Earlier this month, a handful of Gary Hustwit documentaries hit The Criterion Channel, including his Design Trilogy and the feature Rams, which is about an industrial designer. Until finally seeing Hustwit’s latest, Eno, I didn’t know how the documentary fit into the filmmaker’s area of focus. Now I can appreciate that the subject, Brian Eno, is something of a designer himself. Technically, in addition to being an iconic musician, songwriter, visual artist, pioneer of the ambient genre, and legendary record producer, he’s considered a professional sound designer. But as this film shows, he’s essentially also a music designer. Isn’t that just another term for songwriter or composer? Not really. Eno is both of those things as well, but based on how he describes his work, I’d say he’s more of a music designer.

Eno is a documentary that fits its subject’s concept of generative music, as Hustwit has employed a software system (human-coded, not AI as previously thought) to produce variations on its construction. Each time it’s shown, Eno can have a new edit, with different versions being in the quintillions. I wondered how that would work when it’s eventually put on a streaming site. The Criterion Channel has an answer: each month, the streamer will change the version of Eno available to subscribers.

I’ve only watched one version so far, so I don’t know if this gimmick really does anything noticeable. I do think that the film I saw works well to represent Eno, while not laying out his biography and career in an informative way. It’s more a sense of him and his life. Eno does much of the work that makes the documentary so riveting, since it’s mostly him talking about his work and how he came to be one of the world’s most sought-after recording artists and record producers, despite not initially knowing how to play any instruments or write music.

Eno has a way of explaining the brilliance of his music factually, so its genius isn’t something being bragged about. I’d much rather hear it from him than a bunch of peers, critics, fans, and historians spouting hyperbole about why he’s a legend. I could also listen to Eno talk about the importance of music for many more hours, or even more of him just asking if it’s time for lunch. As a speaker, he’s almost as entrancing as his music. He also, like his music, makes smooth work out of complexity. Is there more of this material that isn’t seen in this version but will be in others? I’m unclear. I’d have loved to hear him talk more about music’s role in spatial design.

By the 14th Academy Awards, there was still no Oscar designated for documentary features. One such film had won an Academy Award, but that was in the Best Cinematography category. Meanwhile, short documentaries were honored throughout the 1930s. There was even a category meant specifically for nonfiction shorts, Best Live Action Short Subject (Novelty), from the 5th to the 8th Academy Awards. At the 14th ceremony, held in February 1942, the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category was introduced. One year later, shorts and features (none of them more than an hour in length) were lumped together for a Best Documentary category. The Academy wouldn’t give out its first Oscar for Best Documentary (Feature) until its 16th show.

At the 14th Academy Awards, however, two medium-length documentaries — both too long to be considered shorts by the organization and therefore treated instead as features — were recognized separately and specially. Target for Tonight received a Special Award “for its vivid and dramatic presentation of the heroism of the RAF.” Well, technically, the honor went to the British Ministry of Information. And for the film Kukan (a.k.a. Kukan: The Battle Cry of China or Kukan: The Secret of Unconquerable China), Rey Scott received a Special Award “for his extraordinary achievement in producing…the film record of China's struggle, including its photography with a 16mm camera under the most difficult and dangerous conditions.”

These honorary Oscars were a tease of things to come. Short documentaries were much more common, but longer-form nonfiction works also deserved accolades, especially if they aided the recently declared war effort. As with the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category, nominees and winners in the Best Documentary (Feature) category would primarily consist of films related to World War II, its causes, and its aftermath for the award’s first five years. Both of the documentary Special Awards honorees were released in the U.S. months before the country entered the war, and it’s difficult to imagine that they’d have been celebrated without the official declaration. It’s also difficult to imagine them not being celebrated after that decision.

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When we think of the term “cult film,” we’re usually thinking of underground movies with devoted fanbases. Or, maybe we’re thinking of movies (including documentaries) about cults. Welcome to Space Brothers reminds us that we could also think of cult films as movies produced by cults. The documentary chronicles the history of the Unarius Academy of Science, a UFO religion founded in Southern California in the 1950s that reached peak notoriety in the late 1970s as an extravagantly kitchy group known for its flamboyant costumes and promise of impending extraterrestrial visitation.

Calling Unarius a cult is probably a disservice to the group, which still exists, as they don’t appear to have been a scam (other than it not delivering on the UFO landings), nor was it headed by a predatory or abusive yet charismatic leader. Still, it fits the more innocent definition of a cult as a social organization with unusual beliefs.

Director Jodi Wille, whose last feature was the 2012 documentary The Source Family, again shows respect for her latest cult of interest (she also previously made a short about Unarius titled We Are Not Alone). That will make this less appealing to audiences looking for another group to laugh at or be shocked by. Most of the participants interviewed were or remain followers. While I will never totally understand the devotion of such individuals, I’ve never appreciated the draw of such communities more than I did thanks to this film.

Churches are best (in my opinion) as places to come together, whether it’s for worship or company. Unarius is based in spirituality goals, but it also comes across, most simplistically, as a social club for fellow folks sharing common intrigue about aliens and reincarnation, and a willingness to play dress up and maybe perform in parades and sci-fi movies.

The movies are what really grabbed me while watching Welcome Space Brothers. I couldn’t care less about the inner workings of the religion or the strained relationships among members over the years. That’s just typical of any organization. Other than co-founder and leader Ruth Norman being extravagant and sometimes controlling (even while reprimanding others for not abiding by the religion’s no-ego policy), there’s not much that’s outstanding about the personalities involved.

Yet the fact that Unarius produced some spectacularly cheesy but incredibly artistic and technically remarkable films and shows to promote themselves is fascinating. They look as good as the worst B-movies of the era that have become cult films, and I’m thinking of ordering some of them to see more. So not only is the documentary a gracious showcase of Unarius, but it might even benefit them financially.

I want to start this week’s newsletter with a shoutout to filmmaker Penny Lane, whose own latest Substack newsletter alerted me to something I wasn’t aware of. In a piece entitled “Are Documentaries Movies?” she notes, “This newsletter was partly inspired by noticing the [no ratings for documentaries] trend on Letterboxd.” I don’t agree with the idea of not rating documentaries, whether they’re “movies” or not. But this is my job. I rate, rank, review, nominate, and award documentaries based on their quality. At the same time, I rarely classify my documentary reviews on Rotten Tomatoes as “rotten” because most of what I choose to write about I’d recommend, even if I don’t like it.

