LISTEN (2026) DOC NYC 2026

A sound specialist records the wilds of Alaska to play for his mother who is suffering from dementia.

This film will hit you in the face. 

A slowly builfing film, this film at first had me puzzled. I had heard a lot of good things about the film and at first the  images of  dound being recorded didn't seem to live up to what I had been told. Sure the image and sound (see this with great sound) were wonderful, but I didn't see the magic...

...that was my bad because there is a point where everything quietly came together and I found myself falling into the film and getting misty. The second half of the film with it marriage of sound and image and wisdom rocked me. I completely understood why this film was high on so many people's listed.

You need to see and hear this film

Recommended.

Boomerang Atomic (2026) DOC NYC 2026

A look at the French atom bomb tests in the Algerian desert largely via a collection  of archival footage.

An interesting trip back in time to when atomic weapons were viewed differently and France was looking for entry into the atomic bomb club. The film clearly shows that the French didn't quite respect its colonies since it didn't take the best precautions.

While the film is informative, I wish that there are been some form of context for what we are seeing. There is an assumption that we know about what we are seeing, I wanted to know more, particularly about the underground test that went wrong and breached the side of the mountain.

The need for more information aside this is a good film and worth seeing.

The Ascent (2026) DOC NYC

Portrait of amputee athlete Mandy Horvath, who decides to attempt climbing Mount Kilamanjaro despite having no legs.  

This film is so perfectly put together that there really isn't anything fo me to talk about. The film expertly tells Harvath's story as it should be told and and in such a way that you will have no notes. Covering her attempt to get to the summit as well as her attempting to fully figure out what happened to her that she lost her legs. Its a moving story expertly told.

Destined for a long life and many awards THE ASCENT is highly recommended.

NAZA (2026) DOC NYC

The people responsible for  sending out the drones and missles to level Gaza, as well as soldiers who were tasked with burning down the homes of the people who fled the bombing so they would have nothing to come back to, speak to the filmmakers and calmly tell the stories of many (but not all) of the terrible things they did. 

Naza is the term used by the Israeli military for collateral damage instead of Palestians, refugees or human beings (Men, women, children or babies) so that the deaths they caused were not seen as real people in the eyes of the soldiers.

Before the New York Festival screening of NAZA there were some quiet protests. Box trucks with LED screens drove around the festival site saying that the stories of NAZA were false and hand not confirmed. There were also four protesters holding signs outside Alice Tully. They had not seen the film.

The audience inside Alice Tully was openly sobbing during the screening. Several people around me took out their rosaries and were praying. The film laid the the audience out. Finally the weight of what was happening was sinking into the public. The war crimes are at last being noticed.

The point of the film, as stated by the directors during the Q&A, is not to dispute the right of Israel to defend itself or to get justice for the 1200 people killed on October 7 but to question the right of a government to kill well over 75,000 people, wound almost 200,000 more, and destroy the homes of even more in attacks that are exponetially greater. The want to know why all this death and destruction against people who have almost no connection to the bad guys, and simply living in the same building as them. Why is it necessary to wipe out the homes of people who simply share their national background and did nothing wrong on October 7, and drive them into the desert without food or water or shelter? The point is to make an accounting of the crimes being committed not against the people responsible but everyone around them. As one person said it was sometimes okay to take out 500 innocent people to get one suspected bad guy. What sort of madness makes that okay?

The mind boggles even more when you consider that the choice of targets is often picked by an AI program that is frequently wrong. Yes- the Israeli military is using an AI program to choose its targets but it often picks the wrong people.

Is it any wonder people are upset? Not only are war crimes being revealed but so is gross incompetence.

While the audience around me was left broken, the film was a bit less moving me. It was not because of the lack of weight of the film and it's revelations but because, as a good friend pointed out, I have been aware of this bullshit for years. Within my circle and social media follows I have been hearing about all of the charges leveled here since they started. I have read the articles upon which this film is based when they first appeared. This is a one stop shop for those who haven't been paying attention. For those who have been paying attention is this a somber summing up that rocks the soul.

