Megalopolis’s reputation preceded the film itself long before its première iat last year’s Cannes Film Festival. As Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating opus about the folly of men and the collapse of the fictional city of New Rome edged closer to completion, it became embroiled in a flurry of speculation and controversy, kickstarted by a striking exposé in The Hollywood Reporter about rising tensions on set between director, cast and crew. Self-funded by Coppola, who funneled over $100 million of his vineyard profits into the film, the Adam Driver-starring film ultimately represents two things at once: a historic landmark of independent […]
Documentary filmmakers across Canada are sharing their concerns about the state of production. A new report from the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC), “What We Heard,” shares findings from community consultations with members across all chapters of the organization. The report, supported by the Canada Media Fund and released today by DOC, notes an enduring belief that documentary plays a key role in Canadian cultural expression, but that industry constraints complicate the viability of documentaries.
“In an era of global streaming platforms and increasing American cultural influence, documentary production offers a vital counterbalance that preserves Canadian and Indigenous perspectives and voices. Without deliberate protections, Canadian documentary voices risk being drowned out by the overwhelming volume of foreign content,” notes the report. “DOC members felt that regulatory and funding policies must recognize the essential role that homegrown documentaries play in Canada’s cultural, social, and economic landscape. They see this as not merely supporting a creative industry, but as an investment in the very fabric of our national identity.”
DOC’s report includes perspectives about what makes a great documentary to better understand the needs of creatives and producers when it comes to telling stories that matter. Respondents cite authenticity as key, along with documentaries that tackle complex subjects with approaches that don’t simplify the story, and films that reflect narrative sincerity, meaning that stories unfold organically without being sensationalized.
“The pursuit of authenticity ultimately serves a greater purpose: creating documentaries that not only reflect reality but help viewers understand it more deeply,” notes DOC. “When films achieve this delicate balance, they transform from mere records of events into powerful vehicles for empathy, understanding, and social change.”
Across the regions, members also express their belief that docs make lasting impressions and endure in the cultural legacy when they afford agency to participants. “This represents a significant evolution in documentary ethics—moving from subjects as passive participants to active collaborators,” notes the report. “The shift toward collaborative approaches has been particularly transformative in productions involving Indigenous communities, marginalized groups, and vulnerable populations.”
For areas of concern, respondents say that funding poses an increasingly difficult barrier for productions. Participants observe a dwindling landscape for broadcast commissions, particularly for regional filmmakers, while public funding bodies are over-subscribed and under-funded, meaning that applications are significantly competitive. Regional filmmakers also emphasize a sense of alienation from funders. “All regions acknowledged the challenges of maintaining production quality during a time of rampant inflation, with funding stagnant or in decline,” the report notes.
Of particular concern is the report that documentary filmmakers offset inflation by assuming more roles in production. This means fewer bodies on a film crew and gaps in compensation with increased labour and subsequent burnout.
Documentary filmmakers also share challenges of access with regards to broadcasters and streamers. Respondents with favourable opinions of the broadcasters generally note relationships built over years. Alternatively, the report specifically cites streaming powerhouse Netflix as one presumably viable option that few DOC members have been able to access. However, participants also note that working with a broadcaster or streaming brings benefits and resources, but those perks come with constraints on creative control.
The report also notes the shift in spending dollars towards serialized documentary, although participants in DOC’s feedback sessions consistently noted feature docs among memorable Canadian productions, meaning that the content mill risks producing works of minimal lasting value.
“DOC members felt that short films, television series, and digital content are becoming more accessible options to create, since they generally require smaller budgets and are easier to pitch to broadcasters,” notes DOC’s report. “Overall, this is seen to have a significant impact on the styles and types of documentaries that are being produced.”
Commercial imperatives also shape the kinds of stories being told in those formats with respondents feeling pressure to shift away from personal or community-based narratives towards one’s that reflect mass market demands.
Filmmakers also see festivals as having significant value when it comes to increasing the profiles of their documentaries, although respondents believe that the role of festivals is shifting, particularly with the challenges faced by Hot Docs in recent years. “Many filmmakers still looked forward to film festival screenings and the networking and audience connections they experience at these important cultural events,” notes DOC. “However, many acknowledged that as the world changes, film festivals and especially theatrical runs just don’t hold the same weight they once did.”
Additionally, filmmakers express factors like the shifting marketplace, audience fragmentation, and content saturation as having an effect on discoverability. ““What’s the point of making a film if nobody can find it?” asks one member.
To remedy concerns of audience access and discoverability, members cite a shift towards alternative methods. These include grassroots campaigns, niche streamers like Tënk, and even simply uploading docs to YouTube—although the latter results in fewer success stories, albeit significant ones when lightning strikes.
Filmmakers further state that all the above challenges are further compounded for emerging filmmakers and artists from equity seeking groups. Moreover, the evolving nature and definition of Canadian content complicates the processes for both creative expression and market synergy.
“For nearly a century, Canadian documentaries have illuminated our national experience, challenged our assumptions, and connected us across geographic and cultural divides. In the years ahead, as Canada navigates complex geopolitical currents and asserts its place in a changing world, documentary film will remain an essential tool for self-definition and cultural expression,” DOC concludes. “The way forward is clear: it lies in honouring the traditions that have defined Canadian documentary while boldly embracing the innovations that will carry it into a new era. It lies in recognizing documentary not as a luxury but as a necessity—a means through which Canada understands itself and makes itself understood to the world.”
Read the report here.
The post Documentary Organization of Canada Releases Community Consultations Report appeared first on POV Magazine.
Filmmaker Fernando Frías documents the band’s three sold-out stadium shows in Mexico City following the death of founding member Andy Fletcher.
This week brings a few new films focused on other films. From Megadoc, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s latest, to Chain Reactions, which showcases the impact The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has had on other artists, documentaries celebrating cinema and filmmaking continue to appeal to audiences who love both fiction and nonfiction. Another much shorter new release in this category is the ‘70s movie clip montage Song of My City. It’s a shame that Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror doesn’t come out until next week.
We also have a few monumental anniversaries to acknowledge this week. Friday marks 50 years since the original Canadian release of The Man Who Skied Down Everest, which went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 1976. You can now watch it for free on Prime Video, Kanopy, Fawesome, Tubi, or Pluto TV. Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the 3D IMAX short Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon, which is not available to stream anywhere but is on our list of the best documentaries about space travel, and the 35th anniversary of the Ken Burns series The Civil War, which is available on the PBS Documentaries channel on Prime Video. And on Wednesday, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Frederick Wiseman’s Welfare (streaming on Kanopy), which I consider one of the best documentaries of all time and among the best documentaries about New York City. Finally, that same day, the easily found culturally significant Edison actuality disaster film Searching Ruins on Broadway, Galveston, for Dead Bodies turns 125 years old.
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. 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 Devil Is Busy (2024)
Let’s just go ahead and call this the year of Geeta Gandbhir. She co-directed a series that’s already on our list of the best documentaries of 2025, Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest. She also helmed the upcoming feature The Perfect Neighbor, which will be added to that list of the year’s best following its release; she co-directed the Spike Lee series Katrina: Come Hell or High Water; and she executive-produced Disney’s Harlem Ice. Now here’s a documentary she co-directed with Christalyn Hampton that is one of my favorite shorts of the year.
