9 Chicken & Egg Supported Films at DOC NYC 2023!
We are thrilled to see nine Chicken & Egg supported films and 17 AlumNest films on the lineup for this years’ DOC NYC Festival! We also have six supported filmmakers and our very own Program Director Kiyoko McCrae participating in the DOC NYC PRO programming. The festival will take place between Wednesday, November 8, to Thursday, November 16. We hope to see you there!
Bad Press
dirs. Rebecca Landsberry-Baker, Joe Peeler
prods. Conrad Beilharz, Garrett F. Baker, Tyler Graim

Bad Press is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023 having its NYC Premiere in the Winners Circle Section.
Get your tickets here.

Eat Bitter
dirs. Ningyi Sun, Pascale Appora-Gnekindy
prod. Mathieu Faure

Eat Bitter is a 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab finalist having its New York Premiere in the Investigations section.
Get your tickets here.

How To Have An American Baby
dir. & prod. Leslie Tai
prods. Jillian Schultz, Chocho Tang, Elivia Shaw, Yan Cong, Xinyi “Leila” Lin

How to Have an American Baby participated in the former 2017 Diversity Fellows Initiative and is having its New York Premiere in the Investigations section.
Get your tickets here.

Is There Anybody Out There?
dir. Ella Glendining
prod. Janine Marmot

Is There Anybody Out There? is a 2021 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee and is having its NYC Premiere in the Fight The Power section.
Get your tickets here.

MnM
dir. Twiggy Pucci Garçon
prod. Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney

MnM was supported in partnership with Multitude Films as a part of the QUEER FUTURES (2022) series and is having its NYC Premiere in the “Shorts: Family Matters” program.
Get your tickets here.

Songs of Earth
dir. & prod. Margreth Olin
prod. Lena Faye-Lund Sandvik

Songs of Earth was supported through Margreth Olin’s 2022 Chicken & Egg Award and is participating in the Winners Circle section.
Get your tickets here.

Suddenly TV
dir. & prod. Roopa Gogineni
prods. Reem Haddad, Trevor Snapp, Fiona Lawson-Baker

Suddenly TV is a participant of Project: Hatched 2023, and is participating in the “Shorts: The People vs” program.
Get your tickets here.

The Eternal Memory
dir. & prod. Maite Alberdi
prod. Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín, Rocío Jadue

The Eternal Memory was supported through Maite Alberdi’s 2020 Chicken & Egg Award and is participating in the Short List: Features section.
Get your tickets here.

Total Trust
dir. Jialing Zhang
prod. Knut Jäger

Total Trust is supported through Jialing Zhang’s 2021 Chicken & Egg Award and is having its US Premiere in the International Competition section.
Get your tickets here.
DOC NYC PRO
DOC NYC PRO FALL 2023 will take place from Thursday, November 9 through Thursday, November 16. The activities are comprised of several panels and pitches designed to empower filmmakers at different stages of their careers.

