Rebecca Miller is premiering “Mr. Scorsese” at the New York Film Festival, a five-hour documentary on Martin Scorsese. I won’t get into every detail of the series, which I’ve seen, but there is a fascinating section where Scorsese finally talks about the tumultuous clash he had with Harvey Weinstein on “Gangs of New York.” There’s an embargo on the film, but I will say that Scorsese is far more open about Weinstein’s interference than he ever has been before.

The general consensus, for decades now, is that Scorsese’s cut of the film was far better than the one released in theaters. It reportedly featured no voiceover narration, and most disappointingly, included an epic 12-minute Tammany Hall sequence that was ultimately chopped up and scattered in pieces throughout the film.

On “Gangs of New York,” Scorsese admits to a creative struggle that still haunts him to this day, particularly when it comes to Weinstein, with whom he had a legendary battle.

“I realized that I couldn’t work if I had to make films that way ever again,” Scorsese told GQ. “If that was the only way that I was able to be allowed to make films, then I’d have to stop. Because the results weren’t satisfying. It was at times extremely difficult, and I wouldn’t survive it. I’d be dead. And so I decided it was over, really.”

“I just said, ‘I’m no longer making films,’” Scorsese added. Yet it was “The Departed” in 2006 that reinforced his frustration, after Warner Bros. tried to turn the film into a “franchise.”

I’ve always admired “Gangs of New York,” but I’ll admit that when I watched it in the fall of 2002, there was a sense that something grander and greater was missing. Daniel Day-Lewis’ towering performance as Bill the Butcher disguised many of the flaws — perhaps his greatest role, aside from Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood” (and maybe “My Left Foot”).

The original cut of “Gangs of New York,” which was screened for a few journalists in late 2001, is said to have run more than three-and-a-half hours. Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere saw it and later recalled:

The work-print version [I saw] is longer by roughly 30 minutes, and more filled out and expressive as a result, but that’s not the thing. The main distinction for me is that it’s plainer and therefore more cinematic, as it doesn’t use the narration track that, in my view, pollutes the official version. It also lacks a musical score, with only some drums and temp music.

Wells was skeptical of Scorsese’s public comments at the time:

I don’t believe Scorsese for a second when he says the theatrical version coming out this Friday is the one that bears his personal stamp of preference. My guess is that Harvey’s mitts are all over this puppy. Scorsese may have his weaknesses or indulgences as a filmmaker, but he’s always let his films play at their own pace and allow them to be true to themselves — their own tempo, themes, moods. He’s used narration before, but never in such a way that the narration wound up feeling like an encumbrance. And he’s never been one to speed his films up when they weren’t working.

It’s been an open secret, for well over 20 years, that Weinstein’s shadow loomed large all over “Gangs of New York,” and true to form, he even bragged about meddling with Scorsese’s vision. Speaking to Vulture, he said:

So Marty presents the final cut of the movie to me as a final-cut director, and it’s three hours and thirty-six minutes. If you thought there was action in ‘Gangs of New York’, the movie, you should have seen that editing room! But we got the movie down to two hours and 36.

Nearly an hour was stripped away. Imagine just how much better the film could have been without the creative interference.

Scorsese has said he has no intention of releasing his original 216-minute cut. I think that would be a mistake. Sure, Scorsese has never been a fan of extended cuts, insisting that the version released is always the final one, but if there were ever an exception to that rule, it should be “Gangs of New York” — a film that will otherwise always have a dark cloud looming over it.u

One of the most significant films touring the documentary festival circuit this fall is by the Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel. Nuestra Tierra (aka Landmarks, although the direct translation is Our Land) is the first feature documentary by Martel, who has achieved international acclaim for her narrative fiction films. Her anti-colonialist drama Zama (2017) won first place in the TIFF Cinematheque poll of “best films of the decade” in 2019, having garnered near universal accolades from critics around the world. With Nuestra Tierra, she continues her scathing analysis of the history of Argentine culture, which includes–as it does in North America–the exploitation of Indigenous peoples.

Nuestra Tierra recounts the legal case surrounding the murder in 2009 of Indigenous leader Javier Chocobar by a white Argentine businessman Darío Amín. An altercation took place when Amín, who was accompanied by two former police officers, Luis Humberto Gómez and Eduardo José del Milagro Valdivieso Sassi, attempted to evict Chocobar and other members of the Chuschagasta community from their land. Claiming ownership of the land, which has minerals, and armed with a pistol, Amín shot and killed Chocobar.

Although the event was tragic, it was fortuitous that the murder was recorded on video and broadcast on YouTube. Even with visual evidence backing up the case, it took nine years of organized protests for the judicial process to occur in 2018. Martel’s film offers highlights of the trial, the controversial footage of Chocobar’s shooting and interviews with many of the Indigenous leader’s family including a plethora of historic photos of his wife and her ancestors. Always a fine visual artist, Martel’s eye doesn’t desert her when showing beautiful shots of the land of the Chuschagasta, which remains with the community despite the efforts of Amín and his cohorts.

While the community eventually wins the case, Martel’s film shows the racism that is still in evidence in Argentina. As one of the characters says, when asked to remember what he learned in school about Argentina, “Few said that it was a country that had been inhabited by Indians, and few said that Indians still inhabit it.”

POV’s print editor Marc Glassman was allowed to submit questions to Ms. Martel via email. She replied after TIFF, where Nuestra Tierra had its North American premiere, but before her film will screen at the New York and Vancouver film festivals. Her answers are thoughtful and revealing.

POV: Marc Glassman

LM: Lucrecia Martel

POV: How did you reorient your cinematic strategies to make a sophisticated documentary instead of a narrative fiction film?

LM: Fiction trains us in the construction of verisimilitude. And that is a flashlight in the complex web of a country’s history. History is an act of will of the generations that benefit from it. It establishes an order that legitimizes the access of some to the possessions of others. History is a very particular case of fiction, the most successful of fictions. A nation is founded on myth, never on facts. I think we call a documentary any attempt to establish an order that explains what has been left out of the origin myth. In fiction, actors die and rise again. In documentary film, death is definitive. Perhaps  that’s what separates fiction from documentary.

POV: You employ home photographs as an important visual motif in Nuestra Tierra. What did you want to evoke with the images?

LM: We used these photographs because when we saw them, we understood things that are difficult to convey in words. The value of the archive in this film is immense for Argentines. The relationship between Indigenous people and the urban periphery is immediately understood by looking at the photos. Internal migration in Argentina is something that isn’t discussed in school because it is the scar of the failure of all political experiments.

