14th DOC NYC
November 8—16, 2023
Latin American and US Latinx Films co-presented by Cinema Tropical
The 14th annual DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary festival—running in-person Nov. 8-16 at IFC Center, SVA Theatre, Village East by Angelika, and continuing online until Nov. 26—includes more than 110 feature-length documentaries among over 200 films and events. Included are 29 world premieres and 27 US premieres with most festival films available digitally to US viewers. Below are all the Latinx and Latin American titles at this year’s festival.
For tickets and more information visit: www.docnyc.net
PATRIA Y VIDA: THE POWER OF MUSIC
(Beatriz Luengo, USA/Spain, 84 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
New York Premiere — Special Presentation
*Q&A with filmmakers
The artist group, San Isidro, whose members have been jailed and tortured by the Cuban government, represents one of the few significant resistance movements in the history of oppression in Cuba. Inspired by their courage, Cuban hip-hop musicians living in exile record a protest song, “Patria y vida” (“Homeland and Life”) a direct affront to the official patriotic slogan patria o muerte (homeland or death). Beatriz Luengo, a multi-Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, documents the events surrounding the creation of the song and the unprecedented impact it had as it became a worldwide anthem
Saturday, November 11, 9pm at Village East by Angelika
LUCHA: A WRESTLING TALE
(Marco Ricci, USA, 66 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
World Premiere - Metropolis Competition
A fresh spin on the story of high school sports as the path to transformation and redemption, Lucha takes us inside the Taft High School women’s wrestling team on their journey to a championship. Personal challenges abound, from unsupportive families to homelessness, but these four young women from the Bronx—Shirley, Nyasia, Mariam, and Alba—find solace and hope in each other and on the mat. Their empowering story is a testament to the human spirit and true grit.
Saturday, November 11 , 3:45pm at Village East by Angelika and Sunday, November 12, 11:30am at IFC Center
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Sunday, November 12 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
WE ARE FIRE! DRAW FOR CHANGE
(Karen Vázquez Guadarrama, Mexico/USA, 52 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
World Premiere — Fight the Power Selection
*Q&A with the filmmakers
Maremoto (Mar) is a young illustrator in Mexico City struggling to make sense of a town where 11 women are murdered daily, and 95,000 people have gone missing, with no one held accountable. Her feminist drawings support her community in dealing with the emotional trauma left by the femicides and galvanize them to fight to get the government forces to act. With her work, Mar also creates a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community and teaches self-acceptance.
Monday, November 13, 5:30pm* at Village East by Angelika
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Tuesday, November 14 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
NEIRUD
(Fernanda Faya, Brazil, 72 min. In Portuguese with English subtitles)
International Premiere — International Competition
*Q&A with the filmmakers
Growing up, filmmaker Fernanda Roth Faya knew Neirud as her “aunt,” a family member close to her grandmother. What Faya uncovers after Neirud’s death is a mysterious and colorful life, from her time as a wrestler and circus performer to her secret and complicated love triangle. Neirud is a fascinating story about race and identity, and queer life in last century’s Brazil.
Saturday, November 11, 8:30pm* at Village East by Angelika
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Sunday,
November 12 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
AT THE BORDER
(Braulio Jatar, Anaïs Michel, Venezuela/USA, 76 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
World Premiere — Come As You Are
*Q&A with the filmmakers
Set on the border between Colombia and Venezuela, the film navigates a complex and urgent narrative as deftly as its subjects navigate the perilous terrain around them. Español and Barrabas, two “coyotes,” or human smugglers, go about the business of surviving despite all the odds against them, as the directors’ quiet observational technique gets at why people make the life-threatening choice to migrate. Gritty, uncompromising, and thought provoking.
Saturday, November 11, 7:15pm* at Village East by Angelika
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Sunday, November 12 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
A WOLFPACK CALLED ERNESTO
(Una jauría llamada Ernesto, Everardo González, Mexico/France/Switzerland, 2023, 78 min. In Spanish with English subtitles)
International Premiere — Kaleidoscope Competition
Q&A with the filmmakers
In Mexico City, a group of teenage gangsters collectively call themselves “Ernesto.” The camera shadows them elegantly, preserving their anonymity as they go about daily life, both victims and perpetrators all at once. Immersive, engaging, and brilliantly unsettling, the narrative exposes the mechanisms and entanglements that allow these worlds of violence to thrive while denying us the full view we crave in order to understand.
Saturday, November 11, 2:30pm* at Village East by Angelika
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Sunday, November 12 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
UNSEEN
(Set Hernandez, USA, 82 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
New York Premiere — American Stories
*Q&A with the filmmakers
Pedro’s dream is to earn a degree in social work and support his family and community, but as an undocumented immigrant who is legally blind he faces legal challenges and uncertainty. Set Hernandez crafts this compelling portrait of a remarkable individual pursuing a better life with deliberately blurry visuals and a heightened soundscape that immerse viewers in Pedro’s version of the world and underscore his vulnerability and courage.
Friday, November 10, 9:30pm* at Village East by Angelika
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Saturday, November 11 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
JESSZILLA
(Emily Sheskin, USA, 90 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
New York Premiere — Game Face Cinema
*Q&A with the filmmakers
New Jersey’s own Jesselyn Silva, a three-time national boxing champion, is on her way to superstardom, dominating the junior ranks at the age of 15. With her every step of the way is her father, Pedro, a single parent who helps her navigate coaches, training schedules, and the angst of teenage life. When a devastating diagnosis threatens the father-daughter tandem, the pair turn to each other to fight their greatest opponent yet: cancer.
Saturday, November 11, 12:30pm* at the IFC Center
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Sunday, November 12 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER
(Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal, Spain/France, 103 min. In Spanish, Portugese, and English with English subtitles)
New York Premiere - Sonic Cinema
*Q&A with the filmmakers
Thirteen years after their Oscar-nominated animated collaboration Chico & Rita, Spanish artists Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal reunite to explore the origin story of bossa nova, the universally beloved Brazilian music movement. With gorgeous hand-drawn frames and vivid colors, THEY SHOT THE PIANO PLAYER examines the 1976 disappearance of Brazilian piano virtuoso, Francisco Tenório Júnior as the totalitarian movement sweeping Latin American began clamping down on artists and those fighting for the freedom of expression that connects all peoples
Saturday, November 11, 8pm* at Village East by Angelika
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Sunday, November 12 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
‘Shorts: The Meaning of Work’
THE LAST CARNIVAL
(Tucker Morrison, Samuel Ott, Anthony Wilson, USA, 13 min. In Spanish and English with English subtitles)
New York Premiere - Shorts Programs
*Q&A with the filmmakers
A migrant worker muses on the American Dream and his home as he helms the rides at a carnival.
Saturday, November 11, 2:15pm at Village East by Angelika
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Sunday, November 12 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
‘Shorts: Inside Out’
TITO
(Kervens Jimenez, Taylor McIntosh, Haiti, 15 min. In Haitian Creole with English subtitles)
New York Premiere — Shorts Programs
*Q&A with the filmmakers
A startling view of Haitian prison, shot by an inmate with a camera hidden from the guards..
Friday, November 10, 9pm* at the IFC Center and Sunday, November 12, 2:45pm at Village East by Angelika
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform from Wednesday, November 8 - Sunday, November 26, 2023
