In-person screenings of this program feature the short films ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS; ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD; TIGER; and WE WERE THE SCENERY. The online screening of this program features the short films ARMED ONLY WITH A CAMERA: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRENT RENAUD; TIGER; and […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PMFeaturing the short films AM I THE SKINNIEST PERSON YOU’VE EVER SEEN?; THE DEVIL IS BUSY; LAST DAYS ON LAKE TRINITY; and MAYBE IT’S JUST THE RAIN. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Uncertain futures and shifting horizons—asking, ‘What now, and what’s next?’ All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Finding strength in community and friendship. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Women of a certain age fearlessly confront corporate polluters poisoning our land and water with toxins. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Uncommon stories from unique perspectives. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Stories of intimacy, strength, and self-determination made by and about women. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Perseverance in the face of uncertain futures—and what awaits on the other side. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
There’s more to these sports and hobbies than just fun and games. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Look up to the horizon…or just above your head. What do you see in your future? All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Untold histories of people and communities whose unknown stories exemplify resilience, self-determination, and courage. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
New York City shorts that exemplify the grit, grace and, groove of our great city. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Celebrating affairs of the heart and love in all its wondrous forms. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Fighting the power, one good story at a time. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Histories, rituals, and links that bind families and communities together across the ages. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Portraits of challenge and triumph from communities across America, revealing diverse threads of everyday life. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Celebrating mavericks and makers boldly pursuing their unique paths. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Visionaries using their creativity to provoke, educate, and entertain. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Bearing witness to growing up and into one’s true self. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Stories of resilience and strength, where possibilities lie beyond the confines of the human form. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Five cinematic journeys into the lives and minds of artists, each offering a distinct lens through their unique creative process. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Exploring the places we live in—and that live in us. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE A vibrant portrait of Marilyn Minter, the trailblazing feminist whose glamorous, provocative, and unapologetically sexual work has redefined contemporary art’s boundaries for nearly five decades. Moving between biography, studio practice, and cultural history, the film traces her rise in New York’s art world, the controversies she sparked within feminist discourse, and the enduring […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE Gorgeously rendered through picturesque cinematography, Always offers a meditative portrait of an adolescent wannabe poet in rural China. Director-cinematographer Deming Chen follows the protagonist from ages 9 to 13, capturing family life, both its hardship and resilience, without sentimentality. Poetry lives in both intertitles and luminous images of land, labor, and people. Expansive […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE DOC NYC alumnus Chuck Smith revels in 1960s sounds and the spirit of counterculture with this politically pointed look back at the volatile energy of protest and creation behind the avant-garde NYC band The Fugs (say it out loud!). Even as band members Ed Sanders, Ken Weaver, and Tuli Kupferberg found that fighting […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Zere Asylbek was 19 when she released a music video demanding respect for women in the largely conservative Kyrgyzstan. It was intentionally provocative, and Asylbek achieved what she set out to do: jolting the society into paying attention to the evils of the country’s deeply patriarchal and misogynist culture. Six years on, the […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE A poignant and powerful story following Afghanistan’s female ambassador to Austria as she faces a life-altering decision in the wake of the Taliban’s return to power. Refusing to represent an oppressive regime, she bravely confronts the very forces that tore her country apart. Through her defiance, Manizha Bakhtari becomes a voice for Afghanistan’s […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Pedro, a claims adjuster navigating Mexico’s corrupt insurance industry, spends his days probing tragedies while resisting pressure to manipulate the truth. Seeking escape, he turns to contemporary art and theater, befriending artist Miguel Calderón, only to confront a parallel world of vanity and deceit. Blurring observation, reenactment, and performance, the film intertwines […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE On the margins of Latin America’s largest city, Guarani Mbya elder Maria reclaims a devastated landscape and turns it into a flourishing garden. Through reforestation, medicinal rituals, and fierce advocacy for land rights, she becomes both a guardian of the Atlantic Forest and a vessel of her community’s wisdom. With lyrical intimacy, the […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE When her father, a farmer and activist, disappeared in 1992, filmmaker Ángela