America’s largest documentary festival, DOC NYC, returns with its 13th annual edition running in-person November 9th-17th at New York’s IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Cinépolis Chelsea, with over 110 feature-length documentaries among over 200 films and events, including 29 world premieres and 27 US premieres. With most films available digitally to US viewers, the festival continues online until November 27th. The following titles are among the LGBTQ+ highlights at DOC NYC 2022.
1946: THE MISTRANSLATION THAT SHIFTED A CULTURE (U.S. Competition)
Dir. Sharon “Rocky” Roggio. Prod. Sharon “Rocky” Roggio, Jena Serbu, Tyler Eichorst
WORLD PREMIERE. Seeking to uncover the origins of the rabid homophobia of the conservative church, a gay seminary scholar and a straight activist make a shocking discovery: in 1946 an erroneous translation of the term “homosexual” in the Bible that has been weaponized against the LGBTQIA+ community ever since. Director Rocky Roggio uses her own complicated history as the queer daughter of a minister as a point of departure to bring us this fascinating personal investigation. (USA, 92 min.)
Screens in-person Saturday, November 12th 6:45pm, Cinépolis Chelsea. Expected to attend: Rocky Roggio, Jena Serbu, executive producers Daniel Karsiake, Sabrina Merage Naim, Todd Silver, Teresa Silver, co-producer/cinematographer Tyler Eichorst, editor/writer Jill Woodward, cinematographer/post-production supervisor Collier Landry, subjects Pastor Sal Roggio, Kathy Baldock, Ed Oxford.
Also screens in-person Sunday, November 13th 9:10pm, Cinépolis Chelsea
Available to US viewers on virtual platform
CASA SUSANNA (U.S. Competition)
Dir. Sébastien Lifshitz. Prod. Muriel Meynard
US PREMIERE. In the sexually repressive atmosphere of the 1950s and early 60s, a Latino broadcaster and his wig-making wife create a clandestine haven for cross-dressers in a small Catskills resort. With only old photographs and the oral histories of two of the last surviving members of this early chapter of trans identity, filmmaker Sébastien Lifshitz rescues a fascinating history from obscurity. (France/USA, 97 min.) PBS – American Experience, streaming 2023.
Screens in-person Friday, November 11th 6:45pm, SVA Theatre
Expected to attend: Sébastien Lifshitz, Muriel Meynard, Q&A moderator Harvey Fierstein
Also available to US viewers on virtual platform
IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY (Kaleidoscope Competition)
Dir. Victoria Linares. Prods. Guillermo Zouain, Wendy V Muñiz, Victoria Linares Villegas
NYC PREMIERE. After discovering the work of Oscar Torres, her once world-famous queer filmmaker cousin, Victoria Linares journeys down a path of kindred self-discovery. Through reconstructions of Torres’ intimate memories living under the authoritarian regime of Trujillo in 1950s Dominican Republic, Linares creates a world between fiction and fact, casting her family in these reenactments of her cousins’ unproduced screenplays. (USA, 84 min.)
Screens in-person Monday, November 14th 7pm, Cinépolis Chelsea
Expected to attend: Victoria Linares
Also screens in-person Thursday, November 17th 11:15am, Cinépolis Chelsea
Available to US viewers on virtual platform
QUEEN OF THE DEUCE (Metropolis Competition)
Dir. Valerie Kontakos. Prods. Ed Barreveld, Valerie Kontakos, Despina Pavlaki
WORLD PREMIERE. Chelly Wilson was a Christmas-celebrating Jewish grandma, a lesbian who married men, and a proud owner of gay porn theaters in 1970s NYC. Through audio recordings, Chelly recounts her pre-war escape from Greece up through her unlikely motherhood and rise to wealth as a shrewd businesswoman on “The Deuce,” aka New York’s infamous 42nd Street. Fascinating WWII and NYC archival footage illustrate this entertaining story of a family and its matriarch, a truly unique character with chutzpah in spades. (Canada/Greece, 90 min.)
Screens in-person Friday, November 11th 9:15pm, SVA Theatre
Expected to attend: Valerie Kontakos and film participants
Also screens in-person Saturday, November 12th 4:45pm, Cinépolis Chelsea
Available to US viewers on virtual platform
The 13th annual DOC NYC runs in-person November 9th-17th and continues online until November 27th 2022. For the full lineup, schedule, and ticket information, head to DOCNYC.net.
Film descriptions courtesy of DOC NYC.