DOC NYC Film Festival 2021

DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, runs in-person at IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Cinépolis Chelsea and continues online.

The 2021 festival includes more than 120 feature-length documentaries among over 200 films and dozens of events. Included are 32 World Premieres and 34 US premieres. Opening Night film is Penny Lane’s Listening to Kenny G, Closing Night is Matthew Heineman’s The First Wave and Centerpiece docs are Sam Pollard and Rex Miller’s Citizen Ashe and Dave Wooley and David Heilbroner’s Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over.

This year, the festival launches three new competitive sections for features: a U.S. Competition for new American nonfiction films, an International Competition for work from around the globe, and the Kaleidoscope Competition for new essayistic and formally adventurous documentaries. The festival’s longstanding Metropolis Competition, showcasing New York stories, also continues. The festival also includes thematically organized sections that spotlight new films on music, sports, activism, the arts, and more.