Carabalí was just 7 years old. Decades later, a dream in which he asks Ángela to find him sparks a journey of remembrance and reckoning. Blending family testimony, archival images, and Indigenous rituals, Carabalí confronts the silence of Colombia’s armed conflict. […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Physicist David Keith, a leading and controversial figure in solar geoengineering, seeks to test his planetary-cooling technology after decades of research and theorization. His journey unfolds amid fierce debates over the ethical, political, and environmental implications of reflecting sunlight to slow global warming. Activists warn that the technology could delay fossil fuel reductions […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Purchasing a house together in 1950s NYC, three female artists defied societal norms and prioritized their art over traditional roles as wives and mothers. Through interviews with the women, now in their 70s and 80s, as well as their grown children, the film explores the emotional complexities of being an artist and a […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE With words like “acorn” and “otter” vanishing from a dictionary, Lost for Words begins a lyrical meditation on language, care, and the more-than-human world. Through poetry and acts of conservation like rewilding and path-building, the film asks how naming fosters knowing, caring, and change. With painterly cinematography and evocative soundscapes, this essayistic work […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE Nigerian-born British image-maker Misan Harriman has garnered accolades for his powerful photographs of grassroots protests against climate change inaction, Gaza atrocities, George Floyd’s murder, and more. Yet even as his images provoke palpable reactions, as a self-described person of privilege, Harriman shares his doubts about his work’s effectiveness in discussion with such human rights […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE Renowned conductor Gustavo Dudamel partners with Coro de Manos Blancas, a choir of deaf performers in Venezuela, to stage Beethoven’s opera Fidelio. As the choir prepares for their innovative performance, the film follows them through auditions, rehearsals, and personal stories of resilience in the face of anti-deaf discrimination. With music expressed through sign […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Filmmaker Penny Lane brings her inimitably quirky outlook to the art and business of children’s music, an industry generally skipped over by those above the age of 10. Way beyond the grating basicness of “Baby Shark,” Lane profiles performers invested in creating the tastes of kids—artists wanting to shape what children will understand […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE After their father disappeared on Long Island in the 1960s, Mike Carroll and his siblings grew up believing he had walked out on the family. Mike’s lingering suspicions and possibly psychosomatic issues eventually lead to an agonizing discovery. With meticulous editing and a bold, almost subversive use of archival footage, director Patricia E. […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Sandra Oh, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Kumail Nanjiani, Amanda Nguyen, Connie Chung, and beyond: their worlds may be disparate, but they’ve all, in their unique ways, navigated what it means to be Asian in relation to their American identities. While their success has been fraught with racism, they share their stories of losses and […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Bodybuilder. Athlete. Gladiator. Shelley Beattie was a proud deaf woman and a graceful powerhouse whose impressive physique often obscured her human struggles. Reaching the height of her fame on American Gladiators as Siren, Beattie’s professional success masked her mental health battles from her family, friends, and partners. Director Irene Taylor joins forces with […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Director Isa Willinger asks herself whether women’s filmmaking is characterized by a particular harshness. Inspired by Ukrainian director Kira Muratova, No Mercy interrogates power, violence, and representation as it blends history, criticism, and manifesto. With contributions from Céline Sciamma, Virginie Despentes, Nina Menkes, Catherine Breillat, Apolline Traoré, Joey Soloway, and more, the […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE Take a trip beyond headlines and meet the hyperactive boy who would go on to be a TV mogul and actor, all before becoming the president of Ukraine and the subject of global attention in leading the country’s defense against Russian aggression. With interviews with those who knew Volodymyr Zelensky before he became […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Growing up in the US, filmmaker Khoa Ha always knew her grandfather was a famous musician in her native Vietnam. What she didn’t realize was the magnitude of his popularity or the mystique that surrounded his real background. In excavating the story of the musician Y Vân, she not only discovers the man […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Delving into the past and not shying away from the dug-up pain, a young filmmaker speaks to her Mexican mother and Palestinian father about their trying journeys into the United States. In a society with rhetoric increasingly vilifying Mexicans and Palestinians, the filmmaker picks up her camera in a bid to address the […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE A moving story of a son reconnecting with his Indigenous mother, who left him as a child to return to her tribe in the Amazon. As an adult, he seeks to rebuild their bond across distance, culture, language, and time. The story revolves around several hurdles they encounter, many of which are bureaucratic, […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE In today’s America, children are taught how to prepare for school shootings through elaborate drills. As children continue to be gunned down in the country, this smart and heartbreaking film takes an acerbic and caustic