Like nearly all film festivals in 2020, DOC NYC has switched to a virtual paradigm this year, but the quality of nonfiction films coming out of this celebration of the factual is still wondrous. The festival kicks off Wednesday and goes on until the 19th. There are so many great offerings this year, and it’s nearly impossible to catch them all, but here are some quality entrants to keep on your radar.

“There's no way to escape the fact that we've grown up in a violent culture, we can't get away from it, it's part of our heritage. I think part of it is that we have always felt somewhat helpless in the face of this vast continent. Helplessness is answered in many ways, but one of them is violence.”

Sam Shepard wrote those words which have become a potent mirror to our country’s mindset since its inception. They also become a

As a film critic there is nothing better than watching a stimulating film. Something that feeds the mind and gives you nights of discussion with fellow cinephiles were one can debate the symbolism or message of a certain work or filmmaker.

You know what else is great? watching a film that reminds you of the fun you’ve had as a kid or a teenager, a film that seeps into your memory and becomes a part of your

Stephen and Alexa Kinigopoulos wanted to make a movie where they came from. The siblings, who co-directed the new psychological thriller “Fishbowl,” grew up near Baltimore, and so when they were seeking a setting for their film, they simply cast their gaze out the window.

“When you’re surrounded by those locations every day, you maybe see them differently. And it’s always great to shoot in places that helped make you who you are,”

The new Netflix produced “Rebbeca” is a film haunted by the very present ghost of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1940 Oscar-winning namesake, also adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 gothic novel.

Armie Hammer, who is carving out an interesting career for himself and who can be great, is much too wooden in his portrayal of the dashing and wealthy heir Maxim de Winter.

Who knew we needed Borat as much as we apparently did? Well, welcome once again to 2020, a year that continues to surprise and anger in so many multitudinous ways that counting the reasons why has long since stopped being either fun or funny. But there’s probably no better time to laugh at how ridiculous everything is than now, and for that we can “thank” Sacha Baron Cohen. Cohen has resurrected Borat

Taiwanese director John Hsu’s first feature length film is a political statement disguised as a historical thriller tinged with moments of horror.

“Fanxiao” (“Detention” in the Mandarin original) is a compelling and generally effective hybrid that walks its characters through the hell of existing in a dystopian society while confronting the difficulties of their reality.