‘Will & Harper,’ ‘No Other Land,’ ‘Frida,’ ‘Queendom,’ ‘The Bibi Files’ & More Make DOC NYC Shortlist Of Year’s Best Documentaries

No Other Land, the powerful documentary set in a Palestinian community of the occupied West Bank, may lack U.S. distribution, but it’s got awards momentum behind it.

The film directed by a collective of Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers earned a place on DOC NYC’s coveted Short List — the festival’s nod to what it considers to be among the year’s best feature documentaries. The list – a harbinger of potential traction with Oscar voters — also gave recognition to Will & Harper, a Netflix film built around a road trip taken by Will Ferrell and his longtime friend Harper Steele after Harper came out as trans.

Both No Other Land and Will & Harper earned nominations for Best Documentary Feature at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards announced earlier this week. Also pulling off the DOC NYC-Critics’ Choice double is Sugarcane, the National Geographic documentary investigating the disappearance of Indigenous children at a so-called Indian residential school.

Two other Netflix documentaries – The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, directed by Benjamin Ree, and Daughters, directed by Natalie Rae and Angela Patton – also made the DOC NYC shortlist and earned Best Doc nominations from the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, a Netflix acquisition directed by two-time Oscar nominee Lucy Walker, also secured a spot on the DOC NYC short list. [Scroll for the full lineup of films to make DOC NYC short lists of features and short films, as well as DOC NYC’s Winner’s Circle of additional awards-worthy films].

Interestingly, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story did not make the DOC NYC short list after earning six Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards nominations Monday.

Queendom, the story of Jenna Marvin, an extraordinary Russian drag performance artist, made the DOC NYC short list, giving recognition to a film that has been a film festival darling. Frida, about the beloved Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, also made the short list. Between Will & Harper, Queendom, and Frida, DOC NYC elevated the profile of several films that touch on LGBTQ themes.

The Bibi Files, director Alexis Bloom’s investigation into corruption allegations against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, earned a spot on the short list. That film, produced by Oscar winner Alex Gibney, will make its official world premiere at DOC NYC, after bowing as a work-in-progress at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Johan Grimonprez’s Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat, soon to be released by Kino Lorber, also made the features short list.

Among short documentaries to make the DOC NYC roster of the year’s best is A Swim Lesson, directed by actress-filmmaker Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, and The Turnaround, directed by Kyle Thrash and two-time Oscar winner Ben Proudfoot. Motorcycle Mary, directed by Haley Watson and executive produced by Proudfoot, made the DOC NYC cut of shorts. Also earning recognition among shorts is I Am Ready, Warden, directed by Oscar nominee Smriti Mundhra, and Incident, directed by Bill Morrison, which uses CCTV footage to interrogate the police shooting of an unarmed Black man in Chicago.

“The Short Lists sections showcase a selection of nonfiction features and shorts that the festival’s programming team considers to be among the year’s strongest contenders for Oscars and other prizes,” DOC NYC said in a release, “while Winner’s Circle is a reminder of films already awarded at major international film events that are worthy of additional consideration.”

All of the shortlisted films as well as the Winner’s Circle selections will screen at DOC NYC — the nation’s biggest documentary film festival. In most cases, the filmmakers will be on hand for the screenings.

“With these new announcements, DOC NYC will present a total of 111 features, including 32 World premieres and 24 U.S. premieres, and 129 short films in its 15th edition,” DOC NYC said. “The festival runs in-person November 13-21 at IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Village East by Angelika and continues online through December 1 with films available to viewers across the U.S.”

See below for the complete slates in each section as revealed Thursday:

SHORT LIST: FEATURES

The DOC NYC Short List for documentary features was launched in 2012 and has a long history of being a predictor of other awards—from critics’ prizes and top-ten lists to the Oscars. For 11 of the last 12 years, DOC NYC has screened the documentary feature that went on to win the Academy Award, and the festival has screened 53 of the last 60 Oscar-nominated documentary features. DOC NYC’s Short List: Features selection process is overseen by Artistic Director Jaie Laplante and Director of Special Projects Thom Powers.

This year’s selections for Short List: Features are:

THE BIBI FILES (World Premiere)

Director: Alexis Bloom

Producers: Alexis Bloom, Alex Gibney, Raviv Drucker, Kara Elverson, David Rahtz
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went to court trying to block this film that reveals leaked video of his testimonies on corruption charges.

