Skip to main content

DOC NYC · 2019

DOC NYC 2019

Winner's Circle

Programme

7 films · 3 reviews

Jump to a film

Advocate

Review preview for Advocate

The very nature of Tsemel's passion for her projects makes this a compelling watch

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Biographical documentary about Lea Tsemel who defends Palestinians: from feminists to fundamentalists, from non-violent demonstrators to armed militants.

(Country: Israel, Canada, Switzerland; Year: 2019; Director: Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaïche)

Full review

Cold Case Hammarskjöld

Danish director Mads Brügger and Swedish private investigator Göran Björkdahl are trying to solve the mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjöld. As their investigation closes in, they discover a crime far worse than killing the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

(Country: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Belgium; Year: 2019; Director: Mads Brügger; Writer: Mads Brügger; Stars: Göran Björkdahl, Mads Brügger, Göran Björkdahl, Mads Brügger)

The Fourth Kingdom: The Kingdom Of Plastics (El Cuarto Reino: El Reino De Los Plasticos)

Observational documentary about a recycling centre/community space in Brooklyn.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2019; Director: Àlex Lora Cercos)

Hope Frozen

Documentary about a family whose two-year-old was diagnosed with terminal cancer and their efforts to save her, including a turn to cryogenics after her death.

(Country: Thailand; Year: 2018; Director: Pailin Wedel; Writer: Nina Ijäs, Pailin Wedel)

Midnight Family

Review preview for Midnight Family

By keeping the camera in the back of the ambulance largely at a level above that of the various patients, Lorentzen ensures the film never becomes voyeuristic.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
In Mexico City's wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a for-profit ambulance, competing with other unlicensed EMTs for patients in need of urgent care. In this cutthroat industry, they struggle to keep their financial needs from compromising the people in their care.

(Country: Mexico, US; Year: 2019; Director: Luke Lorentzen; Writer: Luke Lorentzen)

Full review

Midnight Traveler (Midnight Traveller)

Review preview for Midnight Traveler

Unlike a more conventional refugee documentary - shot by an outsider parachuting in - this is an intimate and ongoing study in which the family have complete agency, lending the film an additional ring of truth.

Amber Wilkinson · 4.5 out of 5
When the Taliban puts a bounty on Afghan director Hassan Fazili’s head, he is forced to flee with his wife and two young daughters. Capturing their uncertain journey, Fazili shows firsthand the dangers facing refugees seeking asylum and the love shared between a family on the run.

(Country: US; Year: 2019; Director: Hassan Fazili)

Full review See: Midnight Traveler interview with Emelie Mahdavian and Su Kim

Sea Of Shadows

The vaquita, the world's smallest whale, is near extinction as its habitat is destroyed by Mexican cartels and Chinese mafia, who harvest the swim bladder of the totoaba fish, the "cocaine of the sea". Environmental activists, Mexican navy and undercover investigators are fighting back against this illegal multi-million-dollar business.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2018; Director: Richard Ladkani; Stars: Carlos Loret de Mola, Andrea Crosta, Jack Hutton, Alan Valverde, Javier Valverde, Cynthia Smith, Carlos Loret de Mola, Andrea Crosta, Jack Hutton, Alan Valverde, Javier Valverde, Cynthia Smith)