Does New York City, specifically speaking, Lower Manhattan — or even more microscopically speaking, the West Village — really need another film festival? If it’s DOC NYC we’re talking about, then the answer is irrefutably and emphatically yes!
From November 3 to 9, IFC Center played host to what Katherine Oliver, Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (who will be interviewed in these pages next month), promised to be the first annual DOC NYC. Okay, perhaps the term “annual” should be applied starting with a festival’s second season, but DOC NYC turned out to be a critical and financial success. Pillared by two master documentary makers, Errol Morris and Werner Herzog with their newest works, “Tabloid” and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”, respectively, the fest’s overall program is even-keeled, satisfying and quite digestible. It’s likely that it will be back next fall.
The mood at the festival was upbeat; it was like attending ComicCon, only instead of self-professed sci-fi geeks, DOC NYC was filled with self-professed documentary geeks. As a film journalist and documentary-lover, I felt very much at home. The documentary film community, for those unaware, is a very supportive one. Filmmakers actually show up for their colleagues’ films and seem genuinely enthusiastic and supportive. The art is a solitary one and documentary films often take years to complete. Perhaps it’s that isolation that fuels their sense of community in between projects. Even Michael Moore, Werner Herzog and Errol Morris regularly show up for screenings and help publicize their confreres’ work.
The festival, as curated and run by married couple Thom Powers and Raphaela Neihausen, featured numerous panels and Q & A’s, most well worth attending. Noteworthy was DOC NYC’s Artistic Director Thom Power’s interview with film historian Kevin Brownlow. Brownlow is perhaps one of the foremost experts on the silent screen era. At age 72, he is still passionate about his contribution to its ongoing preservation. Among the many films I caught and which are worth mentioning are: David Soll’s “Puppet”, Josef Birdman Astor’s “Lost Bohemia” and Laura Israel’s “Windfall.”
I’m really looking forward to what the 2nd Annual DOC NYC festival will bring.
