DOC NYC has announced the majority of its 2021 slate. Of 112 features set to screen, 54 are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to about 48 percent of the program. The “Short List” section has yet to be unveiled.
Familiar titles from the festival circuit include “Cow,” Andrea Arnold’s portrait of a cow on an English farm, and “Writing with Fire,” Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh’s look inside a newspaper run entirely by semi-literate Dalit women, the lowest caste in Indian society. The former is screening in Kaleidoscope Competition – New Documentary Visions, and the latter in Winner’s Circle – International Award Winners.
“The Slow Hustle,” an investigation into the Baltimore Police Department from “The Wire” alumna Sonja Sohn, will screen in U.S. Competition, and Valerie Blankenbyl’s “The Bubble,” the story of the world’s biggest retirement community in Florida, is part of the International Competition. Overall, 10 of 12 titles in U.S. Competition are directed or co-directed by women, and six of 12 in International Competition.
Offerings in other sections include “Fanny: The Right to Rock,” Bobbi Jo Hart’s tribute to the first all-female rock band to release an album with a major label, “The Gig Is Up,” Shannon Walsh’s exploration of the gig economy, and “Try Harder!,” Debbie Lum’s portrait of five students at a competitive high school seeking acceptance letters from the colleges of their dreams.
Check out all of the women-directed and co-directed features that have been announced so far below, courtesy of DOC NYC. The fest will take place November 10-28.
U.S. COMPETITION
ANONYMOUS SISTER (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Jamie Boyle
BE OUR GUEST (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Diane Tsai
BOYCOTT (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Julia Bacha
EXPOSURE (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Holly Morris
GRANDPA WAS AN EMPEROR (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Constance Marks
ONCE UPON A TIME IN UGANDA (US Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Cathryne Czubek, Hugo Perez
REFUGE (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Erin Berhardt, Din Blankenship
THE SLOW HUSTLE (NYC Premiere) – Dir: Sonja Sohn
A TREE OF LIFE (World Premiere) – Dir: Trish Adlesic
UNITED STATES VS. REALITY WINNER (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Sonia Kennebeck
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
BE MY VOICE (North American Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Nahid Persson
THE BUBBLE (NYC Premiere) – Dir: Valerie Blankenbyl
F@CK THIS JOB (US Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Vera Krichevskaya
THE FORGOTTEN ONES (US Premiere) – Dir: Michale Boganim
GO THROUGH THE DARK (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Yunhong Pu
YOUNG PLATO (World Premiere) – Dir: Neasa Ní Chianáin, Declan McGrath
METROPOLIS COMPETITION – NEW YORK STORIES
CHARM CIRCLE (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Nira Burstein
KALEIDOSCOPE COMPETITION – NEW DOCUMENTARY VISIONS
COW (NYC Premiere) – Dir: Andrea Arnold
THE MAN WHO PAINTS WATER DROPS (US Premiere) – Dir: Oan Kim, Brigitte Bouillot
NOTHING BUT THE SUN (US Premiere) – Dir: Arami Ullón
THREE MINUTES A LENGTHENING (NYC Premiere) – Dir: Bianca Stigter
WINNER’S CIRCLE – INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNERS
MR. BACHMANN AND HIS CLASS – Dir/Prod: Maria Speth
A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING – Dir: Payal Kapadia
WRITING WITH FIRE – Dir/Prod: Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh
LUMINARIES – WORK BY DOCUMENTARY LEGENDS
100UP (US Premiere) – Dir: Heddy Honigmann
THE ENERGY WAR: “FILIBUSTER” (New Restoration) – Dir: Chris Hegedus, D. A. Pennebaker, Pat Powell
FIGHT THE POWER – STORIES OF ACTIVISM
BURNING (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Eva Orner
THE BUSINESS OF BIRTH CONTROL (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Abby Epstein
A DECENT HOME (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Sara Terry
THE GIG IS UP (NYC Premiere) – Dir: Shannon Walsh
INHOSPITABLE (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Sandra Alvarez
LADY BUDS (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Chris J. Russo
WE ARE RUSSIA (US Premiere) – Dir: Alexandra Dalsbaek
WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM IN AMERICA (NYC Premiere) – Dir: Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler
FOCUS: JOURNALISTS – NEWSMAKERS AND NEWSBREAKERS
THE SILENCE OF THE MOLE (US Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Anais Taracena
STORM LAKE (NYC Premiere) – Dir: Jerry Risius, Dir/Prod: Beth Levison
SONIC CINEMA – MOVIES ABOUT MUSIC
FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Bobbi Jo Hart
JAGGED (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Alison Klayman
THE JOBS OF SONGS (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Lila Schmitz
PORTRAITS – PROFILES OF SINGULAR INDIVIDUALS
LET ME BE ME (World Premiere) – Dir: Dan Crane, Katie Taber
ART + DESIGN – PROFILES OF ARTISTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS & DESIGNERS
THE ART OF MAKING IT (NYC Premiere) – Dir: Kelcey Edwards
BAD ATTITUDE: THE ART OF SPAIN RODRIGUEZ (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Susan Stern
KRIMES (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Alysa Nahmias
PHOTOGRAPHY & FILM – BEHIND THE CAMERA
ALIEN ON STAGE (US Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Danielle Kummer, Lucy Harvey
FILM, THE LIVING RECORD OF OUR MEMORY (US Premiere) – Dir: Inés FOREST FOR THE TREES (International Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Rita Leistner
PERSONAL JOURNEYS – STORIES OF DISCOVERY AND TRANSFORMATION
THE BENGALI (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Kavery Kaul
BLACK AND MISSING (World Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Samantha Knowles
GO HEAL YOURSELF (International Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Yasmin C. Rams
SUBJECTS OF DESIRE (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Jennifer Holness
COMING OF AGE – TALES OF GROWING UP
COLORS OF TOBI (US Premiere) – Dir: Alexa Bakony
CUSP (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Parker Hill, Isabel Bethencourt
TRY HARDER! (NYC Premiere) – Dir/Prod: Debbie Lum
SPORTS – DOCS ON JOCKS
MESSWOOD (World Premiere) – Dir. Emily Kuester, Brad Lichtenstein
