History is made, for better or worse. The Happiness Machine (USA, 24 min., Rebecca B. Blumhagen) profiles philosopher, inventor and farmer, Carl, who grew up a sharecropper on 22 acres in rural Iowa which he now hopes to pass on to his children as a gift of place. Using entirely archival footage, In the Absence […]
The New School’s Documentary Media Studies program provides an opportunity to study documentary filmmaking in a small, tightly focused program. The program culminates in a student documentary festival, Truth Be Told, at the end of each school year, at which certificate students’ films are publicly screened and discussed by the filmmakers and faculty. Certificate holders […]
NYU’s NewsDoc program prepares students to report and produce for traditional and nontraditional media. Emphasizing not only the story but the storytelling, the program’s goal is for students to be skilled in both form and content, able tell a story by effectively using all aspects of the medium. The program culminates with each student producing, […]
The School of Visual Arts’ MFA Social Documentary Film program teaches the artistic skills and techniques needed to tell compelling true stories that stimulate meaningful dialogue. SocDoc not only teaches the fundamentals of great storytelling, but guides students toward a career in the thriving documentary industry. The award winning-faculty is helmed by producer Maro Chermayeff […]
On the limits and potential of the human body. A cancer survivor and dancer turns her suffering and fears into a creative fight against the illness in Iridescence (Luxembourg, 6 min., Eileen Byrne). A Filipino filmmaker explores identity and indigenous tattoo art in Blood and Ink (UK, 15 min., Jill Damatac Futter). An independent pro […]
On fulfilling dreams and reimagining the world. In a Cuban cigar factories, La Lectora (Bulgaria, 10 min., Yulia Piskuliyska) entertains workers by reading to them. Argentine Raul (USA, 17 min., Kristin Sztyk) achieves, and then loses, his American dream. South Asian men are Searching for Wives (Singapore, 12 min., Zuki Juno Tobgye), but can only […]
Where is the line between country and ancestry? Blood + Ink (Dugo at Tinta) is a short essay documentary meditating on personal and cultural identity through the story of Apo Whang Od, an indigenous tribal tattooist in the northern Philippines, the stories of the travellers from the Philippine diaspora who come to see her, and the […]
Finding Home follows Brandon, a Shanghainese lawyer, who left his family and country due to his sexual orientation, as he navigates his new life as a gay immigrant in Los Angeles.
Patha, a truck driver from South India embarks on his search for love in Singapore through the use of a portrait of himself.
WORLD PREMIERE Nestled in a remote jungle in Thailand is a unique school that is home for 150 underprivileged and orphaned children. The students of the democratic Children’s Village have as much voice as their teachers, participating in council meetings to make key decisions about their education and community, gaining empowerment in the process. As […]