POV: The footage of the shooting is upsetting but ambiguous. Why did you show it many times? Did it truly help the trial?

LM: The images are as violent as the words spoken there. The history of a neighbourhood leaves traces in the language. I’m not talking about subtleties. On the day of the crime, we know that a high-ranking police officer showed up to take the camera. The Tucumán police chief was a relative of Luis Humberto Gómez. This indicates that they feared what they had recorded and preferred to make it disappear. But the community members didn’t hand over the camera until it was registered as evidence by another police officer, and that prevented it from disappearing. In the statements of the attackers and their witnesses, the violence was very clear. Eloquent in their bad faith. But what would have happened if that video didn’t exist? It was the word of one against the other. And the word of people whom history considers extinct has no value.

Lucrecia Martel | Courtesy of VIFF

POV: How difficult was it to gain the trust of members of the Chuschgasta community?

LM: It wasn’t easy. We’re so caught up in misunderstandings, mistrust, and centuries-old disappointments. I think when I presented the film, something happened among all of us. Perhaps cinema has been far removed from Argentine rural issues. Argentine cinema is very urban.

POV: How does the filming of this court case further your powerful critique of Argentine society?

LM: I wish I didn’t have to give this explanation and that the film was enough. Perhaps it would be good to clarify that I’m not criticizing Argentine society. Films are opportunities to start conversations. I present image and sound shows to my fellow countrymen, to see if, together, we can invent something that makes us happier. Because if happiness is what we know… it’s not enough. It’s a minuscule happiness. There are people who hate talking about happiness as if it were the family basket, an index, something concrete. For the body, it’s crystal clear. I have a good approximation: walking without fear. If we could all walk without fear, the happiness I’m referring to would be happening.

POV: How did you achieve the extraordinary evocations of Indigenous land in the film?

LM: I think the secret lies in the way the Chuschagasta speak. The forms of speech in the hills. It seems to me that the tones of the Chuschagastas’’ voices relate to the space in a way that perhaps will be understood in the future as a document of possession.

POV: What were the storytelling limitations in making a documentary instead of a fiction film?

LM: The spectacle of sound and image is a land without limits. Isn’t it incredible to be able to say that about something on this planet? It has to be said because there are many young people who want to study law, and we need more storytellers. I think fiction is something we think we invented, and documentary is something we think happened. In both cases, we are talking about believers. But in fiction, death is a farce.

POV: Do you feel that making the film unsentimental helped to make the Indigenous cause more compelling?

LM: We sought a way to convey to the viewer in a short period of time feelings, thoughts, that took us years to understand. We discovered the Ascending Spiral [a great visual motif] while editing the film with Jerónimo Pérez Rioja in Salta. That’s what we call those moments when we understand something we’d seen and heard a thousand times, and suddenly it reveals its power. I hope I never forget those moments. Justice isn’t necessary if we listen carefully; it’s a great discovery I want to delve deeper into. I’m not talking about who’s telling the truth or who’s lying but, [I’m talking] about distinguishing what a better future holds. I had discarded most of the material that makes up this film until I was able to see it, thanks to my colleagues. That’s why we have to do things with other humans. A community is what we need; the worst in an individual can be diluted, and the best can be enhanced.

Nuestra Tierra screened at TIFF and plays at NYFF and VIFF.

Get more of POV‘s TIFF 2025 coverage here.

The post Lucrecia Martel on Nuestra Tierra and “Definitive” Death in Documentary appeared first on POV Magazine.

Raoul Peck’s Orwell: 2+2=5 looks at the writer who gave us a modern dystopian classic — and doubles as a portrait of how authoritarianism works that feels way too familiar

Raoul Peck’s Orwell: 2+2=5 looks at the writer who gave us a modern dystopian classic — and doubles as a portrait of how authoritarianism works that feels way too familiar

This week’s new releases include two documentaries that quote from 1984 and feature scenes from film adaptations of Fahrenheit 451. If that seems like a coincidence, you aren’t paying attention to what sort of world we’re living in right now. In which case, you should probably watch them both. Another new film highlights a response to the Videla years in Argentina, continuing the theme of authoritarianism. Two other new features deal with the ongoing topic of Israel, including a film that won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

As for older titles, I was hoping to highlight Barbara Kopple’s American Dream for its 35th anniversary this week (the documentary premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 6, 1990), but I can’t recommend something that you have no way of seeing. This brilliant film is rarely available in any form. It’s out of print on DVD and can’t be rented digitally or streamed online, which baffles me since it earned Kopple her second Oscar and should be considered just as much a classic as her earlier documentary about striking workers, Harlan County U.S.A. (currently available to stream on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel). Is Hormel Foods suppressing it??

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 notable releases and a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including yet another new film by Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin). 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 Alabama Solution (2025)

Last week, the FCC approved cell phone jamming in state and local prisons, and that makes The Alabama Solution an especially timely release this weekend. The documentary, directed by Andrew Jarecki (The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst) and Charlotte Kaufman (producer of The Jinx, making her feature directorial debut), exposes brutal conditions within Alabama’s prison system. Much of the footage on display in the film was shot by inmates using contraband cell phones, showing what officials don’t want the public to see.

Could that be the real reason for the push to jam cellular signals in these spaces? I don’t deny the issues that phones can cause, but everyone needs to watch this documentary to understand the issues that such jamming will allow by keeping the problems in the dark. These issues include beatings and killings of inmates by guards (there’s a very disturbing image of a corpse that must be seen, and it may call to mind the famous publication of the Emmett Till photos in Jet), overcrowding, and rat infestations.

While so many recent documentaries have been profiling great journalists and the importance of their work, The Alabama Solution is one of the few that serves as great reporting itself. The film covers several years yet feels current and urgent. Part of it involves a murder mystery that plays out with unfolding twists (one that’s tragically shocking), rivaling any fictional thriller. Interestingly enough, the project began as one thing (it was supposed to be a documentary about a religious revival and cookout at one prison) and led to something much bigger, a la Jarecki’s groundbreaking 2003 debut, Capturing the Friedmans (now streaming on HBO Max).

It also reminded me that Andrew’s brother, Eugene Jarecki, made an essential documentary about the war on drugs being profitable for the prison-industrial complex titled The House I Live In, which unfortunately isn’t available to stream anywhere. The Alabama Solution also touches on the forced labor of inmates, which recalls issues laid out in Ava DuVernay’s 13th and Sam Pollard’s Slavery By Another Name. Of course, it’ll also remind viewers of stories about other prisons, such as Attica and Angola, which have received their own documentaries, and how all of these issues have been going on for a long time.

