DOC NYC is America’s largest documentary film festival.
DOC NYC 2018
DOC NYC 2018 is at IFC Center in the West Village and SVA Theatre and Cinepolis in Chelsea Manhattan from November 8 – 15, 2018
Opening Night
John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm opens the festival with its NYC premiere on November 8.
For over eight years, John and Molly Chester struggle to work with nature to establish a biodynamic farm, like a modern-day Little House on the Prairie.
The film is “a captivating look at putting your ideals into action,” notes DOC NYC Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen. “That’s a perfect theme to kick off DOC NYC.”
Centerpiece
Original Cast Album: Co-op by Alex Buono (IFC)
World Premiere
IFC’s comedy series Documentary Now!, which pays homage to nonfiction classics, presents an episode inspired by D.A. Pennebaker’s Original Cast Album: Company.
Closing Night
Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists by Jonathan Alter, John Block and Steve McCarthy. (HBO)
World Premiere
Legendary newspaper columnists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill are profiled in this essential look at journalism in New York City.
Short List
The DOC NYC Short List identifies fifteen contenders for the feature documentary award.
The list includes:
- Pope Francis: A Man of His Word by Wim Wenders. (Focus Features)
- The Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary RGB by Betsy West & Julie Cohen (Magnolia Pictures / Participant Media / CNN Films)
- The Sentence by Rudy Valdez (HBO Documentary Films)
Short List: DOC Shorts
For the first time, DOC NYC has produced a short list of short films. It includes
- The Girl and The Picture by Vanessa Roth (USC Shoah Foundation / Cause & Affect Media)
- The Head & The Hand by Marc Serpa Francoeur (Lost Time Media)
African – American Films
A Hymn for Alvin Ailey
By Orlando Bagwell
1999
A classic film by DOC NYC Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Orlando Bagwell, celebrating the legacy of pioneering choreographer Alvin Ailey.
Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace was Aretha Franklin’s best selling album and the best-selling gospel album of all time.
It took over 40 years to get done, but the Queen of Soul’s concert documentary gets its world premiere at DOC NYC at the SVA Theatre in Chelsea, Manhattan on Monday, November 12, 2018 at 6:45 pm & 9 pm.
The concert was shot at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles in 1972. The film is released with the full endorsement of the Aretha Franklin estate.
As a kid, I loved Aretha’s song Spanish Harlem. Here it is with some old photographs of El Barrio.
Brazilian Films
The Other Rio
By Émilie B. Guérette
U.S. Premiere
In Rio de Janeiro, squatters live in an abandoned government building under the rule of drug dealers, but exhibit a remarkable resilience.
Honduran Films
Colossus
By Jonathen Schienberg
World Premiere
Born in the US, 15-year-old Jamil copes with the deportation to Honduras of his undocumented parents and older sister.
Indigenous Films
The Blessing
By Hunter Robert Baker and Jordan Fein
NYC Premiere
Deep in the Navajo Nation, one family struggles with contradictions as a coal company offers employment while destroying the community’s sacred homeland.
The Providers
By Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green
NYC Premiere
In rural New Mexico, healthcare workers serve a community hard hit by the opioid crisis and still reeling from the 2008 recession.
Italian Films
Owned: A Tale of Two Americas
By Giorgio Angelini
NYC Premiere
An investigation of how greed, flawed economics and systemic racism have distorted the American dream of homeownership.
See Know Evil
By Charles Curran
World Premiere
At a young age, photographer Davide Sorrenti took New York City by storm in the 1990s and left an indelible imprint on the fashion world.
Walking on Water
By Andrey Paounov
After the death of his partner, Jeanne-Claude, the visionary artist Christo, best known for The Gates of Central Park, realizes his dream of The Floating Piers in Italy.
Jamaican Films
Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records
By Nicolas Jack Davies
U.S. Premiere
Set to great Jamaican music, a creative exploration of the pioneering 1960s label behind “Rudy, A Message to You,” “You Can Get if You Really Want” and more.
Jewish Films
Afterward
By Ofra Bloch
World Premiere
Disturbed by the resurgence of anti-Semitism worldwide, the filmmaker travels to Germany, Israel and Palestine to confront lasting tensions and contradictions.
City of Joel
By Jesse Sweet
NYC Premiere
In Monroe, NY, 50 miles north of NYC, a fast-growing Hasidic community sets off a turf war with political, economic and religious implications.
Family in Transition
By Ofir Trainin
International Premiere
In a small Israeli town, a husband and father of four undergoes a gender transition that has rippling effects on the family.
It Must Schwing! The Blue Note Story
By Eric Friedler
NYC Premiere
Executive produced by Wim Wenders and featuring a swinging jazz soundtrack, this history of Blue Note Records profiles the company’s two Jewish German refugee founders.
The Last Resort
By Dennis Scholl and Karen Tabsch
NYC Premiere
Photographers Andy Sweet and Gary Monroe captured Miami Beach’s aging Jewish population for a decade, even as the city transformed around them.
Last Stop Coney Island: The Life and Photography of Harold Feinstein
By Andy Dunn
World Premiere
Photographer Harold Feinstein captured the beauty, joy and diversity of New Yorkers over seven decades.
A Sister’s Song
By Danae Elon
NYC Premiere
In this real-life psychological thriller, an Israeli woman tries to convince her sister to leave the religious order which has kept them separated for 20 years.
Mexican Films
The Great Mother
By Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker
World Premiere
Nora Sandigo has more than 2,000 kids, acting as the legal guardian for US-born children of undocumented immigrants.
Harvest Season
By Bernardo Ruiz
NYC Premiere
Set in California’s Napa and Sonoma Valley wine country, this film celebrates the unsung workers and small producers, from vine to vintage.
I’m Leaving Now
By Lindsey Cordero and Armando Croda
U.S. Premiere
Felipe, an undocumented immigrant in NYC who has long struggled to support his family in Mexico, faces the limits of self-sacrifice.
Patrimonio
By Lisa F. Jackson and Sarah Teale
NYC Premiere
In Baja, Mexico, local fishermen face off against the development of a luxury resort, which will have a radical impact on the environment and on their livelihood.
New York City Films
The World Before Your Feet
By Jeremy Workman
NYC Premiere
This charming portrait captures urban explorer Matt Green on his mission to walk every block of New York City.
Puerto Rican Films
Decade of Fire
By Vivian Vazquez and Gretchen Hildebran
World Premiere
The true, inside story behind the burning of the Bronx in the 1970s and how the community resisted, remained and rebuilt.
Screwball
By Billy Corben
U.S. Premiere
From the makers of Cocaine Cowboys, this true crime comedy exposes baseball player Alex Rodriguez’s doping scandal with a hilarious profile of his drug supplier.
Spanish Films
See You Tomorrow, God Willing
By Ainara Vera
North American Premiere
Seventeen octogenarian Franciscan nuns in Spain take care of each other in this beautifully observed and often humorous portrait.
Notable
DOC NYC 2018 Tickets
Adult: $19
Seniors & Children: $17
IFC Center Members: $16
Short List and DOC NYC U sections, and Monday – Friday screenings before 5 pm: $12
All Access Pass: $995
DOC NYC Pro Gold Pass: $450
DOC NYC Pro Silver Pass: $250
Ten-Ticket Package: $160
IFC Center Box Office
Daily 10:30 am – 10 pm
Online
Visit DOC NYC 2018
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave, New York, NY 10014
(at 3rd St)
West Village, Manhattan
SVA Theatre
333 West 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
(between Eighth & Ninth Aves)
Chelsea, Manhattan
Cinepolis Chelsea
260 West 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
(near Eighth Ave)
Chelsea, Manhattan