Playlist
<p>Amid the failing counteroffensive, a journalist follows a Ukrainian platoon on their mission to traverse one mile of heavily fortified forest and liberate a strategic village from Russian occupation. But the farther they advance through their destroyed homeland, the more they realize that this war may never end.</p>
<p>Filmed over five years, The Alabama Solution is a gripping first-hand investigation into the horrors of Alabama’s prison system. With contraband phones as their only tools, incarcerated men risk everything to document rampant abuse, slave-like labour conditions and shocking cover-ups. Co-directed by Andrew Jarecki (Capturing the Friedmans, Catfish) and Charlotte Kaufman, the film follows this hidden resistance movement, from inside prison walls to the grieving families on the outside who seek justice against a broken system. The story begins with a chance encounter at a public BBQ and unravels into a powerful, real-time exposé of systemic malfeasance. The Alabama Solution is both a devastating indictment of mass incarceration, and a stirring call for accountability and</p>
<p>This revealing documentary offers unprecedented access to the private world of comedy's most enigmatic provocateur, Andy Kaufman, through a treasure trove of never-before-heard audio recordings. Created during the height of his fame, these audio diaries serve as personal journals, capturing Kaufman's inner thoughts, performance ideas and reflections on his unfinished semi-autobiographical book, "The Huey Williams Story." While Kaufman never completed this surrealist work before his untimely death, director Clay Tweel brings these pages to life with imaginative marionette puppetry, creating a mesmerizing glimpse into Kaufman's creative process.</p>
<p>As the crypto industry reels from scandals in March 2023, a group of driven web3 entrepreneurs embarks on a high-stakes journey to reshape the future of technology. With only three months to refine their businesses, perfect their pitches, and sharpen their innovations, they face the ultimate test: Demo Day. It’s a make-or-break moment, where they must lay everything on the line in front of a room full of potential investors. Along the way, they confront personal struggles, face down past traumas, and discover an unexpected sense of community in their shared pursuit of progress. Shot in vérité style, ANY PROBLEM IS NO PROBLEM offers a raw, human-centered look at the dreamers and idealists behind the crypto revolution. With intimate interviews and dynamic visuals, this film challenges assumptions about the world of crypto, offering a rare and compelling glimpse into the personal and collective stakes of building a more equitable, decentralized internet.</p>
<p>When does a democracy end and a theocracy begin? Apocalypse in the Tropics investigates Brazil’s descent into religious fundamentalism during the Covid-19 pandemic and president Bolsonaro’s leadership.</p>
<p>Brent Renaud was the first American journalist killed in Ukraine. A fearless reporter who filmed on the front lines of countless wars, Brent’s true focus was always the people caught in the crossfire. On March 13, 2022, Brent was tragically gunned down by Russian soldiers. His younger brother and frequent collaborator, Craig Renaud, recovered Brent’s body and final recordings from Ukraine, bringing them back to their home in Arkansas. Brent’s journey home offers an intimate glimpse into the passion and purpose that drove his work, revealing how he saw the world through his camera lens. This film honors Brent’s legacy and the many journalists who, like him, use their cameras to fight for peace.</p>
<p>In the heart of a rural Amish and Mennonite enclave, a dramatic chain of events unfolds as several trusted midwives are arrested—one after the other. These shocking arrests leave their community stranded in a healthcare desert, and reignite a centuries-old battle between time-honored tradition and industrialized medicine. Set against the backdrop of the US’ severe maternal mortality crisis and the erosion of women's reproductive rights, this David and Goliath story follows a group of renegade Amish and Mennonite women as they break with tradition, and become unlikely activists fighting for change. With rare intimate access, "Arrest the Midwife" tells a powerful story of collective action.</p>
<p>Nearly 30 years after Gail abandoned her newborn son in the woods and returned to her conservative Christian life, the police came and arrested her for infanticide. From Tribeca-winning documentarian Jessica Earnshaw (Hulu’s “Jacinta”).</p>
<p>Few American journalists have had a career as trailblazing and transformative as Barbara Walters, whose astonishing life and work are recounted in her own words in this raw, intimate, decades-spanning doc.</p>
<p>A filmmaker facing up to the twilight of his career sets out to use his camera skills to decipher the relationship between a million seabirds and a single hunting falcon. Ultimately his cinematic portrait of this “cosmic event” provides crucial insights into the mechanisms of the natural world and the difficulties of coming to terms with the end of a life well-lived.</p>
<p>Reveals how US officials deceived the public during the 20-year Afghanistan war through insider testimonies, secret documents, and private recordings from military and government leadership.</p>
