The 2025 edition of DOC NYC Selects is almost here, and IndieWire can announce the program for the summer extension of the annual fall documentary festival. This year, DOC NYC Selects will take place between July 9 to 29, at New York’s IFC Center, with all of the filmmakers attending in person.
The festival will begin with Academy Award-nominated Brazilian filmmaker Petra Costa’s “Apocalypse in the Tropics,” which was acquired by Netflix after debuting at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. “Apocalypse in the Tropics” is Costa’s follow-up to “The Edge of Democracy,” which Netflix also distributed. Costa returns to Brazil to document the political impact of Christian evangelical leaders in the nation for “Apocalypse in the Tropics.”
Related Stories
DOC NYC Selects will close with “Monk in Pieces,” an ode to composer and performer Meredith Monk; the film is directed by Billy Shebar and David Roberts and debuted at Berlinale. Additional DOC NYC Selects program highlights include “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg, David Osit’s “Predators,” and Sundance winner “Coexistence My Ass!,” with star Noam Shuster Eliassi making a special appearance at the festival.
“We look forward to giving audiences early access to what are sure to be some of the most-talked about films of the year, from now through awards season,” DOC NYC Artistic Director Jaie Laplante said.
Check out the full DOC NYC Selects Summer 2025 program below, with language provided by the festival.
“Apocalypse in the Tropics”
Summer Edition Opening Night
Wednesday, July 9, 7:30pm
Director: Petra Costa
Producers: Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa
With stunning access to Lula, Bolsonaro and others, Costa distills the tumultuous recent chaos of Brazil’s politics into a clear-eyed and deeply troublesome vision of both brazen and unseen forces at work on a vulnerable population. Numerous international parallels are not difficult to make. The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker Petra Costa.
“Coexistence My Ass!”
Monday, July 14, 7pm
NYC PREMIERE
Director: Amber Fares
Producer: Rachel Leah Jones
Disillusioned with politics, charismatic and engaging Noam Shuster Eliassi pivots to the world of stand-up comedy as a means of communicating her “radical” message that Palestinian and Israelis deserve the same equal human rights. The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker Amber Fares and protagonist Noam Shuster Eliassi.
“Monk in Pieces”
NYC PREMIERE
Tuesday, July 15, 7pm
Directors: Billy Shebar, David Roberts
Producer: Susan Margolin
The transcendentally original, NYC-based musical/interdisciplinary artist Meredith Monk has been creating and performing for more than six decades. Featuring interviews with Björk, David Byrne and many others, Monk in Pieces is the beautiful, definitive survey of her work and life that she richly deserves. The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with director Billy Shebar, producer Susan Margolin and film participant Katie Geissinger.
“Predators”
NYC PREMIERE
Wednesday, July 23, 7pm
Director: David Osit
Producers: Jamie Gonçalves, Kellen Quinn, David Osit
Filmmaker David Osit contemplates the deeper meanings of the early days of Exploitation TV-dressed-up-as-moral-public-service represented by the NBC hit show “To Catch a Predator” (2004-07), as he examines the reverberating copycat effects of the original, and constructs an emotional puzzle that takes the entirety of this unexpectedly complex “Trojan Horse” film to fully decipher. The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker David Osit.
“It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley”
NYC PREMIERE
Tuesday, July 29, 7pm
Director: Amy Berg
Producers: Amy Berg, Ryan Heller, Christine Connor, Maddy Chang, Jennie Bedusa, Matthew Roozen
Jeff Buckley’s voice and songs, with their dreamy and ethereal qualities, have endured and riveted new audiences and emerging musical artists alike over the past 30 years. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Amy Berg brings her questing curiosity to Buckley’s personal archives, much of it never seen by the public, and to conversations with Buckley’s family, former bandmates and romantic relationships, illuminating the heart and mind of a tender young creative soul finding his way in the world – and lost too soon. The screening will be followed by an on-stage conversation with filmmaker Amy Berg.
