Documentary
Tragedy + Time + Comedy = Healing. From the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to today stand-up comedians, talk-show hosts, sketch performers, television animators and other entertainers have used often-controversial jokes to unite and heal in the face of tragedy.
Severin Films chief David Gregory and House Of Psychotic Women author Kier-La Janisse query a global roster of more than 60 horror writers, directors and scholars that include Eli Roth, Joe Dante, Mark Hartley, Mick Garris, Ernest Dickerson, Joko Anwar, Ramsey Campbell, David DeCoteau, Kim Newman, Jovanka Vuckovic, Luigi Cozzi, Tom Savini, Jenn Wexler, Larry Fessenden, Richard Stanley, Brian Trenchard-Smith, Brian Yuzna, Gary Sherman, Rebekah McKendry and Peter Strickland in a candid discussion of the very best portmanteaus in fright film/TV history. The film leads us from the very first examples of the anthology film in early cinema, right up to the present day – without forgetting of course the endearing impact that the likes of Vincent Price and Peter Cushing had in creating some of the most memorable classic films ever made.
This profile of legendary funk/R&B icon Rick James captures the peaks and valleys of his storied career to reveal a complicated and rebellious soul, driven to share his talent with the world.
Through exclusive interviews and archival footage, this documentary traces an intimate portrait of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher.
This special sees Louis travel to America to investigate the story of a man who has become one of the most controversial and captivating icons of recent times: the gun-toting, self-described ‘gay hillbilly’ and ‘Tiger King’ Joe Exotic.
A woman’s Holocaust memoir takes the world by storm, but a fallout with her publisher-turned-detective reveals her story as an audacious deception created to hide a darker truth.
Tethered addresses the current landscape concerning the well being of all of us, as it is in current crisis due to our digital addictions and screen dependency.
The memory of a particular moment in early 20th century history when, in 1913, Helen Keller (1880-1968), a deaf-blind writer, lecturer and political activist, spoke, for the first time and in public, about socialism and progressive causes.
An in-depth look at the life of boxer, Muhammad Ali, including his years as an activist and philanthropist.
Interwoven with her storied career and prolific works, Twyla Moves sees legendary choreographer Twyla Tharp navigate her latest creative challenge: making a dance for a world plagued by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fireboys is the untold story of young men incarcerated in California who are offered a way out: by fighting wildfires. Immersive and personal, this coming-of-age story examines a correctional path that is both hopeful and destructive.
Veteran suicide is a national tragedy on an epic scale.A remarkable treatment is proving more powerful than ever imagined: Pairing veterans with wild mustangs taken straight off the range; miraculously turning despair into enduring hope.
‘I didn’t believe it until I saw it’. A sign on a wall says this, as a hundred Eritrean refugees arrive in Endabaguna collection centre in the Tigray region in Ethiopia, after traveling in an airless truck for four days. Why do people run…
Journalist Jenny Eliscu and filmmaker Erin Lee Carr investigate Britney Spears’ fight for freedom by way of exclusive interviews and confidential evidence.
Explores the fantastic highs and unsettling lows of 8-time All-Star and slam dunk champion, Vince Carter, as he looks back on his record-breaking 22-season professional basketball career.
“Heroes” tells the story of five legends of motorsport, whose lives are intimately intertwined and interconnected as they all scale the heights of their sport, while contending with profound personal challenges along the way.
Maritime mysteries — old and new — come to life in this 10-episode series, combining scientific data and digital re-creations to reveal shipwrecks, treasures, and sunken cities on the bottom of lakes, seas and oceans around the world.
“Fittest in Dubai” is a 60 min documentary film of the first CrossFit Sanctional event in the world. First place male and female competitors qualify for a position to the CrossFit Games in the United States.
Exclusive access into the career and life of the public servant who has advised seven U.S. presidents beginning with the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and through SARS, Ebola and COVID-19.
A documentary film providing an exclusive and immersive look at the process of Pixar Animation Studios filmmakers as they step into a leadership role and strive to bring their uniquely personal SparkShorts visions to the screen.
Rome, 1968: at the pinnacle of his artistic career, Pino Pascali died in an accident. 50 years later the Pascali Museum in Apulia—where Pino was born—buys and exhibits one of his works. This is the story of a work of art returning to its origins told through Pino Musi and Pino Pascali’s photographs.
A timely, eye-opening roller-coaster ride through the world of public shaming. Examine social behavior by embedding with individuals from across the U.S. who have been publicly shamed or cyber-harassed – while exploring the bullies, the bystanders, the media, psychologists, politicians and experts in between.
