Given the risk-averse economics of the current documentary business, it has become hard for audiences to find a place to see some of the most acclaimed docs out of film festivals, including Sundance, TIFF, and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Mainstream streaming services’ lack of interest in not only political documentaries, but practically all independent doc fare, has made regional film festivals, like the annual Margaret Mead Film Festival, vital to the life of a nonfiction film.
This year’s edition of the Margaret Mead festival kicks off on May 2 at Manhattan’s American Museum of Natural History. The three-day event includes the New York debut of 15 documentaries, many of which do not have U.S. distribution. They include Olivier Sarbil’s “Viktor,” which premiered at TIFF in 2024, Meena Nanji, Zippy Kimundu’s “Our Land, Our Freedom,” which made its world premiere at IDFA in 2023, and the 2025 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “Seeds,” directed by Brittany Shyne.
About the everyday life of Black generational farmers and the legacy of the declining community in the American South, “Seeds” will screen at the Museum’s 924-seat LeFrak Theater.
Shot fully in black and white, “Seeds” weaves together vignettes of farm life for multiple aging farmers and their families, depicting the slow pace and communal beauty of agricultural living, but also the deep economic injustice black farmers have historically faced and continue to today.
Director of public programs at the American Museum of Natural History and Mead Festival Director Jacqueline Handy says that “Seeds” reminds her of “home.”
“As a Black woman growing up in New York with southern roots, ‘Seeds’ pulled on my heart strings and pulled me in,” says Handy. “It’s one of the ways that I see myself reflected in the work of this festival. We are trying to have that balance where folks can see themselves reflected in the festival and also discover something new.”
Shyne spent nine years making “Seeds,” which is her doc feature debut.
“It took a long time for a myriad of reasons,” Shyne says. “It’s hard to get financial support for your first feature, and then just networking, and understanding how the industry works, also takes time. For documentary filmmakers, it’s a very untenable and unpredictable environment. We are all pulling from the same resources.”
After garnering the Sundance U.S. documentary prize in January, Shyne took “Seeds” to a number of regional U.S. festivals, including Full Frame and RiverRun. However, despite being a favorite with critics and audiences alike, “Seeds” does not have a distribution deal.
Shyne credits regional fests with helping keep “Seeds” part of the conversation.
“I feel very lucky that the film has been doing so well and has been well received,” she says. “In terms of distribution, we are still trying to figure things out. We hope to have an impact campaign eventually. There are so many different phases of the film that we hope to do eventually, but I think at this point we’re just enjoying where it’s at.”
Following a world premiere at Maine’s Camden International Film Festival, director Max Keegan took his doc “The Shepherd and The Bear” to IDFA in November 2024. On May 3, the film will make its New York debut at Margaret Mead.
Set high in the majestic French Pyrenees, “The Shepherd and The Bear” explores a conflict provoked by the controversial reintroduction of wild brown bears into a remote shepherding community. The doc follows an aging shepherd who struggles to find a successor as bears prey on his flock, and a teenage boy who becomes obsessed with tracking the bears.
“It just seemed like such a weird conflict because both sides were really right,” says Keegan, who spent two years filming in the French Pyrenees. “I really felt like I could sympathize with farmers in the area who feel like this is a decision that’s been taken by people who live so far away from them and who don’t understand their lives. But I also really sympathize with the people who are interested in the bear as a symbol and want to protect these sorts of animals. The idea that these two things could be true at the same time really drew me into the subject.
In November, Jour2Fête acquired French distribution rights to “The Shepherd and The Bear.” The film does not have U.S. distribution.
“The festival run has been really significant,” says Keegan. “It has been really important and we have been really lucky to have been selected for a variety of festivals that really valued the film.”
Oscar-nominated filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s most recent film, “Folktales,” which debuted at Sundance 2025, will close the Margaret Mead Film Festival on May 3. About a trio of teenagers taking a “gap year” at a Norwegian Folk High School in Pasvik, located 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, “Folktales” is a universal story, according to Ewing.
“The film is about growing up, and we have all done that,” says Ewing. “(The film) is about being insecure and wanting to learn how to be brave and not knowing how to.”
After screening in Park City, Ewing and Grady took “Folktales” to festivals including Full Frame, Thessaloniki, and San Francisco Intl. Film Festival.
In April, Magnolia Pictures acquired North American rights to “Folktales.” The doc will be released in theaters on July 25.
“I really hope that there is a shift back to the original roots of how Heidi and I started in this industry, which was word of mouth and a theatrical run,” says Grady. “No one was making a cajillion dollars, but you had a fan base.”
The recent theatrical success of documentaries like “No Other Land” and “Secret Mall Apartment” is a good sign, according to Grady.
“When I started in this business, there were not very many places to show your documentaries,” says Grady. “There were no streamers. It was basically HBO and PBS. Everything else was theatrical. So, it’s not a return to that, exactly but there is a feeling of more community and getting back to our fans. Our constituents.”
The lineup for the 2025 Margaret Mead Film Festival:
May 2
Seeds – New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Brittany Shyne (in attendance)
2025 | 125 min | USA
May 3
Remaining Native – New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Paige Bethmann (in attendance)
2025| 87 min | USA
The Shepherd and the Bear – New York Premiere
Director: Max Keegan (in attendance)
2024 | 100 min | France, Spain
Favoriten – New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Ruth Beckermann (in attendance)
2024 | 118 min | Austria
Our Land, Our Freedom – New York Premiere
Presented by Mira Nair, executive producer (in attendance)
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Meena Nanji, Zippy Kimundu (in attendance)
2023 | 100 min | Kenya
Land with No Rider –New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Tamar Lando (in attendance)
2024 | 100 min | USA
The Return of the Projectionist – New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Orkhan Agazade (in attendance)
2024 | 77 min | Azerbaijan
Night of the Coyotes –New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Clara Trischler (in attendance)
2024 | 79 min | Mexico
Brink of Dreams –New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Nada Riyadh, Ayman El Amir
2024 | 101 min | Egypt
May 4
How Deep Is Your Love –New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Eleanor Mortimer (in attendance)
2025 | 101 min | United Kingdom
Folktales –New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Directors: Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady (in attendance)
2025 | 106 min | Norway
Partition –New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Diana Allan (in attendance)
2025 | 61 min | Palestine
River of Grass –New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Sasha Wortzel (in attendance)
2024 | 83 min | USA
Make it Look Real –New York Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Danial Shah (in attendance)
2024 | 67 min | Pakistan
Bright Future –U.S. Premiere
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Andra MacMasters
(in attendance)
2024 | 89 min | North Korea
Viktor – New York Premiere
Presented by Darren Aronofsky, producer (in attendance)
Followed by post-screening discussion
Director: Olivier Sarbil (in attendance)
2024 | 91 min | Ukraine