WORLD PREMIERE In July 1995, Chicago was hit by a record heat wave that claimed the lives of 739 residents, primarily among the elderly, African Americans and those living in poverty. Using this tragedy as a jumping-off point, but referencing other extreme weather catastrophes like Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, Cooked provocatively reframes the politics of […]
NYC PREMIERE Acclaimed at Telluride and the Toronto International Film Festival, this suspenseful high-seas adventure follows a team of activists who rescue modern-day slaves in Thailand’s illegal fishing industry. Thai activist Patima Tungpuchayakul was nominated for the Nobel Prize for her work rescuing thousands of victims. We follow her as she tracks down escaped slaves […]
NYC PREMIERE Janus Metz is known for his war documentary Armadillo (DOC NYC 2010) and his recent fiction film Borg vs McEnroe. For ten years, he’s worked with anthropologist Sine Plambech on this longitudinal study of a Danish town where many of the local men have married women from Thailand. Heartbound follows several Danish-Thai couples […]
2018 VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION WINNER NYC PREMIERE This beautiful observational portrait of childhood is set in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on the border between Nepal and India, the birthplace of the Buddha. Director Yuqi Kang reveals the emotional dynamics of five-year-old Hopakuli and his older brother Chorten as these young novice monks attempt to balance […]
2018 AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER WORLD PREMIERE Director Clay Tweel was previously on the DOC NYC Short List with his film Gleason. Now he returns with a film eight years in the making about two young African American twin brothers. Darcell and Darrell Trotter are coming of age in the racially and economically divided town of […]
WORLD PREMIERE Based on Amanda Ripley’s bestselling book, The Smartest Kids in the World follows four American teenagers who go abroad to study in the Netherlands, Finland, Switzerland, and South Korea – nations that dramatically outperform the US in education. Filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos was previously on the DOC NYC Short List with her film […]
NYC PREMIERE War correspondent Marie Colvin repeatedly and selflessly put her life on the line to report the atrocities unfolding in conflict-ravaged Syria, specifically against its innocent civilians. This gritty adaptation of fellow correspondent Paul Conroy’s titular book puts the viewer under fire on the frontline alongside the intrepid journalists, using harrowing on-the-ground footage. A […]
NYC PREMIERE For decades Christo and Jeanne-Claude dazzled art lovers with their epic installation projects, such as The Gates in Central Park. Seven years after the death of Jeanne-Claude, the larger-than-life Christo finally realizes a long-planned project, The Floating Piers. Mounted in 2016 on Italy’s Lake Iseo, the mammoth undertaking allows visitors to walk across […]
US PREMIERE In Palestine’s West Bank, Kholoud Al-Faqih is the first woman judge appointed to any of the Middle East’s Shari’a courts. In this courtroom drama, we witness how she applies the law, sometimes with a different emphasis than her male colleagues. We also see the resistance she faces, along with her male counterpart, a […]
NYC PREMIERE Nick Bollettieri ran America’s most famous tennis academy, producing multiple champions including several who would become fierce rivals: Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Boris Becker and more. Was Bollettieri a genius or a tyrant, a father figure or a huckster? There are no simple answers. He’s been interviewed countless times always quick on his […]