2024 Award Winners
DOC NYC is proud to announce the winners of the juried U.S. Competition, International Competition, Metropolis, Kaleidoscope, Shorts, and DOC NYC U sections, and the festival’s Audience Award. DOC NYC’s online screenings run through December 1, with more than 80 features available to stream across the United States, including 13 of the festival’s award winners and more than 100 of the festival’s short films. Click here for a full list of available films. Learn more about our 2024 jurors here. View our past award winners here.
JURIED AWARDS, FEATURE FILMS
U.S. Competition: The jury selected from among 8 new American nonfiction films in this section.
Grand Jury Prize: Stone Mountain, directed by Daniel Kaufman, produced by Krista Worby and Daniel Kaufman. (U.S. Premiere).
Available online through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “With Stone Mountain, Daniel Kaufman crafts a Faulkner-esque portrait of the community surrounding Stone Mountain Park in Georgia, home to the world’s largest bas-relief sculpture: a Confederate memorial carving. Kaufman’s constantly roaming camera eavesdrops on a community with deep racial divides. Seemingly without judgment, Kaufman weaves a complex tapestry of a community — and of a nation. This evocative work establishes Kaufman’s distinct and assured cinematic voice.”
Special Mention: Black Snow, directed by Alina Simone, produced by Kirstine Barfod.
Available online through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “The jury recognizes Black Snow for highlighting the courage of Russian journalist and mother Natalia Zubkova who exposed the coverup of a toxic coal fire that threatened her Siberian community. Alina Simone’s debut film is an urgent look at the work of an ordinary citizen who spoke up in the face of disinformation, surveillance, and harassment by an authoritarian government.”
International Competition: The jury selected from among 8 new international productions in this section.
Grand Jury Prize: Yalla Parkour, directed by Areeb Zuaiter, produced by Basel Mawlawi.Available online through December 1.
Available online through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “The jury was unanimous in its choice for best international documentary. Yalla Parkour is a stunning cinematic achievement. Exuberant and heartbreaking, filled with youthful dreams and their shattering against a cruel reality, director Areeb Zuaiter’s film pierces the soul. To watch Ahmed Matar and his parkour crew transform Gaza ruins into sites of athletic excellence is to witness the human spirit soar in the face of unspeakable horror. The beautiful cinematography is enhanced by brilliant editorial choices that weave personal loss and a global tragedy into an original work of art. A powerful and urgent tribute to the dignity and resilience of the Palestinian people in the face of annihilation.”
Special Mention: Sudan, Remember Us, directed by Hind Meddeb, produced by Abel Nahmias, Michel Zana and Taoufik Guiga.
Available online through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “In an increasingly totalitarian world, stories that capture the spirit of resistance cannot be ignored. Sudan, Remember Us is a beautifully crafted story which captures the Sudanese uprising led by creative Sudanese youth who use poetry, art, and their voices to demand freedom. We recognize director Hind Meddeb’s courageous dedication in bringing this powerful story to the world.”
Kaleidoscope: The jury selected from among five films in this section, which showcases essayistic and formally adventurous documentaries.
Grand Jury Prize: The Falling Sky, directed by Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunhap; produced by Donatella Palermo, Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha.
Available online through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “The winner of Kaleidoscope competition is a lyrical and powerful work that skillfully utilizes cinematic tools — including hypnotic cinematography and intricate sound design — to tell a timely and resilient story about the Yanomami people in the Brazilian Amazon. The Falling Sky offers an intimate gaze into this Indigenous community’s rich cosmology, rituals, and practices, with the filmmakers delivering a poignant and unflinching critique of colonialism, extractivism, and predatory capitalism.”
Special Mention: G – 21 Scenes from Gottsunda, directed by Loran Batti, produced by Göran Hugo Olsson, Melissa Lindgren.
Available online through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “The jury extends a Special Mention to G – 21 Scenes from Gottsunda, a debut film of remarkable candor and bracing tenderness. An artist returns to an underprivileged suburb of Sweden to document the gang life he’d left behind, only to find himself caught for half a decade between attachment to his comrades and the promise of a new life and family away from the streets. Through raw and loving conversations with his friends and increasingly anxious talks with his partner and mother, we’re granted an uncommonly honest and ruminative look at the pain of moving on with life.”
Metropolis: The jury selected from among eight films in this section, which is dedicated to stories about New Yorkers and New York City.
Grand Jury Prize: Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse, directed by Molly Bernstein, Philip Dolin; produced by Alicia Sams, Sam Jinishian. Available online through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “Out of this year’s outstanding selection of films in the Metropolis competition, one provoked the most discussion within the jury. Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse is about the essential role of subversive art and storytelling in our culture. The quiet modesty of the filmmaking belies a radical tale of a cartoonist who transformed the way illustrations can be used to process the most horrifying chapters of human history. We hope this deserving award can provide a platform to discuss the countless ways Spiegelman’s beautiful, haunting work continues to resonate today.”
Special Mention: Conbody vs. Everybody (Episodes 1 & 2), directed by Debra Granik, produced by Anne Rosellini, Joslyn Barnes. Available online through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “Filmed over the course of eight years, Conbody vs. Everybody follows Coss Marte as he tries to get a second chance in life after being released from prison. In the two episodes of the series being screened, we come to understand both his eagerness to succeed and the many obstacles that he and other formerly incarcerated individuals face. The brilliant direction from Debra Granik, captured in vérité, delivers a truthful and beautiful intimacy, remarkably distinct and raw.”
AUDIENCE AWARD
Audience Award Winner: Slumlord Millionaire, directed by Steph Ching, Ellen Martinez, produced by Ellen Martinez, Steph Ching, Nicole Tsien. Available online through December 1.
