Strangeness is afoot. Most people don't notice the hundreds of cryptic tiled messages about resurrecting the dead that have been appearing in city streets over the past three decades. But Justin Duerr does. For years, finding an answer to this long-standing urban mystery has been his obsession. He has been collecting clues that the tiler has embedded in the streets of major cities across the U.S. and South America. But as Justin starts piecing together key events of the past he finds a story that is more surreal than he imagined, and one that hits disturbingly close to home. (Argot Pictures)

This documentary examines the rise and fall of the revolutionary model opera, or Yang Ban Xi, in China.

Directed by her grandson Andrew Neel, this feature-length documentary tells the story of American painter Alice Neel (1900-1984). Exploring the struggles she faces as a woman artist, a single mother, and a painter who defied convention, the film males use of extensive textual, photographic, and filmic archives. [SeeThink Productions]

Something's happening on the edge of town. There's a desperate housewife in the parking lot, a musical chorus line mowing the lawn - and a loaded gun in the upstairs closet. Welcome to Radiant City, new film on 21st century suburbanites. (Odeon Films)

This documentary deconstructs the Bush Administration's quest to invade Iraq following the events of September 11, 2001.

This documentary paints a meticulous and damning portrait of the media's coverage of the Iraq war. (Cinema Libre)

Bombs, war, angry bearded men, shrouded sobbing women, shattered cities: this is Iraq as seen through the eyes of the western media these days. These images are juxtaposed with those from the fifties and seventies: films with frivolous music, unveiled women who study, elegantly dressed men in Bagdad, a modern city. How did it come to this? In this documentary, author and director Samir tells the compelling story of his globalized middle-class Iraqi family who are scattered all over the world. Shuttling between Auckland, Moscow, Paris, London, Zurich, Buffalo, and Iraq, Samir presents a moving homage to the frustrated democratic dreams of a people successively plagued by dictatorship, war, and foreign occupation.

Quincy is an intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. The film seamlessly threads personal vérité moments with private archival footage to reveal a legendary life like no other. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America. Beyond his own acclaim as a trumpeter, producer, conductor, composer and arranger, Jones’s inimitable gift to discover the biggest talents of the past half of the century is unprecedented. He has mentored and cultivated the careers of young talents, from Lesley Gore and Michael Jackson to Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith. [Netflix]

On the remote New Siberian Islands in the Arctic Ocean, hunters are searching for the tusks of extinct mammoths. There is a gold rush fever in the air. The price for white gold has never been so high. The thawing permafrost not only releases precious ivory. The tusk hunters find a surprisingly well-preserved mammoth carcass. Such finds are magnets for high-tech genetic scientists. They want to bring the extinct woolly mammoth back to life à la "Jurassic Park". Resurrecting the mammoth is a first manifestation of the next great technological revolution. Man becomes Creator.

Against the backdrop of the 1964 Republican Convention, a San Francisco cocktail waitress became one of the city’s most popular entertainers after making her debut as America’s first topless dancer. Carol Doda Topless at the Condor tells the story of the fresh-faced girl next door who defied convention and the law by gyrating atop a white baby grand piano and turning a North Beach nightclub into the city’s second-most-popular tourist attraction after the Golden Gate Bridge. Meanwhile, Doda’s very public use of silicone to enhance her breasts launched a new industry. Directors Marlo McKenzie and Jonathan Parker share an unprecedented look at Doda’s life and legacy, as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of the vibrant, sometimes outrageous and always entertaining world of North Beach.

Millions know the iconic logo and ubiquitous signature but few know the man behind the larger than life label. House of Cardin is a rare peek into the mind of a genius, an authorized feature documentary chronicling the life and design of Cardin. A true original, Mr. Cardin has granted the directors exclusive access to his archives and his empire, and unprecedented interviews at the sunset of a glorious career.

At once brutal, bizarre and funny, Sheriff is a feature-length documentary movie that employs the pure cinema verite technique of Frederick Wiseman: no interviews, no music, no voice-overs. The result is an unexpected, intimate portrait of a complex man trying to do good in a bad, bad world. (Go Pictures)

In the late 80s and early 90s, the streets of downtown Manhattan were the site of a collision between two vibrant subcultures: skateboarding and hip hop. Narrated by Zoo York co-founder Eli Gesner with an original score by legendary hip-hop producer Large Professor (Nas, A Tribe Called Quest), All the Streets Are Silent brings to life the magic of the time period and the convergence that created a style and visual language that would have an outsized and enduring cultural effect. From the DJ booths and dance floors of the Mars nightclub to the founding of brands like Supreme, this convergence would lay the foundation for modern street style.