CINEMATOGRAPHY DAY
Saturday, November 11
DOCUMENTARY ETHICS AND THE LAW
Featuring Jess Devaney, director of Chicken & Egg-supported film Love the Sinner and producer of The Script, MnM, How to Carry Water, and It’s Only Life After All.
EDITING DAY
Sunday, November 12
CASE STUDY: GOING TO MARS: THE NIKKI GIOVANNI PROJECT
Featuring 2016 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Michèle Stephenson
JOURNALISM AND DOCUMENTARY DAY
Monday, November 13
WHEN JOURNALISTS BECOME DOCUMENTARY VISIONARIES
Featuring Becca Landsberry-Baker, director and producer of Project: Hatched 2023 participant Bad Press.
CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION DAY
Thursday, November 16
HOPE
Featuring 2017 Chicken & Egg Award recipient Dawn Porter.
THE POWER OF EDUCATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
Featuring Chithra Jeyaram, director and producer of 2022 (Egg)celerator Lab participant Our Daughters (working title).
WHERE WILL YOUR FILM BE IN 20 YEARS?
Featuring our Board member Susan Margolin.
From the AlumNest
- Between Life & Death | New York Premiere
dir. Nick Capote
prod. Kimberley Ferdinando, Melissa Leardi, Amanda Spain
- Black Girls Play: The Story Of Hand Games
dirs. & prods. Michéle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
- Candace Parker: Unapologetic | World Premiere
dir. Joie Jacoby
prod. Carolyn Hepburn, Giselle Rodriguez, Julie Lilleby, Paige Bethmann
- Confessions of a Good Samaritan | NYC Premiere
dir. Penny Lane
prod. Gabriel Sedgwick
- Dalton’s Dream | North American Premiere
dirs. Kim Longinotto, Franky Murray Brown
prod. Lorine Plagnol
- Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
dirs. & prods. Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
- How We Get Free | NYC Premiere
dirs. Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles
prods. Kathleen Lingo, Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney
- Obsessed With Light | North American Premiere
dirs. Sabine Krayenbühl, Zeva Oelbaum
prods. Zeva Oelbaum, Sabine Krayenbühl, Christian Popp, Susan Margolin
- The Cost of Inheritance | World Premiere
dir. Yoruba Richen
prods. Mehret Mandefro, Lacey Schwartz Delgado, Iris Samson
- The Dads
dir. & prod. Luchina Fisher
co-prods. Eric Miclette, Shan Shan Tam
- The Lady Bird Diaries
dir. Dawn Porter
prod. Kim Reynolds
- The Minister of Defense | World Premiere
dir. Ken Rodgers, Courtland Bragg
prods. Carolyn Hepburn, Courtland Bragg, Nick Mascolo, Ken Rodgers, Chip Swain, Kobi Theiler
- Time Bomb Y2K | NYC Premiere
dirs. Brian Becker, Marley McDonald
prods. Penny Lane, Brian Becker, Peter Nauffts, Shelby Fintak
- Unseen | NYC Premiere
dir. & prod. Set Hernandez
prods. Félix Endara, Day Al-Mohamed, Diane Quon, Dorian Gomez Pestaña, Josaen Ronquillo, Cheryl Green, Thomas Reid, Qudsiya Naqui, Conchita Hernandez
- We Are Fire (Draw For Change) | World Premiere
dir. Karen Vázquez Guadarrama
prods. Hanne Phlypo, Estelle Robin You, Marion Guth, François Le Gall, Heino Deckert, Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix, Julie Goldman
- Who I Am Not | New York Premiere
dir. Tunde Skovran
prods. Andrei Zinca, Danielle Turkov, Paul Cadieux, Patrick Hamm, Amy Shepherd, Edith Weil, Daniel Szandtner, Janos Kovacs
A Special Congratulations
- I Told You So
dirs. & prods. Malak AlSayyad, Amaan Stewartprods. Judith Helfand (Founder and Consultant), Loren Townsley
Meet Our Team at DOC NYC

Since the festival is on our home turf, we are excited for many of our team members to have opportunities to attend screenings and events for our filmmakers. We are also incredibly excited to announce that our very own Program Director, Kiyoko McCrae, was honored by the Documentary New Leaders program. Learn more about this honor here. Come say hi!
We are delighted to provide you with a discount code on tickets (capacity permitting) for our supported films.
Just enter the code at checkout: DOCNYC_PTNR_23
This code will unlock the following discounts:
Opening Night / Centerpiece / Closing Screenings: $25 (Regular price: $30)
Regular Screenings: $17 (Regular price: $20)
DOC NYC U, Short List, Weekday Matinees (M-F before 12pm): $11 (Regular Price: $13)
Online screenings: $13 (Regular Price: $10)
Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell
13 Emmy Nominations from the Nest!
Chicken & Egg Pictures sends a massive congratulations to the two supported and 11 AlumNest films that received nominations for the 44th Annual News and Documentary Emmy® Awards. The honors will be presented live in two ceremonies, with Documentary Categories taking place on Thursday, September 28, 2023.
The Janes
dir. Tia Lessin, Emma Pildes
prod. Emma Pildes, Daniel Arcana, Jessica Levin

The Janes is a Project: Hatched 2022 finalist nominated for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary, Best Documentary, Outstanding Research: Documentary, Outstanding Direction: Documentary.

Apart
dir. & prod. Jennifer Redfearn
prod. Tim Metzger

Apart is a 2018 (Egg)celerator Lab grantee nominated for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary.
From the AlumNest
- American Reckoning
dir. & prod. Yoruba Richen, Brad Lichtenstein
Nominated for: Outstanding Historical Documentary
- Art & Krimes by Krimes
dir. & prod. Alysa Nahmias
prod. Amanda Spain, Benjamin Murray
Nominated for: Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary
- Body Parts
dir. Kristy Guevara-Flanagan
prod. Helen Hood Scheer
Nominated for: Outstanding Music Composition
- Delikado
dir. & prod. Karl Malakunas
prod. Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala, Michael Collins, Marty Syjuco, Laura Nix
Nominated for: Outstanding Investigative Documentary
- How to Change your Mind
dir. Lucy Walker, Alison Ellwood
Nominated for: Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction: Documentary
- Lincoln’s Dilemma
dir. Jacqueline Olive, Barak Goodman
Nominated for: Outstanding Graphic Design and Art Direction: Documentary
- Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power
dir. Geeta Gandbhir
prod. Jess Devaney
Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary, Outstanding Editing: Documentary
- The Flagmakers
dir. & prod. Cynthia Wade, Sharon Liese
prod. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carolyn Bernstein, Mark Gordon, Ryan Harrington, Jenna Segal
Nominated for: Outstanding Short Documentary
- The U.S. and the Holocaust
dir. Lynn Novick, Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein
Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary
- TikTok, Boom
dir. & prod. Shalini Kantayya
prod. Danni Mynard, Ross Dinerstein
Nominated for: Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary
- Wuhan Wuhan
dir. Yung Chang
prod. Diane Quon, Donna Gigliotti, Peter Luo
Nominated for: Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary
- 37 Words
dir. & prod. Dawn Porter, Nicole Newnham
Nominated for: Outstanding Research Documentary
Post written by Communications Intern Tess Caldwell
We Stand with Reproductive Rights
The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, one of the most significant United States abortion cases in decades. This case has the potential to undo Roe v. Wade and is a threat to the constitutional rights of people who can become pregnant in the United States, where our organization is based. At Chicken & Egg Pictures we are deeply concerned about the possible outcomes of this case— such as preventing access to safe and legal abortions—and stand in support of reproductive rights.
We are living a defining moment for present and future generations, and we fiercely believe in the transformative power of documentary, especially in a call to action moment like this. Over the past sixteen years, Chicken & Egg Pictures has supported filmmakers who skillfully weave deeply humane storytelling to showcase the impact of reproductive restrictions. We encourage you to revisit some of the Nest-supported films that have increased visibility for reproductive rights:
A Quiet Inquisition, dirs. & prods. Alessandra Zeka and Holen Sabrina Kahn

Set in Nicaragua, A Quiet Inquisition portrays the reality of abortion prohibition where doctors have to navigate between the potential of prosecution and medical protocols that save lives.
Rent on Youtube
On The Divide, dirs. Maya Cueva & Leah Galant, prods. Melanie Miller, Diane Becker, Amanda Spain, Elizabeth Woodward

On The Divide is a film about the last abortion clinic on the US-Mexico border, where three Latinx people are connected despite their different views. As threats to the clinic and their personal safety mount, these three are forced to make decisions they never could have imagined.
Watch on POV in 2022
Vessel, dir. & prod. Diana Whitten, prod. Mitchell Block

Vessel is the story of activist Rebecca Gomperts, founder of Women on Waves, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing reproductive health services to women in countries with restrictive abortion laws. When her ship is faced with governmental, religious, and military blockade, she decides to use new technologies to train women to give themselves abortions using WHO-researched pills. This work builds an underground network of emboldened pro-choice activists who trust women to handle abortion.
Rent on Amazon Prime
The Chosen Life, dir. Dawn Porter, prod. Marilyn Ness

The Chosen Life follows the story of Dr. Yashica Robinson as she offers reproductive options for women in Huntsville, Alabama, where abortion providers face harassment, ostracism, and state-sanctioned obstacles.
Watch via The New York Times
Motherland, dir. & prod. Ramona S. Díaz, prod. Rey Cuerdo

Motherland takes us into the world’s busiest maternity hospital, which is located in one of its poorest countries: the Philippines. There, women face devastating consequences as their country struggles with reproductive health policy and the politics of conservative ideologies.
Watch on Tubi, Vudu & Peacock
Belly of the Beast, dir. Erika Cohn, prods. Nicole Docta, Christen Marquez & Angela Tucker

Belly of the Beast is a shocking story about the ongoing legacy of eugenics and reproductive injustice in the United States. When a courageous young woman and a radical lawyer discover a pattern of illegal sterilizations in California’s women’s prisons—primarily targeting women of color, they wage a near-impossible battle against the Department of Corrections.
Host a screening
After Tiller, dirs. & prods. Martha Shane and Lana Wilson

After Tiller is a compassionate portrait of the remaining four American doctors who openly provide third-trimester abortions and have become the new number-one targets of the anti-abortion movement. They continue to risk their lives every day to do work that many believe is murder, but which they believe is profoundly important for their patients’ lives.
Watch on Tubi & Apple TV
Meet Our Seven New Project: Hatched Grantees! 🐣

Chicken & Egg Pictures proudly announced via Women & Hollywood seven new grantees of our 2021 Project: Hatched program. Both short- and feature-length projects will participate. Each project receives $20,000 toward film completion and impact campaigns and filmmaking teams participate in a six-month program with tailored mentorship and goal-setting.
“From water rights to reproductive health, the subjects of Chicken & Egg Pictures’ newest grantees are ones that come up constantly in our cultural and political conversations. These seven films push past the headlines to reveal intimate character studies that investigate how social issues impact everyday lives,” said Program Director Lucila Moctezuma. “For the first time in our Project: Hatched program, two short films were selected alongside features. Not only can shorts act as critical stepping stones to help emerging filmmakers build careers, but they also have strong potential to create impact and engage broader audiences.”
Please click the granted films titles for more information on each project, and give these passionate and committed women and gender nonconforming directors a warm welcome to the Nest!
And So I Stayed
Directors & producers: Natalie Pattillo, Daniel A. Nelson (SINGAPORE/UNITED STATES)
And So I Stayed is a documentary about survivors of domestic violence who are unjustly incarcerated for killing their abusers in self-defense.
Daughter of a Lost Bird
Director & producer: Brooke Pepion Swaney (UNITED STATES)
Producers: Jeri Rafter, Kendra Mylnechuk Potter
A Native adoptee reconnects with her birth family and her Lummi heritage—confronting her identity. Her singular story represents many affected by the Indian Child Welfare Act and Indian Adoption Project in the US.
Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes Dust
Director & producer: Ann Kaneko (UNITED STATES)
Producer: Jin Yoo-Kim
This film poetically weaves together memories of Payahuunadü, “the land of flowing water,” where Native Americans, Japanese-Americans, and environmentalists defend land and water from Los Angeles.
I’m Free Now, You Are Free
Director: Ash Goh Hua (SINGAPORE)
Producer: Arielle Knight
I’m Free Now, You Are Free is a short documentary about the reunion and repair between Mike Africa Jr. and his mother Debbie Africa—a formerly incarcerated political prisoner of the MOVE 9.
On The Divide
Directors: Maya Cueva, Leah Galant (UNITED STATES)
Producers: Melanie Miller, Diane Becker, Amanda Spain, Elizabeth Woodward
On The Divide follows the story of three Latinx people living in McAllen, Texas who, despite their views, are connected by the most unexpected of places: the last abortion clinic on the US/Mexico border. As threats to the clinic and their personal safety mount, these three are forced to make decisions they never could have imagined.
Change The Name
Director & producer: Cai Thomas (UNITED STATES)
Producer: Donald Conley
Student activists and educators from Village Leadership Academy campaign to change the name of a park from a slaveholder to abolitionists Anna Murray and Frederick Douglass in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood.
Storm Lake
Directors: Beth Levison, Jerry Risius (UNITED STATES)
Producer: Beth Levison
Pulitzer Prize-winner Art Cullen and his family fight to protect their Iowan farming community through their biweekly newspaper, The Storm Lake Times—come hell or pandemic.
Read more about Project: Hatched.
Post by 2021 Communications Intern Mariana Sanson.