Crucial Viewing Stay Educated
DOC NYC celebrates the power of film to galvanize vital discourse and to direct action within our communities. In that spirit, we’re featuring below collections and compilations of films that focus on current and historic movements and uprisings for racial justice and document the Black experience. We have also included a list of DOC NYC alumni films about racial justice, with links to where they can be seen. Together, they represent a list for crucial viewing now and in the future.
This resource page is an evolving effort, and we have included links that go beyond mere lists to offer annotation and context. Beyond what is referenced here, there are many other powerful stories—including films being developed and produced now—that need to be seen. We are committed to championing those films in our festival and industry programming in 2020 and beyond.
- Race in America: documentaries to watch, curated by Firelight Media
- African American Perspectives, from the collection of California Newsreel
- 13 essential social justice-themed films of the 2010s, from The Chicago Reporter
- Racism in America: Films and new specials focused on race, from PBS
- Documentaries for Teaching African American History Since 1865, from the African American Intellectual History Society
- The Story of L.A. Rebellion, from the UCLA Library, Film & Television Archive
DOC NYC Festival Alumni
- ’63 Boycott
- 13th
- Agents of Change
- Baltimore Rising
- The Black Panthers: Vanguard of Revolution
- Brothers of the Blacklist
- Central Park Five
- Crime + Punishment
- Decade of Fire
- I Am Not Your Negro
- St. Louis Superman
- Stop
- Strong Island
- The Murder of Fred Hampton
- Traffic Stop
- While I Breathe, I Hope
- While I Yet Live
