Everything You Need To Know As New Haven Documentary Film Fest Opens

NEW HAVEN, CT — The New Haven Documentary Film Festival, celebrating its 10th year, begins Thursday and continues for 11 days, to Oct. 22.

The venues include the New Haven Free Public Library, Café Nine, Stetson Branch Library, St. Paul and St. James Church, Willoughby’s Coffee at the Yale Architecture Building, Best Video Film & Cultural Center in Hamden, the New Haven Museum, Witch Bitch Thrift!, The Cannon, and gather!

Ticket prices range from pay-what-you-can (or free, the NHFPL noted in a news release) at the library and for the student conference, to an average ticket price of $12 at all other venues. For the complete schedule of both live and online screenings, workshops, musical performances, and more, plus ticket and pass information, please visit: www.NHdocs.org

“Ten years is a big deal for any arts organization,” Executive Director/Programmer Gorman Bechard proclaims. “We started by screening only four films in our first year, and now we’ve maintained at over a hundred, from around the world, with more visiting filmmakers than ever more, more music, more filmmaking panels, more adventure on the big screen. This truly is a world-class film festival that celebrates the love of filmmaking and film watching!”

The flickering images begin with an opening night gala at at the New Haven Museum. The party begins at 6 p.m., with the screening of the festival's feature presentation, Black Barbie: A Documentary, at 7 p.m. The film provides an insight into how the first Black Barbie came to be. Director Lagueria Davis takes audiences on a journey with her aunt, Beulah Mae Mitchell, who first suggested the doll during her 45 year stint at Mattel. The film follows the development of the doll all the way up to current times where representation for Black women is still severely lacking.

This year’s Student Conference and Award Ceremony is bigger than ever, as the brightest and boldest young filmmakers screen their latest films. Presented by The Connecticut Department of Film, Television and Digital Media the conference takes place is Saturday at 10 a.m. at the New Haven Free Public Library with a full day of filmmaking panels & workshops on subjects such as distribution, editing, and finding a job after you’ve received your filmmaking degree. At 6:00pm we screen the best of the best, short film masterpieces from over a dozen students competing for prizes in this juried competition.

“We received more student submissions this year than ever before,” Festival Director Katherine Kowalczyk said. “I don’t know how we’re going to narrow it down to twelve selections.

The films from some of these students match the quality of submission from seasoned filmmakers. They just keep getting better and better every year.”

The New Haven Free Public Library shared that it is "proud to partner" with NH Docs for its eighth year.

"We have a lot to celebrate this year, including the festival’s expansion to our Stetson Branch Library, a selection of inclusive and socially-conscious film screenings, and visits by many of the filmmakers," a news release from the NHFPL reads.

This year NHFPL plays host to a "whopping" 120 free documentary screenings while expanding its hosting duties to include the Stetson Branch Library on Dixwell Avenue

Other highlights include:

• Disconnect Me (10/13, 7:00pm at the New Haven Public Library) Disconnect Me examines the ever-pervasive role of technology in our lives. Alex Lykos (Alex & Eve, Me & My Left Brain), disconnects from his smartphone, indeed all of his devices, for a full 30 days. How will he and those around him react? What will be the effects on his life?