But The Alabama Solution stands out for its filmmaking and how it presents its evidence, and I wish we still lived in a time when documentaries this powerful could make a difference. This should be a modern-day Titicut Follies and upend the system it reveals as such a disgrace, but I know it won’t change the world. There’s too much at stake politically and financially for those in charge, and now they’ll get away with it even more easily thanks to the FCC’s decision.

The Alabama Solution opens in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles on Friday, October 3, and begins streaming on HBO Max on Friday, October 10.

Other Documentary Highlights

Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5

American Masters (1985-Present)

With the looming demise of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had its federal funding cut this past summer, I wonder about the future of American Masters, a PBS series that celebrates its 40th anniversary this week (it was showcased at the New York Film Festival on October 7, 1985, before debuting with a special later in the month, though its first season officially began in 1986). The anthology program was created by Susan Lacy (now at HBO, with her latest directorial effort being Billy Joel: And So It Goes) as a showcase of biographical documentaries about artists. It’s thanks to the films broadcast on PBS via American Masters over the decades that I’ve never been against the rising trend of celebrity docs. Many of them are very good!

American Masters episodes are typically (if not always?) documentaries produced for the series. Some, like the upcoming installment on actress Marlee Matlin (Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore), can also be theatrically released by other partners in their creation and distribution. Some of its most notable titles include Kevin Brownlow’s Unknown Chaplin and Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (neither available to stream today), Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (available to rent digitally), Peter Askin’s Trumbo (Tubi, Pluto TV, and Prime Video), the Oscar-nominated features The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (on Kanopy, Tubi, and Pluto TV), Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter’s Journey (not currently available), and Dancemaker (also unavailable), and the Oscar-winning film The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table (also unavailable).

The Librarians (2025) & Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 (2025)

These are the two documentaries that quote 1984 and include scenes from Fahrenheit 451 (each going with a different adaptation). The thing is, we don’t need either of them to go there to make points about today. We have the books. We have today. We’ve seen relevance in both of them around the world for as long as they’ve been around. Also, book banning in schools isn’t quite the same thing as what Orwell and Bradbury were writing about. Sure, it’s a step in that direction, but as usual, exaggerating a point in a nonfiction work does more harm than good. Anyway, The Librarians isn’t so much a film about the issue as it is a spotlight on the titular professionals risking their jobs to fight against it. I wish, then, that it were more memorable as a character-driven piece.

As for Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5, Raoul Peck’s latest takes the approach of a biography on George Orwell that relates his writings to what’s going on in the world now, 75 years since the author’s death. I think he’s rolling in his grave again (see the 2003 film Orwell Rolls in His Grave, which is heavily sampled in this one). I liken this documentary to a simple school project where Peck has made a collage of cut-outs from all the things he could find to illustrate Orwell’s work, including clips of various adaptations, footage of world events, and excerpts from other, better docs and movies. There isn’t a lot of context for all those bits, and I feel that if you are familiar with any of them, you’re already paying enough attention to get the point of the documentary five seconds in (or before even starting it). I do like Damian Lewis’s voiceover readings of Orwell’s personal writings and other biographical material, but the rest of the film is so obvious that it becomes an overstatement.

The Librarians and Orwell 2 + 2 = 5 both open in theaters on Friday, October 3.

Trains (2024)

I haven’t seen and probably won’t see a better-looking documentary than Trains this year, which is wild since it consists entirely of archival footage from the first half of the 20th century. For anyone who loves watching old actuality films, particularly those involving locomotives, it’s a must. I don’t get any significant point being made by the compilation, but it sure is an eye-catching and enjoyable watch.

Trains opens in theaters on Friday, October 3.

Viktor (2024)

One of this year’s best-looking documentaries with newly shot footage is Viktor, a black-and-white feature about a deaf Ukrainian man who wishes to fight in the war against Russia. It can seem a bit stagy in terms of its scenes and shots, but I don’t think the filmmakers are going for a total verité approach, even if it plays that way. They also did a lot with artificial and stylistic sound design, employing Nicolas Becker, who won an Oscar for his similar work on the drama Sound of Metal, and Foley artist Heikki Kossi, also from that film. As tragic as the war is, I have to admit that it’s given way to some of the most varied creative documentary perspectives ever produced on any event in history, and Viktor is a phenomenal addition to the mix.

Viktor opens in theaters on Friday, October 3.

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Documentary Release Calendar 10/3/25 – 10/9/25

Trains

Friday, October 3, 2025

The Alabama Solution (2025) – A documentary feature by Andrew Jarecki (The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst) and Charlotte Kaufman investigating a cover-up in an Alabama prison. (In Theaters)

Are We Good? (2025) – A documentary feature about Marc Maron as he mourns his partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton. (In Theaters)

Faceoff: Inside the NHL Season 2 – The return of a docuseries following professional ice hockey players. (Prime Video)

Harnessed Rhythm (1936) – A short documentary by Jacques Tourneur following the life of a racehorse. (TCM)

In Waves and War (2024) – A documentary feature about U.S. Navy SEALs with PTSD. (In Theaters)

The Librarians (2025) – A documentary feature about librarians fighting against book banning. (In Theaters)

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951) – A medium-length documentary presenting footage from new MGM movies of that year. (TCM)

More Dangerous Than Dynamite (1941) – A short film about preventive fire safety in homes. (TCM)

Norita (2024) – A documentary feature about Nora Cortinas, who led protests in Buenos Aires as one of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. (In Theaters)

Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 (2025) – A documentary feature by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) about George Orwell and his work. (In Theaters)

Realm of Satan (2024) – A documentary feature about the Church of Satan. (Mubi)

The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue (2025) – A documentary feature about a retired Israeli general who saved his family from Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks. (In Theaters)

Soul of a Nation (2025) – A documentary about current Israeli politics. (In Theaters)

Spooktacular! (2023) – A documentary feature about the haunted attraction Spooky World. (VOD)

Trains (2024) – An archival documentary consisting of old film clips from the early 20th century of trains and train stations. (In Theaters)

Viktor (2024) – A documentary feature about the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of a deaf person wishing to fight. (In Theaters)

