The following past Sundance Film Festival documentaries are scheduled for release this month:
>February 2
On TV & Streaming: Paramount+ with Showtime
KOKOMO CITY
Sundance 2023
Director:
D Smith
About:
Four Black transgender sex workers explore the dichotomy between the Black community and themselves, while confronting issues long avoided.
>February 20
On VOD
I DIDN’T SEE YOU THERE
Sundance 2022
Director:
Reid Davenport
About:
Spurred by the spectacle of a circus tent that goes up outside his Oakland apartment, a disabled filmmaker launches into an unflinching meditation on freakdom, (in)visibility, and the pursuit of individual agency.
>February 27
Streaming: Paramount+
AS WE SPEAK
Sundance 2024
Director:
JM Harper
About:
Bronx rap artist Kemba explores the growing weaponization of rap lyrics in the United States criminal justice system and abroad — revealing how law enforcement has quietly used artistic creation as evidence in criminal cases for decades.
>February 27
On TV: HBO
GOD SAVE TEXAS: HOMETOWN PRISON
Sundance 2024
Director:
Richard Linklater
About:
Three directors offer their unique and personal perspectives on their home state of Texas, creating vivid portraits of a state that mirrors the United States’ past, present, and future. Inspired by the book God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright.
Huntsville, Texas sits at the heart of an expansive prison industrial complex. Yet, for many residents, these prisons exist in another realm, disconnected from their lives. Richard Linklater revisits his hometown to explore its diverse inhabitants, painting a vibrant portrait that encapsulates the criminal justice system of Texas.
>February 28
On TV: HBO
GOD SAVE TEXAS: LA FRONTERA
Sundance 2024
Director:
Iliana Sosa
About:
Three directors offer their unique and personal perspectives on their home state of Texas, creating vivid portraits of a state that mirrors the United States’ past, present, and future. Inspired by the book God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright.
Iliana Sosa examines how “nepantla,” an embrace of in-betweenness, characterizes relations to both her Mexican heritage and her hometown of El Paso, Texas. An exploration revealing how the city’s humanity and unique hybridity catalyzed unity, nurturing healing in the aftermath of a devastating mass shooting in 2019.
>February 28
On TV: HBO
GOD SAVE TEXAS: THE PRICE OF OIL
Sundance 2024
Director:
Alex Stapleton
About:
Three directors offer their unique and personal perspectives on their home state of Texas, creating vivid portraits of a state that mirrors the United States’ past, present, and future. Inspired by the book God Save Texas: A Journey Into the Soul of the Lone Star State by Lawrence Wright.
As the world’s energy capital, Houston is a city that manufactures both its prominence and demise. Alex Stapleton explores the industry’s impact on her family, who arrived as enslaved people in the 1830s, built thriving communities, and now must cope with the human costs of Texas’ biggest money-maker.
what (not) to doc 