DOC NYC Sets 115-Film Lineup Led by Amazon Artist Story
DOC NYC will open its 17th edition with The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs, the story of 75-year-old Indigenous artist Sara Flores. The documentary festival runs in person in Manhattan from 11 to 19 November and continues online through 29 November, according to lineup details reported by Variety. That two-part shape is now familiar. Cinemas first. Streaming after.
The opener is directed by Èlia Gasull Balada and Matteo Norzi. It follows Flores from the Peruvian Amazon into the global contemporary art scene. The film starts small and personal, with one painter late in life finding a wider audience.
The festival will close with Totality, from Kate Davis and David Heilbroner. The film looks back at the 2024 solar eclipse that crossed North America. Millions watched that day. The choice gives DOC NYC a communal ending.
The centrepiece slot goes to Union Town, from Barbara Kopple. A centrepiece sits near the middle of the programme and often carries extra attention. Kopple is a long-established documentary maker, and her presence adds weight to the week.
The main slate is large. It holds 115 feature-length documentaries, which are non-fiction films made for cinema-length release. The list includes 26 world premieres, meaning first screenings anywhere, and 27 U.S. premieres, meaning first screenings in the United States. Artistic director Jaie LaPlante leads the selection.
Two Special Presentations will also arrive as world premieres. Primetime Preacher$, from Joe Berlinger, revisits the televangelists of the 1980s, the preachers who built large followings on television. Palace of Gold, from Abhay Sofsky and Halavah Sofsky, turns to the New Vrindaban commune. Both strands suit a festival that mixes cultural history with recent memory.
For viewers, this means choice. New York audiences can watch in rooms together in November. Others can catch up online until the end of the month. The festival will also hold its 13th annual Visionaries Tribute at Gotham Hall in New York on 11 November, according to DOC NYC.
What makes this stand out is range. One film begins in the Amazon. Another ends under an eclipse shadow. Between them sit stories of faith, community and art. All of it plays out in nine days of cinemas, then ten more days online.
