During the 19 months before the Taliban retook Afghanistan, filmmaker Tamana Ayazi and Oscar-nominated director Marcel Mettelsiefen gained unique access to Zarifa Ghafari, the youngest female Afghan mayor. IN HER HANDS follows the 26-year-old Ghafari as she navigates multiple layers of political and personal turmoil, including a tense relationship with her father (a leader in […]
NYC PREMIERE Challenging the monolithic idea of immigrants and processes of immigration, Vivek Bald and Alaudin Ullah’s IN SEARCH OF BENGALI HARLEM relates the specific history of Bengali Muslim immigrants who arrived in mid-20th century Harlem, often marrying into Black American families. In this fascinating uncovering of New York (and American) history, in a post- […]
WORLD PREMIERE Jeanette Lee, aka Black Widow, dominated pool halls and competitions in the ‘90s and early 2000s. The Asian American icon brought style, power and skill to the billiards scene. With her recent cancer diagnosis, Lee recounts growing up in NYC, her storied career and the hidden challenges she faced. Filmmaker Ursula Liang (9-Man […]
WORLD PREMIERE Using his camera as a “weapon against injustice,” Chinese-American photographer Corky Lee brought art and politics together through his decades-long documentation of the Asian American experience. The Queens, NY native captured all aspects of the AAPI experience, from Lunar New Year to street protests, from Pakistani Independence Day to Diwali and more, uplifting […]
NYC PREMIERE A meticulous documenting of the filmmaker’s mother as she gradually slips into the grip of dementia. Rea Tajiri is both a witness and a participant in a process of remembrance and archiving; throughout this moving collaboration, the mother and daughter switch roles between daughter, mother, survivor, and documentarian. Without falling into the trappings […]
US PREMIERE A landfill community forms its own association to help uplift its children and community before the landfill closes in the near future. – Dewitt Davis This screening will be followed by a Q&A with Director Dewi Tan. All in-person screening venues provide hearing impaired listening devices upon request with venue management. All guests […]
NYC PREMIERE David Siev, one of DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 this year, turns his camera on his own small-town Michigan family’s fight for their American Dream during a transitional moment that mirrors a time of great flux in America. Siev’s father is from Cambodia and mother from Mexico, and the restaurant the family runs […]
Tang’s son was stolen when the child was three. Twelve years later, the Chinese police found him but that joy was dampened by a new reality. – Samah Ali This film contains the following accessibility options for viewers:Closed Captioning for in-person screenings at IFC Center and Cinepolis Chelsea All in-person screening venues provide hearing impaired […]
Documentaries about the shared bonds that bring us closer as humans. (Total Running Time: 93 MIN) Seasons | Directors/Producers: Gabriella Canal, Michael Fearon, Columbia UniversityA mother and daughter come together on a farm during the pandemic to nurture plants and harvest food. (USA, 21 MIN) Birthing Without Fear | Director/Producer: Jessica Brown, CUNYOne woman’s journey […]
When the coronavirus first became news in January 2020, filmmaker Nanfu Wang was visiting her family in China. In this penetrating film essay, she seeks to understand how governments shaped information about the pandemic both in China and the United States, making decisions with far-reaching ramifications. She skillfully weaves a wide range of sources to […]