As a film I can't really review it. This is not a film so much as pained cry from caring humans who want to pain and suffering to stop. Its a film made by Israelis who want to their country to come to their senses and stop killing people. Its the culmination of two years of work that puts it all together so that people can bare witness (and who, as made clear in the film, are remaining in the shadows because the evil that is directing the attacks on innocent people would turn and attack them). This is a scream not a piece of cinema.

NAZA is a vital and a live film. It is a call for peace and sanity. It is a film looking to find the better part of humanity by revealing its dakest heart. You must see this film.

Because of the need to get the film out so that people can see it, the film will be released to theaters and on line in the next couple of days. The hope is that with the release changes will come. And perhaps many of the voices who are claiming it is all not true will see that it is true- that it all is horribly and terribly true.

Bitter Christmas (2026) opens Friday

Cult film director who works in advertising has a panic attack and decides to go away…

...however...

...she is a character created by  a film director writing a new screenplay for his first film in five years that is based on the people around him

Pedro Aldomavar returns with a good, but lesser by his standards, film that seems less a finished film then an effort to keep his regular trip to the festivals going (a point mentioned in the film). Honestly if it wasn’t Pedro this film would never have gotten into many festivals. (And I am pointing this out in a year I published a piece taking the NYFF to task about all the Hong Sang-soo films- because it clearly isn't just Sang-soo getting special treatment)

That should not be read as it being bad, it is not, more that the film is full of ideas, and scenes, but there is very little to tie them together. Even if the film with in a film doesn't all tie together, its being written as we watch, the real world should all hang together. It might have worked if there was an ending but there really isn’t one, just a place where it stops.

Part of the problem is that the “real world” characters feel less constructed. What we get from them is really from the film with in the film counterparts and that isn’t always accurate. I have no real sense of them other than as mouthpieces for Pedro’s words.

At the same time the ideas about grief, reality, creation are stunning. Pedro has a great deal to say about a lot of things; he just doesn’t have a narrative to hang them on.

I like the film, but as I said above this is a lesser film from a great director and exists just to get him into a festival.

Still if you are a fan it’s a must.

Space Cadet (2026) opens Friday in select theaters

There are spoilers ahead....

This is the story of a young woman who graduates from the space academy and heads off into the stars, while the robot parent who raised her after her mother passed away on a similar mission waits on earth for her return.

This film crushed the life out of me.

This film is not for kids. Kids will not get it.  Adults will get it but may find its tale of fading memory in ourselves and loved ones heartbreaking on a level they may not want to deal with. This is an allegory about growing old, getting ill and the death of parents.  Told largely as a memory play,  most of the film follows the robot as it goes through its day remembering her human child. Memory is everything in this film and when that fades, even for a robot, what is left?  

The film came into my life at not the best time as several friends and family have begun the slow slide into forgetfulness. The climax of the story where the robot essentially gives its happiest memories to her daughter in the only way she was capable before expiring broke me in ways that few pieces of art ever had. I desperately needed not to be in a theater full of children at a film festival right before going to lunch with a friend. I needed to be in a room alone with a box of tissues where I could scream out the pain.(Writing this damn near broke me again).

At the same time, I need to say that the tale of the young girl is not up to the robot. Yes, it reveals how we go off and live our live and not fully engage with our parents while trying to cover the same ground, but the story of her stranding on a far-off world is just okay. Its not quite as well thought out as the stuff at home. But then again it isn’t what you are going to remember.

This is a film about ourselves and our parents and our memories. As a representation of life this film is as fine a film as has ever been made… it just may break your heart.

(You may have to search this one out- in the New York Metro area it is in two theaters one in Pallisades New Jersey and the other is the AMC 25-where it is getting one show a day-at 8pm)

HOME OF THE BRAVE, LA TIERRA DEL VALOR (2026) doc nyc

In 2025, as the Trump Administration tries to remove anyone who isn't what they deem as being an American recording artist Nezza takes the stage and sings the Nation Anthem at a Dodgers home game.

This is an okay look at the state of America today and how some people are standing up to the bullying by the current American government. The film gives us a nice sense of what it means to be on ICE's hit list.  The problem with the film is that the film also wants to be a biography of Nezza. There isn't anything wrong with that, rather it's simply that the film is much to short to do everything the film wants to do. This should have been longer than 20 minutes.

