New York Women In Film & Television Announces 20 Projects From 19 Members Selected For The 2023 DOC NYC Festival

New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) has announced that 20 projects from 19 members have been officially selected for the 2023 DOC NYC Festival. The festival takes place live in-person in New York City November 8-16, 2023, and via virtual streaming platform November 8-26, 2023.

The 20 projects feature members of the NYWIFT community as directors, producers, executive producers, editors, makeup artists, and cinematographers, speaking to the rich professional diversity of the organization's membership. The documentaries run the gamut of topics from sports to artist portraits, LGBTQIA+ stories, political profiles, Indigenous advocacy, healthcare, climate justice, and more.

"Congratulations to the 19 NYWIFT members with projects at DOC NYC 2023! We are thrilled to see so many members of our community at the forefront of documentary storytelling, bringing a range of vital stories to the screen," said NYWIFT CEO Cynthia López, who is a 2019 recipient of DOC NYC's Visionaries Tribute Leading Light Award.

The full listing of NYWIFT member projects includes: Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games (Director and Producer Michéle Stephenson), Candace Parker: Unapologetic (Producer Carolyn Hepburn), The Dads (Director and Producer Luchina Fisher), Deciding Vote (Cinematographer Karen Rodriguez), Every Body (Director Julie Cohen and Cinematographer Kate Phelan), Friendly Fridges (Director Ilja Willems), Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (Director and Producer Michéle Stephenson), Happy Campers (Director, Producer, and Cinematographer Amy Nicholson and Editor Laura Israel), How to Have an American Baby (Producer and Editor Elivia Shaw), Jesszilla (Director and Executive Producer Emily Sheskin), Lakota Nation vs. United States (Executive Producer Sarah Eagle Heart), Little Richard: I Am Everything (Director and Producer Lisa Cortés and Executive Producer Amy Entelis), Mediha (Executive Producer NYWIFT Board Member Joyce Pierpoline), The Minister of Defense (Producer Carolyn Hepburn), Obsessed with Light (Director, Producer, and Editor Sabine Krayenbühl), Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks (Executive Producer Julie Cohen), Right to Fight (Makeup Consultant for NY Unit: Jennifer Snowdon), Shari and Lamb Chop (Director and Producer Lisa D'Apolito and Executive Producer Caitlin Gold), Taking Venice (Producer Andrea Miller), A Tattoo on My Brain (Executive Producer Sheila Nevins), Unsyncable (Virtual Makeup Consultant for Ellen Scott / featured in film Jennifer Snowdon), When the Grass Must Go (Director Ilja Willems)

Learn more about the projects at https://www.nywift.org/nywift-members-at-doc-nyc-2023/.

About the NYWIFT Member Projects:

Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games (Director and Producer Michéle Stephenson): Learn about the impactful and joyful hand games played by Black girls from generation to generation. https://www.docnyc.net/film/short-list-shorts-the-kids-are-alright/black-girls-play-the-story-of-hand-games/

Candace Parker: Unapologetic (Producer Carolyn Hepburn): WNBA superstar Candace Parker chronicles her life and career from the courts of suburban Chicago to basketball immortality. https://www.docnyc.net/film/candace-parker-unapologetic/

The Dads (Director and Producer Luchina Fisher): Six fathers of diverse backgrounds gather for a weekend of fishing, and sharing ideas of how to better support their beloved trans children. https://www.docnyc.net/film/short-list-shorts-the-kids-are-alright/the-dads/

Deciding Vote (Cinematographer Karen Rodriguez): The decision to legalize abortion in the state of New York came down to one person. This is his story. https://www.docnyc.net/film/short-list-shorts-up-close-and-personal/deciding-vote/

Every Body (Director Julie Cohen and Cinematographer Kate Phelan): The term "intersex" covers a broad range of people who are born with reproductive anatomy that doesn't easily fit the categories of male or female. Often their stories have been shrouded in mystery and shame by the medical establishment and media. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julie Cohen captures a new generation of intersex people who are living loudly and proudly. The film covers the history, science, and politics of a movement advocating against medically unnecessary surgeries on intersex children. https://www.docnyc.net/film/every-body/

Friendly Fridges (Director Ilja Willems): The new heart of the community is popping up in every neighborhood-in the shape of refrigerators. https://www.docnyc.net/film/shorts-new-york-new-york-2023/friendly-fridges/

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (Director and Producer Michéle Stephenson): Nikki Giovanni is a trailblazing poet who rose to be a key figure in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and remains just as vibrant today. Filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson capture her artistry and spiky personality in this warm portrait. https://www.docnyc.net/film/going-to-mars-the-nikki-giovanni-project/

