UnionDocs is a Center for Documentary Art that presents, produces, publishes, and educates. We lead a diverse community on a search for urgent expressions of the human experience, practical perspectives on the world today, and compelling visions for the future.
Check out what we've been up to—
About
From humble roots as a collective of emerging artists and curators living and working out of a 3-story walk-up in Brooklyn, UnionDocs has become an internationally-recognized center for documentary art. The small scale of the building belies the bustling and varied set of activities inside on any given day.
Each year we: produce 3 LABS for 36 filmmakers supporting new work and encouraging long-lasting collaborations; design 24+ WORKSHOPS on the strongest traditions and most forward-looking experiments in documentary for 400+ participants;
program 60+ EVENTS in person and online, that connect powerful nonfiction to relevant audiences and partner organizations, hosting important idea-driven conversations; manage $500,000+ in grants toward sponsored artist’s PRODUCTION; and run a FELLOWSHIP program pairing 4 artists and 4 writers, each receiving $20,000. Our major productions, like Living Los Sures and Say Something Bunny! have received outstanding critical praise and reached international audiences.
These efforts spring from the belief that documentary art, when paired with thoughtful context and open debate, is an invaluable tool for understanding the complexities of contemporary life and creating a more just and equitable society.
"An esoteric, experimental, community-focused space"
Brooklyn Magazine
Events
60+ annual events highlighting 100+ artists for a local audience of 6000+ and an expanding international membership.
Through 60+ public EVENTS each year, UnionDocs showcases powerful works of nonfiction (film, video, sound, photography, oral history, printed word, and performance). Programming includes premieres by established and upcoming artists and rare archival screenings, highlighting artful and inventive work that is otherwise difficult to access. Our goal in exhibition is to continue to be at the helm of the most innovative and necessary documentary art, to increase exposure, provide contexts for new developments in form, and inspire both the creation of new work and thoughtful public dialogue about important societal issues.
Check out our upcoming events
Workshops
24+ workshops for 400+ emerging artists creating teaching opportunities for 168 established artists.
We offer a robust calendar of highly-specialized growth experiences taught by top practitioners to transform participants’ practices, motivating them to take risks, broaden their capabilities in their field and complete new projects. Topics include the most quickly evolving methodologies alongside the strongest traditions in documentary arts.
Check out our upcoming workshops.
"UnionDocs has shown itself to be deeply engaged with the history and culture of its neighborhood, uplifting otherwise marginalized stories and showing the rest of the city what it really means to be a “good neighbor.”"
Remezcla
Labs
3 labs for 36+ filmmakers aiding production of 24 early stage features and 8 shorts docs.
Steadily growing over the past decade, we initiated a singular model for workshops and launched our unique and intensive Summer Labs for early feature documentaries. In many ways, the rhythm of our twice-weekly public events became both R&D and a space for relationship building. The benefits of this work then filtered into our educational and project-mentoring roles.
UnionDocs Collaborative Studio Program
We also run a kind of alternative doc film school, that gathers 12 emerging, international artists for 10 months and provides them with a deep immersion in theory and practice, while focusing their creative energy on local, socially-relevant issues to produce a collection of new short films, which are shown locally, and reach at top festivals like Sundance, Tribeca, and have been broadcast on POV.
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Summer Documentary Labs
We offer 2 intensive labs that mentor 24 exciting feature doc projects at early stages from around the world, offering a major springboard to seek funding, build out their team, and ultimately make and distribute their doc. Filmmakers have come from Australia, India, Sudan, Egypt, Israel, Denmark, Vietnam, Mexico, Argentina.
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Pod Pod
A three month residency opportunity for audio makers looking for a bit of motivation and peer support.
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UNDO Fellowship
A fellowship program that pairs 4 artists with 4 writers to expand radical filmmaking practices and research new languages of documentary cinema.
In 2019, with funding from the Ford Foundation, we established THE UNDO FELLOWSHIP pairing celebrated experimental doc filmmakers with established writers to research new practices in documentary art, offering 8 fellows $20k each along with significant opportunities for creative and intellectual work. The writing that results from these research projects are published in an annual volume, and shared during a two-day culminating symposium.
Learn more
“It’s a blessing to have UnionDocs and a project like Living Los Sures."
