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Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars[/caption]
DOC NYC announced the full lineup of over 250 films and events for its eighth edition, running November 9 to 16 at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village and Chelsea’s SVA Theatre and Cinepolis Chelsea.
Special Events include Closing Night Film, the NYC premiere of
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars, directed by Lili Fini Zanuck, with the acclaimed musician in attendance; Centerpiece Film, the world premiere of Far From the Tree, director Rachel Dretzin’s adaptation of Andrew Solomon’s bestselling book; and the NYC premiere of
Wormwood, an ambitious new project from Errol Morris exploring the 1953 death of a CIA agent. The NYC premiere Greg Barker’s
The Final Year, accompanied by members of the Obama administration, will open the festival.
World premieres at the festival include A Murder in Mansfield, by Barbara Kopple (Miss Sharon Jones!), which explores the impact of a 1989 murder on a family;
Maynard, by Sam Pollard (Two Trains Runnin’), about Atlanta’s first black mayor, Maynard Jackson; Naila and the Uprising, by Julia Bacha (Budrus), about the hidden role women played in the First Intifada, a project that won last year’s DOC NYC Pitch Perfect competition; Father’s Kingdom, by Larry Feinberg, exploring the legacy of Father Divine, who attracted over a million followers and claimed to be God; The Iconoclast, by King Adz, about notorious art forger Michel van Rijn; and The Godfathers of Hardcore, by Ian McFarland, on the long-lived NYC hardcore punk band Agnostic Front.
Among this year’s U.S. premieres are
David Bowie: The Last Five Years, by Francis Whately, an intimate look at the creative final years of the music icon; Antonio Lopez 1970: Sex Fashion & Disco, by James Crump, a portrait of the most influential fashion illustrator of 1970s New York and Paris;
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, by Matt Tyrnauer, about the man who was the secret sexual procurer to the stars;
The Stranger, by past DOC NYC award winner Nicole N. Horanyi, about a woman who discovers the man of her dreams has secrets; Armed with Faith, by Geeta Gandbhir and Asad Faruqi, which follows the heroic Pakistani Bomb Disposal Unit; Soufra, by Thomas Morgan, and executive produced by Susan Sarandon, about a woman who starts her own successful catering company in a Lebanese refugee camp; EuroTrump, by Stephen Robert Morse and Nicholas Hampson, on the Dutch Donald Trump, Geert Wilders; and The Beatles, Hippies and Hells Angels: Inside the Crazy World of Apple, by Ben Lewis, a look back at the wild early days of Apple Corps.
“Documentary storytellers help us make sense of the tumultuous times we’re living in with artistry, humor and inspiring characters,” said Director of Programming Basil Tsiokos. “This year’s DOC NYC line-up gives audiences fresh insight into high profile figures and shines a light on lesser-known individuals who leave a big impression.” Tsiokos led the program selection in collaboration with Artistic Director Thom Powers and Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen.
The festival is curated in 18 sections that include two new strands: New World Order, with 6 films about global issues in the news, including Sky & Ground, which follows an extended family of refugees as they escape Syria; and
Spiral, about the alarming rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. Centerstage, an 8-title section focused on performing and performers, presents the world premieres of The Problem with Apu, in which a South Asian-American comedian explores the impact of the character from The Simpsons; and Repeat Attenders, about musical theater superfans.
In the festival’s two feature competition sections, 8 films appear under the Viewfinders section for distinct directorial visions. They include the world premiere of Mole Man, about an autistic man who has built a 50-room structure in his backyard; and the U.S. premieres of
The Judge, about the first female Shari’a judge in the Middle East, and
Silas, about a Liberian environmental activist.
In the Metropolis competition section, 7 films are dedicated to stories set in New York City. They include the world premieres of The Iron Triangle, about the resistance to the urban renewal of Queens’ Willets Point;
Vigilante: The Incredible True Story of Curtis Sliwa and the Guardian Angels, an unfiltered look at the founder of the controversial group; and Miracle on 42nd Street, about an apartment complex providing housing to performing artists, including past residents Alicia Keys, Terrence Howard and Angela Lansbury.
Other returning sections include high-profile Special Events; national and global takes inAmerican Perspectives and International Perspectives; and thematic sections Fight the Power (on activism), Sonic Cinema (on music), True Crime (on crime), Science Nonfiction (on science and technology), Modern Family (on unconventional families),Wild Life (on animals), Art & Design (on artists), and Behind the Scenes (on filmmaking). Short-form content (85 films in total) is represented by the festival’s Shorts Competition and DOC NYC U (showcasing student work).
The following is a breakdown of programming by section:
OPENING NIGHT
THE FINAL YEAR
Dir: Greg Barker (NYC PREMIERE)
Greg Barker gives an unprecedented look at the shaping of US foreign policy by following key members of outgoing US President Barack Obama’s administration.
CLOSING NIGHT
ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS
Dir: Lili Fini Zanuck (NYC PREMIERE)
An intimate, revealing musical odyssey on the life and career of guitar virtuoso Eric Clapton, told by those who have known him best.
CENTERPIECE
FAR FROM THE TREE
Dir: Rachel Dretzin (WORLD PREMIERE)
An adaptation of Andrew Solomon’s bestselling book examining how parents face their children’s extreme differences, challenging ideas of “normalcy.”
SPECIAL EVENT
WORMWOOD
Dir: Errol Morris (NYC PREMIERE)
DOC NYC’s Visionaries Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Errol Morris (The Fog of War) investigates the 1953 death of a CIA agent in this innovative new project.
VIEWFINDERS COMPETITION
THE JUDGE
Dir: Erika Cohn (US PREMIERE)
A vérité legal drama about the first woman appointed to a Shari’a court in the Middle East, providing rare insights into both Islamic law and gendered justice.
LOVE, CECIL
Dir: Lisa Immordino Vreeland (NYC PREMIERE)
An affectionate portrait of Cecil Beaton, a multi-talented photographer, writer and painter who also designed sets and costumes for films like My Fair Lady.
LOVE MEANS ZERO
Dir: Jason Kohn (NYC PREMIERE)
Infamous and influential tennis coach Nick Bollettieri has trained champions that include Andre Agassi and Boris Becker, but greatness comes at a personal price.
MOLE MAN
Dir: Guy Fiorita (WORLD PREMIERE)
An autistic man is faced with the possibility of losing the only home he has ever known—and the remarkable 50-room structure he’s built in the backyard.
NAILA AND THE UPRISING
Dir: Julia Bacha (WORLD PREMIERE)
Filmmaker Julia Bacha (Budrus) reveals the hidden history of the key role women played in the Palestinian uprising known as the First Intifada.
