SHORTS PROGRAMS – Six thematic groupings of the best in short nonfiction filmmaking. DOC NYC is now an Academy Awards®-qualifying festival, with this year’s winning short film qualifying for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category.
Art + Design
Ways of seeing and interacting with the world, ranging from interior design and fonts to artisanal craftwork and custom yarmulkes.
Life + Death
An exploration of beginnings and endings, including the healing power of music, the recording of life’s major moments and the ethics of euthanasia.
Lost + Found
Unexpected discoveries and hidden histories, from secret presidential recordings and the lost payphones of NYC, to fancy cats and the world’s longest yard sale.
Parts + Labor
A series of shorts about making a living, offering portraits of workers and their work—selling pickles, raising buffalo, stuffing animals, cobbling, and casting manhole covers.
Point + Shoot
Views through the photographic lens, focusing on blind creators, unconventional beauty, Warhol history, and war photography.
Show + Tell
Kids offer their perspectives on NYC snow days, middle-school heavy metal, dog shows, and North Dakota’s oil boom.
SHORT LIST – Our newly expanded section offers our picks for awards-season contenders. Last year, nine of our ten selections made that other short list.
The Case Against 8
Dirs: Ben Cotner & Ryan White, 2014
Following the fight for marriage equality all the way to the Supreme Court, as former legal foes, progressive David Boies and ultra-conservative Ted Olson, join forces. HBO Documentary Films.
CITIZENFOUR
Dir: Laura Poitras, 2014
A real-life thriller chronicling how Edward Snowden blew the whistle on the massive covert surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence agencies.
RADiUS/Participant Media/HBO Documentary Films, opens Oct 24.
E-Team
Dirs: Katy Chevigny & Ross Kauffman, 2014
A look at the dangerous but life-affirming work performed by the Human Rights Watch Emergency Team, or E-Team, a compelling group of intrepid investigators willing to enter hostile territories to document crimes against humanity that might otherwise go unreported. Netflix.
Finding Vivian Maier
Dirs: John Maloof & Charlie Siskel, 2013
When Vivian Maier died in 2009 at age 83, she left behind more than 100,000 negatives of her street photography—images that she’d scarcely shared with anyone. Sundance Selects.
The Great Invisible
Dir: Margaret Brown, 2014
An examination of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its impact on fishermen, oilmen and survivors. RADiUS/Participant Media, opens Oct. 29.
Happy Valley
Dir: Amir Bar-Lev, 2014
An exploration of the Penn State scandal, focusing on hero worship and the court of public opinion, and their impact on everyday people caught in their wake. Music Box Films, opens Nov. 19.
Keep On Keepin’ On
Dir: Alan Hicks, 2014
Celebrating mentorship as much as music, this inspirational and poignant film explores the common bonds between a 92-year-old jazz legend and his 23-year-old protégé. RADiUS.
Last Days in Vietnam
Dir: Rory Kennedy, 2014
In the final weeks of the Vietnam War, with the invasion of Saigon imminent, the White House ordered the evacuation of U.S. citizens—but their South Vietnamese allies flooded onto embassy grounds seeking help. American Experience Films/PBS.
Life Itself
Dir: Steve James, 2014
Acclaimed filmmaker Steve James pays tribute to the late Roger Ebert and to the love of movies. Magnolia Pictures.
Merchants of Doubt
Dir: Robert Kenner, 2014
The director of Food, Inc reveals how corporations affect what we think, exploring the shadow world of experts who stake claims contrary to scientific consensus. Sony Pictures Classics/Participant Media, opens March 6.
The Overnighters
Dir: Jesse Moss, 2014
Pastor Jay Reinke offers newcomers seeking employment the chance to sleep in his church, setting off a controversy within his small North Dakota town and his congregation. Drafthouse Films.
Red Army
Dir: Gabe Polsky, 2014
This emotional look at the Soviet hockey team blends politics, sports and human drama. Sony Pictures Classics, opens Jan. 23.
Rich Hill
Dirs: Tracy Droz Tragos & Andrew Droz Palermo, 2014
With roots in the eponymous, impoverished Missouri town, filmmaker cousins bring a sensitive touch to this richly observed and sublimely shot portrait of three boys. The Orchard.
The Salt of the Earth
Dirs: Wim Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, 2014
An insider and outsider’s perspective on photographer Sebastiao Salgado and the nature preserve Instituto Terra. Sony Pictures Classics, opens Apr. 3.
Tales of the Grim Sleeper
Dir: Nick Broomfield, 2014
In one of his finest films, Nick Broomfield digs into a true crime story of a Los Angeles serial killer that raises larger questions about gender, race and class inequalities. HBO Documentary Films, 2015 broadcast.
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