AN EYE FOR AN EYE (2025) DOC NYC

Tahereh is a mother of three in Iran who repeatedly asked for divorce in order to get out of an abusive marriage. When it wasn't granted she killed her husband and was sent to prison for 14 years. When she was released she is left to her in-laws to decide her fate, execution or the payment of blood money.

The choice of blood money or death comes from a tale of the Prophet who told a greiving man that he had the right to kill the accused because of eye for an eye, however that they should take the blood money lest they be the same as the killer. It has become something much more complicated in modern day.

This is not going to be what you expect. The story is not as simple as stated above. Additionally the film shows the whole process of negotiating and then attempting to pay the blood money.  There is a great deal here and you have to belt in and take the ride.

If you've been watching films from Iran over the last few years you will notice that there have been a couple of films that have covered the subject. While those films were narrative, this is the first documentary that I've run across on the subject.  It puts things into a different light and makes clear what the stakes are on both sides. (And interesting exchange reveals that many people who go for execution later regret the choice). It's a solid telling of the tale that leaves you troubled by the process.

Worth a look.

ILLUMINATIONS (2026) DOC NYC

This is a portrait of Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hilerwho have been partners in film and life fordecades.

Why do I see as many films as possible from DOC NYC? So Ican find films like this. The film is one part verité portrait of the partners and onepart exploration of the ideas of films and filmmaking this is densely packed 69minutes that will open your eyes to how you see the world. 

I was simply goingto try the film before bed and instead I found myself staring at the screencompletely enraptured by what I was seeing. Then it ended and I sat therethinking about all of the things the film kicked up. As a film writerILLUMINATIONS forced me reconsider what I was doing.

What an absolute joy.

If you love  film and filmmaking, even if you don’tlike Nathaniel Dorsky and Jerome Hilerfilms, you need to see this

Kenny: The Marxist Who Would Be Mayor (2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a portrait of Ken Cockrel, an attorney who tried to change the world for the better and ended up pushing it toward a better place.

Cockrel was a Marxist. He believed in the principle exposed by Marx and could argue them, as well as probably every other school of thought with the greatest of ease. Peppering his speech with generous number of Mother f----, he could make his point and then some without breaking a sweat.

I sat watching this film in dumb struck awe. I had never heard of Cockrel before this film and I became completely intrigued by him. It is so rare to see some on in politics so knowledgeable and well spoken. He puts the current crop of politicians to shame since they all look like morons compared to Cockrel.

I loved this film and I can’t wait to see it again.

Recommended​

ASHLAND (2026) DOC NYC

This is a love letter to the people and places of Montana. Focusing on the people living away from the cities the film reveals the people and the place they call home.

This is a beautiful film about a lovely part of the country. I have a couple of friends who either hail from there or spent time there and everyone hopes one day to return.

This is not a loud film. It is instead a film that is quietly powerful, preferring to simply let the people and places speak.

See this film on a big screen

The Flesh and The Soul (2026) DOC NYC 2026

An interview with director David Cronenberg.

I am not quite sure why this is being put out as a film since this is really  just a 90 minute interview with Cronenberg where he talks about a wide range of topics annd not just his life and work while sitting in a chair. If you ever wanted to know about his feelings for things like Star Trek or AI this is for you.

Actually his feelings toward AI are going to ruffle feathers. While he explains why he is in favor of it, it is still a stance that is going to piss many people off.

To be honest this is actually a great interview. This is like a version of the many talks I've seen with Cronenberg over the years. He sits and talks and holds court. While he has told some of these stories else where there is enough new material to make it worth seeing.

If I have any reservation it is the fact that since this being released as a film it's kind of hard for me to say see this in a theater for the cost of a movie theater or festival seat. At the same time I woul gladly pay to see this at a lower streaming price.

An absolute must see for fans of the director- THE FLESH AND THE SOUL is recommended. 

ROBERT RICHARDSON: THE WHITE DEVIL(2026) DOC NYC 2026

Director Jana Hojdová was working on her masters degree in film and she reached out to cinematographer Robert Richardson about his career.  He unexpectedly opened up to Hojdova, so she began to interview him and his collaborators about his life and career.

