Werner Herzog and volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer travel the globe and visit volcanoes in Indonesia, Ethiopia and even North Korea in an attempt to understand man's relationship with one of nature's most violent wonders. [Netflix]

Does the most widely used weed killer in the world cause cancer? Into the Weeds follows the riveting story of groundskeeper Lee Johnson and his fight for justice against agrochemical giant, Monsanto (now Bayer), the manufacturer of Roundup herbicide.

A deeply intimate and raw portrait of Selma Blair after she is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and tries to slow the progression of her disease.

Inventing Our Life examines the 100 year history of Israel's kibbutz movement, one of the world's longest running and most successful experiments in pure communism. Recreating its glorious past and chronicling its recent decline, Inventing Our Life focuses on the heartbreak and hope of the modern kibbutz, as a new generation struggles to insure its survival. Can a radically socialist institution survive a new market-driven reality with its ideological integrity intact? How will this affect the lives of the tens of thousands of people who still believe in the kibbutz experiment and continue to call it home? As the film progresses, the drama shifts from Can it survive? to Yes, but at what price?

Meet passionate teenage innovators from around the globe who are creating cutting-edge solutions to confront the world’s environmental threats – found right in their own backyards – while navigating the doubts and insecurities that mark adolescence. Take a journey with these inspiring teens as they prepare their projects for the largest convening of high school scientists in the world, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

Alex Gibney directs a documentary investigating the rise and fall of Theranos, the one-time multibillion-dollar healthcare company founded by Elizabeth Holmes. In 2004, Elizabeth Holmes dropped out of Stanford to start a company that was going to revolutionize healthcare. In 2014, Theranos was valued at $9 billion, making Holmes, who was touted as “the next Steve Jobs,” the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world. Just two years later, Theranos was cited as a “massive fraud” by the SEC, and its value was less than zero. [HBO]

In this documentary, director Bojanov tracks a group of six young people in Sofia, Bulgaria on a three year journey through the highs and lows, dreams and tribulations of life with heroin addiction.

An essential memoir of fashion pioneer Bethann Hardison, Invisible Beauty shines a spotlight on the singular and unapologetic Hardison, one of the fashion industry’s most influential icons who, as a pioneering Black model, modeling agent and entrepreneur, has pushed the boundaries of fashion culture and has been at the forefront of progress throughout her career. In her lifetime, Hardison has seen the pendulum swing toward and away from the Black model. At every setback, she spoke up and rallied her colleagues and clients in the industry to advance change. Now in her 70s, the Brooklyn native is writing her memoir, taking stock of her own legacy at a moment when the fashion industry was shaken by discrimination.

In 1944, Soviet forces occupied Lithuania for a second time in less than five years. This time the youth of the nation chose to fight back and formed a guerrilla army of partisans called the Forest Brothers. Among them was a charismatic leader named Juozas Luksa who joined the resistance with his three brothers. Having realized that the pen was mightier than the sword Luksa risked his life to escape to Paris in 1948 to spread the word of the partisan struggle. In Paris, Luksa quickly joined up with Western intelligence agencies, wrote a memoir and met the love of his life: Nijole. Shortly after their wedding, Luksa, was air-dropped back into Soviet Lithuania by the CIA to help liberate his country. The Invisible Front tells the story of Lithuanian resistance, Luksa and Nijole through the use of Luksa’s writings and his love letters to Nijole.

Invisible Hands is the first feature documentary to expose child labor and trafficking within the supply chains of the world's biggest companies. Filmed in six countries including India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Ghana, it is a harrowing account of children as young as 6 years old making the products we use every day.

An investigative and powerfully emotional documentary about the epidemic of rape of soldiers within the US military, the institutions that perpetuate and cover up its existence, and its profound personal and social consequences.