The Devil Is Busy depicts a day in the operations of a women’s health clinic in Atlanta, the Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation, where abortions are regularly provided, among other procedures. Made to spotlight this sort of business in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, the film doesn’t dwell on the issue of abortion being right or wrong, instead focusing on the people who work there. I’m actually not certain it has an overall political point other than to promote compassion for everyone, maybe even the protestors in front of the building.
It works primarily as a character-driven film, particularly when it concentrates on one predominant figure, a religious woman who manages the safety and comfort of the employees and patients. I wish the whole documentary were focused on her alone, as she’s such a memorable character that the second time I watched the short, I realized I’d come away the first time thinking it did only follow her. She’s the kind of person we need more of in the world right now, filled with faith, acceptance (even if her general lack of judgment still allows for shade thrown at hypocrites), and courage.
The Devil Is Busy begins streaming on HBO Max on Tuesday, September 23.
Other Documentary Highlights
Chain Reactions (2024)
The best kind of film studies discourse, for me, analyzes a movie that I wouldn’t otherwise think about. I have no interest in ever rewatching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as it’s not my cup of tea. However, I do appreciate others’ love for the horror classic and am interested in seeing or hearing arguments for why it’s a masterpiece. I will also watch any documentary by Alexandre O. Philippe, who has elevated the cinematic film essay with such features as 78/52, Lynch/Oz, and Memory: The Origins of Alien. With Chain Reactions, he makes me care about Leatherface and family.
The film tackles the legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre through interviews with five people inspired by the 1974 original. Each interview is given its own chapter, structuring Chain Reactions like an anthology. And as is the case with all anthology films, some parts are better than others. The documentary peaks with its first part, in which Patton Oswalt stays focused on the movie at hand, offering several insightful points about the way it was shot while also centering his discussion around personal memories of the movie and his reasons for connecting it to Nosferatu. Filmmaker Karyn Kusama is the final interview and the only other one I’d call completely engaging. She gets it, as in the film and the assignment here.
The other three are filmmaker Takashi Miike, author Stephen King, and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. I blame my disinterest in Miike’s own movies as part of why I was bored during his section. King, I think, gets too off track too often. Heller-Nicholas does have a lot of good things to say, but she primarily comes at the material through a particular geographic perspective that I found unrelatable. Collectively, though, they add up to show how films reach us all in different ways depending on our points of view, feelings, and contexts of viewing them.
Chain Reactions will be released theatrically on Friday, September 19.
Chantal Akerman Documentaries (Part 2)
Continuing our spotlight on Chantal Akerman from last week, in support of the “Chantal Akerman: The Long View” retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, we’re highlighting more of the filmmaker’s nonfiction works as they screen in New York. If you can’t make it there, we recommend streaming them at home to feel part of the occasion. In addition to repeat showings of Down There (streaming on OVID), on Monday, and One Day Pina Asked… (OVID) and Franz Schubert’s Last Three Sonatas (unavailable) on Tuesday, this week includes three of her best-known documentaries.
On Saturday, MoMA will screen Akerman’s From the East, South, and From the Other Side. Like many of her nonfiction films, these are all available to stream on OVID. The first of the three has one of our favorite documentary shots, and all are part of our review of the Chantal Akerman: Four Films box set from Icarus, along with Down There. The same day, the otherwise unavailable four-minute short For Febe Elisabeth Velasquez, El Salvador screens with From the Other Side.
The Eyes Of Orson Welles (2018) & F For Fake (1973)
This year is the Orson Welles centenary. His 100th birthday was back in February, and the 40th anniversary of his death isn’t until next month, so I’m not sure why TCM has programmed an afternoon of “Reverse Orson Welles” this week, but it includes his classic documentary F for Fake and the Mark Cousins film The Eyes of Orson Welles. On the former film about fakes, frauds, and forgery, read its entry on the list of documentaries that give the finger to the art world. It’s also on our list of perfect documentary shots. For the latter, read our review, which calls it “another quick and jaunty surface-level look at Welles, an artist whose fine art deserves much better.”
The Eyes of Orson Welles and F for Fake air on TCM on Tuesday, September 23.
Into The Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal (2025)
This series is pure sensationalism, but that goes with heavy metal as a music genre, right? Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal probably doesn’t have any info on Randy Rhoads, Wendy O. Williams, Dimebag Darrell, Chuck Schuldiner, and others that the fanbase hasn’t already heard, but it is an interesting idea to combine the appeals of VH1’s Behind the Music and true-crime documentaries.
Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal begins streaming on Hulu on Monday, September 22.
Predators (2025)
I wanted more from Predators, a documentary about the entrapment-driven TV series To Catch a Predator and its copycats. As I noted in my review of the film, “For better or worse, [it] keeps the discourse mostly in the abstract, but it’s definitely a good conversation starter for audiences.” I still think it’s worth checking out, especially for the moment and the way that director David Osit (Mayor) inserts himself into the film.
Predators will be released theatrically on Friday, September 19.
Speak. (2025)
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good competition-focused documentary. Speak. suffices. It focuses even more on its handful of characters than most, or seems to, because the contest is so much more personal to a lot of them. The film follows high schoolers involved in speech and debate programs who are good enough to make it to a national championship for original oratory. One of the characters’ monologues is inspired by the suicidal death of his mother. Another wrote hers about her younger brother with special needs. Sadly, we never hear their full speeches. There’s also not a ton of information given on the event, for which their category is one part, but after getting to know these kids competing for its esteem, you’ll care enough to be satisfied when the film delivers the requisite where-they-are-now epilogue titles at the end.
Speak. will be released in theaters on Friday, September 19.
Song Of My City (2025)
Is a compilation of movie clips considered a documentary? Song of My City has no narration, but it still counts as a film essay of what New York City looked like in the 1970s, as captured in movies. Or, at least a film essay on how movies depicted New York City in the 1970s. The 17-minute short helps make my case that all movies are documentary in nature to a certain degree, as the clips do show us, 50 years later, how the skyline looked, what kinds of establishments populated Times Square, the type of Subway cars used at the time, and more.
Interestingly, despite some of the grime and crime on screen, Song of My City seems brighter than the “horror city” mythology I’ve long associated with New York City during that decade, as partly labeled by Pauline Kael and evidenced in many of the sampled films as a whole. I’ll always be a sucker for this kind of thing, and I’ll always be a sucker for the Koyaanisqatsi score, which this film lazily is soundtracked to for its first third. Still, there’s no real meaning in its montage, the way we find it in documentaries that inspired it, like Los Angeles Plays Itself.
Song of My City will be released in theaters on Friday, September 19.
Sundance Documentaries
Last week, the world lost one of its greatest actors, humanitarians, and supporters of cinema. Robert Redford is deservedly being celebrated for the impact he had on independent film through his co-founding and leadership of the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute. He was a huge fan of documentaries, giving them equal weight at the festival and helping in the rise of the popularity of nonfiction film. He even gave the world a son who makes documentaries. Without writing a whole book on what Redford meant to the art and industry of documentaries (go on Instagram and find any documentarian, and they’ve probably shared a photo of themselves at Sundance with Redford), I invite you to check out our list of the best Sundance documentaries of all time, which was compiled a decade ago.
