During this first week of DocuWeeks, which started Friday, August 12 in New York City, we’ve started to collect quite a stack of press about the event and the films in our program. We’re pretty excited about how much attention DocuWeeks has been receiving, and we wanted to share some of this great coverage with you and the wider community of International Documentary Association supporters.

The Village Voice notes that even with the tales of woe sprinkled among the 17 features and 7 short films in the program, most will leave screenings with their chins held just a little higher. In these 24 films that will be playing through September 1 in New York, “there's an often palpable struggle for the work to arc toward the uplifting and affirming, even as rose-tinted glasses get crushed.” We’re glad that struggle ends in inspiration, not defeat.

Probably the most exciting thing we dug up was a site called Never Too Early Movie Predictions, which ranks five DocuWeeks short docs in the top 10 documentary shorts likely to get a nod at the 84th Oscars. It doesn’t mean too much quite yet, but we’re pretty proud of those five short but powerful films!

We have also collected a ton of reviews on specific features appearing at the IFC Center for through this Thursday, August 18 as part of the DocuWeeks program. Very Aware has some thoughtful things to say about Miss Representation, and both Hammer to Nail and PBS’s POV blog go into detail about Better This World without giving away too much of the sensitive and dramatic story. Unfinished Spaces pulled in a ton of reviews, which you can find at the Huffington Post, Very Aware, Tonight at the Movies, and What (Not) To Doc.

Outside of this amazing coverage, the 15th edition of DocuWeeks has been connecting with press, media outlets, and filmmakers through Facebook and Twitter. Word of mouth can only get you so far – it’s the social online sphere when things can be amplified! If you haven’t done so already, head over and Like DocuWeeks on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

We’re pleased as punch that these films are getting all the attention we believe they deserve. Let’s see what the next week in NY and LA bring in!