FYC Documentary Screening Guide

As the Russian invasion begins, a team of Ukrainian journalists trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol struggle to continue their work documenting the war's atrocities.

Explores the elemental phenomenon of sound and its power to bend time, cross borders, and profoundly shape our perception of the world around us.

The incredible story of Manhattan Project scientist Ted Hall, who shared classified nuclear secrets with Russia.

Sara Nodjoumi delves into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of more than 100 "treasonous" paintings by her father, seminal Iranian modern artist Nickzad Nodjoumi.

Director Luke Lorentzen’s A Still Small Voice follows Mati, a chaplain completing a year-long hospital residency, as she learns to provide spiritual care to people confronting profound life changes. Through Mati’s experiences with her patients, her struggle with professional burnout, and her own spiritual questioning, we gain new perspectives on how meaningful connection can be and how painful its absence is.

Explores the life and career of Michael Chow.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14746834/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_after%2520the%2520biteLocal residents and thousands of vacationers flock to Cape Cod every summer begin to grapple with this alarming new reality of sharks while following the science to investigate.

American Pain traces the rise and fall of twin bodybuilders from Florida who become the kingpins of the largest oxycodone trafficking network in US history.

As Americans head to the mall in preparation for the Christmas season, a haunting shadow threatens to unravel the season's true spirit, delivering an indictment against bigotry written on the back of a Christmas card.

This doc follows the celebrated musician Jon Batiste as he experiences his greatest professional success at the same time that his wife faces her greatest personal challenge.

From the first camera to 45 billion cameras worldwide today, the visual sociologist filmmakers widen their lens to expose both humanity's unique obsession with the camera's image and the social consequences that lay ahead.

When a young woman turns to the camera for refuge, she ends up with a firsthand account of what will become the deadliest man-made epidemic in United States history.

In Anselm, Wim Wenders creates a portrait of Anselm Kiefer, one of the most innovative and important painters and sculptors of our time. Shot in 3D and 6K-resolution, the film presents a cinematic experience of the artist’s work which explores human existence and the cyclical nature of history, inspired by literature, poetry, philosophy, science, mythology, and religion. For over two years, Wenders traced Kiefer’s path from his native Germany to his current home in France, connecting the stages of his life to the essential places of his career that spans more than five decades.

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It centers on Kris Bowers and Dahi as they venture out on a musical journey across the U.S. experimenting to reimagine the National Anthem.

When the Muscogee Nation suddenly begins censoring their free press, a rogue reporter fights to expose her government’s corruption in a historic battle that will have ramifications for all of Indian Country.

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Explores the vanguard career of Mary, who, as an actor, performer, and advocate, revolutionized the portrayal of women in media, redefined their roles in show business, and inspired generations to dream big and make it on their own.

Renowned ecologist Nalini Nadkarni pioneered climbing techniques to study "what grows back" after an ecological disturbance in the rainforest canopy. After surviving a life-threatening fall from a tree, she comes to understand what is needed for her own recovery process. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

The story of several families as they attempt to escape oppression in North Korea, revealing a world most of us have never seen.

In Uganda’s 2021 presidential election, music star, activist and opposition leader Bobi Wine, together with his wife Barbie, rallies his people in a dangerous fight for freedom from President Museveni’s oppressive 35-year regime.

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Follows a Deaf activist and his formerly incarcerated daughter, as they build new bonds through the experiences they've had in the criminal justice system.

Years after leaving her Palestinian village to pursue an acting career in France, Hiam Abbass (Succession) returns home with her daughter, filmmaker Lina Soualem, in this intimate documentary about four generations of women and their shared legacy of separation.

The war in Ukraine forced Milana and her grandmother Olga to flee their home country. Now, given the rare opportunity to attend a special summer climbing camp in the Austrian Alps, the two find that the war and the scars left behind are not so easily forgotten. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

Follows Santana's journey from 14-year-old street musician to a 10-time Grammy winning global sensation. Features unseen archival footage and tracks.

Told by the pioneering women who participated, this is the extraordinary story of the 1971 Women's Soccer World Cup, a tournament witnessed by record crowds that has been written out of sporting history - until now.