Documentary Release Calendar 9/19/25 – 9/25/25
Friday, September 19, 2025
Chain Reactions (2024) – A documentary feature by Alexandre O. Philippe (Memory: The Origins of Alien) about the impact of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on five artists, including Stephen King and Patton Oswalt. (In Theaters)
Detroit 48202: Conversations Along a Postal Route (2018) – A documentary feature about Detroit through the perspective of an African-American mail carrier. (OVID)
Dolphins Up Close with Bertie Gregory (2025) – A nature documentary about dolphins shot by Bertie Gregory in the Azores. (Hulu and Disney+)
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert (2025) – A concert film starring the titular film composer. (VOD)
In Whose Name? (2025) – A documentary feature covering six years in the life of Kanye West. (In Theaters)
Megadoc (2025) – A documentary feature by Mike Figgis about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. (In Theaters)
Predators (2025) – A documentary about the TV series To Catch a Predator. Read our review of Predators from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (In Theaters)
The Reluctant Traveler Season 3 – The return of the travel series starring actor Eugene Levy. (Apple TV+)
Song of My City (2025) – A short film made up of clips from movies shot in New York City in the 1970s. (In Theaters)
Speak. (2025) – A documentary feature about a global speech contest. (In Theaters)
Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets (2024) – A documentary feature about a clash between pro-Israel activists and pro-Palestine activists involving posters around New York City. Read our review of Torn. (Gathr)
Unorthodox Education (2024) – A short documentary on the education problems of Orthodox Jewish children in New York City. (In Theaters)
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Alaska Lifeboat (1956) – A short documentary in the Theatre of Life series following a medical ship to a village in Alaska. (TCM)
Believe It or Not (Second Series) #7 (1932) – This installment of Robert L. Ripley’s Believe It or Not documentary franchise features a leaning lighthouse, a movie theater in a lead mine, and more. (TCM)
Mafia: Most Wanted (2025) – A three-part docuseries about organized crime moving to Toronto. (Netflix)
Three Cheers for the Girls (1943) – A short film showcasing musical numbers from Warner Bros. movies. (TCM)
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 5, Episode 10: “Shark Hunters” – The latest installment of this award-winning investigative series involves the shark fin trade. (National Geographic)
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe (2024) – A documentary feature showcasing the titular Italian tenor on and off stage. (In Theaters)
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular 1990s all-women music festival. (Hulu)
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 5, Episode 10: “Shark Hunters” – The latest installment of this award-winning investigative series involves the shark fin trade. (Hulu)
Trifles of Importance (1940) – A short documentary about trivial objects and the stories they can tell. (TCM)
Monday, September 22, 2025
Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal (2025) – A docuseries about heavy metal. (Hulu)
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Clemente (2024) – A biographical documentary about pro baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. Read our review of Clemente. (History)
The Devil is Busy (2024) – A short documentary by Geeta Gandbhir about a woman working security at an Atlanta abortion clinic. (HBO Max)
Expedition: Greenland (2025) – A documentary feature about a team of explorers navigating Greenland’s ice sheet. (VOD)
The Eyes of Orson Welles (2018) – A documentary by Mark Cousins about Orson Welles’s paintings and drawings. Read our review of The Eyes of Orson Welles. (TCM)
F for Fake (1973) – A documentary by Orson Welles about forgers, frauds, and fakers. (TCM)
Finding Your Roots Season 8, Episode 5: “Mexican Roots” – An episode of a docuseries focused on ancestry in which Mario Lopez and Melissa Villaseñor learn about their Mexican heritage. (PBS)
Hustlers, Gamblers and Crooks Season 2 – The return of a docuseries about underdogs taking big risks. (Discovery)
Orozco: Man of Fire (2007) – A biographical documentary about mural artist José Clemente Orozco. Presented as an episode of American Masters. (PBS)
Satisfied (2024) – A documentary feature about Hamilton actress Renée Elise Goldsberry. (In Theaters)
Someone You Should Meet (2024) – A short documentary by two filmmakers who discovered they were related. (OVID)
Tangled Roots (2001) – A short documentary by a filmmaker confronting her dual identity as a German and a Jew. (OVID)
Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 2: “Catching The Wire” – The second installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (National Geographic)
Your Last Act (1941) – A short film on various odd bequests people made in their wills. (TCM)
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
A Dream of Love (1938) – A short biographical film by James A. FitzPatrick about composer Franz Liszt. (TCM)
BTS 2016 Live The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue Remastered (2025) – A concert film starring BTS. (In Theaters)
BTS 2017 Live Trilogy Episode III The Wings Tour The Final Remastered (2025) – A concert film starring BTS. (In Theaters)
Four Minute Fever (1956) – A short documentary about the quest to run a mile under four minutes. (TCM)
On the Trail of the Iguana (1964) – A short documentary on the making of the film The Night of the Iguana. (TCM)
Sacred Planet with Gulnaz Khan Episode 3: “Saving the World’s Forests” – The premiere installment of a docuseries about global solutions to climate change. This episode focuses on biodiverse forests in Japan. (PBS)
Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 2: “Catching The Wire” – The second installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (Hulu and Disney+)
The Year We Thought About Love (2015) – A documentary about the LGBT youth of color who made up the cast of the show True Colors: OUT Youth Theater. (OVID)
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Art & Life: The Story of Jim Phillips (2024) – A documentary about the titular artist. (VOD)
Cleopatra’s Final Secret (2025) – A docuseries following a team searching for Cleopatra’s tomb in the Mediterranean. (National Geographic)
Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel (2025) – A three-part docuseries about a football player who became a drug kingpin. (Prime Video)
Ellavut Cimirtuq (Our World Is Changing) (2023) – A short documentary about an archaeological site in Alaska exposed thanks to thawing permafrost. (OVID)
Eva Hesse (2016) – A documentary about the titular artist. (Kino Film Collection)
Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963) – A short documentary sharing home movie clips of Hollywood stars. (TCM)
Latin Clowns Evolution (2025) – A documentary feature on the art of clowning in the Latine community in Los Angeles. (In Theaters)
Lost Treasures of Ancient Civilizations, Season 1, Episode 1: “The Valley of the Kings” – The first episode of a docuseries about ancient civilizations focuses on Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. (National Geographic)
Three Ocean Advocates (2021) – An Emmy-winning short documentary about activists focused on the oceans. (OVID)
Whose Water (2024) – A medium-length documentary on communities fighting for safe and affordable water and sanitation. (OVID)
!Women Art Revolution (2010) – A documentary feature about the Feminist Art Revolution. (Kino Film Collection)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
9/30 – Hard Hat Riot – A documentary about a 1970 clash between student anti-war protestors and construction workers in New York City. (PBS)
10/3 – Soul of a Nation – A documentary feature about current Israeli politics. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
10/10 – There Was, There Was Not – A documentary feature about four women in post-war Artsakh on the brink of another war. (In Theaters)
10/22 – Mitski: The Land – A concert film starring the titular singer-songwriter as she performs in Atlanta. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
10/29 – Love+War – A documentary feature directed by Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) about Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lynsey Addario. (In Theaters)
11/3 – In Waves and War – A documentary feature about U.S. Navy SEALs with PTSD. (Netflix)
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This week brings a few new films focused on other films. From Megadoc, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s latest, to Chain Reactions, which showcases the impact The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has had on other artists, documentaries celebrating cinema and filmmaking continue to appeal to audiences who love both fiction and nonfiction. Another much shorter new release in this category is the ‘70s movie clip montage Song of My City. It’s a shame that Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror doesn’t come out until next week.