One of the best films on films you will see, ROBERT RICHARDSON: THE WHITE DEVIL transcends just being a bio of a cinematographer to be come something greater.  Yes, we get a fantastic look at the man and his work, but because Richardson challenges his biographer at every turn, questioning what she is doing and why, the film becomes a film that makes you think about not just Richardson but all documentaries, especially biographies.

I was floored in the best possible way. Rarely do films make me stop and think about what  I am looking at. This is a film that opened my eyes to what cinema is and why and how filmmakers choose to show us what they do. In the hours after seeing ROBERT RICHARDSON: THE WHITE DEVIL I watched three other documentaries and I found myself looking at them in ways influenced by what I learned and took away from this film. This is a film that literally changed how I see the movies.

I have very few words since I am still pondering this film.

Highly recommended ROBERT RICHARDSON: THE WHITE DEVIL is a must see.

... and DAMN HE COULD PLAY (2026) DOC NYC

Portrait of musician Marcus Belgrave who took up the trumpet and became one of the most respected musicians in the world. Never seeking the spotlight Belgrave has worked with everyone from every genre of music. Belgrave's real passion is mentoring the next generations of musicians, and he has helped countless people find their place in the world of music.

This is a mostly great film. While I had seen Belgrave before I never realized who he was and what he had done.  Seeing this film sent me down the rabbit hole  to truly explore the full extent of his work.

The film is full of talking heads from every genre with the result you get a real sense of how Belgrave changed music.

One  of the must sees at DOC NYC

MySpace (2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a look at the first truly huge social media platform MYSPACE which brought people across the globe together and set the stage for everything that followed like twitter, facebook and instagram.

This is an excellent look at the early days of social media. The film shows how and why the platform connected with millions across the globe and how it changed the world for better and worse. The film also shows how the site declined.

I was never on MYSPACE. I'm not on Facebook because I don't need to be that connected to nonsense. Going back to MYSPACE everyone as always told me I need to be connected but I spend enougt time on line so I don't need to lose what little time I have to keeping up with everyone else. Because I was never on the site I found much of this very interesting. This was a tale I was not fully aware of and this made the obessive nature of humanity much more understandable. There is a lot of information here and I want to revisit this film as soon as the festival crush of DOC NYC is over.

The one thing that I really dislike about the film is that the many of the users and big names from the site tend to say the exact same things over and over again.  And it isn't that different people are saying the same thing its that the filmmakers let the dame people make the same point several times in the film.

If you can forgive the repetition this is a super film and worth a look.

HOW TO CLEAN A HOUSE IN TEN EASY STEPS (2026)DOC NYC

This is a portrait of Beatriz Valencia, a Colombian-born domestic worker as profiled by her daughter Carolina. Merging fact and fiction the film looks to reveal the the life of an immigrant in America who works in blue collar jobs.

This is a film I like more than I love. I admire what its doing more than anything else. The problem is not the story, rather there is an artificility to the presentation that is distancing. I never full trusted what I was being told. The result was I was never fully engaed.

This isn't to say that the film is bad, it's not. It's more that I think the great things this film has to say isn't presented as well as it could have been. 

And yet despite my reservations this film is worth a look. Its a film that looks at what its really like to be an immigrant and in today's world its something we need to hear.

UNDERSTORY (2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a look at the biologists who view plant as more than just passive things that provide oxygen, food and beauty and see them as an interconnected with the rest of nature and each other.

Filled with some truly amazing time lapse and micro photography UNDERSTORY is a film that will make you go wow repeatedly

Picking up where the once legendary book and documentary The Secret Life of Plants (now known as the basis for a killer Stevie Wonder Album) the film shows that there is much more than plants than we think. Far from things that just sit there we watch as they move around on their roots and how they interact with each other. As the film points out the notion that plants will just be out for themselves is wrong and there is evidence of them interacting with each other for the good of everyone. To say it’s an eye-opening trip is an understatement.

While I came out of the film singing the praises of the cinematography,  I found that the more I thought about the film the more I was haunted by the behavior of the plants themselves. I know that I need to see this film again.