tone, perhaps aptly fitting the mood of civilians disgusted with politicians who do nothing to change the country’s […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE Tadashi Nakamura’s film about his father, pioneering filmmaker Robert A. Nakamura, is both historically resonant and rooted in personal experience. In charting his father’s legacy as a filmmaker and activist, the younger Nakamura confronts his struggles with identity. More than a biopic of a great man, this is a story of a resilient […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE When COVID-19 quarantine restrictions force the 2020 cancellation of Lincoln Center’s annual holiday production of The Nutcracker for the first time since 1964, a group of unemployed New York City Ballet dancers find an unexpected haven at a fairy-tale estate in the Hudson Valley. With an original staging for a masked and largely […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE An ode to the enduring love and raw humor between a sharp-tongued, famous Korean cook and her devoted youngest son. Told from his autobiographical perspective, the film moves fluidly across time, weaving memories, caregiving rituals, funeral rites, and art into a lyrical meditation on grief. With tenderness and wit, it reveals how loss […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE In the aftermath of Mosul’s destruction by ISIS, Bashar Salih and his family sift through the ruins of their ancestral home, salvaging fragments of life, culture, and memory. As they dig through debris, confront looters, and debate selling architectural relics to a passionate collector, the film meditates on the tension between rebuilding […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE In the high-pressure world of international cheesemongering, Adam Moskowitz aims to send the first American to claim the top prize at the Mondial du Fromage competition in France. While the European model for this “sommelier of cheese” profession eclipses its stateside counterpart in societal support, Moskowitz—and his alter-ego, Mr. Moo—believe scrappy American ingenuity […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
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 […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Shelley, a brash, no-nonsense carpenter, is on a mission to empower Black women to reclaim their futures, one home at a time. Through her innovative program, participants learn construction skills and financial literacy to renovate and purchase abandoned row houses in Baltimore. As dilapidated quarters become dream homes, the women’s personal journeys and […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE An invigorating examination of the growing movement for the right to roam in the UK and beyond. Perspectives of activists, landowners, and walkers reclaiming access to the countryside reveal how globally relevant questions of land ownership are bound to histories of colonialism, class, and power. With energy and clarity, the film captures a pivotal […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Jo, a trans man, meets Allie, a trans woman—and sparks fly. As the relationship of these two New Yorkers evolves through busy careers, raising children, and their ongoing gender transitions, the couple makes plans to get married—“the most traditional progressive wedding” ever, proclaims their presiding minister. Having come so far as individuals, […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE Set on Louisiana’s rapidly vanishing Isle de Jean Charles, this quietly powerful documentary captures the lives of two teenagers and their uncle as they navigate the slow erosion of their home. Faced with forced resettlement by the US government, their story unfolds through intimate, observational filmmaking that renders their daily lives with empathy […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE The dynamic co-founders of Black Voters Matter, Cliff Albright, April England Albright, and LaTosha Brown, travel across the country in their beloved “Blackest bus in America” to mobilize Black communities ahead of the 2020 election. Undeterred by COVID-19 and voter suppression tactics, they empower grassroots activists with passion, courage, and heart. Punctuated by […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE A complex power structure of casteism, oppression, and corruption governs the lives of Dalit poppy farmers. Vardibhai, older and traumatized by casteist abuse, believes the way out is through hard work and resilience. Her son Mangilal chooses the political route to organize and agitate toward a resistance. The Hot Docs Best International Feature […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE With the rise of pickleball as the trendiest sport on the block, committed members of Venice Beach’s long-standing paddle tennis community fight to maintain their status. When the pickleballers threaten to push them off the beach, Scott Freedman, the self-proclaimed Paddle Tennis GOAT, makes a gambit to save the game he loves by […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
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 […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE Sonia Manzano, best known as “Maria” on Sesame Street, shares her inspiring journey from childhood in the Bronx to becoming a trailblazing television icon. Through her own words, and with appearances by Stephen Schwartz, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and more, STREET SMART celebrates Manzano’s groundbreaking work as an actress and Emmy-winning writer while exploring […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE Set in Mexico’s heartland, this urgent investigative documentary follows a group of women who uncover radioactive contamination in their water after three young girls die of leukemia. These mothers-turned-activists link the crisis to the corporate extraction of ancient rocks. Facing government denial and community resistance, they fight for accountability. Blending expert insight with […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE After a number of false starts, Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard and his British navigator and co-pilot Brian Jones embark to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon. Traversing adverse conditions and politically fraught airspace, the duo surges onward through the sky as they battle the elements and the ever-looming threat of disaster. […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE A dystopic aftermath of China’s one-child policy is a lopsided gender ratio. In a society with more men than women, a male loneliness epidemic looms as men struggle to find wives in a cutthroat dating market. As women find love in AI boyfriends, men—often of lower social class—hire dating coaches who, through their […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE Collaging together home videos and phone conversations with her late father, filmmaker Karla Murthy creates a portrait of an immigrant who left everything familiar in pursuit of the American Dream. It is also a singular story of a specific kind of love, distinctive in its special joys and grief. A personal memorial but […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE For 25 years, charismatic river steward John Lipscomb has patrolled the Hudson in his wooden boat, covering more than 80,000 miles on “America’s first river.” Fighting industrial waste, sewage, and negligence, Lipscomb has become both the river’s watchdog and poet laureate, bearing witness to its wounds and recoveries. Sweeping imagery and intimate reflection […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE In the tradition of the Tibetan religion Bon, a lama’s son inherits his title. In Lubra in northern Nepal, where a large population of Bon followers reside, an aging lama awaits his son’s return from the US—and fears the extinction of his culture. In a fast-globalizing world that demands assimilation, a community […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE An unvarnished chronicle of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s yearslong fight for journalistic freedom. Pulling no punches, the film frames Assange as a martyr, imprisoned and surveilled for daring to expose the transgressions of scheming governments, oligarchs, and ideologues. Featuring CCTV footage from his arduous confinement, this sweeping collage brings together the facts of […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Guided by professional hunter Marc Warnke and survival expert Callie Russell, struggling tech entrepreneur Mansal Denton sets out on an eight-day remote wilderness expedition in search of elk, along with answers to some of life’s biggest questions. Shot on gorgeous 16mm, this introspective film follows our complex trio as the trials of the […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE The story of a student uprising on a Montreal university campus sheds light on the often-overlooked history of anti-Black racism in Canada. Through vivid archival footage and firsthand accounts from former student protestors, now in their 80s, the film reveals the experiences of Black Canadians who, alongside West Indians who migrated north seeking […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Beautifully composed and subtly unsettling, Unanimal interrogates the entangled, often contradictory relationship between humans and animals. Narrated with calm detachment by Isabella Rossellini, the essay film offers a critical yet poetic historical lens on the evolution of our cohabitation with nonhuman life. It creates space for viewers to question the ways we […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE This year’s opening night film invites us into a world where sensitive, passionate people gather not just to participate in a public competition but to be seen, to connect, and to honor a shared craft. At the Masters of Musical Whistling festival in Hollywood, founder and force-of-nature Carole Anne Kaufman (aka the Whistling […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE In 1999, a World Trade Organization conference in Seattle is met with 40,000 protesters rallying against the advancement of globalization. An ideological melange of activists with a variety of agendas, including anarchists, pro-labor organizations, and environmentalists, disrupts the trade talks with the hope of bringing attention to the societal dangers of unchecked globalization. […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE Following acclaimed Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh as he travels from Beirut to Amsterdam to NYC, Half Moon examines the role of art in times of crisis. As Syria’s devastating displacement looms in the background, Kinan collaborates with fellow musicians and mentors, reflecting on exile, identity, and music theory. Featuring stunning performances and intimate […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE The Sunset Marquis is the legendary go-to for rock ’n’ roll royalty to cool their heels in Los Angeles, especially in the sex, drugs, and bad behavior heyday of the 1970s and ’80s. Pure gold is mined out of recollections from Ringo Starr, Slash, Cyndi Lauper, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Crow, Dave Grohl, Bruce […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE Visiting a Chechen community that escaped the unrelenting wars of their homeland and settled in nearby Georgia, filmmaker Déni Oumar Pitsaev ponders pressure from his divorced parents about returning to live among his own people and raise a family. While the pull of roots is undeniable, Déni wonders whether his Muslim family and […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
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 […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
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 […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