Like Lane, I’ve grown tired of the lazy reviews of documentaries praising them for feeling like a fiction film, and the forced efforts by documentarians to seek that sort of response. I think documentary filmmakers should still strive to tell their story in a visually compelling manner. When possible, they should concentrate on the look of their film, even if the cinematography is enhanced in post-production rather than consciously during shooting. That’s not to say raw, immediate filming can’t also be an aesthetic choice, one that perfectly suits its material. Just don’t use the motion picture format to share information without giving the audience a sensation. You can put that kind of thing on YouTube, or write a book or Substack post.

My favorite nonfiction films of the year so far deliver original, entertaining, and visually stimulating stories that go beyond the basics of documentary purpose. Maybe they are movies because they’ve got the whole package, from cinematography to score. Some even bother with sound design. They’re visionary, and well-produced, and not necessarily in a way that costs too much. But my top documentary of the year so far, Everybody to Kenmure Street, is one of these that proves even films tackling issues, histories, and important themes can be impressively cinematic while also being focused on people and ideas. It’s crucial and captivating, and that makes a big impact on viewers who are trying to be reached, not just educated or just entertained.

Below are this week’s documentary highlights, followed by daily listings for all known releases and broadcasts, along with a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including a new film from William Greaves!). Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive more in-depth highlights and reviews in the future, plus full access to special posts like our best-of lists, and to give me more time to watch more (if not everything) available. If you have a doc needing coverage or a mention, you can reach us at nonficseditor (at) gmail.

Nonfics Pick Of The Week: Eno (2024)

Earlier this month, a handful of Gary Hustwit documentaries hit The Criterion Channel, including his Design Trilogy and the feature Rams, which is about an industrial designer. Until finally seeing Hustwit’s latest, Eno, I didn’t know how the documentary fit into the filmmaker’s area of focus. Now I can appreciate that the subject, Brian Eno, is something of a designer himself. Technically, in addition to being an iconic musician, songwriter, visual artist, pioneer of the ambient genre, and legendary record producer, he’s considered a professional sound designer. But as this film shows, he’s essentially also a music designer. Isn’t that just another term for songwriter or composer? Not really. Eno is both of those things as well, but based on how he describes his work, I’d say he’s more of a music designer.

Eno is a documentary that fits its subject’s concept of generative music, as Hustwit has employed a software system (human-coded, not AI as previously thought) to produce variations on its construction. Each time it’s shown, Eno can have a new edit, with different versions being in the quintillions. I wondered how that would work when it’s eventually put on a streaming site. The Criterion Channel has an answer: each month, the streamer will change the version of Eno available to subscribers.

Continue reading our review of Eno.

Eno begins streaming exclusively on The Criterion Channel on June 16, 2026.

Other Documentary Highlights

The Age Of Disclosure (2025)

With its focus on people brought together over UFOs, Welcome Space Brothers (highlighted below) made a great accompaniment to my viewing of Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day last week, to the point that I could also consider it a Doc Option tied to the new sci-fi blockbuster. But I’d already committed to sharing The Age of Disclosure, a documentary about the U.S. government’s nearly 80-year cover-up of evidence of extraterrestrial sightings and contact. It’s also directed by a filmmaker (Dan Farah) who previously produced a Spielberg movie (Ready Player One).

I asked my friend Emma “Mulder” Loggins, the founder and Editor in Chief of FanBolt and a UFO/aliens expert and junkie, to choose the best documentary for a Disclosure Day Doc Option, and she picked this one without question. So, I think it's best to share part of her review of the film:

“The Age of Disclosure accomplishes something genuinely impressive. It takes decades of fragmented information, whistleblower testimony, Congressional hearings, declassified documents, and military encounters and weaves them into a coherent narrative that’s accessible to people who haven’t been following this topic obsessively.

“For those of us who have been paying attention, the film serves as validation. For newcomers, it’s a crash course in why so many credible people are taking this seriously. Whether or not the Academy recognizes it, The Age of Disclosure has already accomplished something remarkable. It’s made UFOs a legitimate topic of conversation in Washington’s corridors of power and Hollywood’s screening rooms simultaneously. That alone is worth celebrating.”

The Age of Disclosure is available to rent or purchase digitally from Prime Video.

America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Season 3

Fun fact: Two years ago, we nominated America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders for Best Limited Documentary Series at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. It didn’t win, but it also — obviously, now that it’s in its third season — is not a limited series. At the time, I don’t think even the show’s producers knew it’d be so popular as to warrant more seasons.

Well, here we are. The show has since won Best Sports Documentary at the CCDAs (one year after the first nomination) and been recognized by the Emmys and the Cinema Eye Honors. It’s not really my thing, fan-wise, but I have to highlight it for its objective achievement.

America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Season 3 premieres in full on Netflix on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

Flag Day (2026)

Every other holiday has movies associated with the occasion, so why not Flag Day? Unfortunately, I can’t recommend this feature documentary for watching on June 14 or any other date. Flag Day is a good-looking film, and it sounds good, too. In fact, much of the documentary consists of montages of scenes set to unsurprising soundtrack choices such as “Small Town” by John Mellencamp and a cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “America.”

The rest introduces us to common people in Three Oaks, Michigan, home of the nation’s largest Flag Day parade. None of them has anything particularly interesting to say, and some seem to be acting for the camera. The not-quite-verite film perfectly represents the American Flag, a thin, ceremoniously majestic representation of our country. But I get more out of just staring at the flag.

Flag Day will be released in theaters on Friday, June 12, 2026, with additional nationwide screenings being held on June 14 and June 15.

The Gas Station Attendant (2025)

We’ve seen plenty of documentaries like The Gas Station Attendant. The filmmaker, Karla Murthy, examines her cultural identity as an Asian American while also sharing the story of her father’s journey to this country from India and the titular stereotype that he fell into. Some of it is standard fare, and some of it is specific and distinct. While the film is fairly unexceptional, I still can’t resist any of these cinematic memoirs because it’s always interesting and endearing subject matter.

Plus, Murthy’s father is a figure representing America better than any piece of cloth or small-town-set documentary named for it, as a kind, hard-working, and grateful immigrant. This is also one of the appreciated rare documentaries of its kind, where it genuinely honors the parent rather than coming off as completely self-centered. No wonder Geeta Gandbhir and Stanley Nelson signed on as executive producers.

