Bad Press

dirs. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler

prods. Conrad Beilharz, Garrett F. Baker, Tyler Graim

Bad Press is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023 having its NYC Premiere in the Winners Circle Section.

Get your tickets here.

Eat Bitter

dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy

prod. Mathieu Faure

Eat Bitter is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist having its New York Premiere in the Investigations section.

Get your tickets here.

How To Have An American Baby

dir. & prod. Leslie Tai

prods. Jillian Schultz, Chocho Tang, Elivia Shaw, Yan Cong, Xinyi “Leila” Lin

How to Have an American Baby participated in the former 2017 Diversity Fellows Initiative and is having its New York Premiere in the Investigations section.

Get your tickets here.

Is There Anybody Out There?

dir. Ella Glendining

prod. Janine Marmot

Is There Anybody Out There? is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is having its NYC Premiere in the Fight The Power section. 

Get your tickets here.

MnM

dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon

prod. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

MnM was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES (2022) series and is having its NYC Premiere in the “Shorts: Family Matters” program. 

Get your tickets here.

Songs of Earth

dir. & prod. Margreth Olin

prod. Lena Faye-Lund Sandvik

Songs of Earth was supported through Margreth Olin’s 2022 Chicken & Egg Award and is participating in the Winners Circle section. 

Get your tickets here.

Suddenly TV

dir. & prod. Roopa Gogineni

prods. Reem Haddad, Trevor Snapp, Fiona Lawson-Baker

Suddenly TV is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023, and is participating in the “Shorts: The People vs” program.

Get your tickets here.

The Eternal Memory

dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi

prod. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is participating in the Short List: Features section. 

Get your tickets here.

Total Trust

dir. Jialing Zhang

prod. Knut Jäger

Total Trust is supported through Jialing Zhang’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its US Premiere in the International Competition section. 

Get your tickets here.

DOC NYC PRO

DOC NYC PRO FALL 2023 will take place from Thursday, November 9 through Thursday, November 16. The activities are comprised of several panels and pitches designed to empower filmmakers at different stages of their careers.

CINEMATOGRAPHY DAY

Saturday, November 11

DOCUMENTARY ETHICS AND THE LAW
Featuring Jess Devaney, director of Chicken & Egg-supported film Love the Sinner and producer of The Script, MnM, How to Carry Water, and It’s Only Life After All. 

EDITING DAY

Sunday, November 12

CASE STUDY: GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT
Featuring 2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Michèle Stephenson

JOURNALISM AND DOCUMENTARY DAY

Monday, November 13

WHEN JOURNALISTS BECOME DOCUMENTARY VISIONARIES
Featuring Becca Landsberry-Baker, director and producer of Project: Hatched 2023 participant Bad Press.

CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION DAY

Thursday, November 16

HOPE
Featuring 2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Dawn Porter.

THE POWER OF EDUCATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
Featuring Chithra Jeyaram, director and producer of 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab participant Our Daughters (working title). 

WHERE WILL YOUR FILM BE IN 20 YEARS?
Featuring our Board member Susan Margolin.

From the AlumNest

• Between Life & Death | New York Premiere
  dir. Nick Capote
  prod. Kimberley Ferdinando, Melissa Leardi, Amanda Spain

• Black Girls Play: The Story Of Hand Games 
  dirs. & prods. Michéle Stephenson, Joe Brewster

• Candace Parker: Unapologetic  | World Premiere
  dir. Joie Jacoby
  prod. Carolyn Hepburn, Giselle Rodriguez, Julie Lilleby, Paige Bethmann

• Confessions of a Good Samaritan | NYC Premiere
  dir. Penny Lane
  prod. Gabriel Sedgwick

• Dalton’s Dream  | North American Premiere
  dirs. Kim Longinotto, Franky Murray Brown
  prod. Lorine Plagnol

• Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
  dirs. & prods. Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster 

• How We Get Free  | NYC Premiere
  dirs. Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles
  prods. Kathleen Lingo, Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney

• Obsessed With Light | North American Premiere
  dirs. Sabine Krayenbühl, Zeva Oelbaum
  prods. Zeva Oelbaum, Sabine Krayenbühl, Christian Popp, Susan Margolin

• The Cost of Inheritance  | World Premiere
  dir. Yoruba Richen
  prods. Mehret Mandefro, Lacey Schwartz Delgado, Iris Samson 