Saturday, October 4, 2025

Austin City Limits Season 51, Episode 1: “Finneas” – The return of a long-running music docuseries begins with an installment starring the singer-songwriter Finneas. (PBS)

The Columbia Coast (2025) – A travel series focused on the area where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean at the border of Oregon and Washington. (FYI)

Lucky Dog: Down Under Season 1, Episode 1: “Gibbs & Donia” – A docuseries in the Lucky Dog franchise starring animal trainer Brandon McMillan as he works in Australia. (CBS)

Lucky Dog: Reunions Season 3, Episode 1: “Nikki Reunion” – The return of a docuseries starring animal trainer Brandon McMillan as he revisits past clients. (CBS)

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild Season 3, Episode 1: “Panda-monium!” – The return of a nature series focused on wildlife conservation. This installment involves great pandas and red pandas. (NBC)

Sunday, October 5, 2025

New Orleans: Soul of a City (2025) – A four-part docuseries about the titular Louisiana city. (CNN)

Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread (2025) – A six-part culinary travelogue series following the titular actor sampling food around the world with a focus on bread. (CNN)

Trade Secret (2025) – A documentary feature about three activists on a mission to protect polar bears. (In Theaters)

Monday, October 6, 2025

After Action Season 3 – The return of a docuseries spotlighting U.S. military veterans. (PBS)

Ancient Aliens: Origins Season 2 – The return of a docuseries in the Ancient Aliens franchise that looks back at the original series’ greatest mysteries. (History)

Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp & The Biotech Revolution (2024) – A biographical documentary about the titular geneticist and molecular biologist. Presented as an episode of Independent Lens. (PBS)

A Rising Tide (2023) – A documentary feature about unhoused women and children of color in Alameda County, California. (OVID)

War for the Woods (2023) – A medium-length documentary about the protection of forests on Vancouver Island. (OVID)

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Broken Mary: The Kevin Matthews Story (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular radio legend. (In Theaters)

Citizen George (2024) – A documentary feature about a Quaker activist. (OVID)

Floral Japan (1937) – A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores the gardens and cherry blossoms of Japan. (TCM)

Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert (2025) – A concert film starring the titular film composer. (DVD)

Louisiana Story (1948) – A docufiction feature directed by Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North) about a Cajun boy, his pet raccoon, and oil drilling in the Bayou. (TCM)

A Love Letter To The Beatles (2025) – A documentary feature about fans of The Beatles. (Blu-ray)

Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape from Now (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular heavy metal icon as he deals with health issues. (Paramount+)

Pistachio Wars (2024) – An investigative documentary about a farming empire in California. (VOD)

Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story (2020) – A medium-length documentary about the titular Christian anarchist. (DVD)

Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet (2025) – A documentary about the titular actress. (DVD)

Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 4 – The fourth installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (National Geographic)

True Haunting (2025) – A docuseries from horror filmmaker James Wan about real supernatural stories. (Netflix)

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Fugitives Caught on Tape Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2 – The return of a docuseries following law enforcement in their pursuit of fugitives. (A&E)

Ice Road Truckers Season 12, Episode 2: “The Bet” – The latest installment of this nonfiction series about the job of driving trucks on frozen lakes. (History)

Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 4 – The fourth installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (Hulu and Disney+)

Water for Life (2023) – A feature documentary narrated by Diego Luna about three Latin American Indigenous leaders who fought to save water sources from political and corporate interests. Read our review of Water is Life. (OVID)

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Crime Scene Sweden Season 12 – The return of a true-crime docuseries focused on murder cases in Sweden. (Viaplay)

Dance Me to the End of Time (2021) – A documentary feature by Melanie Chait about the last years in the life of her partner, who died of breast cancer. (OVID)

Saquon (2025) – A documentary about NFL running back Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles. (Prime Video)

Victoria Beckham (2025) – A docuseries about the former member of the Spice Girls turned fashion designer. (Netflix)

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Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon

10/10 – John Candy: I Like Me – A biographical documentary about the titular actor. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Prime Video)

10/17 – River of Grass – A documentary feature about Florida’s Everglades. (In Theaters)

10/21 – Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud – A short documentary about the titular journalist. (HBO)

10/22 – Mistress Dispeller – A documentary about a woman who hired someone to stop her husband from cheating. (In Theaters)

10/29 – Coexistence, My Ass! – A Sundance award-winning documentary about comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi and her one-woman show about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (In Theaters)

10/31 – The White House Effect – A documentary feature by Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, and Jon Shenk about the U.S. government’s failure with climate change. (Netflix)

11/6 – Love+War – A documentary feature by Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) about Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario as she covers the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (National Geographic)

This week’s new releases include two documentaries that quote from 1984 and feature scenes from film adaptations of Fahrenheit 451. If that seems like a coincidence, you aren’t paying attention to what sort of world we’re living in right now. In which case, you should probably watch them both. Another new film highlights a response to the Videla years in Argentina, continuing the theme of authoritarianism. Two other new features deal with the ongoing topic of Israel, including a film that won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

As for older titles, I was hoping to highlight Barbara Kopple’s American Dream for its 35th anniversary this week (the documentary premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 6, 1990), but I can’t recommend something that you have no way of seeing. This brilliant film is rarely available in any form. It’s out of print on DVD and can’t be rented digitally or streamed online, which baffles me since it earned Kopple her second Oscar and should be considered just as much a classic as her earlier documentary about striking workers, Harlan County U.S.A. (currently available to stream on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel). Is Hormel Foods suppressing it??

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 notable releases and a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including yet another new film by Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin). 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 Alabama Solution (2025)

Last week, the FCC approved cell phone jamming in state and local prisons, and that makes The Alabama Solution an especially timely release this weekend. The documentary, directed by Andrew Jarecki (The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst) and Charlotte Kaufman (producer of The Jinx, making her feature directorial debut), exposes brutal conditions within Alabama’s prison system. Much of the footage on display in the film was shot by inmates using contraband cell phones, showing what officials don’t want the public to see.

Could that be the real reason for the push to jam cellular signals in these spaces? I don’t deny the issues that phones can cause, but everyone needs to watch this documentary to understand the issues that such jamming will allow by keeping the problems in the dark. These issues include beatings and killings of inmates by guards (there’s a very disturbing image of a corpse that must be seen, and it may call to mind the famous publication of the Emmett Till photos in Jet), overcrowding, and rat infestations.