We also have a few monumental anniversaries to acknowledge this week. Friday marks 50 years since the original Canadian release of The Man Who Skied Down Everest, which went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 1976. You can now watch it for free on Prime Video, Kanopy, Fawesome, Tubi, or Pluto TV. Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the 3D IMAX short Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon, which is not available to stream anywhere but is on our list of the best documentaries about space travel, and the 35th anniversary of the Ken Burns series The Civil War, which is available on the PBS Documentaries channel on Prime Video. And on Wednesday, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Frederick Wiseman’s Welfare (streaming on Kanopy), which I consider one of the best documentaries of all time and among the best documentaries about New York City. Finally, that same day, the easily found culturally significant Edison actuality disaster film Searching Ruins on Broadway, Galveston, for Dead Bodies turns 125 years old.
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. 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 Devil Is Busy (2024)
Let’s just go ahead and call this the year of Geeta Gandbhir. She co-directed a series that’s already on our list of the best documentaries of 2025, Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest. She also helmed the upcoming feature The Perfect Neighbor, which will be added to that list of the year’s best following its release; she co-directed the Spike Lee series Katrina: Come Hell or High Water; and she executive-produced Disney’s Harlem Ice. Now here’s a documentary she co-directed with Christalyn Hampton that is one of my favorite shorts of the year.
The Devil Is Busy depicts a day in the operations of a women’s health clinic in Atlanta, the Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation, where abortions are regularly provided, among other procedures. Made to spotlight this sort of business in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, the film doesn’t dwell on the issue of abortion being right or wrong, instead focusing on the people who work there. I’m actually not certain it has an overall political point other than to promote compassion for everyone, maybe even the protestors in front of the building.
It works primarily as a character-driven film, particularly when it concentrates on one predominant figure, a religious woman who manages the safety and comfort of the employees and patients. I wish the whole documentary were focused on her alone, as she’s such a memorable character that the second time I watched the short, I realized I’d come away the first time thinking it did only follow her. She’s the kind of person we need more of in the world right now, filled with faith, acceptance (even if her general lack of judgment still allows for shade thrown at hypocrites), and courage.
The Devil Is Busy begins streaming on HBO Max on Tuesday, September 23.
Other Documentary Highlights
Chain Reactions (2024)
The best kind of film studies discourse, for me, analyzes a movie that I wouldn’t otherwise think about. I have no interest in ever rewatching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as it’s not my cup of tea. However, I do appreciate others’ love for the horror classic and am interested in seeing or hearing arguments for why it’s a masterpiece. I will also watch any documentary by Alexandre O. Philippe, who has elevated the cinematic film essay with such features as 78/52, Lynch/Oz, and Memory: The Origins of Alien. With Chain Reactions, he makes me care about Leatherface and family.
The film tackles the legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre through interviews with five people inspired by the 1974 original. Each interview is given its own chapter, structuring Chain Reactions like an anthology. And as is the case with all anthology films, some parts are better than others. The documentary peaks with its first part, in which Patton Oswalt stays focused on the movie at hand, offering several insightful points about the way it was shot while also centering his discussion around personal memories of the movie and his reasons for connecting it to Nosferatu. Filmmaker Karyn Kusama is the final interview and the only other one I’d call completely engaging. She gets it, as in the film and the assignment here.
The other three are filmmaker Takashi Miike, author Stephen King, and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. I blame my disinterest in Miike’s own movies as part of why I was bored during his section. King, I think, gets too off track too often. Heller-Nicholas does have a lot of good things to say, but she primarily comes at the material through a particular geographic perspective that I found unrelatable. Collectively, though, they add up to show how films reach us all in different ways depending on our points of view, feelings, and contexts of viewing them.
Chain Reactions will be released theatrically on Friday, September 19.
Chantal Akerman Documentaries (Part 2)
Continuing our spotlight on Chantal Akerman from last week, in support of the “Chantal Akerman: The Long View” retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, we’re highlighting more of the filmmaker’s nonfiction works as they screen in New York. If you can’t make it there, we recommend streaming them at home to feel part of the occasion. In addition to repeat showings of Down There (streaming on OVID), on Monday, and One Day Pina Asked… (OVID) and Franz Schubert’s Last Three Sonatas (unavailable) on Tuesday, this week includes three of her best-known documentaries.
On Saturday, MoMA will screen Akerman’s From the East, South, and From the Other Side. Like many of her nonfiction films, these are all available to stream on OVID. The first of the three has one of our favorite documentary shots, and all are part of our review of the Chantal Akerman: Four Films box set from Icarus, along with Down There. The same day, the otherwise unavailable four-minute short For Febe Elisabeth Velasquez, El Salvador screens with From the Other Side.
The Eyes Of Orson Welles (2018) & F For Fake (1973)
This year is the Orson Welles centenary. His 100th birthday was back in February, and the 40th anniversary of his death isn’t until next month, so I’m not sure why TCM has programmed an afternoon of “Reverse Orson Welles” this week, but it includes his classic documentary F for Fake and the Mark Cousins film The Eyes of Orson Welles. On the former film about fakes, frauds, and forgery, read its entry on the list of documentaries that give the finger to the art world. It’s also on our list of perfect documentary shots. For the latter, read our review, which calls it “another quick and jaunty surface-level look at Welles, an artist whose fine art deserves much better.”
The Eyes of Orson Welles and F for Fake air on TCM on Tuesday, September 23.
Into The Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal (2025)
This series is pure sensationalism, but that goes with heavy metal as a music genre, right? Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal probably doesn’t have any info on Randy Rhoads, Wendy O. Williams, Dimebag Darrell, Chuck Schuldiner, and others that the fanbase hasn’t already heard, but it is an interesting idea to combine the appeals of VH1’s Behind the Music and true-crime documentaries.
Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal begins streaming on Hulu on Monday, September 22.
Predators (2025)
I wanted more from Predators, a documentary about the entrapment-driven TV series To Catch a Predator and its copycats. As I noted in my review of the film, “For better or worse, [it] keeps the discourse mostly in the abstract, but it’s definitely a good conversation starter for audiences.” I still think it’s worth checking out, especially for the moment and the way that director David Osit (Mayor) inserts himself into the film.
Predators will be released theatrically on Friday, September 19.
Speak. (2025)
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good competition-focused documentary. Speak. suffices. It focuses even more on its handful of characters than most, or seems to, because the contest is so much more personal to a lot of them. The film follows high schoolers involved in speech and debate programs who are good enough to make it to a national championship for original oratory. One of the characters’ monologues is inspired by the suicidal death of his mother. Another wrote hers about her younger brother with special needs. Sadly, we never hear their full speeches. There’s also not a ton of information given on the event, for which their category is one part, but after getting to know these kids competing for its esteem, you’ll care enough to be satisfied when the film delivers the requisite where-they-are-now epilogue titles at the end.
Speak. will be released in theaters on Friday, September 19.
Song Of My City (2025)
Is a compilation of movie clips considered a documentary? Song of My City has no narration, but it still counts as a film essay of what New York City looked like in the 1970s, as captured in movies. Or, at least a film essay on how movies depicted New York City in the 1970s. The 17-minute short helps make my case that all movies are documentary in nature to a certain degree, as the clips do show us, 50 years later, how the skyline looked, what kinds of establishments populated Times Square, the type of Subway cars used at the time, and more.
Interestingly, despite some of the grime and crime on screen, Song of My City seems brighter than the “horror city” mythology I’ve long associated with New York City during that decade, as partly labeled by Pauline Kael and evidenced in many of the sampled films as a whole. I’ll always be a sucker for this kind of thing, and I’ll always be a sucker for the Koyaanisqatsi score, which this film lazily is soundtracked to for its first third. Still, there’s no real meaning in its montage, the way we find it in documentaries that inspired it, like Los Angeles Plays Itself.
