NewFilmmakers Los Angeles brings its annual DocuSlate documentary program back November 12 to 15, 2026, with feature and short documentaries spread across two Hollywood evenings and one long Sunday downtown. The lineup opens with the North American premiere of Sergio & Mirta, A Lovestory in 8 mm and closes with the Los Angeles premiere of Uncommitted.
DocuSlate runs inside NFMLA’s November Monthly Film Festival, so Saturday belongs to a separate InFocus: Indigenous Cinema program. Tickets are cheap, the screenings come with Q&As and receptions, and one $30 pass covers all three DocuSlate days. Here is what NFMLA has posted as of September 28, 2026.
The quick version
| When | Thursday, November 12 (evening), Friday, November 13 (afternoon and evening), and Sunday, November 15, 2026 (noon to 10 p.m.) |
| Where | Cinelounge Sunset Theater in Hollywood (Thursday and Friday) and 1139 S. Hill St. in downtown Los Angeles (Sunday) |
| Highlights | North American premiere of Sergio & Mirta, A Lovestory in 8 mm, the NFMLA x Mountainfilm Shorts, and a five-program Sunday |
| Tickets | $15 per program plus a $1.79 fee; DocuSlate 2026 All-Access Pass $30 |
| Extras | Pre-receptions and audience Q&As with every program; the pass includes virtual panels and an open bar for 21+ |
| Parking | Paid parking at both venues |
| Official site | newfilmmakersla.com |
What’s screening
NFMLA describes DocuSlate as a selection of features and short documentaries across seven programs, starting Thursday evening and wrapping with a full day on Sunday. Every program has a pre-reception before and an audience Q&A after.
Thursday, November 12: opening night
Sergio & Mirta, A Lovestory in 8 mm (Italy, 64 minutes), directed by Fabrizio Laurenti, in its North American premiere. It is a found footage film about Italian cult director Sergio Corbucci and his then wife, Mirta Guarnaschelli, built from home movies shot 75 years ago. Pre-reception at 4:30 p.m., film at 5 p.m., Q&A at 6:15 p.m., and a post-reception until 7:45 p.m.
Friday, November 13: NFMLA x Mountainfilm Shorts
A collaboration with Mountainfilm, the long-running documentary festival in Telluride, Colorado. The shorts program screens twice, at 4 p.m. and again at 7:30 p.m., each with a pre-reception and Q&A. The films:
- Buckskin, dir. Mars Verrone (USA, 17 min)
- Panther Pat, dir. Ashley Brandon (USA, 12 min)
- La Tierra del Valor (The Home of the Brave), dir. Cristina Costantini (USA, 23 min)
- Alligator Altar, dir. Leslie Ramos (USA, 4 min)
- The Grandfather Puzzle, dir. Ora DeKornfeld (Hungary, 25 min)
Sunday, November 15: the long day
Five programs back to back at the downtown venue:
- 12:15 p.m. Moving Joy (world premiere), Brittany Lee Sanders’ portrait of 88-year-old philosopher, educator, and tai chi master Chungliang Al Huang. NFMLA says it includes Jane Goodall’s final filmed interview.
- 1:45 p.m. The Row (West Coast premiere), Adam Trunell’s debut feature, filmed over six years with his neighbors on Skid Row.
- 4 p.m. DocuSlate Shorts, seven short documentaries including the world premiere of Lu Ren’s Why Is Climate Changing? and Ric Serena’s The Art of Sharing, about fighting food insecurity.
- 6:15 p.m. Dwarf Neon Mayfield (Los Angeles premiere), Leland Nally’s debut, set in three rural Kentucky communities after multiple natural disasters.
- 8:15 p.m. Uncommitted (Los Angeles premiere), Razi Jafri’s investigative documentary about the Uncommitted National Movement, executive produced by W. Kamau Bell.
If you only have Sunday
Sunday is the best value in the program. The All-Access Pass is $30, and five single tickets would run $75 before fees, so if you plan to stay for more than two films, the pass pays for itself. The programs overlap slightly at the end: Uncommitted‘s pre-reception starts at 7:45 p.m., the same time Dwarf Neon Mayfield‘s Q&A wraps.
Also that week: Saturday’s InFocus program
Saturday, November 14 is not DocuSlate, but it is part of the same Monthly Film Festival at the same downtown venue. The day runs November Shorts at 3 p.m., InFocus: Indigenous Cinema at 5:45 p.m., and the Los Angeles premiere of Brian Tetsuro Ivie’s narrative feature Anima, which premiered at SXSW, at 8:15 p.m. It is ticketed separately through the event page.
Passes and tickets
- Single program: $15 plus a $1.79 fee, as listed on NFMLA’s Eventive checkout for the Thursday and Sunday programs.
- DocuSlate 2026 All-Access Pass: $30. It covers all DocuSlate programs, virtual panels, and an open bar for guests 21 and up.
- Where to buy: each day has its own Eventive page, linked from the NFMLA event listings. The pass is sold from the Sunday page.
- Questions: info@nfmla.org.
Venues
- Cinelounge Sunset Theater, 6464 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028. Thursday and Friday. Paid parking is listed at the same address.
- Sunday venue, 1139 S. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA 90015. NFMLA’s accessibility note calls it the South Park Center. Paid parking is listed at 1133 S. Olive St., Los Angeles, CA 90015.
Accessibility
NFMLA says both venues are ADA compliant and wheelchair accessible, and it requests captioned films from all participating filmmakers. Send any accessibility request to info@nfmla.org at least 72 hours before the event.
About NFMLA
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports emerging and independent filmmakers. Beyond the Monthly Film Festival, it runs the InFocus series, the Best of NFMLA Awards, the NewNarratives development initiative, and a high school mentorship program. DocuSlate is its dedicated documentary platform.
Still to come
NFMLA has not yet posted the topics or times for the virtual panels included with the All-Access Pass. The 824 Journal will update this guide when they appear.
Sources
- NewFilmmakers Los Angeles, Events
- NFMLA: DocuSlate Day 1, November 12, 2026
- NFMLA: NFMLA x Mountainfilm DocuSlate Day 2, November 13, 2026
- NFMLA: DocuSlate Day 3, November 15, 2026
- NFMLA: Monthly Film Festival, InFocus: Indigenous Cinema, November 14, 2026
- NFMLA DocuSlate Day 3 on Eventive (schedule, single ticket price, All-Access Pass)
- NFMLA DocuSlate Day 1 on Eventive (single ticket price)
- NFMLA: About Us
Featured photo: Michael E. Arth via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