While so many recent documentaries have been profiling great journalists and the importance of their work, The Alabama Solution is one of the few that serves as great reporting itself. The film covers several years yet feels current and urgent. Part of it involves a murder mystery that plays out with unfolding twists (one that’s tragically shocking), rivaling any fictional thriller. Interestingly enough, the project began as one thing (it was supposed to be a documentary about a religious revival and cookout at one prison) and led to something much bigger, a la Jarecki’s groundbreaking 2003 debut, Capturing the Friedmans (now streaming on HBO Max).

It also reminded me that Andrew’s brother, Eugene Jarecki, made an essential documentary about the war on drugs being profitable for the prison-industrial complex titled The House I Live In, which unfortunately isn’t available to stream anywhere. The Alabama Solution also touches on the forced labor of inmates, which recalls issues laid out in Ava DuVernay’s 13th and Sam Pollard’s Slavery By Another Name. Of course, it’ll also remind viewers of stories about other prisons, such as Attica and Angola, which have received their own documentaries, and how all of these issues have been going on for a long time.

But The Alabama Solution stands out for its filmmaking and how it presents its evidence, and I wish we still lived in a time when documentaries this powerful could make a difference. This should be a modern-day Titicut Follies and upend the system it reveals as such a disgrace, but I know it won’t change the world. There’s too much at stake politically and financially for those in charge, and now they’ll get away with it even more easily thanks to the FCC’s decision.

The Alabama Solution opens in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles on Friday, October 3, and begins streaming on HBO Max on Friday, October 10.

Other Documentary Highlights

Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5

American Masters (1985-Present)

With the looming demise of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had its federal funding cut this past summer, I wonder about the future of American Masters, a PBS series that celebrates its 40th anniversary this week (it was showcased at the New York Film Festival on October 7, 1985, before debuting with a special later in the month, though its first season officially began in 1986). The anthology program was created by Susan Lacy (now at HBO, with her latest directorial effort being Billy Joel: And So It Goes) as a showcase of biographical documentaries about artists. It’s thanks to the films broadcast on PBS via American Masters over the decades that I’ve never been against the rising trend of celebrity docs. Many of them are very good!

American Masters episodes are typically (if not always?) documentaries produced for the series. Some, like the upcoming installment on actress Marlee Matlin (Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore), can also be theatrically released by other partners in their creation and distribution. Some of its most notable titles include Kevin Brownlow’s Unknown Chaplin and Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (neither available to stream today), Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (available to rent digitally), Peter Askin’s Trumbo (Tubi, Pluto TV, and Prime Video), the Oscar-nominated features The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (on Kanopy, Tubi, and Pluto TV), Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter’s Journey (not currently available), and Dancemaker (also unavailable), and the Oscar-winning film The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table (also unavailable).

The Librarians (2025) & Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 (2025)

These are the two documentaries that quote 1984 and include scenes from Fahrenheit 451 (each going with a different adaptation). The thing is, we don’t need either of them to go there to make points about today. We have the books. We have today. We’ve seen relevance in both of them around the world for as long as they’ve been around. Also, book banning in schools isn’t quite the same thing as what Orwell and Bradbury were writing about. Sure, it’s a step in that direction, but as usual, exaggerating a point in a nonfiction work does more harm than good. Anyway, The Librarians isn’t so much a film about the issue as it is a spotlight on the titular professionals risking their jobs to fight against it. I wish, then, that it were more memorable as a character-driven piece.

As for Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5, Raoul Peck’s latest takes the approach of a biography on George Orwell that relates his writings to what’s going on in the world now, 75 years since the author’s death. I think he’s rolling in his grave again (see the 2003 film Orwell Rolls in His Grave, which is heavily sampled in this one). I liken this documentary to a simple school project where Peck has made a collage of cut-outs from all the things he could find to illustrate Orwell’s work, including clips of various adaptations, footage of world events, and excerpts from other, better docs and movies. There isn’t a lot of context for all those bits, and I feel that if you are familiar with any of them, you’re already paying enough attention to get the point of the documentary five seconds in (or before even starting it). I do like Damian Lewis’s voiceover readings of Orwell’s personal writings and other biographical material, but the rest of the film is so obvious that it becomes an overstatement.

The Librarians and Orwell 2 + 2 = 5 both open in theaters on Friday, October 3.

Trains (2024)

I haven’t seen and probably won’t see a better-looking documentary than Trains this year, which is wild since it consists entirely of archival footage from the first half of the 20th century. For anyone who loves watching old actuality films, particularly those involving locomotives, it’s a must. I don’t get any significant point being made by the compilation, but it sure is an eye-catching and enjoyable watch.

Trains opens in theaters on Friday, October 3.

Viktor (2024)

One of this year’s best-looking documentaries with newly shot footage is Viktor, a black-and-white feature about a deaf Ukrainian man who wishes to fight in the war against Russia. It can seem a bit stagy in terms of its scenes and shots, but I don’t think the filmmakers are going for a total verité approach, even if it plays that way. They also did a lot with artificial and stylistic sound design, employing Nicolas Becker, who won an Oscar for his similar work on the drama Sound of Metal, and Foley artist Heikki Kossi, also from that film. As tragic as the war is, I have to admit that it’s given way to some of the most varied creative documentary perspectives ever produced on any event in history, and Viktor is a phenomenal addition to the mix.

Viktor opens in theaters on Friday, October 3.

Subscribe now

Documentary Release Calendar 10/3/25 – 10/9/25

Trains

Friday, October 3, 2025

The Alabama Solution (2025) – A documentary feature by Andrew Jarecki (The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst) and Charlotte Kaufman investigating a cover-up in an Alabama prison. (In Theaters)

Are We Good? (2025) – A documentary feature about Marc Maron as he mourns his partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton. (In Theaters)

Faceoff: Inside the NHL Season 2 – The return of a docuseries following professional ice hockey players. (Prime Video)

Harnessed Rhythm (1936) – A short documentary by Jacques Tourneur following the life of a racehorse. (TCM)

In Waves and War (2024) – A documentary feature about U.S. Navy SEALs with PTSD. (In Theaters)

The Librarians (2025) – A documentary feature about librarians fighting against book banning. (In Theaters)

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951) – A medium-length documentary presenting footage from new MGM movies of that year. (TCM)

More Dangerous Than Dynamite (1941) – A short film about preventive fire safety in homes. (TCM)

Norita (2024) – A documentary feature about Nora Cortinas, who led protests in Buenos Aires as one of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. (In Theaters)

Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 (2025) – A documentary feature by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) about George Orwell and his work. (In Theaters)

