The following past Sundance Film Festival documentaries are scheduled for release this month:
>October 2
In Theatres & Streaming: Apple TV
THE LAST FIRST: WINTER K2
Sundance 2026
Director:
Amir Bar-Lev
Producers:
John Battsek, Sean Richard, Sarah Thomson, Howard T Owens, Ben Silverman
About:
The race to grab the last great prize in mountaineering, K2 in winter, left five dead. It exposed deep fault lines in alpinism today: pressures from commercialization, toxic effects of social media, and long-brewing tensions between those who’ve been marginalized and those who’ve always basked in the sport’s glory.
>October 6
On TV: American Masters
AMERICAN PACHUCO: THE LEGEND OF LUIS VALDEZ
Sundance 2026
Director:
David Alvarado
Producers:
David David Alvarado, Lauren DeFilippo, Everett Katigbak, Amanda Pollak
About:
Against political resistance and industry skepticism, Luis Valdez pushes Chicano storytelling from the fields to the film screen with ZOOT SUIT and LA BAMBA, crafting iconic works that challenge, celebrate, and expand America’s story.
>October 6
On VOD
THE LIBRARIANS
Sundance 2025
Director:
Kim A Snyder
Producers:
Kim A Snyder, Janique L. Robillard, Maria Cuomo Cole, Jana Edelbaum
About:
As an unprecedented wave of book banning is sparked in Texas, Florida, and beyond, librarians under siege join forces as unlikely defenders fighting for intellectual freedom on the front lines of democracy.
>October 9
In Theatres
KIKUYU LAND
Sundance 2026
Directors:
Andrew H Brown, Bea Wangondu
Producers:
Moses Bwayo, Andrew H Brown, Bea Wangondu, Mike Morrisroe, Joseph Njenga
About:
As a Nairobi journalist probes a land battle entangling the local government and a powerful multinational corporation, covered wounds are revealed and family secrets are exposed.
>October 12
In Theatres & Streaming: Netflix
FREE LEONARD PELTIER
Sundance 2025
Directors:
Jesse Short Bull, David France
Producers:
David France, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Bird Runningwater
About:
Leonard Peltier, one of the surviving leaders of the American Indian Movement, has been in prison for 50 years following a contentious conviction. A new generation of Native activists is committed to winning his freedom before he dies.
>October 16
In Theatres
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM
Sundance 2026
Director:
David Greaves
Conceived & Filmed by:
William Greaves
Producers:
Liani Greaves, Anne de Mare
About:
A decade after his death, genre-defying filmmaker William Greaves has one last trick up his sleeve with what he considered the most important event he captured on film: a 1972 party he engineered with the living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance.
>October 16
Streaming: Netflix
THE DISCIPLE
Sundance 2026
Director:
Joanna Natasegara
Producers:
Joanna Natasegara, Abigail Anketell-Jones, Lauren Dark, Vanessa Kirby
About:
An outsider fueled by relentless determination works his way into the inner circle of the Wu-Tang Clan, where his ambition and creativity converge in the making of an album poised to ignite global controversy.
>October 21
In Theatres
ONE IN A MILLION
Sundance 2026
Directors:
Itab Azzam, Jack MacInnes
Producers:
Raney Aronson-Rath, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer
About:
Filmed over 10 years, one girl’s epic journey from Syria to Germany and back again. She and her family navigate war, exile, and heartbreak in a foreign land, illuminating the complexities of the refugee experience.
>October 23
Streaming: Netflix
PARALYZED BY HOPE: THE MARIA BAMFORD STORY
Sundance 2026
Directors:
Judd Apatow, Neil Berkeley
Producers:
Judd Apatow, Neil Berkeley, Amanda Rohlke, David Heiman
About:
Blurring the line between performance and personal crisis, comedian Maria Bamford turns her mental health journey into material that’s riotously funny and ultimately inspiring. What emerges is a portrait of an artist transforming vulnerability into creative strength through honesty.
>October 26
On TV: Independent Lens
SEEDS
Sundance 2025
Director:
Brittany Shyne
Producers:
Danielle Varga, Brittany Shyne, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon
About:
An exploration of Black generational farmers in the American South reveals the fragility of legacy and the significance of owning land.
>October 28
In Theatres
CLOSURE
Sundance 2026
Director:
Michał Marczak
Producers:
Monika Braid, Michał Marczak, Rémi Grellety, Katarzyna Szczerba, Karolina Marczak
About:
After his teenage son goes missing, Daniel scours the depths of the Vistula River, torn between the dread of a fatal leap and the hope that his son may still be alive.
>October 30
In Theatres
WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS
Sundance 2026
Director:
Dawn Porter
Producers:
Dawn Porter, Miriam Weintraub, Jennifer Oko
About:
In 1983, author Ta-Nehisi Coates learned that a 14-year-old boy was murdered in his Baltimore middle school. Upon revisiting the case, he uncovers the truth: Three innocent teenagers were wrongfully convicted and spent 36 years in prison — creating a lasting impact on the accused, the witnesses, and their community.
>October 30
In Theatres
WHO KILLED ALEX ODEH?
Sundance 2026
Directors:
Jason Osder, William Lafi Youmans
Producers:
Dawne Langford, William Lafi Youmans, Jason Osder, Daniel J Chalfen
About:
The assassination of a beloved Palestinian American activist in Southern California ignites a 40-year quest for justice, revealing the roots of a dangerous political movement that thrives today.
