Screen image from House of Cardin
Screen image from House of Cardin
10th DOC NYC is November 6-15

(released 10/29/2019)


DOC NYC will be November 6-15, 2019 with a mission to curate, cross fertilize, cross generations, cultivate new audiences, expand distribution, create social space, and make the most of NYC.  In addition to presenting the largest documentary film festival in America, DOC NYC PRO and DOCNYC VISIONARY TRIBUTE will take place parallel in time.

DOC NYC will celebrate it's ten year anniversary this year since it's inaugural event in 2010. Based at the West Village IFC Center, Chelsea's SVA Theater and Bow Tie Cinema, the festival will highlight new achievements in documentary film as well as panels and conversations seeking to make connections that "only happen in NY."  Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen and Artistic Director Thom Powers will oversee festival days full of 300 plus films, episodic content and events of interest for documentary fans and filmmakers.

This year's festival poster is a tribute to filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker who was a part of the festival since it's inception.

DOC NYC VISIONARY TRIBUTE will take place November 7 in the form of a tribute luncheon.  Lifetime Achievement Awards for a distinguished output of documentaries will go to two recipients in 2019:

Martin Scorsese - his latest nonfiction work is Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story. Among his other acclaimed nonfiction films are The 50 Year Argument; George Harrison: Living in the Material World; No Direction Home: Bob Dylan; The Blues; My Voyage to Italy; The Last Waltz; A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies; Public Speaking; and Italianamerican.

Michael Apted director of the 7 Up series, a study of the British class system that brings forth a new film every seven years. The latest film in his series, 63 Up, presented by BritBox, will be released in fall 2019. His other documentaries include Married in America; Me & Isaac Newton; Moving the Mountain; Inspirations; Incident at Oglala; and Bring on the Night.

The Leading Light Award honors an individual making critical contributions to documentary in a role other than as a filmmaker. This year the award will be presented to Cynthia Lopez. Lopez is currently serving as Executive Director of New York Women in Film and Television and is the former Commissioner of New York City Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment.  Prior to working as Commissioner, she was Executive Vice President and co-Executive Producer of the award-winning PBS documentary series American Documentary | POV, and was involved in the organization's strategic growth and creative development for 14 years.

The Robert and Anne Drew Award will go to Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, the filmmaking team behind this year's American Factory; the Oscar-nominated short The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant; and the feature A Lion in the House. Reichert was Oscar-nominated for her documentary feature films Union Maids and Seeing Red: Stories of American Communists. Her first film was Growing Up Female, which is on the National Film Registry. Bognar's solo films are Personal Belongings, Picture Day and Gravel. The award includes a $5,000 cash prize to the filmmakers contributed by Drew Associates, under the helm of Jill Drew.

The Visionaries Tribute is co-presented by Leadership Sponsor Netflix, Supporting Sponsor National Geographic Documentary Films and Signature Sponsor Bloomberg Philanthropies and NEON.

If you're interested in purchasing a table or individual seats for the awards luncheon, please contact jen@docnyc.net.

The DOCNYC PRO conference will take place November 7-14. Each day of the conference features at least two distinct, subject themed day long programming tracks.  Organizations participating in PRO conference include: A&E Indie Films, HBO Documentary Films, Impact Partners, Netflix, and Showtime Documentary Films.

To view all of the events mentioned above in more detail, go to docnyc.net

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