The Iran Job follows American basketball player Kevin Sheppard as he accepts a job to play in one of the world’s most feared countries: Iran. With tensions running high between Iran and the West, Kevin tries to separate sports from politics only to find that politics is impossible to escape in Iran. Along the way he forms an unlikely alliance with three outspoken Iranian women. Thanks to these women, his apartment turns into an oasis of free speech, where they discuss everything from politics to religion to gender roles. Kevin’s season in Iran culminates in something much bigger than basketball: the uprising and subsequent suppression of Iran’s reformist Green Movement – a powerful prelude to the sweeping changes across the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Spring. (Paladin Films)

Director Robert Greenwald takes you inside the lives of soldiers, truck drivers, widows and children who have been changed forever as a result of profiteering in the reconstruction of Iraq. Iraq for Sale uncovers the connections between private corporations making a killing in Iraq and the decision makers who allow them to do so. (Brave New Films)

Iraq in Fragments illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts, building a vivid picture of a country pulled in different directions by religion and ethnicity. Filmed in verité style, with no scripted narration, the film power fully explores the lives of ordinary Iraqis: people whose thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, and concerns are at once personal and illustrative of larger issues in Iraq today. (Typecast Pictures)

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.

Iris pairs legendary 87-year-old documentarian Albert Maysles with Iris Apfel, the quick-witted, flamboyantly dressed 93-year-old style maven who has had an outsized presence on the New York fashion scene for decades. More than a fashion film, the documentary is a story about creativity and how a soaring free spirit continues to inspire. IRIS portrays a singular woman whose enthusiasm for fashion, art and people are life's sustenance and reminds us that dressing, and indeed life, is nothing but an experiment. Despite the abundance of glamour in her current life, she continues to embrace the values and work ethic established during a middle-class Queens upbringing during the Great Depression. [Magnolia Pictures]

The world center for ship-breaking is located in the port city of Chittagong in Bangladesh — perhaps the poorest nation on earth — is home to the ship-breaking industry. Here huge megaton behemoths that once sailed the seas are sent to be broken apart by men and boys (some as young as 12, often wearing flipflops) who earn $2 a day, from which they send money home to their families. They wrestle with thousands of tons of iron and asbestos, wielding blow-torches, hammers and crowbars. Here is where half of the world’s retired vessels are dismantled by 20,000 people who risk their lives to eke out the barest living. Iron Crows is a remarkably beautiful film, in this case, not just for its superb cinematography, but also for its indelible insight into how some of the most exploited people in the world retain their courage, decency and fortitude. (Film Forum)

Spanning five decades, Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition charts the band’s rise from the pubs of East London to the world’s biggest stadiums. Featuring exclusive interviews with band members and contributors such as Javier Bardem, Lars Ulrich and Chuck D, as well as all-new animated sequences of the band's legendary mascot, Eddie, the film offers a rare and intimate look at Iron Maiden’s uncompromising vision and unwavering connection with their truly global army of fans.

Filmed over three years on China’s railways, The Iron Ministry traces the vast interiors of a country on the move: flesh and metal, clangs and squeals, light and dark, language and gesture. Scores of rail journeys come together into one, capturing the thrills and anxieties of social and technological transformation.

Film critic Elvis Mitchell tracks the history of Black cinema, focused mainly on the '70s, with archival and new interviews with many of the key players from the era.

From Michel Gondry, the innovative director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, comes this unique animated documentary on the life of controversial MIT professor, philosopher, linguist, anti-war activist and political firebrand Noam Chomsky. Through complex, lively conversations with Chomsky and brilliant illustrations by Gondry himself, the film reveals the life and work of the father of modern linguistics while also exploring his theories on the emergence of language. The result is not only a dazzling, vital portrait of one of the foremost thinkers of modern times, but also a beautifully animated work of art. [IFC Films]

Captured with IMAX® 3D cameras, Island of Lemurs: Madagascar takes audiences on a spectacular journey to the remote and wondrous world of Madagascar. Lemurs arrived in Madagascar as castaways millions of years ago and evolved into hundreds of diverse species but are now highly endangered. Join trailblazing scientist Dr. Patricia Wright on her lifelong mission to help these strange and adorable creatures survive in the modern world.

The Island of Saint Matthews examines the loss of family history in the form of heirlooms and photographs. Years ago filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson asked his aunt about old family photographs. Her reply—"we lost them in the flood"—was the catalyst for this film, a poem and paean to the citizens of Westport and the direct and oblique remnants of the 1973 flood of the Tombigbee River.

On an isolated island in the Indian Ocean, land crabs migrate in their millions from the jungle to the sea. The same jungle hides a high-security Australian detention centre where thousands of asylum seekers have been locked away indefinitely. Their only connection to the outside world is trauma counsellor Poh Lin Lee.