This documentary look at the rise and fall of filmmaker Troy Duffy (The Boondock Saints) is a stunning, often hilarious look at how, even in the shark-infested waters of moviemaking, one?s teeth can be too sharp. (Film Forum)

The story of two best friends' struggle to open a restaurant in the food capital of the world. As Billy Phelps and John McCormick suffer through financial crisis, the loss of their chef, and a crumbling relationship, the filmmakers turn the camera on New York City's legendary restaurateurs who prove that dreams can come true. (Arrow Entertainment)

Good Ol' Freda' tells the story of Freda Kelly, a shy Liverpudlian teenager asked to work for a young local band hoping to make it big: the Beatles. As the Beatles' fame multiplies, Freda bears witness to music and cultural history but never exploits her insider access. Their loyal secretary from beginning to end, Freda finally tells her tales for the first time in 50 years.

Sex! Gossip! Scandal! For over 60 years, the National Enquirer has pumped out salacious, shocking stories, stretching the limits of journalism and blurring the lines between truth and fiction. Scandalous is the sensational true story of the most infamous tabloid in US history, a wild, probing look at how one newspaper’s prescient grasp of its’ readers darkest curiosities led it to massive profits and influence. From its coverage of Elvis’s death, to Monica Lewinsky and the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the National Enquirer rattled the foundations of American culture and politics, sometimes allegedly using payoffs and blackmail to get its scoops. With rare archival footage and revelations as wild as National Enquirer headlines themselves, Scandalous examines our obsession with the rich, famous and powerful, and the tabloid that has fed those obsessions for generations of Americans.

Young Rebels follows seven Cuban hip-hop artists and producers over the course of a Havana summer. Battling on the stage or at home, the characters' personal travels collide in a summer of explosive concerts, intense debate, unbearable heat, and rising tensions as government agencies begin to institutionalize hip-hop's street roots. (Gowanus Productions)

This film finally explains how and why over $12 trillion of our money vanished into the American Casino. As the global financial system crumbles and outraged but impotent lawmakers fume at Wall Street titans, we see the casino’s endgame: Riverside, California a foreclosure wasteland given over to colonies of rats and methamphetamine labs, where disease-bearing mosquitoes breed in their millions on the stagnant swimming pools of yesterday’s dreams. Filmed over twelve months in 2008, American Casino takes you inside a game that our grandchildren never wanted to play. (Arogot Pictures)

This documentary features first-person interviews with Ahmed Shah Massoud, leader of the Northern Alliance until his assassination in September 2001.

A look at the life and career of Chelsea Manning, a trans woman soldier in the United States Army, who was sentenced to serve 35 years at an all-male military prison for leaking information about the country's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Over the past decade, Mixed Martial Arts has grown from a controversial, no-holds-barred sideshow into a billion-dollar phenomenon eclipsing boxing as the dominant combat sport in the world. Fightville shows how MMA has taken hold in the American heartland, where modern-day gladiators battle in strip mall gyms and dusty rodeo arenas desperate for glory and a shot at the big time. (MPI Media Group)

(Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies is a documentary feature film that explores the human tendency to be dishonest. Inspired by the work of behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the film interweaves personal stories, expert opinions, behavioral experiments, and archival footage to reveal how and why people lie.

Since 1925 the Streit’s matzo factory has sat in a low-slung tenement building on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. While other matzo companies have modernized, Streit’s remained a piece of living history, churning out 40 percent of the nation’s unleavened bread on pre-War machinery as old as the factory itself. In a neighborhood where the Jewish immigrants long ago moved on, in a nation where progress and profits trump all else, where manufacturing has left the cities if not the country, where family businesses are bought out by giant corporations and workers move from job to low paying job, filmmaker Michael Levine captures the Streit’s saga and echos the American Dream.

A fascinating and illuminating journey through the cosmos featuring the cantankerous and brilliant astronomer John Dobson.

A documentary that illuminates the lives of individual animals living within and rescued from the machine of our modern world.

