42West DOC NYC 2026 Line Up

BUCKS HARBOR 

Directed by: Pete Muller

Produced by: Pete Muller, Nathan Golon, Noel Paul

Executive Produced by: Kaitlin Yarnall, Greg Moga

Cinematography By: Pete Muller, Nathan Golon

DOC NYC Website 

Synopsis: 

Acclaimed documentary photographer Pete Muller makes his heartbreaking and humorous feature debut with Bucks Harbor, winner of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and Audience Award in the Berlinale's Panorama section as well as the Audience Award at the Margaret Mead Film Festival. Set against the rugged beauty of Downeast Maine, the film portrays a lobster fishing community shaped by the unforgiving coastal landscape. As Bucks Harbor delicately explores working class manhood, kinship and the act of listening, it situates human life alongside the ancient creatures that sustain it, offering a revelatory, searing and ultimately hopeful portrait.  

Festival Accolades:  The film world premiered at Berlinale, where it won the Ecumenical Jury Prize in the Panorama section. It has since won awards at the Margaret Mead Film Festival, Camden, Zurich, and screened at True/False, DC/DOX, Deauville American Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival and more. The film will screen as part of DOC NYC Winner Circle. 

DOC NYC Screenings: 

Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 1:30PM At Village East by Angelika 

Wednesday, November 18, 2026 9:05 PM At Village East by Angelika

*Q&A with director Peter Mueller; producers Noel Paul, Nathan Golon, and Jake Patryn; and protagonists David Cale to follow.

RUN TIME: 98 Minutes 

JANE ELLIOTT AGAINST THE WORLD - NYC PREMIERE

Directed by: Judd Ehrlich

Produced by: Judd Ehrlich, Max Powers, Elena Gaby

Cinematography by: Peter Eliot Buntaine, Sean Hanley

Edited by: Max Powers, Leah Goudsmit, Albin Pepe

Composed by: Khari Mateen

Featuring: Jane Elliott, Killer Mike, Ibram X. Kendi, Yohuru Williams, Brianna Holt, Dianne Cox

DOC NYC Website

Synopsis:

The morning after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Jane Elliott divided her all-white third-grade class in Riceville, Iowa, by eye color. Her lesson in discrimination made her a national figure and a target.

Nearly sixty years later, JANE ELLIOTT AGAINST THE WORLD finds her as funny and combative as ever. She stands with students, teachers, and families in Temecula, California, fighting restrictions on teaching race and history. At home, her daughters ask her to acknowledge what her refusal to stay silent has cost them.

The woman who spent a lifetime asking others to change must now try to change herself.

To Note: The film world premiered out of Sundance film festival and has gone on to win Best Documentary at the Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas and audience awards at the Boulder International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, Sonoma International Film Festival, and Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival among other festival honors.

DOC NYC Screening: 

Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 8:00 PM At Village East by Angelika 

*Q&A with director Judd Ehrlich to follow.

RUN TIME: 94 Minutes 

THE NAVIGATOR

Directed by: Jordan Manley

Produced by: Kathy Thompson, Laura Yale

Executive Producer: Harrison Ford, Yvon Chouinard, Laurene Powell Jobs, Bremen Schmeltz, Alex Simon, Alex Lowther, Mike Anders

Cinematographer: Jordan Manley

Editor: Jordan Manley, Jay Macmillan

Composer: Matthew Robert Cooper

DOC NYC Website 

Synopsis

In 1980, Nainoa Thompson became the first Native Hawaiian in six centuries to navigate a voyaging canoe from Hawai’i to Tahiti without a compass or modern instruments. Nearly 50 years later, he embarks on the demanding deep-sea crossing one final time. He and a small crew of student navigators rely solely on the stars, nature’s clues, and lessons from the late master navigator Mau Piailug to guide them. As they sail 2,400 miles along the same sea road as their ancestors, they bear the responsibility of keeping this ancient knowledge alive. Nainoa sails not only to find an island, but to search for something unseen. THE NAVIGATOR reveals what is possible when we closely observe and deeply connect with the natural world.

DOC NYC Screening:

Thursday, November 19 at 6:30pm at Village East by Angelika

*Q&A with director Jordan Manley and film participants to follow.

RUN TIME: 93 minutes

THE SICKLING - US PREMIERE 

Directed by: Gabriel Badejo

Produced by: Diana Warmé, Gabriel Badejo

Executive Produced by: Charles Officer, Jake Yanowski, Bob Moore, Mila Aung-Thwin

DOC NYC Website

Synopsis:

After surviving a lifetime of debilitating pain caused by sickle cell disease, Gabriel Badejo takes the greatest risk of his life by undergoing an experimental stem cell transplant in hopes of a cure. The Sickling follows Gabriel’s emotional and physical journey as he confronts systemic racism in healthcare, painful memories of medical neglect, and the global realities of living with an often invisible disease. From Toronto to Nigeria, the film explores the intersections of illness, identity, family, and survival while uncovering the historical inequities that continue to shape sickle cell care worldwide. At its heart, The Sickling is a deeply personal story about healing, resilience, and the fight to reclaim a future once thought impossible.

DOC NYC Screening:

Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 5:30PM at Village East by Angelika

*Q&A with director/producer/protagonist Gabriel Badejo to follow.

RUN TIME: 95 minutes