New York Non-Fiction 2025

Intersection is an audio-first documentary on the sensory rhythms of life at one of the most dangerous intersections in New York City: Myrtle and Wyckoff Avenues. Located at the border of the NYC boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn, the intersection is composed of 5 intersecting roads, 20 possible vehicle movements, and multiple subway lines and bus routes. It is also a crossroads for cultural perspectives, daily routines and rhythms – where the extraordinary meets the quotidian. Amongst the busy comings and goings, and in the stillness, familiarity and anonymity, routine and disruption all coexist.

Rochester, New York's total eclipse is one week away. Deb, the city's passionate solar task force leader, is in the spotlight, promising her community a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic spectacle. But as the moment of totality approaches, clouds loom, threatening to ruin the historic event that Deb has staked her reputation on.

Artist Martin Wong was a magnetic figure in 1980s downtown New York: Chinese-American, openly gay, generous, and wildly creative. This documentary tells the story of the crucial role he played in graffiti art’s emergence from the underground by investigating a hidden painting on the back of one of his major works. Weaving archival footage with new interviews with Wong’s close friends, collaborators, conservators, and historians, this film is also a portrait of the city he loved at a pivotal moment when creative liberation, gentrification, new subcultures, and the rise of the AIDS epidemic were colliding.

Not so long ago, a band named “Maurice” came upon the knowledge that a “Maurice Avenue” exists in Queens, New York. With only matching outfits in tow, they made a pilgrimage to see what there is to discover in such a neighborhood.

The Night the Lights Went Out explores the 1977 New York blackout through fragments of photographs, memories, and the ephemeral moments that changed the neighborhood of Bushwick forever.

Set in New York City’s queer underground sex party scene, Orgy Every Other Day is a bold exploration of the importance of creating spaces where diverse genders can come together and discover each other with abandon and always careful, respectful consent.

A mysterious New Yorker tracks down lost pets for a living. When a dog goes missing in a Brooklyn cemetery, he gets to work.

A blend of 16mm images with narration of an Iranian mother's letter to her faraway daughter, the film captures current day Jackson Heights, Queens as she speaks about their time in Iran, expresses her longing, and shares her daily experiences in this new home. Inspired by real letters written by the filmmaker's grandmother, this blend of fiction and documentary is a reworked homage to Chantal Akerman's News From Home.