WORLD PREMIERE Filmmaker Nadia Louis-Desmarchais tries to untangle the complex knot of race and identity that lies at the center of her life. As the daughter of a Haitian mother, adopted by a white family in Quebec, she uses her camera to illustrate an identity that is as intricate and beautiful as she is. Within […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Vivid dreams and ghostly visits from Brazilian director João Vieira Torres’ grandmother compel him to explore the stories of the women in his family, many of whom were victims of violence. With intimate family conversations, haunting photos, and his coming-of-age story, João traces his journey to uncover a tragic legacy. In the […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE This rich, music-filled portrait of Afro-Cuban icon Pablo Milanés traces his extraordinary life from child prodigy to beloved musician and activist. Framed by tender scenes of an aging Pablo in Madrid with his sprawling family, PARA VIVIR journeys through Cuba’s political and cultural evolution alongside his legendary career. With intimate stories from […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Haunted by his father’s unresolved death during the 1983 Matabeleland massacres, a Zimbabwean immigrant in Botswana believes his family is cursed. Burdened by generational trauma and historical violence, the man struggles to build a future, despite having love in his life. While trying to properly bury his father, he must confront his […]
NYC PREMIERE While preparing to play Hamlet in an intense NYC production, actor Oscar Isaac learns that his mother has fallen ill with an aggressive cancer—at the same time he and partner, filmmaker Elvira Lind, are imminently expecting their firstborn. As Elvira’s camera quietly captures Oscar at rehearsal, at home, and with extended family, her […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE In 1977, television star David Carradine cast his estranged daughter Calista in Mata Hari with the ambitious intent to film over 15 years as she grew up. Following his death in 2009, David’s film remained unfinished, but he left behind a remarkable trove of footage. With Calista and David’s relationship increasingly strained […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE For years, the great dancer Farruquito and his family—grandfather, uncle, mother, brothers, and children—have elevated the art of flamenco with staggering operatic passion. Santi Aguado and Reuben Atlas engagingly portray the arc of blood ties, loves, and tragedies that have shaped decades of international triumphs—including a special affinity for NYC, where Farruquito […]
Twenty years after it first charmed its way into audiences’ hearts, DOC NYC presents a retrospective screening of Marilyn Agrelo and Amy Sewell’s classic about NYC public school fifth-graders competing in the extracurricular world of ballroom dancing. The filmmakers followed students from a school in each of Bensonhurst, Tribeca, and Washington Heights as they learned […]
WORLD PREMIERE Detroit has often been framed in a negative light, saddled with proclamations of crime and urban decay, but that isn’t the city that filmmaker Jeremy Xido calls home. After his family moved to the city during his youth, an African American family “adopted” Xido and his parents as part of their clan. In […]