Steve Hartman’s new Netflix doc leaves policy behind to explore the grief and mourning that stays with the families of school shooting victims.
This Cyber Monday is the last day for my documentary filmmaking sale. Buy “The Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary” seminar for $50, and you’ll get my other popular seminar for free!
Read both seminar descriptions below. (But use this PURCHASE LINK for the sale.)
- The Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary
- Editing the Character-Driven Documentary here for free (valued at $77.97).
I’m also giving away two free recordings of actual story consultations I have done, so you can see how they are conducted:
Gift 1: Story Consultation on Story-Driven Documentary
Gift 2: Story Consultation on Essay-Driven Documentary
In the unlikely event that your expectations aren’t met, I will immediately give you a full refund, no questions asked.
Again, click on this PURCHASE LINK to buy both seminars for $50 and also receive two free gifts.
This Cyber Monday is the last day for my documentary filmmaking sale. Buy “The Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary” seminar for $50, and you’ll get my other popular seminar for free!
Read both seminar descriptions below. (But use this PURCHASE LINK for the sale.)
- The Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Documentary
- Editing the Character-Driven Documentary here for free (valued at $77.97).
I’m also giving away two free recordings of actual story consultations I have done, so you can see how they are conducted:
Gift 1: Story Consultation on Story-Driven Documentary
Gift 2: Story Consultation on Essay-Driven Documentary
In the unlikely event that your expectations aren’t met, I will immediately give you a full refund, no questions asked.
Again, click on this PURCHASE LINK to buy both seminars for $50 and also receive two free gifts.
Hollywood often looks to documentaries for inspiration, but a documentary getting the scripted treatment in Canada remains rare. However, the acclaimed 2017 documentary Birth of a Family offers just the right ingredients for a dramatic adaption. Filmmaker Tasha Hubbard returns to the story with Meadowlarks, a drama about four siblings uniting after the Sixties Scoop tore their family apart. Both films offer unique and moving accounts as the siblings meet in Banff to enjoy the family they never really had. Their tale evokes the effects of the child removal system with personal stories about the impact on families that carries through generations after Indigenous kids were lifted from their homes and transplanted into white families.
“I really love Birth of a Family,” Hubbard tells POV over Zoom. “It was my first feature. It was the first time I really tried to really lean into more observational storytelling and it just lived in the world.”
Birth of a Family, Tasha Hubbard, provided by the National Film Board of Canada
Hubbard says that when Birth of a Family premiered at Hot Docs, where it finished in the top ten for the audience award, producer Julia Rosenberg approached her to see if she ever considered it for a scripted project. The director says she saw an opportunity to explore aspects of the story she couldn’t quite pursue in Birth of a Family. “The original family had some boundaries and I respected fully what they wanted to share and not share,” she explains. “I said, ‘We can just make [the documentary] about this moment in time.”
While Birth of a Family follows Betty Ann Adam and her siblings Esther, Rosalie, and Ben as they meet in Banff, Meadowlarks tells the story of a fictional family with Connie (Carmen Moore) organizing the trip with Anthony (Michael Greyeyes), Marianne (Alex Rice), and Gwen (Michelle Thrush). The four siblings share stories about the respective families they were adopted into and the new ones they’ve since created on their own. Hubbard says that scripting a family allowed her to explore aspects of her own experience along with additional perspectives from people she’s encountered over the years.
“I could really lean into some of the other stories that I’ve been told, or that I knew of,” says Hubbard. “I won’t say that none of the characters is me, but just different experiences or ideas or thoughts that I had did find their way in.”
The director previously explored the complexity of her own family story in the 2019 documentary nîpamistawâsowin: We Will Stand Up, which included pivotal conversations with her white family members about what it means to raise a Cree child in Canada, where young Indigenous people still experience the lateral violence of colonialism.
“I’d gone through the experience myself of meeting my family, I was 16—not quite an adult, although I thought I was—but meeting them at an older age, I’d met others who’d gone through the child removal system,” says Hubbard, who was adopted out of her Cree birth family at the end of the Sixties Scoop. “There are different stories, and I thought I could tell this story from that fictional space and be, in a way, more representative. Birth of a Family is one family story. It doesn’t stand in for everything.”
Carmen Moore, Michelle Thrush, Michael Greyeyes, Alex Rice in Meadowlarks| BOAF Films EFF Inc./BOAF Films JFL Inc.
As with Birth of a Family, Meadowlarks doesn’t get into the full history of the Sixties Scoop, nor does it have to. Instead, it captures the collective healing of these four individuals as they find closure that’s long eluded them as the union with lost siblings inspires further connections with their culture and language, which some of the siblings relate to more than others. The film also adds a fifth sibling who opts out of the getaway and his absence lingers throughout the trip. He’s a symbolic presence for all the people who aren’t as lucky in the healing process.
“These characters, even though they should have had the same upbringing with the same parents and shared experiences and memories, they don’t,” says Hubbard. “What they’ve gone through has been tough. And then what does that mean for them? What patterns do they have that are going to make it challenging to form this bond in such a short period of time?”
As the film explores the challenges that the four siblings have in forging these bonds, Hubbard seems to find particular interest in Anthony. The brother reckons with the weight he carries as the elder sibling. He seeks forgiveness for not protecting his sisters, while they inspire him to see that a child was not at fault for the family being ripped apart by the state. Anthony’s depth, brokenness, and efforts to heal are among the elements that clearly set the drama and the doc apart.
“I chose not to look at the documentary until halfway through the filmmaking,” explains Greyeyes. “I didn’t want any characters in the documentary to unduly influence how I approached Anthony because Anthony is an entirely fictional creation. But there were some parallels or echoes that I thought were really important.”
Alex Rice as Marianne and Michael Greyeyes as Anthony | Photo by Michelle Faye
Moreover, Greyeyes says that Anthony represented a chance to break free from typecasting, as he’s generally known for playing tougher characters. For example, he recently appeared as the gun-totin’ father protecting his family from strange invaders in the dystopian actioner 40 Acres, directed by R.T. Thorne, and won a Canadian Screen Award for his heroic lead in Jeff Barnaby’s zombie bloodbath Blood Quantum.
“I’ve played a lot of characters that were hard and tough badasses. Anthony’s not a badass,” says Greyeyes. “There was this beautiful fragility to him. I think that’s a really important story to tell when you look at some of the work that I’ve done, a project like Wild Indian, which a friend described as a portrait of how Indian men hold their pain. This is a different story. This is a story about how emotional growth can sometimes get interrupted or corrupted by our experiences. I looked at Anthony as a person who had this boundless kind of love and hopefulness, but his ability to express it or to even feel it was compromised.”
Greyeyes says he explored Anthony’s brokenness by using his trademark height against the character. Instead of striding confidently, Anthony carries himself like a little boy. One sees this dynamic when Anthony goes for morning strolls with Marianne, an avid runner whose life in Belgium inspires a metropolitan poise to her gait.
Photo by Elora Braden
As the siblings roam through Banff, they each experience transformative moments, like Connie overcoming her fear of heights atop a suspension bridge. Anthony, meanwhile, recognizes that his future grandchild will allow him to be something he never had—a grandparent. His walks and, eventually, jogs with Marianne convey how his discomfort with his own body and his sense of being ill-at-ease gradually melts and he strides confidently by the end of the trip.
“It’s over the course of the weekend, and over the course of being in contact with his sisters and his family, he was finally able to stitch together an understanding of these emotional bits,” observes Greyeyes. “And then as soon as he came together, it was like he started to heal. I think that’s an important story to tell in cinema because we don’t have a lot of films written with that kind of perspective for Native men. We’re just badasses.”
The relationship between Anthony and Marianne is one example of the narrative structure in Meadowlarks that sees siblings pair off during the weekend. Anthony experiences growth with Connie and Gwen as well, and the sisters frequently pair off in turn. These interactions outside the fuller family gathering illustrate how the siblings feel their way into their newly united family.
Hubbard says that it was important for her and co-writer Emil Sher that the quartet of siblings wasn’t always together. The filmmaker says those pairings reflect a dynamic that would have existed had the family not been torn apart. “They would’ve had these individual and different relationships, so we wanted to see that form,” notes Hubbard. “It really was so character-driven in what those look like. But they’re all coming from different experiences as well that have shaped them. I’m always interested in what people’s true original nature is, and then what happens when, because of colonialism, they’re altered in some way, or as Michael pointed, stunted in some way or shaped in a different direction. I wanted the characters, over the course of the weekend, to become who they’re meant to be.”
