The Canadian documentary The Pink Pill: Sex, Drugs, and Who Has Control led the winners of this year’s DOC NYC with the Audience Award as the overall festival favourite. The film directed by Aisling Chin-Yee and produced by Julie Bristow and Abby Greensfelder explores inequalities among sexual health treatment for men and women when a pill designed to boost women’s libidos receives far more pushback than the blue pill for men that’s created a lucrative industry. The Pink Pill had its world premiere at DOC NYC and screened in part of the festival’s “Voices of Canada” spotlight on Canadian film.
Meanwhile, Imago and Traces of Home topped the juried awards with the top prizes in the international and national competitions, respectively. Imago, directed by Déni Oumar Pitsaev and produced by Alexandra Melot, Anne-Laure Guégan, and Géraldine Sprimont, observes a homecoming of sorts for the filmmaker when he inherits a piece of land in Georgia and returns to build his dream house. The French/Belgian co-production, which is Pitsaev’s feature directorial debut, won the l’Œil d’Or at Cannes earlier this year.
“Through cinematic layering, vulnerability, and lyricism, the filmmaker turns the camera inward to rebuild identity and familial bonds with rare honesty and grace,” the jury remarked on Imago in a statement. “Each frame feels intentional and emotionally charged, inviting viewers into a Chechen community seldom seen on screen. The film lingers long after viewing and resonates as both personal confession and cultural revelation.” 9-Month Contract, directed by Ketevan Vashagashvili, received a special mention from the international jury.
On the U.S. side, Traces of Home is directed by Colette Ghunim, and produced by Sara Maamouri, Dan Rybicky, and Capella Fahoome. The film sees Ghunim learn from her Mexican mother and Palestinian father about their respective journeys that brought them to the U.S.A. with hopes to illuminate the human stories of immigrants and the histories they carry.
The jury praised the vulnerability on display, saying, “Using an intimate family lens, it offers a powerful portrayal of parenthood and identity. With tenderness and courage, the filmmaker uses the camera as a tool for reconciliation that bridges generations and cultures. In a time of division, Traces of Home stands out for its compassion and timely representation of Mexican and Palestinian experiences united by love and resilience.” Wayumi, directed by Andrew Balcof, who produced with David Good and Elius Kim, received a special mention from the national jury.
Other winners at DOC NYC included the Canadian documentary Shifting Baselines, directed by Julien Elie and produced by Andreas Mendritzki. The film won the Kaleidoscopic Competition devoted to “essayistic and formally adventurous documentaries.” Shifting Baselines offers an observational essay about the small town of Boca Chica, Texas, and the environmental impact of Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starbase that moves into the area.
The jury called Shifting Baselines “a haunting reflection on human ambition and the natural world.” It added, “Its striking black-and-white cinematography and bold artistic choices draw the viewer into a story that feels both urgent and universal. Balancing power and subtle humor, it transforms the impact of the SpaceX project into a vivid portrait of displacement, border politics, and the cost of progress.”
Meanwhile, Artists in Residence, directed by Katie Jacobs and produced by Henry Hayes, won the Metropolis Competition devoted to New York stories. The doc tells of three women artists who bought a house in the 1950s and pushed against the status quo by focussing on their creative endeavours. Museum of the Night, directed and produced by Fermín Eloy Acosta with Ramiro Pavón and Pablo Ingercher also producing, received an honourable mention.
On the shorts side, A View from Home, directed by Mingzhe Zhou and produced by Yiqian Zhang and Zhou, won the Grand Jury Prize for best short documentary. It now qualifies in the same category at the Academy Awards. A View from Home marks another winner from the Voices of Canada spotlight, as Zhou and Zhang are both based in Toronto and one of the city’s parks serves as the backdrop for this meditative consideration of urban life. A Color I Named Blue, directed by Sybilla Patrizia, who produced the doc with Mai Hosomura, received an honourable mention in the shorts category.
DOC NYC awarded additional funds and honours to films in the official selection, including Nuns vs. the Vatican, which received a $25,000 grant from Subject Matter, a non-profit committed to supporting social impact filmmaking. The grant serves to assist with outreach and impact efforts for Lorena Luciano’s doc about nuns speaking up against sexual abuse and harassment. A subsequent grant of $25,000 was also made to BishopAccountability.org. Subject Matter also gave a $20,000 grant to Sandra Winther’s debut feature Lowland Kids, with a corresponding $20,000 grant to the First People’s Conservation Council. DOC NYC also announced the creation of The Louies, named for the media/TV pioneer. The $100,000 fund devoted to short docs will support three projects beginning in 2026.
DOC NYC wrapped in-person screenings yesterday with online screenings, including many of the above winners, streaming online through Nov. 30.