Jon Shenk’s The Island President is the story of President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, a man confronting a problem greater than any other world leader has ever faced—the literal survival of his country and everyone in it. After bringing democracy to the Maldives after thirty years of despotic rule, Nasheed is now faced with an even greater challenge: as one of the most low-lying countries in the world, a rise of three feet in sea level would submerge the 1200 islands of the Maldives enough to make them uninhabitable. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

The documentary features a 2003 Carnegie Hall concert featuring many of folk music's leading lights, in honor an unsung American hero: music impresario Harold Leventhal. (Seventh Art Releasing)

A collections of 8mm home movies, hundreds of boxes of film rolls from forgotten basements, locked drawers, damp crates, and attics, containing countless hours that tell the story of Israel from the beginning of the twentieth century.

The Ister is a 3000km journey to the heart of Europe, from the mouth of the Danube river on the Black Sea, to its source in the German Black Forest. By joining a vast philosophical narrative with an epic voyage along Europe’s greatest waterway, The Ister invites you to unravel the extraordinary past and future of 'the West.' (Black Box Sound and Image)

Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra is one of baseball’s greatest. He amassed ten World Series rings, 3 MVP awards and 18 All-Star Game appearances. He caught the only perfect game in World Series history. Yet for many his deserved stature was overshadowed by his simply being himself and being recognized more for his unique personality, TV commercial appearances and unforgettable “Yogi-isms,” initially head-scratching philosophical nuggets that make a lot more sense the more you think about them. In telling the whole story, It Ain’t Over gives Berra his due in following the life of a savvy, commanding, bad-ball hitting catcher with a squat frame but also a D-Day veteran, loving husband and father and, yes, product endorser and originator (mostly) of his own brand of proverbs now ingrained into everyday life.

In the early 1960’s, alongside Andy Warhol, the Kuchar brothers shaped the New York underground film scene. Known as the “8mm Mozarts”, their films were noticeably different than other underground films of the time. They were wildly funny, but also human and vulnerable. Their films have inspired many filmmakers, but despite having high profile fans, the Kuchars remain largely unknown because they are only ambitious to make movies, not to be famous. It Came From Kuchar interweaves the brothers’ lives, their admirers, a history of underground film and a “greatest hits” of Kuchar clips into a mesmerizing stream of consciousness tale. [Tigerlily Pictures LLC]

Rarely can a film penetrate the glamorous surface of rock legends. It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos – The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and Jack White (The White Stripes). It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist’s musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play. (Sony Classics)

What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.

The documentary follows John Mellencamp as he tours America and records his 2011 album No Better Than This.

The ancient walled city of Akka in northern Israel is inhabited by Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Baha'i, but its history goes all the way back to rule of the Egyptian Pharaohs. As Akka undergoes harsh economic pressures and vast social change, the present-day situation is causing Arab families to leave the places where they have grown roots for dozens of generations and shaped a rich culture for over a thousand years. This film focuses on the aspirations and concerns of the Palestinian inhabitants who call the Old City home. Atop a forty-foot, centuries-old seawall in this ancient port city, young people dare to stand along the one-meter thick structure and risk their fate by jumping into the roiling waters below. This perilous tradition has continued for many generations and has become a rite of passage for the children of Akka. Within their current dilemma, jumping from the ancient seawall becomes not only an expression of extreme exhilaration, but also a matter of self-determination.

Rising musician Jeff Buckley had only released one album when he died suddenly in 1997. Now, never-before-seen footage, exclusive voice messages, and accounts from those closest to him offer a portrait of the captivating singer.

Soon after premiering his short film The Sound of People at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, promising young Irish director Simon Fitzmaurice was tragically diagnosed with motor neurone disease (ALS). At just 34 years old, he was given four years to live. Fitzmaurice and his wife were expecting their third child, and a career in storytelling lay at his feet. Reeling from the shock, Fitzmaurice drew strength from his deepest desires—instead of being stuck in that painful moment, he realized his greatest defiance of ALS would be to direct his first feature film. Seven years later, despite total physical incapacitation, Fitzmaurice completed My Name is Emily (2015), directing it only with the use of his eyes. This emotional journey of self-realization and personal triumph over life-crushing adversity is nothing short of inspiring. All of it is captured with intimate home movies, photographs, and an affectionate voice-over by compatriot Colin Farrell, transporting us into Fitzmaurice’s creative world where every physical and psychological challenge is met with positivity and the desire to fulfill a dream.