Photo by Elora Braden
“An important part of the overall idea of how we play with each other is that families, the colonial story, the historical part of the film that’s already being told, is almost unspoken,” adds Greyeyes. “Our job as actors is to be inside the family and the family dynamic. So, of course, some brothers you don’t like and some brothers are your best friend. I think that just happened during the course of the story. For Anthony, his relationship with some of the sisters of introductory, but almost immediately he and Marianne connected.”
Having the siblings branch off also leads to an extremely powerful union in Meadowlarks’ final act as they share a new experience. Marianne meets an elder while browsing Indigenous arts booths at a market and the woman, sympathetic to her story, invites her to bring her siblings for a healing ceremony in the woods. While the siblings in the documentary do meet an elder at the cultural centre in Banff, the scene with the ceremony is unique to Meadowlarks. There’s collective catharsis as they let go of their shared pain.
“When people have gone through the child removal system, sometimes there’s challenges coming back,” Hubbard says on finding her inspiration for that scene. “There’s family dynamics or people have passed already or there’s terrible circumstances. Sometimes it’s not possible for people to find their families.”
Hubbard reflects on the story of one of her friends from Saskatchewan who was struggling to connect with his birth family. Amid his search, he went to his family reserve one weekend for a powwow. While he didn’t quite find the original people he was looking for, another family adopted him. “They did this beautiful welcome, and I always thought about that,” says Hubbard. “I wanted something like that. These elders are not their relatives and it doesn’t matter because the compassion and love is there. I’ve heard other stories similar to that. It’s their coming home moment and they’re coming home to each other. The elders fundamentally understand that. Now they have that centre.”
Meadowlarks is now playing in theatres.
The post How Meadowlarks Reimagines an Acclaimed Documentary appeared first on POV Magazine.
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Learn more here: https://thegotoeditor.com
I hope all my American subscribers had a great Thanksgiving holiday last week. I just want to say how thankful I am to all my email subscribers, online readers, and paid supporters, especially in months like this when I’m swamped with my other job, family, and holiday commitments. Also, as we enter the week of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday, I remind you that, like Mariah Carey, all I want for the holidays is you… as in your continued support. Also, join me in my day-after-Thanksgiving tradition of watching the documentary special Harvest of Shame (on YouTube via CBS), as it was intended and originally aired 65 years ago.
Without further ado, below are this week’s documentary highlights, including capsule reviews of new nonfiction films and series. They are followed by daily listings for all known notable releases and broadcasts, plus a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including a re-release of a thought-lost film). Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive more in-depth highlights and reviews in the future, and to give me more time to watch more (if not everything) available. If you have a doc in need of coverage or a mention in our listings, you can reach me at christopherbartoncampbell (at) gmail.
Nonfics Pick Of The Week: The Tale Of Silyan (2025)
One of the last big awards contenders to come out this year, The Tale of Silyan is at least among the most beautiful documentaries of 2025. You shouldn’t be surprised, given that it’s the latest film by Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska, whose feature debut, Honeyland, made history with two Oscar nominations in 2020. I like this one even more and hope it can pull a repeat at the Academy Awards next year.
The Tale of Silyan follows a struggling farmer who considers selling his land. Not to spoil the ending, but it’s got a nicely wrapped-up narrative with a circular plot, which is rare for verite works. There’s also a bit where the man finds an injured stork and tries to take care of it, but it’s only a small part of the story despite what the film’s synopsis and marketing would have you believe. Well, it’s a big enough part that it ties into an overarching voiceover element telling the titular Macedonian fable.
There’s something very universal about the protagonist’s struggle, as well as something very timely. And yet the whole time I was watching him, I felt a calming empathy where I wished I had a life so unburdened by the technology, politics, and social concerns of our world. Surely his life wasn’t as easy as I’m implying, but there’s an interesting contrast in the film whenever it shows the man talking to his wife and adult child, who have relocated to the big city. It seems peaceful, if not painless.
The Tale of Silyan opens in theaters on Friday, November 28.
Other Documentary Highlights
All The Empty Rooms (2025) & Other Oscar-Seeking Shorts
While it didn’t win in the shorts category at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, All the Empty Rooms is my pick for the favorite to take home the Oscar next year. That’s not to say it’s my favorite short of the year, but it’s the one I think will win. Directed by Joshua Seftel, who was previously nominated in the category in 2023 with Stranger at the Gate, it’s a film about a collaboration between journalists Steve Hartman and Lou Bopp to document empty rooms of children killed in school shootings. It’s a film where the subjects’ work is more worthy of honoring than the film they’re in, but it’s still the most polished documentary short I’ve seen this year.
Some other substantial shorts in pursuit of Oscar recognition were released last week and deserve the spotlight alongside All the Empty Rooms. They include the much more artsy documentary Voices from the Abyss, which spotlights cliff divers in Acapulco through stunning black and white cinematography. There’s also the very heavy short Seeds from Kivu, about women survivors of gang rape by local militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the much lighter, Critics Choice-nominated film Fiddlers on the Moon: Judaism in Space, which poses the question of whether Judaism will ever exist beyond Earth.
All the Empty Rooms begins streaming on Netflix on Monday, December 1.
Voices from the Abyss and Seeds from Kivu are both currently available to stream on the Watch Documentaries YouTube channel.
Fiddlers on the Moon: Judaism in Space screens at the Firehouse Cinema in New York City on Tuesday, December 2.
Carol & Joy (2025) & Other Criterion Channel Shorts
Keeping the focus on shorts this week, it’s time I acknowledge that The Criterion Channel has suddenly become a major distributor of noteworthy short documentaries. Carol & Joy is the latest to be added to the streaming service, and it goes along with their interest in programming films that will appeal to their cinephile demographic. The women of the title are Oscar-nominated actress Carol Kane and her 98-year-old mother, Joy Kane, who’d been a jazz singer, dancer, and pianist. However, the documentary is really solely focused on the elder as she tells stories of her life. It’s great that it’s actually shot on film, as evident in all the times Joy’s stories go long, and only the sound recording is heard after the screen goes dark.
Other recently added short documentaries worth checking out include We Were the Scenery, which showcases a pair of Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines in the 1970s who wound up being background actors in Apocalypse Now. That one is on the shortlist for the Cinema Eye Honors alongside All the Empty Rooms. Criterion has also exclusively picked up Tiger, a short film about the Indigenous family behind the Tiger t-shirt brand. Those are just a few of the new shorts available to stream, but The Criterion Channel has also been curating many classic and little-known but essential short documentaries in its wider programming highlights.
Carol & Joy begins streaming on The Criterion Channel on Monday, December 1.
We Were the Scenery and Tiger are currently streaming on The Criterion Channel.
Downeast (2012)
A few documentaries by David Redmon, two of them with his wife and regular collaborator, Ashley Sabin, are hitting OVID this week. Among them is Downeast, which we wrote about exactly a decade ago when they were programmed by Doc Alliance. Here’s an excerpt:
“Gouldsboro is a quintessential example of the Downeast region of Maine, the coastal portions of the state’s two easternmost counties. At least its residents would like you to think as much, never passing up an opportunity to explain their personality by way of their geography. It comes up again and again at town meetings in David Redmon and Ashley Sabin’s Downeast, the most cited reason by locals to explain their gruff resistance to the business plans of Italian-Bostonian entrepreneur Antonio Bussone. His struggles to reopen a failed sardine cannery as a lobster processing plant compose the film’s primary narrative thread, but it’s an equally perceptive portrait of the community as a whole, an aging town of working-class Mainers hit hard by the decline of American industry.”
Downeast begins streaming on OVID on Thursday, December 4.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025)
This Critics Choice-nominated music documentary, which is directed by Amy Berg, was a Pick of the Week back in August. Now it’s headed to its streaming home. For the occasion, here’s an excerpt from my review of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley:
“Berg respects the cinematic audience with her pacing and imagery, the latter including animation that permeates the stills and footage to the effect that the film isn’t the usual hodgepodge of aesthetically clashing illustrative elements cut together. There’s a dynamic artfulness rarely seen outside of Brett Morgen’s docs (though certainly not to the kaleidoscopic extreme of Moonage Daydream; I was mostly reminded of Cobain: Montage of Heck). I don’t even find Jeff Buckley’s story that interesting, and I don’t feel the documentary ever gets to who he was as a real person. But his brief life and what he meant especially to a handful of women, including his mother and girlfriends, is presented so well that I was drawn in for every anecdotal bit.”
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley premieres on HBO and begins streaming on HBO Max on Thursday, December 4.
