DOC NYC, America’s largest documentary film festival, has officially finalized the comprehensive programming slate for its upcoming 17th annual edition. By unveiling the highly anticipated titles across four distinct categories—Short List: Features, Short List: Shorts, Winner’s Circle, and Selects Encore—the festival has solidified its position as a primary staging ground for the international nonfiction film circuit and a reliable barometer for the Academy Awards.
The comprehensive lineup brings the festival’s total presentation count to an impressive 118 feature-length films, which includes 26 World premieres and 27 U.S. premieres, alongside 89 short films. Scheduled to run in person from November 11 through November 19, the festival will occupy prominent New York City venues including the IFC Center, SVA Theatre, and Village East by Angelika. For audiences unable to attend the physical screenings in Manhattan, the festival will extend its reach through an online platform running from November 11 through November 29, making selections accessible to viewers nationwide across the United States.
A Legacy of Academy Award Forecasting
Since its inception, DOC NYC has cultivated a formidable reputation for identifying and amplifying non-fiction works that ultimately resonate with awards bodies, critics’ circles, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The festival’s Short List: Features section, which launched in 2012 and is overseen by Artistic Director Jaie Laplante and Director of Special Projects Thom Powers, holds a statistically significant track record. Over the past fifteen years, DOC NYC has screened the eventual Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature in fourteen of those years. Furthermore, the festival has showcased 64 of the last 75 Oscar-nominated documentary features, cementing its status as an essential fixture on the precursor circuit.
This predictive power extends to the festival’s short film category. In 2025, the Short List: Shorts showcase featured "All The Empty Rooms," which subsequently captured the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. The ninth-year iteration of the shorts showcase, curated by Laplante, Powers, and consultant Samah Ali, continues this tradition by spotlighting 15 concise, politically and socially resonant works.
Expanding the Scope: Short List Features and Shorts
The 2026 Short List: Features selection features a diverse array of global and domestic narratives, ranging from high-profile character studies to urgent geopolitical investigations. Notable titles include Ava DuVernay’s "14TH," a film essay examining the enduring legacy of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Alex Gibney’s "MUSK," an epic profile of the world’s first trillionaire, Elon Musk. Gibney is slated to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s DOC NYC Visionaries Tribute.
The geopolitical and social crises of the contemporary landscape heavily inform the feature selection. "AMERICAN DOCTOR," directed by Poh Si Teng, follows three U.S. physicians providing medical aid in a Gaza hospital amid mass-casualty events stemming from the Israeli military campaign. Similarly, "NAZA," directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, presents candid reflections from anonymous Israel Defense Forces members regarding civilian casualties. Other prominent selections include Stephen Maing and Eric Daniel Metzgar’s "THE GREAT EXPERIMENT," a patient observational study of American democracy between 2016 and 2020. Co-director Stephen Maing will be honored with the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence at the Visionaries Tribute.
International high-profile entries feature prominently in the lineup. Biljana Tutorov and Petar Glomazic’s "To Hold a Mountain," winner of the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and Montenegro’s official submission for the 99th Academy Awards, will receive its New York City premiere at the festival. Additionally, Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya Akhlaghi’s "A Fox Under a Pink Moon," executive produced by David Borenstein, explores artistic expression under Iranian patriarchy.
The Short List: Shorts program similarly engages with urgent contemporary themes. Ben Proudfoot and Stephen Curry’s "THE BADDEST SPEECHWRITER OF ALL" captures a 93-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. lawyer reflecting on history and modern silence. Other entries include Nathan Truesdell’s "A DERAILMENT," examining corporate maleficence following the 2023 train derailment in rural Ohio, and Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller’s "THEY’RE HERE," which utilizes a unique cinematic language to document citizen resistance against ICE operations in Minneapolis during the winter of 2025–2026.
Celebrating International Acclaimed Works in the Winner’s Circle
Complementing the curated Short Lists, the Winner’s Circle category highlights documentary features that arrive at DOC NYC bearing major awards from significant domestic and international film festivals. Established in 2019, this section has previously launched celebrated titles such as "Writing with Fire," "The Mole Agent," "A House Made of Splinters," and "Hollywoodgate" toward broader commercial and critical success.
Among the marquee titles in the 2026 Winner’s Circle is Pegah Ahangarani’s "Rehearsals for a Revolution," which captures the New York City premiere after winning the L’Œil d’Or for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. The film has also been selected as the United Kingdom’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
Additional Winner’s Circle selections include David Alvarado’s "AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ," winner of the U.S. Documentary Audience Award and Festival Favorite Award at Sundance; Pete Muller’s "BUCKS HARBOR," winner of the Golden Eye Award at the Zurich Film Festival; and Gabriela Osio Vanden and Jack Weisman’s "NUISANCE BEAR," which secured the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Liz Garbus and Elizabeth Wolff’s "GIVE ME THE BALL!," an exploration of Billie Jean King’s enduring legacy in sports and civil rights, joins the slate following its Audience Award win at the Provincetown International Film Festival.
Encore Programming and Year-Round Impact
Rounding out the festival’s expansive offerings is the Selects Encore section, which highlights prominent titles from DOC NYC’s year-round screening series. These works continue to maintain momentum within ongoing awards season discussions. Notable titles in this category include Jon Kasbe’s "DAYLIGHT," exploring the transformative impact of Taylor Swift’s lyrics on a life-sentenced prisoner; Alison Klayman’s "SCENES FROM THE DIVIDE," examining intra-communal ideological battles among American Jews in New York City during the 2025 mayoral cycle; and Yael Bridge’s "WHO MOVES AMERICA," which investigates the 2023 labor negotiations between UPS and hundreds of thousands of unionized workers.
Broader Implications for the Documentary Industry
The release of the complete 2026 lineup underscores the growing institutional weight of DOC NYC within the global film industry. By providing a platform for both established auteurs and emerging voices, the festival serves as a critical commercial and critical gateway during the height of the awards season precursor window. The heavy concentration of politically engaged, investigative, and internationally recognized works highlights a broader industry trend toward nonfiction cinema addressing systemic global conflicts, environmental crises, and domestic political shifts. As these 118 features and 89 shorts prepare to screen for audiences in Manhattan and across the United States, filmmakers and distributors alike will be closely monitoring audience reception and critical accolades as an indicator of future Academy Award contention.
