GLOBAL-ENTERTAINMENT OCT 09-NOV. 30, 2025)-DOC NYC, the festival for documentaries — celebrating its 16th edition in-person November 12-20 at IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Village East by Angelika and continuing online through November 30 — announced its Main Slate lineup for the duration of the festival.
METROPOLIS COMPETITION
NEW YORK STORIES
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE (World Premiere)
Director: Katie Jacobs
Producer: Henry Hayes
The inspiring story of three female artists who defied norms by purchasing a house together in
1950s NYC, prioritizing their art over traditional, gender-coded roles.
KING HAMLET (NYC Premiere)
Director: Elvira Lind
Producers: Sara Stockmann, Sofia Sondervan
During a pivotal year, actor Oscar Isaac experiences the emotional impact of familial generational transitions, all while preparing for an intense production of Hamlet.
MUSEUM OF THE NIGHT (North American Premiere)
Directors: Fermín Eloy Acosta
Producers: Ramiro Pavón, Pablo Ingercher, Fermín Eloy Acosta
Theater of the Ridiculous was a no-safety-net avant-garde theater company in early 1970s
NYC, and Argentine photographer Leonardo Katz was there to capture it all.
MY SUNNYSIDE (North American Premiere)
Director: Matylda KawkaProducers: Alicja Gancarz, Anna Wereda
A trans man and a trans woman in NYC make plans to get married while pursuing busy careers,raising children, and navigating their ongoing gender transitions.
THE NUTCRACKER AT WETHERSFIELD (World Premiere)
Director: Anne Sundberg
Producers: Anne Sundberg, Julie Seureau
Driven by the hope of persevering through dark times, ballet dancers find an innovative way to stage a holiday classic during COVID-19 shutdowns.
STREET SMART: LESSONS FROM A TV ICON (NYC Premiere)
Director: Ernie Bustamante
Producers: Maor Azran, Ernie Bustamante, Steven Canals
Sonia Manzano, aka “Maria” on Sesame Street, shares her journey from childhood in the Bronx to becoming a trailblazing Latina role model who changed children’s television.
KALEIDOSCOPE COMPETITION
NEW DOCUMENTARY VISIONS
THE FOUL-MOUTHED GRANNY (World Premiere)
Director: Seung-pyo Hong
Producer: Seung-pyo Hong
A son tenderly recalls caring for his sharp-tongued mother, blending memory, ritual, and art into a poetic meditation on love, grief, and enduring ties between generations.
LOST FOR WORDS (US Premiere)
Director: Hannah Papacek Harper
Producers: Hannah Papacek Harper, John Archer
Animated by the disappearance of nature words from a dictionary, a filmmaker's reflection on
language, imagination, and conservation considers our transcendental connections.
OMEGA WANTS TO DANCE (North American Premiere)
Director/Producer: Ramon Tort
Fusing speculative fiction with a vibrant documentary archive, a future AI system considers consciousness through dance, weaving history, philosophy, and ecstatic movement into a celebration of human expression.
SHIFTING BASELINES (NYC Premiere)
Director: Julien Elie
Producer: Andreas Mendritzki
In the Texan town of Boca Chica, Elon Musk’s Space X annexes the land and skies, upending ecosystems and community, in a dystopian look at what happens when greed and ego have no visible boundaries.
UNANIMAL (North American Premiere)
Director: Tuva Bjork, Sally Jacobson
Producers: Victor Ede, Melissa Lindgren, Tobias Janson
A thought-provoking interrogation of the entangled, often contradictory relationship between humans and animals, revealing a world where animals are simultaneously revered, instrumentalized, and domesticated.AMERICAN STORIES
STATES OF BEING IN THE UNION
THE A LIST: 15 STORIES FROM ASIAN AND PACIFIC DIASPORAS (World Premiere)
Director: Eugene Yi
Producers: Eugene Yi, Jada Yuan, Chad Thompson, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Trailblazers from Sandra Oh to Kumail Nanjiani, Connie Chung and more, reflect with joy,humor and sorrow on how they navigate their prismatic identities and find community in the face of rising racism.