<p>The extraordinary journey of five-time Tony-nominated director, choreographer, and educator Camille A. Brown unfolds as she transforms everyday movement and African Diasporic dance into powerful storytelling. From her roots in Jamaica, Queens, to the bright lights of Broadway, television, film, and classrooms worldwide, Camille’s visionary work celebrates Black female identity, urban youth, and the power of community. Drawing from African, Caribbean, and American traditions, her choreography becomes a vibrant language of history, identity, and emotional depth—elevating Black heritage and inspiring connection.</p>
<p>An award-winning history professor leads a transformative course with a unique group of students: half incarcerated, half free, exploring The History of Crime and Punishment in the United States. Through themes like masculinity, prison abolition, and mercy, the class challenges the invisibility of incarcerated people and reveals the far-reaching consequences of mass imprisonment. The course emphasizes the vital role of programs that bring together the incarcerated and free, fostering mutual understanding and connection.</p>
<p>As NHL star T.J. Oshie fights for the Stanley Cup, his father and mentor, Tim “Coach” Oshie, battles an aggressive form of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease that threatens to erase the memories of his son’s greatest achievements. Now a father himself, T.J. must confront the terrifying possibility that he, too, carries the gene that could one day steal his memories—and those of his children. Told through intimate testimony and rare archival home-video, COACH is a powerful meditation on the emotional bonds of sport, family, and the lasting impact of legacy, both on and off the ice.</p>
<p>Comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi creates a personal and political one-woman show about the struggle for equality in Israel/Palestine. When the elusive coexistence she’s spent her life working toward starts sounding like a bad joke, she challenges her audiences with hard truths that are no laughing matter.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Two Japanese indigo dyers embark on a transformative, inner journey: one uncovers the profound meaning within the hues of blue, while the other finds a new way to see through his colorblindness.</p> <p dir="ltr">Driven by the memory of a deep shade of blue he cannot forget, Watanabe dedicates his life to the pursuit of recreating Japan’s most perfect shade of indigo. For years he tries to understand the unique alchemy of factors that will bring forth his ideal hue — but none succeed. Fate introduces him to Kato, a young artisan who is colorblind. Kato too stands at a crossroads—will he let his condition limit him, or will he use his ability to see color in a way no one else can? </p> <p dir="ltr">As both men embark on their individual, inner journeys — we witness the deeply personal story of Japan’s most famous color, and uncover the emotional and physical transformations that create this shade of blue.</p>
<p>Two poets, one incurable cancer diagnosis. Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley go on an unexpectedly funny and poignant journey through love, life, and mortality.</p>
<p>Used commonly on signage by the U.S. National Park Service, “Take only photographs, leave only footprints” is often seen as the umbrella code of conduct for all visitors to any of its 400+ majestic locations. But for many visitors to one in particular - Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park - the temptation to procure some of its glittery, colorful rocks as keepsakes has proven to be irresistible. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the party), that act and the retention of such treasures is long-rumored to be cursed – prompting the return of hundreds or more of these “souvenirs” each year. The letters which often accompany such submissions are maintained within the archives of the Park’s library and, as one might guess, are often infinitely more colorful than whatever the returned specimen may be. With the grandeur of the Park as the backdrop, The Conscience Files tells of the woes and now (hopefully) redemptive journey of some of these notorious “return” visitors, in their words, as written.</p>
<p>In this vulnerable documentary, the filmmaker captures how their family resorts to spiritual interventions in an attempt to rid them of their queer identity. The grandmother believes they must be possessed by a ‘demon girl’ – the unborn girl their mother was forced to abort before she became pregnant with Hao. Undergoing prayers, therapies, treatments and ceremonies, Hao paints a wry portrait of these complex relationships with admirable clarity and compassion.</p>
<p>Nestled at nearly 9,000 feet, Creede is a remote mining town revitalized by its repertory theater since 1966. Creede U.S.A. intertwines the lives of conservative locals and progressive theater artists—actors, BIPOC, LGBTQ+ individuals—highlighting heated debates over topics like guns in classrooms and gender pronouns. Despite stark divisions, the community grapples with coexistence, using artistic engagement and dialogue as a bridge for empathy during an era of national polarization</p>
