Doc Fortnight 2019: MoMA’s International Festival of Nonfiction Film and Media

The series opens with the premiere of Serendipity, by French-born, NYC-based artist Prune Nourry. The artist, who explores a multitude of media through installations that include photography, film, and performance, mines her own journey from a breast cancer diagnosis in this sensitive work that celebrates the power of art in healing and the resilience of the human spirit.

Presenting More than 30 New Discoveries in Nonfiction Cinema, including a New Media Program, a Selection of Short Films, and Special Guests

Many of this year’s features bring unique perspectives to major global issues, including a range of stories from the Middle East (Samouni Road, Land Mine, Chaos); Latin America (Volver a ver, Theatre of War, La extraña); Asia (Nakorn-Sawan, The Next Guardian, Chinese Portrait). A pair of films about film (Arcadia, And with Him Came the West) illustrate how the use of archival materials can underscore the power of the moving image over our collective psyches. Our Presence of Place short-film program continues in its third year, while several other shorts accompany features throughout the festival.

For Modern Mondays, Doc Fortnight presents a screening of Water Makes Us Wet—An Ecosexual Adventure, featuring a post-screening discussion with artists Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens, followed by a performance with special guests.

The ongoing evolution of the nonfiction form is explored in the special program From HACKING to FACT-Checking: Artistic Strategies for the Post-Factual Era, a selection of prize- winning projects from Ars Electronica that highlights some of the new avenues artists are taking with media and new technologies to investigate the increasingly fine line between fact and fiction.

The closing night film is renowned Amsterdam-based filmmaker Heddy Honigmann’s latest, Buddy, a heartwarming portrait of the deep bond between humans and their guide dogs.

Organized by Kathy Brew, Guest Curator, with Emily Rago.

Support for the exhibition is provided by the Annual Film Fund. Leadership support for the Annual Film Fund is provided by the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation and Steven Tisch, with major contributions from Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder, Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), Yuval Brisker Charitable Foundation, The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston, Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin, Karen and Gary Winnick, and The Junior Associates of The Museum of Modern Art.