WORLD PREMIERE From executive producer Bill Moyers and a team of producers that includes Marc Levin (Class Divide) comes the first film to focus exclusively on former detainees of Rikers Island, offering searing testimonials about the deep-seated culture of systemic violence and corruption that has plagued the notorious NYC jail for decades. From the trauma […]
Ava DuVernay (Selma, Queen Sugar) explores troubling links between race and incarceration in America. The film’s title refers to the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery in 1865, but with the loophole clause ‘except as a punishment for crime.’ In lively interviews across the political spectrum – including Michelle Alexander, Angela Davis, […]
Director Dawn Porter made the 2013 Short List with her film Gideon’s Army. This year, she’s back at DOC NYC to receive the Robert and Anne Drew Award at the Visionaries Tribute. Her latest film Trapped focuses on two Southern reproductive-health clinics struggling to stay open against a wave of anti-choice legislation. One is Whole Woman’s […]
Elephants are among the world’s most magnificent creatures. But the lucrative ivory trade could cause the species to go extinct in our lifetime. The Ivory Game chronicles the battle to save elephants. As suspenseful as any thriller, it follows investigators who risk their own lives, battling armed poachers in the African bush and going undercover […]
James Baldwin left behind notes for an unfinished book about three martyrs of civil rights: Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and Medgar Evers. Now filmmaker Raoul Peck (Lumumba) draws upon Baldwin’s unseen text and his other writings to craft this stunning film essay that connects their crusades to today. The poetry and precision of […]
More than 20 years after the media spectacle of the “trial of the century,” O.J. Simpson continues to fascinate the public. In this expansive, ambitious and provocative project, Ezra Edelman revisits not only the murder of Simpson’s ex-wife and its infamous aftermath, but the story of O.J.’s entire life, before and after. Encompassing America’s complicated […]
The 2007 murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy is a case study in the vagaries of crime and punishment. Seattle native Amanda Knox was convicted for the crime and spent four years in prison before being exonerated. This gripping, atmospheric film revisits the story with unprecedented access to its key players […]
Enigmas, innovations and histories. Explore a deepsea mystery surrounding unexplained ocean sounds in The Bloop (USA, 7 min., Cara Cusumano). Bad Dog: A Penitentiary Tale (USA, 12 min., Sean McCoy) tells the true-crime story of a black lab accused of murder. Go behind the counter of Crown Candy (USA, 10 min., David Wilson, Kamau Bilal), […]
NYC PREMIERE In 1924, a black Labrador retriever named Pep was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison at Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary. Through dramatic re-enactments and newly discovered footage, this short documentary explores the facts and folklore surrounding Pep’s incarceration.
Seeking justice. Grassroots organizations and activists ignored by national news take center stage in From Flint: Voices of a Poisoned City (USA, 23 min., Elise Conklin). Andy Goes In (USA, 16 min., Josh Polon) to uncover animal abuse at America’s top farms. Mass Swell (USA, 12 min., Patricia Silva) lends a powerful counterpoint to media […]