Definitely worth seeing, especially  if you can see it on a big screen

All The Music In The World(2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a loving portrait of concert pianist Emanuel Ax as told by his friends and admirers such as Yo-Yo Ma, John Williams, Itzhak Perlman, and others.

This is a sweet biography of a man I never knew of but who has been a force in music for decades. As he says he's been playing Carnegie Hall for 60 years.  Its a film that is going to make you feel good and smile.

This film is pretty much perfect, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Its bad in that there is no real surprises because it hits every point  for a feel good doc exactly right. At the same time the film so enjoyable because the film hits every point for a feel good documentary exactly right.  

Quibbling aside I love this film and had a blast watching.

Recommended.

Lesbian Lines(2026) DOC NYC

 One of the most important films at DOC NYC and of 2026, LESBIAN LINES demands to be seen. The film is the story of a group of women who came together in the bad old days to set up a hotline where lesbians needing advice or hope could call and talk to a friendly voice. Along the way they ended up saving lives and charting the history of what being a lesbian in Ireland was like.

This film is glorious on so many levels. The act of watching it puts you in the darkness of the 1960s and 70s  when one could not be openly queer. The whole film is shot to make us feel what these women felt.  More importantly it gives us the words and thoughts of the women on the line and in the world. It really shows us what dark place these women were in and why we can never go back.

I am somewhere beyond words.

You must see this film because it is a reminder of what the world was once like and how some people had to fight like hell to change the world.

Highly recommended

Mall Country (2026) DOC NYC 2026

Leo Karruli kind of accidentaly purchases a dying mall in Johnstown Pennsaylvania and tries to save it.

One part biography, one part sociological exporation and one part history lesson MALL COUNTRY is a look at the American Mall. Once the place to be and shop, now a place that more often than not is simply becoming a white elephant full of empty stores. Its a film that manages to tell a story on many levels while always remaining the story of a man who wants to keep Americans connected to each other.

This is a really good film. There have been a number of films recently looking at the twlight of the Mall, and they all have played out similarly, focusing on a mall and its seeming end days. MALL COUNTRY breaks the mold and gives us a context for what we are seeing. We get the history  that makes this all more heart breaking

I really liked this film. Actually this is one I want to revisit after DOC NYC when I don't  need to jump right to the next film.

Recommended

Gamer Girls (2026) hit VOD November 13

I’m not really going to review GAMER GIRLS. It’s not that it is a bad film, more I’m exactly the wrong audience for it. Yes, I liked it but watching it I knew that if I was a gamer I would have loved it more.

The plot of the film has group of girls getting together to play games. Along the way they decide to go into a tournament. They initially think that they should have some guys in the mix and then they decide to go it alone.

You can pretty much write it from there. Yes it does what you expect it to, but at the same time it does so in such an entertaining manner you won’t care.

Daylight (2026) DOC NYC 2026

Jon Kasbe's latest film if for the New Yorker. Its a short film about Joe Garcia who twenty odd years before had killed a man in a drug deal gone bad. Going into prison he began to write and eventually found hope in the music of Taylot Swift. Kasbe had read Garcia's story about being a Swiftie that lives in prison and had to meet him. This resulted in a film that discusses Garcia's chage and his move toward release.

This is a lovely film.  While it may seem to be by the numbers at first, but Kasbe works his magic and will have you tearing up by the end. You're going to want to find Garcia and give him a big hug,

I have no notes.

See this film- either at DOC NYC or on YouTube where it is playing on the New Yorker's channel.

Recommended.

80 Angry Journalists (2026)

Director András Földes tells the story of the collapse of the independent Hungarian news site Index in 2020 when the the site gave into Viktor Orban's repressive moves designed to silence opposition. In the wake of the caving 80 journalists, including Foldes waked away. The film charts what happened leading up to the mass exit and what happened afterward.

This is an interesting story of what happened when a bully tried to make sure his lies aren't discovered nor his feelings are hurt. It is a tale that echoes with the media caving into the Trump Administration. Its a story that also echoes what happened in Russia as documented in the MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS films.