The Teacher Salary Project encompasses a feature-length documentary film, an interactive online resource, and a national outreach campaign that delves into the core of our educational crisis as seen through the eyes and experiences of our nation's teachers. This project is based on the New York Times bestselling book Teachers Have It Easy by journalist and teacher Daniel Moulthrop, co-founder of the 826 National writing programs Nínive Calegari, and writer Dave Eggers. (First Run Features)

An anthology of short documentaries composed during the 2020 pandemic by leading cinematographers curated and produced by Sam Abbas.

Moving between the political sphere and everyday life on the streets of Baghdad, this documentary offers a unique glimpse into the resilience of Iraqis as they struggle to sustain their lives and to fight off a sense of despair and defeat. (Arab Film Distribution)

Set in a village on the edge of Belgium, Bob, Flemish, and Marcel, Walloon share their solitude, sense of humor and craving for alcohol.

Fifty years after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, this documentary examines the unsung heroes of desegregation.

In 1970, Blood, Sweat and Tears was one of the biggest bands in the world. They had exploded on the scene with both daring and promise, selling millions of records, winning multiple Grammy Awards including Album of the Year (beating out The Beatles' Abbey Road) and headlining the legendary Woodstock festival. In demand for concert and TV appearances, BS&T was a darling of the mainstream and rock press, icon of the counterculture and inspiration for a generation of horn-based bands. Their future was limitless. And then it all went wrong. Created with the full cooperation of Blood, Sweat and Tears, this feature documentary will overflow with great music, international political intrigue, compelling human moments, humor and fresh insight into this strange never-before-told story of a tangle with the Nixon administration, a controversial tour behind the Iron Curtain that put them in the crossfire of a polarized America and a lost tour documentary that might just explain it all.

Filmed for over a decade, Magical Universe is a portrait of Al Carbee, an 88 year old reclusive outsider artist who spends his days alone in a massive house in Maine creating art—mostly featuring Barbie Dolls in elaborate dioramas. The documentary profiles Carbee's amazing body of work and his relentlessly creative lifestyle. Carbee’s story is explored through the prism of his unlikely friendship with New York filmmaker Jeremy Workman, who unexpectedly becomes Carbee’s closest friend and only link to the outside world. [IFC Films]

Join award-winning performer and musician P!NK as she embarks on her record-breaking 2019 “Beautiful Trauma” world tour and welcomes audiences to join her chosen family while trying to balance being a mom, a wife, a boss and a performer.

Body of War is an intimate and transformational feature documentary about the true face of war today. Meet Tomas Young, 25 years old, paralyzed from a bullet to his spine--wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week. Body of War is Tomas' coming-home story as he evolves into a new person, coming to terms with his disability and finding his own unique, passionate voice against the war. The film is produced and directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, and features two original songs by Eddie Vedder. Body of War is a naked, honest portrayal of what it's like inside the body, heart, and soul of this extraordinary and heroic young man. (The Film Sales Company)

The American Meme follows the journeys of Paris Hilton, Josh Ostrovsky, Brittany Furlan and Kirill Bichutsky, as they hustle to create empires out of their online footprints.

From producer Morgan Spurlock ("Super Size Me") and director Rob VanAlkemade comes a serious docu-comedy about the commercialization of Christmas. Bill Talen was a lost idealist who hitchhiked to New York City only to find that Times Square was becoming a mall. Spurred on by the loss of his neighborhood and inspired by the sidewalk preachers around him, Bill bought a collar to match his white caterer's jacket, bleached his hair and became the Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. Since 1999, Reverend Billy has gone from being a lone preacher with a portable pulpit preaching on subways, to the leader of a congregation and a movement whose numbers are well into the thousands. Through retail interventions, corporate exorcisms, and some good old-fashioned preaching, Reverend Billy reminds us that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas. What Would Jesus Buy? is a journey into the heart of America – from exorcising the demons at the Wal-Mart headquarters to taking over the center stage at the Mall of America and then ultimately heading to the Promised Land … Disneyland. (Palisades Pictures)

In this documentary, Marc Levin gives us an explosive exploration of resurgent anti-Semitism in the wake of September 11. (ThinkFilm)

