Joan Churchill, the recipient of DOC NYC’s 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award, has a prodigious career. She started as a cameraperson on films such as Gimme Shelter and Jimi Plays Berkeley; and co-directed several films with Nick Broomfield including Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer and Soldier Girls. In this live conversation moderated by […]
CLOSING NIGHT FILMThe First Wave will screen in person on Thursday, November 18 as the festival’s closing night presentation. The film will also be available to screen online November 19-28.NYC PREMIERE When Covid-19 hit New York City in 2020, filmmaker Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land; City of Ghosts) gained unique access to one of New York’s […]
NYC PREMIERE Chock- full of rich archival footage of old Philadelphia and NYC, this everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-automats film is a lighthearted trip through the history of Horn & Hardart’s iconic and innovative eateries. Led by the irrepressible Mel Brooks, the film also features an impressive roster of celebrities (Colin Powell, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Carl Reiner, to name […]
WORLD PREMIERE In 1995, Kevin Garnett was the first player drafted into the NBA straight from high school in more than 20 seasons. Over the course of a Hall of Fame career, Garnett transformed from a brash kid to a pioneer who forever changed the game on and off the court, highlighted by his competitiveness and passion for […]
WORLD PREMIERE In 2019, Nepalese mountain climber Nirmal “Nims” Purja set out to do the unthinkable by climbing the world’s fourteen highest summits in less than seven months. (The previous record was eight years). He called the effort “Project Possible 14/7” and saw it as a way to inspire others to strive for greater heights […]
OPENING NIGHT FILM NYC PREMIERE Smooth-jazz artist Kenny G is beloved by millions for songs like “Songbird” and “Silhouette,” but the curly-haired performer also came to symbolize what people hate about elevator music, making him the butt of jokes from The Simpsons to South Park. Filmmaker Penny Lane (Hail Satan?) takes a witty and provocative approach to tell Kenny G’s story while asking a […]
CENTERPIECE SCREENING NYC PREMIERE Filmmakers Sam Pollard and Rex Miller chart the evolution of tennis legend Arthur Ashe—still the only Black man to win singles championships at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. As he gained international renown in the 60s, Ashe had to navigate between a conservative sports culture and the activist […]
CENTERPIECE SCREENING NYC PREMIERE Dionne Warwick emerged from New Jersey gospel groups, launched her career at the Apollo Theater and has been dazzling audiences for decades—both musically and, more recently, on Twitter. In this career-spanning biography, richly illustrated with vintage musical performances, she’s a marvelous raconteur sharing candid stories behind her hit songs. We hear […]
This longitudinal project started out by filming a group of seven-year-old British children representing a range of the country’s class system. Every seven years, director Michael Apted has returned to the same participants for a poignant inquiry into the arc of their lives, through births, deaths, marriages and divorces—chronicling all their highs and lows. Apted, […]
CENTERPIECE FILM NYC PREMIERE Bikram Choudhury was at the forefront of popularizing yoga in North America and around the world. An Indian immigrant with a Beverly Hills base, Choudhury was a born entertainer, known for dressing in nothing more than a black speedo and a Rolex. His teaching style was tough love sprinkled with salty language and […]