Over 50 years ago, New York State assemblyman George Michaels cast a single vote that changed the course of American history but destroyed his political career in the process. Deciding Vote reveals the now-forgotten story of how Michaels defied his conservative and religious constituents by casting the critical tie-breaking vote on the bill that legalized abortion in New York, laying the groundwork for Roe v Wade. The film is a moving tribute to this lost act of political courage.

Unique access to Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and other key figures in the administration who are fighting to save their country against Russia's invasion by combatting disinformation.

A woman in Kherson navigates the horrors and absurdities of daily life during the initial weeks of the Russian war in Ukraine, adapted from Olena Astasieva's personal accounts from the front lines.

Explores the amazing life and career of Donyale Luna, as one of the first black models to appear on the cover of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar in Europe.

Focuses on three individuals who overcame shame, secrecy, and unauthorized surgery throughout their childhoods to enjoy successful adulthoods. Choosing to ignore medical advice to conceal their bodies and coming out as who they truly were.

For thousands of years women have been locked out of Taiko drumming. Not any more.

Four Daughters blurs the edges between non-fiction and narrative in order to delicately explore one family’s fraught personal tragedy. The film follows matron Olfa Hamrouni in Tunisia, whose two eldest teenage daughters shockingly go missing in 2015, leaving herself and her two younger daughters shattered and reeling. Here filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania steps in, bringing two professional actresses into the family home to recreate what was once their daily life in a bold attempt to piece together their complex, layered story. What emerges is a fascinating, raw, and highly singular examination of one family's contention with grief and loss. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

This imaginative and creative documentary explores the life and work of celebrated American poet Nikki Giovanni. On the cusp of her 80th birthday, Giovanni reflects on her more than fifty-year career writing acclaimed poetry exploring race, sexism, and classism and the concurrent social movements that served as inspiration. Interweaving compelling archival footage, intimate interviews, and stirring poetry readings, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project, is an extraordinary biographical documentary that mirrors the lyrical, creative mastery of its namesake. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

Follow the moment Barrett was kicked out of Pink Floyd, from the narrative of him going from groundbreaking musician to iconic rocker and manic, unstable star.

Examines the rapid ascent, fall from grace and journey towards controversial fashion designer John Galliano.

Immediately after the US pullout from Afghanistan, Taliban forces occupied the Hollywood Gate complex, which is claimed to be a former CIA base in Kabul.

After the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter's precarious existence is ripped apart. They must find strength in each other if they are to survive the malevolent forces that threaten to engulf them.

Fashion revolutionary Bethann Hardison looks back on her journey as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent, and activist, shining a light on an untold chapter in the fight for racial diversity.

The illustrious life and career of the baseball great, Yogi Berra.

Jeanette Lee was like nothing else billiards had ever seen - and when she took the game by storm, she became, improbably, one of the most recognizable figures in all of sports.

At the end of a 60-year career, legendary singer and activist Joan Baez takes an honest look back and a deep look inward as she tries to make sense of her large, history-making life, and the personal struggles she's kept private.

Judy Blume and the generations of readers who have sparked to her work. Examines her impact on pop culture and the occasional controversies over her frankness about puberty and sex.

The cultural roots of coal continue to permeate the rituals of daily life in Appalachia even as its economic power wanes. The journey of a coal miner's daughter exploring the region's dreams and myths, untangling the pain and beauty.

A raw depiction of the lives of four black trans sex workers as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves.

A chronicle about how the Lakota Indians fight to reclaim control of the Black Hills. Will investigate how the sacred land was stolen in violation of treaty agreements and feature interviews with Indigenous citizens.

The one-of-a-kind rock'n'roll icon who shaped the world of music.

Every week, two friends born 67 years apart share their life stories in a senior home's living room. The younger friend convinces the 107-year-old lady to join her in an adventure: a road trip to the sea.

The life and times of Nam June Paik, the father of video art, who coined the phrase "Electronic Superhighway."

Somali-born Abdi reenacts his life, marked by war and criminality, with the help of his neighbour and filmmaker Douwe. Through playful reconstructions in a special effects studio, they embark on a candid and investigative journey through a painful history, focusing on the creative process throughout.

After 80 years of silence, a grandmother shares her Holocaust survivor story — including the painful disappearance of her sister — with her grandson. A touching tale of loss, love, and hope that emphasizes personal narratives’ significance to our collective memory. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

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A brick maker in Uganda becomes an Internet sensation when he tries his hand at making action movies.