ARREST THE MIDWIFE (NYC Premiere)
Director: Elaine Epstein
Producers: Elaine Epstein, Robin Hessman
In the battle for women’s bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, Amish and Mennonitecommunities of upstate New York emerge as unexpected fighters.
BEYOND (World Premiere)
Directors: Asia Johnson, Michael Kleiman
Producers: Asia Johnson, Michael Kleiman
Incarcerated men at Sing Sing Correctional Facility explore their interests, ideas, and dreams during a one-of-a-kind speaking symposium.
THE BIG CHEESE (World Premiere)
Director: Sara Joe Wolansky
Producers: Sara Joe Wolansky, James A. Smith
In a witty and wry artisanal classic, an American team aims to claim the top prize at the Mondial du Fromage cheesemongering competition in France.
CREEDE U.S.A. (NYC Premiere)
Director: Kahane Corn Cooperman
Producers: Innbo Shim, Kahane Corn Cooperman
A small mining town in Colorado becomes a microcosm for the country as conflicts grow ever larger between liberal and conservative neighbors.
LOVE, JOY & POWER: TOOLS FOR LIBERATION (NYC Premiere)
Director: Daresha Kyi
Producer: Trevite Willis, Daresha Kyi
Climb aboard the “Blackest bus in America” with the members of Black Voters Matter, a grassroots organization battling voter suppression through mobilization ahead of the 2020
election.
SAVING ETTING STREET (World Premiere)
Directors: Dena Fisher, Amy Scott
Producers: Dena Fisher, Amy Scott
Teaching construction skills and financial literacy, a no-nonsense carpenter empowers women
to transform their lives and revitalize their Baltimore neighborhoods, one house at a time.
THIRD ACT (NYC Premiere)
Directors: Tadashi NakamuraProducers: Tadashi Nakamura, Eurie Chung A personally grounded yet historically resonant documentary by Tadashi Nakamura explores the pioneering legacy of his father, pioneering filmmaker Robert A. Nakamura.
WHAT WE INHERIT (World Premiere)
Director: Kacim Steets Azouz
Producer: Frederic Bohbot
After discovering enslavers in his lineage, a filmmaker confronts a complicated legacy and
meets the descendants of those his ancestors held captive.
BIG BLUE
FILMS ABOUT THE NATURAL WORLD
THE GARDEN OF MARIA (World Premiere)
Director: Jade Rainho
Producers: Julia Bock, Simone Elias
In a spiritual and political act, a charismatic Indigenous woman transforms an abandoned
Brazilian sewer into a thriving forest, reclaiming ancestral land and wisdom.
THE KEEPER (NYC Premiere)
Director: Jon Bowermaster
Producers: Jon Bowermaster, Carolyn Marks Blackwood
Magnetic river steward John Lipscomb reflects on 25 years and 80,000 miles patrolling the Hudson, fighting pollution with grit and poetry.
OUR LAND (International Premiere)
Director: Orban Wallace
Producers: Becca Wolff, Charlie Phillips, Leo Smith
As activists, landowners, and walkers clash over access to nature, the growing movement for the right to roam exposes deep-rooted, global questions of class, colonialism, and stewardship.
PLAN C FOR CIVILIZATION (World Premiere)
Director: Ben Kalina
Producers: Ben Kalina, Jamila Paksima
The work of solar geoengineering proponent David Keith exists in a high-stakes terrain where cutting-edge research, environmental activism, public ethics, and global politics collide.
COME AS YOU ARE
STRIVING TO FIND YOUR PLACE
ALWAYS (NYC Premiere)
Director: Deming Chen
Producer: Hansen Lin
In a stunning, unsentimental portrait of a young poet’s rural childhood, familial hardship and resilience are juxtaposed against the artistic awakening of a growing mind.
THE DATING GAME (NYC Premiere)
Director: Violet Du Feng
Producers: Violet Du Feng, Joanna Natasegara, James Costa, Mette Cheng Munthe-KaasIn China, with more than 30 million fewer women, men must constantly outdo one another in their bid to find a wife. Are dating coaches the answer?
