Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: A CENTURY IN SOUND is a six part documentary that tells a 100-year history of Tokyo through music and memory, done so through the “unique-to-Japan” cultural phenomenon of music focused establishments known collectively as “ONGAKU KISSA” (lit. “music cafes”). Places where local residents have gathered for decades to give reverence to the music they love. From the “meikyoku kissa” (classical music cafes) that first sprung up in Tokyo in the early years of the Showa era (1920s / 1930s), to the “jazz kissa” that spread across the capital and beyond after Japan was defeated in World War II, to the “rock kissa” of the 1970s right through to the more contemporary iterations of more modern times, these have traditionally been spaces that are built with the sole purpose of serving the community with music. Not just showcasing this incredible culture to an audience outside of Japan for the very first time, the series explores the universal themes of what role music plays in our lives, be it holding the key to some of our most cherished memories, how it brings us together, how it shapes our identity and, for some of us, is our entire reason for living. The series also invites us to question our own relationship with music as listening habits have changed over the past two decades as the world marched towards a digital future where streaming and the AI revolutions have most certainly transformed the role that music plays in modern society. NY Premiere.

Middle-aged and erratic, Oscar is a failed writer who has given up on life. Unemployed and living with family, he wanders the streets of Medellín in a drunken stupor, lamenting the state of literature in his home country, where he has succumbed to the cliché of the tortured artist. However, the opportunity to mentor a young student offers a chance at redemption, if he doesn’t screw it up first. In a performance marked by darkly comic pathos, first-time actor Ubeimar Rios stars in Simón Mesa Soto’s Un Certain Regard Jury Prize-winner A Poet, a raw and riotous farce about how good deeds are often met with the universe’s idea of cruel and unusually poetic punishment.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: This fascinating documentary profiles Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton as a blues powerhouse who shook American music to its core. Towering in voice and presence, she made “Hound Dog” a #1 hit before Elvis ever sang it, and her ferocious “Ball & Chain” launched Janis Joplin’s career. Defying gender norms in jeans, boots, and cowboy hat, Big Mama captivated audiences with raw energy, humor, and soul. From Alabama juke joints to European festivals, she lived hard, sang harder, and left an indelible mark on rock, R&B, and the blues. NY Premiere. Filmmaker Q&A following screening.

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong. Presented by Brain Dead Studios. Pop-up shop open 30 minutes prior to screening. Doors: 9:30PM Showtime: 10PM

Frederick Wiseman chronicles everything and everyone that appears in the world's most famed park.

Das Erste Mal presents the very first video works by contemporary artists. With their experimental and at times eccentric character, these short films offer a glimpse into the creative beginnings that already hint at the artists’ later practices. What makes these early videos compelling is their directness and lack of pretense - a raw will to express, when intuition precedes style and curiosity overrides calculation. Each work carries a sense of urgency and discovery, revealing how the immediacy of the moving image allows for spontaneous experimentation, accidents, and unfiltered emotion - moments when the camera becomes a tool for thinking, trying, and failing in real time. The program was conceived and is curated by artist and curator Florian Meisenberg. Participating artists: Korakrit Arunanondchai, Joey Frank, Cayetano Ferrer, Henry Gunderson, John Henderson, Georg Herold, Riley Hooker, Gregory Kalliche, Anna K.E., Prem Krishnamurthy, Nathaniel de Large, Vijay Masharani, Florian Meisenberg, Monica Mirabile, Agnieszka Polska, Ben Rivers, Rachel Rossin, Jacolby Satterwhite, Jeremy Shaw, Marianna Simnett, John Smith, Viktor Timofeev and Lawrence Weiner. Das Erste Mal has been screened at the Shoreditch Arts Club in London, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Kunstmuseum Bonn and the Hotel Warszawa Art Fair.

