In 1978, Philadelphia’s police department conducted a violent siege on the communal home of the Black revolutionary group MOVE. Nine members of MOVE went to prison over the resultant death of a police officer, despite forensic mysteries in the case. Two of the prisoners were the parents of Mike Africa, Jr., who dedicated his life […]
NYC PREMIERE Filmmaker Dror Moreh proved himself an expert navigator of powerful figures in his Oscar®-nominated film The Gatekeepers, about the leaders of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency. Now he employs his talents to probe the American-led negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in 2000. The main insiders on camera are six top American diplomats who testify […]
NYC PREMIERE Filmmaker Dror Moreh proved himself an expert navigator of powerful figures in his Oscar®-nominated film The Gatekeepers, about the leaders of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency. Now he employs his talents to probe the American-led negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in 2000. The main insiders on camera are six top American diplomats who testify […]
US PREMIERE Ten years ago, director Thomas Balmès (Babies, Happiness) filmed in Bhutan with a seven-year-old Buddhist monk named Peyangki awaiting the arrival of electricity to his village. Now a decade later, Balmès returns to find Peyangki and the whole monastery obsessed with cell phones. With beautiful cinematography, the film captures nuance, humor and humanity. Witnessing […]
US PREMIERE Artist Jaśmina Wójcik collaborates with a group of former workers from the now-defunct Ursus tractor factory in Poland to compose an astonishing symphony of sounds and movements based on their physical experience while building tractors. As they perform the movements and sounds interiorized during decades of labor, we learn about their personal histories in […]
NYC PREMIERE In this indictment of America’s asylum process, two Haitian migrants find their lives in stasis after their journey through multiple countries stalls at the US-Mexico border in Tijuana. When friends Robens and James are separated, this contemplative look at a bond forged through struggle shifts into a moving exploration of the longing to discover […]
2019 VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION WINNER US PREMIERE Documentary comedies are a rarity, even more so from China. But Weijun Chen has proven himself a master with such mirthful films as Please Vote for Me and The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World. Now he finds comedy in Wuhan, the biggest city in Central China. We watch over a year as […]
NYC PREMIERE The film opens with a desperate man in Tehran telling the camera, “I’m not sure if, tomorrow, I’ll be dead or alive.” This is Sahand, who has been in a long-term adulterous relationship with Leila, despite Iran’s threat of the death penalty for infidelity. Now, the couple is fleeing the country with Mani, […]
US PREMIERE Fires, heart attacks, acts of madness and even suicide—these are the consequences of the halny wind. This destructive windstorm regularly wreaks havoc in Poland’s Tatra Mountains, impacting the lives of several characters and their animal companions. Brilliantly photographed and with special attention to soundscapes, Michal Bielawski’s mysterious tale of ecological revenge pushes the documentary […]
WORLD PREMIERE Based on Amanda Ripley’s bestselling book, The Smartest Kids in the World follows four American teenagers who go abroad to study in the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, and South Korea – nations that dramatically outperform the US in education. Filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos was previously on the DOC NYC Short List with her film […]