Based on his New York Times best-selling memoir and featuring exclusive archival footage, this authorized music documentary of Duff McKagan – founding member and bass player for Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver and other bands – chronicles his meteoric rise to fame and fortune, his near-fatal struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, and his remarkable life transformation.

Assange remains a remand prisoner at U.K.'s maximum security Belmarsh Prison as he appeals an extradition order to the U.S. where he could face 175 years in prison for his role in the release of classified U.S. diplomatic files.

A look at the life, work and religious heritage of violinist Itzhak Perlman.

Wildlife activists in take on poachers in an effort to end illegal ivory trade in Africa.

As tuition rates spiral beyond reach and student loan debt passes $1 trillion (more than credit card debt), Ivory Tower asks: Is college worth the cost? From the halls of Harvard, to public colleges in financial crisis, to Silicon Valley, filmmaker Andrew Rossi assembles an urgent portrait of a great American institution at the breaking point.

Jack Smith has been simultaneously hailed as the godfather of performance art, the William Blake of film, and a photographer who has "influenced three decades of artists." While largely unknown in mainstream circles today, Jack Smith was central to a period when American culture finally began to question itself. (Tongue Press)

Johnny Knoxville and his buddies are up to their daredevil comic antics again. And this time they're coming at ya' in 3D. (Paramount Pictures)

Celebrating the joy of being back together with your best friends and a perfectly executed shot to the dingdong, the original jackass crew return for another round of hilarious, wildly absurd, and often dangerous displays of comedy with a little help from some exciting new cast. Johnny and the team push the envelope even further in Jackass Forever.

Johnny Knoxville and friends are back to raise the stakes higher and lower the bar further. (Paramount)

Signature Jackass character Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) and his grandson Billy will take movie audiences along for the most insane hidden camera road trip ever captured on camera. Real people in unreal situations, making for one really messed up comedy.

Alanis Morissette burst onto the music scene in 1995 with her groundbreaking album, "Jagged Little Pill." Featuring an in-depth interview with the artist, this film explores her beginnings as a young Canadian pop star, the rocky path she faced navigating the male-dominated music industry, and the glass ceiling she shattered on her journey to becoming a superstar.

From the mind of Brooklyn actor, performance artist and hip-hop activist Danny Hoch, this film spins out the stories of ten lives shocked by globalization, the prison industry and life in general. (Kicked Down Productions)

This documentary explores the mystery of the musician who calls himself Jandek, his world and his music. (Unicorn Stencil)

Jane is the story of how Jane Goodall became Jane Goodall – using footage shot by future husband Hugo van Lawick of her first experiences in Gombe, Tanzinia in the 1960’s. Previously thought to be lost forever, the footage was only recently discovered in a storage unit, and has been now masterfully intercut with interviews of present day Jane Goodall to provide an in-depth portrait of her life. With an enchanting score by Phillip Glass, JANE is a captivating and immersive look into how one woman can change the world through passion, dedication, and perseverance.

Charlotte Gainsbourg looks at her mother Jane Birkin in a way she never did, overcoming a sense of reserve. Using a camera lens, they expose themselves to each other, begin to step back, leaving space for a mother-daughter relationship.

A look at the life, work, activism and controversies of actress and fitness tycoon, Jane Fonda.

More than 20 years ago, Dr. Jane Goodall, now 75, decided to give up her career as a primatologist, as well as her private life, in order to devote her entire energy to saving our endangered planet. Since then she’s been spending 300 days a year scouring the globe on her mission to spread hope for future generations. She has taken on the responsibilities of a UN Messenger of Peace, has been honoured with countless awards, was appointed “Dame of the British Empire” and was even admitted to the “Légion d’Honneur”, the highest decoration of France. In Jane’s Journey, we accompany her on her travels across several continents, with unprecedented access to her intense and exciting past. From her childhood home in Bournemouth, England, we embark to ‘Gombe National Park’ on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, in Tanzania, her second home. This is where she began her groundbreaking research nearly half a century ago, and where to this day she still returns every year to enjoy the company of the chimpanzees that made her the internationally recognized activist so loved and deeply respected. (Bavaria Film)

In the spring of 1972, police raided an apartment on the South Side of Chicago where seven women who were part of a clandestine network were arrested and charged. Using code names, fronts, and safe houses to protect themselves and their work, the accused had built an underground service for women seeking safe, affordable, illegal abortions. They called themselves "Jane."

