#DOCNYCalum: IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY on DVD, PLIMPTON on American Masters

May 16, 2014

We have over 300 alumni films we’ve presented throughout the past four years at DOC NYC. Follow us on Twitter and friend us on Facebook to stay up to date with all their latest news. (And alumni filmmakers, we love hearing from you so keep us updated on your film!)

IS THE MAN WHO IS TALL HAPPY (DOC NYC 2013) now on DVD.

Director Michel Gondry applies his playful imagination to animating a series of conversations with the esteemed linguist, philosopher, political commentator and activist Noam Chomsky. In this intellectual feast, Gondry uses drawings to make complex ideas more accessible and to expand the documentary form. Order the DVD on Amazon.

Watch the DOC NYC Q&A with Michel Gondry and Noam Chomsky, moderated by Anthony Arnove.


PLIMPTON (DOC NYC 2012) premieres on American Masters Friday 5/16.

To some, George Plimpton was best known as the founder of America’s premiere literary magazine, The Paris Review. To others, he was a participatory sports journalist. Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself shows the many facets of this writer, editor, amateur sportsman and friend of the rich and famous. Using Plimpton’s own narration—along with thoughts and stories from friends, family and contemporaries—the film is a joyful celebration of a life lived fully, richly, strangely, and so variously that it’s hard to believe it was led by just one man. Check local listings on PBS.


GOD LOVES UGANDA (DOC NYC 2013) on PBS Independent Lens Monday 5/19.

In 2010, Roger Ross Williams won the Academy Award for his documentary short Music by Prudence, becoming the first African American director ever to receive an Oscar. Now he explores the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting the “sexual immorality” of homosexuality and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow Biblical law. An impassioned and provocative call for change, God Loves Uganda “is strong, head-shaking stuff” (Variety). Check local listings on PBS.


THE ROAD TO FAME (DOC NYC 2013) free screening at Asia Society (NYC) 5/22.

China’s top drama academy stages the American musical Fame in the country’s first official collaboration with Broadway. During the eight-month rehearsal, five students compete for roles, struggle with pressure from family and authority, and prepare to graduate into China’s corrupt entertainment industry. Part of China’s single-child generation, they must confront complex social realities and their own anxieties, and negotiate their own paths to the “Chinese dream”. Reserve your ticket.