SILAS
Dirs: Anjali Nayar, Hawa Essuman (US PREMIERE)
A rousing profile of Liberian activist Silas Siakor, a tireless crusader against illegal logging and a symbol of resistance for a new generation.
THE STRANGER
Dir: Nicole N. Horanyi (INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE)
Amanda, a 25-year-old single mother, meets the man of her dreams on Facebook… but she soon discovers that the charming, worldly Casper has secrets.
THIS IS CONGO
Dir: Daniel McCabe (NYC PREMIERE)
Filmmaker Daniel McCabe examines multiple sides of the fractious war in the Democratic Republic of Congo in this stunningly shot film.
METROPOLIS COMPETITION
ANTONIO LOPEZ 1970: SEX FASHION & DISCO
Dir: James Crump (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
A portrait of the most influential fashion illustrator of 1970s New York and Paris, known for discovering talents such as Pat Cleveland and Grace Jones.
CRADLE OF CHAMPIONS
Dir: Bartle Bull (NYC PREMIERE)
Three amateur boxers compete for glory and life-changing opportunities in New York City’s legendary Golden Gloves tournament.
THE IRON TRIANGLE
Dirs: Prudence Katze, William Lehman (WORLD PREMIERE)
Workers and owners of auto repair shops in Queens’ Willets Point face off against gentrification and urban renewal for the future of their livelihoods and community.
MIRACLE ON 42ND STREET
Dir: Alice Elliott (WORLD PREMIERE)
The surprising history of Manhattan Plaza and its embrace of the performing arts, featuring famed former residents including Alicia Keys, Terrence Howard and Angela Lansbury.
Screening with Lucy Walker’s Oh, What A Beautiful City (A City Symphony). A celebration of summertime in NYC.
OH, RICK!
Dirs: Dustin Sussman, Aaron Rosenbloom (WORLD PREMIERE)
A profile of comedian Rick Crom, long-running emcee at Greenwich Village’s Comedy Cellar, featuring Ray Romano, Colin Quinn, Sarah Silverman and Wanda Sykes.
STILL WATERS
Dir: Peter Gordon (WORLD PREMIERE)
In Bushwick, where rapid gentrification is pushing out Latino families, a unique alternative after-school program serves as a haven for the community.
VIGILANTE: THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF CURTIS SLIWA AND THE GUARDIAN ANGELS
Dir: David Wexler (WORLD PREMIERE)
An unfiltered look back at 1970s and ’80s NYC through the eyes of Curtis Sliwa, founder of the controversial crime prevention patrol the Guardian Angels.
AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES
12TH AND CLAIRMOUNT
Dir: Brian Kaufman (NYC PREMIERE)
Hundreds of hours of home movies, archival footage, illustrations and new oral histories offer multiple perspectives of the 1967 Detroit uprising.
32 PILLS: MY SISTER’S SUICIDE
Dir: Hope Litoff (NYC PREMIERE)
Years after the suicide of her sister Ruth, a talented but troubled artist, director Hope Litoff tries to make sense of her loss.
FAIL STATE
Dir: Alex Shebanow (NYC PREMIERE)
Executive produced by Dan Rather, Fail State explores the dark side of higher education in America, focusing on the rise of for-profit colleges.
FATHER’S KINGDOM
Dir: Lenny Feinberg (WORLD PREMIERE )
In the first half of the 20th century, Father Divine, an African-American spiritual leader, gained over a million followers by claiming to be God.
THE GROWING SEASON
Dir: Evan Briggs (WORLD PREMIERE)
An intimate, bittersweet portrait of growing up and growing old, set in a nursing home that also houses a preschool program.
MAYNARD
Dir: Sam Pollard (WORLD PREMIERE)
Director Sam Pollard constructs a portrait of charismatic trailblazer Maynard Jackson, who became Atlanta’s first black mayor in 1973.
METH STORM
Dirs: Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud (NYC PREMIERE )
DEA agents face the Sisyphean task of curbing the influx of Mexican ice, a more potent form of meth, into poor, rural communities in Arkansas.
SHOT IN THE DARK
Dir: Dustin Nakao Haider (NYC PREMIERE)
Orr Academy’s high school basketball team is a refuge from the brutal realities of the streets of Chicago’s West Side.
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
ARMED WITH FAITH
Dirs: Geeta Gandbhir, Asad Faruqi (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
A suspenseful portrait of the men of the Pakistani Bomb Disposal Unit, who risk their own lives every day to combat homegrown and international terrorism.
ASK THE SEXPERT
Dir: Vaishali Sinha (NYC PREMIERE)
A lighthearted look at India’s Dan Savage, Dr. Mahinder Watsa, a 93-year-old retired gynecologist. Is he a hero of progress or an enemy of traditional values?
A BETTER MAN
Dirs: Attiya Khan, Lawrence Jackman (US PREMIERE)
Twenty years after their break-up, filmmaker Attiya Khan confronts her ex-boyfriend to take responsibility for their abusive relationship.
CUBA AND THE CAMERAMAN
Dir: Jon Alpert (NYC PREMIERE)
For more than 40 years, acclaimed filmmaker Jon Alpert has enjoyed privileged access to Cuba, chronicling its changes from Havana to the countryside.
ISLAND SOLDIER
Dir: Nathan Fitch (NYC PREMIERE)
Residents of the remote islands of Micronesia question whether the benefits of US protection are worth the human costs of fighting its wars.
LOVESICK
Dirs: Ann S. Kim, Priya Giri Desai (WORLD PREMIERE)
In India, where marriage is a must but AIDS carries a stigma, Dr. Suniti Solomon serves as matchmaker for her HIV-positive patients.
THE PINK HOUSE
Dir: Sascha Ettinger Epstein (INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE)
In a remote Australian gold-mining town, a genteel 70-year-old madam struggles to keep the oldest working brothel afloat in this entertaining portrait.
Screening with Sam Ketay’s A Wonderful Place. Octogenarian Norma shares stories while giving a tour of her property atop her John Deere tractor.
SOUFRA
Dir: Thomas Morgan (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
Working with a diverse group of Middle Eastern women, Mariam Shaar attempts to expand her catering company, based in a refugee camp near Beirut.
NEW WORLD ORDER
EUROTRUMP
Dirs: Stephen Robert Morse, Nicholas Hampson (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
An in-depth exploration of Geert Wilders, the “Dutch Donald Trump,” as the controversial politician seems poised to become the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.
INSHA’ALLAH DEMOCRACY
Dir: Mohammed Ali Naqvi (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
Following Pakistan’s former dictator, General Pervez Musharraf, as he runs for president, the filmmaker questions if democracy is truly possible in Pakistan.