Janis Joplin was one of the world’s most influential rock icons and a goddess of sound, but there was actually far more to her than that. She inspired a generation, breaking new ground for the female rock singers who followed. Through turbulent love affairs and addiction, one constant remained: she was committed to her music above all until her heartbreaking death at the age of 27. Janis serves as the narrator for her own life story through letters she wrote to her family, friends and lovers. Chan Marshall (Cat Power) lends her raspy southern voice to the film reading Janis’ achingly intimate letters. Amy Berg strips away Janis’ rock and roll persona to reveal the gentle, trusting, sensitive, but powerful woman behind the legend. [Venice]

When doctors diagnosed 19-year-old rocker Jason Becker with Lou Gehrig's Disease, they said he would never make music again and that he wouldn’t live to see his 25th birthday. 22 years later, without the ability to move or to speak, Jason is alive and making music with his eyes. Jason Becker : Not Dead Yet is a feature-length documentary film that tells the story of a guitar legend who refuses to give up on his dream of being a musician despite the most incredible odds. It is a story of dreams, love, and the strength of the human spirit. The film has been made with the full co-operation of Jason and the Becker family, who have given their consent for this to be the first feature-length documentary film about his life. They have provided their entire family archive of never-before-seen photos and footage. [Projextra.ca]

A documentary highlighting the injustice of a false accusation of sexual abuse made by a Michigan boy against his father and grandfather which resulted in a swift conviction based on no evidence other than the boy's questionable testimony.

Jawline follows 16-year-old Austyn Tester, a rising star in the live-broadcast ecosystem who built his following on wide-eyed optimism and teen girl lust, as he tries to escape a dead-end life in rural Tennessee.

Jay Myself documents the monumental move of renowned photographer and artist, Jay Maisel, who, in February 2015 after forty-eight years, begrudgingly sold his home—the 36,000 square-foot, 100-year-old landmark building in Manhattan known simply as “The Bank.” Through the intimate lens of filmmaker and Jay’s protégé, noted artist and photographer Stephen Wilkes, the viewer is taken on a remarkable journey through Jay’s life as an artist, mentor, and man; a man grappling with time, life, change, and the end of an era in New York City.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, aka “Jazz Fest,” is the signature annual music and cultural event of the city and has been called America’s greatest festival. Celebrating the music, food, and arts and crafts of all of Louisiana since 1970, Jazz Fest is an essential showcase of the rich heritage of the region, and hundreds of thousands attend the event each year. Local music heroes are joined on 14 stages by some of the most important figures in entertainment, highlighting the connections between Louisiana culture and the world. Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story weaves together live performances and interviews from the 50th anniversary of the iconic festival, featuring some of the biggest names in the music industry, along with a wealth of archival documentary footage from the past half century. This film not only captures the Festival in all of its beauty and glory, but also delves deep into the rich culture of The Big Easy.

In his short career, Jean-Michel Basquiat was a phenomenon. He became notorious for his graffiti art under the moniker Samo in the late 1970s on the Lower East Side scene, sold his first painting to Deborah Harry for $200, and became best friends with Andy Warhol. Appreciated by both the art cognoscenti and the public, Basquiat was launched into international stardom. However, soon his cult status began to override the art that had made him famous in the first place. Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary. (Arthouse Films)

In the summer of 1991 Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested in Milwaukee and sentenced to 957 years in prison for killing 17 people and dismembering their bodies. Through the use of archival footage and interviews with the local medical examiner, police detective, and Dahmer's neighbors, this documentary explores the ordinary man behind the horrifying acts.

Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent explores the remarkable life of Jeremiah Tower, one of the most controversial and influential figures in the history of American gastronomy. Tower began his career at the renowned Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1972, becoming a pioneering figure in the emerging California cuisine movement. After leaving Chez Panisse, due in part to a famously contentious relationship with founder Alice Waters, Tower went on to launch his own legendary Stars Restaurant in San Francisco. Stars was an overnight sensation and soon became one of America’s top-grossing U.S. restaurants. After several years, Tower mysteriously walked away from Stars and then disappeared from the scene for nearly two decades, only to resurface in the most unlikely of places: New York City’s fabled but troubled Tavern on the Green. There, he launched a journey of self-discovery familiar to anyone who has ever imagined themselves to be an artist. [The Orchard]

An electrifying glimpse into the complex life and thrilling, unparalleled performances of rock and roll's first and wildest practitioner: Jerry Lee Lewis.

