Newburyport
Documentary
Film
Festival
NBPT DOCU FEST
We are the Filmmakers' Film Festival
2026 Festival September 25-27
THE WATCH CLUB
THE WATCH CLUB: NATCHEZ
Natchez, Mississippi does brisk tourism business, with visitors marveling at the genteel romance of the small city’s well-maintained antebellum homes. “I feel like I have stepped back in this lovely way to a lovely world,” says one of those tourists in the new documentary NATCHEZ.
But was that old world really so lovely? Emmy nominee Suzannah Herbert’s latest film, which won Best Documentary Feature at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival, explores the ongoing debate between tour guides and activists about how to balance the city’s preservationist instincts with the truth about the region’s cotton industry – and its legacy of slavery. The film is perfectly timed to our current national deliberation about how to tell the American story.
Watch NATCHEZ, now streaming on PBS Independent Lens. Watch the interview anytime afterward on our YouTube channel.
What is THE WATCH CLUB?
Our 2025 Festival Winners
BEST FEATURE FILM: NIGHT FIGHT
Director: Khary Saeed Jones
BEST SHORT FILM: POPPY CRASH
Director: Andalusia K. Soloff
BEST NEW ENGLAND FEATURE FILM: UNLESS SOMETHING GOES TERRIBLY WRONG
Directors: Kaitlyn Schwalje, Alex Wolf Lewis
BEST NEW ENGLAND SHORT FILM: DUKAKIS: RECIPE FOR DEMOCRACY
Directors: Erin Trahan, Jeff Schmidt
BEST FIRST TIME FEATURE FILM: THE OPENER
Director: Jeff Toye
THE DAVID KLEILER CINEPHILE AWARD: THE PAINTED LIFE OF GREGORY GILLESPIE
Director: Evan Goodchild
AUDIENCE AWARD: CHECKPOINT ZOO
Director: Joshua Zeman
2025 YES Award winner: METTLE
Directors: Surabhi Sundaram & Chelsea Casabona
Columbia University School of Journalism’s Master’s Program
Our 2025 Program
Photo History
Our Sponsors
The Newburyport Documentary Film Festival is supported in part by grants from the local cultural councils of the surrounding towns as well as our local sponsors.
If you would like to become a sponsor, please visit our Sponsors page
