BIO-DOCS
CITIZEN ASHE (CNN FILMS/HBO MAX)
Rex Miller and Sam Pollard directed the film that centers on the life and career of tennis player Arthur Ashe, who won three Grand Slam singles titles and was the only Black man to ever win the singles title at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. Citizen Ashe was executive produced by Alex Gibney and John Legend.
FAUCI (NAT GEO)
Directors John Hoffman and Janet Tobias take an in-depth look at how infectious disease specialist Dr. Anthony Fauci led the fight against epidemics, from HIV/AIDS and Ebola to the current COVID-19 pandemic, in the U.S. Liz Garbus executive produces.
FRANCESCO (DISCOVERY+)
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An unprecedented look into Pope Francis, Francesco, directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, takes audiences through the pope’s work on climate change, immigration and more.
INTRODUCING, SELMA BLAIR (DISCOVERY+)
This documentary, directed by Rachel Fleit, reveals an intimate look at Selma Blair after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The film had its premiere at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Award for Exceptional Intimacy in Storytelling in the Documentary Feature Competition.
JULIA (SONY PICTURES CLASSICS)
Directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West, who also are in contention this year for My Name Is Pauli Murray, chronicle the life of beloved television personality and cook Julia Child in this film, on which Ron Howard serves as executive producer.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOY IN THE WORLD (JUNO FILMS)
Swedish actor Björn Andrésen was thrust into the spotlight at the age of 16 when he starred in Luchino Visconti’s film Death in Venice in 1971. Directors Kristian Patri and Kristina Lindström showcase just how unprepared Andrésen was for his level of fame. Andrésen most recently starred in 2019’s Midsommar.
MY NAME IS PAULI MURRAY (AMAZON)
RBG directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West explore the life and ideas of the pioneering civil and women’s rights activist, poet Pauli Murray, who is credited as one of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s greatest influences.
THE REAL CHARLIE CHAPLIN (SHOWTIME)
Featuring an interview Charlie Chaplin gave to Life magazine in 1966, The Real Charlie Chaplin is about the life and work of the actor and filmmaker. Peter Middleton and James Spinney direct.
RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT (ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS)
Mariem Pérez Riera directs this look at the early life and career of EGOT-winning actress Rita Moreno. Norman Lear, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Michael Kantor serve as executive producers.
ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (CNN FILMS)
Morgan Neville produced and directed the documentary about Anthony Bourdain three years after the celebrity chef’s death, featuring intimate interviews with his close friends and family.
VAL (AMAZON)
Val — a look at the life and career of Val Kilmer — debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in July. Kilmer wrote the film, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo. His son, Jack Kilmer, narrates the documentary.
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COVID-19
CONVERGENCE: COURAGE IN A CRISIS (NETFLIX)
Orlando von Einsiedel, who directed the Oscar-winning doc short The White Helmets and the nominated feature Virunga, collaborated with filmmakers from across the globe to depict life and survival amid the early chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic, detailing the societal flaws the crisis exposed worldwide.
IN THE SAME BREATH (HBO DOCUMENTARY FILMS)
Directed and produced by Nanfu Wang, In the Same Breath chronicles how the Chinese and American governments reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic. It had its world premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
THE YEAR THE EARTH CHANGED (APPLE TV+)
Director Tom Beard delves into how our planet was impacted by the global lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, featuring narration from David Attenborough.
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DOMESTIC POLITICS
9/11: INSIDE THE PRESIDENT’S WAR ROOM (APPLE TV+)
Chronicling the hours immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks from the perspective of President George W. Bush, this documentary directed by Adam Wishart and narrated by Jeff Daniels features interviews with Bush, then-Vice President Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and more.
ATTICA (SHOWTIME)
Directors Traci Curry and Stanley Nelson detail the events of the infamous 1971 Attica Prison Riot, where inmates took control of the facility in upstate New York in a conflict that began with the prisoners demanding reform.
PROCESSION (NETFLIX)
A group of survivors who endured sexual abuse by Catholic priests face their previous traumas in director Robert Greene’s compelling film. Six men create fictional scenes based on their memories and experiences and use them to explore how the legal system failed them and instead enabled years of abuse.
ENEMIES OF THE STATE (IFC FILMS)
Enemies of the State centers on Matt DeHart, a man targeted by the U.S. government for being in possession of confidential documents that allege misconduct by the CIA. Sonia Kennebeck directed, while Errol Morris serves as executive producer.
FERGUSON RISES (INDEPENDENT LENS)
Ferguson Rises follows residents of Ferguson, Missouri, the small town where Michael Brown Jr. was fatally shot by white officer Darren Wilson in 2014. Mobolaji Olambiwonnu directs.
