WORLD PREMIERE After a controversial basketball ruling about head coverings makes it impossible for Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir to maintain her religious convictions while playing professionally, she begins training the next generation of Muslim girls at an Islamic school’s athletics program. As she reckons with the possibility of life without basketball, Bilqis fights to change the rules […]
2018 VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION WINNER NYC PREMIERE This beautiful observational portrait of childhood is set in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on the border between Nepal and India, the birthplace of the Buddha. Director Yuqi Kang reveals the emotional dynamics of five-year-old Hopakuli and his older brother Chorten as these young novice monks attempt to balance […]
WORLD PREMIERE Two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple (Harlan County, USA) chronicles the experiences of five refugee children from war-torn Syria and Iraq whose families have resettled in Canada. In this sweetly observed film, Kopple follows the boys for two weeks at a summer camp in the Canadian wilderness. We watch as some boys thrive […]
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 […]