The Gas Station Attendant will be released in theaters, beginning with New York City’s DCTV Firehouse Cinema, on Friday, June 12, 2026.

Gianfranco Rosi Documentaries

This week’s filmmaker spotlight is on Gianfranco Rosi in honor of the Metrograph’s retrospective kicking off in New York City on Friday, June 12, 2026. Titled “Gianfranco Rosi: Firmament of the Real,” the program includes eight of his essential nonfiction features plus a film that had a big influence on his work. Rosi is all about documentary being cinema, or movies, yet not necessarily in a comfortable manner. As Robert Greene put it in a column championing one of Rosi’s films, “What is documentary if not the gift of going somewhere and not turning away from what you find?” Even those of Rosi’s films that I don’t love, I wouldn’t have liked to miss.

Rosi’s eight titles being screened (and where to watch them if you can’t be in NYC) are Boatman (Kanopy and Kino Film Collection), Below Sea Level (Kanopy), El Sicario, Room 164 (PVOD), the Golden Lion-winning Sacra Gra (Kanopy), Fire at Sea (Kanopy and Kino Film Collection), Notturno (Kanopy), In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis (Hulu), and his latest, Pompei: Below the Clouds (Mubi). The extra curation is Roberto Rossellini’s 1959 hybrid film India: Matri Bhumi (The Criterion Channel).

Gregg Allman: The Music Of My Soul (2026)

The latest music documentary from actor-turned-director James Keach (Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me) is fairly conventional in its biographical treatment of its subject. But as with Eno and other elevated examples of the genre, it’s best when it lets its main character do the talking. Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul features relatively recent interviews with the titular rock legend, who died in 2017, including some never-before-seen footage from a decade ago. I think the challenge with this film is not making it an Allman Brothers Band, and Keach rises to that challenge by keeping it purely focused on Gregg Allman. He’s not presented as a part of the band; the band is presented as a part of him.

Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul will screen in theaters nationwide on Wednesday, June 17, 2026.

Welcome Space Brothers (2023)

When we think of the term “cult film,” we’re usually thinking of underground movies with devoted fanbases. Or, maybe we’re thinking of movies (including documentaries) about cults. Welcome to Space Brothers reminds us that we could also think of cult films as movies produced by cults. The documentary chronicles the history of the Unarius Academy of Science, a UFO religion founded in Southern California in the 1950s that reached peak notoriety in the late 1970s as an extravagantly kitchy group known for its flamboyant costumes and promise of impending extraterrestrial visitation.

Calling Unarius a cult is probably a disservice to the group, which still exists, as they don’t appear to have been a scam (other than it not delivering on the UFO landings), nor was it headed by a predatory or abusive yet charismatic leader. Still, it fits the more innocent definition of a cult as a social organization with unusual beliefs.

Continue reading our review of Welcome Space Brothers.

Welcome Space Brothers screens on Saturday, June 13, 2026, with a live performance by Moby afterward, and will be playing in theaters nationwide through this fall.

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Documentary Release Calendar 6/12/26 - 6/18/26

Friday, June 12, 2026

Dance of the Wild (2026) - A documentary feature about humanity’s relationship to wild horses. (In Theaters)

Deadliest Catch Season 22, Episode 6: “Rocked to the Core” - The latest installment of a series that follows Alaskan crab fishermen. (Discovery Channel)

Flag Day (2026) - A verite documentary of life in Three Oaks, Michigan, home of the largest Flag Day parade. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (In Theaters)

The Gas Station Attendant (2025) - A documentary feature by Karla Murthy about her father’s life, from fleeing his Indian village as a child to later emigrating to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (In Theaters)

It’s Dorothy! (2025) - A documentary feature about the legacy of the Wizard of Oz character Dorothy Gale. (PVOD)

Maternal Instinct (2026) - A true-crime documentary about a woman who faked a pregnancy to kill another mother and steal her baby. (Netflix)

Unbroken: The Untold Story of Shen Yun (2026) - A documentary feature about the dance studio Shen Yun Performing Arts. (PVOD)

Saturday, June 13, 2026

Craig Ferguson: American on Purpose Episode 3: “The First Amendment” - The third installment of a five-part docuseries on what it means to be American. (CNN)

Welcome Space Brothers (2023) - A documentary feature by Jodi Wille (The Source Family) about the extraterrestrial-channeling spiritual movement that became the Unarius Academy of Science. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (In Theaters)

Sunday, June 14, 2026

Best of the World with Antoni Porowski Episodes 3 & 4: “New York City” & “London” - The third and fourth installments of a travel docuseries starring Antoni Porowski. (National Geographic)

The Food That Built America Season 7, Episode 8: “Rice to Riches” - The latest installment of a docuseries about popular American foods. This episode involves innovations with rice. (History)

Hazardous History with Henry Winkler Season 2, Episode 8: “Fatal Attractions” - The latest installment of a docuseries about dangerous toys and household items that used to be common. This episode involves dangerous tourist attractions. (History)

In the Eye of the Storm: Chasers Episode 5: “Spin City” - The fifth installment of a six-part spinoff of the docuseries In the Eye of the Storm that follows weather spotters and storm chasers as they record tornadoes. (Discovery Channel)

The Killer Among Us Episode 5: “Betrayal in Blue” - The latest installment of a docuseries hosted by Alan Cumming about murders in close-knit communities. This episode involves the killing of a newly elected sheriff. (Oxygen True Crime)

This Land Episodes 3 & 4: “Sea to Shining Sea” & “Star Border” - The third and fourth installments of a limited docuseries that explores the history of America through six defining frontiers. (CNN)

Monday, June 15, 2026

Game Warden (1955) - A short documentary about a New York game warden. (TCM)

History’s Greatest Machines with Dolph Lundgren Episode 3: “Monster Machines” - The latest installment of a docuseries about the machines that shaped our world. (History)

The Last Twins (2025) - A documentary feature about Erno “Zvi” Spiegel, who saved several sets of twins from experimentation during the Holocaust. Read our review of The Last Twins. (PBS)

Lethally Blonde Season 2, Episode 5: “Dressed to Kill” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries involving people pursuing beauty and fame. This episode involves a former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader. (Investigation Discovery)