THE GAS STATION ATTENDANT (NYC Premiere)
Director: Karla Murthy
Producers: Karla Murthy, Rajal Pitroda
A daughter films a portrait of her father, simultaneously an embodiment of every immigrant and a unique, complicated man fueled by the power of his dreams.
PAUL (US Premiere)
Director: Denis Côté
Producers: Hany Ouichou, Karine Bélanger, Denis Côté
In an examination of stigma, resilience, and the search for self-worth, Paul channels his mental
health struggles into domestic service for mistresses and online rituals of cleaning.
SIREN: THE VOICES OF SHELLEY BEATTIE (World Premiere)
Director: Irene Taylor
Producers: Irene Taylor, Lauren Mueller, Marlee Matlin
A portrait of Deaf bodybuilder Shelley “Siren” Beattie whose stunning physique was protective
armor against trauma and alienation.
A THOUSAND COLORS (World Premiere)
Director: Nadia Louis-Desmarchais
Producer: Paola Arriagada-Nunez
A filmmaker attempts to untangle the complex knot of race and identity that lies at the center of
her life.
FIGHT THE POWER
STORIES OF ACTIVISM
THE AGE OF WATER (NYC Premiere)
Directors: Alfredo Alcántara, Isabel Alcántara Atalaya
Producers: Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster, Lindsay Perna
In Mexico, after three girls die of leukemia, local women uncover radioactive materials in their
water supply and call for justice against government denial.
FREE LEONARD PELTIER (NYC Premiere)
Directors: Jesse Short Bull, David France
Producers: David France, Jhane Myers, Paul Mcguire, Bird Runningwater
After serving decades in prison for a disputed conviction, American Indian Movement activist
Leonard Peltier and a community of supporters endure a quest for his release.
MISAN HARRIMAN: SHOOT THE PEOPLE (North American Premiere)
Director: Andy Mundy-Castle
Producer: Wyn Baptiste
An acclaimed photographer of street protests ponders the effectiveness of his work, even as his
images provoke palpable international reactions.
NO MERCY (North American Premiere)
Director: Isa WillingerProducers: Alex Tondowski, Ira Tondowski, Sabine Gruber, Peter Drössler
A cinematic manifesto in which radical women filmmakers question the female gaze, dismantle
cinematic violence, and reclaim film history, reshaping the art form with fierce originality.
THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR MAN (NYC Premiere)
Director: Eugene Jarecki
Producers: Kathleen Fournier, Eugene Jarecki
A chronicling of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s years-long fight for journalistic freedom,
from the organization’s origins to Assange’s arduous confinement and eventual release.
TRUE NORTH (NYC Premiere)
Director: Michèle Stephenson
Producer: Leslie Norville
Uncovering the often-overlooked history of anti-Black racism in Canada, True North powerfully
explores a pivotal student uprising at a Montreal university.
WTO/99 (NYC Premiere)
Director: Ian Bell
Producers: Laura Tatham, Ian Bell, Alex Megaro
A foreboding look back at the 1999 clash between the recently established World Trade Organization and 40,000 protestors demonstrating against continued globalization.
GAME FACE CINEMA
THE EMOTION OF SPORT
3000 KM BY BIKE (North American Premiere)
Director: Ivan Vescovo
Producer: Martin Loewenthal
Pursuing a romantic reconciliation, BMX champion Iñaki Mazza finds a deeper understanding of self on an arduous journey from Buenos Aires to Tierra del Fuego.
THE BALLOONISTS (NYC Premiere)
Director: John Dower
Producers: Teddy Leifer, Guy Horlock
In 1999, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones defy gravity as they set out to be the first to
circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon.
KINGS OF VENICE (World Premiere)
Directors: Sveinn Ingimundarson, S.D. Saltarelli
Producers: Sveinn Ingimundarson, S.D. Saltarelli
On Venice Beach, an eccentric cast of paddle tennis players go to bat to defend their turf from a
pickleball uprising.