Song of My City will be released in theaters on Friday, September 19.
Sundance Documentaries
Last week, the world lost one of its greatest actors, humanitarians, and supporters of cinema. Robert Redford is deservedly being celebrated for the impact he had on independent film through his co-founding and leadership of the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute. He was a huge fan of documentaries, giving them equal weight at the festival and helping in the rise of the popularity of nonfiction film. He even gave the world a son who makes documentaries. Without writing a whole book on what Redford meant to the art and industry of documentaries (go on Instagram and find any documentarian, and they’ve probably shared a photo of themselves at Sundance with Redford), I invite you to check out our list of the best Sundance documentaries of all time, which was compiled a decade ago.
Documentary Release Calendar 9/19/25 – 9/25/25
Friday, September 19, 2025
Chain Reactions (2024) – A documentary feature by Alexandre O. Philippe (Memory: The Origins of Alien) about the impact of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on five artists, including Stephen King and Patton Oswalt. (In Theaters)
Detroit 48202: Conversations Along a Postal Route (2018) – A documentary feature about Detroit through the perspective of an African-American mail carrier. (OVID)
Dolphins Up Close with Bertie Gregory (2025) – A nature documentary about dolphins shot by Bertie Gregory in the Azores. (Hulu and Disney+)
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert (2025) – A concert film starring the titular film composer. (VOD)
In Whose Name? (2025) – A documentary feature covering six years in the life of Kanye West. (In Theaters)
Megadoc (2025) – A documentary feature by Mike Figgis about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. (In Theaters)
Predators (2025) – A documentary about the TV series To Catch a Predator. Read our review of Predators from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (In Theaters)
The Reluctant Traveler Season 3 – The return of the travel series starring actor Eugene Levy. (Apple TV+)
Song of My City (2025) – A short film made up of clips from movies shot in New York City in the 1970s. (In Theaters)
Speak. (2025) – A documentary feature about a global speech contest. (In Theaters)
Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets (2024) – A documentary feature about a clash between pro-Israel activists and pro-Palestine activists involving posters around New York City. Read our review of Torn. (Gathr)
Unorthodox Education (2024) – A short documentary on the education problems of Orthodox Jewish children in New York City. (In Theaters)
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Alaska Lifeboat (1956) – A short documentary in the Theatre of Life series following a medical ship to a village in Alaska. (TCM)
Believe It or Not (Second Series) #7 (1932) – This installment of Robert L. Ripley’s Believe It or Not documentary franchise features a leaning lighthouse, a movie theater in a lead mine, and more. (TCM)
Mafia: Most Wanted (2025) – A three-part docuseries about organized crime moving to Toronto. (Netflix)
Three Cheers for the Girls (1943) – A short film showcasing musical numbers from Warner Bros. movies. (TCM)
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 5, Episode 10: “Shark Hunters” – The latest installment of this award-winning investigative series involves the shark fin trade. (National Geographic)
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe (2024) – A documentary feature showcasing the titular Italian tenor on and off stage. (In Theaters)
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular 1990s all-women music festival. (Hulu)
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 5, Episode 10: “Shark Hunters” – The latest installment of this award-winning investigative series involves the shark fin trade. (Hulu)
Trifles of Importance (1940) – A short documentary about trivial objects and the stories they can tell. (TCM)
Monday, September 22, 2025
Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal (2025) – A docuseries about heavy metal. (Hulu)
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Clemente (2024) – A biographical documentary about pro baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. Read our review of Clemente. (History)
The Devil is Busy (2024) – A short documentary by Geeta Gandbhir about a woman working security at an Atlanta abortion clinic. (HBO Max)
Expedition: Greenland (2025) – A documentary feature about a team of explorers navigating Greenland’s ice sheet. (VOD)
The Eyes of Orson Welles (2018) – A documentary by Mark Cousins about Orson Welles’s paintings and drawings. Read our review of The Eyes of Orson Welles. (TCM)
F for Fake (1973) – A documentary by Orson Welles about forgers, frauds, and fakers. (TCM)
Finding Your Roots Season 8, Episode 5: “Mexican Roots” – An episode of a docuseries focused on ancestry in which Mario Lopez and Melissa Villaseñor learn about their Mexican heritage. (PBS)
Hustlers, Gamblers and Crooks Season 2 – The return of a docuseries about underdogs taking big risks. (Discovery)
Orozco: Man of Fire (2007) – A biographical documentary about mural artist José Clemente Orozco. Presented as an episode of American Masters. (PBS)
Satisfied (2024) – A documentary feature about Hamilton actress Renée Elise Goldsberry. (In Theaters)
Someone You Should Meet (2024) – A short documentary by two filmmakers who discovered they were related. (OVID)
Tangled Roots (2001) – A short documentary by a filmmaker confronting her dual identity as a German and a Jew. (OVID)
Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 2: “Catching The Wire” – The second installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (National Geographic)
Your Last Act (1941) – A short film on various odd bequests people made in their wills. (TCM)
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
A Dream of Love (1938) – A short biographical film by James A. FitzPatrick about composer Franz Liszt. (TCM)
BTS 2016 Live The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue Remastered (2025) – A concert film starring BTS. (In Theaters)
BTS 2017 Live Trilogy Episode III The Wings Tour The Final Remastered (2025) – A concert film starring BTS. (In Theaters)
Four Minute Fever (1956) – A short documentary about the quest to run a mile under four minutes. (TCM)
On the Trail of the Iguana (1964) – A short documentary on the making of the film The Night of the Iguana. (TCM)
Sacred Planet with Gulnaz Khan Episode 3: “Saving the World’s Forests” – The premiere installment of a docuseries about global solutions to climate change. This episode focuses on biodiverse forests in Japan. (PBS)
Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 2: “Catching The Wire” – The second installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (Hulu and Disney+)
The Year We Thought About Love (2015) – A documentary about the LGBT youth of color who made up the cast of the show True Colors: OUT Youth Theater. (OVID)
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Art & Life: The Story of Jim Phillips (2024) – A documentary about the titular artist. (VOD)
Cleopatra’s Final Secret (2025) – A docuseries following a team searching for Cleopatra’s tomb in the Mediterranean. (National Geographic)
Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel (2025) – A three-part docuseries about a football player who became a drug kingpin. (Prime Video)
Ellavut Cimirtuq (Our World Is Changing) (2023) – A short documentary about an archaeological site in Alaska exposed thanks to thawing permafrost. (OVID)
Eva Hesse (2016) – A documentary about the titular artist. (Kino Film Collection)
Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963) – A short documentary sharing home movie clips of Hollywood stars. (TCM)
Latin Clowns Evolution (2025) – A documentary feature on the art of clowning in the Latine community in Los Angeles. (In Theaters)
Lost Treasures of Ancient Civilizations, Season 1, Episode 1: “The Valley of the Kings” – The first episode of a docuseries about ancient civilizations focuses on Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. (National Geographic)
Three Ocean Advocates (2021) – An Emmy-winning short documentary about activists focused on the oceans. (OVID)
Whose Water (2024) – A medium-length documentary on communities fighting for safe and affordable water and sanitation. (OVID)
!Women Art Revolution (2010) – A documentary feature about the Feminist Art Revolution. (Kino Film Collection)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
9/30 – Hard Hat Riot – A documentary about a 1970 clash between student anti-war protestors and construction workers in New York City. (PBS)
10/3 – Soul of a Nation – A documentary feature about current Israeli politics. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
10/10 – There Was, There Was Not – A documentary feature about four women in post-war Artsakh on the brink of another war. (In Theaters)
10/22 – Mitski: The Land – A concert film starring the titular singer-songwriter as she performs in Atlanta. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
10/29 – Love+War – A documentary feature directed by Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) about Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lynsey Addario. (In Theaters)
11/3 – In Waves and War – A documentary feature about U.S. Navy SEALs with PTSD. (Netflix)
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This week brings a few new films focused on other films. From Megadoc, which offers a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s latest, to Chain Reactions, which showcases the impact The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has had on other artists, documentaries celebrating cinema and filmmaking continue to appeal to audiences who love both fiction and nonfiction. Another much shorter new release in this category is the ‘70s movie clip montage Song of My City. It’s a shame that Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror doesn’t come out until next week.