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Season 3 - The return of an award-winning docuseries about the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. See our highlights section for more info. (Netflix)

Becoming Katharine Graham (2025) - A documentary feature about the titular Washington Post publisher. (PBS)

The Cinema Within (2024) - A documentary feature about film editing. (OVID)

Eno - A documentary feature directed by Gary Hustwit (Helvetica) — with 52 quintillion possible variations, each reedited by a human-coded software system — about the music artist Brian Eno. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. *NONFICS PICK* (The Criterion Channel)

He Calls Me Daughter (2026) - A documentary feature celebrating God as the perfect father figure for women. (DVD)

MGM Parade Show #7 (1955) - The sixth installment of a documentary series devoted to promoting MGM’s films. This short spotlights The Great Ziegfeld and The Tender Trap. (TCM)

The Proof is Out There: Unexplained Edition Season 2, Episode 3: “Death Defying Mysteries” - The return of a docuseries about strange phenomena captured on camera. (History)

The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch Season 7, Episode 5: “Home Sweet Homestead” - The latest installment of a docuseries about UFO phenomena at the Skinwalker Ranch. (History)

Stolen Kingdom (2025) - A documentary feature about theft and other misdeeds committed at Walt Disney World over 30 years. Read our review of Stolen Kingdom. (PVOD)

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

The Face Doctors Season 2, Episode 6: “I Can’t Smile” - The latest installment of a nonfiction series about facial reconstruction specialists and their patients. (TLC)

Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul (2026) - A documentary about the titular singer-songwriter and musician. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (In Theaters)

Under the Flags, the Sun (2025) - An archival documentary about Alfredo Stroessner’s 35-year dictatorship in Paraguay. (OVID)

Thursday, June 18, 2026

On the Roam Season 2, Episode 6 - The latest installment of a nonfiction series that follows actor Jason Momoa as he meets extraordinary people around the country. (HBO Max)

Surviving Earth Episode 2: “When the Climate Broke” - The second installment of an eight-part docuseries about extinct creatures. This episode involves a hippo-like herbivore. (NBC)

Welcome to Wrexham Season 5, Episode 7: “Touching Grass” - The latest installment of a docuseries about a Welsh soccer team co-owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. (FXX)

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Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon

6/19 - Enongo - A hybrid animated and documentary film about rapper/producer/Ph.D. candidate Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo, a.k.a. Sammus. (Indiepix Unlimited)

6/21 - On the Trail of UFOs: The Disclosure Era - An investigative docuseries in the On the Trail of UFOs franchise about the government declassification of files on UAP, aka UFOs. Watch the new trailer for the series below. (VOD)

6/23 - The Welcome Table - A documentary feature by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Josh Fox (Gasland) about climate refugees. (HBO and HBO Max)

6/24 - The American Experiment - A five-part docuseries by Brian Knappenberger (Turning Point: The Bomb And The Cold War) about the founding of America. (Netflix)

6/26 - Jackass: Best and Last - The fifth and final feature-length installment of the Jackass franchise, which looks back at classic stunts and presents new ones. Watch a new clip from the film below. (In Theaters)

6/27 - Possibilities - A documentary about the legacy of Helen Keller. (VOD)

6/30 - Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story - A documentary about the titular public access TV host. Watch the first trailer for the film below. (HBO and HBO Max)

7/3 - Sherman’s March - A 4K re-release of a classic first-person documentary by Ross McElwee about his romantic pursuits amidst his Civil War history project. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)

7/5 - National Geographic Sharkfest Season 8 - The return of a nature series about sharks. This season includes the new documentary Hammerhead Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory. Watch the new trailer for that film below. (National Geographic)

7/12 - The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door - A documentary feature about the 2018 poisoning of Russian/British double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter. (CNN)

10/16 - Once Upon a Time in Harlem - A documentary feature co-directed by the late William Greaves (Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One), resurrecting footage he shot in 1972 of a get-together of Harlem Renaissance legends. Watch the new teaser trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)

While much of the world is getting lost in the liminal spaces of Backrooms (a horror film I found disappointingly dull), I am thrilled to share a documentary interested in the seemingly limitless spaces underneath the ground’s surface and the definitely unlimited spaces of time, both backward and forward. Underland presents an intertwined triptych showcasing three subterranean explorers. One of them ventures into cenotes in Mexico to map out and reveal evidence of ancestral Mayan uses of these caves. Another is an urban explorer taking viewers through the sewers beneath Las Vegas. The third is a theoretical physicist conducting experiments more than a mile underground in pursuit of proof of the existence of dark matter.

The last of these participants, Mariangela Lisanti, might seem more stationary in her journey than the other two, but that’s where Underland distinguishes itself from being just about material space. Lisanti’s work at SNOLAB relates to the mysteries of the universe, including its origins billions of years ago. Fátima Tec Pool’s archaeological findings in the cenotes also involve contemplation of a more recent yet still ancient past. Bradley Garrett shows us near-contemporary remnants of modern history and wonders how they might become the findings of some future scientists many centuries or millennia from now. Lisanti, too, considers later generations as she gives in to the idea that what she’s seeking might not be found in her lifetime or the next.

In addition to all that Underland makes viewers think about with its themes involving space, time, myth, mystery, memory, physical relics, and theoretical “ghosts,” the film offers a magnificent visual and aural experience. Director Rob Petit, collaborating with producer Darren Aronofsky, cinematographer Ruben Woodin Dechamps, editor David G. Hill, narrator Sandra Hüller (hopefully bringing in the Project Hail Mary fans) and composer Hannah Peel, has delivered an adaptation of Robert Macfarlane’s book of the same name that left me curious about that text but certain that no words could match the sensational cinematic treatment of its subject matter in front of me. I recommend seeing the film in a very dark theater with a great sound system and constant air conditioning pumping through the auditorium. Or, at least, as I did, on a large screen in a cold, dark room with noise-canceling headphones.

While I really hate being disappointed by a documentary, whether it’s the film’s fault or mine, there’s nothing better than being surprised by one I didn’t see coming. Established filmmakers can’t make masterpieces every time, and their choices of subjects are not always going to resonate. They’re also not going to be up for awards with every new release. Also, sometimes filmmakers continue making documentaries that are very good but not groundbreaking, like the work that initially stood out. Even some of the best documentarians in history eventually produced films that felt routine.

