WORLD PREMIERE Alice is a descendant of Martha Carrier, a woman hanged for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Her research for an upcoming book leads her to work with Brooklyn-based feminist guru Silvia Federici and to trace the history of the great witch hunts to today’s continuing patriarchal power grabs. A captivating story at […]
WORLD PREMIERE In Santiago de Cuba, rival conga bands scour the sparse marketplace for materials to create show-stopping numbers for the annual Carnival competition. O’Reilly’s film follows young, innovative Lázaro, who is determined to beat “the Shark,” his older and more establishment-favored competitor. Tensions build and tempers flare as the government restrictions and scarcity of […]
NYC PREMIERE A young Brooklyn girl has suffered mysterious symptoms for years when her determined father stumbles upon a vicious medical debate: the existence of chronic Lyme disease. In 1975, the CDC and health insurance companies set guidelines still used today to deny the diagnosis and treatment for its debilitating symptoms. The film investigates the […]
Filmmaker Reid Davenport, a past honoree of DOC NYC’s 40 Under 40 showcase, creates a diaristic portrait of his life, at times from his wheelchair. Candid and unsentimental, Davenport captures quotidian moments of human connection and frustration on the streets of Oakland. When a circus tent goes up outside of his apartment, his reflections turn to […]
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Jorge leaves his family and his moto-taxi business in the outskirts of Lima to try his luck in the most dangerous Andean gold mine in Peru.The precarious nature of life and labor ground this documentary-infused drama set in a frontier town where the flow of gold requires human sacrifice. Captured with exquisite […]
NYC PREMIERE Oscar-nominated director Dror Moreh (The Gatekeepers) returns with an examination of genocide and US foreign policy in this striking documentary filled with the insights of politicians and diplomats from the past 40 years. With affecting archival footage and extensive interviews, the film centers around former UN Ambassador Samantha Power’s haunting question: Why do […]
US PREMIERE On the violent border between Brazil and Paraguay, a battle between agribusiness and indigenous sovereignty wages. Filmmakers Laura Faerman and Marina Weis outline the clash between lawyer Luana Ruiz, heiress to the contested land and staunch Jair Bolsonaro supporter, and Alenir Ximendes, Guarani-Kaiowá leader, teacher and activist. A powerful cinematic chronicle of Ximendes’s […]
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE: After her 2009 victory at the World Championships, South African runner Caster Semenya’s win came under invasive public scrutiny. When the International Amateur Athletics Federation (now World Athletics) ruled that targeted women with naturally high androgen levels must medically alter their bodies in order to compete, a generation of athletes have their lives […]
US PREMIERE Vancouver, Canada is ground zero of the opioid crisis in Canada with fentanyl overdose deaths at an all-time high. To save lives and support their marginalized community, a group of current and former drug users volunteer at the Overdose Prevention Society (OPS), a safe injection site. Through intimate observation, Colin Askey’s debut feature […]
WORLD PREMIERE It’s an insidious, centuries-old conspiracy theory that continues to rear its ugly head today: Jews have a secret international plot to control the world. How do such preposterous ideas get started, and why do they flourish? Filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin orchestrates bold, striking animation and exceptionally talented voice artists to walk us through almost […]