My feelings aside the film is still worth a look.

THE TUNERS (2026) DOC NYC 2026

Portait of the piano tuners working at the Chopin competition in Poland.

This is a solid doc about the people who make sure the world's best piano players can do their thing.  The film reveals the fact that what the tuners do is an art and not a science. How each one tunes a piano is different than what another does. Its a film that essentially reveals the magic behind the tricks the magician performs.

A gem of a film and worth looking for.

 website: thetunersdoc.com IG: @thetunersdoc

Don Hertzfeld's Paper Trail is now available to watch for free

THE BADDEST SPEECHWRITER OF ALL (2026) DOC NYC

Martin Luther King Jr.’s lawyer and speechwriter Clarence E. Jones talks about his relationship with his boss.

This film is an early entry on my Best of 2026 list. This is film about a man who wanted nothing to do with Martin Luther King and ended up getting talked into not only picking up the fight when king was killed.

This is a perfect example of less is more. Basically the film is just Jones telling his story while we see some photos and some animated recreations. It is nothing fancy or flashy, but it is exactly what the telling needed.

I absolutely loved this film. It's hell of a story perfectly told. It is also a story filled with hope which is exactly what we need these days 

I can not recommend this film any higher than this. You must see this film.

Three DOC NYC Shorts: THEY'RE HERE, THE BOYS AND THE BEES and ONE LAST ORDER

With DOC NYC starting this week- here is a repost of three short films I reviewed for the recently concluded NYFF and Woodstock Film Festival 

THEY'RE HERE
Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller's THEY'RE HERE is certain to be an Oscar nominee. A damning portrait of ICE and a glowing portrait of the people of Minneapolis who fought them as best they could. The film is a chilling look at the abuses that ICE has commited from following the watchers to pulling people out of cars just to arrest them. Its clear that the agents are thugs dressed up a government officers. This is a chilling film and one of absolute best films at this year's New York Film Festival.

THE BOYS AND THE BEES
This is a portrait of the Ray family, a Black family earning a living on a small farm in Georgia. Over the course of the film we see the life they live and watch as their sons learn to tend the bees in their hives.

This is a small lyric little film that reveals the beauty of family and the way we grow over the course of our life.  It is a small jewel of film that reached out and touches your heart in the best sort of way.

Highly recommended

ONE LAST ORDER

Portrait of a woman Sighle, on her last day working at Florida drive thru restaurant. She had worked there for 37 years and over all those years she knew the names and orders of everyone who came to eat... and everyone of them decides to show up and say good bye.

This is a lovely film. Its beautiful portrait of a woman who touched the lives of all of everyone she met for the better. Its a film made with the love that Sighle created - which apparently is infinite.

I loved this film. When It was done I was emailing my friends who are willing to cover shorts and told them to see it.

What a joy.

Highly recommended.

Everybody to Kenmure Street (2026) DOCNYC

This is the story of what happened when the Home Office in Glasgow had a raid on Kenure Street on Eid in the most diverse neighborhood in the city. Its the story of a neighborhood coming together in order to protect members of the community.

This is a film that shows people standing up can make a difference. This is a film about the basic goodness of humanity since it shows that somewhere in the world civility isn't dead. I say this having seen mere days after ICE in America shot and killed a woman in a car because basically she didn't like what they were doing.  I will not get into how what happened on Kenmure Street can no longer happen in most of the US, rather I will say you need to see this film because it will make you feel good and feel hope.

We need that.

Of course it helps that the people of Kenure Street come from a long line of protesters. For generations they have watched each other's back and fought the power when it needed to be fought. One of the great things about the film is that it shows a community that genuinely cares for each other regardless of where they came from. 

This film is glorious.

Forgive me for not saying more than that, but I can't say more because I will get off on a rant.

See this film - feel hope in a world where that is in short supply

Ariela Rubin on NUISANCE BEAR (2026) in theaters in LA now, DOC NYC Friday and every where soon

 

Nuisance Bear is a documentary set in Churchill, Manitoba—known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World.