My excitement as a documentary critic and awards show producer comes with any extraordinary film or series that comes along, whether it’s by a well-known director or not. But surprises can have more weight when it comes to remembering them down the line. In the past few years, original documentaries like Nocturnes, Caterpillar, Art for Everybody, Hummingbirds, and Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play. have been overlooked and less remembered in the overall scheme of my industry, yet they all come to mind when I think about the films I put on with no expectations, and could stop thinking about afterward. Some are more creative, some just feel more pure in their simplicity.

This week’s highlights include a film by an Oscar-winning director who has been having a great run, yet I wasn’t that impressed by his latest. They also include a film with a lot of awards buzz that seems to be misguided (the film and the buzz). Then there’s a film that nearly passed my desk without garnering my attention at all. It wasn’t pitched heavily to me, and it wasn’t something I’d even heard about. I put it on at the end of last week, desperate for something else to showcase that actually excited and inspired me. The gamble of delivering this newsletter later than I wanted to paid off because it’s a film that indeed wound up being my Pick of the Week. See below.

Below are this week’s documentary highlights, followed by daily listings for all known releases and broadcasts, along with a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including the latest from Penny Lane!). Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive more in-depth highlights and reviews in the future, plus full access to special posts like our best-of lists, and to give me more time to watch more (if not everything) available. If you have a doc in need of coverage or a mention, you can reach me at christopherbartoncampbell (at) gmail.

Nonfics Pick Of The Week: Underland (2025)

While much of the world is getting lost in the liminal spaces of Backrooms (a horror film I found disappointingly dull), I am thrilled to share a documentary interested in the seemingly limitless spaces underneath the ground’s surface and the definitely unlimited spaces of time, both backward and forward. Underland presents an intertwined triptych showcasing three subterranean explorers. One of them ventures into cenotes in Mexico to map out and reveal evidence of ancestral Mayan uses of these caves. Another is an urban explorer taking viewers through the sewers beneath Las Vegas. The third is a theoretical physicist conducting experiments more than a mile underground in pursuit of proof of the existence of dark matter.

The last of these participants, Mariangela Lisanti, might seem more stationary in her journey than the other two, but that’s where Underland distinguishes itself from being just about material space. Lisanti’s work at SNOLAB relates to the mysteries of the universe, including its origins billions of years ago. Fátima Tec Pool’s archaeological findings in the cenotes also involve contemplation of a more recent yet still ancient past. Bradley Garrett shows us near-contemporary remnants of modern history and wonders how they might become the findings of some future scientists many centuries or millennia from now. Lisanti, too, considers later generations as she gives in to the idea that what she’s seeking might not be found in her lifetime or the next.

Continue reading our review of Underland.

Underland will be released in theaters in New York City on Friday, June 5, 2026, via Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Other Documentary Highlights

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial Vs. That’s The Weight Of The World) (2026)

Questlove is back with another music documentary that shows his love for both Black artists of the ‘60s and ‘70s and long titles incorporating extensive parentheticals. It’s not surprising that the Grammy- and Oscar-winning musician-turned-filmmaker would be interested particularly in Maurice White, a fellow bandleader who played the drums. Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World) is almost as much (more) about White over the rest of his group as Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) is more about Sly Stone than Sly and the Family Stone. The problem is that White’s life story isn’t ever as compelling as those Questlove has poignantly told in his previous documentaries, including the best documentary of 2021, Summer of Soul (...or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).

Worth telling, sure, as he’s a music icon, obligatorily deserving of a documentary. And fans of Earth, Wind & Fire also deserve a music doc that validates their appreciation with typical music doc hyperboles. Compared to Questlove’s first three films as a director, including his Saturday Night Live anniversary special, this one is pretty standard in its form and what it has to say. There’s not as much contextual historical insight, just a straightforward chronicle of life and career events. The documentary does have one memorable sequence on the production, popularity, and legacy of “Shining Star,” and Marilyn White might be one of my favorite talking heads of the year so far, but overall, there’s not much here to make it stand out. Not all of Questlove’s films will be among the best of their year, and they don’t need to be.

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World) will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Sunday, June 7, 2026.

EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert (2025)

I’m typically disappointed with the promotional department at Paramount+ concerning their streaming announcements, but I think the reveal of this film’s debut was a short-notice surprise for everyone. Normally, I don’t like to highlight a documentary after its streaming release has already begun, but I’ll make an exception for Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, which hit the service last week. After all, it does hold the top spot on our list of the best documentaries of 2026 (so far) — never mind that its place will drop when I post the mid-year update in a few weeks. While you would have had a better experience watching it in the theater, it’s still worth watching any which way you can. Here’s an excerpt from our review:

“Nearly 50 years after Presley’s death, it’s surprising that one could make a film like this and have it still feel new, but that goes along with the running theme of his performance principle. I don’t know just how much of the footage featured in the documentary has been seen or heard before (apparently, it consists of a lot of thought-lost material), but I doubt it’s ever popped with such splendor. I’ve never enjoyed Presley so much as a performer as I did while watching EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert, feeling the bliss he felt come through the screen so profoundly.”

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert is now available to stream on Paramount+ and can be rented or purchased digitally via Prime Video, Google Play, Apple TV, Fandango at Home, and YouTube.

Groundswell (2026)

I used to post an annual list that made fun of the Golden Globes by imagining their nominees for Best Documentary (a short-lived category they retired in 1976) as being as celebrity-driven as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s reputation warranted. Now that the non-HFPA-era Golden Globes are associated with a new honor for documentaries, I couldn’t help but laugh when the latest prize went to a film that features and is narrated by and executive-produced by movie stars Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson. Still, I wanted to give the selection the benefit of the doubt, given that the previous (inaugural) Golden Globes Documentary Prize at the Cannes Film Festival went to Eugene Jarecki for his body of work (although many apparently confused reports singled out his latest film, The Six Billion Dollar Man, as the specific winner of the award). And at the Venice Film Festival last year, the also-new Golden Globes Impact Prize for Documentary went to Ross McElwee’s Remake.