<p>As the first elected councilwoman of her Iranian village, Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages. When accusations arise questioning Sara’s intentions to empower the girls, her identity is put in turmoil.</p>
<p>The multi-racial, mixed-media artist traces her ancestors’ life stories, and lays bare the intergenerational trauma spawned by the Atlantic Slave Trade.</p>
<p>Dear Tomorrow is a multi-character story about loneliness. Set in Japan, the film centers around the mental health hotline called “A Place for You”, where a group of young volunteers are chatting with thousands in need, every single day. The film follows three lonely users as they struggle to find meaning in their lives. With support from the chat service and the Japanese government's focus on loneliness, they finally have a place to turn. Aware of their need for human connection, they embark on a journey toward healing and renewal.</p>
<p>In China, a high school teacher has introduced a death education class for young students. On the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, they bury unnamed ashes at a public cemetery where they contemplate and contextualize the meaning of death.</p>
<p>Director Adam Bhala Lough sets out to better understand the technology and people at the center of the AI boom. His quest sends him on a path towards the father of AI, OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman. When he isn’t able to sit down with Altman himself, Adam travels to India to create an AI version of him to interview instead. Sam Bot is a new kind of documentary subject and collaborator, who challenges Adam in surprising and hilarious ways. Together, Adam and Sam Bot explore what it means to be alive, create art, and understand each other in an increasingly artificial world. Hartbeat partners with Vox Media Studios and Lough for this documentary based on reporting from New York Magazine.</p>
<p>In 1979, incarcerated musicians recorded an album of original R&B music in a Virginia maximum-security prison. They called themselves the Edge of Daybreak, and their songs about love, freedom, and destiny became a local sensation for a time. Decades later, DJs rediscovered this forgotten gem, and it was introduced to new audiences in the Oscar-winning film, Moonlight, reuniting the surviving band members and offering eloquent proof that the irrepressible spirit of human creativity can soar beyond prison walls.</p>
<p>A breathtaking and rare perspective on Mount Everest—told not through the eyes of Western adventurers, but from those who call the mountain home. This visually arresting documentary follows renowned Nepalese climber Mingma Tsiri Sherpa as he undertakes a perilous journey back to Everest to honor ancient beliefs and restore balance with the sacred mountain. While climbers from around the world flock to Everest, chasing achievement and Instagram fame, the mountain has also become a chilling memorial, its slopes littered with the remains of those who underestimated its power. But beyond the headlines lies a deeper narrative: the spiritual connection that local communities maintain with the land, where gods dwell in the peaks and nature commands reverence. In a bold and emotionally charged expedition, Mingma Tsiri confronts both physical danger and spiritual responsibility as he seeks to retrieve a body and offer a gesture of peace to the mountain deities. This is Everest as you’ve never seen it—a story not just of survival, but of respect, belief, and the invisible forces that shape the world above the clouds.</p>
<p>Jens Stoltenberg had planned to step down after nine years in the powerful position of NATO Secretary General. The 65-year-old politician had packed his bags to go home to his wife in Norway, as he had promised her. But then Joe Biden called and asked him to stay another year. Because in a troubled world, an experienced leader is needed more than ever. With unprecedented access, we follow Jens Stoltenberg through his last year as Secretary General of NATO. And there’s plenty to keep him busy, as he has promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj that the alliance will stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes. But the fear of the war in Ukraine spreading to the rest of Europe is causing tensions to rise between the 32 allied countries. Stoltenberg will need all his diplomatic skills to keep the member states together. Fortunately, the Norwegian politician has mastered the difficult art of compromise and understands the importance of a well-timed pat on the back. And when it comes to making deals with the likes of Recep Erdoğan and Viktor Orbán, the little details that can make all the difference.</p>
<p>On the precipice of adulthood, teenagers converge at a traditional folk high school in Arctic Norway. Dropped at the edge of the world, they must rely on only themselves, one another, and a loyal pack of sled dogs as they all grow in unexpected directions.</p>