• 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture (10/15, 1:00pm at Witch Bitch Thrift! Black Box Theatre) 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture is a feature documentary that follows the story of tireless researchers who trace the origins of the anti-gay movement among Christians to a grave mistranslation of the Bible in 1946. It chronicles the discovery of never-before-seen archives at Yale University which unveil astonishing new revelations, and casts significant doubt on any biblical basis for LGBTQIA+ prejudice.
• At Your Cervix (10/15, 5:00pm at Witch Bitch Thrift! Black Box Theatre) At Your Cervix is the first documentary to expose the little-known practice of the non-consensual use of patients as practice dummies by the American medical education system. In an era when conversations about both consent and reproductive justice are paramount, it shines a light on the use of anesthetized or unconscious patients by medical students to practice pelvic examinations without the knowledge or consent of those patients.
• Girl Gang (10/14, 6:30pm at Witch Bitch Thrift! Black Box Theatre) Fourteen-year-old Leonie is a successful teen influencer who lives on the outskirts of Berlin. Millions of followers are at her feet, and companies shower her with products. When Leonie's parents recognize the enormous economic potential of their daughter’s online activities, they quickly take over her management. They want Leonie to have a better life than they had. But Leonie’s life dictated by brands and pressure to produce content, slowly turns into a prison.
• The Elephant 6 Recording Co. (10/14, 8:30 pm Witch Bitch Thrift! Black Box Theatre) Around 1985, a group of Ruston, Louisiana area high schoolers began experimenting with whatever random instruments and gear they could lay their hands on. Moving to other small college towns including Denver, Colorado and Athens, Georgia, their musical coming of age coincided with the new consumer availability of old-school 4 and 8 track recording technology and cassette tapes. Sharing like-minded sensibilities, influenced by past sounds and psychedelia, and with little to distract them, their efforts to create whole new musical worlds became the bands the Olivia Tremor Control, Neutral Milk Hotel, the Apples In Stereo and many more.

• Compassionfest Presents Rowdy Girl (10/15, 6:30pm at The Cannon) Unable to come to terms with the cruel reality of animal agriculture, a former Texas cattle rancher goes vegan and transforms her husband's beef operation into a farmed animal sanctuary. When their story goes viral, she realizes her true calling: to help farmers transition to plant-based and end their business of animal agriculture. Screening with the best of the CT VEGAN short student film competition.

• Queendom (10/15, 7:00pm at Witch Bitch Thrift! Black Box Theatre) Gena, a queer artist from a small town in Russia, dresses in otherworldly costumes made from junk and tape, and protests the government on the streets of Moscow. Born and raised on the harsh streets of Magadan, a frigid outpost of the Soviet gulag, Gena is only 21. She stages radical performances in public that become a new form of art and activism. By doing that, she wants to change people’s perception of beauty and queerness and bring attention to the harassment of the LGBTQ+ community. The performances—often dark, strange, evocative, and queer at their core — are a manifestation of Gena’s subconscious. But they come at a price.
• Modernism, Inc. (10/17, 7:00pm at Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea at the Yale Architecture Building) Modernism, Inc. tells the story of Eliot Noyes, the midcentury architect and designer who built the design programs for some of America’s most powerful postwar corporations. The film weaves Noyes’ story with the broader context of corporate America’s embrace of Modernism during the period of postwar economic expansion and culminates in the backlash against Noyes and his generation during the countercultural upheaval of the Vietnam era.
• Locked Out (10/18, 6:30pm at the Stetson Branch Library) Nothing symbolizes ‘making it in America’ quite like owning a home. Yet today, the racial gap in home ownership is widening, and those most impacted are women of color. Set in Detroit, Locked Out takes us into the lives of courageous Black women who face evictions, predatory lenders and traditional banking, as they become ground fighters in a movement to battle modern-day redlining and housing injustice, so The American Dream may become a reality for all. From the NHFPL: "This year, we are proud to present a screening of Locked Out at Stetson Branch Library on October 18th. The film, which is set in Detroit, introduces us to the brave Black women who must contend with evictions, predatory lenders, and conventional banking as they join the struggle against housing injustice and modern-day redlining in order for everyone to realize the American Dream."
• Sloane: A Jazz Singer (10/18, 9:00pm at The Cannon) The documentary recounts the six-decade career of jazz singer Carol Sloane, lauded by critics and peers as one of the greatest jazz singers in history but still relatively unknown to the public at large, and follows her preparations for her final live recording at Birdland in New York City at the age of 82.
• Karen Carpenter: Starving For Perfection (10/19, 7:00pm at Café Nine) As the #1 American musical act of the 1970s, the Carpenters were on top of the world, producing a string of pop masterpieces, including "Close to You," "We've Only Just Begun," and "Rainy Days and Mondays." But behind closed doors, Karen's quest for perfection resulted in low self-esteem, a disheartening love life, and a public battle with anorexia nervosa, which ended with her untimely death at the age of only 32. Forty years after her death comes Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection, a captivating, revealing, and unvarnished documentary providing astounding new insight into the singer's tragically short life and enduring musical legacy. Featuring a live musical tribute to the music of Karen Carpenter and the Carpenters from Dean Falcone and friends.

