Twenty-five years ago, William Ford, an unarmed young black man, was killed after an argument with a white mechanic escalated. William was painted as the aggressor while his killer was set free, unpunished. Director Yance Ford’s carefully composed and starkly personal film simmers with a quiet anger as it dissects the long-lasting impact of his […]
After former New Orleans Saints defensive back Steve Gleason receives a devastating diagnosis of ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, he turns the camera on himself to provide his then-unborn son a sense of the father he may otherwise never know in this emotionally powerful portrait. Steve and his steadfast wife Michel use humor to cope […]
After resigning as a Congressman over a sexting scandal in 2011, Anthony Weiner mounted a political comeback two years later running for mayor of New York City. Filmmaker Josh Kriegman (Weiner’s former staffer) partners with Elyse Steinberg to gain close access to the campaign’s inner circle, including Weiner’s wife Huma Abedin, one of Hillary Clinton’s […]
After years of struggle, Ron Suskind discovers that Disney animated films provide the key to connecting with his severely autistic son Owen. As Owen takes steps towards independence, he continues to find a sense of understanding and joy from his beloved Disney tales. Combining clips from Disney classics with brand-new animation that imagines Owen as […]
Ava DuVernay (Selma, Queen Sugar) explores troubling links between race and incarceration in America. The film’s title refers to the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery in 1865, but with the loophole clause ‘except as a punishment for crime.’ In lively interviews across the political spectrum – including Michelle Alexander, Angela Davis, […]
Director Dawn Porter made the 2013 Short List with her film Gideon’s Army. This year, she’s back at DOC NYC to receive the Robert and Anne Drew Award at the Visionaries Tribute. Her latest film Trapped focuses on two Southern reproductive-health clinics struggling to stay open against a wave of anti-choice legislation. One is Whole Woman’s […]
Director Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Encounters at the End of the World) teams with volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer to travel the world for a meditation volcanoes and their meaning. They make stops in Indonesia, Iceland and even North Korea capturing landscapes that are as stunning as they are forbidding. Looking into a volcano, Herzog observes “a […]
Elephants are among the world’s most magnificent creatures. But the lucrative ivory trade could cause the species to go extinct in our lifetime. The Ivory Game chronicles the battle to save elephants. As suspenseful as any thriller, it follows investigators who risk their own lives, battling armed poachers in the African bush and going undercover […]
James Baldwin left behind notes for an unfinished book about three martyrs of civil rights: Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and Medgar Evers. Now filmmaker Raoul Peck (Lumumba) draws upon Baldwin’s unseen text and his other writings to craft this stunning film essay that connects their crusades to today. The poetry and precision of […]
Kirsten Johnson has an esteemed career as a documentary cinematographer working with acclaimed directors such as Laura Poitras, Michael Moore and Kirby Dick. Now she draws upon 20 years of footage to construct this globetrotting visual memoir. Her travels take her to Bosnia, Yemen, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Darfur, Liberia and numerous points across the U.S. Cameraperson […]