“An Open Secret,” Amy Berg‘s documentary about the sexual abuse that greets some teens who come to Hollywood in search of fame, is one of 19 world premieres that will take place at this year’s eight-day DOC NYC event, the largest documentary film festival in the United States.
The film from Berg (“West of Memphis”) was one of 153 features, shorts and events announced by DOC NYC on Wednesday. The lineup is the biggest in the five-year history of the festival.
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DOC NYC will run from Nov. 13-20 at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village and the SVA Theatre and Bow Tie Chelsea Cinemas in Chelsea. The festival will include 19 world premieres, seven U.S. premieres and 40 New York City premieres, as well as a selection of the docs most likely to win awards this year, a section of classic docs from the past, and programs of non-fiction films about New York City, activism, music, the performing arts and sports.
The festival opens with “Do I Sound Gay?,” a “journey of self-discovery” from director David Thorpe, and ends with “The Yes Men Are Revolting,” the third collaboration between director Laura Nix and the activist collective the Yes Men.
Special events, all of which feature appearances by the filmmakers and often their films’ subjects, will include Berg’s “An Open Secret”; Chris Moukarbel’s “Banksy Does New York,” about the graffiti artist’s 2013 residency in the city; Ric Burns’ “Enquiring Minds: The Untold Story of the Man Behind the National Enquirer”; and George Hencken’s “Soul Boys of the Western World,” about the 1980s new wave band Spandau Ballet.
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The Viewfinders section is a juried competition consisting of a dozen films, which deal with subjects including a street-level look at the Egyptian revolution (“Cairo Drive”), Vietnam war re-enactors (“In Country”), a voodoo priest helping out in the aftermath of the 2010 Haitian earthquake (“Monsieur Le President”), and the rescue of black-market animals (“The Wound and the Gift”).
Metropolis is another competition section, this one between nine New York stories. They include “The Hand That Feeds,” about an Upper East Side bakery; “Rubble Kings,” about the teenagers who took over New York’s streets in the 1970s; and “Some Kind of Spark,” about Julliard’s program for inner-city youth.
Short List, the best guesses of DOC NYC artistic director Thom Powers and his team as to which docs will be likely Oscar contenders, this year includes Ben Cotner’s and Ryan White’s “The Case Against 8,” Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour,” John Maloof’s and Charlie Siskel’s “Finding Vivian Maier,” Margaret Brown’s “The Great Invisible,” Amir Bar-Lev’s “Happy Valley,” Alan Hicks’ “Keep on Keepin’ On,” Rory Kennedy’s “Last Days in Vietnam,” Steve James’ “Life Itself” and Gabe Polsky’s “Red Army.”
(Last year’s Short List program consisted of 10 films, nine of which went on to make the Oscar shortlist for feature documentaries; this year’s consists of 15, the exact size of the Academy’s shortlist.)
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The new Docs Redux program includes past work from such classic filmmakers as D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus (2009’s “Kings of Pastry”), Frederick Wiseman (1968’s “High School”), Steve James (1994’s “Hoop Dreams”), Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky (2004’s “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster”) and Albert Maysles, David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin (1968’s “Salesman”).
Pennebaker, Hegedus and Albert Maysles will also receive Lifetime Achievement Awards at DOC NYC’s first-ever Visionaries tribute on Nov. 14.
Other programs are devoted to films set all around the United States and around the world, music and performing arts, sports, activism and midnight movies.
The festival will also include seven different shorts programs and a six-day Doc-a-Thon conference of panels and masterclasses.
Additional information is available at the festival website.
