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2025 Festival
September 26-28
Our 21st year

Newburyport

Documentary

Film

Festival

NBPT DOCU FEST

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Filmmaker with camera in the jungle
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We are the Filmmakers' Film Festival

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2025 Festival September 26-28

Film submissions are now open
for the 2025 festival

Film Reels

Coming up in THE WATCH CLUB:

Like NICKEL BOYS, the new documentary SUGARCANE is based on rampant abuses that went unreported for decades at real-life reform schools – in this case, an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. When the film premiered at Sundance to wide acclaim last February, co-directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie took home a Grand Jury prize.

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Now their gripping, highly personal film (it turned out that Julian’s immediate family is a product of the school’s dark legacy) has been shortlisted in the Oscars’ Best Documentary Feature category. We’re excited to welcome both directors for a wide-ranging conversation about their film and the process of reckoning with historic injustice.

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Watch NatGeo’s SUGARCANE on Hulu, Disney+ and other platforms. 

 

Join us in THE WATCH CLUB for a live Q&A with co-directors Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie at 7 p.m. Tuesday, January 21.

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What is THE WATCH CLUB?

Keep the conversation going throughout the year in THE WATCH CLUB. It's like a book club, but for documentaries. Each month we'll recommend a new documentary to stream, then invite you to join us on YouTube and Facebook for a live online Q&A with the filmmaker.

THE WATCH CLUB January 2025 

What is THE WATCH CLUB?

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Keep the conversation going throughout the year in THE WATCH CLUB. It's like a book club, but for documentaries. Each month we'll recommend a new documentary to stream, then invite you to join us on YouTube and Facebook for a live online Q&A with the filmmaker.

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Our 2024 Festival  Winners

Young Emerging-Filmmakers Showcase celebrates new and emerging filmmakers.

Winner of the 2024 YES Award

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Sponsored by

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Our Sponsors

The Newburyport Documentary Film Festival is supported in part by grants from the local cultural councils of the surrounding towns as well as our local sponsors.
If you would like to become a sponsor, please visit our Sponsors page

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Cinema Complex

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Best Feature: HOLLYWOODGATE 
Best New England Feature: FAR OUT: LIFE ON AND AFTER THE COMMUNE
Best New England Short: THE KATZ TAPES 
David Kleiler Cinephile Award: DANCING ON THE EDGE OF A VOLCANO
Best Short: FROM GOD TO MAN   
Best First-Time Filmmaker: DRIVER 
Audience Award: PINK BELT

Young Emerging Filmmakers: THE PAHLEVAN ON 5TH AVE

Film Reels

Under missile strikes and roaring fighter jets, Ukrainian artists Slava, Anya, and Andrey choose to stay behind and fight, contending with the soldiers they have become.

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Defiantly finding beauty amid destruction, they show that although it’s easy to make people afraid, it’s hard to destroy their passion for living.

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https://www.porcelainwar.com

 @porcelainwarfilm

PORCELAIN WAR - Filmmaker Interview

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