PLAYING GOD
Dir: Karin Jurschick (US PREMIERE)
A candid, complex portrait of compensation assessor Ken Feinberg, a man tasked with putting a dollar value on human lives in the wake of tragedies like 9/11 and Sandy Hook.
RECRUITING FOR JIHAD
Dirs: Adil Khan Farooq, Ulrik Imtiaz Rolfsen (NYC PREMIERE)
Over several years, a journalist follows a charismatic, outspoken Norwegian missionary as he recruits young converts to Islam, and to fight for ISIS in Syria.
SKY & GROUND
Dirs: Talya Tibbon, Joshua Bennett (WORLD PREMIERE)
A compelling, ground-level immersion into the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, accompanying a large, extended family by foot from Syria to asylum in Germany.
SPIRAL
Dir: Laura Fairrie (US PREMIERE)
An urgent, alarming look at the rise of anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and physical and verbal assaults against Jews throughout Europe, particularly in France.
CENTERSTAGE
BEHIND THE CURTAIN: TODRICK HALL
Dir: Katherine Fairfax Wright (NYC PREMIERE)
American Idol contestant and RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Todrick Hall races to complete an autobiographical musical and take the live show on the road to his devoted fans.
GETTING NAKED: A BURLESQUE STORY
Dir: James Lester (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
Uncovering New York City’s neo-burlesque subculture, this entertaining film offers a lingering look at several sexy denizens of the nightlife scene.
THE PROBLEM WITH APU
Dir: Michael Melamedoff (WORLD PREMIERE)
South Asian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu confronts his long-standing “nemesis,” Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, better known as the Kwik-E-Mart owner on The Simpsons.
REBELS ON POINTE
Dir: Bobbi Jo Hart (NYC PREMIERE)
A globetrotting profile of NYC’s beloved Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, an all-male dance troupe that fuses camp humor with classical ballet performed in drag.
REPEAT ATTENDERS
Dir: Mark Dooley (WORLD PREMIERE)
An entertaining portrait of musical theatre superfans, for whom shows like Les Miz,Starlight Express and Cats are an obsession, a refuge and a place where they belong.
Screening with Ben Kitnick’s Catskills. An 86-year-old dancer remembers the heyday of the upstate resort community.
SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME
Dir: Sam Pollard (NYC PREMIERE)
A star-studded roster of interviewees (including Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal) pay tribute to the legendary, multi-talented song-and-dance man.
SIGHTED EYES/FEELING HEART
Dir: Tracy Heather Strain (NYC PREMIERE)
A moving account of the life of black playwright, communist, feminist, lesbian and outspoken trailblazer Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the Sun).
STANDING UP
Dir: Jonathan Miller (WORLD PREMIERE)
An Egyptian lawyer, a couch-surfing custodian and an Orthodox Jew walk into a comedy club… and end up starring in a film about three unlikely aspiring stand-up comics.
TRUE CRIME
COLD BLOODED: THE CLUTTER FAMILY KILLINGS
Dir: Joe Berlinger (SNEAK PREVIEW)
Oscar®-nominated filmmaker Joe Berlinger reexamines the infamous 1959 murder of a Kansas family that Truman Capote explored in his landmark nonfiction novel In Cold Blood. (USA, 86 min.)
THE ICONOCLAST
Dir: King Adz (WORLD PREMIERE)
A portrait of a Dutch art connoisseur and descendant of Rembrandt – in truth, a con man who made millions trafficking in forged and stolen art and antiquities.
A MURDER IN MANSFIELD
Dir: Barbara Kopple (WORLD PREMIERE)
Oscar®-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple explores the legacy of the 1989 murder of Noreen Boyle in Mansfield, Ohio and its impact on her family.
WHAT HAUNTS US
Dir: Paige Goldberg Tolmach (NYC PREMIERE)
An investigation into a rash of suicides among the men in the filmmaker’s high school graduating class reveals a disturbing cover-up centered around a popular coach.
Screening with Elivia Shaw and Paloma Martinez’s The Shift. Spend an overnight shift with the emergency dispatchers for the city of San Francisco.
WHITE BOY
Dir: Shawn Rech (NYC PREMIERE)
The story of “White Boy Rick,” a legend of Detroit’s drug world in the 1980s, still imprisoned for a juvenile offense for the past 30 years.
SCIENCE NONFICTION
THE EXPERIMENTAL CITY
Dir: Chad Freidrichs (NYC PREMIERE)
A fascinating chronicle of an almost successful attempt to build the city of the future by a visionary scientist and futurist comic strip writer in the 1960s.
HAPPENING: A CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION
Dir: James Redford (NYC PREMIERE)
Seeking hope for a sustainable
tomorrow, filmmaker James Redford crosses the country to chronicle the clean energy revolution already taking place.
HOT GREASE
Dirs: Sam Wainwright Douglas, Paul Lovelace, Jessica Wolfson (WORLD PREMIERE)
A fascinating look at biodiesel, a growing industry with the potential to undercut the dominance of Big Oil—and it all starts with recycled cooking oil.
THE NEW FIRE
Dir: David Schumacher (NYC PREMIERE)
Innovative young nuclear engineers attempt to develop next-generation reactors to provide clean and safe solutions to the world’s future energy needs.
WILD LIFE
DONKEYOTE
Dir: Chico Pereira (NYC PREMIERE)
A 73-year-old Spanish man dreams of walking the Trail of Tears with his donkey and his dog—but getting to America from Spain presents a challenge.
EATING ANIMALS
Dir: Christopher Quinn (NYC PREMIERE)
Based on the book by Jonathan Safran Foer and produced and narrated by Natalie Portman, this unflinching exposé looks at the devastating costs of our dietary choices.
RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE
Dirs: Quinn Costello, Chris Metzler, Jeff Springer (WORLD PREMIERE)
This quirky film follows bounty hunters and other colorful Gulf residents as they try to defend Louisiana from the invasive giant swamp rat known as the nutria.
Screening with Olivier Bernier’s A Garbage Story. Over 30 years in the garbage business, Nick has become a bonafide trash connoisseur.
SAMANTHA’S AMAZING ACROCATS
Dir: Jacob Feiring (NYC PREMIERE)
A woman pins her dreams of stardom on a traveling cat circus, but how long can she hold on as debt mounts and success seems elusive?
Screening with Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman’s Nobody Loves Me. High in the Andes, a frog with an unusual appearance is threatened with extinction.