Academic virtuoso turned filmmaker Paul B. Preciado's Berlin Film Festival award-winning doc tells his and others' stories of transition through unique reenactments and visual interpretations of Virginia Woolf's Orlando: A Biography.

Nearly 2 million Americans with Type 1 Diabetes are held for ransom by the high cost of insulin, which they will die without. Three families reveal the reality of life with this chronic illness.

Periodical is an eye-opening documentary that examines science, politics, and mystery of the menstrual cycle, through the experiences of doctors, athletes, movie stars, journalists, activists, and everyday people.

Young pianists take part in the legendary International Chopin Piano Competition. A unique chance of a lifetime, portrayed from backstage and set to Chopin's music.

It tells the story of Birta and Selma, rescue pufflings (adolescent puffins). We follow Birta and Selma as they exchange night-time parties for nocturnal puffin rescues: saving lost pufflings, whilst also grappling with their own futures.

ROJEK encounters incarcerated members of the Islamic State from all over the world, as well as their wives detained in prison-camps, who are sharing a common dream: establishing a caliphate. Confronted with the fundamentalist beliefs of the jihadists, the film attempts to trace the beginning, the rise and fall of the Islamic State (ISIS) through their personal stories. These conversations are the thread along which the documentary evolves, as it is intertwined with various sequences depicting current, post-war Syrian Kurdistan.

ROJEK offers an intimate gaze at an unknown reality, testifying of pivotal moments experienced by the actors of this conflict. The film tackles how this ideological war is only the beginning of a new kind of threat.

Sam Harkness and his half-brother Reed go on a road trip to find their missing mom. But solving the mystery of her disappearance is only the beginning of their story.

In North Carolina, land developers exploit legal loopholes to claim family properties passed down for generations without a will. But when the Reels family refuses to relinquish the land they’ve owned for over a century, it sparks a decades-long battle with a developer intent on acquiring their waterfront property. Silver Dollar Road, directed by Academy Award®-nominated director Raoul Peck (I'm Not Your Negro), is a biting exploration of a legal system turning a blind eye to predatory practices that have contributed significantly to Black Americans' rapid land loss and the resulting economic disparity. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

Smoke Sauna Sisterhood is an intimate glimpse into the sauna rituals of a group of women in southern Estonia whose rituals go beyond the ancient practice of purification and renewal. Steam-laden air permeates their smoke sauna refuge, where the women sweat, scrub, and beat their bodies to stimulate blood circulation while sharing intimate secrets and reveling in the strength and safety of female companionship. The beautifully shot documentary is a powerful portrait of femininity, friendship, and resiliency, celebrating sisterhood's enduring bonds. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

Filmmaker Margreth Olin comes back to the family home in the small mountain community of Oldedalen, Norway to visit with her aging and beloved parents. Together, they must face the inescapable reality that time spent with each other is now fleeting. To help ease the pain and just because he can never stop moving, Olin’s lovable 84-year-old father Jørgen heads off on a series of treks through this breathtaking landscape. Over the course of four distinct seasons, Jørgen traipses through glaciers and across mountain passes, leading us deep into nature and on a journey into the family’s past. Executive Produced by film legends Wim Wenders and Liv Ullman. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

From Academy Award®-winning director Roger Ross Williams ("Music by Prudence, "Life Animated") director Roger Ross Williams, Stamped From the Beginning, is a thoughtful and candid examination of the origin, evolution, and continued impact of racist anti-Black narratives on American policy and culture. Based on Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning and bestselling book of the same title, it brings to life the principles in his text using cinematic visuals, creative reenactments, and insightful interviews. It's sure to entertain as much as it informs.

In 2016, the band "The Bergamot" took a timely journey to perform in all 50 States inviting people to sign their message of unity on their car. What ensued is a heartwarming tale of empathy and understanding during a polarizing time.

The coming-of-age story of Stephen Curry, from an undersized basketball player at a small college, to becoming a larger-than-life NBA superstar.

Follows the life of beloved actor and advocate Michael J. Fox, exploring his personal and professional triumphs and travails, and what happens when an incurable optimist confronts an incurable disease.