<p>Shot 25 years ago, this intimate and raw documentary reveals a relationship in conflict as filmmakers Jay Rosenblatt and Stephanie Rapp capture emotionally charged moments. The couple grapples with the decision to have a child, confronting the profound implications of pregnancy, especially for a woman who feels ambivalent yet is faced with a ticking biological clock. HEARTBEAT explores situations that many couples experience but rarely share, sparking important conversations—particularly in a time when reproductive justice is under attack.</p>
<p>Amid the surge in anti-trans legislation that Chase Strangio battles in the courtroom, he must also fight against media bias, exposing how the narratives in the press influence public perception and the fight for transgender rights.</p>
<p>A chronicle of the power and complexity of the relationship between Corinne and Tiana, two Queer Black womxn who experience cycles of life’s joys and pains together in the home they share.</p>
<p>Liat is one of the hostages taken on October 7th. The film follows her relatives from right up close, with a focus on her father, as he tries to stay on the path of pacifism and humanity amidst war, trauma and diplomacy.</p>
<p>The untold story about how Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an all-star team of civil rights activists took to basketball courts to rally young voters while winning hearts of communities, and how their strategy has echoed in contemporary politics.</p>
<p dir="ltr">At 80 years old, Libby Houston still climbs the 300-foot cliffs of Bristol’s Avon Gorge (UK), studying the region's rare plant life. This is the story of her life’s entanglement with the environment. </p> <p dir="ltr">Libby arrived in Bristol in the 1970s, grieving the loss of her husband and without the vibrant scene of British beatnik poets and artists in London she’d come to call home. Her enthusiasm for rock-climbing and her poet’s eye combined with a newfound love of botany. This dedication filled her sense of loss and led to a host of new discoveries, establishing the area among the most important botanical sites in the UK.</p> <p dir="ltr">But as it stands, there is only one known member of her namesake discovery - Houston’s Whitebeam. Reflecting on its inevitable extinction prompts Libby to contemplate her own legacy. Through tragic personal loss, she finds beauty and meaning in fragments of experience.</p>
<p>How Deep is Your Love, follows intrepid biologists exploring the mysterious deep sea, where 70% of our planet lies hidden. As they uncover mesmerizing creatures and ecosystems thriving in darkness, a looming threat emerges: the prospect of deep-sea mining in this untouched wilderness. This film weaves wonder with urgency, challenging us to balance the drive for resources with the intrinsic value of an ecosystem. As we journey through this breathtaking realm, we are left to ponder how deep is our love.</p>
<p>A pioneering disco artist's 1977 anthem becomes a cultural milestone for LGBTQ+ music. Through interviews with music legends, the story unfolds of Archbishop Carl Bean's groundbreaking impact on queer representation in mainstream culture.</p>
<p>Students from the Washington Urban Debate League navigate the challenges of daily life while striving for excellence in competitive debate. Beginning at an annual summer debate camp during the final days of the COVID pandemic, the film follows a group of dedicated young debaters. They immerse themselves in research, critical thinking, teamwork, and performance, hoping these skills will not only help them win tournaments but also overcome the obstacles standing between them and their full potential.</p>
<p>Highly decorated Navy SEAL Marcus Capone struggles with PTSD after returning from Afghanistan. His wife finds hope in psychedelic therapy. They embark on providing access to this treatment for other veterans battling mental health issues.</p>
<p>In 1972, Congresswoman Barbara Jordan became the first Southern Black woman to join Congress, one of many firsts in her career ...</p>
<p>Amidst the brutalist architecture of Tbilisi, a toll elevator and a surreal environment shape the daily life of Mzia—a former sniper who now oversees the only lift of its kind in the world.</p>
<p>In 2018, two firefighters from the Venezuelan Andes posted a video on social media, featuring a donkey they humorously claimed was the president of Venezuela visiting their dilapidated facilities. That same day, they were arrested. Six years later, the people of Apartaderos are still fearful of discussing the case. Rumors once circulated that the donkey was also detained, but no one knows what happened to it. As the search for the donkey begins, this small mountain town holds its breath, wondering if the only innocent participant in the joke managed to escape unscathed.</p>
<p>In 1972, biologists George Hunt and Molly Warner encounter “lesbian seagulls” on California’s Channel Islands. Their groundbreaking discovery makes national headlines and ignites cultural and scientific debate. The film examines the personal and professional fallout for the scientists, their partnership, and the broader impact on LGBTQ+ history</p>
<p>As an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy.</p>
<p>In 1983, a disabled Californian woman named Elizabeth Bouvia sought the “right to die,” igniting a national debate about autonomy, dignity, and the value of disabled lives. After years of courtroom trials, Bouvia disappeared from public view. Disabled director Reid Davenport narrates this investigation of what happened to Bouvia.</p>