ART & DESIGN
44 PAGES
Dir: Tony Shaff (NYC PREMIERE)
A heartwarming, behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the landmark 70th anniversary issue of beloved children’s magazine, Highlights.
BIG TIME
Dir: Kaspar Astrup Schröder (NYC PREMIERE)
A portrait of superstar Danish architect Bjarke Ingels as he takes on his largest project yet, relocating to New York City to create the new 2 World Trade Center.
FIVE SEASONS: THE GARDENS OF PIET OUDOLF
Dir: Thomas Piper (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
A portrait of visionary landscape designer Piet Oudolf, known for public works like the High Line that redefine our conception of gardens as works of art.
LARGER THAN LIFE
Dir: Tiffany Bartok (NYC PREMIERE)
An intimate look at the life and death of Kevyn Aucoin, who moved from small town Louisiana to become a legendary makeup artist to supermodels and celebrities.
MADDMAN: THE STEVE MADDEN STORY
Dir: Ben Patterson (NYC PREMIERE)
The rags-to-riches story of designer footwear mogul Steve Madden, who nearly lost everything because of his connections to notorious “Wolf of Wall Street,” Jordan Belfort.
MORE ART UPSTAIRS
Dir: Jody Hassett Sanchez (NYC PREMIERE)
Who gets to decide what is good art? A competition touting the biggest cash prize in the art world finds cultural elitism butting up against Midwest populism.
MR. FISH: CARTOONING FROM THE DEEP END
Dir: Pablo Bryant (NYC PREMIERE)
Finding it increasingly challenging to publish his subversive art, will controversial political cartoonist Mr. Fish be forced to sell out in order to sell his art?
MODERN FAMILY
6 WEEKS TO MOTHER’S DAY
Dir: Marvin Blunte (WORLD PREMIERE)
In a remote jungle in Thailand, a unique democratic school provides orphans with education and empowerment under the watchful eyes of the woman they call Mother Aew.
AMAZONA
Dir: Clare Weiskopf (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
The director tries to make sense of the elder woman’s decision to leave her children behind to live in the jungle after a family tragedy.
ELISH’S NOTEBOOKS
Dir: Golan Rise (INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE)
Discovering a secret cache of journals written for them by their late mother, Elisheva’s children confront their complex feelings for their emotionally distant parent.
HARMONY
Dir: Lidia Sheinin (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
Battle lines are drawn when an elderly Russian woman finds her comfortable apartment invaded by her family.
Screening with Laura Checkoway’s Edith+Eddie. The love story of America’s oldest interracial newlyweds is threatened by a family feud.
LIFE TO COME
Dir: Claudio Capanna (US PREMIERE)
Surrounded by the sounds of machines and doctors in white coats, severely premature twins Eden and Léandro fight for their survival.
LOTS OF KIDS, A MONKEY AND A CASTLE
Dir: Gustavo Salmerón (NYC PREMIERE)
Spanish actor-turned-director Gustavo Salmerón captures his eccentric, extraordinary mother, who had three dreams: having lots of kids, a monkey and a castle.
PLOT 35
Dir: Eric Caravaca (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
French actor-turned-director Eric Caravaca unearths personal family history in search of his sister Charlotte, who died as a toddler before he was born.
Screening with Matt Sukkar’s Durango. Adolescent brothers cope with loss over a summer in bucolic Colorado.
THANK YOU FOR COMING
Dir: Sara Lamm (NYC PREMIERE)
After learning she was conceived via a sperm donor, Sara becomes a genealogical detective, navigating ancestry databases and DNA tests for clues to his identity.
BEHIND THE SCENES
BLUE VELVET REVISITED
Dir: Peter Braatz (NYC PREMIERE)
Three decades after documenting the filming of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, the director crafts an unconventional yet accessible meditation on the cult classic film.
JIM & ANDY: THE GREAT BEYOND…
Dir: Chris Smith (NYC PREMIERE)
Offbeat documentarian Chris Smith (American Movie) reveals just how fully Jim Carrey took on the persona of idiosyncratic comedian Andy Kaufman on the set of Man on the Moon.
KING COHEN
Dir: Steve Mitchell (NYC PREMIERE)
A look at the heyday of guerrilla filmmaking through a celebration of the work of maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen, known as “the John Cassavetes of exploitation.”
SAVING BRINTON
Dirs: Andrew Sherburne, Tommy Haines (NYC PREMIERE)
An eccentric collector is on a mission to restore and preserve a cache of early films and cinema memorabilia, the legacy of a pioneering but forgotten Iowa showman.
SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD
Dir: Matt Tyrnauer (US PREMIERE)
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
FIGHT THE POWER
ATOMIC HOMEFRONT
Dir: Rebecca Cammisa (NYC PREMIERE)
A citizens’ movement confronts government bureaucracy to uncover the atomic secrets of St. Louis, Missouri in order to keep their families safe.
BALTIMORE RISING
Dir: Sonja Sohn
Actress Sonja Sohn (HBO’s The Wire) returns to Baltimore in her directorial debut to chronicle the city in the wake of Freddie Gray’s death.
MANKILLER
Dir: Valerie Red-Horse Mohl (NYC PREMIERE)
Wilma Mankiller rose from poverty to become the first female chief of the Cherokee nation, battling rampant sexism, political rivals and health challenges.
NOTHING WITHOUT US
Dir: Harriet Hirshorn (NYC PREMIERE)
Female activists, scientists and scholars in the US and Africa demonstrates the vital role that women have played—and continue to play—in the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING
Dir: Mila Turajlic (NYC PREMIERE)
A locked door in her family’s Belgrade home provides the gateway to understanding the filmmaker’s remarkable mother and Serbia’s tumultuous political inheritance.
QUEERCORE: HOW TO PUNK A REVOLUTION
Dir: Yony Leyser (NYC PREMIERE)
Misfits in both the mainstream gay and homophobic punk scenes, Bruce LaBruce and GB Jones invented a radical underground subculture that spread around the world.
UNFRACTURED
Dir: Chanda Chevannes (INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE)
Shot over the last year of the historic grassroots fight against fracking in New York state, a raw, intimate look at biologist and activist Sandra Steingraber.
ZERO WEEKS
Dir: Ky Dickens (NYC PREMIERE)
In most countries, workers have paid leave and job security to care for a newborn or family emergency—but not in the US, costing us all a heavy price.
SONIC CINEMA
THE BEATLES, HIPPIES AND HELLS ANGELS: INSIDE THE CRAZY WORLD OF APPLE
Dir: Ben Lewis (NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)
An entertaining look behind the scenes at Apple Corps, which The Beatles hoped would allow them to spread their countercultural message throughout the world.
