A festival that Time Out NYC has called, “an essential event on the cinephile’s calendar”, DOC NYC helps celebrate the best in nonfiction storytelling through feature-length films and shorts. While only in its fifth year, DOC NYC boasts an eight-day festival with a diversity of voices in the documentary filmmaking industry. Last year’s event screened over 150 films and events and were presented by over 200 filmmakers and special guests.
From November 12-19, DOC NYC will bring together the NYC community and the film industry together with several locations around New York City, including the IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas. This year’s schedule is packed to the brim with exciting and challenging new documentaries along with various panels for those aspiring to be a documentary filmmaker.
From film premieres to industry panels, here’s what to keep an eye out for during this year’s DOC NYC:
If you’re looking to break in the industry, then make sure to attend the first day of the festival and their First Time Filmmaker Day, which provides various panels from Funding Fundamentals to Post-Production Secrets.
MasterClass series
For documentary filmmakers who are looking to improve their skills, DOC NYC brings a series of advanced classes called MasterClass. Classes focuses on various aspects of filmmaking including Cinematography, Editing, Sound Design & Composing, and Animation & Graphics. Other classes include International Co-productions to have documentary filmmakers have their film reach a worldwide audience and the Art of Podcasting, a new growing platform for nonfiction storytelling.
With unseen archival footage and unreleased tracks, director Asif Kapadia captures the humanity and talent of the late Amy Winehouse.
Called the “female James Brown”, Sharon Jones help revitalize funk and soul music during the early 2000s and have sung on Amy Winehouse’s album, Back to Black. The documentary focuses on her struggles as she goes through chemotherapy and leads up to her comeback performance at New York’s Beacon Theatre. Recently, a third showing has been added to DOC NYC due to high demand, so this documentary is not one to miss.
Co-presented by the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, I am Sun Mu tells the story of artist Sun Mu who fled North Korea to become a critic of Kim Jong-un through his satirical pop art. Making its premiere in the US at DOC NYC, I am Sun Mu shows how one artist can make a difference in standing up to an oppresive government.
A new documentary from controversial director Michael Moore, Where to Invade Next heads to Europe to show the United States’ approach to today’s problems ranging from female leadership to prison reform. With this being his first film in six years, Moore will be getting people talking about his newest documentary.
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, The Hunting Ground tackles the issue of rape on American college campuses. After making a film about the rape in the military, director Kirby Dick focuses his efforts on how colleges and universities downplay the issue and dismiss campus sexual assault.
After an attempted assassination by the Taliban, Malala Yousafzai not only continued to advocate for young girls’ education, but became an international sensation. The documentary chronicles her journey from her attempted assassination to becoming the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.
For those located in NYC, you can still buy tickets for individual showings, passes for the entirety of the festival, and access to various panels during the week.
