New Haven Documentary Film Festival

New Haven Documentary Film Festival (also known as NHdocs) is an annual documentary film festival held in New Haven, Connecticut, in early June.[1] Screenings take place at Yale University’s Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium, the New Haven Free Public Library and at the rock club Cafe Nine.[2][3] NHdocs is a regional festival that showcases documentaries by filmmakers from the greater New Haven area and beyond.[4] NHdocs was launched in 2014 when the film festival’s co-founders Charles Musser,[5] Gorman Bechard,[6] Jacob Bricca, and Lisa Molomot came together at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and decided to create a documentary film festival in New Haven that would “build a sense of community among documentary filmmakers from the greater New Haven area.”[7][8] In 2014, the four filmmakers each showed one of their recently completed documentaries, three of which had just played at the Big Sky.

When Brica and Molomot left Connecticut to teach at University of Arizona, Bechard and Musser assumed the role of co-directors and programmers for NHdocs.[9][10] The 2015 festival displayed over 20 documentaries including "first looks" at two nearly completed: Richard Wormser's NEH funded American Reds; What Must We Dream Of? and Audrey Appleby's Tiny Miracles-Awakening Memory and Emotion in an Alzheimer’s World.[11] Brendan Toller's rock doc Danny Says, about music industry executive Danny Fields, was moderated by Timothy Young of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, which had recently acquired Fields' papers, and Gorman Bechard's animal welfare feature A Dog Named Gucci. Many of the films look at New Haven in terms of its openness to immigrants, the history of the New Haven Green, and efforts to combat homelessness.[12]

In 2016, the festival grew to 11 days, featuring over 40 films, including Midsummer in Newtown, The Champions, and co-founder Bechard's own Who Is Lydia Loveless? Three Newtown/Sandy Hook-related shorts had their world premieres at the festival: Kim A. Snyder’s #WeAreAllNewtown, Notes from Dumblane and Sue Roman’s Team 26. The festival also paid tribute to documentarian Alex Gibney, with a three-day retrospective: “Revealing Scams, Lies, Trickery and Deceit: The Documentaries of Alex Gibney.” screening 5 of his feature films. Gibney himself was present for Q&A sessions, and lead a panel on filmmaking.[13]

The Fourth Annual New Haven Documentary Film Festival ran June 1–11, 2017. The festival featured over 60 documentary features and shorts including I Am Shakespeare: the Henry Green Story, Travel Light, High School 9-1-1, and The Lavender Scare. The second weekend will conclude with a retrospective of work by D. A. Pennebaker and Chis Hegedus, including Unlocking the Cage.[14]

The 2018 version ran from May 31 – June 10, 2018 and featured tributes to Amy Berg (documentary filmmaker), Su Friedrich, and HBO's Sheila Nevins.[15] The festival opened with a standing-room-only presentation of a work-in-progress screening of co-director Bechard's Pizza, A Love Story, and included over 80 films such as co-director Musser's Our Family Album, Allison Argo's The Last Pig (which won the audience award for best feature film), This is Home: A Refuge Story from director Alexandra Shiva and Joe Tropea's Sickies Making Films.[16][17][18]

In the fall of 2018, NHdocs announced its fall screening series, which will reprise a number of festivals' most popular films.[19]

The festival kept expanding in 2019. The 6th edition running from May 30-June 9, honors America’s best-known documentarian, Michael Moore. The second weekend of the festival (June 7-9) will feature seven of his most notable works, including the 30th-anniversary screening of Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Where to Invade Next, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Fahrenheit 11/9. All the films will feature Moore joined in conversation by other award-winning documentary filmmakers, including D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus and Peter Davis. In all, NHdocs will screen over 100 documentaries at five venues. There will also be a student film competition, filmmaking workshops, awards, works-in-progress screenings, panels, and musical performances.[20][21]

In 2020, co-founder Musser departed NHdocs. Bechard became Executive Director, while Katherine Kowalczyk, the longtime festival manager, became Director.[22] The 7th edition of the festival moved to August due to Covid-19, but still screened over 120 films online and in-person, and also included a student competition, a quarantine film challenge, workshops, Q&As, and a tribute to Johnny Cash with a screening of My Darling Vivian.[23] The festival also featured the World Premiere of Mister Wonderland,[24] screenings of Abby Ginsberg's Waging Change, Gorman Bechard's Seniors A Dogumentary,[25] and When Liberty Burns from Dudley Alexis.[26]

References
  1. Amarante, Joe. "Lights, camera, action at NHdocs Film Festival this weekend". New Haven Register. New Haven Register. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  2. "Free films for all at New Haven documentary festival, June 5–7". YaleNews. May 22, 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  3. Hardman, Ray (June 26, 2014). "Yale University Hosts First-Ever New Haven-Centric Documentary Film Festival". wnpr. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  4. "About Us". NHdocs: The New Haven Documentary Film Festival. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  5. "Charles Musser". IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  6. "Gorman Bechard". IMDb. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  7. "Big Sky Documentary Film Festival". Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  8. "About Us". NHdocs: The New Haven Documentary Film Festival. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  9. "Lisa Molomot". Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  10. "Jacob Bricca". The University of Arizona. School of Theatre Film and Television. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  11. Semmes, Anne W. (May 28, 2015). "Documentary film on Greenwich woman with Alzheimer's showing in New Haven". Connecticut Media Group. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  12. Breen, Thomas. "Documentary Fest Focuses on CT Filmmakers". New Haven Independent. New Haven Independent. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  13. "Newtown, music, panels at New Haven Documentary Film Fest starting Thursday". www.nhregister.com. Retrieved 2016-06-11.
  14. "http://www.NHdocs.com". www.nhdocs.com. Retrieved 2017-05-15. External link in |title= (help)
  15. "5th Annual New Haven Documentary Film Festival". International Festival of Arts and Ideas. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  16. "NH Docs presents 80 free films from May 31 to June 10 at 3 New Haven locations". Connecticut Post. 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  17. "5th Annual Doc Fest's Focus Expands Beyond Connecticut | New Haven Independent". New Haven Independent. 2018-05-30. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  18. "Home". NH Docs. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  19. "Fall Screening Series". NH Docs. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  20. Deep Focus Ep. 125: NHDocs 2019, retrieved 2019-05-26
  21. Scarpa, Steven. "New Haven Documentary Film Festival to honor Michael Moore, show 100 films". Connecticut Magazine. Retrieved 2019-05-26.
  22. "NHdocs Expands Into The City | New Haven Independent". www.newhavenindependent.org. 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  23. "NHDocs Cashes In | New Haven Independent". www.newhavenindependent.org. 2020-08-17. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  24. "New Doc Focuses On New Haven's "Mr. Wonderland" | New Haven Independent". www.newhavenindependent.org. 2020-08-18. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  25. "Dogs, Restaurant Workers Get A Fair Shake | New Haven Independent". www.newhavenindependent.org. 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  26. "NHDocs Looks At Police Killing And Riot Past | New Haven Independent". www.newhavenindependent.org. 2020-08-20. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
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