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 […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE For archivists, the world of avant-garde theater and cinema in early 1970s NYC is a rich cauldron of no-safety-net experimentation and creativity—the time of legends such as Jack Smith, Jonas Mekas, and David Johansen—and Theater of the Ridiculous. The latter was particularly well-documented by the Argentine photographer Leandro Katz. Now very late […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE In the shadows of the Catholic church, nuns and women have long endured abuse at the hands of priests—insidious and tactful grooming, silenced by confession, and hidden through systemic cover-ups. This investigative documentary uncovers both the harrowing details and the institutional indifference, from luxury retreats for accused clergy to the celebrated muralist Marko […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE In an imagined future where humans no longer exist, an AI system reflects on dance as the essence of consciousness, spontaneity, and identity. Philosophers, historians, artists, and Nobel laureates trace dance across ritual, flamenco, butoh, rave culture, and historical dance epidemics. Eclectic archives, experimental interludes, and candid testimonies weave a vibrant essay […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE A groundbreaking comedy troupe takes the stage in Palestine, where laughter embodies survival and defiance. Following six comedians from Jenin, Hebron, Ramallah, the Golan Heights, and beyond, the film captures intimate family moments, raw rehearsals, and daring performances amid the suffocating grip of occupation and escalating violence. Especially amid unprecedented attempts to erase […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
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 […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE An enigmatic portrait of an unconventional life lived with precision and vulnerability. Paul, who calls himself a “simp,” navigates mental health struggles through domestic service for dominant mistresses, finding purpose in cleaning as ritual and discipline. Online, his “Cleaning to Save My Life” philosophy transforms into a performance of self and a lifeline […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE As the clock counts down to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the Reggae Girlz, the Jamaican soccer team, face uphill battles for recognition, respect, and resources. Suffering from financial struggles and institutional neglect, the team boldly confronts the soccer federation, finding surprising allies at home and abroad. With stunning Jamaican landscapes and a […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE The sight of rogue Santas gallivanting through the streets has become an NYC winter staple. While the revelry can feel like just a drunken lark, the origins of the festivities lie in something far more absurd. Born in the Bay Area from the same minds as Burning Man, Santacon grew from zany capitalist […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE BMX champion and 2018 Youth Olympic medalist Iñaki Mazza retired from his sport during a period of personal crisis. Years later, he returns to his bike, emboldened by a new quest, and reunites with his partner after their stint at a rehabilitation center in Tierra del Fuego. Mazza sets out on a […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
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 […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE Amid a looming maternal health crisis and vanishing reproductive freedom, the government interferes in the traditional practice of midwifery in a rural Mennonite community. When three midwives are arrested, the usually sequestered women decide to reclaim their rights by challenging the state’s decision. A little-known resistance filmed with extraordinary access to a reticent […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Shedding light on the familial burden of the migrant crisis, A Place of Absence charts the physical and emotional journey of Central American mothers on a bus caravan as they desperately search for their disappeared children, clinging to hope against overwhelming odds. Interwoven with the filmmaker’s story of her beloved uncle’s disappearance, this film […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
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 […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE The premise is shattering enough: A mother in Georgia becomes a surrogate to provide for her young daughter. Yet filmmaker Ketevan Vashagashvili’s intimate portrait derives its strength from the perceptive ways she captures the relationship between the two women. What starts as a means to make money evolves into a personal crisis, challenging […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE Many of those who called Boca Chica home don’t anymore. When Elon Musk’s SpaceX decided to build its 50-story rocket in the Texas town, it forced people away. Birds have been stopped in flight, and people who remained can no longer access the beaches they grew up visiting. Julien Elie’s dystopic sci-fi documentary […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE The men behind the prison walls of Sing Sing Correctional Facility find a much-needed outlet in Beyond the Block, a TED-style public speaking symposium. Conceived and developed by an incarcerated planning committee, the event allows participants to explore their humanity in otherwise adverse circumstances. Beyond follows the presenters, from auditions to triumphant moments […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Photographer Kwame Brathwaite, who used his art as activism, captured the joy of Black American life, documenting jazz musicians, celebrities, everyday Harlem scenes, and more—while popularizing the phrase “Black is Beautiful,” amplifying the movement that redefined Black pride. Through interviews with his family and celebrities like Jesse Williams, Gabrielle Union, and Alicia […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
