‘Hollywoodgate’ & More Oscar Doc Hopefuls Join Forces For DIY FYC Event

EXCLUSIVE: When it comes to mounting an Oscar documentary campaign, sometimes you’ve got to do it yourself.

That’s the idea behind DIY FYC, a special event set for the night of December 10 at Vidiots in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles. Four celebrated documentaries without backing from streamers or major distributors will be featured in the program: Hollywoodgate, Maya and the Wave, Nocturnes, and Union. Directors and/or producers from each documentary will be on hand to present short clips from the films, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Kristin Feeley, deputy director of the Sundance Documentary Film Program, focusing “on the documentaries themselves, the state of independent distribution, and building collective initiatives to reach audiences and shine light on deserving films,” according to a release.

This is the second year for DIY FYC, organized by Fourth Act Film to bring attention to four worthy documentaries that have found audiences and earned awards recognition despite lacking the marketing resources of, say, a Netflix or a Prime Video.

“Every year independently released documentaries are thrust into competition with each other and with films that have distributors and/or streaming platforms behind them. This competition is costly, immense, and daunting when in fact these films originated within an ethos of generosity and care,” the release notes. “DIY FYC aims to establish a new, collaborative, model for documentary awards campaigns while simultaneously creating space to discuss the future of independent distribution and filmmaking.”

Hollywoodgate, from director Ibrahim Nash’at, has earned a dozen awards at festivals around the world, including the Adelaide Film Festival in Australia, El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, Millennium Docs Against Gravity in Poland, Zurich Film Festival, and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in Durham, N.C.

Maya and the Wave, directed by Stephanie Johnes, won Best Documentary at the Sun Valley Film Festival and has screened at TIFF, the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival, DOC NYC, and the Woods Hole Film Festival, among others.

Nocturnes, directed by Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won a Special Jury Award for Craft. It also won the South Asia Competition at the Mumbai Film Festival and the WWF Award at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival in Greece.

Union, directed by Brett Story and Stephen Maing, also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Award for Art of Change. It has screened at more than two dozen film festivals, including Hot Docs, DC/DOX, CPH:DOX in Copenhagen, Sheffield DocFest in the U.K., SFFILM Doc Stories, and the Camden International Film Festival in Maine. Among its other honors: winning Best Documentary Feature at the Indie Memphis Film Festival.

Below is more information on the quartet of films featured in DIY FYC:

HOLLYWOODGATE

SYNOPSIS

Unprecedented and audacious, HOLLYWOODGATE is the riveting result of the year director Ibrahim Nash’at spent with the Taliban in the wake of the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Risking his life in the war-torn nation, Nash’at is on the ground with the Taliban when they enter an American base loaded with a portion of the roughly $7 billion worth of U.S. armaments left behind. Driving towards an astonishing and chilling end, Nash’at tracks Taliban leaders as they attempt to transform from a fundamentalist militia into a modern military regime, employing Hollywood-style propaganda to achieve their goals.

Director: Ibrahim Nash’at

Producers: Talal Derki, Odessa Rae, and Shane Boris; Executive Producer: Diane Becker

Trailer Here

MAYA AND THE WAVE

SYNOPSIS

Ten years in the making, MAYA and the WAVE tells the extraordinary story of Maya Gabeira, the first woman to surf the giant wave in Nazaré, Portugal. She nearly drowns – and is ridiculed by the male big wave surfers who dominate the sport. Three spine surgeries and five years later, she surfs the biggest wave a woman has ever surfed. When her accomplishment is disregarded, Maya enlists the help of her fans to fight for recognition –and becomes the first female surfer honored with a Guinness World Record in big wave surfing.

Director & Producer: Stephanie Johnes

Trailer Here

NOCTURNES

SYNOPSIS

In the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas, moths are whispering something to us. In the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on this secret universe. The result is a deeply immersive film that transports audiences to a rarely-seen place and urges us all to look more closely at our hidden interconnections with the natural world.

Directors: Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan

Producer: Anirban Dutta

Production Companies: Metamorphosis Film Junction and Sandbox Films

Trailer Here

UNION

SYNOPSIS

Up against one of the most powerful companies on the planet, a group of Amazon workers embark on an unprecedented campaign to unionize their warehouse in Staten Island, New York.

Directors: Stephen Maing and Brett Story

Producers: Samantha Curley, p.g.a.; Martin DiCicco; Stephen Maing; Brett Story; Mars Verrone, p.g.a.

Production Companies: Impact Partners, Level Ground Productions, Ford Foundation, Hyperobject Industries 

Trailer Here