We also have a few monumental anniversaries to acknowledge this week. Friday marks 50 years since the original Canadian release of The Man Who Skied Down Everest, which went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 1976. You can now watch it for free on Prime Video, Kanopy, Fawesome, Tubi, or Pluto TV. Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the 3D IMAX short Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon, which is not available to stream anywhere but is on our list of the best documentaries about space travel, and the 35th anniversary of the Ken Burns series The Civil War, which is available on the PBS Documentaries channel on Prime Video. And on Wednesday, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Frederick Wiseman’s Welfare (streaming on Kanopy), which I consider one of the best documentaries of all time and among the best documentaries about New York City. Finally, that same day, the easily found culturally significant Edison actuality disaster film Searching Ruins on Broadway, Galveston, for Dead Bodies turns 125 years old.
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. 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 Devil Is Busy (2024)
Let’s just go ahead and call this the year of Geeta Gandbhir. She co-directed a series that’s already on our list of the best documentaries of 2025, Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest. She also helmed the upcoming feature The Perfect Neighbor, which will be added to that list of the year’s best following its release; she co-directed the Spike Lee series Katrina: Come Hell or High Water; and she executive-produced Disney’s Harlem Ice. Now here’s a documentary she co-directed with Christalyn Hampton that is one of my favorite shorts of the year.
The Devil Is Busy depicts a day in the operations of a women’s health clinic in Atlanta, the Feminist Center for Reproductive Liberation, where abortions are regularly provided, among other procedures. Made to spotlight this sort of business in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, the film doesn’t dwell on the issue of abortion being right or wrong, instead focusing on the people who work there. I’m actually not certain it has an overall political point other than to promote compassion for everyone, maybe even the protestors in front of the building.
It works primarily as a character-driven film, particularly when it concentrates on one predominant figure, a religious woman who manages the safety and comfort of the employees and patients. I wish the whole documentary were focused on her alone, as she’s such a memorable character that the second time I watched the short, I realized I’d come away the first time thinking it did only follow her. She’s the kind of person we need more of in the world right now, filled with faith, acceptance (even if her general lack of judgment still allows for shade thrown at hypocrites), and courage.
The Devil Is Busy begins streaming on HBO Max on Tuesday, September 23.
Other Documentary Highlights
Chain Reactions (2024)
The best kind of film studies discourse, for me, analyzes a movie that I wouldn’t otherwise think about. I have no interest in ever rewatching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as it’s not my cup of tea. However, I do appreciate others’ love for the horror classic and am interested in seeing or hearing arguments for why it’s a masterpiece. I will also watch any documentary by Alexandre O. Philippe, who has elevated the cinematic film essay with such features as 78/52, Lynch/Oz, and Memory: The Origins of Alien. With Chain Reactions, he makes me care about Leatherface and family.
The film tackles the legacy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre through interviews with five people inspired by the 1974 original. Each interview is given its own chapter, structuring Chain Reactions like an anthology. And as is the case with all anthology films, some parts are better than others. The documentary peaks with its first part, in which Patton Oswalt stays focused on the movie at hand, offering several insightful points about the way it was shot while also centering his discussion around personal memories of the movie and his reasons for connecting it to Nosferatu. Filmmaker Karyn Kusama is the final interview and the only other one I’d call completely engaging. She gets it, as in the film and the assignment here.
The other three are filmmaker Takashi Miike, author Stephen King, and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. I blame my disinterest in Miike’s own movies as part of why I was bored during his section. King, I think, gets too off track too often. Heller-Nicholas does have a lot of good things to say, but she primarily comes at the material through a particular geographic perspective that I found unrelatable. Collectively, though, they add up to show how films reach us all in different ways depending on our points of view, feelings, and contexts of viewing them.
Chain Reactions will be released theatrically on Friday, September 19.
Chantal Akerman Documentaries (Part 2)
Continuing our spotlight on Chantal Akerman from last week, in support of the “Chantal Akerman: The Long View” retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, we’re highlighting more of the filmmaker’s nonfiction works as they screen in New York. If you can’t make it there, we recommend streaming them at home to feel part of the occasion. In addition to repeat showings of Down There (streaming on OVID), on Monday, and One Day Pina Asked… (OVID) and Franz Schubert’s Last Three Sonatas (unavailable) on Tuesday, this week includes three of her best-known documentaries.
On Saturday, MoMA will screen Akerman’s From the East, South, and From the Other Side. Like many of her nonfiction films, these are all available to stream on OVID. The first of the three has one of our favorite documentary shots, and all are part of our review of the Chantal Akerman: Four Films box set from Icarus, along with Down There. The same day, the otherwise unavailable four-minute short For Febe Elisabeth Velasquez, El Salvador screens with From the Other Side.
The Eyes Of Orson Welles (2018) & F For Fake (1973)
This year is the Orson Welles centenary. His 100th birthday was back in February, and the 40th anniversary of his death isn’t until next month, so I’m not sure why TCM has programmed an afternoon of “Reverse Orson Welles” this week, but it includes his classic documentary F for Fake and the Mark Cousins film The Eyes of Orson Welles. On the former film about fakes, frauds, and forgery, read its entry on the list of documentaries that give the finger to the art world. It’s also on our list of perfect documentary shots. For the latter, read our review, which calls it “another quick and jaunty surface-level look at Welles, an artist whose fine art deserves much better.”
The Eyes of Orson Welles and F for Fake air on TCM on Tuesday, September 23.
Into The Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal (2025)
This series is pure sensationalism, but that goes with heavy metal as a music genre, right? Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal probably doesn’t have any info on Randy Rhoads, Wendy O. Williams, Dimebag Darrell, Chuck Schuldiner, and others that the fanbase hasn’t already heard, but it is an interesting idea to combine the appeals of VH1’s Behind the Music and true-crime documentaries.
Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal begins streaming on Hulu on Monday, September 22.
Predators (2025)
I wanted more from Predators, a documentary about the entrapment-driven TV series To Catch a Predator and its copycats. As I noted in my review of the film, “For better or worse, [it] keeps the discourse mostly in the abstract, but it’s definitely a good conversation starter for audiences.” I still think it’s worth checking out, especially for the moment and the way that director David Osit (Mayor) inserts himself into the film.
Predators will be released theatrically on Friday, September 19.
Speak. (2025)
It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good competition-focused documentary. Speak. suffices. It focuses even more on its handful of characters than most, or seems to, because the contest is so much more personal to a lot of them. The film follows high schoolers involved in speech and debate programs who are good enough to make it to a national championship for original oratory. One of the characters’ monologues is inspired by the suicidal death of his mother. Another wrote hers about her younger brother with special needs. Sadly, we never hear their full speeches. There’s also not a ton of information given on the event, for which their category is one part, but after getting to know these kids competing for its esteem, you’ll care enough to be satisfied when the film delivers the requisite where-they-are-now epilogue titles at the end.