Brothers at War is an intimate portrait of an American family during a turbulent time.  Jake Rademacher sets out to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of his two brothers serving in Iraq. The film follows Jake’s exploits as he risks everything—including his life—to tell his brothers’ story.  Often humorous, but sometimes downright lethal, Brothers at War is a remarkable journey where Jake embeds with four combat units in Iraq. Unprecedented access to U.S. and Iraqi combat units take him behind the camouflage curtain with secret reconnaissance troops on the Syrian border, into sniper "Hide Sites" in the Sunni Triangle, through raging machine gun battles with the Iraqi Army.  Ultimately, the film follows his brothers home where separations and life-threatening work ripple through their parents, siblings, wives and children.  Brothers at War provides a rare look at the bonds and service of our soldiers on the frontlines and the profound effects their service has on the loved ones they leave behind. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

Burlesque and vaudeville acts were America's most popular form of live entertainment in the first half of the 20th century - until cinema drove them from the mainstream. To add insult to injury, the art of burlesque became vilified and misunderstood, and was largely left out of our cultural history. By telling the intimate and surprising stories from its golden age through the women (and men!) who lived it, Behind the Burly Q reveals the true story of burlesque, even as it experiences a new renaissance. (First Run Features)

This revealing and touching film asks what happens when a generation's ultimate anti-authoritarians – punk rockers – become society's ultimate authorities – dads. With a large chorus of punk rock's leading men - Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea, Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath - The Other F Word follows Jim Lindberg, a 20-year veteran of the skate punk band Pennywise, on his hysterical and moving journey from belting his band's anthem ”F--k Authority,” to embracing his ultimately authoritarian role in mid-life: fatherhood. (Oscilloscope Pictures)

Matthew Stoneman dreamed of pop stardom. Instead, he went to jail, learned Spanish, and emerged as “Mateo,” America’s first white mariachi singer. Mateo is on the brink of completing an album of original songs in Havana. But his estrangement from friends and family, his criminal past, and his love for Cuban women could derail him on his quest for fame. [XLrator Media]

Sacred immerses the viewer in an exploration of spirituality across cultures and religions. At a time when religious hatreds dominate the world’s headlines, this film, sweeping in global reach and yet intensely intimate, explores faith as primary human experience: how it is used to navigate the milestones and crises of private life.

Filmed over three years in China and the U.S., Maineland is a multi-layered coming-of-age tale that follows two affluent and cosmopolitan teenagers as they settle into a boarding school in blue-collar rural Maine. Part of the enormous wave of "parachute students" from China enrolling in U.S. private schools, bubbly, fun-loving Stella and introspective Harry come seeking a Western-style education, escape from the dreaded Chinese college entrance exam, and the promise of a Hollywood-style U.S. high school experience. As Stella and Harry’s fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, they ruminate on their experiences of alienation, culture clash, and personal identity, sharing new understandings and poignant discourses on home and country.

In 2004, 16-year-old Cyntoia Denise Brown was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, for murdering a 43-year-old man who picked her up for sex. She was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison — Cyntoia’s fate seemed sealed. The film shows the complexity of a child who was the product of three generations of violence against women in her biological family. And how in 2019, after nearly 10 years of legal challenges, Governor Bill Haslam granted her request for clemency. He did so following a slow shift in the state for legislative change in juvenile sentencing laws and having seen evidence of her maturity, education, and good behavior as a prisoner.

Exploring the epic battle to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, Justice is a portrait of a broken, corrupt system and the brave citizens who still feel duty-bound to tell their story.

In 2014, recreational marijuana sales began in Colorado. With all eyes on ground zero of the green rush, The Denver Post appointed the world's first marijuana editor. Pot is legal and The Cannabist is covering it as it unfolds.

A provocative social experiment-turned-documentary, Kumare follows American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi as he transforms himself into a wise Indian guru, hoping to prove the absurdity of blind faith. Instead, he finds himself forging profound connections with people from all walks of life -- and wondering if and when to reveal his true self. Will his followers accept his final teaching? Can this illusion reveal a greater spiritual truth? Winner of South by Southwest's Audience Award, Kumare is an insightful look at faith and belief. (Kino Lorber)

Chef, author, and host Eddie Huang traces the wild rise and fall of Vice Media—from a scrappy alt-punk zine in ’90s Montreal to a global media empire worth $5.7 billion. Along the way, he meets key insiders to unpack how the powerhouse of the indie sleaze era burned bright—and crashed hard.

