2020 SHORT LIST SHORTS: SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION FOR COURAGE UNDER FIRE In the fall of 2019, a proposed bill allowing the Chinese government to extradite criminal suspects to mainland China escalates protests throughout Hong Kong. Unfolding across a year, this film captures the determination and sacrifices of the protesters, the government’s backlash, and the passage […]
At a Philadelphia abortion helpline, counselors answer nonstop calls from women who are seeking to end a pregnancy, but can’t afford to do so. A revealing look at how economic stigma and cruel legislation determines who in America has access to abortion. (Courtesy of Women Make Movies). This film has English language closed captioning available. […]
Presented in three programs, DOC NYC’s Short List for Shorts highlights 12 documentary shorts that impress us as the year’s leading awards contenders. Flower Punk | Director: Alison Klayman Japanese artist Azuma Makoto has sent his floral sculptures into space and sunk them to the bottom of the ocean, but, most of the time, he thinks […]
This inspiring and vital film follows lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union as they battle the Trump administration over cases of immigration, abortion, LGBTQ equality, and voting rights. We watch the lawyers in action as they meet with desperate clients and plot legal strategies for critical cases including one that goes to the Supreme […]
Greta Thunberg became famous for her viral videos confronting UN leaders over climate change. Swedish filmmaker Nathan Grossman offers a unique view of Greta’s personal history starting in August 2018 when she was 15 years old and scarcely known. As her notoriety rises, we watch Greta adapt to being both flattered and scorned by world […]
2020 SHORT LIST: EDITING AWARD This eye-opening look at American democracy and political division follows a group of high school boys as they create a mock government at an annual civics program hosted by the American Legion in Austin, Texas. Separated into two fictional political parties, the charismatic young subjects have a week to nominate candidates, […]
Journalist Maria Ressa of the Philippines was named one of Time magazine’s Persons of the Year. Her online news site, Rappler combines the words “rap” and “ripple” for its truth seeking under the authoritarian regime of President Rodrigo Duterte. Filmmaker Ramona Diaz profiles Ressa as she faces government persecution in a series of legal actions […]
Filmmaker Dror Moreh proved himself an expert navigator of powerful figures in his Oscar®-nominated film The Gatekeepers, about the leaders of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency. Now he employs his talents to probe the American-led negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in 2000. The main insiders on camera are six top American diplomats who testify to […]
2020 SHORT LIST: SPECIAL JURY RECOGNITION FOR TRUTH TO POWER Journalism’s role of exposing corruption has rarely been as dramatically portrayed as in Collective. Filmmaker Alexander Nanau follows a team of Romanian reporters in real time as they doggedly uncover a deadly scandal that reaches the highest levels of government. Like a real-life version of […]
Runner Up: Audience Award DOC NYC 2020 WORLD PREMIERE | How can we bring accountability over the climate crisis? This inspiring story of youth activism documents 21 activists from across the nation as they file a groundbreaking lawsuit against the United States. The case reveals evidence that the government has endangered their constitutional rights to life, […]