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DOC NYC · 2022

DOC NYC 2022

Winner's Circle

Programme

10 films · 4 reviews

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2nd Chance

Bankrupt pizzeria owner Richard Davis invented the modern-day bulletproof vest. To prove that it worked, he shot himself 192 times. He launched a multi-million-dollar company and became a cult figure among police. Davis’ rise and fall reveals a man of contradictions and the nature of power and impunity in America.

(Year: 2022; Director: Ramin Bahrani; Writer: Ramin Bahrani)

Aftershock

Review preview for Aftershock

While all of the statistics - and Eiselt and Lee ensure they keep on coming - are brutal, the positive energy of activism is at the heart of this documentary.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Following the preventable deaths of their partners due to childbirth complications, two bereaved fathers galvanise activists, birth-workers and physicians to reckon with one of the most pressing American crises of our time – the US maternal health crisis.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Paula Eiselt, Tonya Lewis Lee)

Full review

After Sherman

(Year: 2022; Director: Jon Sesrie Goff; Writer: Jon Sesrie Goff; Stars: Norvel Goff Sr.)

Bad Axe

After leaving NYC for his rural hometown of Bad Axe, MI at the start of the pandemic, an Asian-American filmmaker documents his family's struggles to keep their restaurant open.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: David Siev)

Freedom On Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom

A documentary about Ukraine's efforts to resist Russian invasion in 2022.

(Country: UK, Ukraine, US; Year: 2022; Director: Evgeny Afineevsky; Stars: Nataliia Nagorna, Stanislav Stovban, Anna Zaitseva, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Andriy Zelinskyy)

A House Made Of Splinters

Review preview for A House Made Of Splinters

There’s a rare intimacy about it.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
In eastern Ukraine, follow the daily life of children and staff in a special kind of home: an institution for children who have been removed from their homes while awaiting court custody decisions. Staff do their best to make the time children have there safe and supportive.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2022; Director: Simon Lereng Wilmont)

Full review

In Her Hands

At 26, Zarifa Ghafari, became one of Afghanistan's first female mayors and the youngest to ever hold the position. Filmed over two turbulent years, the film documents her personal battle for survival as her country unravels.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Tamana Ayazi, Marcel Mettelsiefen; Stars: Zarifa Ghafari)

I Didn't See You There

Review preview for I Didn't See You There

An important film.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Spurred by the spectacle of a circus tent that goes up outside his Oakland apartment, a disabled filmmaker launches into a meditative journey exploring the history of freakdom, vision, and (in)visibility.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Reid Davenport; Writer: Reid Davenport; Stars: Reid Davenport)

Full review

Kash Kash - Without Feathers We Can't Live

A depiction of life in Beirut through a rooftop game of luring pigeons, casting them off and eventually watching them fly away.

(Country: Germany, Qatar; Year: 2022; Director: Lea Najjar)

Riotsville, USA

Review preview for Riotsville, USA

While Pettengill is fascinated by the archival content, she’s also not afraid to experiment with form, including digital distortions that identify the movie as a product of the present.

Jeremy Mathews · 3 out of 5
Welcome to Riotsville, a fictional town built by the US military. Using footage shot by the media and government, the film explores the militarisation of the police and the reaction of a nation to the uprisings of the late Sixties, creating a counter-narrative to a critical moment in American history.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Sierra Pettengill; Writer: Tobi Haslett; Stars: Charlene Modeste, Michael Pate)

Full review See: Sierra Pettengill on the politics of policing revealed by Riotsville, USA