BLACK BOX DIARIES

Director: Shiori Ito

Producers: Shiori Ito, Hanna Aqvilin, Eric Nyari
A journalist upends Japan’s entrenched codes of silence when she brings sexual assault charges against a well-connected member of the Japanese media elite. (MTV Documentary Films)

DAHOMEY

Director: Mati Diop

Producers: Mati Diop, Judith Lou Lévy, Eve Robin

The restitution of priceless artifacts, looted by the French, to their origins in Benin provides an occasion for momentous impact and debate. (MUBI)

DAUGHTERS

Directors: Natalie Rae, Angela Patton

Producers: Lisa Mazzotta, Natalie Rae, Justin Benoliel, James Cunningham, Mindy Goldberg, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Laura Choi Raycroft

Young girls whose fathers are incarcerated join in a one-day dad/daughter dance inside prison, with deep emotional consequences on each side. (Netflix)

ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND (NYC Premiere)

Director: Raoul Peck

Producers: Tamara Rosenberg, Raoul Peck

In this rousing, elegant documentary, Raoul Peck examines the life and works of a seminal artist of the 20th century, South African photographer Ernest Cole. (Magnolia Pictures)

FRIDA

Director: Carla Gutiérrez

Producers: Katia Maguire, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Loren Hammonds, Alexandra Johnes

Mixing lyrical animation of her influential works and expressive voice-over, Frida is a definitive film about the iconic twentieth-century Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. (Amazon/MGM Studios)

MOUNTAIN QUEEN: THE SUMMITS OF LHAKPA SHERPA

Director: Lucy Walker

Producers: Charlie Corwin, Michael D. Ratner, Miranda Sherman, Dalia Burde, Christopher Newman

Lhakpa Sherpa is the first Nepali woman to summit and descend Mount Everest, but how she navigates her life as a single mother and immigrant is an even more heroic tale. (Netflix)

NO OTHER LAND

Directors: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor

Producers: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning

One of the most urgent films of the year and winner of multiple festival prizes, No Other Land offers an essential and unflinching look at Palestinian life under Israeli military occupation.

PORCELAIN WAR

Directors: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev

Producers: Aniela Sidorska, Paula DuPré Pesmen, Camilla Mazzaferro, Olivia Ahnemann

Three Ukrainian artists pick up arms when Russia invades their country, but refuse to put down their drive to create. (Picturehouse)

THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF IBELIN

Director: Benjamin Ree

Producer: Ingvil Giske

Inside a sophisticated online game, a young man suffering from a degenerative muscular disease creates a world where he can live, love, strive, and hope, to the greatest extent his soul can muster. (Netflix)

QUEENDOM
Director/Producer: Agniia Galdanova
Producer: Igor Myakotin

A genderqueer Russian artist/activist faces harassment and hostility in Putin’s Russia, but it is the universal ache of being cut off from one’s roots that proves to be her greatest existential threat. (Greenwich Entertainment)

SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT

Director: Johan Grimonprez

Producer: Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius

In a magnificent essay film, Johan Grimonprez explores the historical rollercoaster of Congo after its independence from colonial control, told through accounts from spies, mercenaries and jazz icons. (Kino Lorber)

SUGARCANE*

Directors: Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie

Producers: Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn
An investigation into the history of abuse and missing indigenous children at a Canadian residential school ignites a present-day reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve. (National Geographic Documentary Films)

UNION

Director: Brett Story, Stephen Maing

Producers: Brett Story, Stephen Maing, Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, Martin Dicicco

Against incredible odds and immense opposition, current and former Amazon workers form a labor union and petition the corporate behemoth for more dignified treatment of warehouse workers.

WILL & HARPER

Director: Josh Greenbaum

Producers: Rafael Marmor, Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum, Josh Greenbaum, Christopher Leggett

Former Saturday Night Live writer Harper Steele comes out as a woman and takes a road trip across the United States with her old friend Will Ferrell to explore transgender experience. (Netflix)

SHORT LIST: SHORTS

The Short List: Shorts showcase of 15 titles is now in its seventh year at DOC NYC. The selection process is overseen by Artistic Director Jaie Laplante, Director of Special Projects Thom Powers, and Senior Programmer, Shorts, Samah Ali. In 2023, the showcase included The Last Repair Shop, which went on to win the Oscar.

This year’s selections for Short List: Shorts are:

ALL THINGS METAL
Director: Motoki Otsuka
Producer: Lucy Sexton
Three brothers are united by their love of metal work, heavy metal rock, and movie-making. (Rolling Stone Films)

DENIAL
Directors: Paul Moakley, Daniel Lombroso
Producer: Paul Moakley
Zoom in on Maricopa Country, Arizona, in 2020,  where contested results of the Presidential election sow chaos, confusion and threats against the official overseeing the vote. (The New Yorker)

ETERNAL FATHER

Director: Ömer Sami

Producer: Alma Dyekjær Giese

One father deals with his mortality fears by stating his wish to be cryogenically frozen upon his death, leaving his family to contemplate what this means for them when the time comes. (The New Yorker)

GOODBYE, MORGANZA
Director: Devon Blackwell
Producer: Daniel Lombroso
In this shadow of a long-ago betrayal, Devon Blackwell documents her family’s history and the property stolen from her great-grandmother. (The New Yorker)

I AM READY, WARDEN

Director: Smriti Mundhra

Producers: Keri Blakinger, Maya Gnyp, Keri Blakinger, Nina Anand Aujla, Smriti Mundhra

