NYC PREMIERE Many of those who called Boca Chica home don’t anymore. When Elon Musk’s SpaceX decided to build its 50-story rocket in the Texas town, it forced people away. Birds have been stopped in flight, and people who remained can no longer access the beaches they grew up visiting. Julien Elie’s dystopic sci-fi documentary […]
US PREMIERE The premise is shattering enough: A mother in Georgia becomes a surrogate to provide for her young daughter. Yet filmmaker Ketevan Vashagashvili’s intimate portrait derives its strength from the perceptive ways she captures the relationship between the two women. What starts as a means to make money evolves into a personal crisis, challenging […]
WORLD PREMIERE Shedding light on the familial burden of the migrant crisis, A Place of Absence charts the physical and emotional journey of Central American mothers on a bus caravan as they desperately search for their disappeared children, clinging to hope against overwhelming odds. Interwoven with the filmmaker’s story of her beloved uncle’s disappearance, this film […]
WORLD PREMIERE Filmmaker Nadia Louis-Desmarchais tries to untangle the complex knot of race and identity that lies at the center of her life. As the daughter of a Haitian mother, adopted by a white family in Quebec, she uses her camera to illustrate an identity that is as intricate and beautiful as she is. Within […]
NYC PREMIERE Amid a looming maternal health crisis and vanishing reproductive freedom, the government interferes in the traditional practice of midwifery in a rural Mennonite community. When three midwives are arrested, the usually sequestered women decide to reclaim their rights by challenging the state’s decision. A little-known resistance filmed with extraordinary access to a reticent […]
NYC PREMIERE Over a five-decade career, the journalist, author, and talk show host E. Jean Carroll has been revered for her brass-tacks style. In 2019, galvanized by the #MeToo movement, Carroll went public with something she had buried for years: She had been sexually assaulted by Donald Trump. When the president accused her of lying, […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Vivid dreams and ghostly visits from Brazilian director João Vieira Torres’ grandmother compel him to explore the stories of the women in his family, many of whom were victims of violence. With intimate family conversations, haunting photos, and his coming-of-age story, João traces his journey to uncover a tragic legacy. In the […]
WORLD PREMIERE NYC experimental documentary filmmaker Benita Raphan died by suicide during the loneliness of the COVID-19 shutdowns. DOC NYC 2024 Lifetime Achievement filmmaker Alan Berliner, who was her friend and creative advisor, creates a kind of posthumous collaboration with Benita on her final project, using as many of her images, sounds, and words as […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE BMX champion and 2018 Youth Olympic medalist Iñaki Mazza retired from his sport during a period of personal crisis. Years later, he returns to his bike, emboldened by a new quest, and reunites with his partner after their stint at a rehabilitation center in Tierra del Fuego. Mazza sets out on a […]
WORLD PREMIERE The sight of rogue Santas gallivanting through the streets has become an NYC winter staple. While the revelry can feel like just a drunken lark, the origins of the festivities lie in something far more absurd. Born in the Bay Area from the same minds as Burning Man, Santacon grew from zany capitalist […]