This year’s Cannes prize winner, Groundswell, is not on the level of Jarecki and McElwee’s work (admittedly, I haven’t yet seen either The Six Billion Dollar Man or Remake). The documentary marks the third installment of a trilogy that includes Kiss the Ground and Common Ground, and continues filmmakers Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell’s attention to regenerative agriculture. It’s commendable for showcasing not just proposed solutions but effective efforts to reverse the threat rather than focusing on the negative aspects of climate change. However, it’s the kind of documentary that packs in so much information that it’s still as overwhelming as any doom-and-gloom issue film. It’s cut so quickly that we’re never allowed to sit with any characters or their achievements. This kind of documentary also has the likely unwanted result of leaving audiences thinking, “Oh, cool, those people got this.”

Groundswell will be released exclusively on Prime Video on Friday, June 5, 2026.

Louis Malle, Le Révolté (2025) & Louis Malle’s Documentary Portraits Of America

Given the news last week that Wim Wenders is pulling one of his old films from circulation due to its taboo content, I wish we could hear from Louis Malle on the matter. His films have been at the center of a significant legal case concerning obscenity and/or have been condemned and censored for their controversial material. Malle died 31 years ago, and while he commented on some of those issues in his lifetime, he probably would be tasked with addressing more of his choices were he still around in today’s cultural landscape. Some of his words that do exist about his films make up the text of the documentary Louis Malle, le Révolté, a career-spanning retrospective that avoids additional perspectives, whether hyperbolic, critical, or otherwise. He defends the plot elements of Pretty Baby, but doesn’t discuss its images (it’s still more than he’s quoted with in the documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields).

At only 65 minutes, there’s not enough time for a lot of discussion of any of Malle’s films in the documentary. It’s not necessarily an introduction to his work either. Louis Malle, le Révolté is for viewers already at least fairly familiar with his filmography, offering morsels if not mouthfuls of director’s commentary. And it sufficiently serves its purpose as a centerpiece within a showcase of his movies, as its U.S. premiere entails as part of the Metrograph’s theatrical program “Louis Malle: Portraits of America.” Ironically, this specific curation consists of movies hardly acknowledged in the documentary, such as Atlantic City, My Dinner with Andre, and his final production, Vanya on 42nd Street. But it’s worth mentioning because it does include two of Malle’s lesser-known documentaries, God’s Country and …And the Pursuit of Happiness (both also available to stream on The Criterion Channel), which are worth checking out.

Louis Malle, le Révolté will be released in New York City for one night on Friday, June 5, 2026, via Metrograph. God’s Country and …And the Pursuit of Happiness will both screen in New York City on Sunday, June 7, 2026.

Stanley Nelson Documentaries

In honor of his 75th birthday this week, we recommend watching all of Stanley Nelson’s documentaries. The filmmaker has become synonymous with Civil Rights documentaries and other works that celebrate Black history and the Black experience in America. His most noteworthy feature is probably Attica (available to stream on Paramount+ Premium), as it earned him an Oscar nomination alongside Traci Curry. I still often think about the film that first brought his name to my attention: Freedom Riders (currently unavailable, officially anyway, for whatever dumb reason). After that, I’ve made a point to watch all of his films, including Freedom Summer (available on Kanopy), and in 2018, I had the honor of having a part in choosing Nelson for the Critics Choice Impact Award at the 3rd Critics Choice Documentary Awards. He was still only just getting started with his impact at that time, of course.

Among those we’ve written about and celebrated here, please check out The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (Kanopy and the PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel), Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities (the PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel), Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (PVOD), and We Want the Funk! (Kanopy and the PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel). We also recommend the rest that are currently available: Boss: The Black Experience in Business (Kanopy and the PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel), Harriet Tubman: Visions of Freedom (Kanopy and the PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel), Sound of the Police (Hulu), The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords (Kanopy), and, of courese, The Murder of Emmett Till (the PBS Documentaries Amazon Channel). His breakout feature, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, is also worth seeing whenever it becomes available.

Awards Highlights

Critics Choice Real TV Awards Winners

Last week, the Critics Choice Association announced this year’s winners of its Real TV Awards. I have to acknowledge that I do work for CCA and lead part of the nominating process for these particular awards, which honor nonfiction series, some of which could be classified as documentaries. Of those, Mr. Scorsese (now available to stream on Apple TV) received another Critics Choice Award (following its two wins last fall at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards), this time for Best Limited Series. Other documentary winners include Secrets of the Bees (Disney+ and Hulu) for Best Animal/Nature Show, Tucci in Italy (Disney+ and Hulu) for Best Travel/Adventure Show, Trust Me: The False Prophet (Netflix) for Best Crime/Justice Show, 30 for 30 (ESPN) for Best Sports Show, and Love on the Spectrum (Netflix) for Best Relationship Show and Best Unstructured Series.

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Documentary Release Calendar 6/5/26 - 6/11/26

Friday, June 5, 2026

Deadliest Catch Season 22, Episode 5: “Saltwater Runs Deep” - The latest installment of a series that follows Alaskan crab fishermen. (Discovery Channel)

Groundswell - A Cannes-winning documentary sequel narrated by Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson about humanity’s relationship to land. The film is the third part of a trilogy that also includes Kiss the Ground and Common Ground. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (Prime Video)

Iowa Vet: Dogs, Cats, Corn, & Murder (2026) - A documentary feature about a veterinarian in Iowa. (In Theaters)

Louis Malle: Le Révolté (2025) - A medium-length documentary about the titular filmmaker. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (In Theaters)

Night Life in Chicago (1948) - A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores Chicago. (TCM)

Underland (2025) - A documentary feature produced by Darren Aronofsky and narrated by Sandra Hüller about spaces under the ground. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)

Saturday, June 6, 2026

The Beach of Nazaré (1957) - A short documentary installment of the Screenliner series that explores the titular Portuguese fishing village. (TCM)

Craig Ferguson: American on Purpose Episode 2: “Capitalism” - The second installment of a five-part docuseries on what it means to be American. (CNN)

Land of the Ugly Duckling (1953) - A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores Denmark and the life of Hans Christian Andersen. (TCM)

Sunday, June 7, 2026

Best of the World with Antoni Porowski Episodes 1 & 2: “Mexico City” & “Paris” - The first two installments of a travel docuseries starring Antoni Porowski. (National Geographic)

Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s the Weight of the World) (2026) - A documentary directed by Questlove about the titular band. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (HBO and HBO Max)

The Food That Built America Season 7, Episode 7: “Cheesecake Chronicles” - The latest installment of a docuseries about popular American foods. This episode involves the history of cheesecake. (History)