• Chasing Chasing Amy (10/20, 6:30pm at Witch Bitch Thrift! Black Box Theatre and 10/22, 3:00pm at gather) Chasing Chasing Amy explores the transformational impact of a ‘90s rom-com on a 12 year old kid from Kansas, coming of age and contending with queer identity. For young Sav Rodgers, the Kevin Smith cult classic, Chasing Amy, became a life raft. As Rodgers examines the film and its making as a cornerstone of LGBTQ+ cinema, he finds himself at a complicated crossroads.

• Latin American Programming Night by Jenny Medina Morris featuring The Illusion of Abundance (10/20, 7:00pm at the New Haven Public Library) Three women share a common goal: Carolina, Bertha and Maxima are leading today's fight against modern conquistadors. Whereas governments and corporations, trapped in a global race towards unlimited growth, need to get the cheapest raw materials, these three women tell us a story of tireless courage: how to keep fighting to protect nature when your life is at risk, especially when police repression, corporate harassment, injuries or even death threats are part of your daily routine? From the NHFPL: On Friday, Oct 20th, OmniCulture Communications‘ Founder and Managing Director Jenny Medina Morris brings us Latin American Programming Night at the Ives Main Library. The Illusion of Abundance is the featured film for this evening. Join us to learn about Carolina, Bertha, and Maxima, three women leading a courageous fight against modern-day conquistadors in spite of police repression and corporate harassment.
• Healing Dakota (10/21, 2:30pm at the New Haven Public Library) Follow the journey of discovery of a brave K9 who develops PTSD while serving. This is the story of his healing. This screening is to benefit the Friends of the New Haven Animal Shelter. Attendees are asked to bring a food/pet supply donation for the shelter to the screening.
• Mundo Maya (10/21, 8:00pm at the St. Paul and St. James Church) From filmmaker Steve Hamm, this is the story of the present-day Maya people of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula--their society, culture, and dreams for the future. The film guides the viewer to appreciate and respect indigenous people everywhere.
• Beautiful Was the Fight (10/21, 9:00pm at The Cannon) The stories of several women in the Boston music scene and their struggle to achieve equality and success while embracing their identities and finding a voice in the community.
• Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes (10/22, 7:30pm at Café Nine) CLOSING NIGHT brings us the story of a musician whose far-reaching ambitions were inspired and challenged by the inequities of the society around him. His stunningly diverse seven- decade career marked him as one of the great musical artists of the 20th century—and a pioneering cultural activist—at times when the nation was steeped in racism. The film follows Roach across a rich and complicated life, days of now-legendary achievement and also deep personal struggle, and the price he paid for his outspoken views. His was an epic musical journey: from the revolutionary Jazz of the 1940s to the Civil Rights years; through experiments in hip hop, multi-media works, and beyond. Featuring a live musical tribute to the music of Max Roach from the Allen Lowe Quartet featuring saxophonist Aaron Johnson.

The venues this year are as varied as the films this year. They include: the New Haven Free Public Library, Café Nine, Stetson Branch Library, St. Paul and St. James Church, Willoughby’s Coffee at the Yale Architecture Building, Best Video Film & Cultural Center in Hamden, the New Haven Museum, Witch Bitch Thrift!, The Cannon, and gather!

Ticket prices range from pay-what-you-can (or free, the NHFPL noted in a news release) at the library and for the student conference, to an average ticket price of $12 at all other venues.

For the complete schedule of both live and online screenings, workshops, musical performances, and more, plus ticket and pass information, please visit: www.NHdocs.org

Schedule & Tickets

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