REGGAE GIRLZ (World Premiere)
Directors: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Trish Dalton
Producers: Philipp Manderla, Laura Smith
On the countdown to the Women’s World Cup, the Reggae Girlz, Jamaica’s soccer team, face battles on and off the pitch for recognition, respect, and resources.INVESTIGATIONS co-presented by Variety’s Truthseekers
EXPOSING THE TRUTH
EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU FOR MONEY (NYC Premiere)
Director: Ben McKenzie
Producers: Giorgio Angelini, Ben McKenzie
At the chaotic financial frontier of our time, actor-turned-author and director Ben McKenzie sets out to expose the loosely regulated world of cryptocurrency.
I DREAMED HIS NAME (NYC Premiere)
Director: Ángela Carabalí
Producers: Sandra Tabares-Duque, Ángela Carabalí
After her long-disappeared father speaks to her in a dream, filmmaker Ángela Carabalí weaves memory, ritual, and history into a poetic meditation on violence, mourning, and healing.
NUNS VS. THE VATICAN (US Premiere)
Director: Lorena Luciano
Producer: Filippo Piscopo
A powerful investigation uncovers systemic abuse of nuns and women within the Catholic
church, centered on survivors whose courage exposes a history of violence, silence, and
institutional betrayal.
THE PINK PILL: SEX, DRUGS & WHO HAS CONTROL (US Premiere)
Director: Aisling Chin-Yee
Producer: Julie Bristow
An advocate fights to bring a proven female sexual desire pill to market, exposing systemic
neglect and double standards in a male-centered medical establishment.
THE SECRETS WE BURY (NYC Premiere)
Director: Patricia E. Gillespie
Producer: Jessica Horowitz
A masterclass in artful true-crime storytelling and a gripping exploration of how buried secrets
corrode from within.
THE STRINGER (NYC Premiere)
Directors: Bao Nguyen
Producers: Fiona Turner, Terri Lichstein
A half-century after the harrowing photograph "Napalm Girl” turned the tide on public
perceptions of the Vietnam War, questions arise about who was actually behind the camera.
PORTRAITS
PROFILES OF SINGULAR INDIVIDUALS
BULL’S HEART (North American Premiere)
Director: Eva Stefani
Producer: Vassilis Panagiotakopoulos
A mesmerizing portrait of avant-garde director Dimitris Papaioannou, capturing the dreamlike
creation of a surreal stage production and his singular artistic process.
CAST OF SHADOWS (US Premiere)Director/Producer: Sami van Ingen
A reconsideration of Robert Flaherty’s cinematic legacy, spotlighting Frances Flaherty’s
authorship while exposing hidden histories and myths behind Nanook of the North and early documentary.
THE EYES OF GHANA (NYC Premiere)
Director: Ben Proudfoot
Producers: Nana Adwoa Frimpong, Ben Proudfoot, Moses Bwayo, Anita Afonu, Brandon
Somerhalder, Ethan Lewis, Vinnie Malhotra
Ghanaian filmmaker Chris Hesse hopes to restore a precious archive of footage from his time as the personal cinematographer of Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first president.
FARRUQUITO, A FLAMENCO DYNASTY (North American Premiere)
Directors: Santi Aguado, Reuben Atlas
Producers: Ami Minars, José Velasco, Sara Fernández-Velasco, Santi Aguado, Reuben Atlas
Inspired by love, tragedy, and blood ties, Farruquito and his family spend decades elevating the art of flamenco with staggering operatic passion.
PARA VIVIR, THE IMPLACABLE TIME OF PABLO MILANÉS (North American Premiere)
Director: Fabien Pisani Producer: Carlos Sosa, Laura Imperiale, Fabien Pisani
A portrait of Afro-Cuban musician and activist Pablo Milanés, laced with his extraordinary music, charting his life and career against the backdrop of political and cultural changes.
PRETTY DIRTY (NYC Premiere)
Directors: Jennifer Ash Rudick, Amanda M. Benchley
Producers: Jennifer Ash Rudick, Amanda M. Benchely, Debi Wisch
Blending biography, studio practice, and cultural history, a dazzling portrait of artist Marilyn Minter, whose glamorous, provocative work and fearless feminism shaped NYC’s art world.