Sentenced to death, prisoner John Henry Ramirez spends his final days preparing a message for his victim’s son while saying goodbye to his own boy. (MTV Documentary Films)

INCIDENT
Director/Producer: Bill Morrison
Producer: Jamie Kalven
Filmmaker Bill Morrison reconstructs a Chicago police shooting of an unarmed Black man, dissecting what some consider an accident and others a murder. (The New Yorker)

INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART

Director: Ema Ryan Yamazaki

Producer: Eric Nyari

In an annual musical performance for first graders, a young girl faces her fears with determination and becomes one of the lead percussionists. (The New York Times Op-Docs)

JULIA’S STEPPING STONES
Directors: Julia Reichert, Steve Bognar, Jim Klein
Producer: Steve Bognar
Before her death, activist/director Julia Reichert began filming her life story. Her partner, Steve Bognar, finishes the decorated filmmaker’s work, sharing it with the world. (Netflix)

MOTORCYCLE MARY
Director: Haley Watson
Producer: Rachel Greenwald
Meet Mary McGee, a decorated and courageous racer who shattered the glass ceiling for women in motorsports. (ESPN)

THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA
Director/Producer: Molly O’Brien
Producer: Molly Lisa Remington
The spotlight shines on double bass player Orin O’Brien, the first woman to join the New York Philharmonic, in this brilliant film for classical music fans. (Netflix)

THE QUILTERS
Director/Producer: Jenifer McShane
Tasked with creating quilts for foster children in Missouri, the men in a maximum security facility stitch the dreams of future generations.

SEAT 31: ZOOEY ZEPHYR
Directors/Producer: Kimberly Reed
Banned from the Montana House of Representatives, Rep. Zooey Zephyr makes the bench outside the house her new “seat” as she fights for the rights of trans people in the state. (The New Yorker)

A SWIM LESSON

Directors: Rashida Jones, Will McCormack

Producers: Nicole Emanuele, Emily Arlook

A symphony of toddlers’ laughter, cries, and splashes can be heard in the backyard of Bill, an instructor committed to teaching little kids how to swim. (POV)

THE TURNAROUND

Directors: Kyle Thrash, Ben Proudfoot

Producers: Ben Proudfoot, Nicholas Ruff, Josh Rosenberg

After a superstar trade turned into a rough start with the Philadelphia Phillies, one devoted fan inspires others to turn their boos into cheers in hopes of changing the trajectory of the player’s season. (Netflix)

UNTIL HE’S BACK
Director/Producer: Jacqueline Baylon
As European countries ignore the refugee crisis on their shores, Faisal Bouhafs helps one Moroccan family repatriate their child after his unsuccessful journey across the Mediterranean. (POV)

WINNER’S CIRCLE

The DOC NYC Winner’s Circle for documentary features, introduced in 2019, highlights films that arrive at DOC NYC with significant awards pedigrees already in place. Past films shown in Winner’s Circle that all went on to further acclaim include Writing with Fire, The Mole Agent, A House Made of Splinters, In the Rearview, Bad Axe, Midnight Family, and Advocate. To qualify for inclusion in this category, films must have won a major award at a significant international or US film festival.

This year’s selections for Winner’s Circle are:

HOLLYWOODGATE

Director: Ibrahim Nash’at

Producers: Talal Derki, Shane Boris, Odessa Rae

After foreign troops withdraw from Afghanistan in 2021, a journalist is given permission to follow and film two Taliban military men for a year. Winner, Feature Documentary Award, El Gouna Film Festival.

THE LAST OF THE SEA WOMEN

Director: Sue Kim

Producers: Malala Yousafzai, Erika Kennair

Executive produced by Malala Yousafzai, The Last of the Sea Women explores the community of fisherwomen called the haenyeo on South Korea’s Jeju Island. (Apple Original Films) Winner,  NETPAC Award for Best Asian Film, TIFF.

A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS

Director: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen

Producer: Mari Bakke Riise

An endearing family devoted to living in harmony with nature faces difficult challenges when their matriarch unexpectedly passes away. Winner, World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Award, Sundance Film Festival.

NOCTURNES

Directors: Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan

Producer: Anirban Dutta

In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, two curious observers probe the dark of night to gain a greater understanding of one of nature’s most spellbinding creatures, the moth. (Grasshopper Films) Winner, World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Craft, Sundance Film Festival.

PATRICE: THE MOVIE

Director: Ted Passon

Producers: Kyla Harris, Innbo Shim, Emily Spivack

Patrice: The Movie plays like a romantic comedy, despite its serious subject matter about a couple fighting for disability rights. (Hulu) Winner, Audience Award, Camden International Film Festival.

* Sugarcane is also featured in DOC NYC’s VOICES OF CANADA,a showcase of Canadian titles that are represented throughout the festival’s sections, co-presented by the Consulate General of Canada in New York.