DOC NYC Boosts Doc Oscar Contenders
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Artistic Director Thom Powers admits that it was tough to narrow down this year’s highlights. “This year had so many worthy docs to choose from, it was very tough to limit our Short List to 15 films,” he states. “We strove to represent a range of doc-making styles and mix relative newcomers with veterans.”
At the second annual DOC NYC Visionaries Tribute, which will be held at The Park restaurant in Manhattan on Thursday, November 12, three Lifetime Achievement Awards will be presented to Jon Alpert, Barbara Kopple and Frederick Wiseman. The Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence, which honors a mid-career filmmaker distinguished for observational cinema, will be given to veteran Kim Longinotto, whose latest film “Dreamcatcher” is screening in the festival’s Short List. And this year’s Leading Light Award will go to exiting RADiUS-TWC co-founder Tom Quinn, an indie distributor who has championed many great docs, including Kirby Dick’s “The Hunting Ground” and Oscar-winners “20 Feet From Stardom” and “Citizenfour.” Quinn, partner Jason Janego and Alamo’s Tim League are joining forces to release Michael Moore’s TIFF/NYFF entry “Where to Invade Next.”
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My documentary frontrunners are not all on this list. What’s missing? Amy Berg’s “Janis: Little Girl Blue,” which just got picked up by FilmRise, and “Prophet’s Prey” are notably missing, along with Stevan Riley’s “Listen to Me Marlon” and mountain movies “Meru” and “Sherpa.”