• The Dads 
  dir. & prod. Luchina Fisher
  co-prods. Eric Miclette, Shan Shan Tam

• The Lady Bird Diaries 
  dir. Dawn Porter
  prod. Kim Reynolds

• The Minister of Defense  | World Premiere
  dir. Ken Rodgers, Courtland Bragg
  prods. Carolyn Hepburn, Courtland Bragg, Nick Mascolo, Ken Rodgers, Chip Swain, Kobi Theiler

• Time Bomb Y2K | NYC Premiere
  dirs. Brian Becker, Marley McDonald
  prods. Penny Lane, Brian Becker, Peter Nauffts, Shelby Fintak

• Unseen | NYC Premiere 
  dir. & prod. Set Hernandez
  prods. Félix Endara, Day Al-Mohamed, Diane Quon, Dorian Gomez Pestaña, Josaen Ronquillo, Cheryl Green, Thomas Reid, Qudsiya Naqui, Conchita Hernandez

• We Are Fire (Draw For Change) | World Premiere 
  dir. Karen Vázquez Guadarrama
  prods. Hanne Phlypo, Estelle Robin You, Marion Guth, François Le Gall, Heino Deckert, Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix, Julie Goldman

• Who I Am Not | New York Premiere 
  dir. Tunde Skovran
  prods. Andrei Zinca, Danielle Turkov, Paul Cadieux, Patrick Hamm, Amy Shepherd, Edith Weil, Daniel Szandtner, Janos Kovacs

A Special Congratulations

• I Told You So
  dirs. & prods. Malak AlSayyad, Amaan Stewartprods. Judith Helfand (Founder and Consultant), Loren Townsley

Meet Our Team at DOC NYC

Since the festival is on our home turf, we are excited for many of our team members to have opportunities to attend screenings and events for our filmmakers. We are also incredibly excited to announce that our very own Program Director, Kiyoko McCrae, was honored by the Documentary New Leaders program. Learn more about this honor here. Come say hi! 

We are delighted to provide you with a discount code on tickets (capacity permitting) for our supported films.

Just enter the code at checkout: DOCNYC_PTNR_23
This code will unlock the following discounts:
Opening Night / Centerpiece / Closing Screenings: $25 (Regular price: $30)
Regular Screenings: $17 (Regular price: $20)
DOC NYC U, Short List, Weekday Matinees (M-F before 12pm): $11 (Regular Price: $13)
Online screenings: $13 (Regular Price: $10)

Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell

Read more about these women-helmed films and get your tickets below:

Mr. Toilet: The World’s #2 Man 

2016 (Egg)celerator Lab

Jack Sim wants to talk to you about your toilet. When the charismatic Singaporean millionaire learned that nearly a third of the world doesn’t have access to proper sanitation, he set out to make a difference through his World Toilet Foundation. Cleverly using humor to get attention for his cause, Sim highlights the need for investment in this basic public health issue. Now he’s ready to plunge into his biggest challenge—securing six million toilets as part of India’s sanitation initiative.

Directed by Lily Zepeda; Produced by Tchavdar Georgiev, Lily Zepeda, and Eugene Efuni
Thursday, November 14 at 7:30 pm | tickets here

One Child Nation

2017 (Egg)celerator Lab

China’s one-child policy ended in 2015, but it has had a haunting impact on several generations of Chinese families. After the birth of her own child, filmmaker Nanfu Wang returns to her village, where she begins an investigation into the controversial population control program. Posing difficult questions to family members, local party officials, journalists and activists, she and co-director Jialing Zhang uncover troubling secrets that have long been kept hidden. 

Directed by Nanfu Wang (2018 Chicken & Egg Award) and Jialing Zhang; Produced by Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang, Julie Goldman, Christoph Jörg, Christopher Clements, and Carolyn Hepburn
Friday, Nov. 8 at 11:00am and Thursday, Nov 15 at 6:55pm |  tickets here

American Factory

2016 Chicken & Egg Award

When Dayton, Ohio’s General Motors plant closed in 2008, thousands of blue-collar workers lost their livelihood in a community hard hit by the recession. Eight years later, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory on the same site, bringing back jobs and inspiring newfound hope—until Chinese labor practices clash with the expectations of a formerly unionized American workforce.