BILL FRISELL: A PORTRAIT
Dir: Emma Franz (NYC PREMIERE)
A warm profile of Bill Frisell, a widely inventive guitarist who crosses musical boundaries, featuring Bonnie Raitt, Hal Willner, Paul Simon, Nels Cline, and more.
DAVID BOWIE: THE LAST FIVE YEARS
Dir: Francis Whately (US PREMIERE)
An intimate look at the remarkably creative final years of David Bowie, through the production of his final two albums, and the stage musical, Lazarus.
THE GODFATHERS OF HARDCORE
Dir: Ian McFarland (WORLD PREMIERE)
For over 35 years and still going strong, Agnostic Front’s Vinnie Stigma and Roger Miret have been synonymous with the New York punk scene.
HELLO HELLO HELLO : LEE RANALDO : ELECTRIC TRIM
Dir: Fred Riedel (NYC PREMIERE)
Legendary Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo embarks on the recording of a new experimental concept album with a little help from some friends.
ITZHAK
Dir: Alison Chernick (NYC PREMIERE)
Widely considered the greatest living violinist, Itzhak Perlman takes us on a journey through his music and life.
STREETLIGHT HARMONIES
Dir: Brent Wilson (WORLD PREMIERE)
A who’s who of musicians trace the evolution of doo wop in the 1950s, from street corners to radio stations all across America.
SHORTS
Shorts:
Body Language
On the limits and potential of the human body, exploring dance, tattoos, pro wrestling, meditation and light sensitivity.
Shorts:
City Lights
The ups and downs of city living, featuring artists, improv, hard work, boxing and table tennis.
Shorts:
Dream Weavers
About fulfilling dreams and reimagining the world, featuring Cuban cigar factory workers, men seeking wives, a mail-order bride and more.
Shorts:
The Future is Feminine
Everyday women and girls who inspire, including a housekeeper turned real estate entrepreneur, children’s rights advocate, unlikely athletes and special birthday girl.
Shorts:
Justice For All
True crime and the criminal justice system, exploring death row, surveillance, juvenile offenders, police corruption, war criminals and capital punishment.
Shorts:
Mother Earth
Protecting the planet, from Standing Rock and anti-fracking activism, to saving orangutans and sea turtles.
Shorts:
The New Normal
America, before and after 11/8/16, exploring the Trump campaign, a divided electorate, immigration anxiety, fake news and disturbing parallels to past regimes.
Shorts:
Recorded Memory
The past looms large in these affecting stories about confronting family relationships, reckoning with career decisions, remembering trauma and more.
Shorts:
Strange But True
Quirky real life stories exploring insomnia, dreams, fetishes, first love, conspiracy theories and psychic abilities.
Shorts:
Surviving the System
Finding oneself in and out of the criminal justice system, in stories about a police traffic stop that escalates into violence and a restaurant offering former prisoners a second chance.
DOC NYC U
DOC NYC U:
THE NEW SCHOOL SHOWCASE
Selections from The New School’s Documentary Media Studies program, featuring a tap dancer, migratory birds, New York life, selfies and a yodeling punk singer destined for greatness.
DOC NYC U:
NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY SHOWCASE
NYFA selections profile a Hiroshima orphan, a Central Park mainstay, a wolf rescuer, a persecuted journalist and a lost city.
DOC NYC U:
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SHOWCASE
NYU’s NewsDoc offerings explore a controversial Tibetan boarding school program in China and the growing popularity of taxi driving as a career for women in India.
DOC NYC U:
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SHOWCASE
Work from Columbia Journalism School’s Documentary Project profiles deportation fears under Trump, a drug crisis in the Muslim community and adult illiteracy.
DOC NYC U:
SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS SHOWCASE
SVA’s SocDoc program presents profiles of artists, musicians, designers, a vintage barbershop, broken hearts and Native American activism.
SHORT LIST
ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL
Dir: Steve James
Steve James (Hoop Dreams) profiles a small, family-run Chinatown bank—the only financial institution indicted following the 2008 financial crisis. Courtesy of PBS Distribution.
THE B-SIDE: ELSA DORFMAN’S PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY
Dir: Errol Morris
DOC NYC’s Visionaries Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Errol Morris (The Fog of War) profiles legendary large-format photographer Elsa Dorfman. Courtesy of NEON/Netflix.
CHASING CORAL
Dir: Jeff Orlowski
Following his acclaimed film Chasing Ice, director Jeff Orlowski sets out to chronicle the environmental devastation happening to the world’s coral reefs. Courtesy of Netflix.
CITY OF GHOSTS
Dir: Matthew Heineman
Anonymous Syrian citizen journalists risk their lives to stand up against ISIS and report the truth about the Syrian conflict. Courtesy of Amazon Studios/A&E IndieFilms/IFC Films.
DINA
Dirs: Antonio Santini, Dan Sickles
An unforgettable couple, both on the autism spectrum, navigate the complexities of sex and romance in this Sundance Grand Jury Prize winning film. Courtesy of The Orchard.
FACES PLACES
Dirs: Agnès Varda, JR
French New Wave legend Agnès Varda and acclaimed photographer JR travel the French countryside, celebrating ordinary people through extraordinary photo murals. Courtesy of Cohen Media Group.
THE FINAL YEAR
Dir: Greg Barker (NYC PREMIERE)
Greg Barker gives an unprecedented look at the shaping of US foreign policy by following key members of outgoing US President Barack Obama’s administration. Courtesy of Motto Pictures/Passion Pictures.
THE FORCE
Dir: Peter Nicks
An immersion into the beleaguered Oakland Police Department as it attempts to reform its scandal-ridden image. Courtesy of Kino Lorber/PBS Independent Lens.
ICARUS
Dir: Bryan Fogel
An unexpected exposé of a complex doping operation at the heart of Russia’s Olympics program. Courtesy of Netflix.
JANE
Dir: Brett Morgen
Brett Morgen (On the Ropes) reconstitutes 50-year-old National Geographic footage into a poetic look at primatologist Jane Goodall. Courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films.
KEDI
Dir: Ceyda Torun
This infectious portrait captures Istanbul through the eyes of its colorful street cats.Courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories/YouTube Red.
ONE OF US
Dirs: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
This year’s Visionaries Tribute honorees Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) penetrate the insular world of New York’s Hasidic community. Courtesy of Netflix.
RISK
Dir: Laura Poitras
Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) creates a complex portrait of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and his team. Courtesy of NEON/Showtime Documentary Films.
STEP
Dir: Amanda Lipitz
The inaugural class of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women strives for success both academically and through its fierce step dancing team. Courtesy of Fox Searchlight.