HOMEROOM (HULU)
Homeroom marks the final film of Peter Nicks’ “Oakland” trilogy and chronicles the lives of the Oakland High School class of 2020 in their final year as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd protests. Ryan Coogler and Davis Guggenheim executive produced.
LFG (HBO MAX)
Directed by Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, LFG (short for Let’s Fucking Go!) follows Megan Rapinoe, Jessica McDonald, Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelley O’Hara, Christen Press, Sam Mewis and Julie Foudy in their lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation alleging pay discrimination.
MAYOR PETE (AMAZON)
As its title suggests, this film from Jesse Moss (an Emmy winner this year for Boys State) trains its lens on Pete Buttigieg — former mayor of South Bend, Indiana — as he makes history as the first openly gay candidate for the president of the United States.
PRAY AWAY (NETFLIX)
Executive produced by Jason Blum and Ryan Murphy and directed by Kristine Stolakis, Pray Away focuses on survivors and former leaders of conversion therapy. The film premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
WHO WE ARE: A CHRONICLE OF RACISM IN AMERICA (SONY PICTURES CLASSICS)
Legal activist and criminal defense lawyer Jeffery Robinson presented a talk at New York City’s Town Hall on Juneteenth 2018 that looked at the way Americans reckon with (or, in many cases, don’t) the country’s history of racism. Directors Sarah and Emily Kunstler expand Robinson’s presentation into an illuminating and informative documentary.
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INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
ASCENSION (MTV DOCUMENTARY FILMS)
Winner of the Tribeca Film Festival award for best documentary feature, this loosely structured film from director Jessica Kingdon examines the Chinese Dream from the perspective of the country’s blue-collar workers, the middle class and the wealthy elite through a collection of vignettes shot in 51 locations throughout China.
FLEE (NEON)
The animated doc directed by Jonas Poher Rasmussen follows Amin, a refugee who previously hid his past of fleeing his country. Riz Ahmed and Game of Thrones‘ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau executive produced the film (and lent their voices for its English-language version), which also is Denmark’s submission for best international feature and a contender for best animated feature.
PRESIDENT (GREENWICH ENTERTAINMENT)
A follow-up to her 2014 doc Democrats, which centered on the effort to bring democratic process to Zimbabwe, director Camilla Nielsson’s latest follows presidential candidate Nelson Chamisa, the charismatic leader of the Movement for Democratic Change. Unfolding like a political thriller, the film tracks Chamisa’s candidacy during the corruption-riddled 2018 election.
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MEDIA/PRESS
THE LOST LEONARDO (SONY PICTURES CLASSICS)
The Lost Leonardo chronicles the story of the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold, at $450 million. But as the artwork becomes more and more famous, questions arise about its authenticity and whether the painting is really by the iconic artist da Vinci.
STORM LAKE (PBS)
Directors Jerry Risius and Beth Levison observe the at-times-precarious business of journalism with this portrait of The Storm Lake Times, a family-run newspaper that has served the small town of Small Lake, Iowa, for three decades and whose editor Art Cullen was awarded a 2017 Pulitzer Prize.
WRITING WITH FIRE (MUSIC BOX FILMS)
Khabar Lahariya, which translates to “waves of news,” is the only all-female newspaper and the subject of this doc from directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, who follow the low-caste journalists that make up the paper’s editorial staff as it adapts and expands its digital operations.
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MUSIC
BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY (APPLE TV+)
Eilish fans will love the behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the singer’s debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? R.J. Cutler (The War Room) directs the documentary — the title of the film stems from a lyric in one of the album’s tracks, “Ilomilo.”
BRIAN WILSON: LONG PROMISED ROAD (SCREEN MEDIA)
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road follows the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine as they drive around Los Angeles to visit meaningful locations from Wilson’s past. Brent Wilson (no relation to the musician) directs.
NO ORDINARY MAN (OSCILLOSCOPE)
No Ordinary Man takes an in-depth look at the life of American jazz musician and trans icon Billy Tipton, who was outed after his death in 1989. Chase Joynt and Aisling Chin-Yee direct the film, which also looks at Tipton’s legacy among musicians today.
THE SPARKS BROTHERS (FOCUS FEATURES)
Edgar Wright’s music doc, which debuted at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, looks at the lives and careers of Ron and Russell Mael of the rock and pop duo Sparks. The film features interviews with the brothers as well as Beck, Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols.
SUMMER OF SOUL (OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) (HULU)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s concert film — featuring found footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival — took the world by storm after it premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the documentary categories.
TOM PETTY: SOMEWHERE YOU FEEL FREE (YOUTUBE ORIGINALS)
Mary Wharton directs the documentary about the legendary rocker and his process working on his 1994 album Wildflowers, drawing from an archive of 16mm film.