<p>What happens when art meets trash? Maintenance Artist profiles pioneering public artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles — the first artist-in-residence at NYC’s Department of Sanitation.</p>
<p>Centered on the now-vanished warehouse at 411 New York Avenue NE, the film chronicles the history and legacy of Union Arts DC—a vibrant artist hub that from 2012 to 2016 was home to visual artists, musicians, performers, and dreamers. Through archival footage, intimate interviews, and the voices of artists who worked and performed there, the documentary captures the spirit of a space where art thrived and community flourished—until developers arrived with plans for a boutique hotel. MAKING SPACES: THE LEGEND OF UNION ARTS provides insight into the significance of art spaces to the city’s creative community and contemplates what’s still at stake in the future of DC’s cultural landscape.</p>
<p>At once visually magical and narratively heartbreaking, this exquisitely crafted stop-motion short navigates the rocky terrain of a mother-daughter relationship shaped by absence. Director Rebecca Blöcher’s mom, Verena, was a world traveler before she married and started a family—but then she takes to the road again, living in her tiny car for the last ten years of her life. A self-proclaimed vagabond, Verena was looking for freedom from the confines of her conventional marriage, but at what cost to her motherhood? Blöcher’s stunning felt world is discerningly aided by audio recordings of conversations with her mother, along with an array of snapshots, journals, and letters. This thoughtful combination reflects the intimately layered dynamic between the two women, even as it serves as broader commentary on questions of liberation and identity for so many women of that generation and this one.</p>
<p>Avid male knitting enthusiast Gene Throwe keeps the spirit of his late grandmother alive, defying gender stereotypes and finding purpose and deep connection through the seemingly mundane practice of needlework. His story unfolds alongside a documentation of the yarn-making process, culminating in a baptismal moment that mirrors Gene’s spiritual journey and search for hope.</p>
<p>Inspired by an unconventional teacher, a group of teenagers in upstate New York in the early 1990s made a student film that uncovered a vast conspiracy involving toxic waste that was poisoning their community. Thirty years later, they revisit their film and confront the legacy of this transformative experience.</p>
<p>As avant-garde multihyphenate genius Meredith Monk approaches her final project, the immersive “Indra’s Net,” she and her greatest protégés and collaborators relive and reinterpret her storied career’s most enduring works.</p>
<p>Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.</p>
<p>As Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, primary schools across Russia's hinterlands are transformed into recruitment stages for the war. Facing the ethical dilemma of working in a system defined by propaganda and violence, a brave teacher goes undercover to film what's really happening in his own school.</p>
<p>Vrej, the subject of Sareen Hairabedian’s impressive feature debut – a striking coming-of-age tale – has grown up in Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan. Since the end of the Soviet era it has witnessed much conflict. The 11-year-old watches birds, plays with friends and dreams of being a dentist. But echoes of the three wars his family have lived through since 1992 are ever-present. His grandmother laments the cycle of ethnic violence: ‘Living in Artsakh means that one day there will be a war and my grandson will participate in that war’. As his school lessons become increasingly militarised and Vrej struggles to hold on to his childhood dreams, his grandmother watches her prophecy unfold.</p>
<p>At an antebellum home in Natchez, Mississippi, a group of older women convene as members of the Natchez Garden Club organization. The charismatic mayor of Natchez, Dan Gibson, arrives and addresses the chatty and enthusiastic women: “I’m excited that Natchez is a new Natchez — one that appreciates and loves our city — all of it, even the bad, but it is our history. It is also a city that believes in coming together in love — and if we ever needed it in America, we need it today.” This proclamation sets off filmmaker Suzannah Herbert’s sharp exploration of the American South’s unreconciled history</p>
<p>In 1960, Bronx couple Dan and Toby Talbot transformed a struggling Upper West Side theater into the influential New Yorker Theater—launching careers, exposing audiences to international auteurs, and reshaping U.S. film culture. The New Yorker Theater: A Talbot Legacy chronicles their six-decade journey as revolutionary exhibitionists of cinema art</p>
<p>A poetic documentary about the history of Black gathering spaces in Louisville, KY, from the 1960s to the mid-2000s. This intimate portrait explores the ritual of roller skating and how roller rinks became sanctuaries for Black culture. Using a mix of archival footage, still photos, newly shot material, and newsreels, THE PEOPLE COULD FLY examines the history of a segregated Louisville and the magic its Black community created as an act of resistance.</p>