Directed by Julia Reichert, Steve Bognar; Produced by Steven Bognar, Chicken & Egg Pictures Co-Founder Julie Parker Benello, Jeff Reichert, and Julia Reichert
Saturday, Nov. 9 at 6:15pm & Monday Nov. 11 at 3:45pm | tickets here

Plus directors Julia and Steve will be receiving the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence, which honors a mid-career filmmaking team that excels in observational filmmaking!

AlumNest Films

Hungry to Learn
Directed by Geeta Gandbhir (2016 Chicken & Egg Award); Produced by Rose Arce and Soledad O’Brien
Saturday, Nov. 9 at 2:15 pm and Sunday, Nov. 10 at 12:40 pm | tickets and more information here

Shoofting the Mafia
Directed by AlumNest filmmaker Kim Longinotto (Dreamcatcher); Produced by Niamh Fagan
Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5:15 pm | tickets and more information here

Narrowsburg
Directed by AlumNest filmmaker Martha Shane (After Tiller); Produced by Beck Kitsis and Martha Shane
Sunday, Nov. 10 at 4:20 pm | tickets and more information here

Knock Down the House
Directed by AlumNest filmmaker Rachel Lears (The Hand That Feeds); Produced by Robin Blotnick, Rachel Lears, and Sarah Olson
Thursday, Nov. 7 at 2:45pm & Monday, Nov. 11 at 8:50 pm | tickets and more information here

The Great Hack
Directed by AlumNest filmmaker Jehane Noujaim (The Square) and Karim Amer; Produced by Karim Amer, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Judy Korin, and Pedro Kos
Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 6:15pm & Thursday, Nov. 14 at 11:00am | tickets and more information here

Desert One
Directed by AlumNest filmmaker Barbara Kopple (A Murder in Mansfield); Produced by Barbara Kopple, David Cassidy, and Eric Forman
Friday, Nov. 8, 2019 at 8:35 pm & Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 2:25 pm | tickets and more information here

See you at DOC NYC, and look out for our supported filmmakers and team members at the DOC NYC PRO conference!

Not only will women will comprise 54% of directors at the Canadian festival; three Nest-supported films (Mr. Toilet: The World’s #2 Man, The Guardian of Memory, and Buddha In Africa) will be making their world premieres; and 2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Julia Reichert will receive the  2019 Outstanding Achievement Award, coupled with a curated retrospective of her work throughout the festival, including new documentary American Factory.

Mr. Toilet: The World’s #2 Man, directed by Lily Zepeda (2016 Diversity Fellows Initiative [past program]) — World Premiere

The following films directed by Nest-supported filmmakers will also be featured at Hot Docs: Knock Down the House, directed by Rachel Lears (director of Nest-supported film The Hand That Feeds with Robin Blotnick) and Shooting the Mafia, directed by Kim Longinotto (director of Nest-supported film Dreamcatcher).

*Chicken & Egg Pictures did not directly support American Factory  but supported director Julia Reichert during her Chicken & Egg Award year.

Chicken & Egg Pictures is coming to the 2019 Sundance Film Festival! In addition to seeing our filmmakers soar, we are delighted that they are contributing to a festival where 40% of selected films are directed by one or more women, and 53% percent of the directors eligible for the festival’s top prize are women. 

The following Nest-supported projects and filmmakers from our Accelerator Lab and Breakthrough Filmmaker Award programs, along with several directors from our AlumNest, will be celebrating their world premieres.

Always in Season, directed by Jacqueline Olive (2018 Accelerator Lab)

As the trauma of a century of lynching African Americans bleeds into the present, Always in Season follows relatives of the perpetrators and victims in communities across the country who are seeking justice and reconciliation in the midst of racial profiling and police shootings. In Bladenboro, NC, the film connects historic racial terrorism to racial violence today with the story of Claudia Lacy who grieves as she fights to get an FBI investigation opened into the death of her seventeen-year-old son, Lennon Lacy, found hanging from a swing set on August 29, 2014. Claudia, like many others, believes Lennon was lynched.

One Child Nation, directed by Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang (2017 Accelerator Lab)

How much control does a person have over their own life? In China, state control begins before a child is even born.

Director Nanfu Wang is also a recipient of the 2018 Breakthrough Filmmaker Award.