On the morning of March 20, 1995, a deadly nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway sent the nation and its people into chaos. This exploration of Aum Shinrikyo, the cult responsible for the attack, involves the participation of those who lived through the horror as it unfolded.

Relive the music, fashion, and spirit of the 1980s via the incredible saga of the rise, fall, and comeback of New Wave legends Spandau Ballet. From the streets of working class London to the top of the pop charts, Spandau Ballet conquered the airwaves in the 80s with international hits like “True” and “Gold.” But the behind-the-scenes story was just as compelling, as the band overcame ego clashes and a bitter breakup to reunite triumphantly for their current tour. Featuring never-before-seen home movies, archival footage, and interviews with the band, Soul Boys of the Western World is a captivating chronicle of the rollercoaster ride of fame and an awesomely retro time capsule of the sounds and styles of an unforgettable decade. [IFC Films]

Tap World follows the most cutting-edge tap dancers from across the globe who are shaping the community around them. Their personal stories of inspiration, struggle, and triumph are keeping the art form alive and thriving internationally.

Filmmaker Josh Gilbert follows the tragic and absurd journey of legendary counter-culture comedian Tommy Chong who in 2003 was indicted in an internet drug paraphernalia sting and wound up serving nine months in federal prison. (ThinkFilm)

Mongolia is known for its original Nomad culture as well as the spectacular natural landscape. Since gold deposits have been discovered however, both are threatened. Mongolians are breaking with their traditions and have started to plunder their land digging for gold. They are using mercury in their extraction of gold and thereby poisoning their environment. A gold rush is changing Mongolia.

What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we'll ever get to build a better world? Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. The film presents seven portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana's Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Naomi Klein's narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. Throughout the film, Klein builds to her most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better.

The Red Orchestra, one of the largest German resistance groups, was mislabeled as a group of Communist spies by the Gestapo and the CIA until recently. For the first time, surviving members tell their story, re-created by a pioneering technique of animations.

One of the thousands of Germans born with deformities caused by the drug Thalidomide, filmmaker Niko van Glasow confronts his disability head-on in this extraordinary documentary, which follows his search for eleven other “Thalidomiders” willing to pose naked for a book of photos. With a darkly humorous touch, and no deference to political correctness, the film explores the sensitivities and feelings of the disabled in a way rarely seen on film. (Lorber Films)

A documentary that looks at nine girls from different parts of the world who face arranged marriages, child slavery, and other heartbreaking injustices. Through education, these brave girls are able to break barriers, create change and offer hope and inspiration.

In 1953, the ascent of Everest remained the last of Earth’s great challenges. Standing at over 29,000ft, the world’s highest mountain posed a fearsome challenge and had already claimed thirteen lives in previous expeditions. Faced with treacherous winds, sub-zero temperatures and battling altitude sickness, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay finally achieved the impossible and became the first men to stand atop Everest. It was an event that stunned the world and defined an era. Sir Edmund Hillary’s incredible achievement remains one of the greatest adventure stories of all time; the epic journey of a man from modest beginnings who overcame adversity to reach the highest point on Earth. [IFC Films]

On the corner of 155th and Frederick Douglas Boulevard in Harlem lies Rucker Park. By appearances, the concrete pavement, anchored on one side by its run down slab bleachers, is no different than any other basketball court in the city, but this is the place where nicknames are indelibly branded, and legends are born. On September 1, 2006, the top 24 high school basketball players in the nation stepped out on this court, that once saw the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dr. J to compete in the first annual “Elite 24” all-star game. Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot follows eight of these players as they prepare to showcase their skills at the most legendary playground in the world. (Oscilloscope Pictures)

Documentary filmmakers DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus catch up with the great soul singers of the 1960s and early 1970s. The result is a musical celebration of soul, a glimpse into the skewed world of the music industry, and a compelling narrative of these seven talented acts. (Miramax)

Moonlight Sonata is a deeply personal memoir about a deaf boy growing up, his deaf grandfather growing old, and Beethoven the year he was blindsided by deafness and wrote his iconic sonata. Their lives weave a story about what we discover when we push beyond loss.

