Black and Missing
Sisters-in-law Derrica and Natalie Wilson dedicated their lives to locate Black people who are missing by bringing awareness to their cases, which have often been marginalize by law enforcement and traditional media. DOC NYC will preview one episode of the upcoming four-part HBO series about their work that was created by Soledad O’Brien and Geeta Gandbhir. We watch as the Wilsons use their experience to put the mother of the missing Michelle Green on The View, prompting a tip that leads to a hopeful turn in the case.
Also Directed by Geeta Gandbhir
Robert De Niro, Sr., was a celebrated painter obscured by the pop-art movement. His life and career are chronicled in the artist's own words by his contemporaries and, movingly, by his son, the actor Robert De Niro.
A short documentary exploring the connection between Christianity and homophobia in the wake of the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
Through Our Eyes is an intimate and inspiring journey into the lives of American families, from the perspective of children themselves as they navigate formidable yet all-too-common challenges along with parents and siblings. The four-part docuseries captures the innocence of childhood and the strength of perseverance in the face of parental incarceration, climate displacement, the wounds of war, and homelessness.
Prison Dogs is a story of redemption, strength, fear, love, and dedication. In this wonderfully human tale, prison inmates, along with veterans suffering with PTSD, find a path to a second chance at life through their love and care of a puppy.
The modern criminal justice system is hindered by the fact that countless rape kits remain untested in police evidence storage facilities across the United States. Only eight states currently have laws requiring mandatory testing of rape kits.
Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, this documentary tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for voting rights, but for Black Power in Lowndes County, Alabama.
A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers acquaints us with the personal side a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the wake of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake.
The cost of college is forcing students to make choices that put eating regular meals and their education at odds. Director Geeta Gandbhir and executive producer Soledad O’Brien’s poignant film follows four college students as they navigate food insecurity in their attempt to change their lives for the better. Homelessness, abandonment and mental health issues loom as students are caught between educational institutions’ pursuit of profit during “the best time of their lives.”
A cinematic tale of deportation, migration, displacement and opportunistic capitalism, Call Center Blues follows four characters as they struggle to make sense of their lives in Tijuana. Each with a vastly different story, they are all linked by their displacement and the sole choice of call center work they have in a country that is so unfamiliar and oftentimes frightening, yet other times a ray of hope. Tijuana becomes their home, a place defined by the border but yet defiant towards it, a no man's land where everything and everyone feels transient. These characters paint a picture of love, loss and longing - for home, for an American Dream deferred, and for justice.
Also Directed by Yoruba Richen
The New Black is a documentary that tells the story of how the African-American community is grappling with the gay rights issue in light of the recent gay marriage movement and the fight over civil rights. The film documents activists, families and clergy on both sides of the campaign to legalize gay marriage and examines homophobia in the black community's institutional pillar-the black church and reveals the Christian right wing's strategy of exploiting this phenomenon in order to pursue an anti-gay political agenda. The New Black takes viewers into the pews and onto the streets and provides a seat at the kitchen table as it tells the story of the historic fight to win marriage equality in Maryland and charts the evolution of this divisive issue within the black community.
For one week in February 1968, Johnny Carson gave up his chair to Harry Belafonte, the first time an African-American had hosted a late night TV show for a whole week.
Meet two women fighting against race-based gerrymandering in North Carolina: Val Applewhite, a plaintiff in a landmark Supreme Court case, and Moon Duchin, a mathematician who empowers organizers to use data to advocate for fairly drawn electoral maps.
Promised Land examines post-apartheid South Africa's efforts to bring about racial reconciliation through land redistribution. The film follows two black communities that are trying to get back land they say their ancestors were removed from during apartheid. The land is currently owned by white landowners and the film follows the mutli-year efforts of both groups to get and keep possession of the land. Through these two stories, the epic battle of over race and land is played out with very real consequences for all sides. The audience will see why many inside the country call the land issue the 'ticking time bomb' that has the potential to destroy the fragile racial compact that the new South Africa was built on.
Beyond her historic role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, this comprehensive dive into Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks sheds light on her extensive organizing, radical politics, and lifelong dedication to activism.
In the 1930s, a black postal carrier from Harlem named Victor Green published a book that was part travel guide and part survival guide. It was called The Negro Motorist Green Book, and it helped African-Americans navigate safe passage across America well into the 1960s. Explore some of the segregated nation's safe havens and notorious "sundown towns" and witness stories of struggle and indignity as well as opportunity and triumph.
Tells the inspiring story of how six iconic African American female entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – challenged an entertainment industry deeply complicit in perpetuating racist stereotypes, and transformed themselves and their audiences in the process.
Also Directed by Nadia Hallgren
In 2016, transgender teen Gavin Grimm sued his local school board after its members refused to let him use the bathroom of his choice. He was ready to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court—and then the election happened.
Join former first lady Michelle Obama in an intimate documentary looking at her life, hopes and connection with others.
For her first hourlong stand-up special, comedian/actress/producer Aida Rodriguez takes the stage in the Bronx to tackle the issues of the day – not just because they’re ripped from the headlines, but because they’re in the pages of her personal life story. With her grounded and unapologetic point of view, Rodriguez gets candid about being worn out from political comedy, embracing both sides of her heritage, getting back into the dating game, and so much more.
Strong Puerto Rican women forced to flee the island after Hurricane Maria have bonded like family in a FEMA hotel in the Bronx. They seek stability in their new life as forces try to pull them apart.
Tells the story of a Bronx housing project’s floodlights, which some residents find oppressive.
Crump's mission to raise the value of Black life as the civil lawyer for the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Black farmers and banking while Black victims, Crump challenges America to come to terms with what it owes his clients.
Titled “The Show,” the 90-minute feature will be directed by “Becoming’s” Nadia Hallgren and is set to premiere late this year. Pepsi, which produces the halftime show each year, will produce the doc with Boardwalk Pictures.
An operatic film adaptation of the poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar of the same name.
Also Directed by Samantha Knowles
TANGLED ROOTS follows Kentucky State Representative Attica Scott as she fights to pass a bill that would dismantle a system of discrimination against black people who are penalized for something seemingly innocuous — their hair.