American Factory*, directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert (2016 Breakthrough Filmmaker Award)

In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.**

Hail Satan*, directed by Penny Lane (2017 Breakthrough Filmmaker Award)

A look at the intersection of religion and activism, tracing the rise of The Satanic Temple: only six years old and already one of the most controversial religious movements in American history. The Temple is calling for a Satanic revolution to save the nation’s soul. But are they for real?**

In addition, the following films directed by Nest-supported filmmakers will be featured at the festival:

Knock Down the House, directed by Rachel Lears (director of Nest-supported film The Hand That Feeds with Robin Blotnick)

Shooting the Mafia, directed by Kim Longinotto (director of Nest-supported film Dreamcatcher)

The Great Hack, directed by Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim (Jehane is the director of the Nest-supported film The Square)

The Sundance Film Festival will run from January 24 to February 3, 2019. Congratulations to all, and we will see you in Park City! 

*Chicken & Egg Pictures did not directly support American Factory and Hail Satan but supported director Julia Reichert and director Penny Lane during their Breakthrough years.

**Synopses courtesy of Sundance Film Festival.

Eight Chicken & Egg Pictures-supported films will be screening at this year’s edition of DOC NYC, of which Chicken & Egg Pictures is a proud supporter. The festival will run November 12-19 in New York City; a full festival lineup and schedule is available here.

From This Day Forward (Sharon Shattuck)
Saturday, 11/14 at 9PM (Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea)

Gayby Baby (Maya Newell)
Wednesday, 11/18 at 7:15PM (IFC Center)

A Journey of a Thousand Miles: Peacekeepers (Geeta Gandbhir & Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy)
Saturday, 11/14 at 4:30PM (Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea)
Monday, 11/16 at 5:15PM (Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea)

No Más Bebés (Renee Tajima-Peña)
Saturday, 11/14 at 4:30PM (IFC Center)

Speed Sisters (Amber Fares)
Saturday, 11/14 at 2PM (SVA Theatre)

Tocando la Luz (Jennifer Redfearn)
Sunday, 11/15 at 4:45PM (Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea)
Wednesday, 11/18 at 10:15AM (IFC Center)

The festival, presented by the San Francisco Film Society, is the longest-running film festival in North America.

Longinotto will accept the Golden Gate Persistence of Vision Award on Saturday, May 2 and will participate in an onstage conversation following a screening of Dreamcatcher. Dreamcatcher tells the story of Brenda Myers-Powell, a former prostitute, who helps women and girls break the cycle of sexual abuse and exploitation. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, where Longinotto was recognized with the World Cinema Documentary Directing Prize.

The film premiered on Showtime on March 27, 2015.

Democrats will have its first of three screenings on Monday, May 4 at the Pacific Film Archive Theater. The film recently had its world premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, winning the prize for Best Documentary Feature. Democrats follows two politicians from rival parties as they are assigned to a bipartisan committee tasked with transitioning Zimbabwe from an authoritarian government to a democratic one.

Full Frame Film Festival
April 9-12, 2015. Durham, North Carolina

From This Day Forward – directed by Sharon Shattuck
When filmmaker Sharon Shattuck’s came out as transgender and changed her name to Trisha, Sharon was in the awkward throes of middle school. Her father’s transition was difficult for her straight-identified mother to accept, but they decided not to divorce. Committed to staying together as a family, they began a balancing act that would prove even more challenging than expected. As the family reunites to plan Sharon’s wedding, she asks how her parents’ love survived against all odds. Click here for the Full Frame schedule.

(T)ERROR – directed by Lyric R. Cabral & David Felix Sutcliffe
(T)ERROR is the first documentary to place filmmakers on the ground during an active FBI counterterrorism sting operation. Through the perspective of “Shariff”, a 63-year-old Black revolutionary turned informant, viewers get an unfettered glimpse of the government’s counterterrorism tactics and the murky justifications behind them. Click here for the Full Frame schedule.

Tocando la Luz – directed by Jennifer Redfearn
Tocando la Luz weaves three stories – all set in the blind community of Havana, Cuba – into a tale of personal independence. As Lis, Mily, and Margarita each face family problems and heartbreak, their dependence on others turns out to be a double-edged sword. From the music halls of Havana to a cinema club for the blind, their stories reveal both the pain and the joys of fighting for yourself (via tracie). Click here for the Full Frame schedule. World Premiere.

