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
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
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
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
QUEEN OF CHESS
A Hungarian girl dreams of conquering international men’s chess. After a 15-year battle against world champion Garry Kasparov, Judit Polgár revolutionizes the sport’s patriarchal culture to become one of the greatest chess prodigies in history and the greatest woman chess player of all time.
Director:
Rory Kennedy
Producers:
Rory Kennedy, Mark Bailey, Keven McAlester
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
PARALYZED BY HOPE: THE MARIA BAMFORD STORY
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.
Directors:
Judd Apatow, Neil Berkeley
Producers:
Judd Apatow, Neil Berkeley, Amanda Rohlke, David Heiman
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HARLEM
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.
Directors:
William Greaves, David Greaves
Producers:
Liani Greaves, Anne de Mare
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
THE OLDEST PERSON IN THE WORLD
A decade-long global journey chronicles the ever-changing record holders of the title of oldest person alive. What begins as a portrait of longevity becomes a meditation on the passage of time, the randomness of fate, and the joy and profound human experience of being alive.
Director:
Sam Green
Producers:
Alison Byrne Fields, Josh Penn
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
THE LAST FIRST: WINTER K2
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.
Director:
Amir Bar-Lev
Producers:
John Battsek, Sean Richard, Sarah Thomson, Howard T Owens, Ben Silverman
Country of Origin:
USA/UK
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
KNIFE: THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF SALMAN RUSHDIE
Previously unseen footage captured by Salman Rushdie’s wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, documents his journey. Following not just his physical rehabilitation, but also the restoration of his spirit and optimism. Inspired by Rushdie’s memoir KNIFE: MEDITATIONS AFTER AN ATTEMPTED MURDER.
Director:
Alex Gibney
Producers:
Alex Gibney, Erin Edeiken, Sruthi Pinnamaneni
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
JANE ELLIOTT AGAINST THE WORLD
A rural Iowa schoolteacher becomes a national voice against racism after leading a controversial 1968 lesson in discrimination with her all-white third-grade class. Now nearly 90, she refuses to hold back amid today’s fights about race, history, and power after a lifetime of speaking out.
Director:
Judd Ehrlich
Producers:
Judd Ehrlich, Max Powers, Elena Gaby
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
THE HISTORY OF CONCRETE
After attending a workshop on how to write and sell a Hallmark movie, filmmaker John Wilson tries to use the same formula to sell a documentary about concrete.
Director:
John Wilson
Producers:
Clark Filio, Shirel Kozak, Allie Viti
Festival Section:
Premieres
More Info:
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Filed under Documentary, Film, Film Festivals, Recommendations, Sundance
what (not) to doc 