For the past 13 years, New York City-based annual film festival DOC NYC has cemented itself as an incubator for the year’s best documentary productions, aiming to expose audiences to a diverse collection of storytellers. With an emphasis on curating films from both established and emerging voices, the festival’s lineup represents a diverse slate of content constantly reinventing the documentary canon. For the last decade, DOC NYC had the honor of screening nearly every documentary feature that has gone on to win an Academy Award.

The festival lineup is broken into various sections spanning from portrait films to the “Metropolis Competition” section, which is devoted entirely to New York City-centric stories and subjects.    

Upon reviewing this year’s lineup of films across the festival’s four sections — Features, Winner’s Circle, U.S. Competition and International Competition — WSN highlighted a small selection of the many exciting films worth checking out. 

Short List: Features 

“All That Breathes” directed by Shaunak Sen 

Shaunak Sen’s “All That Breathes” follows two brothers in New Delhi who are devoted to caring for black kites, a bird species facing extinction in the wake of the city’s rising pollution. After winning prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival, the film stands out as one of DOC NYC’s major highlights. The film’s investigation into the cost of human industry on wildlife is of pressing importance as the world neglects the perils of climate change. However, “All That Breathes” clings to hope, demonstrating how environmental activists can enact change, even if countries fail to do so.

“All The Beauty and The Bloodshed” directed by Laura Poitras 

In her latest film, Oscar-winning documentarian Laura Poitras investigates the years-long legal battle between celebrated photographer Nan Goldin and the Sackler family’s company in exacerbating the U.S. opioid crisis. Unlike her more straight-forward, research-heavy projects, Poitras evokes a tender gaze in documenting Goldin’s persistent head-butting with the pharmaceutical industry, producing a heartfelt rendering of one woman’s fight for justice. The film won the Golden Lion Award at this year’s Venice Film Festival, and it will be released following its run at DOC NYC on Nov. 24.

“Last Flight Home” directed by Ondi Timoner 

Ondi Timoner’s “Last Flight Home” uses observational filmmaking to document the final days of her father’s life and his decision to consciously terminate his own life. Timoner’s brave filmmaking documents her father’s time utilizing the California End of Life Option Act, and produces a candid and complex argument in favor of legally-assisted suicide. As Timoner’s father hopes to preserve his legacy by welcoming death with dignity, Timoner leaves the audience with a poignant reflection on finitude. 

“The Territory” directed by Alex Pritz 

“The Territory” follows a battle over land in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. Filmmaker Alex Pritz shows how the indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau community comes to fight Brazilian farmers encroaching on their supposedly state-protected territory. The film won both the Audience and the Special Jury Award for Documentary Craft at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and shows some of the best investigative reporting featured on the screen all year. 

Winner’s Circle 

“Aftershock” directed by Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee  

Directors Tonya Lewis Lee and Paula Eiselt address one of the most pressing ongoing health crises within the United States concerning Black maternal deaths: the death of Black women due to childbirth-related complications. The film follows the stories of two mothers in New York City, Shamony Gibson and Amber Isaac, as their bereaved families went on to become outspoken activists on the topic, organizing protests and lobbying to bring attention to one of the nation’s most neglected health crises. 

“Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom” directed by Evgeny Afineevsky  

Filmmaker Evgeny Afineevsky’s newest film covers the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It delivers a brief summary about the history of Ukraine, providing the audience with an intimate glimpse into the lives of those affected by the ongoing war in Eastern Europe. Afineevksy poignantly exposes the horrors of the invasion from a deeply humanizing perspective that allows citizens currently experiencing hardship to speak before the camera.

“2nd Chance” directed by Ramin Bahrani   

Bahrani’s first feature documentary focuses on the life of Richard Davis, the inventor of the bulletproof vest. The film explores Davis’ method of testing and advertising the effectiveness of body armor through shooting himself over a hundred times. Documenting Davis, Bahrani embarks on a mission to uncover and attempt to understand Davis’ path and how it reflects America’s obsessive paranoia around guns. 

U.S. Competition

“26.2 To Life” directed by Christine Yoo 

Tracing the lives of incarcerated men in California’s oldest state prison, Christine Yoo’s “26.2 To Life” looks at the San Quentin’s 1000 Mile Club, in which inmates train and run a marathon within the confines of the prison yard. The film showcases how these men engage in this ritual as a means of finding meaning beyond their sentences. Yoo’s camera is compassionate and understanding, diligently documenting the run-up and eventual completion of this monumental marathon. 

“1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted a Culture” directed by Sharon “Rocky” Roggio

“1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted a Culture” looks to understand the origins of homophobia by tracing the origin of the word. Filmmaker Sharon “Rocky” Roggio discovers the word first appeared in a 1946 mistranslation of the Bible that was peddled among conservative institutions to belittle the queer community. Tracing how the mistranslation engendered a history of indoctrinated homophobia in religious schools, Roggio lays bare the importance of language when it comes to negotiating power dynamics. Furthermore, the filmmaker’s use of her own story as the queer daughter of a minister makes her personal battle one harboring universal implications.

“Love in the Time of Fentanyl” directed by Colin Askey 

“Love in The Time of Fentanyl” is set in Vancouver, Canada — the nation’s hotspot for the ongoing opioid crisis. The documentary shines light on a volunteer-based community at the Overdose Prevention Society, which serves as a safe injection site for users in the downtown Eastside neighborhood. Director Colin Askey’s debut feature lends an ear to volunteers and users from OPS, offering a hopeful yet realistic representation of the crisis affecting the local community.

International Competition 

“Big Fight in Little Chinatown” directed by Karen Cho

Karen’s Cho’s “Big Fight in Little Chinatown” explores the sociocultural trauma of the pandemic and its lingering effects. By documenting Chinatowns in New York, Montreal and Vancouver, Cho chronicles how these communities came together to fight anti-Asian hate and stay afloat financially. The film offers a beautiful rendition of community-building, where people bound by tradition were able to hold on to meaning, in spite of the world’s downfall into senselessness.

“Children of Las Brisas” directed by Marianela Maldonado

Director Marianela Maldonado’s “Children of Las Brisas” is a story spanning across 10 years in her home country of Venezuela. In highlighting Venezuela’s ongoing political crisis, the film effectively filters the lives of its citizens through the lens of understanding. Maldonado films their struggles and successes with a shared compassion that makes for an honest depiction of life during sustained political turmoil. Foregrounding the role of music in the lives of Maldonado’s documentary subjects, the film produces a lively portrait of people holding on to art and tradition as an antidote to a broken state. 

“African Moot” directed by Shameela Seedat 

Shameela Seedat’s “African Moot” takes place during a one-week meeting in Gaborone, Botswana, where a collection of aspiring lawyers and orators discuss the future of human rights policies across the African continent. Tracing the African Rights Moot Court Competition mock trial, “African Moot” produces a spellbinding account of young lawyers coming to terms with the painful deliberation needed to bring forth solutions to quell the complex issues present in their nations. In its microscopic attachment to this trial, “African Moot” generates a weighty work of cultural importance that could be seen as a future blueprint for the negotiation of caring politics across African countries. 

Contact David Melean at [email protected].