<p>A seemingly minor neighborhood dispute in Florida escalates into deadly violence. Police bodycam footage and investigative interviews expose the consequences of Florida’s “stand your ground” laws.</p>
<p>In the dazzling incandescence of an unknown desert, three donkeys discover an abandoned astronomical observatory and the universe. A sensorial, cinematic exploration of what a story can be.</p> <p><em>The film received the Theme-Sensitive Award at the Science New Wave Festival XVII in 2024. This distinction honors a work that most vividly embodies the year’s festival theme — SIGNAL — bringing it to the screen in a singular and resonant way. The award includes a cash prize of $500. Learn more about our <a href="https://www.sciencenewwave.com/awards">SNW Luminary Awards</a>.</em></p>
<p>To Catch a Predator was a popular television show designed to hunt down child predators and lure them to a film set, where they would be interviewed and eventually arrested. An exploration of the scintillating rise and staggering fall of the show and the world it helped create.</p>
<p>Activists from both left and right use portable light projectors—sometimes termed “temporary graffiti”—to cast protest messages onto buildings. The film examines whether these projections qualify as protected free speech or violate property rights, especially in light of new Florida legislation banning unsanctioned projections.</p>
<p>“This land I was raised on…it feels heavy.” Nevadan track star Kutoven Stevens runs with the weight of his ancestors on his shoulders. His great-grandfather Franklin ran away from the Stewart Indian School three times, escaping an abusive boarding school that sought to erase Indigenous culture through re-education. As Ku trains for scholarships and accolades, he wrestles with the legacy of colonialism, searching for a response to his family’s enduring pain.</p>
<p>Told through the eyes of those who live it, this unflinching film exposes the prevalence of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation hiding in plain sight across North America, and the fight to end it. At its core is the Survivor Model—a transformative approach that decriminalizes prostituted individuals while imposing strict penalties on the ecosystem that enables it: pimps, traffickers, and sex buyers. Through gripping narratives from survivors, advocates, policymakers, and law enforcement, it unveils the incredible courage required for survivors to escape “the life” and rebuild, whether off the track or out of the brothel system. It also sheds light on the critical steps needed to bring traffickers and buyers to justice, revealing how trafficking thrives not only in distant places but right in our own neighborhoods. THE RIGHT TRACK is both a call to action and a powerful testament to the resilience of survivors fighting for change.</p>
<p>River of Grass is a poetic meditation on the Florida Everglades's fugitive past, present, and future inspired by the late feminist environmentalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas's 1947 book of the same title .</p>
<p>Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure was a secret. Sally’s life partner, Tam O’Shaughnessy, reveals their hidden romance and the sacrifices that accompanied their 27 years together.</p>
<p>Patrick Oliphant was a giant slayer, bravely taking on presidents, popes and the American corporate class with his mighty pen. An Australian transplant, Oliphant became America’s most renowned and feared political cartoonist for five decades. With his biting wit and masterful drawing skills, Oliphant attacked individual and institutional corruption, collusion, greed, hypocrisy and arrogance, no matter the size or status of his targets. A SAVAGE ART tells the story of Oliphant’s life and celebrated career through interviews with Pat, his family, friends, and colleagues, alongside a rich trove of archival footage and hundreds of his cartoons. The film also traces the history of political cartoons, highlighting how influential and impactful cartoonists have been throughout the ages—and how, in today’s climate of political partisanship and corporate media control, voices like Oliphant’s are more essential than ever in holding power to account.</p>
<p>In 1995, a Louisiana college student discovers a disturbing truth about herself through a textbook, leading to revelations about psychological experiment on twins. Her personal medical records expose lifelong lies from loved ones.</p>
<p>An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land.</p>
<p>When Oxford Professor Patricia Kingori travels to Kenya, she uncovers the murky, multi-billion global underworld of essay-writing. Thousands of young and highly educated Kenyans – overqualified and chronically underemployed – have found lucrative work writing essays for students around the globe who are able and willing to pay for them. It’s a complex portrait of an issue that undermines the foundations of a pillar of humanity: education.</p>
