The International Documentary Association has added 11 more films to its FallDocs screening series, an important FYC showcase for Oscar-contending documentaries.
Among them is No Other Land, the film directed by a collective of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers that offers a ground level view of life for Palestinian residents of a West Bank community, who face expulsion from their homes by the Israel Defense Forces. The documentary has won well over a dozen awards around the world, including the Berlinale Documentary Award and the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlinale.
Another of the newly added films — Zurawski v Texas, directed by Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault — will screen at FallDocs on October 29 at The Culver Theater in Culver City, Calif. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton are among the executive producers of the timely documentary, which examines “A group of women denied abortions, even as their lives are at risk, [who] band together with a fearless attorney to sue the state of Texas in an extraordinary effort to regain their rights and reproductive futures — not only for themselves but millions of others.”
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, features the three children of the late Christopher Reeve reflecting on his career and legacy and his valiant return to work after he was paralyzed in a horse riding accident.
FallDocs in-person screenings take place in Oakland, San Francisco and in L.A. at The Culver Theater; virtual screenings are available globally through IDA’s Eventive streaming platform. Scroll for the schedule of the newly added films. (The full lineup can be found here).
A conversation with filmmakers follows all the FallDocs screenings.
It’s a very busy fall for the IDA. In addition to presenting the FallDocs series, the nonprofit is preparing to hold its signature event, the IDA Documentary Awards, in person for the first time in several years; that show will take place December 5 at the Orpheum Theater in downtown L.A. More than 700 documentaries – originating from 77 countries — have been submitted for awards consideration this year. Shortlists for Best Feature and Best Short categories will be announced on October 22 and nominees in all categories will be announced on November 19.
Below is the schedule of the newly added 11 documentaries for the FallDocs series:
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: LOS ANGELES SCREENINGS + STREAMING
IDA members receive free popcorn and soda at The Culver Theater screenings. A live Q&A with filmmakers will follow all screenings. The following list is in order of screening date.
ZURAWSKI V TEXAS
October 29, 7:30 PM PT, The Culver Theater; Streaming October 30 – November 6
Dir: Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault / Prod: Amy Flanagan, Siobhan Sinnerton, Blye Pagon Faust, Cori Shepherd, Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault / Country: USA / Year: 2024 / Distributor: N/A
A group of women denied abortions, even as their lives are at risk, band together with a fearless attorney to sue the state of Texas in an extraordinary effort to regain their rights and reproductive futures — not only for themselves but millions of others.
THE LAST JOURNEY
November 7, 7:30 PM PT, The Culver Theater; Streaming November 7 – 14
Dir: Filip Hammar, Fredrik Wikingsson / Prod: Lars Beckung, Petra Mahl / Country: Sweden / Year: 2024 / Distributor: Nordisk film for Scandinavia
A small film with a big message – this innovative documentary follows a son desperate to revive his aging, depressed father as they embark on a life-affirming, funny, and heartbreaking road trip through the south of France.
November 19, 7:30 PM PT, The Culver Theater; Streaming November 20 – 27
Dir: Joe Piscatella / Prod: Matthew Torne, Mark Rinehart, Joe Piscatella / Country: USA / Year: 2024 / Distributor: PBS | POV
Nathan Law. A leader of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution at age 21. The youngest lawmaker ever elected in the history of Hong Kong at age 23. “Most Wanted” under the government’s National Security Law at age 26. Director Joe Piscatella and his production team use an intimate portrait of Hong Kong’s most famous dissident to tell the story of what happens to freedom when an authoritarian power goes unchecked.
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY
November 21, 7:30 PM PT, The Culver Theater; Streaming November 21 – 28
Dir: Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui / Prod: Lizzie Gillett, Robert Ford, Ian Bonhôte / Country: USA / Year: 2024 / Distributor: DC Studios, HBO Documentary Films, CNN Films
Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story tells Reeve’s astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic star, including his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down, but catalyzed his activism for disability rights.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: STREAMING ONLY
A pre-recorded Q&A with filmmakers will follow all screenings. The following list is in order of screening date.
Streaming October 27 – November 3
Dir: Jazmin Jones / Prod: Guetty Felin, Olivia McKayla Ross / Country: USA / Year: 2024 / Distributor: NEON
The most recognizable woman in technology lives in our collective imagination. Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions globally, but the software’s Haitian-born cover model vanished decades ago. Two DIY detectives search for the model while posing questions about identity and artificial intelligence.
AT THE DOOR OF THE HOUSE WHO WILL COME KNOCKING
Streaming October 31 – November 7
Dir: Maja Novaković / Prod: Maja Novaković, Co-Producers: Nikica Novaković, Sarah D’hanens / Country: Serbia, Bosnia / Year: 2024 / Distributor: N/A
An elderly man works exhausting hours alongside his horse in the nearby forests, but the monotonous rhythm of his solitary life hides a deeper wound.
Streaming November 3 – 10
Dir: Stephen Maing and Brett Story / Prod: Samantha Curley, p.g.a.; Martin DiCicco; Stephen Maing; Brett Story; Mars Verrone, p.g.a. / Country: USA / Year: 2024 / Distributor: N/A
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.
THE BATTLE FOR LAIKIPIA
Streaming November 10 – 17
Dir: Daphne Matziaraki, Pete Murimi / Prod: Toni Kamau, Daphne Matziaraki / Country: Kenya, Greece, USA / Year: 2024 / Distributor: Metfilm (UK)
Climate change and unresolved historical injustice raise the stakes in a generations-old conflict between Indigenous pastoralists and white landowners in a wildlife conservation haven.
Streaming November 14 – 21
Dir: Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan / Prod: Anirban Dutta / Country: India, USA / Year: 2024 / Distributor: Grasshopper Film
NOCTURNES transports us to the dense forests of the Eastern Himalayas where in the dark of night, two curious observers shine a light on the secret world of moths.
Streaming November 17 – 24
Dir: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal / Prod: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning / Country: Palestine, Norway / Year: 2024 / Distributor: N/A
For half a decade, Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist, films his community of Masafer Yatta being destroyed by Israel’s occupation, as he builds an unlikely alliance with an Israeli journalist who wants to join his fight.
UNTIL HE’S BACK
Streaming November 24 – December 1
Dir: Jacqueline Baylon / Prod: Jacqueline Baylon / Country: Morocco & Spain / Year: 2024 / Distributor: PBS | POV
After learning that his son, Yahya, has died at sea trying to get to Spain, Ahmed Tchiche must find a way to get his son’s remains back home to Morocco so he and his family can have a proper goodbye.
IDA ENTERPRISE DOCUMENTARY FUND PRESENTS: THE STRIKE
October 23, 6:30 pm PT, Grand Lake Theater, Oakland
October 24, 6:30 pm PT, Roxie Theater, San Francisco
Dir: JoeBill Muñoz, Lucas Guilkey / Prod: JoeBill Muñoz, Lucas Guilkey / Country: USA / Year: 2024 / Distributor: Amidst the redwood trees on the Pacific Coast sits one of the most infamous prisons in US history: Pelican Bay. The supermax prison was explicitly designed for mass-scale solitary confinement and isolated men for decades. Then, one day, 30,000 incarcerated people went on hunger strike. Told by those who lived it, The Strike goes beyond making a case against solitary confinement; it illuminates the power of organizing and, in doing so, flips the true-crime genre on its head. IDA members receive $5 off at the following screenings. A live Q&A with filmmakers will follow all screenings.