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air In Moscow (2024)
Here’s another of my favorite documentaries of the year and another Critics Choice nominee. For its latest theatrical opening, here’s a bit from my review of My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow:
“Because the director, Julia Loktev, is close to some of the characters and films them with only an iPhone and no additional crew, My Undesirable Friends is more intimate than most observational documentaries of its kind. Yet, it’s still removed enough not to feel overly involved. Loktev makes a point to feel present without interacting much. The women often talk to her directly, but they might as well be talking through her to get to the audience. Loktev has acknowledged that she wanted her lens to be like a stand-in for the viewer, and that is the effect. Enough that maybe the title should be Your Undesirable Friends.”
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow opens theatrically in Los Angeles on Friday, November 28.
The Stringer (2025)
I’ve thought a lot about this documentary since seeing it during Sundance, and all the negative things I wrote at the time are not among my recollections. Instead, it’s the subject matter and intriguing discourse on journalism ethics, as The Stringer is about the iconic Vietnam War photograph of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, a.k.a. “the napalm girl,” and how it may have been credited to the wrong person. But here’s my primary take from my review of The Stringer from January:
“Investigative documentaries can make the mistake of showing too much of the investigators, as is evidenced by The Stringer. The film, directed by Bao Nguyen (The Greatest Night in Pop), follows an incredible story, and the investigation is compelling and fruitful, yet there are a lot of redundant moments where the investigators restate things they’ve already said or unnecessarily seem to be thinking out loud for the sake of stretching the narrative or holding the viewer’s hand. It’s not as if the documentary lacks other layers to its subject to make it interesting enough without those moments.”
The Stringer begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, November 28.
Awards Highlights
Critics Choice Awards Below-The-Line Shortlists
My latest chance to highlight one of my other jobs came last week with the announcement of the first Critics Choice Awards Below-the-Line Shortlists, which sample some of the potential nominees in 11 crafts categories. I wasn’t expecting any of the mentions to be documentaries, but Viridiana Lieberman was recognized on the editing shortlist for her work on Critics Choice Documentary Awards winner The Perfect Neighbor (currently streaming on Netflix). Hopefully, she will go on to the next round, and hopefully, it’s not the only documentary honored (The Tale of Silyan and 2000 Meters to Andriivka are possibilities for Best Foreign Language Film).
Less surprising was the mention of Diane Warren on the Best Song shortlist, but this time she’s being acknowledged for writing a tune for her own documentary. It’s called “Dear Me,” and it can be heard in the feature Diane Warren: Relentless (now streaming on Kanopy), performed by Kesha. I suspect that with major competition coming from Wicked: For Good, KPop Demon Hunters, and Sinners, it doesn’t stand a chance.
Documentary Release Calendar 11/28/25 – 12/4/25
Friday, November 28, 2025
Benita (2025) – A documentary by Alan Berliner (Nobody’s Business) about the late filmmaker Benita Raphan. (In Theaters)
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (2025) – A documentary based on the video art installation of the same name about the Black experience. (In Theaters)
Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman Season 1, Episode 7: “Proof Is in the Po’Boy” – The latest installment of a travel food series following the titular pro wrestler as he attempts to eat every item on restaurant menus. This episode takes him to New Orleans. (USA Network)
Garçonnières (2022) – A documentary feature by Céline Pernet in which she interviews men about their love lives. (OVID)
Happy Pills (2022) – A documentary feature about society’s dependence on pharmaceuticals. (OVID)
Married to El Chapo: Emma Coronel Speaks (2025) – A documentary feature about the wife of the titular Mexican drug lord. (Oxygen)
Murder at the Motel Season 2, Episode 5: “Sportsman’s Lodge” – The latest episode of this true-crime docuseries involves the Florida coast. (A&E)
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow (2024) – A documentary about independent journalism in Russia. Read our review of My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters: Los Angeles)
Obsessed with Light (2023) – A feature documentary about dancer, designer, and lighting technician Loie Fuller. (Film Movement Plus)
The Stringer (2025) – A documentary uncovering the truth about the iconic Vietnam War “napalm girl” photograph. Read our review of The Stringer. *NONFICS PICK* (Netflix)
The Tale of Silyan – A Critics Choice-nominated documentary feature that follows a struggling North Macedonian farmer. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd Season 3, Episode 4: “Astonishing Feats” – The latest installment of a docuseries about mysterious and bizarre people and things. (History)
Vantara: Sanctuary Stories Season 1, Episode 4: “Mind Over Matter” – The latest installment of a six-part docuseries on the world’s largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility, in India. (Animal Planet)
You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine (2025) – A concert film presenting an event honoring the life of the titular singer-songwriter. (In Theaters)
Saturday, November 29, 2025
Accident, Suicide, or Murder Season 6, Episode 2: “Fatal Vows” – The latest episode of this true-crime series involves a woman’s death in Detroit. (Oxygen True Crime)
Army Champions (1941) – An Oscar-nominated Pete Smith Specialty short about young men enlisting in the U.S. Army. (TCM)
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951) – A medium-length documentary presenting footage from new MGM movies of that year. (TCM)
The Power of Film Part 4: “Heroes and Villains” – This episode of the ongoing series focuses on two types of characters, how they’re different and sometimes similar. (TCM)
Seventeen World Tour [New_] in Japan (2025) – A concert film starring the titular K-pop icons. (In Theaters)
Toronto Airport: Uncovered Season 1, Episodes 3 & 4: “The Crash” & “Battling the Storm” – The latest two installments of a docuseries that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Toronto Pearson Airport. (National Geographic)
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Grandpa Called It Art (1944) – A short documentary looking at the difference in taste in art over generations. (TCM)
Killer Grannies Season 1, Episode 4: “Granny’s Under the Bridge” – The latest installment of a true-crime series hosted by June Squibb about elderly woman killers. (Oxygen)
Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins Season 4, Episode 4: “Small Town, Big Lies” – The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about romances gone tragically wrong. This episode involves the killing of a woman in Tennessee. (Oxygen)
Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints, Season 2, Episode 3: “Thomas Becket” – The latest episode of this docuseries, which explores the lives and sacrifices of historical saints, focuses on Saint Thomas of Canterbury. (Fox Nation)
The Sky Divers (1969) – A short documentary on the making of the film The Gypsy Moths. (TCM)
Snapped: Behind Bars Season 3, Episode 4: “Angelina O’Mara” – The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries featuring interviews with murderers who appeared on the show Snapped. (Oxygen)
Unseen Guardians (1939) – A short documentary about workers at the Postal Inspection Department, the Underwriters’ Laboratories, and the Children’s Home Society. (TCM)
Words + Music Season 1, Episode 1: “John Legend” – The first episode of a new music docuseries in which artists perform and discuss their hit songs. (MGM+)
Monday, December 1, 2025
All I Can Say (2009) – A documentary feature about and partly made by Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon. (The Criterion Channel)
All the Empty Rooms (2025) – A Critics Choice-nominated short documentary about journalist Steve Hartman, photographer Lou Bopp, and their project showcasing empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. *Nonfics Pick* (Netflix)
American Sasquatch: Man, Myth or Monster (2025) – A documentary feature exploring the mysteries surrounding Bigfoot. (VOD)
And, Towards Happy Alleys (2023) – A documentary love letter to the cinema and poetry of Iran. (The Criterion Channel)
Carol & Joy (2025) – A short documentary executive-produced by Natalie Portman about actress Carol Kane and her 98-year-old music teacher mother, Joy Kane. *Nonfics Pick* (The Criterion Channel)
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (2017) – A biographical documentary feature about the titular singer and actress. Read our review of Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami. *Nonfics Pick* (The Criterion Channel)
Living Proof (2025) – A documentary about an organization focused on how Black women deal with HIV. (Hulu)
The Merchants of Joy (2025) – A documentary feature following five families selling Christmas trees in New York City. (Prime Video)
Paul Anka: His Way (2025) – A documentary about the titular singer. (HBO Max)
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) – A stand-up comedy concert film starring Richard Pryor. (TCM)
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006) – A documentary feature about the titular musician. (The Criterion Channel)
Song of My City (2025) – An archival short documentary depicting New York City in the 1970s through movie clips. (HBO Max)
The Taste of Mango (2023) – A feature documentary about three generations of women, including the director and her mother and grandmother. (The Criterion Channel)
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
5 Star (2025) – A docuseries following four football recruits in their first year of college. (Paramount+)
Capturing Kennedy (2024) – A documentary feature about John F. Kennedy’s personal photographer, Jacques Lowe. (DVD and VOD)
