Visions For Documentary’s Future

Alan Berliner, Marcia Smith, Jenni Wolfson and Lucy Walker are honored at the DOC NYC Visionaries Tribute.

TL-BR: Alan Berliner, Marcia Smith, Jenni Wolfson, Lucy Walker

On Wednesday, over 500 of the documentary community’s best and brightest gathered at Gotham Hall in New York City for the eleventh edition of DOC NYC’s gala luncheon.

The 2024 honoraries were featured in three categories: 

Lifetime Achievement Award

• Alan Berliner (Letter to the Editor, First Cousin, Once Removed, Wide Awake)

• Marcia Smith (President/Co-Founder, Firelight Media)

Leading Light Award

(Honors an individual making a critical contribution to documentary in a role other than as a filmmaker)

• Jenni Wolfson (CEO, Chicken & Egg Films)

The Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence

(Honors a mid-career filmmaker or partnership that excels in observational filmmaking)

• Lucy Walker (Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, The Crash Reel)

In his introduction to the tribute, Thom Powers called out ten previous Lifetime Achievement honorees in the room: Jon Alpert, Geralyn Dreyfous, Chris Hegedus, Barbara Kopple, Stanley Nelson, Sheila Nevins, Raoul Peck, Sam Pollard, Deborah Shaffer, Jean Tsien.

TL-BR: Raoul Peck; Jean Tsien with Innbo Shim; Sam Pollard with Brendan Bellomo; Barbara Kopple

“In this room are filmmakers and their allies who wouldn’t take no for an answer,” said Powers. “When they were told ‘there’s not an audience for your film,’ they proved that’s not true. So, when you’re facing the struggles that lie ahead of confronting problems that seem insurmountable, I hope you’ll take some strength that you were in this room of people who are sharing the fight alongside you.”

TL-BR: DOC NYC Industry Director Malikkah Rollins and Natasha Lyonne; Oscar-winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson with DOC NYC Artistic Director Jaie Laplante; Will McCormack and Rashida Jones; Mati Diop (center) with DOC NYC Programmers Bedatri Choudhury and Murtada Elfadl

Scroll to read excerpts of the four honorees remarks.

TL-BR: Mediha and Hasan Oswald of MEDIHA; Ibrahim Nasha’at of HOLLYWOODGATE and Angela Patton of DAUGHTERS; MOUNTAIN QUEEN subject Lhakpa Sherpa and producer Miranda Bailey; PORCELAIN WAR co-director and subject Slava Leontyev with subject Anya Stasenko