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2025 Festival
September 26-28
Our 21st year
Newburyport
Documentary
Film
Festival
NBPT DOCU FEST

THE WATCH CLUB
THE WATCH CLUB: THE NEW YORKER AT 100
For an entire century now, a copy of the latest New Yorker magazine conspicuously displayed on your host’s coffee table has been a foolproof sign that you’ve entered the smart set. From the “Talk of the Town” featurettes in the front of the book and the tony short fiction in the back to the cartoons with punchlines that speak pure Westchester, the magazine is a caricature of liberal affluence. But whatever it may seem as a status symbol, it’s inarguably the home of the country’s most impeccable writing on current events and cultural decryption.
In THE NEW YORKER AT 100, filmmaker Marshall Curry takes viewers inside the famously erudite offices of the nation’s most beloved high-end magazine.
Watch THE NEW YORKER AT 100, now streaming on Netflix. Then make plans to join us in THE WATCH CLUB for a live Q&A with director Marshall Curry at 7 p.m. ET Thursday, December 18. Or watch the interview anytime afterward on our website.

Our 2025 Festival Winners
BEST FEATURE FILM: NIGHT FIGHT
Director: Khary Saeed Jones
BEST SHORT FILM: POPPY CRASH
Director: Andalusia K. Soloff
BEST NEW ENGLAND FEATURE FILM: UNLESS SOMETHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG
Directors: Kaitlyn Schwalje, Alex Wolf Lewis
BEST NEW ENGLAND SHORT FILM: DUKAKIS: RECIPE FOR DEMOCRACY
Directors: Erin Trahan, Jeff Schmidt
BEST FIRST TIME FEATURE FILM: THE OPENER
Director: Jeff Toye
THE DAVID KLEILER CINEPHILE AWARD: THE PAINTED LIFE OF GREGORY GILLESPIE
Director: Evan Goodchild
AUDIENCE AWARD: CHECKPOINT ZOO
Director: Joshua Zeman
2025 YES Award winner: METTLE
Directors: Surabhi Sundaram & Chelsea Casabona
Columbia University School of Journalism’s Master’s Program








Our 2025 Program

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


























