From Improv to Icon: The Journey of Mike Nichols (2023) – A biographical documentary about the titular film and theater director. (DVD)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the NFC East Episode 1 – The return of a docuseries that goes behind the scenes of NFL teams. (HBO Max)
I Heart Monster Movies (2012) – A documentary feature on what appeals to horror fans about the genre. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo Season 2, Episode 4: “Hidden Giants” – The latest installment of a docuseries exploring hidden worlds. (History)
Northwoods Survival Season 2, Episode 6: “Dog Days of Winter” – The latest installment of a docuseries that follows young Canadian homesteaders living in remote landscapes. (National Geographic)
The Return (2025) – A short documentary about a 12-year-old boy apprehended at the U.S. border and sent back to Guatemala. (OVID)
Richard Pryor… Here and Now (1983) – A stand-up comedy concert film and documentary starring Richard Pryor. (TCM)
Who Hired the Hitman? Season 1, Episode 5: “The Genius and the Mastermind” – The latest installment of a six-part true-crime docuseries about murder-for-hire plots. (Investigation Discovery)
Wild Style (1982) – A hybrid film showcasing hip-hop culture. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
About Face Season 1, Episode 6: “Tumors, Tumors, Everywhere”- The latest episode of a series that follows surgeons specializing in facial reconstruction. (TLC)
Blum – Masters of Their Own Destiny (2024) – A documentary about Emerik Blum and the unique European energy company he founded, Energoinvest. (In Theaters)
Fugitives Caught on Tape Season 2, Episodes 17 & 18 – The latest installments of a docuseries following law enforcement in their pursuit of fugitives. (A&E)
Holding Liat (2025) – A documentary feature about an Israeli-American held hostage in Gaza after October 7. (In Theaters)
Intimidad (2008) – A feature documentary by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon (Girl Model) about a reunited family. (OVID)
Monsta X: Connect X in Cinemas – A concert film starring the titular Korean boy band. (In Theaters)
Peaches Goes Bananas (2024) – A documentary feature following the musician known as Peaches over 17 years. (In Theaters)
When We Were Kings (1996) – An Oscar-winning documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Africa. Read our review of When We Were Kings. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood (2019) – A feature documentary about Hollywood’s portrayal of Asians after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (TCM)
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Downeast (2012) – A documentary feature by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon (Girl Model) about one man’s efforts to bring factory work back to his town in Maine. *NONFICS PICK* (OVID)
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley – A Critics Choice-nominated biographical documentary by Amy Berg (Janis: Little Girl Lost) about the titular musician. Read our review of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley. *NONFICS PICK* (HBO and HBO Max)
Lali: Time to Step Up (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular Argentine singer and actress. (Netflix)
Mardi Gras: Made in China (2005) – A documentary feature by David Redmon (Girl Model) about the origins of Mardi Gras beads. (OVID)
Murdering Love Episodes 1 & 2: “Maj and Åke” & “Johan and Emmelie” – A true-crime docuseries involving romances gone deadly. (Viaplay)
When You’re Strange (2009) – Re-release of a documentary feature by Tom DiCillo about The Doors. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
12/5 – Endless Cookie – An animated documentary feature by Canadian half-brothers, one white and one Indigenous, about their family. (In Theaters)
12/9 – Dawn of the Dogman – A documentary feature about a mythological wolf-like creature that allegedly haunts the forests of Michigan. (VOD)
12/11 – Wizkid: Long Live Lagos – A documentary feature about the titular Nigerian singer/songwriter. (HBO Max)
12/12 – Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes – A previously lost documentary feature about the titular adult film star. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (DVD and VOD)
12/19 – Cover-Up – A documentary feature by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus about reporter Seymour Hersh. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
1/6 – Homegrown – A documentary feature following three Trump supporters as they campaign for his 2020 reelection. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Gathr)
Nonfics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I hope all my American subscribers had a great Thanksgiving holiday last week. I just want to say how thankful I am to all my email subscribers, online readers, and paid supporters, especially in months like this when I’m swamped with my other job, family, and holiday commitments. Also, as we enter the week of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday, I remind you that, like Mariah Carey, all I want for the holidays is you… as in your continued support. Also, join me in my day-after-Thanksgiving tradition of watching the documentary special Harvest of Shame (on YouTube via CBS), as it was intended and originally aired 65 years ago.
Without further ado, below are this week’s documentary highlights, including capsule reviews of new nonfiction films and series. They are followed by daily listings for all known notable releases and broadcasts, plus a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including a re-release of a thought-lost film). Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive more in-depth highlights and reviews in the future, and to give me more time to watch more (if not everything) available. If you have a doc in need of coverage or a mention in our listings, you can reach me at christopherbartoncampbell (at) gmail.
Nonfics Pick Of The Week: The Tale Of Silyan (2025)
One of the last big awards contenders to come out this year, The Tale of Silyan is at least among the most beautiful documentaries of 2025. You shouldn’t be surprised, given that it’s the latest film by Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska, whose feature debut, Honeyland, made history with two Oscar nominations in 2020. I like this one even more and hope it can pull a repeat at the Academy Awards next year.
The Tale of Silyan follows a struggling farmer who considers selling his land. Not to spoil the ending, but it’s got a nicely wrapped-up narrative with a circular plot, which is rare for verite works. There’s also a bit where the man finds an injured stork and tries to take care of it, but it’s only a small part of the story despite what the film’s synopsis and marketing would have you believe. Well, it’s a big enough part that it ties into an overarching voiceover element telling the titular Macedonian fable.
There’s something very universal about the protagonist’s struggle, as well as something very timely. And yet the whole time I was watching him, I felt a calming empathy where I wished I had a life so unburdened by the technology, politics, and social concerns of our world. Surely his life wasn’t as easy as I’m implying, but there’s an interesting contrast in the film whenever it shows the man talking to his wife and adult child, who have relocated to the big city. It seems peaceful, if not painless.
The Tale of Silyan opens in theaters on Friday, November 28.
Other Documentary Highlights
All The Empty Rooms (2025) & Other Oscar-Seeking Shorts
While it didn’t win in the shorts category at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, All the Empty Rooms is my pick for the favorite to take home the Oscar next year. That’s not to say it’s my favorite short of the year, but it’s the one I think will win. Directed by Joshua Seftel, who was previously nominated in the category in 2023 with Stranger at the Gate, it’s a film about a collaboration between journalists Steve Hartman and Lou Bopp to document empty rooms of children killed in school shootings. It’s a film where the subjects’ work is more worthy of honoring than the film they’re in, but it’s still the most polished documentary short I’ve seen this year.
Some other substantial shorts in pursuit of Oscar recognition were released last week and deserve the spotlight alongside All the Empty Rooms. They include the much more artsy documentary Voices from the Abyss, which spotlights cliff divers in Acapulco through stunning black and white cinematography. There’s also the very heavy short Seeds from Kivu, about women survivors of gang rape by local militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the much lighter, Critics Choice-nominated film Fiddlers on the Moon: Judaism in Space, which poses the question of whether Judaism will ever exist beyond Earth.
All the Empty Rooms begins streaming on Netflix on Monday, December 1.
Voices from the Abyss and Seeds from Kivu are both currently available to stream on the Watch Documentaries YouTube channel.
Fiddlers on the Moon: Judaism in Space screens at the Firehouse Cinema in New York City on Tuesday, December 2.
Carol & Joy (2025) & Other Criterion Channel Shorts
Keeping the focus on shorts this week, it’s time I acknowledge that The Criterion Channel has suddenly become a major distributor of noteworthy short documentaries. Carol & Joy is the latest to be added to the streaming service, and it goes along with their interest in programming films that will appeal to their cinephile demographic. The women of the title are Oscar-nominated actress Carol Kane and her 98-year-old mother, Joy Kane, who’d been a jazz singer, dancer, and pianist. However, the documentary is really solely focused on the elder as she tells stories of her life. It’s great that it’s actually shot on film, as evident in all the times Joy’s stories go long, and only the sound recording is heard after the screen goes dark.
Other recently added short documentaries worth checking out include We Were the Scenery, which showcases a pair of Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines in the 1970s who wound up being background actors in Apocalypse Now. That one is on the shortlist for the Cinema Eye Honors alongside All the Empty Rooms. Criterion has also exclusively picked up Tiger, a short film about the Indigenous family behind the Tiger t-shirt brand. Those are just a few of the new shorts available to stream, but The Criterion Channel has also been curating many classic and little-known but essential short documentaries in its wider programming highlights.