Step into the glitz and glam of the most sensational Oscars viewing party in NYC! Mark your calendars for Sunday, March 15th at 6:30 p.m. The Roxy Cinema New York (https://www.roxycinemanewyork.com/)(located at 2 Avenue of the Americas) is once again rolling out the red carpet for DRAG the Oscars, hosted by Jamie CD & Essa Noche Martini's, Mayhem, and Movie magic make witnessing the 98th Academy Awards at Roxy Cinema extra special. Get ready for jaw-dropping looks, Oscar-themed games, and expertly shady commentary as we celebrate Hollywood's grandest affair! But wait, there's more! This year there will be an exclusive Martini bar inside the theater, so you don't need to miss any of the action. You can sip on something dirty, something with a twist, or something with a caffeinated kick. Tickets are available for $25 which includes a welcome glass of bubbly. Trust us, this is one Eleganza Extravaganza you simply don't want to miss!

A scientist makes a last stand on Earth with the help of a ragtag team of soldiers against an invasion of alien phantoms.

Loosely based on the fable Little Red Riding Hood, this gritty thriller follows a savvy young lady as she leaves her dysfunctional family for peace in the trailer-home of her grandma. Pursued by an evil, child psychologist on her journey for redemption, she must use wit and cunning to survive.

Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse communities in the United States and the world. There are immigrants from every country in South America, Mexico, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and China. Some are citizens, some have green cards, some are without documents. The people who live in Jackson Heights, in their cultural, racial and ethnic diversity, are representative of the new wave of immigrants to America. 167 languages are spoken in Jackson Heights. Some of the issues the film raises-assimilation, integration, immigration and cultural and religious differences-are common to all the major cities of the Western world. The subject of the film is the daily life of the people in this community-their businesses, community centers, religions, and political, cultural and social lives-and the conflict between maintaining ties to traditions of the countries of origin and the need to learn and adapt to American ways and values...

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: Dónal Lunny is one of Ireland’s most outstanding artists, and this is the first film account of his life – a portrait that explores his peerless contribution to Irish culture and music. A founding member of Planxty, The Bothy Band and Moving Hearts, he played a central role in reviving and transforming Irish traditional and folk music for new generations. In this moving portrait, music fuses with the arc of Lunny’s biographical journey, and explores how pivotal moments in his creative and personal life intersected with major cultural, political and historical shifts in Ireland and around the world. The film also features rare and powerful performances, including an emotive reunion with Christy Moore. NY Premiere. Q&A following screening.

A visionary neuroscientist explores the limits of consciousness through isolation tanks, communication with dolphins, and psychedelic experiments, transforming himself from researcher to mystical explorer.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: Köln Tracks: The Legend of Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert The Köln Concert is one of the most legendary recordings in jazz history — the best-selling solo jazz album ever made. Yet the performance behind it almost didn’t happen. This documentary retraces Keith Jarrett’s famous 1975 concert in Cologne, where a series of unexpected obstacles — including a problematic piano and an exhausted musician — nearly caused the event to collapse. Through an investigation into the mysterious instrument and the fragmented memories of those involved, the film explores how a concert expected to be disastrous became an iconic recording. Blending storytelling and inquiry, it reveals how chance, limitation and improvisation can spark moments of extraordinary artistic creation. World Premiere.

A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.

After years spent abroad, Ena returns to Caracas where she finds her grandmother losing her memory and her father searching for rare Venezuelan books. She discovers a postcard in her father’s bookshop and sets off in search of a forgotten writer.

A portrayal of Ferdinand Magellan and Beatriz Barbosa's 1517 marriage in Seville, focusing on their brief time together before his departure on the Spanish crown's expedition.

A neurotic sex comedy follows Stella, a promiscuous love addict, who moves to New York City after a devastating breakup. A woman who should’ve already come of age, Stella explores the full spectrum of emotionally unavailable men the city has to offer, capturing the millennial female experience in all its cringe, comedy, and quiet longing. Through all the chaos and disappointing romantic dalliances, she ultimately yearns for connection, identity, and meaning. Q&A's with Alexi Wasser following all screenings.

A timid man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive.

In a society where people stop dreaming to extend their lifespan, some dangerous individuals still dream, warping the fabric of time. We experience five dreams, for each of the senses, each chronologically representing a period of cinema.