Voyeur follows Gay Talese—the 84-year-old giant of modern journalism—as he reports one of the most controversial stories of his career: a portrait of a Colorado motel owner, Gerald Foos. For decades, Foos secretly watched his guests with the aid of specially designed ceiling vents, peering down from an “observation platform” he built in the motel’s attic. He kept detailed journals of his guests’ most private moments -- from the mundane to the shocking -- but most of all he sought out, spied on, and documented one thing: strangers having sex. Talese’s insatiable curiosity leads him to turn his gaze to a man accustomed to being the watcher, exploring a tangle of ethical questions: What does a journalist owe to his subjects? How can a reporter trust a source who has made a career of deception? Who is really the voyeur?

A perfect storm is brewing as agriculture pioneer Cary Fowler races against time to protect the future of our food. Seed banks around the world are crumbling, crop failures are producing starvation and rioting, and the accelerating effects of climate change are affecting farmers globally. Communities of indigenous Peruvian farmers are already suffering those effects, as they try desperately to save over 1,500 varieties of native potato in their fields. But with little time to waste, both Fowler and the farmers embark on passionate and personal journeys that may save the one resource we cannot live without: our seeds.

Through a clever mix of stop motion animation and interviews, The Wanted 18 recreates an astonishing true story: the Israeli army's pursuit of 18 cows, whose independent milk production on a Palestinian collective farm was declared "a threat to the national security of the state of Israel." In response to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, a group of people from the town of Beit Sahour decide to buy 18 cows and produce their own milk as a co-operative. Their venture is so successful that the collective farm becomes a landmark, and the cows local celebrities- until the Israeli army takes note and declares that the farm is an illegal security threat. Consequently, the dairy is forced to go underground, the cows continuing to produce their "Intifada milk" with the Israeli army in relentless pursuit. [Kino Lorber]

This film recounts how in the mid 1980's, the nation of Estonia still lay firmly in the grip of the Soviet Union, and the repressive authorities controlled virtually all aspects of Estonian life. The totalitarian government's power was derived in no small part from their ability to censor cultural life and keep Western culture on the other side of the border. Rock and Roll was but a rumor and the only television shows on the air were dreary propaganda. But one day everything changed. Just a few miles across the border in Finland, a huge new television antenna was built that broadcast western signals in all directions--including directly into the heart of the Talinn, the capital of Estonia. (Icarus Films)

Drew: The Man Behind The Poster is a feature-length documentary highlighting the career of artist and illustrator Drew Struzan, whose most popular works include the Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and Star Wars trilogy posters.

An eye-opening documentary filmed over the course of ten days that follows four men into the desperate world of illegal immigration. (Davis Gang Films)

A coming of age journey set in the quirky subculture of magic, Make Believe follows six of the world's best young magicians as they pursue the title of Teen World Champion and lead us on their personal journeys of transformation through magic. (Firefly Films)

Shakespeare High is a documentary about a socio-economic cross-section of teens in Southern California that study Shakespeare to compete in a drama Festival run by the many hundred-strong volunteer teacher organization: DTASC (Drama Teachers Association of Southern California). The film focuses primarily on under-served teens, highlighting the life-changing effect that this activity and competition have for them. It underscores the necessity of an arts curriculum and its effectiveness in saving lives and keeping young people engaged and in school. (The Cinema Guild)

The delivery of a battered suitcase to Furniko Ishioka at the Tokyo Holocaust Museum begins the true-life mystery that became the subject of Karen Levine's best-selling book Hana's Suitcase. The suitcase came from the Auschwitz Museum and had Hanna Brady's name painted on it. Larry Weinstein's masterful film follows Furniko's search to discover the details of Hana's life, which leads to the discover of her brother George in Toronto. As small children they had been sent to Thereisenstadt for being Jewish after the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939. (Menemsha Films)

José Antonio Gutierrez was one of the 300,000 soldiers sent by US Army to war in Iraq. A few hours after the war began, his picture was broadcast all over the world: he was the first American soldier to be killed in the war. He was there as a so-called 'green-card soldier' -- one of approximately 32,000, fighting in the ranks of the US Army for a foreign country. (Atopia Distribution)

This feel-good documentary follows Irlan and Isabela, two teenagers from the violent favelas of Rio de Janeiro, as they pursue their dreams of becoming professional ballet dancers. This inspiring story takes us from Rio - where their communities must raise the funds to support their ambitions - to exhilarating ballet competitions in New York and Switzerland. It's a film about their determination to dance, and the price one must pay for talent, ambition and success. (Film Movement)