STRONG ISLAND
Dir: Yance Ford
Yance Ford explores the long-lasting impact on his African-American family of his brother’s murder, killed by a white man who was never punished for his crime. Courtesy of Netflix.
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Here is the powerful trailer for Daniel McCabe’s eye opening documentary This is Congo which will have its New York premiere at the upcoming DOC NYC 2017. The film had its world premiere at the 2017 Venice Film Festival and will also screen at the upcoming IDFA 2017.
After living in the Congo for 7+ years, McCabe gained unprecedented access to top military officials and well-connected locals, allowing him to give a truly unfiltered look into one of the longest conflicts in the world, and the people surviving within it. This is Congo examines multiple sides of the fractious war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, following a former rebel whistle blower, a beloved frontline Commander and Mama Romance, a charismatic mineral dealer working on the black market.
This is Congo is a highly-immersive, unfiltered look into one of the longest conflicts in the world. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has seen more than five million conflict-related deaths, multiple regime changes and the wholesale impoverishment of its people in the past two decades. This is Congo immerses the viewer onto the frontlines of battle with key players including a whistleblower and military commanders to provide a truly unfiltered and unique look into the conflict plaguing Congo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WfWODjDYAk
Naila And The Uprising
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Julia Bacha (Budrus, My Neighbourhood), Naila And The Uprising tells the remarkable story of Naila Ayesh, who played a key role in the First Intifada, the most vibrant, nonviolent mobilization in Palestinian history.
Naila And The Uprising will World Premiere at the eighth annual DOC NYC festival on Sunday, November 12 at the SVA Theatre, 209 East 23rd Street.
When the uprising broke out in the late 1980s, Naila was living in Gaza. Faced with a choice between love, family and freedom, she embraced all three, joining a clandestine network of Palestinian women in a movement that forced the world and Israel to recognize the Palestinian right to self-determination for the first time. The film focuses on the power of women’s leadership in building a united front in the struggle for self-determination, equality and freedom in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. It inventively combines animation with archival footage to explore this hidden history.
Naila And The Uprising premieres in the month leading up to the 30th anniversary of the start of the First Intifada on December 9, 1987 and, following its DOC NYC screening, will launch internationally at IDFA in Amsterdam.
Julia Bacha said the film was a long-anticipated Just Vision production: “The First Intifada is an iconic moment in Palestinian history, when women took the helm of leadership positions at the grassroots and guided a civil resistance effort that was highly strategic, effective and creative and, in many ways, is an example of what civil resistance can achieve in the face of overwhelming repression. It’s a story that the media at the time missed—a trend that continues today as communities organize across the region for equality, freedom and justice—and we’re thrilled to finally bring it to light.”
As part of a newly announced deal with Fork Films and THIRTEEN/WNET, Naila And The Uprising will be included in the four-part Women, War & Peace II series, which is slated to have its exclusive US broadcast premiere on PBS in 2018, as well as broad international distribution. This is the second installment of the Women War & Peace series, which highlights how women in contemporary conflict zones risk their lives and lift their communities in pursuit of freedom and justice. The first installment of the series in 2011—which included groundbreaking films like Pray the Devil Back to Hell—exceeded the expectations of PBS and the series producers.
The documentary What Haunts Us by Paige Goldberg Tolmach, tells the story about the 1979 class of Porter Gaud School in Charleston, South Carolina that graduated 49 boys. Within the last 35 years, six of these boys committed suicide.
Filmmaker Tolmach graduated from this school and now digs deep with the film in discovering the dark secrets that have lingered and haunted this community that she so loves.
What Haunts Us will premiere at the 2017 DOC NYC Film Festival on Monday Nov 13th.
The past is never dead. It’s not even past.’ William Faulkner
This is the central idea in What Haunts Us, Paige Goldberg Tolmach documentary about the horrific nightmare that happened at her seemingly perfect high school…that NO ONE wants to talk about to this day. When Paige hears about the suicide of yet another former schoolmate, she begins to take a deeper look at the past and starts to ask questions that almost no one in Charleston wants to answer. As she digs deeper, she begins to hear the awful truth about a beloved teacher who methodically manipulated and molested many of his students for years. It becomes her obsession to understand how it could have happened in plain view and, as it turns out, with the knowledge of the school. Her obsession becomes a story about our obligation to speak up and protect those who can’t protect themselves. It’s a story about how silence is complicity and about finding the courage to unearth what lies below the surface in order to shine a light on the truth of our own past.
Big Time is an intimate portrait of the Danish starchitect – Bjarke Ingels – the architect of the 2 World Trade Center, as he tries to balance his professional ambition and personal life. The film will have its NYC Premiere at the 2017 DOC NYC in Art + Design section on Wednesday, November 15, 2017.
Big Time is spread over a period of six years while his architecture firm BIG works to complete their largest projects yet, the 2 World Trade Center and the New York skyscraper VIA 57W, which houses the newly opened multiplex Landmark at 57 West, where the film opens later this year for a week-long theatrical run.
Director Kaspar Astrup Schröder is a self-taught visual artist and designer. Though based in Copenhagen, he often works in Asia. Has exhibited visual work and released music in Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Brussels, New York, Shenzhen and Tokyo. His previous films THE INVENTION OF DR. NAKAMATS (2009) and MY PLAYGROUND (2010) were selected for the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). RENT A FAMILY INC. (2012) was honored with a Golden Eye Award in the category Best International Documentary at Zürich International Film Festival.
Astrup Schröder: “I wanted to convey architecture in a different, cinematic way. Bjarke’s business in New York evolved so quickly, it was as if he had put himself in the driver ’s seat in a train, which could never stop, and now he had to lay the tracks while managing the steering wheel. He ran into some health-related issues, and the pressure became even bigger. That’s when I started to feel that the film could be more universal and that it could also paint the greater picture of of how the little things in life – close relations, love and health – might be more important than we presume.”
Rodents Of Unusual Size takes us up-close into a large region south of New Orleans that survived hurricane Katrina and is now facing its latest threat—hordes of monstrous 20 pound rodents known as the nutria.
The documentary by award winning filmmaking team Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer (Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea and Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone) & co-director Quinn Costello. The film will screen as part of 2017 DOC NYC at the IFC Film Center on November 15th at 7:15pm.
Louisiana’s coastal wetlands are one of the largest disappearing landmasses in the world and the voracious appetite of this curious and unexpected invasive species from South America is greatly accelerating coastal erosion, which in turn makes the area even more vulnerable to hurricanes. As the coastline disappears, the hunters and trappers, fishermen and shrimpers, storytellers and musicians that makes Louisiana a country unto itself are leaving en masse. Nonetheless, a stalwart few remain and are fighting back.