TCB: THE TONI CADE BAMBARA SCHOOL OF ORGANIZING (NYC Premiere)
Directors: Louis Massiah, Monica Henriquez
Producer: Louis Massiah
A vibrant portrait of author, editor, and filmmaker Toni Cade Bambara, whose wisdom and fierce commitment to community organizing offer still-resonant lessons for activists.
RESILIENCE
STANDING STRONG IN THE FACE OF TRAUMA
FLOPHOUSE AMERICA (North American Premiere)
Director: Monica Strømdahl
Producers: Beathe Hofseth, Siri Natvik
An unflinching look at a boy’s family life in a low-rent motel reveals how poverty and alcoholism shape generations, exposing the reality of the broken American dream.
THE LAST AMBASSADOR (US Premiere)
Director: Natalie Halla
Producers: Peter Drössler, Arash T. Riahi, Sabine Gruber, Natalie Halla
A stirring and emotionally charged story about Afghanistan's ambassador to Austria who refuses to represent the Taliban.
THE LIONS BY THE RIVER TIGRIS (North American Premiere)
Director: Zaradasht Ahmed
Producer: Thorvald Nilsen
After ISIS leaves Mosul in ruins, a family salvages their ancestral home’s remnants, confronting
loss, memory, and impossible choices while searching for dignity, cultural continuity, and hope.
LOWLAND KIDS (US Premiere)
Director: Sandra Winther
Producers: William Crouse, Lauren Avinoam, Sigrid Dykjaer, Lizzie Gillett, Brendan Naylor In a powerful, human portrait of climate displacement, two teens and their uncle facegovernment-forced resettlement from Louisiana’s disappearing Isle de Jean Charles.
MATABELELAND (North American Premiere)
Director: Nyasha Kadandara
Producer: Sam Soko
Haunted by his father’s murder amid regime-led massacres, a Zimbabwean man confronts
generational trauma and historical violence in a story of healing, love, and spiritual
reconciliation.
THE PINK PILL: SEX, DRUGS & WHO HAS CONTROL
SHIFTING BASELINES
TCB: THE TONI CADE BARBARA SCHOOL OF ORGANIZING
A THOUSAND COLORS
TRUE NORTH
WHAT WE INHERIT
Short Films:
Burcu’s Angels
The Man in the Rectangle
That Which is Heard
Two Kinds of People
A View from Home
SHORTS PROGRAMS
There are 87 shorts participating in the juried Shorts Competition, and one episodic (indicated
by *), in the following 20 programs:
SHORTS: ARTSCAPES
Six cinematic journeys into the lives and minds of artists, each offering a distinct lens on their
unique creative process.
All the Queens Houses (Dir/Prod: Sean Mowry/Prod: John Vallacchi)
A Color I Named Blue (Dir/Prod: Sybilla Patrizia/Prod: Mai Hosomura)
George V (Dir/Prods: Dennis Scholl, Dia Kontaxis/Prod: Ed Talavera)
Making Love to a Ghost (Dir/Prod: Rosie Litterick/Dir: Raj Chaudhuri)
PANORAMIC VIEW: Portrait of the Artist Francine Tint (Dir/Prod: Pola
Rapaport/Prod: Wolfgang Held)
SHORTS: BECOMINGBearing witness to growing up and into one’s true self.
Big Bass (Dir: Drew Dickler/Prods: Nikki F. Heyman, Jennie Kamin, David Sherwin)
Classroom 4 (Dir/Prod: Eden Wurmfeld/Prod: Yael Bridge)
The Fault Line (Dir/Prod: Brydie O'Connor/Prod: Sean Weiner)
SHORTS: BODY & SOUL
Stories of resilience and strength where possibilities lie beyond the confines of the human form.Bloodlines, Mississippi (Dir: Crystal Kayiza/Prods: Harri Grace, Paul King)
Boobs (Dir: Nicola Leddy/Prods: Anna Rodgers, Zlata Filipovic)
Embracing Instability (Dir/Prod: Nathan Willis/Prod: Chase Haislip)
Murmurations (Dir/Prod: Xavier Marrades/Prods: Jerome Thelia, Mark Stafford)
One Handed Fighter (Dir: Matthew Meredith/Prod: Leah de Leon)
SHORTS: CREATORS
Visionaries using their creativity to provoke, educate, and entertain.
