2024 SHORT LISTS & WINNER’S CIRCLE
DOC NYC is proud to complete the announcement of its full lineup by unveiling titles in the remaining three sections of its 15th Edition — Short List: Features, Short List: Shorts, and Winner’s Circle, running in-person from November 13 – 21 at IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Village East by Angelika, and continuing online through December 1. The 2024 festival showcases more than 200 films and dozens of events, including in-person appearances by filmmakers at most screenings.
Binge on all 200+ films in the 2024 program with the All Film Pass for only $699 through October 18th! Ticket packs and individual film tickets for in-person and online screenings are also now available.
The DOC NYC Short List for documentary features, launched in 2012, has been a strong predictor of major awards, including the Oscars. In 11 of the past 12 years, the festival screened the eventual Oscar-winning documentary feature, and 53 of the last 60 Oscar nominees.
THE BIBI FILES
Thurs, Nov 14 at IFC Center (World Premiere)
Director: Alexis Bloom Producers: Alexis Bloom, Alex Gibney, Raviv Drucker, Kara Elverson, David Rahtz
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to court trying to block this film that reveals leaked video of his testimonies on corruption charges.
BLACK BOX DIARIES
Thurs, Nov 14 at IFC Center
Director: Shiori Ito Producers: Shiori Ito, Hanna Aqvilin, Eric Nyari
A journalist upends Japan’s entrenched codes of silence when she brings sexual assault charges against a well-connected member of the Japanese media elite. Sponsored by MTV Documentary Films.
DAHOMEY
Thurs, Nov 14 at Village East Cinema
Director: Mati Diop Producers: Mati Diop, Judith Lou Lévy, Eve Robin
The restitution of priceless artifacts, looted by the French, to their origins in Benin provides an occasion for momentous impact and debate. Sponsored by MUBI.
DAUGHTERS
Fri, Nov 15 at IFC Center
Director: Natalie Rae, Angela Patton
Producers: Lisa Mazzotta, Natalie Rae, Justin Benoliel, James Cunningham, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft
Young girls whose fathers are incarcerated join in a one-day dad/daughter dance inside prison, with deep emotional consequences on each side. Sponsored by Netflix.
ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND
Mon, Nov 18 at IFC Center (NYC Premiere)
Director: Raoul Peck
Producers: Tamara Rosenberg, Raoul Peck
In this rousing, elegant documentary, Raoul Peck examines the life and works of a seminal artist of the 20th century, South African photographer Ernest Cole. Sponsored by Magnolia Pictures.
FRIDA
Tues, Nov 19 at IFC Center
Director: Carla Gutiérrez
Producers: Katia Maguire, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Loren Hammonds, Alexandra Johnes
Mixing lyrical animation of her influential works and expressive voice-over, Frida is a definitive film about the iconic twentieth-century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Sponsored by Amazon/MGM Studios.
MOUNTAIN QUEEN: THE SUMMITS OF LHAKPA SHERPA
Sat, Nov 16 at Village East Cinema
Director: Lucy Walker
Producers: Charlie Corwin, Michael D. Ratner, Miranda Sherman, Dalia Burde, Christopher Newman
Lhakpa Sherpa is the first Nepali woman to summit and descend Mount Everest, but how she navigates her life as a single mother and immigrant is an even more heroic tale. Sponsored by Netflix.
NO OTHER LAND
Fri, Nov 15 at Village East Cinema
Directors: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor
Producers: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
One of the most urgent films of the year and winner of multiple festival prizes, No Other Land offers an essential and unflinching look at Palestinian life under Israeli military occupation.
PORCELAIN WAR
Fri, Nov 15 at Village East Cinema
Directors: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev
Producers: Aniela Sidorska, Paula DuPré Pesmen, Camilla Mazzaferro, Olivia Ahnemann
Three Ukrainian artists pick up arms when Russia invades their country, but refuse to put down their drive to create. Sponsored by Picturehouse.
THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN
Thurs, Nov 14 at IFC Center
Director: Benjamin Ree
Producer: Ingvil Giske
Inside a sophisticated online game, a young man suffering from a degenerative muscular disease creates a world where he can live, love, strive, and hope, to the greatest extent his soul can muster. Sponsored by Netflix.
QUEENDOM
Fri, Nov 15 at Village East Cinema
Director/Producer: Agniia Galdanova
Producer: Igor Myakotin
A genderqueer Russian artist/activist faces harassment and hostility in Putin’s Russia, but it is the universal ache of being cut off from one’s roots that proves to be her greatest existential threat. Sponsored Greenwich Entertainment.
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT
Wed, Nov 20 at Village East Cinema
Director: Johan Grimonprez
Producer: Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius
In a magnificent essay film, Johan Grimonprez explores the historical rollercoaster of Congo after its independence from colonial control, told through accounts from spies, mercenaries and jazz icons. Sponsored by Kino Lorber.