Speak. will be released in theaters on Friday, September 19.
Song Of My City (2025)
Is a compilation of movie clips considered a documentary? Song of My City has no narration, but it still counts as a film essay of what New York City looked like in the 1970s, as captured in movies. Or, at least a film essay on how movies depicted New York City in the 1970s. The 17-minute short helps make my case that all movies are documentary in nature to a certain degree, as the clips do show us, 50 years later, how the skyline looked, what kinds of establishments populated Times Square, the type of Subway cars used at the time, and more.
Interestingly, despite some of the grime and crime on screen, Song of My City seems brighter than the “horror city” mythology I’ve long associated with New York City during that decade, as partly labeled by Pauline Kael and evidenced in many of the sampled films as a whole. I’ll always be a sucker for this kind of thing, and I’ll always be a sucker for the Koyaanisqatsi score, which this film lazily is soundtracked to for its first third. Still, there’s no real meaning in its montage, the way we find it in documentaries that inspired it, like Los Angeles Plays Itself.
Song of My City will be released in theaters on Friday, September 19.
Sundance Documentaries
Last week, the world lost one of its greatest actors, humanitarians, and supporters of cinema. Robert Redford is deservedly being celebrated for the impact he had on independent film through his co-founding and leadership of the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute. He was a huge fan of documentaries, giving them equal weight at the festival and helping in the rise of the popularity of nonfiction film. He even gave the world a son who makes documentaries. Without writing a whole book on what Redford meant to the art and industry of documentaries (go on Instagram and find any documentarian, and they’ve probably shared a photo of themselves at Sundance with Redford), I invite you to check out our list of the best Sundance documentaries of all time, which was compiled a decade ago.
Documentary Release Calendar 9/19/25 – 9/25/25
Friday, September 19, 2025
Chain Reactions (2024) – A documentary feature by Alexandre O. Philippe (Memory: The Origins of Alien) about the impact of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on five artists, including Stephen King and Patton Oswalt. (In Theaters)
Detroit 48202: Conversations Along a Postal Route (2018) – A documentary feature about Detroit through the perspective of an African-American mail carrier. (OVID)
Dolphins Up Close with Bertie Gregory (2025) – A nature documentary about dolphins shot by Bertie Gregory in the Azores. (Hulu and Disney+)
Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert (2025) – A concert film starring the titular film composer. (VOD)
In Whose Name? (2025) – A documentary feature covering six years in the life of Kanye West. (In Theaters)
Megadoc (2025) – A documentary feature by Mike Figgis about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. (In Theaters)
Predators (2025) – A documentary about the TV series To Catch a Predator. Read our review of Predators from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (In Theaters)
The Reluctant Traveler Season 3 – The return of the travel series starring actor Eugene Levy. (Apple TV+)
Song of My City (2025) – A short film made up of clips from movies shot in New York City in the 1970s. (In Theaters)
Speak. (2025) – A documentary feature about a global speech contest. (In Theaters)
Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets (2024) – A documentary feature about a clash between pro-Israel activists and pro-Palestine activists involving posters around New York City. Read our review of Torn. (Gathr)
Unorthodox Education (2024) – A short documentary on the education problems of Orthodox Jewish children in New York City. (In Theaters)
Saturday, September 20, 2025
Alaska Lifeboat (1956) – A short documentary in the Theatre of Life series following a medical ship to a village in Alaska. (TCM)
Believe It or Not (Second Series) #7 (1932) – This installment of Robert L. Ripley’s Believe It or Not documentary franchise features a leaning lighthouse, a movie theater in a lead mine, and more. (TCM)
Mafia: Most Wanted (2025) – A three-part docuseries about organized crime moving to Toronto. (Netflix)
Three Cheers for the Girls (1943) – A short film showcasing musical numbers from Warner Bros. movies. (TCM)
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 5, Episode 10: “Shark Hunters” – The latest installment of this award-winning investigative series involves the shark fin trade. (National Geographic)
Sunday, September 21, 2025
Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe (2024) – A documentary feature showcasing the titular Italian tenor on and off stage. (In Theaters)
Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (2025) – A documentary feature about the titular 1990s all-women music festival. (Hulu)
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 5, Episode 10: “Shark Hunters” – The latest installment of this award-winning investigative series involves the shark fin trade. (Hulu)
Trifles of Importance (1940) – A short documentary about trivial objects and the stories they can tell. (TCM)
Monday, September 22, 2025
Into the Void: Life, Death & Heavy Metal (2025) – A docuseries about heavy metal. (Hulu)
Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Clemente (2024) – A biographical documentary about pro baseball Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. Read our review of Clemente. (History)
The Devil is Busy (2024) – A short documentary by Geeta Gandbhir about a woman working security at an Atlanta abortion clinic. (HBO Max)
Expedition: Greenland (2025) – A documentary feature about a team of explorers navigating Greenland’s ice sheet. (VOD)
The Eyes of Orson Welles (2018) – A documentary by Mark Cousins about Orson Welles’s paintings and drawings. Read our review of The Eyes of Orson Welles. (TCM)
F for Fake (1973) – A documentary by Orson Welles about forgers, frauds, and fakers. (TCM)
Finding Your Roots Season 8, Episode 5: “Mexican Roots” – An episode of a docuseries focused on ancestry in which Mario Lopez and Melissa Villaseñor learn about their Mexican heritage. (PBS)
Hustlers, Gamblers and Crooks Season 2 – The return of a docuseries about underdogs taking big risks. (Discovery)
Orozco: Man of Fire (2007) – A biographical documentary about mural artist José Clemente Orozco. Presented as an episode of American Masters. (PBS)
Satisfied (2024) – A documentary feature about Hamilton actress Renée Elise Goldsberry. (In Theaters)
Someone You Should Meet (2024) – A short documentary by two filmmakers who discovered they were related. (OVID)
Tangled Roots (2001) – A short documentary by a filmmaker confronting her dual identity as a German and a Jew. (OVID)
Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 2: “Catching The Wire” – The second installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (National Geographic)
Your Last Act (1941) – A short film on various odd bequests people made in their wills. (TCM)
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
A Dream of Love (1938) – A short biographical film by James A. FitzPatrick about composer Franz Liszt. (TCM)
BTS 2016 Live The Most Beautiful Moment in Life On Stage: Epilogue Remastered (2025) – A concert film starring BTS. (In Theaters)
BTS 2017 Live Trilogy Episode III The Wings Tour The Final Remastered (2025) – A concert film starring BTS. (In Theaters)
Four Minute Fever (1956) – A short documentary about the quest to run a mile under four minutes. (TCM)
On the Trail of the Iguana (1964) – A short documentary on the making of the film The Night of the Iguana. (TCM)
Sacred Planet with Gulnaz Khan Episode 3: “Saving the World’s Forests” – The premiere installment of a docuseries about global solutions to climate change. This episode focuses on biodiverse forests in Japan. (PBS)
Top Guns: The Next Generation Episode 2: “Catching The Wire” – The second installment of a docuseries about naval aviators in the Advanced Flight Training Program made famous by the movie Top Gun. (Hulu and Disney+)
The Year We Thought About Love (2015) – A documentary about the LGBT youth of color who made up the cast of the show True Colors: OUT Youth Theater. (OVID)
Thursday, September 25, 2025
Art & Life: The Story of Jim Phillips (2024) – A documentary about the titular artist. (VOD)
