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DOC NYC Celebrates 10th Anniversary in Latest Fest
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 16 October 2019 20:26
- Written by Brad Balfour
Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over
DOC NYC, one of America’s largest documentary festivals, returns to New York for its tenth anniversary edition. Running November 6-15 at the IFC Center (323 6th Ave), the SVA Theatre (333 West 23rd Street) and Cinépolis Chelsea (260 West 23rd Street). The 2019 festival includes 136 feature-length documentaries among over 300 films and events Included are 28 world premieres, 27 North American premieres and 59 NYC premieres, with more than 500 doc makers and special guests expected in person to present their films or participate on panels.
The Opening Night film, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band, directed by Daniel Roher, about the legendary musicians, with Robbie Robertson in attendance. Closing Night film, The Capote Tapes, from Ebs Burnough, a look at the life of Truman Capote, with André Leon Talley participating in a post-show Q&A with the director. The festival’s Centerpiece presentation, Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, by Eva Orner, on the disgraced head of the yoga empire that bears his name.
“Our tenth anniversary lineup reflects a more international scope than in previous years, drawing compelling stories from all over the world, in addition to a rich selection of American nonfiction,” said Director of Programming Basil Tsiokos. “Where better to experience this diversity of documentary storytelling than NYC?” Tsiokos leads the programming team in collaboration with Artistic Director Thom Powers.
In the Metropolis competition section are films set in New York City, including the world premieres of The Grand Unified Theory of Howard Bloom, a portrait of an eccentric music publicist turned evolutionary philosopher. In I’m Gonna Make You Love Me we learn about Brian Belovitch, who spent more than a decade as a woman before transitioning back to being a man. Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over, on the pioneering No Wave singer, writer and actress; and Maurice Hines: Bring Them Back, a portrait of the charismatic Broadway song-and-dance man.
Other returning sections include high-profile Special Events; national and global takes in American Perspectives and International Perspectives; and thematic sections Portraits (profiling singular individuals), Modern Family (on unconventional families), New World Order (on today’s most urgent issues), In the System (inside looks at institutions), Fight the Power (on activism), Art and Design (on art, photography and design), Behind the Scenes (on filmmaking), and Sonic Cinema (on music).
DOC NYC will welcome over 500 filmmakers and special guests in attendance for Q&As after most screenings and for DOC NYC PRO panels.
Special Guests include:
- Robbie Robertson
- Dr. Ruth Westheimer
- Ben Taylor
- Sally Taylor
- Kori Wither
- Chris Stills
- André Leon Talley
- Lydia Lunch
- Thurston Moore
- Donita Sparks
- Maurice Hines, Nicholas Kristof
- Sheryl WuDunn
- Soledad O’Brien
- Elliott Erwitt
- Audrey Flack
- Buster Williams
To learn more, go to: https://www.docnyc.net/
Doc NYC
November 6 - 15, 2019
Various Venues
Nordic International Film Festival Sets Sail for NYC
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Tuesday, 15 October 2019 15:02
- Written by Brad Balfour
Involuntary Activist
The Roxy Cinema (2 6th Avenue) will be playing host to a fleet of films from Europe’s Nordic filmmakers. The Nordic International Film Festival (NIFF), running October 16 to the 20th, highlights the work of independent and up-and-coming Nordic and international filmmakers. The Festival’s goal is to create not just a celebration of Nordic films, but also a place where filmmakers can network and grow..
The festival has world, international, and New York premieres in its slate. The Opening Night feature is X & Y from director Anna Odell (The Reunion), in which an artist recruits a group of actors to live in a warehouse and explore concepts of identity and sexuality. Several films shown at NIFF are part of a collaboration with Film i Väst in the Aurora Borealis category, showcasing new talent.One of these films is Involuntary Activist from Mikael Bundsen, in which a married, openly gay teacher in Wales faces the choice of betraying his family or his core values when his older sister asks him to step back into the closet for her wedding in Turkey. In Moonfire, directed by Kasper Juhl, a brother and sister live intertwined by dark obsession and tension rises when a photographer enters their lives.
The NIFF will also have guest speakers and many of the filmmakers in attendance presenting after the films. There will also be a free panel open to the public called “How to finance independent films told from different perspectives”, moderated by Vareity.
To learn more, go to: https://www.nordicfilmfest.org/
Nordic International Film Festival
October 16 - 20, 2019
Roxy Cinema
Roxy Hotel Cellar Level
2 6th Ave
New York, NY 10013
7th Edition of the Chelsea Film Festival: From the Oceans to Outer Space
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Wednesday, 02 October 2019 15:39
- Written by Brad Balfour
Now in its 7th year, the Chelsea Film Festival brings an international selection of shorts, features, and documentaries to NYC. Running October 17 to the 20th at the AMC Loews 34th Street (312 west 34th street), the fest includes films from Australia, USA, UK, France, Turkey, India, Japan and South Africa.
The festival opens with the South African film Uncovered, from director Zuko Nodada in which a woman investigates the murder of her sister and how it’s tied to a corrupt mine. Other films include Chasing the Present, director Mark Waters’ documentary which follows James Sebastiano, a materially successful young man, as he engages in a perpetual battle against anxiety that takes him on a worldwide journey of self discovery from the streets of New York, to the stillness of the Ganges, and deep into the jungles of Peru. She is the Ocean is a documentary from Inna Blokhina about four women from around the world and how through surfing are tied to the ocean.
Virtual Reality is represented with a special block of VR programs in competition that go from outer space, to mountain ranges, to the music of Pink Floyd. Along with its films, the fest will also put on the Reel Magic Hour at the Manhattan Center (311 W 34th St.). Reel Magic Hour is a day long program that provides one hour panels designed for filmmakers to meet and network.
To learn more, go to: https://www.chelseafilm.org
7th Edition Chelsea Film Festival
October 17 - 20, 2019
AMC Loews 34th Street
312 W 34th St.
New York, NY 10001
Features, Docs, & More at the 20th Woodstock Film Fest
- Details
- Parent Category: Film Festivals
- Category: Previews
- Published on Sunday, 29 September 2019 19:18
- Written by Brad Balfour
Celebrating 20 years of films being screened in rural New York, the 2019 Woodstock Film Festival is a momentous occasion. Running October 2 to the 6th in Woodstock, NY, the fest features film greats, narrative features, documentaries, and shorts from new talent and longtime filmmakers. Films in competition includes the world premiere 18 To Party, from director Jeff Roda. The film, set in 1984 outside a small-town nightclub, follows a group of 8th graders grappling with a spate of recent suicides, UFO sightings, their absentee parents, and each other. Another world premiere at the fest is Parkland Rising, a documentary from two-time Emmy Award winner Cheryl Horner McDonough, Parkland Rising looks at the lives of survivors of the 2018 Parkland Florida school shooting and the movement they’re leading for gun reform.
The wide slate of shorts will include animated works, teen films, music videos, shorts by and for women, documentaries and more. Panels at the fest explore filmmaking in the Hudson Valley, trending issues, women in film, conversations with actors and directors participatng in the festival, and more.
To learn more go to: https://woodstockfilmfestival.org/
2019 Woodstock Film Festival
October 2 - 6, 2019
Box Office
13 Rock City Road
Woodstock, NY 12498