Boxing, "the poor man’s sport," has long given kids from America’s roughest neighborhoods an opportunity to escape violence with violence. But with success in the ring comes new fights for which there is no training: champions are made and broken in the blink of an eye, and young men thrust into the spotlight are often ill-equipped for the fame, fortune, and hangers-on that accompany a title belt. And for many, the toughest bouts are fought during retirement, when health and financial issues begin to mount. Built around the stories of heavyweight legends Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Bernard Hopkins, who open up about their lives and careers as never before, Champs balances these uncensored recollections with gorgeous reenactments, classic fight footage, and candid interviews. [Amplify]

Director Bryce Dallas Howard teams up with her father, Ron Howard, to explore contemporary fatherhood through anecdotes and wisdom from famous funnymen such as Will Smith, Jimmy Fallon, Neil Patrick Harris, and more.

An observation of the migrant experience; from crossing the Mediterranean Sea out of Libya to settling in Paris-based squats. In a view free from prejudice, we quickly see how the experiences of migrants vary in extremes during the different stages in their journey to a better life.

An intimate, unconventional portrait of Marc Jacobs, crafted by Sofia Coppola to capture the genius and singular universe of the iconic American designer.

In the summer of 2018, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art enlists Yotam Ottolenghi, the London-based Isreali chef and celebrated author of cookbooks Jerusalem and Plenty, to organize a food gala inspired by the Met exhibit “Visitors to Versailles.” In preparation for the event, Ottolenghi travels to the Palace of Versailles. At the landmark French site, the famed chef is possessed by a child-like curiosity, as he finds in Versailles a glimpse into the French Monarchy’s decadence. And so Ottolenghi, with the help of pastry chefs (including “Cronut” maestro Dominique Ansel), positions The Met event as both an expression and critique of excess. Several centuries ago in Versailles, the royal family lived in public to help broadcast the country’s splendor and wealth. Ottolenghi fast-forwards to the advent of social media and finds a new aristocracy streaming their riches, food, and prosperity. In both eras, we see deep exclusion, longing for community, a patriarchal structure – and the same potential for revolution.

Fade to Black chronicles the once-in-a-lifetime concert event of Jay-Z's performance at Madison Square Garden in November 2003. The film is an intimate look at Jay-Z, revealing the multiple Grammy Award winning artist as never before. (Paramount Classics)

This documentary tells the story of British entrepreneur Colin Tennant, who purchased the Caribbean island of Mustique and developed it into a posh resort.

Rachel Dolezal ignited an unprecedented media storm when a local news station in Spokane, WA outed her as a white woman who had been living as the black president of the NAACP. Since the controversy erupted, director Laura Brownson and team exclusively filmed with Rachel, her sons and her adopted sister Esther, capturing the intimate, vérité life story of a damaged character who lands squarely in the cross-hairs of race and identity politics in America — and exploring how that character still provokes negative reactions from millions who see her as the ultimate example of white privilege. [Netflix]

The Cartel shows us our educational system like we've never seen it before. Behind every dropout factory, we discover, lurks a powerful, entrenched, and self-serving cartel. But The Cartel doesn't just describe the problem. Balancing local storylines against interviews with education experts such as Clint Bolick (former president of Alliance for School Choice), Gerard Robinson (president of Black Alliance for Educational Options), and Chester Finn (president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute), The Cartel explores what dedicated parents, committed teachers, clear-eyed officials, and tireless reformers are doing to make our schools better for our kids. (Moving Picture Institute)

Happy Happy Joy Joy is the story of the rise and fall of one of the most influential animated series in the history of television. It’s the story of a group of talented and dedicated artists whose incredible work brought to life two of the most beloved characters of all time - Ren & Stimpy. It’s also a cautionary tale of artistic genius gone awry. The controversial creator of the groundbreaking show, John Kricfalusi, both caused and experienced trauma that deeply affected his work and relationships.

This documentary is a wonderfully evocative biography of the man considered to be the greatest photographer of the last Century and the grandfather of photojournalism.

It tells the story of Rev. Al Sharpton, painting an intimate portrait of a tireless warrior who has never ducked a fight in his mission to transform the status quo.