DOC NYC, the documentary film festival set to run Nov. 8-15 in New York City, will open with the New York premiere of John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm, which recounts efforts to establish a biodynamic farm, and will close with the world premiere of Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists, a portrait of journalists Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill directed by Jonathan Alter, John Block and Steve McCarthy. Its centerpiece presentation will be the world premiere of Original Cast Album: Co-op, an episode of IFC’s Documentary Now! series that parodies D.A. Pennebaker’s classic doc Original Cast Album: Company, followed by a conversation with creators Seth Meyers and Rhys Thomas, director Alex Buono, writer-star John Mulaney and star Renee Elise Goldsberry.
The upcoming fest will screen 135 feature-length documentaries among more than 300 films and events overall, organizers announced Thursday as it revealed its lineup.
World premieres at the festival will include Lady Parts Justice in the New World Order, which follows The Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead on a “Vagical Mystery Tour” to fight for reproductive rights; New Homeland, the newest film from two-time Academy Award winner Barbara Kopple, which follows refugee boys to a summer camp; Cracked Up, a portrait of Saturday Night Live alumnus Darrell Hammond; Olympia, which focuses on Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis; Buzz, a doc about Friday Night Lights author Buzz Bissinger; Afterward, an exploration of the tensions between Germans, Jews and Palestinians; Creating a Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy, which puts a spotlight on the legendary Juilliard drama teacher who trained Meryl Streep and Viola Davis, among others; Beyond the Bolex, a personal history of the iconic camera; and The Show’s the Thing: The Legendary Promoters of Rock, which reveals an untold chapter of rock history.
Among this year’s U.S. premieres are Screwball, an exposé of the Alex Rodriguez doping scandal; The Insufferable Groo, which centers on a prolific low-budget filmmaker who recruits Jack Black for his latest opus; Evelyn, Oscar-winner Orlando von Einsiedel’s reckoning with a family tragedy; Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records, a tale about the popularization of Jamaican music worldwide; Barbara Rubin & the Exploding NY Underground, which focuses on an influential but little-recognized member of the 1960s film and art world; and The Artist & the Pervert, which chronicles the controversial relationship between a world-renowned composer and a sex educator.
“We’re honored by the rising number of films making their world and U.S. premieres at DOC NYC for the festival’s ninth year,” said director of programming Basil Tsiokos. “We’re delighted to connect these films with the diverse and influential audience that comes together only in New York.” Tsiokos led the programming team in collaboration with artistic director Thom Powers.
The fest is programmed in 21 sections, including five new ones: Series Showcase, offering world premieres of new episodic programs, including Showtime’s Enemies: The President, Justice & the FBI, exploring the contentious relationship between U.S. presidents and the FBI, and SundanceTV’s Jonestown: Terror in the Jungle, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre; Photography on Film, which includes the world premiere of Last Stop Coney Island: The Life and Photography of Harold Feinstein, focusing on the seven-decade career of the NYC photographer; Portraits, presenting the world premieres of The Great Mother, a profile of a woman serving as the legal guardian for 2,000 children of undocumented immigrants, and Welcome to the Beyond, the surprising story of a fashion model and a cult; In the System, offering an inside look at institutions, including sexism in the restaurant world in The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution, and the financial industry on the cusp of the economic recession in Inside Lehman Brothers; and True Love, presenting the world premiere of Dennis and Lois, about a punk rock-loving older couple, and the U.S. premiere of China Love, which explores China’s $80 billion pre-wedding photo industry.
Notable documentarians who will also be honored at the Visionaries Tribute Awards event on Nov. 8 include: Wim Wenders and Orlando Bagwell, who will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards; Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, who will receive the Robert and Anne Drew Award for observational filmmaking; and Tabitha Jackson, director of the Documentary Film Program at the Sundance Institute, who will receive the Leading Light Award for distinguished service to documentary in a role outside filmmaking.
The full lineup can be found at DOC NYC.