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (APPLE TV+)
Todd Haynes makes his documentary feature directorial debut with this look at the iconic band, fronted by Lou Reed and John Cale, and known for integrating rock ‘n’ roll with experimental and avant-garde sounds. Similar to many documentaries in contention this year, the film had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival.
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NATURE/SCIENCE
ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE (SUPER LTD)
A winner of a special Grand Jury Award for nonfictional experimentation at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, Theo Anthony’s compelling film examines our collective relationship with surveillance technology and questions whether it’s possible for human perception to have an objective point of view.
THE ALPINIST (ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS)
The Alpinist follows 23-year-old climber Marc-André Leclerc, who scales mountains — alone, with no rope and no cameras. Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen took on the documentary of the subject who is not only camera-shy but owns no cellphone or car — and becomes more daring as time goes on.
BECOMING COUSTEAU (NAT GEO)
Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus returns with this doc about Jacques-Yves Cousteau, an adventurer, filmmaker, investor and conservationist whose explorations of the ocean contributed to the evolving conversation of global warming and the need to save the planet.
THE LONELIEST WHALE: THE SEARCH FOR 52 (BLEECKER STREET)
Directed by Joshua Zeman, The Loneliest Whale explores the quest for the “52 Hertz Whale,” which scientists believe has spent its entire life alone but calls out to other whales in a frequency unlike those of other whales. Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrian Grenier executive produced.
THE MUSTANGS: AMERICA’S WILD HORSES (VIRGIL ENTERTAINMENT)
Robert Redford, Patti Scialfa Springsteen and Jessica Springsteen executive produced this documentary that takes nature lovers across America and explores why wild horses must be protected. The doc features music by Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson and an original song written by Diane Warren.
PLAYING WITH SHARKS (NAT GEO)
Valerie Taylor’s work in the underwater world has led to much of what people know about sharks to this day, and that’s probably why writer-director Sally Aitken made the documentary Playing With Sharks about the pioneering scuba diver.
THE RESCUE (NAT GEO)
When 12 kids and their 25-year-old soccer coach were trapped in a Thai cave in 2018, people all over the world came together in a massive rescue operation to find and save them while water levels continued to rise in the cave. Free Solo filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin chronicle the events of the mission with found footage and reenactments featuring the real divers who helped rescue the boys.
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RELATIONSHIPS
SISTERS ON TRACK (NETFLIX)
Corinne van der Borch and Tone Grottjord-Glenne direct this coming-of-age story about three sisters — Tai, Rainn and Brooke Sheppard — who were propelled into the spotlight after being chosen as the 2016 Sports Illustrated Kids of the Year. The film follows the young women, all incredible track-and-field athletes, as they prepare for the Junior Olympics after moving out of a homeless shelter with their single mother.
TORN (NAT GEO)
In 1999, legendary climber Alex Lowe was lost in a deadly avalanche in a Tibetan mountain. Lowe’s best friend and mountaineer Conrad Anker survived — and when he married Lowe’s widow, Anker helped raise Lowe’s three sons. Torn looks at the Lowe-Anker family in the aftermath of Lowe’s failed expedition using home videos and never-before-released footage.
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SPOTLIGHTS
AILEY (NEON)
While the trailblazing work of choreographer Alvin Ailey has been duly celebrated, Ailey himself has been less explored. Filmmaker Jamila Wignot has been a fan since college, “but I didn’t know very much about the man behind the company’s dance works or vision,” she says. “The film was an incredible opportunity to immerse myself in Ailey’s story of becoming — to live in his skin and hopefully channel the memories, experiences, drive and vision that animate his work.” Audio recorded during the final year of his life makes Ailey very present as, in essence, the film’s narrator. “He sacrificed, he says, everything. We weren’t interested in presenting that as an ode to martyrdom but rather as a reminder of the context in which he was creating his work and to resurrect the human being at the center of this legacy.” — S.H.
THE NEUTRAL GROUND (PBS)
What began as a short internet video satirizing the furor that erupted over the removal of Confederate statues in New Orleans in 2015 became a bigger — and darker — story. “I’m interested in the absurd lengths people go to in order to avoid acknowledging the impact race has had — and still has — in this country,” says comedian-turned-filmmaker C.J. Hunt. “The monuments debate felt like a concrete way to explore a question at the heart of our divisions: Can we be honest about our nation’s past?” In revealing various groups’ century-plus-long campaign to legitimize the statues, says Hunt, “I hope our film helps people realize: Monuments are not history. Anyone with a couple hundred thousand dollars can buy a monument to commemorate whatever story they choose. And when future generations decide that a monument no longer represents them, they have the right to move that object to a museum or into someone’s musty garage.” — S.H.