<p>Shot over the course of three years, "Shuffle" follows three individuals whose lives depend not on getting into treatment, but on getting out alive, and in the process, shines a light on the insurance-fueled cycle of addiction treatment fraud spreading across the country. With the filmmaker serving as narrator, using his own experience as a roadmap, these personal stories provide the framework for a more public investigation with the help of an FBI informant, an insurance analyst and the former Executive Director of a Philadelphia-based treatment facility. "Shuffle" unravels a web of public policy and private interest preying on a desperate population for the sake of profit.</p>
<p>Five top-ranked high school oratory students spend a year crafting spellbinding spoken word performances with the dream of winning one of the world’s largest and most intense public speaking competitions.</p>
<p>What happens to a beautiful place when its appeal lures tourists in such numbers as to sustain a whole industry of gawkers and gazers? In The Spectacle, idyllic European tourist destinations are documented through exquisite landscape cinematography, yet a droll pall hangs over the panoramas as we watch brightly hued Gore-Tex-clad pilgrims descend upon these places’ natural wonders to pose and preen, and certainly, post. Ethnography meets the Anthropocene in this short, wry essay about the fate of “attractions.”</p>
<p>A rare look into the inner workings of a data-driven surveillance state run by one of the most feared secret police forces the world has ever known— East Germany’s Stasi. THE SPIES AMONG US is a personal investigation into family secrets by Peter Keup, a Stasi victim-turned-historian that takes a turn after he contacts the men who ran the system. These are the first conversations of their kind between Stasi officers and a victim. Through these meetings, a terrifying mosaic is built of the lengths to which people go to maintain power in a dictatorship, as well as the indomitable human spirit that seeks truth and self-determination.</p>
<p>Sarah McBride's groundbreaking campaign becomes the first transgender Congressional victory amid anti-trans political tension.</p>
<p>With shrinking newsrooms, media monopolization, weaponized social media, and a president deliberately eroding public trust in truth and reality, STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! offers an intimate counterpoint, showing how independent media is essential to a functioning democracy. Set against some of the most consequential stories of our time—from the war in Gaza to the global climate catastrophe—the film follows the intrepid independent journalist Amy Goodman over 30 years. As she becomes a leader in the movement for independent media that amplifies voices excluded from the mainstream, she faces off against forces trying to silence her.</p>
<p>The love story of Gloria Clayborne and renowned jazz pianist Junior Mance, whose charmed career spans seventy years. Junior has played with Dizzy, Dinah, Cannonball––all the greats. But it’s not until 1996, that he meets his great love: Gloria Clayborne. They quickly marry, she becomes his manager, and they travel the world together, with music at the center of their relationship.</p>
<p>Unprecedented access to America’s top hostage negotiator, Roger Carstens, reveals the high-stakes battle to free LA public defender Eyvin Hernandez from the notorious Venezuelan prison known as “The House of Dreams.” TAKE NO PRISONERS captures the raw, emotional fight of Eyvin’s family as they pressure the president for action. With rare behind-the-scenes moments—from tense White House meetings to the chaotic streets of Caracas—this gripping documentary exposes the dangerous world of U.S. hostage recoveries, filled with setbacks, breakthroughs, and relentless determination.</p>
<p>Julie Wyman seeks her place in the Little People community as dwarf identity evolves. Uncovering family rumors of "partial dwarfism," she joins dwarf artists to challenge and address the rise of height-altering pharmaceuticals.</p>
<p>Exploring the complex ways in which voice, character, and gender are continually redefined in opera, TESSITURA delves into how contemporary trans opera singers navigate the traditional categories of their art form. By intertwining personal stories with historical contexts, the film enriches the ongoing conversation about gender in opera.</p>
<p>On the divided island of Cyprus, the quiet motion of hands shaping lace and making cheese sheds new light on a decades-old conflict. TO YOUR HANDS is an experimental animated documentary that weaves together the stories of Cypriots who continue these handmade traditions, passed down for generations. Through intimate imagery and hand-painted animation, the film reflects on how shared culture endures beyond political borders.</p>
<p>Every summer for over a decade, artist Pete Mauney ventures into the middle of nowhere, alone, in the dead of night. Where most see only desolate darkness, he finds peace and inspiration. Through patient observation, the landscape slowly comes alive, sparkling with fireflies. Armed with cameras and tripods, Pete performs his ritual: setting up, syncing shutters, and calibrating timelapses in pursuit of an elusive ideal. But in this process, he confronts everything beyond his control—and that’s where the magic happens.</p>