A growing number of Evangelical Christians believe there is a revival underway in America that requires Christian youth to assume leadership roles in advocating the causes of their religious movement. This documentary, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, directors of the critically acclaimed "The Boys of Baraka," follows Levi, Rachael, and Tory to Pastor Becky Fischer's "Kids on Fire" summer camp in Devil's Lake, North Dakota, where kids as young as 6 years-old are taught to become dedicated Christian soldiers in "God's army." (Magnolia Pictures)

Filmed in the summer of 2019, Jesus Is King brings Kanye West’s famed Sunday Service to life in the Roden Crater, visionary artist James Turrell’s never-before-seen installation in Arizona’s Painted Desert. This one-of-a-kind experience features songs arranged by West in the gospel tradition along with new music from his forthcoming album.

This documentary reveals Jesus Music's untold story - from its humble beginnings at the Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California through its transformation into the multi-billion-dollar industry of Christian Contemporary Music today.

This documentary examines Catholics at prayer and the role of religion in modern life.

Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story portrays the contributions of Jewish major leaguers and the special meaning that baseball has had in the lives of American Jews. More than a film about sports, this is a story of immigration, assimilation, bigotry, heroism, the passing on of traditions, and the shattering of stereotypes.(7th Art Releasing)

Declassified files related to President Kennedy's assassination in a far larger context, aiming to shine more light on what really happened in 1963.

Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles accompanies the prolific Chinese director Jia Zhangke on a walk down memory lane, as he revisits his hometown and other locations used in creating his ever-growing body of work. At each location, they visit Jia's family, friends, and former colleagues, and their conversations range from his mother's tales of him as a young boy to amusing remembrances of school days and film shoots to memories of his father and to the shared understanding that if not for pirated DVDs, much of Jia's work would go unseen in China. All roads traveled are part of one journey; the destination of which is Jia's relationship to his past and to his country. The confluence of storytelling, intellect, and politics informing all of Jia's work is brought to light in this lovely, intimate portrait of the artist on his way to the future. [Kino Lorber]

Jig is the remarkable story of the 40th Irish Dancing World Championships, held in March 2010 in Glasgow. This feature length documentary was given access for the very first time to the little known world of competitive Irish Dancing. Thousands of dancers, their families and teachers from around the globe descend upon Glasgow for one drama filled week. Clad in wigs, make up, fake tan, diamantes and dresses costing thousands of pounds where they compete for the coveted world titles. (Screen Media Films)

Filmed in twelve countries and nine languages, A Jihad for Love is the world's first feature documentary to explore the complex global intersections between Islam and homosexuality. Muslim gay filmmaker Parvez Sharma enters the many worlds of Islam by illuminating multiple stories as diverse as Islam itself. Filming in secret and as a Muslim, Parvez makes the film from within the faith, depicting Islam with the same respect that the film's characters show for it. (First Run Features)

Jim Carrey earned critical acclaim and a Golden Globe for the performance, but many of the production’s most Kaufmanesque moments played out behind the scenes, thankfully captured on video by Andy’s former girlfriend, Lynne Margulies and former writing partner, Bob Zmuda. In Jim & Andy, Carrey looks back at the resulting footage 18 years later, reflecting on how he and Andy came up in oddly parallel universes, his experience channelling Andy and Tony and more broadly the spiritual journey of his career.

Jim Allison: Breakthrough is the astounding, true story of one warm- hearted, stubborn man’s visionary quest to find a cure for cancer. The film traces Allison’s remarkable life from his school-boy days in Friday Night Lights, Creationist Texas all the way to Stockholm where, in December of 2018, he accepted the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Spike Lee directs this moving portrait of a complicated, charismatic man, one who has spent his life in the spotlight, first making football history as one of the 20th century's greatest athletes, and later as the star of numerous Hollywood features, where he pioneered a new kind of African-American hero. (Film Forum)

Ron Howard's documentary takes us into the mind of this singular creative visionary, from his early years puppeteering on local television to the worldwide success of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and beyond. Featuring unprecedented access to Jim's personal archives, Howard brings us a fascinating and insightful look at a complex man whose boundless imagination inspired the world. [Disney+]

An in-depth look at the life and work of American journalist James Foley, who was killed by ISIS terrorists in 2014.