Ashland Independent Film Festival
April 9-13, 2015. Ashland, Oregon

Tocando la Luz – directed by Jennifer Redfearn. Click here for showtimes.

Tribeca Film Festival
April 15-26, 2015. New York City, New York

Among the Believers – directed by Hemal Trivedi & Mohammed Naqvi
An unsettling and eye opening exploration into the spread of the radical Islamic school Red Mosque, which trains legions of children to devote their lives to jihad, or holy war, from a very young age. With incredible access and chilling footage, Among the Believers is a timely and relevant look into the causes that have led to the growth of radical Islam in Pakistan and around the world. Click here for showtimes. World Premiere.

Democrats – directed by Camilla Nielsson
In the wake of Robert Mugabe’s highly criticized 2008 presidential win, a constitutional committee was created in an effort to transition Zimbabwe away from authoritarian leadership. With unprecedented access to the two political rivals overseeing the committee, this riveting firsthand account of a country’s fraught first step towards democracy plays at once like an intimate political thriller and unlikely buddy film. Click here for showtimes. North American Premiere.

(T)ERROR – directed by Lyric R. Cabral & David Felix Sutcliffe
Click here for showtimes. New York Premiere.

Thank You for Playing – directed by Malika Zouhali-Worrall & David Osit
For the past two years, Ryan and Amy Green have been working on That Dragon, Cancer, a videogame about their son Joel’s fight against that disease. Following the family through the creation of the game and the day-to-day realities of Joel’s treatment, David Osit and Malika Zouhali-Worrall create a moving testament to the joy and heartbreak of raising a terminally ill child. Click here for showtimes. World Premiere.

Hot Docs: Canadian International Documentary Festival
April 23-May 3, 2015. Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Amina Profile – directed by Sophie Deraspe
In 2011, Amina Arraf, a beautiful lesbian revolutionary blogger in Syria, captured the heart of Sandra Bagaria. The fervent love affair that developed between them would sweep Sandra into an international intrigue involving American secret services, some of the biggest media outlets, and countless supporters of the Syrian revolution. This is the story of an unprecedented media fiasco that Sandra was forced to live through, and that we invite you to experience with her on a journey around the world. Click here for showtimes.

Democrats – directed by Camilla Nielsson
Click here for showtimes.

Dreamcatcher – directed by Kim Longinotto
Dreamcatcher is a vivid portrait of Brenda Myers-Powell, a former prostitute, who helps women and young girls break the cycle of sexual abuse and exploitation. The film lays bare the hidden violence that devastates the lives of young women, their families, and the communities where they live. It is Brenda’s unflinching intervention that turns these desperate lives around. Click here for showtimes.

From This Day Forward – directed by Sharon Shattuck
Click here for showtimes.

Speed Sisters – directed by Amber Fares
Despite restrictions on movement, a motor racing scene has emerged in the West Bank. The races offer a release from the pressures and uncertainties of life under military occupation. Brought together by a common desire to live life on their own terms, five determined women have joined the ranks of dozens of male drivers — competing against each other for the title, for bragging rights, for their hometown, and to prove that women can compete head-on with the guys. Speed Sisters captures the drive to defy all odds, leaving in its trail shattered stereotypes about gender and the Arab world. Click here for showtimes.

(T)ERROR – directed by Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe
Click here for showtimes.

Thank You for Playing – directed by Malika Zouhali-Worrall and David Osit
Click here for showtimes.

A Woman Like Me– directed by Alex Sichel and Elizabeth Giamatti
A Woman Like Me is a hybrid documentary that interweaves the real story of Alex Sichel, diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2011, with the fictional story of Anna Seashell (played by Lili Taylor), who manages to find the glass half-full when faced with the same diagnosis. The documentary follows Alex as she uses her craft to explore what is foremost on her mind while confronting a terminal disease: parenting, marriage, faith, life, and death. Click here for showtimes.

Lyric Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe were awarded the US Documentary Special Jury Prize for Break Out First Feature for their documentary (T)ERROR.

Kim Longinotto, the director of Dreamcatcher, was awarded the World Cinema Documentary Directing Prize. Dreamcatcher was called the “best work of nonfiction artistry” at this year’s festival by critic Wesley Morris.

Congratulations to all of the award winners, and especially to Lyric, David, and Kim.