November marked the 14th year of the DOC NYC Film Festival Awards, which is now recognized as America’s largest documentary film festival. The festival is also known for its eclectic mix of both subjects and filmmakers.
The winning features chosen by the 2023 jury at this year’s event took their inspirations from subjects as varied as a teenage victim of ISIS-led genocide in Northern Iraq (Mediha), the final summer of a downmarket seaside trailer park catering to vacationing working-class families (Happy Campers), the Casablanca Bread Riots that roiled Morocco in 1981 (The Mother of All Lies), four members of a female high school wrestling team (Lucha: A Wrestling Tale), and feminist sexologist Shere Hite (The Disapperance of Shere Hite).
Prestige Custom Awards/The Corporate Presence was once again honored to provide the festival with its awards. Past recipients of these distinctive crystal cubes have included Martin Scorsese, Michael Moore, and Sam Pollard. But the festival has also been instrumental in drawing attention to less well-known emerging talents. In recent years, honorees have included Cecilia Aldarondo, Tanaz Eshaghian, and Steven Bognar.
Awards That are an Academy Award Bellewether
Another measure of the festival’s prestige and influence is its reliability in predicting (and shaping) Oscar recognition.
Last year, 12 out of the 15 works named to the AcademyAward Documentary Feature Shortlist had previously been showcased at the festival.
2022 was no outlier. In 10 of the past 11 years, the festival has screened documentary films that went on to win Oscars.
Heading into this year’s festival, a resounding 49 of the last 55 Academy Award-nominated documentaries were first presented at DOC NYC.
Prestige Custom Awards and DOC NYC
Prestige Custom Awards was privileged again to provide the custom awards for the 2023 festival, and to continue its longstanding association with this prestigious event.
We are exceptionally proud to honor achievement, in a variety of forms, at annual events such as DOC NYC, ESPN’s ESPY ceremonies, and the National Football League’s annual Commissioner’s Awards honors.