Filmed in Lisbon, Portugal, the film captures the pop icon’s rare and rapturous tour performance, hailed by sold out theatrical audiences worldwide. The unprecedented intimate streaming experience will take viewers on a journey as compelling and audacious as Madonna’s fearless persona, Madame X, a secret agent traveling around the world, changing identities, fighting for freedom and bringing light to dark places.
After a three-year hiatus from a full performance, and with concert venues shut down due to the pandemic, Bieber delivers an electrifying show to close out 2020 on the rooftop of the Beverly Hilton Hotel for 240 invited guests—and millions of fans across the globe watching via livestream. The film follows Bieber and his close-knit team in the month leading up to the show, as they rehearse and construct a monumental stage while adhering to strict health and safety protocols. The film also captures personal, self-shot moments between Bieber and his wife Hailey.
An astonishing record of the hereditary nature of trauma, Jacinta follows the lives of three generations of women struggling to find stability amid years of dependency. Jacinta leaves the Maine Correctional Center, leaving her mother behind to complete her own sentence, and attempts to rebuild her relationship with Caylynn, her preternaturally wise pre-teen daughter who craves time and attention from the mother she adores. But as the pressures of shaping a life in a world she has hardly known sober proves increasingly challenging, she brings the viewer into her emotional, day-to-day battle to find peace with herself and earn the trust of her family.
Activists and volunteers work through the darkest days of 2020, galvanizing social change amidst chaos as governments start to fail local communities. This epic, globally spanning and deeply passionate documentary serves as a clarion call that great change can be born of crisis.
Experiential cinema in its purest form, GUNDA chronicles the unfiltered lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with masterful intimacy. Using stark, transcendent black and white cinematography and the farm’s ambient soundtrack, Master director Victor Kossakowsky invites the audience to slow down and experience life as his subjects do, taking in their world with a magical patience and an other worldly perspective. GUNDA asks us to meditate on the mystery of animal consciousness, and reckon with the role humanity plays in it. Executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix.
Experience the iconic rock band’s legacy in the first major documentary to tell their story. Directed with the era’s avant-garde spirit by Todd Haynes, this kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.
The three-part documentary series, compiled from over 60 hours of unseen footage, captures the warmth, camaraderie, and creative genius that defined the legacy of music’s most iconic foursome. The series also includes – for the first time in its entirety – The Beatles’ final performance at London’s Savile Row.
Emmy-winning Israeli filmmaker Maya Zinshtein (Forever Pure) returns to the Festival with this riveting exposé that investigates the unlikely connection between Jews and evangelical Christians in the U.S. and Israel, and the startling hypocrisy at its core. From conversations with a devout pastor and his congregation in rural Kentucky to meetings with religious leaders in Washington D.C. and Israel, Zinshtein closely follows Chicago native Yael Eckstein, President and CEO of the influential advocacy group the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, in her fundraising and coalition-building efforts. What she uncovers is a shocking alliance rooted in apocalyptic prophecy and driven in unprecedented ways by Donald Trump’s White House.
Chronicling the life and career of Russell Westbrook, one of the greatest point guards of all time. Despite his success, he enters the 2021-22 season on his fourth team in three years where he looks to cement his legacy on his own terms.
Known as “The Toolbox Killer,” Lawrence Bittaker, alongside his partner Roy Norris, committed heinous acts. Bittaker remained silent about his crimes for 40 years until he met criminologist Laura Brand. Over the course of five years, Brand recorded her many conversations with Bittaker as he spoke from death row about his methods and motives, providing unique insights into the mind of a criminal sadist.
In this hilarious and heartwarming special, Jo Firestone teaches a comedy workshop for 16 senior citizens, leading up to their first live stand-up show.
Follows the story of three American teenage girls—each adopted from China—who discover they are blood-related cousins on 23andMe. Their online meeting inspires the young women to confront the burning questions they have about their lost history.
The documentary is an immersive chronicle of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when thousands of American citizens from across the country gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the results of the 2020 presidential election, many with the intent of disrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s presidency.
In unusual circumstances, scientists from different countries work together to achieve a common scientific goal. Locked in their spinning space lab, they are isolated from the world — family and friends – and can only watch from the outside as life on Earth continues without them. The space station is a monument not only to the weaknesses of humanity, but also to its ability to do the impossible for the sake of life in space.
American 11, United 175, American 77, and United 93 tells the riveting and emotional human stories of those aboard each doomed jetliner.
In a quest to take control of her personal health, actor Selma Blair adapts to new ways of living while pursuing an experimental medical procedure, after revealing her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis in 2018.
Rap superstar Saweetie hosts a celebration of sexual health and positivity, with help from expert educators, candid stand-ups and uninhibited puppets.
Documentary examining the origins and growth of the anti-vaccination movement, and its impact on global efforts to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic. Interviews with experts shed light on this well-funded and organised movement and its methods.