DOC NYC Selects is a new in-person, ongoing screening series that serves as an extension of DOC NYC’s annual fall festival. The Spring 2023 edition of the new series will run Tuesday evenings for seven consecutive weeks, March 21 – May 2, 2023, at New York’s IFC Center, with filmmakers in person for all shows.
DOC NYC Selects will offer audiences advance premieres of highly anticipated documentary features and series, many of them screening in New York City for the first time, and include on-stage post-screening conversations with creators and subjects. Each screening (excluding May 2) will extend beyond the theater with a DOC NYC-themed, after-screening $10 Selects cocktail at the West Village’s new social outpost, 9 Jones. The Spring 2023 edition of DOC NYC Selects is co-presented by Pure Nonfiction, the documentary podcast hosted by DOC NYC’s Director of Special Projects (and founding Artistic Director) Thom Powers.
Ticket Information
DOC NYC Selects: Spring 2023 events are on sale now at the links below. Single screening tickets are $17- ($14 for seniors and $12 for IFC Center members) each. A Season Pass, good for all six Spring 2023 screenings in the DOC NYC Selects series, is available at $80 ($55 for IFC Center members). For questions about accessibility at the screening, please email accessibility@docnyc.net.
DOC NYC Selects Lineup
Lisa Cortés’ Sundance opening night documentary tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard’s complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon’s life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions. In interviews with family, musicians, and cutting-edge Black and queer scholars, the film reveals how Richard created an art form for ultimate self-expression, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself.
After its New York City premiere at DOC NYC 2019, Alan Berliner’s visual essay reflecting on photojournalism took a hiatus from public availability. Re-launching at DOC NYC Selects, Berliner’s transformation of a 40-year collection of photographs (clipped from The New York Times) into a meditation on what will be lost if print newspapers go away is at once profound and playful.
With unprecedented access to the Mary Tyler Moore Estate, friends, family, and colleagues, filmmaker James Adolphus constructs an intimate mosaic of Mary’s sixty-year career in show business. The film reveals a complex icon, weaving Mary’s narrative with an examination of the importance of her on-screen roles, her non-traditional influence as a powerful executive, her humanitarianism, and the indelible mark she left on feminism.
Filmmaker Nancy Buirski’s newest film examines the deeply gifted and flawed people behind the dark and difficult masterpiece that is 1969’s enduring classic Midnight Cowboy. Buriski delves deep into New York City in a troubled time of cultural ferment; and the era that made a movie and the movie that made an era. Featuring extensive archival material and compelling new interviews, this extraordinary documentary illuminates how one film captured the essence of a time and a place, reflecting a rapidly changing society with striking clarity.
The film, which incorporates documentary, archival and scripted elements, recounts Fox’s extraordinary story in his own words — the improbable tale of an undersized kid from a Canadian army base who rose to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood. The account of Fox’s public life, full of nostalgic thrills and cinematic gloss, unspools alongside his never-before-seen private journey, including the years that followed his diagnosis, at twenty-nine, with Parkinson’s disease. Intimate and honest, and produced with unprecedented access to Fox and his family, the film chronicles Fox’s personal and professional triumphs and travails, and explores what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease. With a mix of adventure and romance, comedy and drama, watching the film feels like… well, like a Michael J. Fox movie.
DOC NYC Selects: Spring 2023 – Program Details and Schedule
Tuesday, March 21, 7pm
Series Opening Night
JUDY BLUME FOREVER
Directors: Davina Pardo, Leah Wolchok
Producers: Davina Pardo, Leah Wolchok, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Marcella Steingart
Emmy-winning filmmakers Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok trace trailblazing author Judy Blume’s journey from fearful, imaginative child to storytelling pioneer who elevated the physical and emotional lives of kids and teens, to banned writer who continues to fight back against censorship today. (Amazon Studios)
The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmakers Davina Pardo and Leah Wolchok.
Tuesday, March 28, 7pm
LITTLE RICHARD: I AM EVERYTHING
Director: Lisa Cortés
Producers: Lisa Cortés, Robert Friedman, Liz Yale Marsh, Caryn Capotosto
Director Lisa Cortés’ Sundance opening night documentary tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock n’ roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator – the originator – Richard Penniman, aka Little Richard. (Magnolia Pictures/CNN Films)
This dress-to-impress screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker Lisa Cortés.
Tuesday, April 4, 7pm
1000% ME: GROWING UP MIXED
Director: W. Kamau Bell
Executive Producers: W. Kamau Bell, Amy Schatz, Geraldine L. Porras, John Legend, Mike Jackson, Ty Stiklorius
Multiracial kids and their families share the joys and struggles of growing up mixed in the Bay Area. Directed by W. Kamau Bell, this lyrical, funny, and conversational documentary proves that kids have what it takes to lead complex conversations about race, place, and identity.
The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker W. Kamau Bell.
Tuesday, April 11, 7pm
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Director: Alan Berliner
Producer: Alan Berliner
After its New York City premiere at DOC NYC 2019, Alan Berliner’s visual essay reflecting on photojournalism took a long hiatus from public availability. Re-launching at DOC NYC Selects Spring 2023, Berliner’s transformation of a 40-year collection of photographs clipped from The New York Times into a meditation on what will be lost if print newspapers go away is at once profound and playful.
The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker Alan Berliner.
Tuesday, April 18, 7pm
BEING MARY TYLER MOORE (NYC Premiere)
Director: James Adolphus
Producers: Lena Waithe, Debra Martin Chase, Ben Selkow, Rishi Rajani, Andrew C. Coles, Laura Gardner
With unprecedented access to the Mary Tyler Moore Estate, friends, family, and colleagues, filmmaker James Adolphus constructs an intimate mosaic of Mary’s sixty-year career in show business, and her lasting impact. (HBO Documentary Films)
The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker James Adolphus, editor Mariah Rehmet, and Mary Tyler Moore’s husband, Dr. Robert Levine, guest moderated by filmmaker Lacey Schwartz Delgado.
Tuesday, April 25, 7pm
DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY (NYC Premiere)
Director: Nancy Buirski
Producers: Nancy Buirski, Simon Kilmurry, Susan Margolin
Nancy Buirski examines the gifted, fascinating people behind the dark and difficult masterpiece that is 1969’s enduring classic Midnight Cowboy, while delving deep into New York City in a troubled time of cultural ferment.
The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker Buirski, producer Susan Margolin and Ian Buruma and Michael Childers.
Tuesday, May 2, 7pm
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE
Director: Davis Guggenheim
Executive Producers: Nelle Fortenberry, Jonathan Silberberg, Nicole Stott, Laurene Powell Jobs
Producers: Davis Guggenheim, Annetta Marion, Jonathan King, Will Cohen
The film, which incorporates documentary, archival and scripted elements, recounts Fox’s extraordinary story in his own words — the improbable tale of an undersized kid from a Canadian army base who rose to the heights of stardom in 1980s Hollywood. The account of Fox’s public life, full of nostalgic thrills and cinematic gloss, unspools alongside his never-before-seen private journey, including the years that followed his diagnosis, at twenty-nine, with Parkinson’s disease. Intimate and honest, and produced with unprecedented access to Fox and his family, the film chronicles Fox’s personal and professional triumphs and travails, and explores what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease. With a mix of adventure and romance, comedy and drama, watching the film feels like… well, like a Michael J. Fox movie.
The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker Davis Guggenheim.
Note: Guest participation subject to change.