US PREMIERE Director Sami Van Ingen revisits the making of his great-grandfather Robert Flaherty’s famed films, showcasing the overlooked creative force of Frances Flaherty, whose vision and labor underpinned her husband’s works. Through letters, documents, and dual narration, the film reveals the family’s complex emotional dynamics and the hidden histories behind the romanticized colonial fantasies […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Director Eva Stefani immerses viewers in the creative universe of visionary Greek director and choreographer Dimitris Papaioannou, celebrated worldwide for his surreal, dreamlike stage productions. The documentary follows Papaioannou and his company as they shape a hauntingly poetic performance, conjuring images that feel drawn from the subconscious. Intimate, fierce, and elegant, the […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE A colorful historic mining town of 300 people tucked away in the mountains of Colorado may seem remote, but Creede is in no way immune to the culture clashes raging through the country. Everyday spaces become sites of tension, and neighborly relations grow fraught. Yet this wonderful film, and the people of Creede themselves, […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE With any and all things crypto being pushed by celebrities, influencers, and politicians alike, actor-turned-author and director Ben McKenzie decides to investigate. Leveraging his celebrity status to gain access to eager prospectors, McKenzie finds himself unraveling the loosely regulated world of cryptocurrency. This skeptical but evenhanded take on the present and future of […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE In the midst of the American Indian Movement in the 1970s, two federal agents are killed on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Auto mechanic-turned-activist Leonard Peltier finds himself behind bars for the crime via a disputed conviction, serving two life sentences under the questionable machinations of the justice system. Peltier […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Monica Strømdahl portrays the harsh realities of people living in run-down motels known as flophouses. The film evolved from a photo project after Strømdahl met Mikal, an early adolescent living in close quarters with his sparring parents. Flophouse America uses unembellished digital photography to capture raw, authentic moments and exposes the struggles […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
Season four of this short film series from American Masters and Firelight Media follows artists on their way to becoming masters of their disciplines. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PMFeaturing the short films ALL THE WALLS CAME DOWN; OH YEAH!, QOTZUÑI: PEOPLE OF THE LAKE; and TESSITURA. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PMIn rural North Macedonia, when a farmer’s family departs for opportunity abroad and government policies render his land unsellable, he takes work in a landfill. There he rescues an injured white stork, forming an unlikely bond. Interwoven with a local folktale of transformation and loss, the lyrical film becomes a meditation on migration, aging, nature, […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PMNearly 20 years after going off the air in scandal, NBC Dateline’s To Catch a Predator lured child predators to a TV set, before exposing and arresting them, as millions watched from their sofas. Masquerading as public service, the show became a hit—but today it is reviled as ugly exploitation for cynical spectacle, despite a […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PMIn a remote Russian mining town, a primary school teacher covertly documents the state’s transformation of classrooms into recruitment grounds for war. Tasked with filming “patriotic education” sessions, he turns the lens on the indoctrination of youth, capturing moments of coerced loyalty and silent dissent. This intimate documentary offers a rare, unfiltered glimpse into the […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PMIn 2024, ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio becomes the first transgender man to argue a case before the Supreme Court. Engaging with complexity, filmmaker Sam Feder does not shy away from criticizing traditional liberal-center publications like The New York Times and The Atlantic, whose continuously interrogative coverage of trans experiences has helped embolden 23 right-leaning state […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PMFeaturing the short films CHILDREN NO MORE: WERE AND ARE GONE; THE REALITY OF HOPE; and SONGS OF BLACK FOLK. All in-person screening venues provide sound amplification headphones upon request with venue management. IFC Center can also provide a T-Coil loop for compatible devices.
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE In a political landscape marked by racialized power structures, an Algerian-American filmmaker raised in Canada decides to turn the lens on his family. His ancestors, he discovered, did great things—and owned slaves. What We Inherit unpacks this complicated legacy and directly engages with descendants of the people held captive by the filmmaker’s ancestors. […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing celebrates the life of the dynamic author, editor, and activist. From her Harlem roots to her role as a self-described “culture worker,” Toni’s wit and fierce commitment to change come alive through rare footage and the voices of those who knew her best, including Toni Morrison […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
WORLD PREMIERE Following advocates pushing for FDA approval of a pill demonstrated to boost female desire, this engaging documentary explores stark inequalities regarding women’s sexual health. The film exposes how medical education and healthcare institutions systematically ignore women’s sexual needs while normalizing dozens of drugs for male erectile dysfunction. Witty, urgent, and illuminating, The Pink […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM
NYC PREMIERE During the waning years of British rule, Chris Hesse is tasked with becoming Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah’s personal cinematographer. Once a young filmmaker entrusted with recording the tumultuous march to sovereignty, the 93-year-old looks to pass his legacy, and a hidden, precious archive, to a new generation. Executive produced by Barack and Michelle […]
Wed Dec 31, 1969, 7:00 PM