We’re proud to announce that several filmmakers who participated in UnionDocs Labs over the past few years will be showing work in the 2024 edition of DOCNYC. Among the films screening in this year’s festival – which runs through December 1st – are two features that were workshopped in UNDO’s Early Production Lab: Emily Mkrtichian’s There Was, There was Not and Laurie Townshend’s A Mother Apart. Filmmaker Dorothy Allen-Pickard will also screen We Did Not Consent, a short that served as the basis for her forthcoming feature film, which she developed in the Early Production Lab.
We’re grateful to get to celebrate these fantastic filmmakers and their amazing work. See below for more information about the films, tickets, and screening times:
THERE WAS, THERE WAS NOT by Emily Mkrtichian (2019 Early Production Lab)
Armenian fairy tales often start with the same sentence, “There was, there was not,” suggesting an existence that is as present as it is absent. In the Republic of Artsakh, four women live their lives in the shadowy twilight of war and peace, past and present, remembrance and oblivion. Each chooses her own way to fight for a land that they dearly love but risk losing. – Bedatri D. Choudhury
A MOTHER APART by Laurie Townsend
In this poignant documentary, poet Stacyann Chin confronts the lingering scars of being abandoned by her mother as a baby. As she navigates motherhood with her own daughter, Stacyann’s journey becomes a powerful act of healing and self-discovery. The film captures her life as an artist in NYC and her periodic travels abroad seeking her elusive mother, while discovering familial connection in other ways. Authentic and vulnerable, this film offers a moving exploration of forgiveness and the complexities of family. – Karen McMullen
WE DID NOT CONSENT by Dorothy Allen-Pickard (2023 Early Production Lab)
Women direct reenactments of their romantic manipulation by undercover police officers, who used them to infiltrate activist movements in London. – Samah Ali
EVERYTHING YOU HAVE IS YOURS by Tatyana Tenenbaum
Choreographer and dancer Hadar Ahuvia interrogates the Zionist mythologies she learned as a child using Israeli folk dance-inspired contemporary dance as a point of entry. Seeking to understand the meaning behind traditional dance, which can be weaponized to oppress and marginalize, Hadar explores the complexities of the Palestinian and Israeli relationship with the guiding belief that everyone wants and deserves peace. This lyrical and thought-provoking film is sure to engender reflection and deep conversation. – Karen McMullen
PLUS MINUS ONE by Lynn Ma
How do we cope when we break up with friends? Filmmaker Lynn Ma shares her person journey exploring this topic. – DeWitt Davis
