NYC PREMIERE In this Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning film, director Talal Derki (Return to Homs) returns to his native Syria and gains remarkably unfettered access to a radical jihadist and his family for two years. General Abu Osama raises his young sons to become Islamist fighters, but what if they just want to […]
NYC PREMIERE An experiment in virtual education, the School in the Cloud learning lab is a high-tech, self-directed education center built in an Indian village accessible only by boat and rickshaw. The brainchild of 2013 TED Prize winner Sugata Mitra, the lab connects children in remote areas who have never encountered the Internet before with […]
This program presents two films appearing in our Short List: Shorts section recognizing some of the top documentary shorts films of the year. TAKE BACK THE HARBOR DIRS: Kristi Jacobson, Roger Ross Williams On Governor’s Island, an ambitious program works to restore once-bountiful oysters and the environmental benefits they bring to New York Harbor. Take […]
NYC PREMIERE Romance traditionally has been the domain of humans. Silicone Soul, however, shows it is possible between men and the life-size dolls. Disarmingly candid interviews highlight the bonds formed between synthetic beings and lonely souls who have struggled to find the “one,” while other subjects profiled reveal unexpected attachments to eerily lifelike dolls. Melody […]
WORLD PREMIERE Based on Amanda Ripley’s bestselling book, The Smartest Kids in the World follows four American teenagers who go abroad to study in the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, and South Korea – nations that dramatically outperform the US in education. Filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos was previously on the DOC NYC Short List with her film […]
On Governor’s Island, an ambitious program works to restore once-bountiful oysters and the environmental benefits they bring to New York Harbor. Take Back the Harbor highlights students at a remarkable public high school where environmental stewardship is part of the curriculum. Courtesy of Discovery/Motto Pictures.
Students in The Documentary Project at Columbia Journalism School learn to write, film and narrate the stories of our time, from deadline reporting to profile writing and documentary features. Successful candidates have leveraged their work to include magazine features, NPR radio stories and newspaper articles. Columbia’s showcase includes: Born to Stay (USA, 24 min., Daniela […]
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, […]
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 […]
The ups and downs of city living. Dig It If You Can (USA, 18 min., Kyle Bell) creates a dialogue around Native American visibility, while Jordan Castell Paints Her Community (USA, 10 min., Orian Barki), showing an underrepresented side of black men. An after school improv class gives two teens Extra Credit (USA, 17 min., […]