A host of documentaries exemplify ND/NF’s unconventional programming philosophy.
New Directors/New Films
The Fake Town Where Police Trained to Suppress Protests
Hyperallergic talks to director Sierra Pettengill about her documentary Riotsville, USA, which finds the roots of modern policing techniques in the 1960s
Fire of Love Captures a Literally Volcanic Romance
Married volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft took incredible footage of eruptions. Sara Dosa’s documentary uses it to tell their unusual love story.
Faya Dayi Tells Stories of Land Kinship in Drought-Ridden Ethiopia
Screening at New Directors/New Films, Jessica Beshir’s film floats in the space between documentary and poetry.
Liborio Affirms the Force of Mythology and Collective Faith
An immersive dive into communal myth-making, Nino Martínez Sosa’s film brings a Dominican spiritual leader to back to life.
At New Directors/New Films, Stories About People Struggling to Heal
This year’s online edition of the venerable festival features movies about mourning rituals, reenactments of family history, cult survivors, and more.
A Film Shows a Poignant Vision of Black Life in Hale County, Alabama
In his documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, RaMell Ross captures the lives of that county’s black residents in beautiful and fragmentary complexity.
Style Transcends Story in Winter Brothers, a Film Set in a Limestone Mine
Hlynur Pálmason’s movie injects some fresh blood into the sometimes moribund state of cinema.
A Sibling’s Documentary About His Brother’s Mysterious Murder
In Strong Island, Yance Ford lays out the peculiar circumstances that surrounded his brother’s murder in 1992, and the void left in its wake.
The Opulent World of Qatari Falconry
Yuri Ancarani’s documentary The Challenge immerses viewers in the dazzling subculture of ultra-wealthy sheiks who practice falconry.