Carol & Joy begins streaming on The Criterion Channel on Monday, December 1.
We Were the Scenery and Tiger are currently streaming on The Criterion Channel.
Downeast (2012)
A few documentaries by David Redmon, two of them with his wife and regular collaborator, Ashley Sabin, are hitting OVID this week. Among them is Downeast, which we wrote about exactly a decade ago when they were programmed by Doc Alliance. Here’s an excerpt:
“Gouldsboro is a quintessential example of the Downeast region of Maine, the coastal portions of the state’s two easternmost counties. At least its residents would like you to think as much, never passing up an opportunity to explain their personality by way of their geography. It comes up again and again at town meetings in David Redmon and Ashley Sabin’s Downeast, the most cited reason by locals to explain their gruff resistance to the business plans of Italian-Bostonian entrepreneur Antonio Bussone. His struggles to reopen a failed sardine cannery as a lobster processing plant compose the film’s primary narrative thread, but it’s an equally perceptive portrait of the community as a whole, an aging town of working-class Mainers hit hard by the decline of American industry.”
Downeast begins streaming on OVID on Thursday, December 4.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025)
This Critics Choice-nominated music documentary, which is directed by Amy Berg, was a Pick of the Week back in August. Now it’s headed to its streaming home. For the occasion, here’s an excerpt from my review of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley:
“Berg respects the cinematic audience with her pacing and imagery, the latter including animation that permeates the stills and footage to the effect that the film isn’t the usual hodgepodge of aesthetically clashing illustrative elements cut together. There’s a dynamic artfulness rarely seen outside of Brett Morgen’s docs (though certainly not to the kaleidoscopic extreme of Moonage Daydream; I was mostly reminded of Cobain: Montage of Heck). I don’t even find Jeff Buckley’s story that interesting, and I don’t feel the documentary ever gets to who he was as a real person. But his brief life and what he meant especially to a handful of women, including his mother and girlfriends, is presented so well that I was drawn in for every anecdotal bit.”
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley premieres on HBO and begins streaming on HBO Max on Thursday, December 4.
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air In Moscow (2024)
Here’s another of my favorite documentaries of the year and another Critics Choice nominee. For its latest theatrical opening, here’s a bit from my review of My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow:
“Because the director, Julia Loktev, is close to some of the characters and films them with only an iPhone and no additional crew, My Undesirable Friends is more intimate than most observational documentaries of its kind. Yet, it’s still removed enough not to feel overly involved. Loktev makes a point to feel present without interacting much. The women often talk to her directly, but they might as well be talking through her to get to the audience. Loktev has acknowledged that she wanted her lens to be like a stand-in for the viewer, and that is the effect. Enough that maybe the title should be Your Undesirable Friends.”
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow opens theatrically in Los Angeles on Friday, November 28.
The Stringer (2025)
I’ve thought a lot about this documentary since seeing it during Sundance, and all the negative things I wrote at the time are not among my recollections. Instead, it’s the subject matter and intriguing discourse on journalism ethics, as The Stringer is about the iconic Vietnam War photograph of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, a.k.a. “the napalm girl,” and how it may have been credited to the wrong person. But here’s my primary take from my review of The Stringer from January:
“Investigative documentaries can make the mistake of showing too much of the investigators, as is evidenced by The Stringer. The film, directed by Bao Nguyen (The Greatest Night in Pop), follows an incredible story, and the investigation is compelling and fruitful, yet there are a lot of redundant moments where the investigators restate things they’ve already said or unnecessarily seem to be thinking out loud for the sake of stretching the narrative or holding the viewer’s hand. It’s not as if the documentary lacks other layers to its subject to make it interesting enough without those moments.”
The Stringer begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, November 28.
Awards Highlights
Critics Choice Awards Below-The-Line Shortlists
My latest chance to highlight one of my other jobs came last week with the announcement of the first Critics Choice Awards Below-the-Line Shortlists, which sample some of the potential nominees in 11 crafts categories. I wasn’t expecting any of the mentions to be documentaries, but Viridiana Lieberman was recognized on the editing shortlist for her work on Critics Choice Documentary Awards winner The Perfect Neighbor (currently streaming on Netflix). Hopefully, she will go on to the next round, and hopefully, it’s not the only documentary honored (The Tale of Silyan and 2000 Meters to Andriivka are possibilities for Best Foreign Language Film).
Less surprising was the mention of Diane Warren on the Best Song shortlist, but this time she’s being acknowledged for writing a tune for her own documentary. It’s called “Dear Me,” and it can be heard in the feature Diane Warren: Relentless (now streaming on Kanopy), performed by Kesha. I suspect that with major competition coming from Wicked: For Good, KPop Demon Hunters, and Sinners, it doesn’t stand a chance.
Documentary Release Calendar 11/28/25 – 12/4/25
Friday, November 28, 2025
Benita (2025) – A documentary by Alan Berliner (Nobody’s Business) about the late filmmaker Benita Raphan. (In Theaters)
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (2025) – A documentary based on the video art installation of the same name about the Black experience. (In Theaters)
Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman Season 1, Episode 7: “Proof Is in the Po’Boy” – The latest installment of a travel food series following the titular pro wrestler as he attempts to eat every item on restaurant menus. This episode takes him to New Orleans. (USA Network)
Garçonnières (2022) – A documentary feature by Céline Pernet in which she interviews men about their love lives. (OVID)
Happy Pills (2022) – A documentary feature about society’s dependence on pharmaceuticals. (OVID)
Married to El Chapo: Emma Coronel Speaks (2025) – A documentary feature about the wife of the titular Mexican drug lord. (Oxygen)
Murder at the Motel Season 2, Episode 5: “Sportsman’s Lodge” – The latest episode of this true-crime docuseries involves the Florida coast. (A&E)
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow (2024) – A documentary about independent journalism in Russia. Read our review of My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters: Los Angeles)
Obsessed with Light (2023) – A feature documentary about dancer, designer, and lighting technician Loie Fuller. (Film Movement Plus)
The Stringer (2025) – A documentary uncovering the truth about the iconic Vietnam War “napalm girl” photograph. Read our review of The Stringer. *NONFICS PICK* (Netflix)
The Tale of Silyan – A Critics Choice-nominated documentary feature that follows a struggling North Macedonian farmer. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd Season 3, Episode 4: “Astonishing Feats” – The latest installment of a docuseries about mysterious and bizarre people and things. (History)
Vantara: Sanctuary Stories Season 1, Episode 4: “Mind Over Matter” – The latest installment of a six-part docuseries on the world’s largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility, in India. (Animal Planet)
You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine (2025) – A concert film presenting an event honoring the life of the titular singer-songwriter. (In Theaters)
Saturday, November 29, 2025
Accident, Suicide, or Murder Season 6, Episode 2: “Fatal Vows” – The latest episode of this true-crime series involves a woman’s death in Detroit. (Oxygen True Crime)
Army Champions (1941) – An Oscar-nominated Pete Smith Specialty short about young men enlisting in the U.S. Army. (TCM)
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951) – A medium-length documentary presenting footage from new MGM movies of that year. (TCM)
The Power of Film Part 4: “Heroes and Villains” – This episode of the ongoing series focuses on two types of characters, how they’re different and sometimes similar. (TCM)
Seventeen World Tour [New_] in Japan (2025) – A concert film starring the titular K-pop icons. (In Theaters)
Toronto Airport: Uncovered Season 1, Episodes 3 & 4: “The Crash” & “Battling the Storm” – The latest two installments of a docuseries that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Toronto Pearson Airport. (National Geographic)
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Grandpa Called It Art (1944) – A short documentary looking at the difference in taste in art over generations. (TCM)
Killer Grannies Season 1, Episode 4: “Granny’s Under the Bridge” – The latest installment of a true-crime series hosted by June Squibb about elderly woman killers. (Oxygen)
Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins Season 4, Episode 4: “Small Town, Big Lies” – The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about romances gone tragically wrong. This episode involves the killing of a woman in Tennessee. (Oxygen)
Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints, Season 2, Episode 3: “Thomas Becket” – The latest episode of this docuseries, which explores the lives and sacrifices of historical saints, focuses on Saint Thomas of Canterbury. (Fox Nation)
The Sky Divers (1969) – A short documentary on the making of the film The Gypsy Moths. (TCM)
Snapped: Behind Bars Season 3, Episode 4: “Angelina O’Mara” – The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries featuring interviews with murderers who appeared on the show Snapped. (Oxygen)
Unseen Guardians (1939) – A short documentary about workers at the Postal Inspection Department, the Underwriters’ Laboratories, and the Children’s Home Society. (TCM)
Words + Music Season 1, Episode 1: “John Legend” – The first episode of a new music docuseries in which artists perform and discuss their hit songs. (MGM+)