Cleopatra’s Final Secret (2025) – A docuseries following a team searching for Cleopatra’s tomb in the Mediterranean. (National Geographic)
Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel (2025) – A three-part docuseries about a football player who became a drug kingpin. (Prime Video)
Ellavut Cimirtuq (Our World Is Changing) (2023) – A short documentary about an archaeological site in Alaska exposed thanks to thawing permafrost. (OVID)
Eva Hesse (2016) – A documentary about the titular artist. (Kino Film Collection)
Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963) – A short documentary sharing home movie clips of Hollywood stars. (TCM)
Latin Clowns Evolution (2025) – A documentary feature on the art of clowning in the Latine community in Los Angeles. (In Theaters)
Lost Treasures of Ancient Civilizations, Season 1, Episode 1: “The Valley of the Kings” – The first episode of a docuseries about ancient civilizations focuses on Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. (National Geographic)
Three Ocean Advocates (2021) – An Emmy-winning short documentary about activists focused on the oceans. (OVID)
Whose Water (2024) – A medium-length documentary on communities fighting for safe and affordable water and sanitation. (OVID)
!Women Art Revolution (2010) – A documentary feature about the Feminist Art Revolution. (Kino Film Collection)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
9/30 – Hard Hat Riot – A documentary about a 1970 clash between student anti-war protestors and construction workers in New York City. (PBS)
10/3 – Soul of a Nation – A documentary feature about current Israeli politics. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
10/10 – There Was, There Was Not – A documentary feature about four women in post-war Artsakh on the brink of another war. (In Theaters)
10/22 – Mitski: The Land – A concert film starring the titular singer-songwriter as she performs in Atlanta. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
10/29 – Love+War – A documentary feature directed by Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) about Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lynsey Addario. (In Theaters)
11/3 – In Waves and War – A documentary feature about U.S. Navy SEALs with PTSD. (Netflix)
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In Whose Name? paints a staggeringly detailed portrait of the most controversial years of Ye’s career and a larger truth about the culture that created him
In Whose Name? paints a staggeringly detailed portrait of the most controversial years of Ye’s career and a larger truth about the culture that created him
The Exorcist franchise has grown to six films, with a seventh arriving, maybe in 2027. While the series has had its highs and lows, the original 1973 classic remains untouchable in the eyes of most. “The Exorcist III” earned a dedicated cult following, but the rest of the sequels have largely been seen in a negative light.
Then there’s “Exorcist II: The Heretic.” Released in 1977, John Boorman’s follow-up was famously savaged by critics. Gene Siskel called it “the worst major motion picture I’ve seen in almost eight years,” and William Friedkin, who directed the first Exorcist, reportedly walked out of a 40-minute preview saying it was “the worst… I have ever seen, really, and that’s saying a lot.” Test audiences were similarly hostile; one screening nearly descended into chaos. Commercially, it fared no better, earning just over $30M compared to the original’s $193M.
However, what tends to go untackled is that ‘Exorcist II’ wasn’t a typical sequel. David Kittredge’s new documentary, “Boorman and the Devil,” argues that it was a bold experiment in storytelling. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival, combines meticulous research with a lyrical, almost poetic sensibility. Kittredge covers the troubled production, while also placing Boorman’s vision in the context of his entire career.
And what a career he’s had. At 92, Boorman—likely retired—is the visionary behind like “Point Blank,” “Deliverance,” “Excalibur,” “Hope & Glory,” and “The General.” A true old-school master, his work continues to resonate decades later. Not ‘Exorcist II,’ which remains the black sheep of his career.
A standout element of the documentary is its recreation of mid-1970s Hollywood—the tail end of the New Hollywood era that began in 1967 with films like “Bonnie and Clyde” and culminated with “Star Wars” in 1977. Through interviews with Boorman, Linda Blair, the late Louise Fletcher, and key crew members, Kittredge delves into the film’s creative ambitions and the missteps that earned it infamy. A cleverly memorable montage captures a variety of opinions on whether Exorcist II is “good,” offering insight into its controversial legacy.
The case Kittredge makes is compelling: ‘Exorcist II’ isn’t a lazy cash-in, but a subversive, near-experimental film that challenges the formula of Friedkin’s original. Its ambitions align it with other daring, misunderstood films of the 1970s. Even Martin Scorsese expressed admiration, defending the film in a Film Comment essay:
I like the first Exorcist, because of the Catholic guilt I have, and because it scared the hell out of me; but “The Heretic” surpasses it. The movie still deserved better than it got.
Such praise contrasts sharply with the film’s critical reception, which remains harsh even today: Rotten Tomatoes scores it at 10%, with reviewers dismissing it as “silly” and “atrocious.” On IMDb, it has an atrocious 3.8/10 user score. Yet “Boorman and the Devil” invites a new perspective, showing the artistry, ambition, and human effort behind a film once written off as a disaster.
After seeing it years ago, and brushing it off as disposable, I decided to check out the film again. My honest opinion? No matter how flawed “Exorcist II: The Heretic” may be, it occupies a curious space far above most legacy sequels. A misunderstood oddity. The film’s sheer ambition and audacious narrative risks make it an endlessly fascinating rewatch. Boorman wasn’t content to simply replicate the shock value or commercial success of Friedkin’s original; he aimed for something more subversive. The film is very imperfect, but it is never boring. It stands less as a failed horror film and more as a curious artifact of 1970s New Hollywood.
“Boorman and the Devil” will screen at Beyond Fest in Los Angeles on September 24 and is seeking distribution.
Back in July, Barry Avrich’s latest documentary, “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue,” about Israel’s October 7 attacks, was briefly pulled from the TIFF lineup before being reinstated after advocacy groups pushed back.
Here we are, a few months later, and while “Hamnet” took the festival’s top People’s Choice Award, ‘The Road Between Us’ actually won the People’s Choice Award for best documentary on Sunday, just days after pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrations clashed outside Roy Thomson Hall, the festival’s largest venue.
I’m guessing the win might have been fueled by a grassroots campaign that gained momentum after the film’s initial removal sparked. Its reinstatement galvanized supporters, and by the time it screened, the documentary had become a symbol of resistance. The major flaw in the TIFF voting system is that you can still cast your ballot without having actually seen the film.
‘Road Between Us’ follows retired Israeli general Noam Tibon as he races to rescue his family during the 2023 Hamas attacks, which left 1200 dead. It opens in theaters on October 3 via a self-release model, with Avrich partnering with Forston Consulting in the U.S. and Cineplex Pictures in Canada. I had heard whispers at TIFF that they would also be mounting an Oscar campaign for the doc.
Avrich is no stranger to TIFF—long regarded as the festival’s unofficial house documentarian for his portraits of Canadian cultural figures and institutions—but this time he’s delved into combustible territory. If it weren’t for the backlash, ‘Road Between Us’ might not have even screened at the festival.
TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey initially blamed “footage rights issues” for the removal, denying censorship, but the decision was reversed after criticism from groups including the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation and Creative Community for Peace. Bailey and Avrich later issued a joint statement confirming the screening.
The premiere took place at a sold-out Roy Thomson Hall on Wednesday, September 10, with Avrich, producer Mark Selby, and subjects Noam Tibon and Gali Mir-Tibon in attendance.