Hazardous History with Henry Winkler Season 2, Episode 7: “Hobbies Gone Haywire” - The latest installment of a docuseries about dangerous toys and household items that used to be common. This episode involves model glue, homemade rocket fuel, and more dangerous hobby elements. (History)

The Killer Among Us Episode 4: “Murder in the Gallery” - The latest installment of a docuseries hosted by Alan Cumming about murders in close-knit communities. This episode involves the killing of a Sarasota gallery owner. (Oxygen True Crime)

This Land Episodes 1 & 2: “The Purchase and the Price” & “The Golden Trail” - The first two installments of a six-part docuseries that explores the history of America through six defining frontiers. (CNN)

MGM Parade Show #7 (1955) - The sixth installment of a documentary series devoted to promoting MGM’s films. This short spotlights The Great Ziegfeld and The Tender Trap. (TCM)

Monday, June 8, 2026

Gamechangers: The Ashlyn Harris Story (2026) - A documentary about the titular soccer star. (The Roku Channel)

History’s Greatest Machines with Dolph Lundgren Episode 2: “Mission Critical” - The latest installment of a docuseries about the machines that shaped our world. (History)

In the Eye of the Storm: Chasers Episode 4: “Tornado Alley Weed Farm” - The fourth installment of a six-part spinoff of the docuseries In the Eye of the Storm that follows weather spotters and storm chasers as they record tornadoes. (Discovery Channel)

Lethally Blonde Season 2, Episode 2: “Death of a Raiderette” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries involving people pursuing beauty and fame. This episode involves a former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader. (Investigation Discovery)

Paris on Parade (1938) - A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that showcases the Paris International Exposition of 1937. (TCM)

Sans Soleil (1983) - An essay film by Chris Marker focused on memories of Japan. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)

Visiting Vera Cruz (1946) - A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores the titular Mexican port city. (TCM)

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Audelco Awards and Me (2026) - A documentary about the history of the titular awards, which honor African-American theatre in New York City. (DVD)

Boy George & Culture Club (2025) - A feature documentary about the titular music group. (In Theaters and VOD)

Changing Lanes (2025) - A documentary about changes being made to a dangerous street in Brooklyn. (VOD, Kanopy, and OVID)

Choices (2025) - A documentary about women who have had to make tough decisions about their pregnancies. (DVD)

Diana (2021) - A documentary about Princess Diana. (Blu-ray)

Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer (2026) - A documentary about the heavy metal singer Paul Di’Anno. (DVD and Blu-ray)

Go Heal Yourself (2021) - A documentary by Yasmin C. Rams about her effort to keep her epilepsy under control. (DVD)

Gus Arnheim and His Ambassadors (1928) - A music film starring pianist Gus Arnheim and his orchestra as they perform a few songs. (TCM)

I Am What I Play (2015) - A documentary feature that profiles four rock radio DJs of the 1960s through the 1980s. (DVD)

Killing Michael Jackson (2019) - A medium-length documentary about the investigation into Michael Jackson’s death. (Blu-ray)

Looking UP (2025) - A documentary about a young man going blind who decides to climb El Capitan. (DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD)

Lorne (2026) - A documentary feature directed by Morgan Neville (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?) about Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels. Read our review of Lorne. (DVD and Blu-ray)

Norway: The Dark Horse (2026) - A two-part documentary about Norway’s effort to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. (Netflix)

The Proof Is Out There: Unexplained Edition Season 2, Episode 2: “Monsters of the Deep” - The return of a docuseries about strange phenomena captured on camera. (History)

The Psychic Phenomenon (2025) - A documentary about psychics. (DVD)

Rooted in the West Bank (2024) - A documentary about a family of farmers in the Baqa'a Valley of the West Bank whose land has been taken piece by piece by Israeli settlers. (DVD)

Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End (2025) - A docudrama about the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus as a symbol in the Catholic Church. (In Theaters)

Sculpting This Earth (2026) - A documentary feature about the land artist Strijdom Van Der Merwe. (DVD)

The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch Season 7, Episode 4: “Smoking Guns” - The latest installment of a docuseries about UFO phenomena at the Skinwalker Ranch. (History)

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Big Girls Wanted: Escaping Pearadise (2026) - A three-part docuseries about the Pearadise community. (HBO and HBO Max)

Dating: Do’s and Don’ts (1949) - A short film that offers advice on what to do and not to do on a date. (TCM)

E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea (2024) - A documentary about an architectural project by interior designer Eileen Gray. Read our review of E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea. (OVID)

The Face Doctors Season 2, Episode 5: “Hole in the Face” - The latest installment of a nonfiction series about facial reconstruction specialists and their patients. (TLC)

In the Company of Wolves: An American Journey (2026) - A documentary narrated by Jeff Bridges about wolves and other animals throughout American history. (In Theaters)

Thursday, June 11, 2026

Daddy and the Muscle Academy (1991) - A medium-length documentary about gay icon Tom of Finland. (Kino Film Collection)

The Making of a Japanese (2023) - A documentary feature by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ema Ryan Yamazaki (Instruments of a Beating Heart) that follows students and teachers through one year at a Tokyo public school. (OVID)

On the Roam Season 2, Episode 5 - The latest installment of a nonfiction series that follows actor Jason Momoa as he meets extraordinary people around the country. (HBO Max)

Surviving Earth Episode 1: “When the Earth Burned” - The first installment of an eight-part docuseries about extinct creatures. This episode involves sabretooth predators and the rise of reptiles. (NBC)

Welcome to Wrexham Season 5, Episode 6: “Hell Week” - The latest installment of a docuseries about a Welsh soccer team co-owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. (FXX)

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Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon

6/12 - The Gas Station Attendant - A documentary feature by Karla Murthy about her father’s life, from fleeing his Indian village as a child to later emigrating to the United States in pursuit of the American Dream. (In Theaters)

6/13 - Welcome Space Brothers - A documentary feature by Jodi Wille (The Source Family) about the extraterrestrial-channeling spiritual movement that became the Unarius Academy of Science. (In Theaters)

6/23 - We Are Pat - A documentary feature about the controversial Saturday Night Live “It’s Pat” sketches from a trans visibility perspective. (In Theaters)

7/3 - Sherman’s March - A 4K re-release of a classic first-person documentary by Ross McElwee about his romantic pursuits amidst his Civil War history project. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)

