Written by Maggie Glass A young black man, Anthony Porter, is arrested for a double murder and put on death row. A passionate journalism professor and his students investigate the crime, find an alternate suspect, and successfully petition for Porter’s release just days before his scheduled execution. An ostensible triumph for justice — and yet, […]
Written by Jenna Belhumeur What happens when technology outpaces democratic oversight? Citizenfour answers just that. In Laura Poitras’s documentary, which screened Tuesday night at Chelsea’s Bow Tie Theater, viewers are invited into the fateful Hong Kong hotel room where Edward Snowden facilitated the publication of shocking NSA classified documents. Poitras appeared after the […]
Written by Laura Dattaro The 1980 Olympic hockey game between the United States and the Soviet Union is well known in the the U.S. as the “miracle on ice,” a perfect American story of a ragtag band of college kids working together to defeat the Soviets in the midst of the Cold War. But […]
Written by Krystal Grow When you’re responsible for manufacturing some of the most harmful and toxic products on the planet, presentation is everything, and nothing is as appears. Director Robert Kenner, who uncovered the capitalist complex behind the food processing industry in Food Inc., returns with another captivating documentary that exposes disturbing connections between […]
Written by Jenna Belhumeur In Abby Ginzberg’s documentary, Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa, viewers are taken through the fight against South African apartheid via the life of one of the country’s most noted activists. Following the film’s screening on Sunday at the SVA Theater, Ginzberg was joined onstage by Sachs for […]
Written by Maggie Glass The War Pigs. The Jolly Stompers. The Savage Nomads. The Aliens. The Renagade Turks. In the 1970s, New York City was ruled by gangs, each with its own identity, fashion sense, and style of violence. With the idealism of the 60s fading, the city was experiencing swift urban decay and […]
Written by Jacob Appet Cheryl Furjanic’s Back on Board: Greg Louganis screened Sunday night at DOC NYC to a sold-out, overjoyed crowd. The film blends archival footage with present-day interviews to paint a beautiful, complex portrait of an iconic Olympic champion. Greg Louganis, the only athlete to ever win consecutive Olympic gold medals in […]
Written by Megan Scanlon The Lion’s Mouth Opens, directed by Lucy Walker, tenderly and bravely confronts the neurodegenerative cognitive and behavioral downward spiral that is Huntington’s Disease. Walker and the subject of the film, actress and filmmaker Marianna Palka, were present for a Q&A in front of a packed DOC NYC audience on Sunday […]
Written by Krystal Grow The Synanon House in Santa Monica had a front door that faced the California freeway, and a back door that led to the rolling waves of the Pacific ocean. But in between the streets and the shoreline, a radical experiment in drug rehabilitation was happening, and an equally unheard of style […]
Written by Megan Scanlon In Saturday night’s pre-screen conversation of Life Itself, John Vanco, Vice President and General Manager of the IFC Center said Director Steve James “has been making some of the most moral and impactful and important documentaries in the past 25 years.” In Life Itself, James’ portrays the life of […]