<p>LA ORQUESTA follows Juana, a determined teacher and activist, and her orchestra through one school year. Using cinéma vérité, intimate interviews, and personal archival footage, the film tells the story of a community coming together to offer children opportunities that should be available to all, even as they face health, financial challenges, and growing hostility toward immigrants. LA ORQUESTA offers a fresh perspective on the immigrant experience, one that celebrates art, beauty, and the transformative power of music.</p>
<p>A deeply personal and reflective documentary following Professor Robert Reich as he teaches his final “Wealth and Poverty” course at UC Berkeley. After more than 40 years teaching 40,000 students, Reich faces the emotional gravity of closure while confronting broader issues of inequality and societal change.</p>
<p>Follow explorers into places rarely glimpsed by human eyes: caves, flooded drains and underground laboratories, revealing hidden worlds beneath our feet. Narrated by Sandra Hüller and featuring stunning visuals, this sensorial journey offers a humbling perspective on our place within — not merely atop — this planet.</p>
<p>When a school mass shooting rocks a town in Texas, a mom desperate to save her kids becomes an overnight hero and speaks out against a faulty system. The community challenges the powers that failed to protect its most vulnerable - children</p>
<p>Fusing rigorous reportage with innovative cinematic subjectivity, this bold documentary from veteran war photographer Olivier Sarbil is a uniquely intimate portrait of a Deaf person’s experience of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.</p>
<p>Until she learned about a proposed plastics plant a few miles from her home, Sharon Lavigne was a special education teacher whose favorite pastime was singing in her church choir. Vs Goliath: Cancer Alley follows Sharon, a grandmother of twelve, in her fight against the industries poisoning her community. She lives in the region known as “Cancer Alley,” a corridor along the Mississippi River that was once the heart of plantation country, and is now petrochemical plant country, still populated largely by the descendents of the enslaved. Receiving a message from God that she must stay and fight the plants, Sharon becomes an internationally renowned activist as she mobilizes her family and wider community.</p>
<p>After four years away, Huiju returns home to South Korea. Exchanges with her loved ones are awkward and clumsy. Huiju turns once again to her familiar rituals: pruning the trees, preparing a sauce, tying a braid. With the help of her camera, she finds the courage to confront her family, determined to put an end to the domestic war that plagued her childhood.</p>
<p>In rural Kenya where women lose their homes after their husband’s death, a widow rises as a fierce advocate to help other widows reclaim their rightful property and provide a home for their children.</p>
<p>Forty years after her arranged marriage as a child, Hawa finally begins an independent life and to be literate. However, with the return of the Taliban to power, her dreams, along with those of her daughter and granddaughter, are shattered as they face new struggles.</p>
<p>An immersive archival documentary that reanimates the clash between the then-emerging World Trade Organization (WTO) and the more than 40,000 people who took to the streets of Seattle to protest the WTO's impact on human rights, labor, and the environment.</p>
<p>For 30 to 45 minutes a week between 1997 and 2007, Yellowstone Public Radio solicited live on-air opinions from listeners across Montana and northern Wyoming. Callers were encouraged to express their thoughts on whatever they wanted, and the opinions ranged across such hot topics as the Iraq War, an indoor smoking ban, and the meaning of poetry. The magic of these audio recordings lies in the openness of both the callers and the program’s hosts, who offer a sympathetic sounding board, free from judgment and infused with humor. Accompanying the audio recordings are luxuriant scenes of current-day life in Montana. Your Opinion, Please is a beautiful time capsule from a not-too-distant past that holds a mirror up to our present—the people we hear aren’t only freely expressing themselves, they are listening.</p>
<p>With raw honesty and humor, they lay themselves bare on stage for a laugh, and in the process, they reveal what they’ve learned about themselves. Through their journeys, the film explores the meaning of purpose, the grit it takes to follow it, and the quiet power of vulnerability.</p>
<p>The work of photographers during the Vietnam War exposed the horrors committed against the civilian population to a Western audience largely unaware of the scale of the atrocities. The iconic photograph, The Terror of War, also known as Napalm Girl, was shocking in its depiction of the violence experienced by children, prompting global protests and calls to end the war. But a claim by a former Associated Press photo editor raises doubts over the image’s origins. Bao Nguyen’s film follows a relentless journey to find the truth, locating a photographer known only as ‘the stringer’ who claims he took the photo, throwing the AP photographer credit into question. In following this investigation Nguyen’s film tackles racial injustice and journalistic ethics as it questions why Vietnamese photographers’ essential contribution to this conflict have been overlooked in history.</p>