The film explores the destruction of the natural environment, how polar bears impact the town, as well as the ways Indigenous lives are forced to change as the town becomes gentrified. 

As climate change delays the freezing of the ice, polar bears are left without access to food, and so they venture into town in search of food, which brings them into constant conflict with humans.

The documentary is narrated by Mike, an Inuit, who speaks about how the presence of polar bears has disrupted daily life. He also expresses frustration over hunting restrictions, explaining that polar bears can now only be hunted a limited number of times per year. (I was surprised and upset to learn that polar bear hunting is still legal.)

The film follows the polar bear patrol, showing the measures they take to keep bears out of town: setting off fireworks, using traps, and, in one case, tranquilizing a bear, putting a tracker in him, putting dye on his fur, and relocating him via helicopter farther away. These scenes show how tense the coexistence between humans and bears has become.

What I found interesting was the audience reaction. At my screening, people seemed to be rooting for the polar bears. (People cheered at one point when a polar bear outsmarted humans) Yet the film itself felt more focused on the Inuit perspective, and how the bears are “nuisances”. In fact while the world says the polar bear population is decreasing, Mike says that isn’t the case. I’m not sure which direction the director was hoping people to go in, or if they were simply showing both sides without judgement.(Although the movie is called “Nuisance Bear” after all)

Visually, the documentary is stunning. The close up shots of the polar bears, as well as the videos taken from above (perhaps via drone) are beautiful. They really showed the beauty of the animals. However, it was hard for me to really love a documentary that seemed to showcase the burden polar bears are causing.

THE OTHER ROE (2026) DOC NYC

This is a portrait of lawyer Margie Pitts Hames who argued the case of Doe vs Bolton, which was decided at the same time as Roe vs Wade. Doe was a class action case about not having access to abortion, that was argued at the same time.

This film needs to be a feature. There is too much information for a 17 minute film.  Things feel slightly unfocused and we are left wanting to know more. 

Despite this there is an interesting look at an unheralded but important story 

 

A pointer toward threeASFOUR: FULL CIRCLE (2026) which starts at the Film Forum on November 13th

This is a look at the avant-garde New York fashion collective threeASFOUR which is made up of Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser, and Adi Gil.

I really can't review this film. As portrait of the designers and artists its a very good look at their lives and work.  Shot with with a wonderful style by Sean Ono Lennon and Brian C. Gonzalez, the film is a visual delight. The film is very much, like the clothing the collective makes, is work of art.

The problem for me is I never really cared. The collective seemed distant and far away from this mere mortal. Sure they connect with their clients, such as Bjork, but for me the fact that their work will never have any connection to me other than as a stage prop or as something a fabulously wealthy person wears kept me outside. Sure it looks great but who are they making these weird things for?

While I have a mixed relationship with fadhion docs, I tend to connect because the design of the clothes remains something anyone could wear, here it's something else.

three ASFOUR was not for me, but it might be for you, so if you feel you might connect give it a try.

STEAL THIS STORY PLEASE (2025) DOC NYC

Portrait of independent journalist Amy Goodman and her battle to get the real story out in an age of corporate crafted news, where every story comes with an agenda.

This is an excellent tale of what it's like to be in the media circus today. Its a take that is heartbreaking in many ways since it's clear that many of the people around Goodman are more interested in a buck and fame and not the truth. It's a tale that will open your mind as to just how skewed things are, and I say this as someone who tries to follow the news and who has seen more docs like this then is healthy.

While the film covers similar ground to some other journalists fighting the good fight across the globe, this one hit home simply because it is here at home. Watching the film, we realize we are not that far off then places like Russia and China in media control.

Highly recommended, STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! is an important one to hear if we want to remain in a genuine democracy.

The Hummingbird Paints Fragrant Songs (2026) DOC NYC 2026

This is a lyrical portrait of indigenous artist Sara Flores, her art and her work to help and protect her local community.