Embodying Pasolini - Law of Attraction (Dir/Prod: Jack “Chia-Cheng” Hsu)
La Orquesta (Dir/Prods: Monica Villavicencio, Stephanie Liu)
Rolling Film, Rocking History, Al Maysles Captures the Beatles (Dir/Prod: Bart
Weiss/Prod: Andy Streitfeld)
Women Laughing (Dir/Prod: Liza Donnelly/Dir: Kathleen Hughes/Prods: Judith
Mizrachy, Nathalie Seaver)
SHORTS: CROSS COUNTRY
Portraits of challenge and triumph from communities across America, revealing diverse threads
of everyday life.
Appalheads (Dir: Scott Faris/Prods: Anna Richardson White, Meg Griffiths)
Arepas En Bici (Dir/Prods: Jonah Moshammer, Brennan McGee/Prod: Connor Haines)
Blood Friends (Dir/Prods: Hayley Ulmer, Sam McCoy)
Teaching America (Dir/Prod: Anurima Bhargava/Prod: Alisa Payne)
Trapped (Dir: Mads Engel, Joe Purtell/Prod: Nina Riggio)
SHORTS: DIFFERENT DRUMMERS
Celebrating mavericks and makers boldly pursuing their unique paths.
Burcu’s Angels (Dir/Prod: Özgün Gündüz)
Casa Amadeo (Dir/Prod: Ariana Marie Luque)
The Chimney Sweeper (Dir/Prod: Jack Raese)
From Rodeo to Polo: The First HBCU Polo Team (Dir/Prod: Kendi King)
Voices From the Abyss (Dir: Irving Serrano, Victor Rejón/Prod: Ramon Llaven)
SHORTS: GENERATIONS
Histories, rituals, and links that bind families and communities together across the ages.
The Boys and the Bees (Dir/Prod: Arielle Knight)
Death Education (Dir/Prod: Yuxuan Ethan Wu)
Listen (Dir: Malakye Zaayin Tsosie/Prod: Kaitlyn Sanchez)
The Time My Grandmother Was Held Hostage by Bank Robbers (Dir/Prod: Rosella
Tursi/Prod: Christine Champagne)
What Does the Mud Whisper? (Dir: Dea Tcholokava/Prod: Irina Gelashvili)
SHORTS: GET UP, STAND UP
Fighting the power, one good story at a time.
Also Resisters (Dir/Prod: Christina D. Bartson)Survival With Rent (Dirs: Katie Heiserman, Elana Meyers/Prod: Zazie Ray-Trapido)
The Good Fight: Armen vs Guilani (Dir/Prod: Amelia Hanibelsz/Prod: Ilana Diamant)
The Long Walk: The Story of the Bharat Jodo Yatra (Dir/Prod: Shruti Ganguly/Prods:
Sumir Ganguly, Prashant Chari, Savio Joseph)
SHORTS: GOTHAM
New York City shorts that exemplify the grit, grace and groove of our great city.
Always Tracy (Dir/Prod: Meron Tebeje)
The New Yorker Theater: A Talbot Legacy (Dir/Prod: Sergio Maza/Prods: Maria
Politano, Cara Yeates)
The Petal Pusher (Dir/Prod: David Abel/Prod: Mark Chesak)
Underground Sounds: The New Thousand Story (Dir/Prod: Emma Keatley/Prod:
Owen Kepshire)
SHORTS: HEARTBEATS
Celebrating affairs of the heart and love in all of its wondrous forms.
Hold Me Close (Dir/Prods: Aurora Brachman, LaTajh Simmons-Weaver)
I Wanted to Hear Your Voice (Dir: James Pellerito/Prod: David Barba)
Murewa (Dir: Ché Scott-Heron Newton/Prod: Matt Houghton)
Sunset and the Mockingbird (Dir/Prod: Jyllian Gunther/Prod: Kali Holloway)
Two Kinds of People (Dir: Evan Luchkow)
SHORTS: HIDDEN HISTORIES
Explore the untold histories of people and communities whose unknown stories exemplify
resilience, self-determination, and courage.
