New York Film Academy Documentary Department students learn to make films by making films. Hands-on, intensive MFA and one-year Conservatory programs pair rigorous instruction with close mentoring by a world class faculty to support students from around the world as they create their own documentary films. Alumni have received an Emmy® Award, multiple Academy Award®- and Emmy Award nominations and honors at Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, SXSW and Toronto. NYFA has been named one of The Hollywood Reporter‘s “Top American Film Schools,” Variety‘s “Stellar Film Schools” and The Independent’s “10 Best Academic Programs for Documentary Filmmakers.”
NYFA’s showcase includes: In Cricket Liu (China, 18 min., Julia Cheng), an aging Cricket Fighting master uses his ancient art to earn all he can for the grandson he is barely allowed to know. Matt struggles daily to remember what happened even minutes ago in I Love You, Wally (USA, 19 min., Simona Kubasova Prakash). In Keliling Bali (Bali, 4 min., Gary Bencheghib, Aitor Mendilibar), Gary and Sam attempt to circumnavigate the plastics-filled ocean surrounding Bali. On a rocky Danish island, five-year-old Tobias sets out on a quest to find its famed mythological creatures in The Trolls & I (Denmark, 19 min., Charlotte Madvig Schmidt).