Happy Campers (Director, Producer, and Cinematographer Amy Nicholson and Editor Laura Israel): Annual visitors to a seaside trailer park wistfully eke out the joys of one last summer together as a melancholic twilight hangs in the air. https://www.docnyc.net/film/happy-campers/

How to Have an American Baby (Producer and Editor Elivia Shaw): An investigation into the veiled but booming economy catering to pregnant Chinese tourists who travel to the U.S. to obtain citizenship for their babies. https://www.docnyc.net/film/how-to-have-an-american-baby/

Jesszilla (Director and Executive Producer Emily Sheskin): Fifteen-year-old boxer Jesselyn Silva is on the cusp of making the Olympic team when she and her father, Pedro, are faced with their greatest opponent yet: cancer. https://www.docnyc.net/film/jesszilla/

Lakota Nation vs. United States (Executive Producer Sarah Eagle Heart): One of the greatest injustices ever committed on North American soil is examined in sweeping historical detail by filmmakers Jesse Shortbull and Laura Tomaselli. As American settlers moved west, the U.S. government signed treaty after treaty with Lakota and other Indigenous tribes, only to continually break their legal and moral commitments with complete impunity. As traditional Lakota lands shrink under impingement, exploitation, and genocide, a new generation take a new stand against their oppressors. https://www.docnyc.net/film/lakota-nation-vs-united-states/

Little Richard: I Am Everything (Director and Producer Lisa Cortés and Executive Producer Amy Entelis): Lisa Cortés' Sundance opening night documentary tells the story of the Black queer origins of rock 'n' roll, exploding the whitewashed canon of American pop music to reveal the innovator - the originator - Richard Penniman. Through a wealth of archive and performance that brings us into Richard's complicated inner world, the film unspools the icon's life story with all its switchbacks and contradictions. In interviews with family, musicians, and cutting-edge Black and queer scholars, the film reveals how Richard created an art form for ultimate self-expression, yet what he gave to the world he was never able to give to himself. https://www.docnyc.net/film/little-richard-i-am-everything/

Mediha (Executive Producer NYWIFT Board Member Joyce Pierpoline): Through an immensely collaborative film, a Yazidi teen once held captive by ISIS takes us into her world of grief, pain, and hope. https://www.docnyc.net/film/mediha/

The Minister of Defense (Producer Carolyn Hepburn): Told through never-before-seen footage from an interview filmed just before his death, NFL Hall of Famer and ordained minister Reggie White holds forth on faith in the context of his life and career. https://www.docnyc.net/film/mediha/

Obsessed with Light (Director, Producer, and Editor Sabine Krayenbühl): A visually entrancing portrait of influential dancer Loïe Fuller that captures her unique artistic achievement. https://www.docnyc.net/film/obsessed-with-light/

Pretty Ugly: The Story of the Lunachicks (Executive Producer Julie Cohen): In the '90s, the Lunachicks, a fierce all-female punk band, rocked NYC's underground scene, rebelling against music industry sexism to deliver high-voltage performances. https://www.nywift.org/nywift-members-at-doc-nyc-2023/

Right to Fight (Makeup Consultant for NY Unit: Jennifer Snowdon): The extraordinary untold story of how a pioneering group of American women from very different backgrounds, fought to break into the most macho sport of all: boxing. https://www.docnyc.net/film/right-to-fight/

Shari and Lamb Chop (Director and Producer Lisa D'Apolito and Executive Producer Caitlin Gold): The life and career of Shari Lewis, a multitalented ventriloquist who, along with her puppet friend Lamb Chop, charmed millions and changed the face of children's television. https://www.nywift.org/nywift-members-at-doc-nyc-2023/

Taking Venice (Producer Andrea Miller): A fun caper movie that explores the true story behind the rumors that the U.S. government rigged the 1964 Venice Biennale so that their chosen artist, Robert Rauschenberg, could win. https://www.docnyc.net/film/taking-venice/

A Tattoo on My Brain (Executive Producer Sheila Nevins): For his entire career neurologist Daniel Gibbs found the poor prognosis of Alzheimer's patients daunting. Now, with his own diagnosis, he commits himself to researching and writing about his symptoms. https://www.docnyc.net/film/short-list-shorts-up-close-and-personal/a-tattoo-on-my-brain/

Unsyncable (Virtual Makeup Consultant for Ellen Scott / featured in film Jennifer Snowdon): Ranging in age from a sprightly 60 to 90-plus, seniors of various backgrounds find renewed vitality through competitive synchronized swimming. https://www.docnyc.net/film/unsyncable/

When the Grass Must Go (Director Ilja Willems): To save water during an ongoing drought, a landscaper from Nevada is removing grass lawns under a first of a kind state law. https://www.docnyc.net/film/shorts-our-climate-our-crisis-2023/when-the-grass-must-go/

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