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Filmmakers examine the impact that well-known documentaries and their commercial success have had on the lives of their subjects. They focus on the ethics and responsibility inherent in documentary filmmaking.

As the brutal Chicago winter draws near, Deirdre, Helen and Jennefer—avid open water swimmers—make a pact to continue through the snow and ice as the pandemic rages on. This intense commitment becomes their salvation from lockdown and helps alleviate each of their personal struggles. Initially just acquaintances, Swimming Through follows their friendship as it coalesces around their commitment to the daily ritual of swimming at sunrise in Lake Michigan.

Reveals the voices of the impacted parties of books banned from school districts, inspiring hope for the future through the profound insights of inquisitive youthful minds.

A look at the David vs. Goliath game show that captivated audiences from 1989 to 1996. American Gladiators was one of the most popular syndicated programs on TV, as one of the first competition shows to pre-date the reality TV era.

The groundbreaking feminist you’ve never heard of, Shere Hite was a cultural force during the sexual revolution of the 1970s. This captivating portrait details the impact — and subsequent fallout — surrounding Hite’s game-changing The Hite Report, one of the bestselling books in history. Scarlett Johanson brings voice to Hite’s personal journal entries. Directed by Academy Award®-nominated director Nicole Newnham (Crip Camp), and coupled with riveting archival footage, the film paints a picture of a time when an emboldened woman advocating for sexual liberation could result in her near complete erasure.

Augusto and Paulina have been together for 25 years. Eight years ago, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Both fear the day he no longer recognizes her.

THE HOLLY goes deep inside a gentrifying community in Denver, where a shooting case involving an activist becomes a window into the political machinations of urban development and the city's gang activity.

A groundbreaking documentary film that uses Lady Bird's audio diaries to tell the story of one of the most influential and least understood First Ladies in history.

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Ben Proudfoot's (The Queen of Basketball) latest short is a moving portrait of the incredible craftsmen in a downtown Los Angeles warehouse who repair musical instruments for the school district paired with the indelible stories of the students whose lives they’ve changed.

A portrait of African-American artist David Hammons whose elusive, rule-breaking practice offers an essential commentary on race in America.

In 2018, while attempting to contact one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous peoples on remote North Sentinel Island, the young American missionary John Chau was met by a barrage of arrows. The event made headlines across the world. But soon after, the story faded from view. Chau’s actions and the tragic consequences of his mission, however, raised many unsettling questions and unresolved issues. Refusing to tie up their film with tidy answers, Emmy®-winning filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine (Boys State, The Overnighters), piece together the story-behind-the-story and bring new perspective to what happened and why.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27118858/In his short lifetime, J Dilla was a musician, producer and visionary who profoundly influenced rap and hip-hop. Given how prolific he was in his 32 years, why didn't his accolades come sooner?

Academy Award® winner Errol Morris delves into the life and career of former British spy David Cornwell — better known as John le Carré — author of such classic espionage novels as “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”. Click link above for latest festival screening times.

Born male and female within one single body, a beauty queen and a male-presenting activist break the intersex taboo through a personal and intimate exploration of truth, faith, and belonging.

Vidal Merma, an independent journalist, champions the voice of the indigenous K'ana Nation, a people whose wellbeing and natural resources suffer from the poisoning of aggressive mineral mining. With rivers reduced to dust, and the remaining water contaminated, the people of Espinar demand accountability, and an immediate end to the unsolicited practices destroying their home.

You Were My First Boyfriend is a feature-length documentary in which filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo revisits her 1990s adolescence, a generation after she thought she'd left it all behind.

The rise of Aubrey Gordon, from anonymous blogger to best selling author. Her aim? A paradigm shift in the way that we view fatness. A film about fat, family, the complexities of change and the deep, messy feelings we hold about our bodies

Most people dream of a better future. Pedro, an aspiring social worker, is no different. But as a blind, undocumented immigrant, Pedro faces political restrictions to obtain his college degree, secure a job as a health care provider, and support his family. As he finally graduates, uncertainty looms over Pedro. What starts as a journey to provide mental health for his community ultimately transforms into Pedro’s path towards his own healing.

Through experimental cinematography and sound, unseen reimagines a cinema accessible for blind/low vision audiences, while exploring the intersections of immigration, disability, and mental health.