Ramon Peguero, Southside United HDFC (Los Sures)
"The collaborative nature and willingness to experiment means they are comfortable with an iterative design process, are willing to embrace a multi-faceted project and are able to take a considered approach to community participation."
iDocs
Productions
In designing collaborative projects, we bring together 20th Century documentary practice and contemporary networked culture. What opportunities do new technologies offer non-fiction? When is mastering age-old techniques the best route? We experiment with these questions and seek to bring together individual talents, voices, and stories and create multi-dimensional documentaries.
The success of our biggest productions, Living Los Sures (2015) and Say Something Bunny! (2017), made it clear that UnionDocs is more than an environment for aspiring documentarians to convene for knowledge and support. We also design and produce groundbreaking documentary projects that have gained recognition at the highest levels of our field.
Production Spotlight
Living Los Sures
“It’s a must see for those interested in both the history of Lost New York and the power of nonfiction cinema.”
New York Times
“The hour-long documentary, against all odds, has become the talk of the town. That’s thanks to UnionDocs"
Vogue
“It is a story of the people, by the people, and most importantly, made for the people of this city.”
Picture Motion
In 2015, we completed LIVING LOS SURES, an expansive documentary project about the Southside of Williamsburg that The NY Times called “A must see for those interested in both the history of Lost New York and the power of nonfiction.” Produced over 5 years by 60 artists, it includes the restoration of LOS SURES (1984), a collection of 40 SHORT FILMS, the interactive documentary 89 STEPS, and the cinematic people’s history SHOT BY SHOT, demonstrating new possibilities for collaboration between an arts institution and its surrounding community to collect memories and share local culture. This project is still in distribution, and activated through annual local events and engagements at universities across the country. It will be highlighted by the Criterion Channel in Fall ’21.
Fiscal Sponsorship
a program that currently supports 40+ projects
UnionDocs also operates a fiscal sponsorship program that currently supports 40+ film projects (over 85% NY State productions), managing around $400k of contributed income annually.
Learn more about our Fiscal Sponsorship
Publishing
UnionDocs distributes critical writing, artist interviews, and exploratory essays in nicely designed physical books, pdfs, pamphlets and zines. We launched WORLD RECORDS, the first peer-reviewed journal for documentary, and published the first 5 volumes. UnionDocs also published the auto-fictional comic book trilogies of Jose Luis Medina, I WALK ALONE IN DARKNESS, and LOST IN THE NIGHT. Four readers, Geologic Listening, Forms of Errantry, The Site of Whispers and they say there are no spirits which highlight the work of the UNDO FELLOWS are available via our Editions page. Our second round of UNDO Fellowship publications are forthcoming in 2026 and 2027. In addition, we host original short films, podcasts, rare and archival documentaries, artist masterclasses, and event documentation on our membership channel, which has a web, iOS and ROKU app.
Shop our publications
Because the people at UnionDocs are lovely and friendly, I always felt a revivifying sense that the process of play—of filmmaking—was being received and responded to.
Wayne Koestenbaum, Author
Team
In cultivating and renewing this open community, we recognize the strength of multiplicity in intersectional identity and emphasize this in recruiting and selecting our board, advisors, featured artists, instructors, and program participants. People coming from BIPOC background are: 67% of invited artists, 6/9 people on our core team, 8/12 on our advisory board, 4/9 of our board of directors, 9/14 of our most recent CoLAB, 9/13 of our most recent Summer Lab.
Meet the Team
Work with us
Access
UnionDocs has an entryway with ramped access and is equipped with an ADA-accessible, non-gender-segregated restroom. Our screening room and exhibition space is wheelchair accessible. We are committed to inclusion across our programs. To make any additional access requests for upcoming programming, please contact [email protected].
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the forefront of our priorities and community-building efforts. To ensure accessibility to LABS, we offer participants payment plans, grant writing support, and a custom crowdfunding platform (donate.uniondocs.org). Additionally, UnionDocs offers at least two full scholarships in each workshop and lab for participants from who need support to attend, a commitment of $50k+ to at least 54 individuals annually.
We promote our programs through an effective digital marketing suite, including a mobile and SEO friendly website featuring e-commerce, online ticketing, and membership functions.