While this film was on my must see list of films for DOC NYC, it is actually one of the few films that I am not planning on revisiting. While I think the film is fine for what it is, the film is strangely lacking urgency. Yes want to see what happens, but the telling is much too matter of fact.  I was disappointed.

At the same time the film is good and definitely worth a watch.

Whiddy (2026) DOC NYC

WHIDDY floored me. There is something about this look at when American oil companies decided to build a teminal in Whiddy Ireland because of trouble in the Suez, that was bandoned when the politics changed, that grabbed me at the start and pulled me in. My thought was that I was going to watch a few minutes and then come back later. Instead, I sat there and watched as 90 minutes blew by without a thought.

There are numerous reasons that this film works as well as it does. The first is that it is telling us an interesting story most of us have never heard before. It’s also a tale that resonates with what is going on today.  All over the world towns and villages are being sold bills of goods with the promise that this new project will help them. Sometimes it works and a lot of time it doesn’t. Either way it often leaves the towns and villages fragmented.

This is a great film that has haunted me over the weeks since I saw it. I’ve been trying to find the words to really discuss it but I find that I need to see it a second or third time. That is a rave because it means that WHIDDY  is a film that doesn’t wash over you but grabs you by the throat and insists that we engage with it.

This is one of the absolute must sees at DOC NYC and as such is highly recommended.

LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY (2026) DOC NYC

if memories don't change us-what is the point of remembering?

Filmmaker Leah Galant moves to Germany to study how the Holocaust is remembered and ends up pondering notions of memory both personal and shared.

This is a film you will need to see multiple times because if you are like me, the journey through the film is going to kick up things you need to re-experience.

The film begins as a family portrait as Galant is talking to her dad with ALS. She is talking about her family which survived the Holocaust and how they remembered. She then goes to Germany to see how the Germans remember the tragedy. Things then become complicated when Pro-Palestine protests erupt and the specter of the war and what done is raised in a new and seemingly unexpected context.

You will forgive me if I don't do a deep discussion on the film. I only received the film few days ago and I need a second or third viewing to do it justice. There is way too much information and way too many questions for me to hope to properly pull a piece together. Seriously this film raises enough issues that it could have companion volumes.

That is a rave ladies and gentlemen. Seriously, this is certainly one of the great finds of 2026. I'm working on where it belongs on the best of the year list as well.

The reason the film works is that it goes its own way. Galant is reporting on what is in front of her and isn't trying to shape things. It's a great move because I've seen way too many films recently that feel like the filmmakers are moving pieces around.

This film is going to make you sit in silence for a long time when it ends.

Chase this film down

Under Fire (2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a look at a father and a daughter trying to keep the lines of communication open in the wake of a PTSD diagnosis. He is a fireman who has neglected his family for years. Now the years of stress are coming back to haunt him.

Low key, observational film is going to work better for some people than others. If you go into the film looking for grand drama the odds are you are going to be disappointed. There is a lot of talking and therapy sessions. Other than the odd sequence of the life of a first responder this is kind of sedate.

For me this was a mixed bag. Growing up in a household with a first responder parent I could completely understand the daughter’s feelings of abandonment and uncertainty with her father. I also could understand the father’s refusal to engage his child.  I know the work that has to go into bridging the gap. I was moved by the effort. At the same time, the film is much too low key. Everyone seems to speak in hushed tones and everyone is trying to make an effort, which is good for the people on screen but not good for those in the seats. My interest waned a bit too much.

While the film is well done, and important for what it shows, it isn’t as engaging as it should be.

RARE AS F@*K (2026) DOC NYC 2026

Portrait of  Oliver Scheier, a 17-year-old  who is one of 70 people with a rare degenerative disease which makes everything difficult. Inspired by the film THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY he refuses to lay down and do nothing, Scheier prepares for college and creates his art, which is his way of engaging with the world.

This is a good portrait of a young man taking on life at full steam.  It is an engaging portrait that mixes his words and thoughts with a look at the difficulties of his life. It’s a film that will bring hope to those who are suffering disabilities and feel they can’t do more than sit.

Worth a look