Documentary Of The Week

"While We Watched" profiles India's TV news anchor Ravish Kumar as he faces death threats and other pressures while trying to practice journalism in an age of rising extremism. The film, directed by Vinay Shukla, has won multiple festival awards.   

"Casa Susanna" reflects on a haven for transgender expression in the Catskills that was kept secret for decades. French filmmaker Sébastien Lifshitz profiles four people whose lives were profoundly intertwined with this history.  

"The Stroll" explores the history of transgender sex workers who worked the streets of New York's Meatpacking District before the neighborhood's gentrification. Directors Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker document the intense pressures, but also the activism, sisterhood and self-empowerment in the community.  

"Victim/Suspect" follows reporter Rae de Leon as she investigates a pattern of cases where women reported sexual assault only to be accused by police of lying. Filmmaker Nancy Schwartzman explores the underlying biases behind this trend.  

The actor, John Leguizamo takes a road trip to Latin American communities across the country in, "Leguizamo Does America." He engages prominent locals in lively conversations about their history, food, music and culture.  

New York based-filmmaker Jon-Sesrie Goff traces his family's roots in the Gullah community of South Carolina in "After Sherman," a title evoking the Civil War general. The film is more poetic than didactic as it connects the past to the present.  

"Being Mary Tyler Moore" explores how the actress compared and contrasted in real life to the characters she portrayed. Director James Adolphus chronicles how Moore was constantly evolving.  

In "1000% Me: Growing Up Mixed," Director W. Kamau Bell interviews mixed race people across three generations to understand their challenges and insights. The film is an opportunity to listen and learn.  

"32 Sounds" is a documentary essay that enlists composers, scientists, Hollywood effects specialists and others to contemplate how we listen. Filmmaker Sam Green has created an interactive experience best experienced in a movie theater.  

"Little Richard: I Am Everything" brings a fresh perspective on the history of rock 'n' roll with insights from Mick Jagger and Billy Porter. Director Lisa Cortes explores what it meant to be Black and queer when both were subject to intense discrimination and violence.  

"Wild Life" tells the love story of Doug and Kris Tompkins who gave up careers running North Face and Patagonia to devote themselves to conservation. Oscar-winning filmmaker E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin ("Free Solo") chronicle how the Tompkins orchestrated the largest national park land donation in history.  

In "The First Step," we follow progressive activist Van Jones as forges an unlikely alliance with Jared Kushner in the Trump administration to pass criminal justice reform. The film-making brothers, Brandon and Lance Kramer show how political coalitions are hard to win and easy to lose.  

The American soldiers who were interviewed 20 years ago for the documentary "Gunner Palace" about the war in Iraq, look back on their experiences today in "The Army We Had." While many Americans may want to forget the war, filmmakers Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker keep the memories of these soldiers alive.  

"Nam June Paik: Moon is the Oldest TV" profiles the ground-breaking video artist whose work in the 1970s and 80s anticipated numerous artistic and technological innovations that came afterward. Filmmaker Amanda Kim interviews Paik's friends and admirers who put his legacy in perspective.  

"All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" profiles the artist Nan Goldin and her fight to have the Sackler family held accountable for the opioid epidemic. Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras explores Goldin's complex history as an artist and activist while chronicling her recent campaign to have art institutions disassociate themselves from the Sacklers as donors.  

"Navalny" follows the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny as he investigates a Kremlin plot to assassinate him. Today, Navalny is in prison, but this film by Daniel Roher keeps his voice alive and is nominated for an Academy Award.  

"Framing Agnes" brings to life archival interviews with transgender men and women from the 1950s. Filmmaker Chase Joynt leads a team of trans collaborators including Zackary Drucker, Angelica Ross and Max Wolf Valerio to shed light on this earlier generation.  

"The 1619 Project" adapts the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism of Nikole Hannah-Jones into a six-part series on Hulu. Filmmaker Roger Ross Williams teams with The New York Times and Oprah Winfrey to reexamine Black American history.  

"Nothing Lasts Forever" explores how the rise of synthetic diamonds is disrupting the longtime monopoly of the company De Beers. Filmmaker Jason Kohn interviews a wide range of industry insiders including jewelry designer and historian Aja Raden.  

"Body Parts" explores Hollywood's complicated history of filming nudity and sexuality. We hear from actors such as Jane Fonda and Rose McGowan about their frequent experiences of being coerced into explicit scenes against their better judgment - and how they found their voice to push for change.