One of this year's acclaimed Oscar-contending documentaries goes below the waves with a remarkable community of women free divers off the coast of South Korea. They're formally known as “haenyeo,” but sometimes referred to as "Korea's mermaids." Filmmaker Sue Kim's term for them: "A bad-ass girl…

EXCLUSIVE: Briarcliff Entertainment has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the documentary October H8te, the explosive Oscar-contending film directed by Wendy Sachs. Briarcliff plans a theatrical release in the first quarter of 2025 for the film, which documents the sharp rise in antisemitism and…

One of the most extraordinary stories from World War II, paradoxically, is one of the least known: the sinking of the Lisbon Maru. This was the scene, in the ocean waters around a remote island off the Chinese coast: "On October 2, 1942, the Lisbon Maru, a Japanese freighter carrying 1,816 British…

A great documentary can make you fall in love with a real person you had never encountered before viewing a film. Such is the case, for me, with Lars Hammar, the protagonist of the Oscar-contending documentary The Last Journey. Dear Lars spent a career teaching French to kids in Sweden. Reaching a…

For his Oscar-contending documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, filmmaker Benjamin Ree drew inspiration from literary sources as much or more than cinematic ones. "One of my main interests is dramaturgy… and structure," he says over a breakfast of an omelet and waffles in Amsterdam. "I’m…

EXCLUSIVE: The single-most ambitious documentary of the year may be the Oscar-contending Piece by Piece, Morgan Neville's film about music producer, singer, performer, and fashion designer Pharrell Williams. The Oscar-winning filmmaker shot a full-on nonfiction feature about Pharrell – going into the…

As Oscar documentary branch voters mark their shortlist ballots, one of the features they're considering is the award-winning Netflix film Daughters, a cinematic experience that has deeply touched audiences since its debut at Sundance. The film directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae tells the…

UPDATED with details on documentaries from Elegance Bratton, Amy Berg, Jesse Moss, and Amanda McBaine, and Sally key art. Some of the biggest talents in documentary film will be unveiling new work at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, including Oscar winners Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Davis Guggenheim, and…

Eno is the world's first generative feature film.  "I tell people, 'The film is different every time,'" explains director Gary Hustwit (Helvetica, Rams). "And they always say, 'What do you mean? I don't understand!' So the best way to explain it is that each iteration of the film is 100 percent…

For their Oscar-contending documentary Frida, director Carla Gutiérrez, producer Katia Maguire and team conducted extraordinarily detailed research into artist Frida Kahlo, a quest that extended from Mexico City to an attic in Cape Cod, Mass. The east coast venture took them to the doorstep of…

Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain's Journey is enjoying some unexpected awards season chatter, but earlier this year, the documentary couldn't even secure a slot at Sundance — or any of the usual high-profile festivals. "I think we submitted the film to 30 film festivals, and all of them said…

One of the most thrilling scenes in recent cinema history comes not from a big budget Hollywood production but via independent documentary filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, directors of Gaucho Gaucho. To capture the tremendous horsemanship of cowboys and cowgirls in a remote area of…