Realm of Satan (2024) – A documentary feature about the Church of Satan. (Mubi)

The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue (2025) – A documentary feature about a retired Israeli general who saved his family from Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks. (In Theaters)

Soul of a Nation (2025) – A documentary about current Israeli politics. (In Theaters)

Spooktacular! (2023) – A documentary feature about the haunted attraction Spooky World. (VOD)

Trains (2024) – An archival documentary consisting of old film clips from the early 20th century of trains and train stations. (In Theaters)

Viktor (2024) – A documentary feature about the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of a deaf person wishing to fight. (In Theaters)

Saturday, October 4, 2025

Austin City Limits Season 51, Episode 1: “Finneas” – The return of a long-running music docuseries begins with an installment starring the singer-songwriter Finneas. (PBS)

The Columbia Coast (2025) – A travel series focused on the area where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean at the border of Oregon and Washington. (FYI)

Lucky Dog: Down Under Season 1, Episode 1: “Gibbs & Donia” – A docuseries in the Lucky Dog franchise starring animal trainer Brandon McMillan as he works in Australia. (CBS)

Lucky Dog: Reunions Season 3, Episode 1: “Nikki Reunion” – The return of a docuseries starring animal trainer Brandon McMillan as he revisits past clients. (CBS)

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild Season 3, Episode 1: “Panda-monium!” – The return of a nature series focused on wildlife conservation. This installment involves great pandas and red pandas. (NBC)

Sunday, October 5, 2025

New Orleans: Soul of a City (2025) – A four-part docuseries about the titular Louisiana city. (CNN)

Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread (2025) – A six-part culinary travelogue series following the titular actor sampling food around the world with a focus on bread. (CNN)

Trade Secret (2025) – A documentary feature about three activists on a mission to protect polar bears. (In Theaters)

Monday, October 6, 2025

After Action Season 3 – The return of a docuseries spotlighting U.S. military veterans. (PBS)

Ancient Aliens: Origins Season 2 – The return of a docuseries in the Ancient Aliens franchise that looks back at the original series’ greatest mysteries. (History)

Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp & The Biotech Revolution (2024) – A biographical documentary about the titular geneticist and molecular biologist. Presented as an episode of Independent Lens. (PBS)

A Rising Tide (2023) – A documentary feature about unhoused women and children of color in Alameda County, California. (OVID)

War for the Woods (2023) – A medium-length documentary about the protection of forests on Vancouver Island. (OVID)

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Broken Mary: The Kevin Matthews Story (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular radio legend. (In Theaters)

Citizen George (2024) – A documentary feature about a Quaker activist. (OVID)

Floral Japan (1937) – A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores the gardens and cherry blossoms of Japan. (TCM)

Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert (2025) – A concert film starring the titular film composer. (DVD)

Louisiana Story (1948) – A docufiction feature directed by Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North) about a Cajun boy, his pet raccoon, and oil drilling in the Bayou. (TCM)

A Love Letter To The Beatles (2025) – A documentary feature about fans of The Beatles. (Blu-ray)

Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape from Now (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular heavy metal icon as he deals with health issues. (Paramount+)

Pistachio Wars (2024) – An investigative documentary about a farming empire in California. (VOD)

Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story (2020) – A medium-length documentary about the titular Christian anarchist. (DVD)

Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet (2025) – A documentary about the titular actress. (DVD)

Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 4 – The fourth installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (National Geographic)

True Haunting (2025) – A docuseries from horror filmmaker James Wan about real supernatural stories. (Netflix)

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Fugitives Caught on Tape Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2 – The return of a docuseries following law enforcement in their pursuit of fugitives. (A&E)

Ice Road Truckers Season 12, Episode 2: “The Bet” – The latest installment of this nonfiction series about the job of driving trucks on frozen lakes. (History)

Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 4 – The fourth installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (Hulu and Disney+)

Water for Life (2023) – A feature documentary narrated by Diego Luna about three Latin American Indigenous leaders who fought to save water sources from political and corporate interests. Read our review of Water is Life. (OVID)

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Crime Scene Sweden Season 12 – The return of a true-crime docuseries focused on murder cases in Sweden. (Viaplay)

Dance Me to the End of Time (2021) – A documentary feature by Melanie Chait about the last years in the life of her partner, who died of breast cancer. (OVID)

Saquon (2025) – A documentary about NFL running back Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles. (Prime Video)

Victoria Beckham (2025) – A docuseries about the former member of the Spice Girls turned fashion designer. (Netflix)

Share Nonfics

Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon

10/10 – John Candy: I Like Me – A biographical documentary about the titular actor. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Prime Video)

10/17 – River of Grass – A documentary feature about Florida’s Everglades. (In Theaters)

10/21 – Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud – A short documentary about the titular journalist. (HBO)

10/22 – Mistress Dispeller – A documentary about a woman who hired someone to stop her husband from cheating. (In Theaters)

10/29 – Coexistence, My Ass! – A Sundance award-winning documentary about comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi and her one-woman show about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (In Theaters)

10/31 – The White House Effect – A documentary feature by Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, and Jon Shenk about the U.S. government’s failure with climate change. (Netflix)

11/6 – Love+War – A documentary feature by Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) about Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario as she covers the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (National Geographic)

This week’s new releases include two documentaries that quote from 1984 and feature scenes from film adaptations of Fahrenheit 451. If that seems like a coincidence, you aren’t paying attention to what sort of world we’re living in right now. In which case, you should probably watch them both. Another new film highlights a response to the Videla years in Argentina, continuing the theme of authoritarianism. Two other new features deal with the ongoing topic of Israel, including a film that won the People’s Choice Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

As for older titles, I was hoping to highlight Barbara Kopple’s American Dream for its 35th anniversary this week (the documentary premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 6, 1990), but I can’t recommend something that you have no way of seeing. This brilliant film is rarely available in any form. It’s out of print on DVD and can’t be rented digitally or streamed online, which baffles me since it earned Kopple her second Oscar and should be considered just as much a classic as her earlier documentary about striking workers, Harlan County U.S.A. (currently available to stream on HBO Max and The Criterion Channel). Is Hormel Foods suppressing it??

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 notable releases and a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including yet another new film by Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin). 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 Alabama Solution (2025)

Last week, the FCC approved cell phone jamming in state and local prisons, and that makes The Alabama Solution an especially timely release this weekend. The documentary, directed by Andrew Jarecki (The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst) and Charlotte Kaufman (producer of The Jinx, making her feature directorial debut), exposes brutal conditions within Alabama’s prison system. Much of the footage on display in the film was shot by inmates using contraband cell phones, showing what officials don’t want the public to see.

