Pitch Day 1 (Nov 13)
Expanded this year to two full-day sessions, Pitch Days give 18 filmmaking teams the chance to present works-in-progress to key industry players across distribution, funding, publicity, and more. Filmmakers will receive targeted feedback based on their own questions, and a special curated showcase will feature 6 works-in-progress from Chicken & Egg filmmakers.
Co-presented by 
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Each PRO Day Pass grants access to a single DOC NYC PRO day comprised of several panel discussions and all day access to the Festival Lounge where you can enjoy complimentary breakfast and happy hour.
To experience the DOC NYC PRO lineup, purchase an individual PRO Day Pass (via the Buy Day Pass button) to hone in on a specific topic, or benefit from discounted pricing when you purchase Multi-Day Pass Packs to an assortment of conference days.
Live Pitch – Part 1
Chicken & Egg Showcase Moderator: Kiyoko McCrae (Chicken & Egg Films)
The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony, Director: Habiba Nosheen / Producer: Amar Lohana.
Against the weight of societal expectations on women and girls, the gymnasts of Pakistan’s Fisherman Colony push to make space for themselves, one somersault at a time.
Anatomy of a Life, Director: Emma Francis-Snyder / Producers: Tiffany Fisher-Love, Yael Melamede.
When Richard is diagnosed with dementia, his daughter Emma documents their journey through the flawed eldercare system. Anatomy of a Life blends documentary with whimsical fiction, preserving his humor and legacy in a father-daughter story about love and resilience.
War on Women (working title), Director: Maris Salumets / Producers: Elina Litvinova, Monica Lǎzurean-Gorgan.
Raised in chaos, I finally built a family of my own—until a “traditional family” crusade moved to erase it, sending me across Europe to follow the money and the messengers behind the global anti-rights movement.
Live Pitch – Part 2
Chicken & Egg Showcase Moderator: Kiyoko McCrae (Chicken & Egg Films)
Southmont Drive (working title), Director: Ashley O’Shay / Producers: Cherrelle Swain, Ashley O’Shay.
After the loss of their patriarch’s home, SOUTHMONT DRIVE emerges as a collective memory of his descendants, tracing a Black family’s generational roots in the small-town South while confronting the effects of capitalist exploitation and greed.
Vena Acuática, Director: Amada Torruella / Producers: Seth Gadsden, Brit Fryer.
A tender portrait of El Salvador, Vena Acuática is a mosaic revealing the joys and perils of lives deeply bonded with water and land, shaped by the relationships between women defending a landscape haunted by environmental negligence and forced migration.
Stallions, Director: Rita Baghdadi / Producer: Sahar Yousefi, Rita Baghdadi.
On the coast of Morocco, a crew of stallion riders make a living filming tourists galloping horses on the beach at sunset, while chasing their own version of freedom.
Live Pitch – Part 3
Moderator: Megan Gelstein (Catapult Film Fund)
Industry Panelists: Poh Si Teng (Independent Producer), Opal H. Bennett (POV), Marcos Acevedo (AJH Films) and Lizzie Gillett (Misfits Entertainment
Cabras y Chivas, Co-Directors: Palmer Morse, Nick Stone Schearer / Producer: Catalina Luna.
California ranchers work alongside migrant herders, managing thousands of goats to mitigate wildfire risk across the state. Often unseen to the communities they serve, together they’re navigating the shifting borders of climate, family and immigration.
Symphony of Silence, Director: Julianne Sato-Parker / Producer: Bridie Bischoff.
Symphony of Silence follows Amazonian sound recordist Josue Borman and hearing-impaired acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton on a cross-continent cinematic journey, exploring how sound connects us to the planet, and what we stand to lose when we stop listening.
Cop City, Director: Sam Cullman, Chris Frierson / Producers: Morgan Pehme, Daniel DiMauro.
Celebrated as the “cradle of civil rights,” Atlanta becomes the frontline for democracy and dissent in America when activists oppose a massive police training facility and get charged as terrorists.
Live Pitch – Part 4
Moderator: Megan Gelstein (Catapult Film Fund)
Industry Panelists: Poh Si Teng (Independent Producer), Opal H. Bennett (POV), Marcos Acevedo (AJH Films) and Lizzie Gillett (Misfits Entertainment)
Dear Iria, Director: Janna Kyllastinen / Producer: Kati Aho.
When hundreds of unseen works and intimate diaries of a forgotten artist surface in her SoHo loft after death, a filmmaker sets on a journey into the elusive artist’s fierce dedication to create.
Karachi Sky, Director: Sofian Khan / Producers: Kiva Reardon, Adele Romanski.
Memoir meets in memoriam in this personal journey through a filmmaker’s twenty year archive and the relationship that changed the course of his life.
KICK, Director: Julia Schwalb / Producers: Alex Schmider, Samantha Bloom, Zackary Drucker, Grace Zahrah.
Nikki Hiltz, America’s fastest 1500m runner, is on the brink of making history at the highest level of sport as they grapple with reconciling their dueling identities–professional athlete and trans nonbinary–in a world that struggles to make space for both.
DOC NYC PRO is co-presented by:
