We’re excited to announce that 16 WMM films and filmmakers are heading to DOC NYC 2026! DOC NYC is the largest documentary festival in the US! This year’s lineup brings together a wonderful range of stories from WMM-supported filmmakers.
🎬 LOVE APPTUALLY (dir. Shalini Kantayya), made with the support of our Production Assistance Program and an upcoming co-release from WMM and soon-to-be-announced partner, will have its NYC Premiere.
Shalini Kantayya (director of WMM-acclaimed releases CODED BIAS and TIKTOK, BOOM) turns her lens on the multi-billion-dollar dating app industry, uncovering the hidden algorithms shaping modern intimacy. Drawing on expert insight, the film reveals how corporations extract enormous amounts of personal data from dating platforms and insert themselves into – and exploit – our most private and intimate relationships.
Director: Shalini Kantayya
Producer: Elizabeth Woodward
Here’s a look at the other six films made with the support of the WMM Production Assistance Program that are premiering at this year’s festival:
🎬 WOMEN COUNT (dir. Davina Pardo, prod. Davina Pardo, Alisa Payne), a short following a school nurse in Texas who is on a mission to count every woman killed by a man in the United States since 1950 will have its world premiere.
🎬 THE CORD (dir. Nolwenn Hervé, prod. Estelle Robin You), a portrait of a Venezuelan activist who helps pregnant women navigate a failing healthcare system against the backdrop of socio-economic and political collapse, will have its NYC Premiere in International Competition.
🎬 ACTING LIKE WOMEN (dir. Cheri Gaulke, prod. Cheryl Bookout, Anne Gauldin, Cheri Gaulke, Meg Linton, Liz Yale Marsh), an exhilarating history of feminist artistic resistance in 1970s Los Angeles, will have its NYC Premiere.
🎬 THE HOTLINE (dir. Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet, prod. Ricki Stern), a short about the heartbreak of addiction, will have its NYC Premiere.
🎬 LANDSCAPES OF MEMORY (dir. Leah Galant, prod. Elijah Stevens), a personal examination of Germany’s culture of memorializing the Holocaust alongside the filmmaker’s journey of caregiving for her father, will have its NYC Premiere.
🎬 THE SANDBOX (dir. Kenya Jade-Pinto, prod. Shasha Nikai), examines how surveillance systems and military technology control the global refugee crisis and decide who gets rescued and who’s allowed to die, will have its NYC Premiere.
Additionally, nine WMM filmmakers and program alum will be at DOC NYC with their latest films including: Celia Aniskovich (10 DAYS LATER); Juliane Dressner (MY NDA); Emily Harrold (TAMPONS & TAXES); Rebecca Huntt (RAPINOE); Alisa Kovalenko (TRACES); Simone Mendes (THE DARKEST LIGHT); Linda Saffire (MAKE WORK); Sophie Sartain (BURIED UNDER YEARS OF DUST); and Patrick Shen (ILLUMINATIONS).
Congratulations to all the filmmakers and their teams! We’re excited to see these projects at DOC NYC and can’t wait for audiences to experience and view their work.