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The lineup:
GALAS
Opening Night: “Do I Sound Gay?” David Thorpe
Closing Night: “The Yes Men Are Revolting,” Laura Nix, The Yes Men,
SPECIAL EVENTS
“Above and Beyond,” Roberta Grossman
“Back On Board: Greg Louganis,” Cheryl Furjanic
“Banksy Does New York,” Chris Moukarbel
“Enquiring Minds: The Untold Story of the Man Behind the National Enquirer,” Ric Burns
“I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,” Dave LaMattina & Chad Walker
“An Open Secret,” Amy Berg
“Soul Boys of the Western World,” George Hencken
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VIEWFINDERS
“Almost There,” Dan Rybicky & Aaron Wickenden
“Cairo Drive,” Sherief Elkatsha
“In Country,” Mike Attie & Meghan O’Hara
“Kasamayaki,” Yuki Kokubo
“The Life and Mind of Mark Defriest,” Gabriel London
“Meet the Patels,” Geeta V. Patel & Ravi V. Patel
“Monsieur Le Président,” Victoria Campbell
“No Control,” Jessica Solce
“Song From the Forest,” Michael Obert
“The Wound and the Gift,” Linda Hoaglund
METROPOLIS
“Coming Home,” Viko Nikci
“The Hand That Feeds,” Rachel Lears & Robin Blotnick
“Homme Less,” Thomas Wirthensohn
“Penthouse North,” Johanna St Michaels
“Rubble Kings,” Shan Nicholson
“The Seven Five,” Tiller Russell
“Some Kind of Spark,” Ben Niles
“Stop,” Spencer Wolff
“Tough Love,” Stephanie Wang-Breal
AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES
“The Age of Love,” Steven Loring
“All American High Revisited,” Keva Rosenfeld
“Florence, Arizona,” Andrea B. Scott
“Grazers: A Cooperative Story,” Lisa F. Jackson & Sarah Teal
“Hotline,” Tony Shaff
“Little White Lie,” Lacey Schwartz
“Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine,” Michele Josue
“A Murder in the Park,” Shawn Rech & Brandon Kimber
“Sex and Broadcasting, a film about WFMU,” Tim K. Smith
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
“Every Last Child,” Tom Roberts
“The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness,” Mami Sunada
“Marmato,” Mark Grieco
“Miss Tibet: Beauty in Exile,” Norah Shapiro
“The Return,” Adam Zucker
“A Small Section of the World,” Lesley Chilcott
“Vessel,” Diana Whitten
“When People Die They Sing Songs,” Olga Lvoff
CENTERSTAGE
“Capturing Grace,” David Iverson
“The Last Impresario,” Gracie Otto
“Still Dreaming,” Hank Rogerson & Jilann Spitzmiller
“Us, Naked: Trixie & Monkey,” Kirsten D’Andrea Hollander
JOCK DOCS
“9-Man,” Ursula Liang
“Althea,” Rex Miller
“Hardy,” Natasha Verma
“Opposite Field,” Jay Shapiro
“Top Spin,” Sara Newens & Mina T. Son
FIGHT THE POWER
“Brothers of the Black List,” Sean Gallagher
“Disruption,” Pamela Yates
“Divide in Concord,” Kris Kaczor
“Limited Partnership,” Thomas G. Miller
“She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry,” Mary Dore
“Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa,” Abby Ginzberg
SONIC CINEMA
“Béla Fleck: How to Write a Banjo Concerto,” Béla Fleck and Sascha Paladino
“Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock & Roll,” John Pirozzi
“Heaven Adores You,” Nickolas Rossi
“Jingle Bell Rocks!,” Mitchell Kezin
“Salad Days: A Decade of Punk in Washington, DC (1980-1990),” Scott Crawford
“Songs for Alexis,” Elvira Lind
DOCS REDUX
“The Chair,” Drew Associates, 1962
“David,” DA Pennebaker & William Ray, 1961
“High School,” Frederick Wiseman, 1968
“Hoop Dreams,” Steve James, 1994
“Kings Of Pastry,” Chris Hegedus & DA Pennebaker, 2009
“Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky, 2004
“Salesman,” Albert Maysles, David Maysles & Charlotte Zwerin, 1968
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MIDNIGHT DOCS
“Haunters,” Anthony Morrison
“Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere,” Dave Jannetta
“Sex(Ed),” Brenda Goodman
SHORT LIST
“The Case Against 8,” Ben Cotner & Ryan White
“CITIZENFOUR,” Laura Poitras
“E-Team,” Katy Chevigny & Ross Kauffman
“Finding Vivian Maier,” John Maloof & Charlie Siskel
“The Great Invisible,” Margaret Brown
“Happy Valley,” Amir Bar-Lev
“Keep On Keepin’ On,” Alan Hicks
“Last Days in Vietnam,” Rory Kennedy
“Life Itself,” Steve James
“Merchants of Doubt,” Robert Kenner
“The Overnighters,” Jesse Moss
“Red Army,” Gabe Polsky
“Rich Hill,” Tracy Droz Tragos & Andrew Droz Palermo
“The Salt of the Earth,” Wim Wenders & Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
“Tales of the Grim Sleeper,” Nick Broomfield