This is a stunningly beautiful film. It’s a film that creates a unique head space. Watching the film we drift off into Flores‘ world. To be certain it’s probably a bit more majestic in the film than in real life, but at the same time that is probably how she sees the world. And do yourself a favor and try and see this with a good sound system I say that because the first time I saw a work in progress version with a less aggressive soundtrack and the film didn’t click. However, seeing it again, where I could hear Flores‘ world as well as seeing it made it something magical.

I loved this film.

Recommended. See it on the big screen

DOCNYC 2026 curtain raiser

The crowds are lining up for DOC NYC 2026

DOC NYC starts Wednesday which means you now know why I have not been sleeping. (And since the festival has an on-line portion this year there is a reason why you soon won't be sleeping.)

Yes, boys and girls I have been wading into the annual documentary film festivals goodies and trying to write up reports so you know what to see,  It’s been a tough job, but someone had to do it.

All kidding aside I have been covering the festival every year except the first.  The festival is so well programmed that I will try anything they program. I may not like what I see but I never doubt that there will be an audience for their films.

I love this fest so much that in a year where I am pressed for time to actually watch films I’m expanding my awake hours just to see as many films as possible. What I love is I haven’t hit anything bad so my desire to keep watching is high, with the result that I jump from film to film and I’m getting to bed well after midnight. There are simply too many great films that I want to see them all. 

As I have said for years this is one of the best programmed festival in the world, period, full stop.

If you’ve been reading Unseen Films for any length of time you know how hard I go in covering the festival and I am trying to do that this year. I am most definitely watching a lot of films but since the fest schedules so many films there is no way I will get to anything and this year I can’t even try.

Understand I will be writing up everything that I see, though I am wildly behind in the writing part so reviews may run late or end up short because I want to simply get word out so I can help you decide if you want to see something.

That said the one rule for DOC NYC that has never let me down is if you have any interest in a film just see it because you will like it. I don’t think there has ever been a film I wanted to see that I didn’t like.

Just go and buy tickets. And more importantly there is an on-line portion to the fest so even if you are not in New York you can see some of the films.

Okay what are the films that I think are must sees?

With the understanding that I have only seen a fraction of the films playing and that as this posts I have a stack of screeners- here are the must see films for me (full reviews of all of them are coming):

WHIDDY is a look at a failed effort to bring petroleum transfer station to Ireland. It echoes to today with the grand projects we see the rich are trying to get passed.

UNDERSTORY- a look at plants and what is really going on with them. You'll want to see this for the incredible photography.

EVERYBODY TO KENMURE STREET- a truly great story of a neighborhood coming together to porotect one of their own.

BADDEST SPEECHWRITER OF ALL- A truly great short doc about Martin Luther King's speechwriter. One of the best films you will see in 2026.

DAYLIGHT- One of my most favorite directors in the world Jon Kasbe returns with the unexpected moving tale of a man saved by the music of Taylor Swift. Don't laugh because by the end you will be misty.

LANDSCAPE OF MEMORYis a look at how we remember the Holocaust.

ROBERT RICHARDSON: WHITE DEVIL a great look the mad man and cinematographer whose work changed what we see at the movies.

THE NAVIGATOR- the story of sailing from Hawaii to Tahiti without navigational instruments. Its amazing... and Beautiful

FIGARO UP, FIGARO DOWN- the story of a man who proved that sex drugs and opera don't mix. This is one of the best films of 2026

BEL- a look at the life and music of woman who might have changed the world with her songs

THE MAD WORLD OF HARVEY KURTZMAN - a look at one of the most influencial artists of the 20th century and his insanely delightful work

LOS LOBOS NATIVE SONG - a fantastic portrait of the group thats wall to wall music. One of my favorite films of 2026 with the sequence scored to One Time, One Night being a perfect use of a song to encapsulate the group and the country.

THE HOTLINE - haunting HBO short about a hotline where addicts can call so they aren't using alone and they can be saved if they overdose. It will rock your world

LET IT BE, LET IT BLEED: THE UNLIKELY ROCK N’ ROLL JOURNEY OF ETHAN RUSSELL the history of rock and roll through the photos of one man. One of the great rock films I've ever seen and one of the best of 2026.