Monday, December 1, 2025
All I Can Say (2009) – A documentary feature about and partly made by Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon. (The Criterion Channel)
All the Empty Rooms (2025) – A Critics Choice-nominated short documentary about journalist Steve Hartman, photographer Lou Bopp, and their project showcasing empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. *Nonfics Pick* (Netflix)
American Sasquatch: Man, Myth or Monster (2025) – A documentary feature exploring the mysteries surrounding Bigfoot. (VOD)
And, Towards Happy Alleys (2023) – A documentary love letter to the cinema and poetry of Iran. (The Criterion Channel)
Carol & Joy (2025) – A short documentary executive-produced by Natalie Portman about actress Carol Kane and her 98-year-old music teacher mother, Joy Kane. *Nonfics Pick* (The Criterion Channel)
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (2017) – A biographical documentary feature about the titular singer and actress. Read our review of Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami. *Nonfics Pick* (The Criterion Channel)
Living Proof (2025) – A documentary about an organization focused on how Black women deal with HIV. (Hulu)
The Merchants of Joy (2025) – A documentary feature following five families selling Christmas trees in New York City. (Prime Video)
Paul Anka: His Way (2025) – A documentary about the titular singer. (HBO Max)
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) – A stand-up comedy concert film starring Richard Pryor. (TCM)
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006) – A documentary feature about the titular musician. (The Criterion Channel)
Song of My City (2025) – An archival short documentary depicting New York City in the 1970s through movie clips. (HBO Max)
The Taste of Mango (2023) – A feature documentary about three generations of women, including the director and her mother and grandmother. (The Criterion Channel)
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
5 Star (2025) – A docuseries following four football recruits in their first year of college. (Paramount+)
Capturing Kennedy (2024) – A documentary feature about John F. Kennedy’s personal photographer, Jacques Lowe. (DVD and VOD)
From Improv to Icon: The Journey of Mike Nichols (2023) – A biographical documentary about the titular film and theater director. (DVD)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the NFC East Episode 1 – The return of a docuseries that goes behind the scenes of NFL teams. (HBO Max)
I Heart Monster Movies (2012) – A documentary feature on what appeals to horror fans about the genre. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo Season 2, Episode 4: “Hidden Giants” – The latest installment of a docuseries exploring hidden worlds. (History)
Northwoods Survival Season 2, Episode 6: “Dog Days of Winter” – The latest installment of a docuseries that follows young Canadian homesteaders living in remote landscapes. (National Geographic)
The Return (2025) – A short documentary about a 12-year-old boy apprehended at the U.S. border and sent back to Guatemala. (OVID)
Richard Pryor… Here and Now (1983) – A stand-up comedy concert film and documentary starring Richard Pryor. (TCM)
Who Hired the Hitman? Season 1, Episode 5: “The Genius and the Mastermind” – The latest installment of a six-part true-crime docuseries about murder-for-hire plots. (Investigation Discovery)
Wild Style (1982) – A hybrid film showcasing hip-hop culture. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
About Face Season 1, Episode 6: “Tumors, Tumors, Everywhere”- The latest episode of a series that follows surgeons specializing in facial reconstruction. (TLC)
Blum – Masters of Their Own Destiny (2024) – A documentary about Emerik Blum and the unique European energy company he founded, Energoinvest. (In Theaters)
Fugitives Caught on Tape Season 2, Episodes 17 & 18 – The latest installments of a docuseries following law enforcement in their pursuit of fugitives. (A&E)
Holding Liat (2025) – A documentary feature about an Israeli-American held hostage in Gaza after October 7. (In Theaters)
Intimidad (2008) – A feature documentary by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon (Girl Model) about a reunited family. (OVID)
Monsta X: Connect X in Cinemas – A concert film starring the titular Korean boy band. (In Theaters)
Peaches Goes Bananas (2024) – A documentary feature following the musician known as Peaches over 17 years. (In Theaters)
When We Were Kings (1996) – An Oscar-winning documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Africa. Read our review of When We Were Kings. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood (2019) – A feature documentary about Hollywood’s portrayal of Asians after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (TCM)
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Downeast (2012) – A documentary feature by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon (Girl Model) about one man’s efforts to bring factory work back to his town in Maine. *NONFICS PICK* (OVID)
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley – A Critics Choice-nominated biographical documentary by Amy Berg (Janis: Little Girl Lost) about the titular musician. Read our review of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley. *NONFICS PICK* (HBO and HBO Max)
Lali: Time to Step Up (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular Argentine singer and actress. (Netflix)
Mardi Gras: Made in China (2005) – A documentary feature by David Redmon (Girl Model) about the origins of Mardi Gras beads. (OVID)
Murdering Love Episodes 1 & 2: “Maj and Åke” & “Johan and Emmelie” – A true-crime docuseries involving romances gone deadly. (Viaplay)
When You’re Strange (2009) – Re-release of a documentary feature by Tom DiCillo about The Doors. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
12/5 – Endless Cookie – An animated documentary feature by Canadian half-brothers, one white and one Indigenous, about their family. (In Theaters)
12/9 – Dawn of the Dogman – A documentary feature about a mythological wolf-like creature that allegedly haunts the forests of Michigan. (VOD)
12/11 – Wizkid: Long Live Lagos – A documentary feature about the titular Nigerian singer/songwriter. (HBO Max)
12/12 – Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes – A previously lost documentary feature about the titular adult film star. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (DVD and VOD)
12/19 – Cover-Up – A documentary feature by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus about reporter Seymour Hersh. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
1/6 – Homegrown – A documentary feature following three Trump supporters as they campaign for his 2020 reelection. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Gathr)
Nonfics is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I hope all my American subscribers had a great Thanksgiving holiday last week. I just want to say how thankful I am to all my email subscribers, online readers, and paid supporters, especially in months like this when I’m swamped with my other job, family, and holiday commitments. Also, as we enter the week of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday, I remind you that, like Mariah Carey, all I want for the holidays is you… as in your continued support. Also, join me in my day-after-Thanksgiving tradition of watching the documentary special Harvest of Shame (on YouTube via CBS), as it was intended and originally aired 65 years ago.
Without further ado, below are this week’s documentary highlights, including capsule reviews of new nonfiction films and series. They are followed by daily listings for all known notable releases and broadcasts, plus a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including a re-release of a thought-lost film). Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive more in-depth highlights and reviews in the future, and to give me more time to watch more (if not everything) available. If you have a doc in need of coverage or a mention in our listings, you can reach me at christopherbartoncampbell (at) gmail.
Nonfics Pick Of The Week: The Tale Of Silyan (2025)
One of the last big awards contenders to come out this year, The Tale of Silyan is at least among the most beautiful documentaries of 2025. You shouldn’t be surprised, given that it’s the latest film by Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska, whose feature debut, Honeyland, made history with two Oscar nominations in 2020. I like this one even more and hope it can pull a repeat at the Academy Awards next year.
The Tale of Silyan follows a struggling farmer who considers selling his land. Not to spoil the ending, but it’s got a nicely wrapped-up narrative with a circular plot, which is rare for verite works. There’s also a bit where the man finds an injured stork and tries to take care of it, but it’s only a small part of the story despite what the film’s synopsis and marketing would have you believe. Well, it’s a big enough part that it ties into an overarching voiceover element telling the titular Macedonian fable.
There’s something very universal about the protagonist’s struggle, as well as something very timely. And yet the whole time I was watching him, I felt a calming empathy where I wished I had a life so unburdened by the technology, politics, and social concerns of our world. Surely his life wasn’t as easy as I’m implying, but there’s an interesting contrast in the film whenever it shows the man talking to his wife and adult child, who have relocated to the big city. It seems peaceful, if not painless.
The Tale of Silyan opens in theaters on Friday, November 28.
Other Documentary Highlights
All The Empty Rooms (2025) & Other Oscar-Seeking Shorts
While it didn’t win in the shorts category at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, All the Empty Rooms is my pick for the favorite to take home the Oscar next year. That’s not to say it’s my favorite short of the year, but it’s the one I think will win. Directed by Joshua Seftel, who was previously nominated in the category in 2023 with Stranger at the Gate, it’s a film about a collaboration between journalists Steve Hartman and Lou Bopp to document empty rooms of children killed in school shootings. It’s a film where the subjects’ work is more worthy of honoring than the film they’re in, but it’s still the most polished documentary short I’ve seen this year.