Rodents Of Unusual Size tells the story of one such diehard, Thomas Gonzales, and his community of Delacroix Island, as they resist the invasion of the rodents. The state of Louisiana has started a program that pays a $5 bounty for every nutria tail collected, which has helped the effort, by encouraging former trappers to hunt the nutrias for their tails instead of the fur. Others have tried business ventures to harvest the nutria for their fur and meat, in hopes that by creating a demand for this sustainable resource, they could help protect the wetlands and fight back the rodents.
And yet despite the havoc this invasive species has wrought on Southern Louisiana, it has also been embraced by the culture. The Audubon Zoo in New Orleans has opened a nutria exhibit, the local Triple-A baseball team has a nutria as a mascot, a fashion collective designs clothing made out of nutria promoting it as “sustainable fur” and even some Cajuns have nutria as pets.
Through the offbeat and unexpected stories of the people confronting the nutria problem, the film confronts issues surrounding coastal erosion, the devastation following hurricanes, loss of culture and homeland, and the resilience of the human spirit.
Brooklyn-based comedian Hari Kondabolu is the host of the popular podcast “Politically Re-Active” alongside W. Kamau Bell. In the new documentary, The Problem With Apu he tackles minority media representation and specifically Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Indian immigrant proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a convenience store in Springfield – in the animated television series The Simpsons.
In this highly-personal, insightful and timely exploration of minority media representation, Kondabolu speaks with prominent South Asian actors about the damaging legacy of Apu – who is voiced by a white actor with a heavily exaggerated, stereotypical Indian accent.
Aziz Ansari, Kal Penn, Aasif Mandvi, Hasan Minjaj, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Aparna Nancherla, Russell Peters, Sakina Jaffrey and Maulik Pancholy share poignant stories about their own experiences with Apu and the broader questions about the comedy and representation he evokes.
With additional interviews with EGOT-winner Whoopi Goldberg, W. Kamau Bell, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Mallika Rao, and many more, The Problem With Apu takes a humorous look at how even a beloved television series can have a blind spot.
The Problem With Apu directed by Michael Melamedoff will World Premiere at DOC NYC 2017 on Tuesday, November 14, 2017; and will make its television premiere on truTV Sunday, November 19 at 10PM ET/PT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGzvEqBvkP8
Saving Brinton follows eccentric collector Mike Zahs who discovers the showreels of the man who brought the moving picture to the Heartland. He begins a journey to restore the legacy of America’s greatest barnstorming movie man and save these irreplaceable cinematic treasures from turning to dust.
The documentary film, directed by Tommy Haines and Andrew Sherburn, will make its NYC premiere at 2017 DOC NYC on November 13 and 14, 2017.
The screenings of Saving Brinton are presented at DOC NYC with an additional 10-minute package of silent films from the collection with live narration by film subject Michael Zahs. Included among the shorts are films by Edison and the Lumière brothers as well as a rediscovered “lost film” from 1904 by George Méliés that premiered in October 2017 at the prestigious Pordenone Silent Film Festival.
In a farmhouse basement on the Iowa countryside, eccentric collector Mike Zahs makes a remarkable discovery: the showreels of the man who brought the moving picture to America’s Heartland. Among the treasures: rare footage of President Teddy Roosevelt, the first moving images from Burma, a lost relic from magical effects godfather Georges Méliés. These are the films that introduced movies to the world. And they didn’t end up in Iowa by accident.
Amid the old nitrate reels are the artifacts of William Franklin Brinton. From thousands of trinkets, handwritten journals, receipts, posters and catalogs emerges the story of an inventive farmboy who became America’s greatest barnstorming movieman.
As Mike uncovers this hidden legacy, he begins a journey restore the Brinton name and return the films to big screen glory in the same small-town movie theater where Frank first turned on a projector over a century ago.
By uniting community through a pride in their living history Mike embodies a welcome antidote to the breakneck pace of our disposable society. “Saving Brinton” is a portrait of this unlikely Midwestern folk hero, at once a meditation on living simply and a celebration of dreaming big.
Mariam Shaar in Soufra[/caption]
The award-winning documentary film Soufra follows the inspirational story of intrepid social entrepreneur, Mariam Shaar – a refugee who has spent her entire life in the 69-year-old Burl El Barajneh refugee camp south of Beirut, Lebanon.
Soufra, directed by award-winning filmmaker Thomas Morgan (Storied Streets, Waiting for Mamu), will have its North American Premiere at the DOC NYC Film Festival in New York on November 12th.
[caption id="attachment_25078" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Manal Hassan and Maha Hajjaj vegetable shopping in SOUFRA[/caption]
The film chronicles Mariam and a diverse team of fellow refugee women, from throughout the Middle East who share the camp as their home as they set out to change their fate by launching a catering company, “Soufra,” and then expanding its reach (thanks to an astonishing Kickstarter campaign), outside the camp with a food truck business. Together, they heal the wounds of war through the unifying power of food while taking their future into their own hands.
Soufra is produced by Primetime Emmy®-winning filmmaker Kathleen Glynn (Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, TV Nation), Rebelhouse President, Trevor Hall, Pilgrim Media Group President & CEO Craig Piligian, and executive produced by Academy Award®-winning actress Susan Sarandon.
The documentary Maynard, directed by the prolific filmmaker Sam Pollard, has wrapped as the film enters post production in Atlanta, Georgia.
He was Obama before Obama, Maynard Holbrook Jackson became first black Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia in 1973 and this film is an exploration into a man who had dreams and ambitions to be a public servant for his people seeing that it was the next logical step in the journey that had been started by Dr. King, and so many others who had blazed the trail during the years of horrific segregation.
Maynard interviews include President Bill Clinton, Al Sharpton, Vernon Jordan, Ambassador Andrew Young, Rev. Joseph Lowery, Jesse Jackson, former Atlanta Mayor’s Sam Massel and Shirley Franklin, and current Mayor Kasim Reed to name a few.
Directed by Academy Award nominee, Emmy winner and 4 time Peabody Award winner Sam Pollard (“Slavery by Another Name”, “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me”, “Two Trains Runnin’”), Maynard is produced by Wendy Eley Jackson, Dolly Turner, and Winsome Sinclair with cinematography by Henry Adebonojo who worked on the Academy Award nominated documentary “I Am Not Your Negro”.
Update: MAYNARD will World Premiere at 2017 DOC NYC on Thursday, November 16th, 2017.