Slumlord Millionaire is a David-vs.-Goliath documentary chronicles housing injustice in NYC, following renters battling powerful developers and unscrupulous landlords as they resist relentless gentrification across the boroughs.
Audience Award Runners-Up (in alphabetical order):
All God’s Children, directed by Ondi Timoner, produced by Ondi Timoner, David Turner, Anthony Ervolino. (World Premiere) Available online through December 1.
Death & Taxes, directed by Justin Schein, Robert Edwards, produced by Yael Melamede, Justin Schein, Robert Edwards. (World Premiere) Available online through December 1.
Drop Dead City – New York City on the Brink in 1975, directed and produced by Peter Yost, Michael Rohatyn. (World Premiere)
Man From Pretentia, directed by Chih Husan Liang, produced by Penny Arcade, Steve Zehenter, Chris Bongirne, Chih Husan Liang, Joe Duva. (World Premiere) Available online through December 1.
Nature of the Crime, directed by Ricki Stern, Jesse Sweet, produced by Ricki Stern, Jesse Sweet, Seth Keal. (World Premiere)
The Sing Sing Chronicles, directed by Dawn Porter, produced by Lauren Capps, Sadie Bass. (World Premiere) Available online through December 1.
SHORT FILM AWARDS
Shorts Competition: All new short films playing at the festival were eligible for the Shorts Grand Jury Prize, with the exception of DOC NYC U showcases and Short List: Shorts selections.
Grand Jury Prize: Qotzuñi: People of the Lake, directed/produced by Gastón Zilberman and Michael Salama. Available online in the Shorts: Climate Countdown program, through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “A deeply moving and immeasurably significant cinematic masterpiece set in the Bolivian Altiplano and its Uru indigenous community, whose lives were once inextricably linked to the rhythms of Lake Poopó. The unimaginable has become reality — this vital water source has disappeared, leaving the population to face profound cultural and economic consequences. “Qotzuñi: People of the Lake” is a powerful tribute to their resilience, their way of life, and the urgent global crisis of climate change and environmental exploitation.”
Special Mention: 51st State, directed/produced by Hannah Rosenzweig, produced by Liat Z. Rubin, Ray Whitehouse. Available online in the Shorts: The People Vs. program, through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “A compelling exposé on the ongoing struggle of Washington, D.C. residents, who are subject to federal taxes yet denied representation in Congress. The eye-opening “51st State” sheds light on the harsh reality of disenfranchisement faced by over 700,000 Americans, making a powerful case for statehood as an overdue step toward equality. It’s a must-watch for anyone who believes in true democracy and the right to representation.”
Special Mention: Death by Numbers, directed by Kim A. Snyder, produced by Janique L. Robillard, Kim A. Snyder, Maria Cuomo Cole. Available online in the Shorts: Caretakers program, through December 1.
Jurors’ statement: “In 2018, Sam Fuentes was shot in her Parkland, Fla., classroom and has since spent years trying to make sense of the events – the loss of life, the unending trauma and anger, and questions of whether our legal system can help bring healing and a sense of justice. Through Sam’s personal writings, and her facing the shooter in the courtroom during his sentencing, “Death by Numbers” takes us well beyond statistics around school shootings and reframes a most horrific aspect of American life with complexity and heart.”
DOC NYC U Competition: DOC NYC U features 12 short documentaries from students across the five boroughs. Restyled as a competition for the first time this year, this year’s program featured finalists from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, Fashion Institute of Technology, Hunter College, The New School, New York Film Academy, New York University, Pratt Institute, and the School of Visual Arts. Films selected for the DOC NYC U Competition qualify for the annual Student Academy Awards®, provided the film otherwise complies with the Academy’s rules.
This year’s competition was adjudicated by Faridah Gbadamosi, veteran film programmer currently serving as senior programmer at Tribeca Festival.
DOC NYC U Award: “Find Me”, directed/produced by Hsi Cheng. Available online in the Shorts: DOC NYC U – Family Matters program, through December 1.
Faridah Gbadamosi’s statement on the selection of “Find Me” for the 2024 DOC NYC U Award: “Making use of excellent archival footage, interviews and vérité, this film with grace and care tells the story of a young woman trying to find her biological family. Adeptly showcasing the circumstances of both the young woman’s journey and of those who participated in the adoption, “Find Me” provides a unique take on the topic.”
Subject Matter: DOC NYC partnered with Subject Matter to present a $20,000 grant from Subject Matter to Homegrown, directed by Michael Premo, to support the film’s audience outreach and impact efforts, along with a corresponding grant of $20,000 to The 22nd Century Initiative, a nonprofit organization that is working to end political violence. Available online through December 1.
AJH Films: The AJH Filmmakers Fund supports emerging filmmakers committed to social impact with mentorship, infrastructure support, and investment opportunities. This year, the fund awarded a $5,000 grant to the winner of DOC NYC PRO’s Pitch Day, in addition to a $500 honorarium for each finalist. The grand prize went to Èlia Gasull Balada and Matteo Norzi for their project The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs, a work-in-progress chronicling the journey of an Indigenous artist from the Peruvian Amazon who breaks into the contemporary art scene in her seventies.
Andrew Berends Film Foundation: The 2024 Andrew Berends Film Fellowship awards a $10,000 grant and a year-long mentorship with an industry expert to a filmmaker who embodies Andrew’s spirit of intrepid storytelling. This year’s recipient is David Estrada for his project To Die for a Soul, a work-in-progress praised for its boldness and emotional depth, presented at the DOC NYC PRO’s Pitch Day.