Could that be the real reason for the push to jam cellular signals in these spaces? I don’t deny the issues that phones can cause, but everyone needs to watch this documentary to understand the issues that such jamming will allow by keeping the problems in the dark. These issues include beatings and killings of inmates by guards (there’s a very disturbing image of a corpse that must be seen, and it may call to mind the famous publication of the Emmett Till photos in Jet), overcrowding, and rat infestations.

While so many recent documentaries have been profiling great journalists and the importance of their work, The Alabama Solution is one of the few that serves as great reporting itself. The film covers several years yet feels current and urgent. Part of it involves a murder mystery that plays out with unfolding twists (one that’s tragically shocking), rivaling any fictional thriller. Interestingly enough, the project began as one thing (it was supposed to be a documentary about a religious revival and cookout at one prison) and led to something much bigger, a la Jarecki’s groundbreaking 2003 debut, Capturing the Friedmans (now streaming on HBO Max).

It also reminded me that Andrew’s brother, Eugene Jarecki, made an essential documentary about the war on drugs being profitable for the prison-industrial complex titled The House I Live In, which unfortunately isn’t available to stream anywhere. The Alabama Solution also touches on the forced labor of inmates, which recalls issues laid out in Ava DuVernay’s 13th and Sam Pollard’s Slavery By Another Name. Of course, it’ll also remind viewers of stories about other prisons, such as Attica and Angola, which have received their own documentaries, and how all of these issues have been going on for a long time.

But The Alabama Solution stands out for its filmmaking and how it presents its evidence, and I wish we still lived in a time when documentaries this powerful could make a difference. This should be a modern-day Titicut Follies and upend the system it reveals as such a disgrace, but I know it won’t change the world. There’s too much at stake politically and financially for those in charge, and now they’ll get away with it even more easily thanks to the FCC’s decision.

The Alabama Solution opens in theaters in New York City and Los Angeles on Friday, October 3, and begins streaming on HBO Max on Friday, October 10.

Other Documentary Highlights

Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5

American Masters (1985-Present)

With the looming demise of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which had its federal funding cut this past summer, I wonder about the future of American Masters, a PBS series that celebrates its 40th anniversary this week (it was showcased at the New York Film Festival on October 7, 1985, before debuting with a special later in the month, though its first season officially began in 1986). The anthology program was created by Susan Lacy (now at HBO, with her latest directorial effort being Billy Joel: And So It Goes) as a showcase of biographical documentaries about artists. It’s thanks to the films broadcast on PBS via American Masters over the decades that I’ve never been against the rising trend of celebrity docs. Many of them are very good!

American Masters episodes are typically (if not always?) documentaries produced for the series. Some, like the upcoming installment on actress Marlee Matlin (Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore), can also be theatrically released by other partners in their creation and distribution. Some of its most notable titles include Kevin Brownlow’s Unknown Chaplin and Buster Keaton: A Hard Act to Follow (neither available to stream today), Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (available to rent digitally), Peter Askin’s Trumbo (Tubi, Pluto TV, and Prime Video), the Oscar-nominated features The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (on Kanopy, Tubi, and Pluto TV), Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter’s Journey (not currently available), and Dancemaker (also unavailable), and the Oscar-winning film The Ten-Year Lunch: The Wit and Legend of the Algonquin Round Table (also unavailable).

The Librarians (2025) & Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 (2025)

These are the two documentaries that quote 1984 and include scenes from Fahrenheit 451 (each going with a different adaptation). The thing is, we don’t need either of them to go there to make points about today. We have the books. We have today. We’ve seen relevance in both of them around the world for as long as they’ve been around. Also, book banning in schools isn’t quite the same thing as what Orwell and Bradbury were writing about. Sure, it’s a step in that direction, but as usual, exaggerating a point in a nonfiction work does more harm than good. Anyway, The Librarians isn’t so much a film about the issue as it is a spotlight on the titular professionals risking their jobs to fight against it. I wish, then, that it were more memorable as a character-driven piece.

As for Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5, Raoul Peck’s latest takes the approach of a biography on George Orwell that relates his writings to what’s going on in the world now, 75 years since the author’s death. I think he’s rolling in his grave again (see the 2003 film Orwell Rolls in His Grave, which is heavily sampled in this one). I liken this documentary to a simple school project where Peck has made a collage of cut-outs from all the things he could find to illustrate Orwell’s work, including clips of various adaptations, footage of world events, and excerpts from other, better docs and movies. There isn’t a lot of context for all those bits, and I feel that if you are familiar with any of them, you’re already paying enough attention to get the point of the documentary five seconds in (or before even starting it). I do like Damian Lewis’s voiceover readings of Orwell’s personal writings and other biographical material, but the rest of the film is so obvious that it becomes an overstatement.

The Librarians and Orwell 2 + 2 = 5 both open in theaters on Friday, October 3.

Trains (2024)

I haven’t seen and probably won’t see a better-looking documentary than Trains this year, which is wild since it consists entirely of archival footage from the first half of the 20th century. For anyone who loves watching old actuality films, particularly those involving locomotives, it’s a must. I don’t get any significant point being made by the compilation, but it sure is an eye-catching and enjoyable watch.

Trains opens in theaters on Friday, October 3.

Viktor (2024)

One of this year’s best-looking documentaries with newly shot footage is Viktor, a black-and-white feature about a deaf Ukrainian man who wishes to fight in the war against Russia. It can seem a bit stagy in terms of its scenes and shots, but I don’t think the filmmakers are going for a total verité approach, even if it plays that way. They also did a lot with artificial and stylistic sound design, employing Nicolas Becker, who won an Oscar for his similar work on the drama Sound of Metal, and Foley artist Heikki Kossi, also from that film. As tragic as the war is, I have to admit that it’s given way to some of the most varied creative documentary perspectives ever produced on any event in history, and Viktor is a phenomenal addition to the mix.

Viktor opens in theaters on Friday, October 3.