A high school slacker commits a shocking act and proceeds to let his friends in on the secret. However, the friends' reaction is almost as ambiguous and perplexing as the crime itself.

Brought up in an environment torn apart by violence and alcohol, Lidia Yuknavitch seemed destined for self-destruction and failure until words offered her unexpected freedom in the form of literature. The Chronology of Water, adapted from Yuknavitch’s autobiographical bestseller, follows Lidia’s journey to find her own voice in an exploration of how trauma can be transformed into art through re-possessing our own bloody histories, particularly those uniquely experienced by the bodies of women and girls.

A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

Anna, an artist, and Magnús, a fisherman, live with their three children and charismatic sheepdog in the quiet grandeur of the Icelandic countryside. As the fractures in their marriage come to the surface, the couple try to hold onto the afterimages of a life together and make sense of a deep and lingering devotion. Filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason (Godland) brings surprising humor and emotional weight to this gorgeous, intimate, and brilliantly expansive scenes from a marriage, amidst the majestic backdrop of the changing seasons.

Satire on the funeral business, in which a young British poet goes to work at a Hollywood cemetery. Introduced by Owen Kline and Shane Fleming.

A rising pop sensation (Charli XCX) navigates fame and industry pressures while preparing for her arena tour debut, revealing the transformation of underground culture into mainstream success.

In this fourth chapter of the hit comedy franchise THE NAPA BOYS, Jack Jr. (Nick Corirossi), his reluctant co-captain Miles Jr. (Armen Weitzman), and the rest of the Napa Boys gang are back for one more wine-sloshed journey into the unknown. With a mission set forth by the mysterious "Sommelier,” they are joined this time by Puck, a bright young podcaster and the Napa Boys’ biggest fan, as the group embarks on the adventure of a lifetime.

Kyle enters a contest to go to Mars only half seriously, since he’s getting married in a few days. He actually wins, then decides to ditch his wedding to escape to the red planet. This would all be great for him except the luxury accommodations are a facade, his shipmates are insane, and the crew gets stranded on Mars with no way home.

Doc’n Roll NYC FF Presents: Award-winning visual artist Tony Foster has spent nine of the past thirty-five years living in a tadpole tent, using his art as a platform to advocate for the conservation of wild land and raise awareness of climate change. Part explorer, part artist, he routinely risks his life to find the perfect undiscovered landscape. He does not use photography or sketches but paints on site, often in the most difficult weather and uncomfortable circumstances. On one occasion, Foster spent twenty-three days in the Grand Canyon at a single location. His paintings are not simply landscapes: by their inclusion of written notes and symbolic objects, they record his observations and experiences creating a visual diary of his experiences. In 2001, the Royal Geographical Society awarded Foster the Cherry Kearton Medal for artistic portrayal of the world’s wilderness areas. From 2019 to 2023, David Schendel and his film crew shadowed him, culminating in an eight-day, 100-mile canoe exploration of the Green River Wilderness to its confluence with the Colorado River in Utah. Responding to the necessities of shooting far from electrical outlets, Painting at the Edge is one of the only fully solar powered documentary productions ever completed. Together, Foster and Schendel have created an impressively adventurous and intimate filmic portrait. NY Premiere. Filmmaker Q&A following screening.

With little time and even littler budget, a directing duo attempt to finish their indie movie - but at what cost? Two is a meta-fictitious film that was principally shot in two days, a dark comic satire of gender and power dynamics in the film industry created with an ensemble cast of some of the greatest up and coming comedic talent.

WELFARE shows the nature and complexity of the welfare system in sequences illustrating the staggering diversity of problems that constitute welfare: housing, unemployment, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, abandoned and abused children, and the elderly. These issues are presented in a context where welfare workers as well as clients struggle to cope with and interpret the laws and regulations that govern their work and life.

Rachel doesn't realize she has grown up in captivity working for an advertising agency where her job is to assess Mommy 6.0, her favorite pop star in the whole entire world.