Jimmy Carter Man From Plains is an intimate, surprising encounter with President Jimmy Carter. Following the path of Mr. Carter's recent controversial book tour for Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, director Jonathan Demme reveals a complex individual who, with the gusto and determination of a youngster, criss-crosses the country to get his message across, even as that message creates a media onslaught in which his credibility and judgment are called into question. Jimmy Carter Man From Plains explores both the private and public sides of Jimmy Carter, whose intense sense of justice compels him to pursue, with undiminished energy and hope, his lifelong and deeply spiritual vision of reconciliation and peace. (Sony Pictures Classics)

If it hadn’t been for a bottle of scotch and a late-night visit from musician Gregg Allman, Jimmy Carter might never have been elected the 39th President of the United States. The documentary charts the mostly forgotten story of how Carter, a lover of all types of music, forged a tight bond with musicians Willie Nelson, the Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan and others. Low on campaign funds and lacking in name recognition, Carter relied on support from these artists to give him a crucial boost in the Democratic primaries. Once Carter was elected, the musicians became frequent guests in the White House. The surprisingly significant role that music played throughout Carter’s life and in his work becomes a thread in this engaging portrait of one of the most enigmatic Presidents in American history.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is the story of 85 year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant inauspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Despite its humble appearances, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious 3 star Michelin review, and sushi lovers from around the globe make repeated pilgrimage, calling months in advance and shelling out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar. For most of his life, Jiro has been mastering the art of making sushi, but even at his age he sees himself still striving for perfection, working from sunrise to well beyond sunset to taste every piece of fish; meticulously train his employees; and carefully mold and finesse the impeccable presentation of each sushi creation. At the heart of this story is Jiro’s relationship with his eldest son Yoshikazu, the worthy heir to Jiro’s legacy, who is unable to live up to his full potential in his father’s shadow. (Magnolia Pictures)

Facing the end of a 60-year musical 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 reveals, for the first time, personal struggles she’s kept private, until now.

Across more than 50 years of essays, novels, screenplays, and criticism, Joan Didion has been our premier chronicler of the ebb and flow of America’s cultural and political tides with observations on her personal – and our own – upheavals, downturns, life changes, and states of mind. In the intimate, extraordinary documentary Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold, actor and director Griffin Dunne unearths a treasure trove of archival footage and talks at length to his “Aunt Joan” about the eras she covered and the eventful life she’s lived, including partying with Janis Joplin in a house full of L.A. rockers; hanging in a recording studio with Jim Morrison; and cooking dinner for one of Charles Manson’s women for a magazine story. Didion guides us through the sleek literati scene of New York in the 1950s and early ’60s, when she wrote for Vogue; her return to her home state of California for two turbulent decades; the writing of her seminal books, including Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Play It as It Lays, A Book of Common Prayer, and The White Album; her film scripts, including The Panic in Needle Park; her view of 1980s and ’90s political personalities; and the meeting of minds that was her long marriage to writer John Gregory Dunne. She reflects on writing about her reckoning with grief after Dunne’s death, in The Year of Magical Thinking (winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction), and the death of their daughter Quintana Roo, in Blue Nights. With commentary from friends and collaborators including Vanessa Redgrave, Harrison Ford, Anna Wintour, David Hare, Calvin Trillin, Hilton Als, and Susanna Moore, the most crucial voice belongs to Didion, one of the most influential American writers alive today. [Netflix]

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work takes the audience on a year long ride with legendary comedian Joan Rivers in her 76th year of life. Peeling away the mask of an iconic comedian and exposing the struggles, sacrifices and joy of living life as a ground breaking female performer. The film is an emotionally surprising and revealing portrait of one the most hilarious and long-standing career women ever in the business. (IFC Films)

Known as the first openly gay rock star, Jobriath’s reign was brief, lasting less than two years and two albums. Done in by a over-hyped publicity machine, shunned by the gay community, and dismissed by most critics as all flash, no substance, Jobriath was excommunicated from the music business and retreated to the Chelsea Hotel, where he died forgotten in 1983 at the age of 37, one of the earliest casualties of AIDS. However, in the years since his death, new generations of fans have discovered his music through acts as diverse as The Pet Shop Boys, Gary Numan, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, and Morrissey, all of whom have cited Jobriath as an influence. Through interviews, archival material and animation, experience the heartbreaking, unbelievable story of the one, the only, Jobriath.