The Ankler & Pure Nonfiction Documentary Spotlight: Shortlist Edition in NYC
Join us for an afternoon of conversations with some of the year's most celebrated documentary makers and special guests. Our previous Spotlight events in Los Angeles and London have filled up fast.  Don't miss out!

Panelists will share clips and engage in illuminating conversations covering their projects and the state of the industry.

Join us after the program for a reception brought to you by PICTUREHOUSE
Hosted by Thom Powers
Location
Crosby Street Hotel
79 Crosby St
New York, NY 10012
Date & Time
January 5, 2025
12:00 PM
Arrivals & Concessions
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Clips & Conversations
3:00 - 4:00 PM
Food & Beverage Reception
FEATURED DOCUMENTARIES
MTV DOCUMENTARY FILMS PRESENTS
BLACK BOX DIARIES
BLACK BOX DIARIES follows director Shiori Ito’s courageous investigation of her own sexual assault in an improbable attempt to prosecute her high-profile offender. Unfolding like a thriller and combining secret investigative recordings, vérité shooting and emotional first-person video, her quest becomes a landmark case in Japan, exposing the country’s desperately outdated judicial and societal systems.
NETFLIX PRESENTS
DAUGHTERS
Four young girls prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C. jail.
FILM FIRST & TIGERLILY PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
ENO
Visionary musician and artist Brian Eno — known for producing David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads, among many others, pioneering the genre of ambient music and releasing more than 40 solo and collaboration albums — reveals his creative processes in the groundbreaking generative documentary Eno: a film that’s different every time it’s shown. Director Gary Hustwit and digital artist Brendan Dawes invented an approach befitting the iconoclast's use of new technologies. ENO is the world’s first generative cinematic documentary and like a musical performance creates a unique viewing experience for each audience. The result is a film that explores the essence of creativity and why art matters, now more than ever.
AMAZON MGM STUDIOS PRESENTS
FRIDA
An intimately raw and magical journey through the life, mind, and heart of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Told through her own words for the very first time — drawn from her diary, revealing letters, essays, and print interviews — FRIDA reaches new visual heights with lyrical animation inspired by her unforgettable artwork.
PICTUREHOUSE PRESENTS
PORCELAIN WAR
Winner of the 2024 Sundance Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Documentary, PORCELAIN WAR is a stunning tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, embodying the enduring hope and passion of ordinary people living through extraordinary circumstances. As war ravages their homeland, three artists choose to stay in their native Ukraine, armed with their art, their cameras, and for the first time in their lives, their guns.

From the Academy Award®-winning producer of THE COVE and the Emmy® Award-winning producer of CHASING ICE, and the team behind the Grammy® Award-winning QUINCY, PORCELAIN WAR is one of the most celebrated documentary features of 2024.
LEVEL GROUND PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
UNION
Through intimate cinema vérité, UNION chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic but underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. The odds are stacked against them, as the group finds itself up against a tech industry giant with unlimited resources, without major support from national unions or politicians, and while navigating internal divisions within their own ranks. Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today's globalized economic landscape.
NETFLIX PRESENTS
WILL & HARPER
When Will Ferrell’s good friend of 30 years, Harper Steele comes out as a trans woman, the pair embark on a road trip to process this new stage in their friendship and reintroduce Harper to the country she loves as her authentic self.
FEATURED PANELISTS
Shiori Itō (virtually)
Director/Writer/Producer
BLACK BOX DIARIES

Angela Patton
Director
DAUGHTERS

Gary Hustwit
Director/Producer
ENO

Laurie Anderson
Film Participant
ENO

David Teague
Supervising Editor
FRIDA

Renata Galindo
Animator
FRIDA

Paula Dupré Pesmen
Producer/Writer
PORCELAIN WAR

Slava Leontyev
First-Time Director
PORCELAIN WAR

Joe Berlinger
Documentary Filmmaker

Brett Story
Director/Producer
UNION

Stephen Maing
Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Producer
UNION

Rafael Marmor
Producer
WILL & HARPER

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