Subscribe now

Documentary Release Calendar 10/3/25 – 10/9/25

Trains

Friday, October 3, 2025

The Alabama Solution (2025) – A documentary feature by Andrew Jarecki (The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst) and Charlotte Kaufman investigating a cover-up in an Alabama prison. (In Theaters)

Are We Good? (2025) – A documentary feature about Marc Maron as he mourns his partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton. (In Theaters)

Faceoff: Inside the NHL Season 2 – The return of a docuseries following professional ice hockey players. (Prime Video)

Harnessed Rhythm (1936) – A short documentary by Jacques Tourneur following the life of a racehorse. (TCM)

In Waves and War (2024) – A documentary feature about U.S. Navy SEALs with PTSD. (In Theaters)

The Librarians (2025) – A documentary feature about librarians fighting against book banning. (In Theaters)

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951) – A medium-length documentary presenting footage from new MGM movies of that year. (TCM)

More Dangerous Than Dynamite (1941) – A short film about preventive fire safety in homes. (TCM)

Norita (2024) – A documentary feature about Nora Cortinas, who led protests in Buenos Aires as one of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo. (In Theaters)

Orwell: 2 + 2 = 5 (2025) – A documentary feature by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) about George Orwell and his work. (In Theaters)

Realm of Satan (2024) – A documentary feature about the Church of Satan. (Mubi)

The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue (2025) – A documentary feature about a retired Israeli general who saved his family from Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks. (In Theaters)

Soul of a Nation (2025) – A documentary about current Israeli politics. (In Theaters)

Spooktacular! (2023) – A documentary feature about the haunted attraction Spooky World. (VOD)

Trains (2024) – An archival documentary consisting of old film clips from the early 20th century of trains and train stations. (In Theaters)

Viktor (2024) – A documentary feature about the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of a deaf person wishing to fight. (In Theaters)

Saturday, October 4, 2025

Austin City Limits Season 51, Episode 1: “Finneas” – The return of a long-running music docuseries begins with an installment starring the singer-songwriter Finneas. (PBS)

The Columbia Coast (2025) – A travel series focused on the area where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean at the border of Oregon and Washington. (FYI)

Lucky Dog: Down Under Season 1, Episode 1: “Gibbs & Donia” – A docuseries in the Lucky Dog franchise starring animal trainer Brandon McMillan as he works in Australia. (CBS)

Lucky Dog: Reunions Season 3, Episode 1: “Nikki Reunion” – The return of a docuseries starring animal trainer Brandon McMillan as he revisits past clients. (CBS)

Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild Season 3, Episode 1: “Panda-monium!” – The return of a nature series focused on wildlife conservation. This installment involves great pandas and red pandas. (NBC)

Sunday, October 5, 2025

New Orleans: Soul of a City (2025) – A four-part docuseries about the titular Louisiana city. (CNN)

Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread (2025) – A six-part culinary travelogue series following the titular actor sampling food around the world with a focus on bread. (CNN)

Trade Secret (2025) – A documentary feature about three activists on a mission to protect polar bears. (In Theaters)

Monday, October 6, 2025

After Action Season 3 – The return of a docuseries spotlighting U.S. military veterans. (PBS)

Ancient Aliens: Origins Season 2 – The return of a docuseries in the Ancient Aliens franchise that looks back at the original series’ greatest mysteries. (History)

Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp & The Biotech Revolution (2024) – A biographical documentary about the titular geneticist and molecular biologist. Presented as an episode of Independent Lens. (PBS)

A Rising Tide (2023) – A documentary feature about unhoused women and children of color in Alameda County, California. (OVID)

War for the Woods (2023) – A medium-length documentary about the protection of forests on Vancouver Island. (OVID)

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

Broken Mary: The Kevin Matthews Story (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular radio legend. (In Theaters)

Citizen George (2024) – A documentary feature about a Quaker activist. (OVID)

Floral Japan (1937) – A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores the gardens and cherry blossoms of Japan. (TCM)

Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert (2025) – A concert film starring the titular film composer. (DVD)

Louisiana Story (1948) – A docufiction feature directed by Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North) about a Cajun boy, his pet raccoon, and oil drilling in the Bayou. (TCM)

A Love Letter To The Beatles (2025) – A documentary feature about fans of The Beatles. (Blu-ray)

Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape from Now (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular heavy metal icon as he deals with health issues. (Paramount+)

Pistachio Wars (2024) – An investigative documentary about a farming empire in California. (VOD)

Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day Story (2020) – A medium-length documentary about the titular Christian anarchist. (DVD)

Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet (2025) – A documentary about the titular actress. (DVD)

Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 4 – The fourth installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (National Geographic)

True Haunting (2025) – A docuseries from horror filmmaker James Wan about real supernatural stories. (Netflix)

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Fugitives Caught on Tape Season 2, Episodes 1 & 2 – The return of a docuseries following law enforcement in their pursuit of fugitives. (A&E)

Ice Road Truckers Season 12, Episode 2: “The Bet” – The latest installment of this nonfiction series about the job of driving trucks on frozen lakes. (History)

Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 4 – The fourth installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (Hulu and Disney+)

Water for Life (2023) – A feature documentary narrated by Diego Luna about three Latin American Indigenous leaders who fought to save water sources from political and corporate interests. Read our review of Water is Life. (OVID)

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Crime Scene Sweden Season 12 – The return of a true-crime docuseries focused on murder cases in Sweden. (Viaplay)

Dance Me to the End of Time (2021) – A documentary feature by Melanie Chait about the last years in the life of her partner, who died of breast cancer. (OVID)

Saquon (2025) – A documentary about NFL running back Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles. (Prime Video)

Victoria Beckham (2025) – A docuseries about the former member of the Spice Girls turned fashion designer. (Netflix)

Share Nonfics

Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon

10/10 – John Candy: I Like Me – A biographical documentary about the titular actor. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Prime Video)

10/17 – River of Grass – A documentary feature about Florida’s Everglades. (In Theaters)

10/21 – Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud – A short documentary about the titular journalist. (HBO)

10/22 – Mistress Dispeller – A documentary about a woman who hired someone to stop her husband from cheating. (In Theaters)

10/29 – Coexistence, My Ass! – A Sundance award-winning documentary about comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi and her one-woman show about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (In Theaters)

10/31 – The White House Effect – A documentary feature by Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos, and Jon Shenk about the U.S. government’s failure with climate change. (Netflix)

11/6 – Love+War – A documentary feature by Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) about Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario as she covers the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (National Geographic)

The documentary was inspired in part from its director Olivier Sarbil losing his own hearing while making a war documentary in Libya.

Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen’s second documentary at the Colorado festival in 2024 lets the personalities of its veterans shine.

We mentioned this last week… WBAI is airing a documentary on CBGB, with episode 3 set to air tomorrow (Sunday) at 2 p.m.