SUGARCANE
Thurs, Nov 14 at Village East Cinema
Directors: Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
Producers: Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn
An investigation into the history of abuse and missing indigenous children at a Canadian residential school ignites a present-day reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve. Sponsored by National Geographic Documentary Films.
UNION
Wed, Nov 20 at IFC Center
Director: Brett Story, Stephen Maing
Producers: Brett Story, Stephen Maing, Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, Martin Dicicco
Against incredible odds and immense opposition, current and former Amazon workers form a labor union and petition the corporate behemoth for more dignified treatment of warehouse workers.
WILL & HARPER
Thurs, Nov 14 at IFC Center
Director: Josh Greenbaum
Producers: Rafael Marmor, Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Josh Greenbaum, Christopher Leggett
Former Saturday Night Live writer Harper Steele comes out as a woman and takes a road trip across the United States with her old friend Will Ferrell to explore transgender experience. Sponsored by Netflix.
The year’s leading documentary short award contenders, screening in four programs. In 2023, the Short List included The Last Repair Shop, which went on to win the Oscar.
EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE
Thurs, Nov 14 at Village East Cinema
This collection of shorts captures brilliant vignettes of amazing people and their extraordinary lives.
Films include: All Thing Metal, Julia’s Stepping Stones, Motorcycle Mary (pictured), and The Only Girl in the Orchestra.
HUMAN SPIRIT
Fri, Nov 15 at Village East Cinema
This collection of films will bring you to tears and have you rooting for everyone on screen.
Films include: A Swim Lesson, Instruments of a Beating Heart (pictured), The Quilters, and The Turnaround.
PRECIOUS LIFE
Sat, Nov 16 at Village East Cinema
Three moving short documentaries reflect on what the meaning of life is about when faced with regrets, deceptions, and mortality.
Films include: Eternal Father, Goodbye, Morganza, and I Am Ready, Warden (pictured).
JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY
Fri, Nov 15 at Village East Cinema
These four films question the pillars of justice and democracy when confronted with decisions and actions by the people and countries we live in.
Films include: Seat 31: Zooey Zephyr, Until He’s Back, Denial (pictured), and Incident.
The DOC NYC Winner’s Circle for documentary features, introduced in 2019, highlights films that arrive at DOC NYC with significant awards pedigrees already in place. Past films shown in Winner’s Circle that all went on to further acclaim include Writing with Fire, The Mole Agent, A House Made of Splinters, In the Rearview, Bad Axe, Midnight Family, and Advocate. To qualify for inclusion in this category, films must have won a major award at a significant international or US film festival.
HOLLYWOODGATE
Fri, Nov 15 at Village East Cinema
Director: Ibrahim Nash’at
Producers: Talal Derki, Shane Boris, Odessa Rae
After foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021, a journalist is given permission to follow and film two Taliban military men for a year. Winner, Feature Documentary Award, El Gouna Film Festival.
THE LAST OF THE SEA WOMEN
Fri, Nov 15 at Village East Cinema
Director: Sue Kim
Producers: Malala Yousafzai, Erika Kennair
Executive produced by Malala Yousafzai, The Last of the Sea Women explores the community of fisherwomen called the haenyeo on South Korea’s Jeju Island. Winner, NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film, TIFF. Sponsored by Apple Original Films.
A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS
Sun, Nov 17 at Village East Cinema
Director: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen Producer: Mari Bakke Riise
An endearing family devoted to living in harmony with nature faces difficult challenges when their matriarch unexpectedly passes away. Winner, World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Award, Sundance Film Festival..
NOCTURNES
Sat, Nov 16 at Village East Cinema
Directors: Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan
Producer: Anirban Dutta
In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, two curious observers probe the dark of night to gain a greater understanding of one of nature’s most spellbinding creatures, the moth. Winner, World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft, Sundance Film Festival. Sponsored by Grasshopper Films..
PATRICE: THE MOVIE
Sun, Nov 17 at IFC Center
Director: Ted Passon
Producers: Kyla Harris, Innbo Shim, Emily Spivack
Patrice: The Movie plays like a romantic comedy, despite its serious subject matter about a couple fighting for disability rights. Winner, Audience Award, Camden International Film Festival. Sponsored by Hulu.
The 2024 DOC NYC festival will take place both in person and online starting on Wednesday, November 13, with in-person screenings and events held at IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Village East by Angelika through Thursday, November 21. The festival’s online offerings will continue through Sunday, December 1, 2024. The All Film Pass, which allows access to all in-person and online DOC NYC screenings, is now available. An Online Film Pass, which allows access to all the festival’s online screenings, is also now available.