“If you have ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what is out there, this is the film for you.” Director Paul Hildebrandt puts into perspective the danger and detachment of America’s growing apathy for astronomy in his documentary Fight for Space. Though the Space Race inspired several generations to chase space and seek careers in science and technology, we’ve seen a steady decline in educational pursuit of space exploration in recent years. Fight for Space urges viewers to reawaken the sense of wonder and discovery and includes interviews with big names such as Bill Nye and Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell who share Hildebrandt’s vision for the future of the final frontier. We sat down with Paul, who’s love for astronomy, fascination with science fiction and concern for future generations galvanized this push to reinvest money and minds into space education.
What was your main motivation for making the documentary?
As an aspiring science fiction writer and soon-to-be father in 2012, I began to think of both how little the future seemed to be offering the next generation in terms of space flight. With the Space Shuttle just having been retired, and the Constellation program canceled, things were not looking up. I dropped the pen on trying to write a science fiction movie, believing that the Star Trek future would never exist until we figure out how to get out of low earth orbit. I had the idea to do a documentary on these issues as a way of bringing attention to them, and off we went.
Have you always been interested in Astronomy or is it something you came to later in life?
For as long as I can remember I’ve always been interested in space. Through both practical astronomy and science fiction. I’ve always wondered what could be out there.
Why do you think we lost interest in space education?
Interest in space education and space flight in general has had a bumpy road. In the 60s we were in a cold war with the Soviet Union and this spurred science education further than it had ever been before. Ever since then the focus has been mostly on earth bound problems which seem to resurface and repeat themselves constantly. Today space gets a few headlines and tv specials when NASA or SpaceX announces something, but we haven’t seen any of this come to be yet. To reignite interest in space we need to actually do something, not just talk about. Pulling back from the Moon and ending that program was I believe, a huge mistake and the ultimate answer to your question.
How long did it take to shoot? Did you run into any challenges while making it?
The film took about 4 years and change to make and it was incredibly challenging for me, both personally and professionally. NASA for example, did not want any part of the project because the question of “Why haven’t we gone back to the Moon?” Was too negative for their PR. I was given great help in finding footage and acquiring information but completely restricted from visiting any NASA facility or interviewing any NASA personnel officially. So a film that was originally going to be a film looking at how NASA was going to do all these great things in the future turned into more of a tragedy about why we stopped going and how messed up things are today. I learned a lot making this film and I’m excited to take these lessons into my next film, producing it quicker and more efficiently.
Can you tell our readers why they should see Fight for Space and what you want the audience to take away from the film?
Fight for Space is a film about the great things that we have done, and what we can do if we put our heads together and just do it. I’d like the audience to take away from this film all of the benefits that can be gained by doing space exploration and to see how badly it’s been messed up over the years. If you have ever looked up at the night sky and wondered what is out there, this is the film for you.
Can you give tips to any prospective Documentary film makers and what did you learn while making Fight for Space?
First, film making is collaborative, you can’t do everything yourself as much as you want to try. With that said it’s also important to follow your heart and make the film how you want to make it. Be expressive with your style of film making.
I learned more making Fight for Space than I ever did in any film class or formal training. Trial and error in both film making, dealing with people both close and far, public relations, technical requirements, archival research, the list is endless. I think the greatest way to learn how to make a movie is to make one. You can’t be told how to do it.
What’s next step for both you and the doc?
For the doc, I hope to continue showing it around the country and various festivals and then finally get it on some streaming services so everyone can see it as soon as possible.
As for me, after I wind down from this it’s off to make more documentaries, maybe about space, maybe not. Taking what I’ve learned and doing it better than I did last time, that’s what it’s about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e58zMy9kvuU
Woman On Fire[/caption]
In addition to the grueling physical and emotional strength it takes to be a firefighter, Brooke Guinan bore the weight of judgment and the weight of hormonal changes to carry out both her desire to be a firefighter and her destiny to transition from male to female. Woman On Fire documents the life and struggles Guinan went through to fulfill both sides of who she was meant to be. The documentary takes a powerful look at the path of transitioning your gender in an overwhelmingly macho profession. We interviewed the director Julie Sokolow to discuss the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of making the film and the message it gets across.
This is such an important and moving topic, can you briefly describe what Women on Fire is about?
Woman on Fire tells the story of Brooke Guinan, the first openly transgender firefighter in NYC. She’s also a third generation firefighter whose father and grandfather served in the FDNY. We follow Brooke as she emerges as a national role model – working against all odds to come out as transgender in an old-school, conservative workplace all while recruiting and training women and LGBTQ people for one of the most traditional jobs in the world.
What was your main motivation for making the documentary?
In 2014, an empowering photograph of Brooke went viral. She’s standing tall with her hands on her hips in a shirt that reads, “So Trans So What”. I thought, wow, she is the future. Her story sparked my imagination of a society in which we work peacefully alongside trans individuals in all sorts of professions. Brooke’s father George is a respected lieutenant with 35 years on the job. He’s also Republican, devoutly Christian, and very accepting of Brooke. To me, their relationship embodied the polarized political forces in America today. I wanted to explore that and celebrate Brooke’s unique life and family.
How long did it take to shoot? Did you run into any challenges while making it?
The film took about a year and a half to shoot. I was simultaneously editing while shooting towards the end. Brooke’s life was so dynamic, I didn’t want to leave anything out of the edit. She was busy working at FDNY headquarters and volunteering with the United Women Firefighters, all while buying a house with her partner Jim and considering marriage. So the film is all of these things – part family history, part love story, part expose.
Can you tell our readers why they should see Woman on Fire and what you want the audience to take away from the film?
You should see Woman on Fire because it is authentic, funny, sweet, and inspiring – just like Brooke. Brooke and I became great friends through the making of this film. I hope our friendship is contagious to audiences and people leave the theater with a sense of kindness for the trans people they encounter in their own lives.
Can you give tips to any prospective Documentary filmmakers?/What did you learn while making Woman on Fire?
One of the coolest parts of making this film was getting really close with Brooke and her family. I would stay at their house for weeks at a time while filming. I know that’s not possible for every documentary, but I really liked the intimacy. It wasn’t just me filming for a couple of hours and then running back home to my own life. Brooke became part of my life and I became part of hers. I think that helped me tell a better story. So I guess the advice is to be immersed and invested in the stories you tell as best you can.
What’s the next step for both you and the doc?
Woman on Fire premieres at DOC NYC on November 15th, followed by an encore screening on November 17th. After that, we’ll play more festivals, tour around, and try to share Brooke’s story as much as we can. The story is a beacon of hope in these tough times so I can’t wait for people to be able to see it and get inspired by Brooke the way she inspired me.