2020 SHORT LIST: PRODUCING AWARD Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France (How to Survive a Plague, DOC NYC 2012) delivers a suspenseful real-life thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Inspired by The New Yorker reporting of Masha Gessen, the film follows a courageous team of Russian activists who operate an underground railroad to help LGBTQ […]
2020 SHORT LIST: DIRECTING AWARD Winner of the Sundance Documentary Directing Award, Time is one of the most critically lauded films of the year. Filmmaker Garrett Bradley focuses on Fox Rich, an entrepreneur, author, and mother of six, who has spent 21 years fighting for the release of her husband, Rob, from a 60-year prison […]
This inspiring and vital film follows lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union as they battle the Trump administration over cases of immigration, abortion, LGBTQ equality, and voting rights. We watch the lawyers in action as they meet with desperate clients and plot legal strategies for critical cases including one that goes to the Supreme […]
Greta Thunberg became famous for her viral videos confronting UN leaders over climate change. Swedish filmmaker Nathan Grossman offers a unique view of Greta’s personal history starting in August 2018 when she was 15 years old and scarcely known. As her notoriety rises, we watch Greta adapt to being both flattered and scorned by world […]
Journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines was named one of Time magazine’s Persons of the Year. Her online news site, Rappler combines the words “rap” and “ripple” for its truth seeking under the authoritarian regime of President Rodrigo Duterte. Filmmaker Ramona Diaz profiles Ressa as she faces government persecution in a series of legal actions […]
Runner Up: Audience Award DOC NYC 2020 WORLD PREMIERE | How can we bring accountability over the climate crisis? This inspiring story of youth activism documents 21 activists from across the nation as they file a groundbreaking lawsuit against the United States. The case reveals evidence that the government has endangered their constitutional rights to life, […]
Phil Demers, an eccentric free spirit, becomes an unexpectedly popular trainer at Niagara Falls’ Marineland after forming a bond with the park’s first walrus, Smooshi. For the next decade Demers cares for Smooshi and other animals in increasingly decrepit conditions. After he quits as a result of these concerns—and is accused of plotting to steal […]
MLK/FBI performs the vital task of examining FBI director J. Edgar Hoover’s relentless campaign of surveillance and harassment against Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, when King is celebrated across political spectrums as a moral hero, it’s jolting to confront the years when federal agents targeted him as a villain. Inspired by the work of historian […]
Attica Scott, the only Black woman in the Kentucky state legislature, fights to dismantle a system of discrimination against Black people penalized for something seemingly innocuous–their hair. Included with the screening ticket is an exclusive pre-recorded Q&A with Samantha Knowles (Director), immediately following the film. This film is part of the shorts program SHORTS: SPEAK UP, STAND […]
The 1969 police raid of New York City’s Stonewall bar sparked the queer rights movement. What will the next 50 years of queer liberation look like? Included with the screening ticket is an exclusive pre-recorded Q&A with Samuel Douek (Director), immediately following the film. This film is part of the shorts program SHORTS: SPEAK UP, STAND UP