Coverage starts tomorrow with some reposts of some of the films I have previously reviewed. Reviews will then drop after embargos fall or close to to the screenings

For more information, tickets and access to the on-lineportion go here

Thoughts on Ulya (2026) Baltic Film Festival

This is a portrait of Uļjana Semjonova who was pulled off the farm where she lived because of her height and sent to play basketball. She doesn't want to play basketball but has to decide what to do because back home she stood out because of her height, while at the sports academy she can actually do something.

This is a black and white art house sports film. Its a film full of rich images and silences and deep meanings. It's also sports film where there isn't remotely as much sports as you get in similar films. This is a film that is very much about Ulya's internal journey from being a young girl on the farm to becoming one of the best that ever played the game.

I've been sitting on this review for  couple of weeks now and I don't know what I think of the film. I mean that in good ways and bad ways. Its a beautiful film that is full of images that delight the eye and ideas that tickle the mind.  At the  same time there is something very art house about the film. It doesn't want to hit all the sports bio marks, and I love that but at the same time the film remains kind of distant. This seemed to be made for an audience other than me.

Sitting with the film a bit I decided that I should probably try it again, and I started it and I found all my preconcieved notions getting in the way. Days on I was still seeing it as I did the first time.  With festivals and such coming up I decided to sit with it a bit and then write something for the Baltic FIlm Festival screening and the revisit down the road.

As it stands now I like ULYA. I'm not sure to what degree beyond that. Lest you think that is a knock, it is not because any film that forces you to wrestle with it instead of letting it just wash over you is a must see.

Recommended for those who want their own wrestling match with cinema.

Dylan Skolnick is back at the Cinema Arts Centre- you may return to the theater

“Independently run movie theaters, started and programmed by people who give their lives to the cinema, are like beacons in the darkness. We need them now more than ever. The Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington was one of those places until a few weeks ago. And then Dylan Skolnick was ejected from the place he and his family had built from the ground up, brick by brick, film by film. The theatre still exists, but the heart of the place has been torn away and the community around it has been shattered. There’s only one way to turn the situation around. A simple solution: Bring Dylan Skolnick back to the Cinema Arts Centre.” Martin Scorsese speaking the words that removed the piratical board of the Cinema Arts Center

As many of you know the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington Long Island was the subject of a hostile take over by a group of people who knew corporate nonsense but didn't understand the film community. They threw out Dylan Skolnick, whose parents built the cinema, and marched on saying they knew the way to the cinematic promised land.

They had no idea what they were doing and it all blew up in their faces.

Their actions resulted in boycotts, protests, complaints to the town, the village and filmmakers across the globe who knew and loved Dylan followed. Distributors pulled their films and refused to allow their films to be screened there (They could only get the same films as the Multiplex a few blocks away). Members demanded their money back. Audiences never showed up. I am told things were so bad that the cinema had worsening money issues the last few weeks. 

Then things got worse because the filmmakers started to add their voices to the public out cry and it exploded as legendary director Martin Scorsese chimed in with the above quote, which got picked up by RogerEbert.com and other national outlets, so suddenly the local battle for a local cinema was national news and the board had to do something if they wanted to keep the cinema open, and save face since it was clear there was no one on their side.

Several days of mediation occurred  and the result is Dylan Skolnick has been returned as the director of the Cinema Arts Centre The people who replaced him are gone. I am also told that there will be a change to the board as well.

Back in September I suggested that the best thing to do was going to stay away from the cinema until Dylan was returned. He is back so feel free to go back to the movies.

I have seen on social media and I have been told by people I know that all of the programs that were canceled will be back.  Because of things just happened it may take a few weeks to repair the damage the old board did, but as a friend said "sometimes you have to burn it down to build it back better".

For now- go see a movie.

I am going to try and put something together on what happened with more details, assuming I can find a minute. There is a lot to the story and a lot of people made this happen and they should be recognized, which is something I can't do in this short piece.  

Again all need to know is that Dylan is back, well programmed cinema will soon be returning to Long Island.  According to an email I got from the cinema Dylan will be there Monday if you want to say hello.

Information of the cinema and its schedule can be found here.