Being Seen Makes Us Happy (Dir/Prod: Charlotte Levin/Dir: Ava Newman)
Free Joan Little (Dir: Yoruba Richen/Prod: Christalyn Hampton)
A Picture of My Father (Dir/Prods: Jon Miller, Zach Russo)
Sakhee - A Portrait of the Kinner Community in Hinterland India (Dir/Prod: Udit
Nijhawan)
SHORTS: LET’S PLAY
There's more to these sports and hobbies than just fun and games.
Alice (Dir: Gabriel Novis/Prods: Mayra Faour Auad, Gabrielle Auad)
Barra Brava (Dir/Prods: RJ Sanchez/Dirs: Eduardo Giralt Brun, Pedro Valtierra
Anza/Prods: Doug Riggs, Stuart McIntyre, Alli Maxwell, David Kohan)
Destined to be Queen (Dir/Prod: Olivia Zimmerman/Prods: Alex Laviola, Jonathas
Nazareth)
It’s Our Ball (Dir: David Morrison/Prods: Judy T. Marcelline, Penny Edmiston)
We Beg to Differ (Dir/Prod: Ruairi Bradley/Prods: Thomas Purdy)
SHORTS: LOOK UP
Look up to the horizon...or just above your head. What do you see in your future?
The Fanciers (Dir/Prod: Theo McInnes/Prod: Harry Zundel)
Flying Like a Bird (Dir/Prod: Hanyun Zhang/Prod: Yi “Chris” Yuan)
Grit (Dir/Prod: Johannes Kroemer/Dir: Vanina Feldsztein)
Lift Lady (Dir: Marcin Modzelewski/Prods: Jerzy Kapuściński, Ewa Jastrzębska,
Magdalena Tomanek)
Seventeen (Dir/Prod: Ajuán Isaac-George)
SHORTS: ON THE OTHER SIDEPerseverance in the face of uncertain futures, and what awaits on the other side.
Island Willing (Dir/Prod: Cece King/Prods: Elsa Hana Chung, Camilla Marchese
González)
Other Life (Dirs: Tom Tennant, Theo Tennant/Prod: Alice Hughes)
The Spiritual Advisor (Dir: Joel Fendelman/Prod: James Chase Sanchez)
That Which is Heard (Dir: Ken Pham/Prod: Kirthiga Rajanayagam)
SHORTS: A PLACE LIKE THIS
Exploring the places we live in, and which live in us.
Farfour: A War Diary from Gaza (Dir/Prod: Ahmed Deeb/Dir: Moaz Hosni)
In Seascale (Dir: Bofei Wan/Prod: Siyun Wang)
Inhabitants (Dirs: Charline Lefrançois, Florian Geisseler/Prod: Michael Karrer)
The Memories of Others (Dir/Prods: Pauline Vermare, Marc Lesser)
Save Flat Top (Dir: Bia Jurema/Prod: Sydney Wolstein)
Sunset Over America (Dir: Matías Rojas Valencia/Prods: Françoise Nieto-Fong, Tomas
Gerlach Mora)
SHORTS: SHE STORIES
Stories of intimacy, strength, and self-determination, made by and about women.
Chilapa Girl (Dir/Prod: Juana Lotero López/Prod: Daniel Sánchez)
The First Times (Dirs: Giulia Cosentino, Perla Sardella/Prods: Margot Mecca, Matteo
Tortone)
Swim Sistas (Dir: Catherine Joy White/Prods: Anais Ferrato, Oriane Pick)
That Night (Dir/Prod: Hoda Sobhani/Prod: Elle Toussi)
This Side of Salina (Dir/Prod: Lynne Sachs)
SHORTS: TRUTH TO POWER
Women of a certain age fearlessly confront corporate polluters poisoning our land and water
with toxins.
