Category Archives: Documentary

2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: AMERICAN DREAM (1990)

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

AMERICAN DREAM (1990)
When workers at the Hormel meatpacking plant in Austin, Minnesota are forced to take a substantial pay cut, the local union takes a stand for its members. Their strike tests the fragile promise of the American ideal, revealing the cost of survival when the dream no longer feels shared.

Director:
Barbara Kopple

Producers:
Arthur Cohn, Barbara Kopple

Festival Section:
Park City Legacy

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: THE STORY OF DOCUMENTARY FILM

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Mani Kaul

THE STORY OF DOCUMENTARY FILM
Tracing the evolution of documentary film across time, examining landmark works and hidden treasures, while revealing how the form has helped us see and make sense of our world.

Director:
Mark Cousins

Producer:
John Archer

Country of Origin:
UK

Festival Section:
Special Screening

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: COOKIE QUEENS

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

COOKIE QUEENS
It’s Girl Scout Cookie season, and four tenacious girls strive to be a top-selling “Cookie Queen,” navigating an $800 million business in which childhood and ambition collide.

Director:
Alysa Nahmias

Producers:
Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, Alysa Nahmias, Jennifer Sims

Festival Section:
Family Matinee

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: BROKEN ENGLISH

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Joseph Lynn

BROKEN ENGLISH
A portrait of the inimitable singer, songwriter, and icon Marianne Faithfull.

Directors:
Jane Pollard, Iain Forsyth

Producer:
Beth Earl

Country of Origin:
UK

Festival Section:
Spotlight

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: THE OLIGARCH AND THE ART DEALER

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

THE OLIGARCH AND THE ART DEALER
Yves Bouvier brokers masterpieces, from da Vinci to Rothko, into the private collection of Dmitry Rybolovlev until Bouvier is accused of a billion-dollar betrayal. Rising ambitions, frayed relationships, and bruised egos fuel a decade-long all-out war between the Swiss art dealer and the elusive Russian oligarch.

Director:
Andreas Dalsgaard

Executive Producers:
Libby Geist, Connor Shell, Brandon Harrison, Justin Lacob, Charles De Lardemelle, Rain Rannu, Ines Bensalem

Producers:
Christoph Jörg, Miriam Norgaard

Country of Origin:
Denmark/France/USA

Festival Section:
Episodic

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: MURDER 101

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Jesse Cain

MURDER 101
A case that haunted Tennessee’s best detectives for decades is cracked wide open by the most unlikely of investigators: a high school sociology class.

Director:
Stacey Lee

Executive Producers:
Stephanie Lydecker, Dianne McGunigle, Jon Watts

Producer:
William Crouse

Festival Section:
Episodic

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: THE BEST SUMMER

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Tamra Davis

THE BEST SUMMER
Immersive POV camera footage reveals electric performances, candid interviews, and intimate backstage life with the Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Foo Fighters, Pavement, Rancid, Beck, The Amps, and Bikini Kill — an all-access view inside an era-defining moment in music.

Director:
Tamra Davis

Producers:
Tamra Davis, Shelby Meade

Festival Section:
Midnight

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | artwork by Dawud Anyabwile

WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS
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.

Director:
Dawn Porter

Producers:
Dawn Porter, Miriam Weintraub, Jennifer Oko

Festival Section:
Premieres

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: TROUBLEMAKER

Courtesy of Sundance Institute

TROUBLEMAKER
The struggle against apartheid is recounted through Nelson Mandela’s own voice, drawn from recordings he made while writing his autobiography LONG WALK TO FREEDOM.

Director:
Antoine Fuqua

Producers:
Antoine Fuqua, Mac Maharaj, Arthur Landon, Kevin Mann, Mark Bauch, Markus Davies

Country of Origin:
South Africa/USA/UK

Festival Section:
Premieres

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2026 Sundance Don’t Miss Docs: TIME AND WATER

Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Archival Materials Courtesy of Andri Snær Magnason

TIME AND WATER
Facing the death of his country’s glaciers and the loss of his beloved grandparents, Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason turns his archives into a time capsule to hold what is slipping away — family, memory, time, and water.

Director:
Sara Dosa

Producers:
Shane Boris, Elijah Stevens, Jameka Autry, Sara Dosa

Country of Origin:
USA/Iceland

Festival Section:
Premieres

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