Some other substantial shorts in pursuit of Oscar recognition were released last week and deserve the spotlight alongside All the Empty Rooms. They include the much more artsy documentary Voices from the Abyss, which spotlights cliff divers in Acapulco through stunning black and white cinematography. There’s also the very heavy short Seeds from Kivu, about women survivors of gang rape by local militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the much lighter, Critics Choice-nominated film Fiddlers on the Moon: Judaism in Space, which poses the question of whether Judaism will ever exist beyond Earth.
All the Empty Rooms begins streaming on Netflix on Monday, December 1.
Voices from the Abyss and Seeds from Kivu are both currently available to stream on the Watch Documentaries YouTube channel.
Fiddlers on the Moon: Judaism in Space screens at the Firehouse Cinema in New York City on Tuesday, December 2.
Carol & Joy (2025) & Other Criterion Channel Shorts
Keeping the focus on shorts this week, it’s time I acknowledge that The Criterion Channel has suddenly become a major distributor of noteworthy short documentaries. Carol & Joy is the latest to be added to the streaming service, and it goes along with their interest in programming films that will appeal to their cinephile demographic. The women of the title are Oscar-nominated actress Carol Kane and her 98-year-old mother, Joy Kane, who’d been a jazz singer, dancer, and pianist. However, the documentary is really solely focused on the elder as she tells stories of her life. It’s great that it’s actually shot on film, as evident in all the times Joy’s stories go long, and only the sound recording is heard after the screen goes dark.
Other recently added short documentaries worth checking out include We Were the Scenery, which showcases a pair of Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines in the 1970s who wound up being background actors in Apocalypse Now. That one is on the shortlist for the Cinema Eye Honors alongside All the Empty Rooms. Criterion has also exclusively picked up Tiger, a short film about the Indigenous family behind the Tiger t-shirt brand. Those are just a few of the new shorts available to stream, but The Criterion Channel has also been curating many classic and little-known but essential short documentaries in its wider programming highlights.
Carol & Joy begins streaming on The Criterion Channel on Monday, December 1.
We Were the Scenery and Tiger are currently streaming on The Criterion Channel.
Downeast (2012)
A few documentaries by David Redmon, two of them with his wife and regular collaborator, Ashley Sabin, are hitting OVID this week. Among them is Downeast, which we wrote about exactly a decade ago when they were programmed by Doc Alliance. Here’s an excerpt:
“Gouldsboro is a quintessential example of the Downeast region of Maine, the coastal portions of the state’s two easternmost counties. At least its residents would like you to think as much, never passing up an opportunity to explain their personality by way of their geography. It comes up again and again at town meetings in David Redmon and Ashley Sabin’s Downeast, the most cited reason by locals to explain their gruff resistance to the business plans of Italian-Bostonian entrepreneur Antonio Bussone. His struggles to reopen a failed sardine cannery as a lobster processing plant compose the film’s primary narrative thread, but it’s an equally perceptive portrait of the community as a whole, an aging town of working-class Mainers hit hard by the decline of American industry.”
Downeast begins streaming on OVID on Thursday, December 4.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025)
This Critics Choice-nominated music documentary, which is directed by Amy Berg, was a Pick of the Week back in August. Now it’s headed to its streaming home. For the occasion, here’s an excerpt from my review of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley:
“Berg respects the cinematic audience with her pacing and imagery, the latter including animation that permeates the stills and footage to the effect that the film isn’t the usual hodgepodge of aesthetically clashing illustrative elements cut together. There’s a dynamic artfulness rarely seen outside of Brett Morgen’s docs (though certainly not to the kaleidoscopic extreme of Moonage Daydream; I was mostly reminded of Cobain: Montage of Heck). I don’t even find Jeff Buckley’s story that interesting, and I don’t feel the documentary ever gets to who he was as a real person. But his brief life and what he meant especially to a handful of women, including his mother and girlfriends, is presented so well that I was drawn in for every anecdotal bit.”
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley premieres on HBO and begins streaming on HBO Max on Thursday, December 4.
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air In Moscow (2024)
Here’s another of my favorite documentaries of the year and another Critics Choice nominee. For its latest theatrical opening, here’s a bit from my review of My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow:
“Because the director, Julia Loktev, is close to some of the characters and films them with only an iPhone and no additional crew, My Undesirable Friends is more intimate than most observational documentaries of its kind. Yet, it’s still removed enough not to feel overly involved. Loktev makes a point to feel present without interacting much. The women often talk to her directly, but they might as well be talking through her to get to the audience. Loktev has acknowledged that she wanted her lens to be like a stand-in for the viewer, and that is the effect. Enough that maybe the title should be Your Undesirable Friends.”
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow opens theatrically in Los Angeles on Friday, November 28.
The Stringer (2025)
I’ve thought a lot about this documentary since seeing it during Sundance, and all the negative things I wrote at the time are not among my recollections. Instead, it’s the subject matter and intriguing discourse on journalism ethics, as The Stringer is about the iconic Vietnam War photograph of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, a.k.a. “the napalm girl,” and how it may have been credited to the wrong person. But here’s my primary take from my review of The Stringer from January:
“Investigative documentaries can make the mistake of showing too much of the investigators, as is evidenced by The Stringer. The film, directed by Bao Nguyen (The Greatest Night in Pop), follows an incredible story, and the investigation is compelling and fruitful, yet there are a lot of redundant moments where the investigators restate things they’ve already said or unnecessarily seem to be thinking out loud for the sake of stretching the narrative or holding the viewer’s hand. It’s not as if the documentary lacks other layers to its subject to make it interesting enough without those moments.”
The Stringer begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, November 28.
Awards Highlights
Critics Choice Awards Below-The-Line Shortlists
My latest chance to highlight one of my other jobs came last week with the announcement of the first Critics Choice Awards Below-the-Line Shortlists, which sample some of the potential nominees in 11 crafts categories. I wasn’t expecting any of the mentions to be documentaries, but Viridiana Lieberman was recognized on the editing shortlist for her work on Critics Choice Documentary Awards winner The Perfect Neighbor (currently streaming on Netflix). Hopefully, she will go on to the next round, and hopefully, it’s not the only documentary honored (The Tale of Silyan and 2000 Meters to Andriivka are possibilities for Best Foreign Language Film).
Less surprising was the mention of Diane Warren on the Best Song shortlist, but this time she’s being acknowledged for writing a tune for her own documentary. It’s called “Dear Me,” and it can be heard in the feature Diane Warren: Relentless (now streaming on Kanopy), performed by Kesha. I suspect that with major competition coming from Wicked: For Good, KPop Demon Hunters, and Sinners, it doesn’t stand a chance.
