DOC NYC - Largest Doc Fest

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Wednesday, 26 October 2011 05:00

Written by L E Shannon

The second DOC NYC is screening November 2 - 10, 2011 at IFC Center in Greenwich Village, New York University’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts and NYU's Kimmel Center in Manhattan, New York City.

DOC NYC, New York’s Documentary Festival, is regarded as "the largest festival of its kind ever held in New York". Now, as never before, documentaries are proliferating and more readily available. DOC NYC "celebrates this cultural phenomenon and encourages its new directions."

This year‛s tracks are:

• Viewfinders Competition
• Icons – Films profiling iconic figures
• American Perspectives
• International Perspectives
• Shorts
• Short List
• Kaleidoscope Family Docs
• Midnight Rock Docs

The Opening Night film is Into The Abyss directed by Werner Herzog, who will present the film for its New York premiere.

The Centerpiece Gala, introduced by Russell Simmons, is the US premiere of Lemon, directed by Laura Brownson and Beth Levison, chronicling the theatrical comeback of Tony Award-winner Lemon Andersen.

The Spotlight Gala is The Island President, directed by Jon Shenk, a look at the Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed and his campaign to save his country from environmental destruction. The film recently won the People’s Choice Documentary Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Tribute to Richard Leacock

In honor of the cinéma vérité pioneer, who died on March 23, 2011, the festival will showcase his contributions to classics such as:

• Louisiana Story – Leacock was hired by Robert Flaherty to film the story of oil exploration in the bayou through the eyes of a Cajun boy.
• Primary (1960) – producer Robert Drew and Leacock convinced John F. Kennedy to grant unprecedented access to his Presidential campaign.
• In Crisis (1963) – Drew’s team captures a showdown between Governor George Wallace (filmed by Leacock in Alabama) and Kennedy (filmed by D.A. Pennebaker in the White House) over school integration.

Also showing are four hard-to-find shorts, regarded as "essential touchstones of documentary film history".

• Canary Island Bananas (11 min, 1935), Leacock’s first film, was made in his teens and memorialized his father’s banana plantation.
• Toby and the Tall Corn (30 min, 1954), about a Midwest tent show, was a breakthrough in handheld camera work.
• Happy Mother’s Day (26 min, 1964; co-directed by Joyce Chopra) looks at the frenzy of attention around the mother of quintuplets.
• Chiefs (20 min, 1967; co-directed by Noel Parmentel), chronicles a police convention during the turbulent Vietnam War era.

Films will be introduced by noted filmmakers and Leacock family members.

Other Special Event screenings include:

• Charlotte Rampling: The Look, directed by Angelina Maccarone – a journey through the actress’s remarkable career
• An Evening With Elliott Erwitt – with the great Magnum photographer on hand to discuss his lesser-known forays into doc filmmaking
• A Force of Nature, Barbara Kopple’s profile of journalist and philanthropist Ellen Ratner
• Happy People: A Year in the Taiga, Werner Herzog‛s reworking of Dmitry Vasyukov‛s opus
• The Sound of Mumbai: A Musical, directed by Sarah McCarthy – a unique Indo-twist on The Sound of Music

Some new films being screened are:

Calvet
dir. Dominic Allan
This profile of French painter Jean Marc Calvet recounts his incredible life story who went from Cannes bodyguard to addict to self-taught artist at age 38.

Depeche Mode 101
dir. Davis Dawkins, Chris Hegedus, D. A. Pennebaker
The sounds of the 80s over all, the film joins Depeche Mode on the road as they travel across the country to the band’s final concert at the Rose Bowl in California.

Empty Hand: the Real Karate Kids
dir. Kevin Derek
Four young Americans compete in the biggest tournament of the year as their relationships to family, teachers and opponents "drive them through the rigors and sacrifices of training".

Jealous of the Birds
dir. Jordan Bahat
"Some 15,000 Holocaust survivors remained in Germany after WWII. How could they stay? Filmmaker Bahat explores what it means for victims to live among perpetrators and the effects of these relationships on future generations.

Also screening are favorites shown at other festivals through the year:

• Blazing the Trail: The O'Kalems in Ireland, dir. Peter Flynn
• Bringing King to China, dir. Kevin McKiernan
• Buck, dir. Cindy Meehl
• I'm Carolyn Parker: the Good, the Mad and the Beautiful, dir. Jonathan Demme
• The Interrupters, dir. Steve James
• Page One: Inside the New York Times, dir. Andrew Rossi
• With Great Power: the Stan Lee Story, dir. Nikki Frakes, Terry Dougas, Will Hess

Panels include:

• In Conversation: Jonathan Demme
• How Film and Philanthropy Work Together
• What's Fair in Fair Use?
• Turning Tough Topics into Great Stories
• Case Study:
• Making and Distributing Buck
• Taking on Controversy

This festival is one of the best mixes of genres, topics, and both current and classic films.

For more information, go to www.docnyc.net.

DOC NYC
November 2 - 10, 2011

IFC Center
323 Ave. of the Americas
New York City

Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
New York University
566 Laguardia Place
New York City

Kimmel Center
New York University
60 Washington Square South
New York City

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