Sallie’s Ashes (Dir/Prod: Brennan Robideaux/Prods: Daniel Junge, Allison Bohl DeHart)
Vs. Goliath: Cancer Alley* (Dir/Prod: Nate Birnbaum/Dir: Sam Eilertsen/Prods: Pulkit
Datta, Maggie Lemere)
SHORTS: VANTAGE POINT
Uncommon stories from unique perspectives.
Divers (Dir/Prod: Geordie Wood)
A View from Home (Dir/Prod: Mingzhe Zhou/Prod: Yiqian Zhang)
Wainitai: Finding Yourself (Dir: Pablo García Vizcarra/Prod: Ariana Galvez Sanchez)
Where Do Birds Go When It Rains (Dir/Prod: Juan Sebastian Sisa)
Who Was Here? (Dir/Prod: Evi Stamou)
SHORTS: WE BELONG TOGETHER
Finding strength in community and friendship.
The Confidantes (Dir/Prod: Robin Chen)
Exodus (Dir/Prod: Nimco Sheikhaden/Prod: Sara Chishti)
La Liga (Dirs: MacPherson Christopher, Paul Rosenfeld/Prod: Tik Root)
SHORTS: WHAT’S NEXT?
Uncertain futures and shifting horizons, asking: what now and what’s next?
Down North (Dirs: David Dominguez, Paul Overstrom/Prod: Amanda McDonnell)
Images From Tuvalu (Dir: Dylan Werkman/Prods: Janneke Doolaard, Harmen Jalvingh)The Man in the Rectangle (Dir: Ali Heraize/Prod: Hannah Yang)
The Return (Dir/Prod: Jeremy S. Levine/Prods: Andrew Phillips, Poh Si Teng, Trudy
Mercadal, Carson Stiles, Kely Maloney)
PARTNER EVENTS
HIGH HORSE: THE BLACK COWBOY (co-presented by NBCUniversal, Peacock, and
Monkeypaw Productions)
NBCUniversal, Universal Television Alternative Studio, and Monkeypaw Productions co-present
the World Premiere screening of Peacock’s new three-part documentary High Horse: The
Black Cowboy. Ride into the world of the Black Cowboy legacy — a cultural reckoning
showcasing their image, their culture, and their deep ties to the land.
IN THE MAKING (co-presented by Firelight Media)
Season 4 of American Masters and Firelight Media’s In The Making series follows artists on
their way to becoming masters of their disciplines. This season will include:
Aliah Irvine & Kēhau Kapua'a: Kūkulu (Dir/Prod: Aukai Ligairi/Prods: Robinder Uppal,
Terra Debold)
Alsarah: The Sonic Historian (Dir/Prod: Roopa Gogineni/Dir: Wael Gzoly)
Ani Liu: Eye Heart Womb (Dir/Prod: Miao Wang/Prod: Damon Smith)
Cindy Tran: From Here to Here (Dir/Prod: Xinyan Yu)
Hannah Mayree: Songs of Reclamation (Dir/Prod: Ebony Marie Bailey/Prod: Alyssa
Mopia)
Lani B. Supreme: Legacy (Dir/Prod: Sabaah Folayan/Prod: Chloe Campion)
Stankface Standing Soldier: The Rise of Mato Wayuhi (Dir: Josiah W. Jones/Prods:
Blake Brown, Jeremy Charles)
Warren King: King of Cardboard (Dir/Prod: Curtis Chin/Prod: Adam Wolman)
NOT ANOTHER FILM ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST!?!? (co-presented by The Lost Shtetl
Museum)
DOC NYC and The Lost Shtetl Museum present the NY Premiere of Extinguished Lives, a
hybrid documentary short examining a little-known story of the Holocaust by bullets—the murder
of Lithuanian Jews by Nazis and their local collaborators in the forests surrounding hundreds of
shtetls. Based on survivor testimony, the film follows a young woman who must choose
between staying with her family or saving herself. Following the film, a panel moderated by DOC
NYC Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen will discuss the need (or not) for Holocaust films
in 2025. Panelists include Extinguished Lives director Roberta Grossman, The Lost Shtetl
Museum Director of Education Dr. Jolanta Mickute, filmmaker Denis Dobrovna (The
Consequences of Truth), and Exhibit Designer Büke Kumyol (RAA).