THE FIRST WAVE (NAT GEO)
“By employing a character-driven, cinema-vérité approach, our aim was to use distinct storylines of our characters as a microcosm through which we all can view the emotional and societal impact of the pandemic,” says filmmaker Matthew Heineman of his visceral up-close and urgent look at the confusing, confounding early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in New York’s overburdened hospitals. “It was jarring to witness what was going on in the hospital day in and day out, only to hear about people denying COVID, calling it a hoax, refusing to wear masks, and now refusing to get vaccinated. I feel like it was my job to put people in the shoes of those who lived it on the front lines and to create a historical document of this time. In a sense, it’s really a film about how people came together in the face of this devastating crisis.” — S.H.
FOUND (NETFLIX)
In chronicling the journeys of three American teenage girls adopted from China who discover that they’re biological cousins and embark on paths of personal discovery, filmmaker Amanda Lipitz says she and her team “tried to create three distinct portraits of young women growing up in the world today. We loved their ‘teenageness’ and the truth of not knowing all the answers at that age. They are still working to figure out who they are.” As the girls uncover the stories that set their lives in motion, Lipitz says their shared experiences are ultimately about “the family that you find along the way. It takes a lot of courage to search for one’s lost history, and if you are lucky enough to be witness to that journey — as I was — you make sure to tell human stories, stories with beating hearts underneath.” — S.H.
A COP MOVIE (NETFLIX)
“The opportunity to use my background in fiction in order to delve into the world of nonfiction turned this into a real passion project for me,” says filmmaker Alonso Ruizpalacios, who used a unique hybrid narrative approach to documenting the real-world challenges facing two Mexico City police officers — romantic partners as well as on the streets — as they contend with rampant crime and internal corruption. “There is a huge lack of understanding on behalf of citizens regarding how we all participate in the impunity crisis,” Ruizpalacios says. “I want to contribute to change our relationship with the police and break the prejudices that remain deeply rooted in citizens’ perception of the police. I hope that this film becomes a catalyst for generating a larger conversation around our relationship with the police and how we can work together to lower the levels of impunity.” — S.H.
MISHA AND THE WOLVES (NETFLIX)
If Holocaust survivor Misha Defonseca’s personal tale of escaping Nazi Germany as a child by being accepted into a protective pack of wolves — which she turned into a best-selling book — seems too astonishing to be true, here it’s put under a microscope that examines both its veracity and why people want to believe in it. “Misha and the Wolves is the story of a lie,” says filmmaker Sam Hobkinson. “When you make a documentary film about an untruth, you are inverting the form, turning it on its head. There is a fiction at the heart of your nonfiction film, and it releases a ton of formal and creative possibilities. I wanted to make a psychological thriller about belief, about how and why we believe the stories we are told, and it seemed this was the perfect story to do it with.” — S.H.
LOS HERMANOS/THE BROTHERS (PBS)
“Our story of two Afro-Cuban virtuosos who love their own countries, love each other’s countries, and love each other, adds a level of nuance rarely seen in news or documentary reporting on Cuba,” say filmmakers Marcia Jarmel and Ken Schneider of the tale of two long-separated brothers — one living in the U.S., one living in Cuba — reuniting, however fleetingly, to create beautiful music. “Aldo and Ilmar have remained connected as much as possible but never had the chance to record music together or work seriously on composing and arranging Aldo’s original work,” the directors note of the joyous results of their collaborations. “We saw very clearly the benefits of tearing down rather than erecting walls and understood that where politicians fail, artists can succeed.” — S.H.
CUSP (SHOWTIME)
Directors Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill admit that, in following three typical teenage girls into their summer party circuit, they didn’t expect to discover such a degree of frank talk about the often-harrowing sexual experiences the girls and their peers contend with. “We didn’t set out to make a movie about sexual assault, but in wanting to make a movie about girlhood, we realized that trauma is an inherent part of that experience,” the directors explain, noting that they strove to balance the darker themes with breezier facets of teen life. “That’s exactly what it feels like to be a girl growing up. One second you’re opening up to your friends about something that you’re dealing with, the other you’re laughing and going to McDonald’s. We wanted to show all that these girls are dealing with while still giving space for the audience to feel the gravity of the story.” — S.H.
FAYA DAYI (JANUS FILMS)
The dreamlike altered state of perception produced by Ethiopia’s stimulant leaf khat — for centuries the source of spiritual exploration and today the nation’s biggest cash crop — is reflected in filmmaker Jessica Beshir’s inventive depiction of the intimate stories of myriad people embedded in the khat trade. “The form of the film was inspired by the labyrinthic architecture of the walled city of Harar, which Sufi Imams believe is a true reflection of life on earth,” says Beshir of the film, whose title means “giving birth to wellness.” “Zigzagging through a labyrinth, we don’t really know what comes next, we wander into the unknown armed with our instinct as guide. … By ignoring barriers of time, we found a fluid form in which dreams, memories and desires are in direct conversation with the predicaments of today, an experience akin to Merkhana or a state of grace.” — S.H.
This story first appeared in a November stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