Documentary Release Calendar 11/28/25 – 12/4/25
Friday, November 28, 2025
Benita (2025) – A documentary by Alan Berliner (Nobody’s Business) about the late filmmaker Benita Raphan. (In Theaters)
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (2025) – A documentary based on the video art installation of the same name about the Black experience. (In Theaters)
Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman Season 1, Episode 7: “Proof Is in the Po’Boy” – The latest installment of a travel food series following the titular pro wrestler as he attempts to eat every item on restaurant menus. This episode takes him to New Orleans. (USA Network)
Garçonnières (2022) – A documentary feature by Céline Pernet in which she interviews men about their love lives. (OVID)
Happy Pills (2022) – A documentary feature about society’s dependence on pharmaceuticals. (OVID)
Married to El Chapo: Emma Coronel Speaks (2025) – A documentary feature about the wife of the titular Mexican drug lord. (Oxygen)
Murder at the Motel Season 2, Episode 5: “Sportsman’s Lodge” – The latest episode of this true-crime docuseries involves the Florida coast. (A&E)
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow (2024) – A documentary about independent journalism in Russia. Read our review of My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters: Los Angeles)
Obsessed with Light (2023) – A feature documentary about dancer, designer, and lighting technician Loie Fuller. (Film Movement Plus)
The Stringer (2025) – A documentary uncovering the truth about the iconic Vietnam War “napalm girl” photograph. Read our review of The Stringer. *NONFICS PICK* (Netflix)
The Tale of Silyan – A Critics Choice-nominated documentary feature that follows a struggling North Macedonian farmer. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd Season 3, Episode 4: “Astonishing Feats” – The latest installment of a docuseries about mysterious and bizarre people and things. (History)
Vantara: Sanctuary Stories Season 1, Episode 4: “Mind Over Matter” – The latest installment of a six-part docuseries on the world’s largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility, in India. (Animal Planet)
You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine (2025) – A concert film presenting an event honoring the life of the titular singer-songwriter. (In Theaters)
Saturday, November 29, 2025
Accident, Suicide, or Murder Season 6, Episode 2: “Fatal Vows” – The latest episode of this true-crime series involves a woman’s death in Detroit. (Oxygen True Crime)
Army Champions (1941) – An Oscar-nominated Pete Smith Specialty short about young men enlisting in the U.S. Army. (TCM)
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951) – A medium-length documentary presenting footage from new MGM movies of that year. (TCM)
The Power of Film Part 4: “Heroes and Villains” – This episode of the ongoing series focuses on two types of characters, how they’re different and sometimes similar. (TCM)
Seventeen World Tour [New_] in Japan (2025) – A concert film starring the titular K-pop icons. (In Theaters)
Toronto Airport: Uncovered Season 1, Episodes 3 & 4: “The Crash” & “Battling the Storm” – The latest two installments of a docuseries that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Toronto Pearson Airport. (National Geographic)
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Grandpa Called It Art (1944) – A short documentary looking at the difference in taste in art over generations. (TCM)
Killer Grannies Season 1, Episode 4: “Granny’s Under the Bridge” – The latest installment of a true-crime series hosted by June Squibb about elderly woman killers. (Oxygen)
Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins Season 4, Episode 4: “Small Town, Big Lies” – The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about romances gone tragically wrong. This episode involves the killing of a woman in Tennessee. (Oxygen)
Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints, Season 2, Episode 3: “Thomas Becket” – The latest episode of this docuseries, which explores the lives and sacrifices of historical saints, focuses on Saint Thomas of Canterbury. (Fox Nation)
The Sky Divers (1969) – A short documentary on the making of the film The Gypsy Moths. (TCM)
Snapped: Behind Bars Season 3, Episode 4: “Angelina O’Mara” – The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries featuring interviews with murderers who appeared on the show Snapped. (Oxygen)
Unseen Guardians (1939) – A short documentary about workers at the Postal Inspection Department, the Underwriters’ Laboratories, and the Children’s Home Society. (TCM)
Words + Music Season 1, Episode 1: “John Legend” – The first episode of a new music docuseries in which artists perform and discuss their hit songs. (MGM+)
Monday, December 1, 2025
All I Can Say (2009) – A documentary feature about and partly made by Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon. (The Criterion Channel)
All the Empty Rooms (2025) – A Critics Choice-nominated short documentary about journalist Steve Hartman, photographer Lou Bopp, and their project showcasing empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. *Nonfics Pick* (Netflix)
American Sasquatch: Man, Myth or Monster (2025) – A documentary feature exploring the mysteries surrounding Bigfoot. (VOD)
And, Towards Happy Alleys (2023) – A documentary love letter to the cinema and poetry of Iran. (The Criterion Channel)
Carol & Joy (2025) – A short documentary executive-produced by Natalie Portman about actress Carol Kane and her 98-year-old music teacher mother, Joy Kane. *Nonfics Pick* (The Criterion Channel)
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (2017) – A biographical documentary feature about the titular singer and actress. Read our review of Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami. *Nonfics Pick* (The Criterion Channel)
Living Proof (2025) – A documentary about an organization focused on how Black women deal with HIV. (Hulu)
The Merchants of Joy (2025) – A documentary feature following five families selling Christmas trees in New York City. (Prime Video)
Paul Anka: His Way (2025) – A documentary about the titular singer. (HBO Max)
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) – A stand-up comedy concert film starring Richard Pryor. (TCM)
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006) – A documentary feature about the titular musician. (The Criterion Channel)
Song of My City (2025) – An archival short documentary depicting New York City in the 1970s through movie clips. (HBO Max)
The Taste of Mango (2023) – A feature documentary about three generations of women, including the director and her mother and grandmother. (The Criterion Channel)
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
5 Star (2025) – A docuseries following four football recruits in their first year of college. (Paramount+)
Capturing Kennedy (2024) – A documentary feature about John F. Kennedy’s personal photographer, Jacques Lowe. (DVD and VOD)
From Improv to Icon: The Journey of Mike Nichols (2023) – A biographical documentary about the titular film and theater director. (DVD)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the NFC East Episode 1 – The return of a docuseries that goes behind the scenes of NFL teams. (HBO Max)
I Heart Monster Movies (2012) – A documentary feature on what appeals to horror fans about the genre. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo Season 2, Episode 4: “Hidden Giants” – The latest installment of a docuseries exploring hidden worlds. (History)
Northwoods Survival Season 2, Episode 6: “Dog Days of Winter” – The latest installment of a docuseries that follows young Canadian homesteaders living in remote landscapes. (National Geographic)
The Return (2025) – A short documentary about a 12-year-old boy apprehended at the U.S. border and sent back to Guatemala. (OVID)
Richard Pryor… Here and Now (1983) – A stand-up comedy concert film and documentary starring Richard Pryor. (TCM)
Who Hired the Hitman? Season 1, Episode 5: “The Genius and the Mastermind” – The latest installment of a six-part true-crime docuseries about murder-for-hire plots. (Investigation Discovery)
Wild Style (1982) – A hybrid film showcasing hip-hop culture. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
About Face Season 1, Episode 6: “Tumors, Tumors, Everywhere”- The latest episode of a series that follows surgeons specializing in facial reconstruction. (TLC)
Blum – Masters of Their Own Destiny (2024) – A documentary about Emerik Blum and the unique European energy company he founded, Energoinvest. (In Theaters)
Fugitives Caught on Tape Season 2, Episodes 17 & 18 – The latest installments of a docuseries following law enforcement in their pursuit of fugitives. (A&E)
Holding Liat (2025) – A documentary feature about an Israeli-American held hostage in Gaza after October 7. (In Theaters)
Intimidad (2008) – A feature documentary by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon (Girl Model) about a reunited family. (OVID)
Monsta X: Connect X in Cinemas – A concert film starring the titular Korean boy band. (In Theaters)
Peaches Goes Bananas (2024) – A documentary feature following the musician known as Peaches over 17 years. (In Theaters)
When We Were Kings (1996) – An Oscar-winning documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Africa. Read our review of When We Were Kings. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood (2019) – A feature documentary about Hollywood’s portrayal of Asians after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (TCM)
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Downeast (2012) – A documentary feature by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon (Girl Model) about one man’s efforts to bring factory work back to his town in Maine. *NONFICS PICK* (OVID)
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley – A Critics Choice-nominated biographical documentary by Amy Berg (Janis: Little Girl Lost) about the titular musician. Read our review of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley. *NONFICS PICK* (HBO and HBO Max)
Lali: Time to Step Up (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular Argentine singer and actress. (Netflix)
Mardi Gras: Made in China (2005) – A documentary feature by David Redmon (Girl Model) about the origins of Mardi Gras beads. (OVID)
Murdering Love Episodes 1 & 2: “Maj and Åke” & “Johan and Emmelie” – A true-crime docuseries involving romances gone deadly. (Viaplay)
When You’re Strange (2009) – Re-release of a documentary feature by Tom DiCillo about The Doors. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
12/5 – Endless Cookie – An animated documentary feature by Canadian half-brothers, one white and one Indigenous, about their family. (In Theaters)
12/9 – Dawn of the Dogman – A documentary feature about a mythological wolf-like creature that allegedly haunts the forests of Michigan. (VOD)
12/11 – Wizkid: Long Live Lagos – A documentary feature about the titular Nigerian singer/songwriter. (HBO Max)
12/12 – Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes – A previously lost documentary feature about the titular adult film star. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (DVD and VOD)
12/19 – Cover-Up – A documentary feature by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus about reporter Seymour Hersh. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
1/6 – Homegrown – A documentary feature following three Trump supporters as they campaign for his 2020 reelection. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Gathr)
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Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers! This holiday I’m giving away two of my “live” story consulting recordings when you buy my popular filmmaking seminars.
Read about both seminar descriptions below. (But use this PURCHASE LINK to buy.)
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Gift 1: Story Consultation on Story-Driven Documentary
Gift 2: Story Consultation on Essay-Driven Documentary
Finally, here’s what one Emmy-Award-winning director had to say about my seminar Editing the Character-Driven Documentary:
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- Paige Bierma, Emmy-Award Winning Director