7/10 - Mockbuster - A documentary feature by Anthony Frith about his experience making a B-movie for The Asylum. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters and VOD)

7/10 - Remake - A documentary by Ross McElwee about the attempt to remake his classic film Sherman’s March as a narrative feature. (In Theaters)

7/14 - Once Upon a Time in Space - A four-part docuseries about human missions to outer space. (PBS)

7/17 - American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez - A documentary feature about the titular activist and filmmaker. (In Theaters)

7/31 - Wild Inside - A documentary feature by Penny Lane (Nuts!) about Central Park’s Flaco the Owl. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)

8/7 - Cookie Queens - A documentary feature about Girl Scouts selling cookies. Read our review of Cookie Queens. (In Theaters)

9/4 - Barbara Forever - A documentary feature executive-produced by Kristen Stewart about the pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer. (In Theaters)

9/18 - You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way) - A documentary feature about a 1972 production of Godspell that included many future famous comedy icons among its cast. (In Theaters)

I don’t know if I had unrealistic expectations for Sara Dosa’s Time and Water (it was number two on the list of my most-anticipated documentaries of 2026). I don’t love it as much as I do the filmmaker’s previous feature, Fire of Love. One thing I wasn’t expecting was for Time and Water to feel so much more of a personal film, not for Dosa but for its p…

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I’ve been on holiday for the last few days, celebrating my 15th wedding anniversary. In fact, I’ll still be off when this newsletter goes out. The magic of scheduling tools! I mention this because I wasn’t able to watch all of this week’s new releases in time. Also, in case I’ve missed anything that popped up on the documentary release schedule late, yo…

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You can’t judge a documentary by its synopsis. Everybody to Kenmure Street sounds like a simple, conventional political film when all you have to go on is what it’s about (a day-long spontaneous protest in the titular location in Glasgow in 2021 after two locals are detained in an immigration raid). For this exceptional documentary, you need to know how…

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The Making Of Star Wars (1977)

In the beginning, we got more of a special than a traditional documentary, as C-3PO and R2-D2 host a bunch of behind-the-scenes clips from a spaceship set that looks stolen from Doctor Who. It’s cute, but there’s too much of that structuring device and too much preview material and interviews with the actors. Eventually, there are some worthy looks at the animation done for the holographic chess set and the lightsabers, the miniature effects for the space battles, and how matte paintings work. Narrated by William Conrad and directed by future International Documentary Association co-founder Robert Guenette, The Making of Star Wars is a primer that just barely gets under the surface of how the movie came together.

I give it just two pretend Death Stars out of five: 🌑🌑

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This Memorial Day weekend, let us remember the war documentaries I share every year, including With the Marines at Tarawa, The Battle of Midway, The Mills of the Gods, Hearts and Minds, and Restrepo. Also, in case I haven’t been spotlighting the late Frederick Wiseman enough lately, I urge you to take advantage of the latest sale at the Zipporah Films s…

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Everybody to Kenmure Street is the documentary we all need right now, for its inspirational showcase of solidarity and effective peaceful protest, as well as for its refreshingly creative choices that blend crowdsourced footage, aesthetically conscious interviews, historical context, and staged elements featuring familiar actors. The award-winning film is primarily about an impromptu demonstration of community action responding to a deportation raid in Glasgow in May 2021. Thousands of locals surrounded a van holding two of their neighbors, blocking its departure. One man even stationed himself underneath the van to keep it from moving at all. Spoiler alert: the protest was successful, resulting in the release of the two men.

The film is concentrated on that singular event in that singular location, but it’s also about anywhere in the world that could use some hope and harmony. It’s a reminder that protests work and, more importantly, communities can make an impact when they come together, not allowing those in power to divide them. It’s a reminder of the allies who are there with you in the present and throughout the past as you challenge morally corrupt authorities. Everybody to Kenmure Street is a call for everyone to watch and experience the Kenmure Street protest as if seeing it or being part of it as it unfolds. I recommend doing so in the theater for an optimally intimate and collective appreciation of the story and the artistry involved in its telling.

Felipe Bustos Sierra is the central artist behind Everybody to Kenmure Street. The filmmaker is himself an immigrant residing in Scotland, having been born and raised in Belgium, and is the son of an exiled Chilean immigrant. His first feature, Nae Pasaran, was about Scottish factory workers who went on strike in solidarity with Chileans during the Pinochet dictatorship. Everybody to Kenmure Street is his second feature and continues some of the same themes. This week, I spoke to Bustos Sierra about the new documentary, the impact it’s had on him and its various audiences, and some of the fresh ideas behind its production. Below is our conversation, mostly in full, edited for clarity.

I read that before the day that you document in the film, you had given up on protests. Did you immediately change your mind after the event, or while making the film, or since making the film?

I’d lost faith in mass protest. Bodies on the street. It didn’t feel like it was having the impact it used to have anymore. Part of it was the research for my previous film, Nae Pasaran, and talking to civil servants in the UK government's Home Office and Foreign Office. One of the comments that stayed with me was at the Foreign Office. In London, a million people walked past their window during the protest of the War in Iraq, back in the day. Their reaction was that somebody just basically shut the only window that was open to cover the noise they were making. It didn’t seem to have any sort of register in their consciousness. There’s that quote from Kwame Ture that peaceful protest only works if your position registers some kind of consciousness.

There is something different about Kenmure Street. They’re not just protesting in the street. They’re physically blocking the streets, so they became a force to be reckoned with. But [my loss of faith had] stopped me from going. I just assumed if there was any sort of resistance, it’d be cleared very quickly and very violently. That’d been the case for this sort of peaceful, silent vigil in the run-up to Kenmure Street. Or, that by the time enough people turned up to make a difference, the van would have gone. I guess that was the information I had first thing in the morning. Then, watching it unfold on social media, I realized something different was happening.

At first, my thinking was not to make a documentary about this. My first instinct was how did I miss out on this physically. I didn’t express my solidarity. I didn’t get to feel what people felt that day as a massive expression of collective joy. They all got to feel something they created themselves. I will never feel that. That’s something I’ve never gotten to feel in my life. Few people get to feel that in their lives. Part of making the film was working out: what did I miss that I hadn’t seen before? And do we need to change our perspective on how we look at protests? But also, is there maybe a way to emotionally connect to what happened that day through making a film about it? That first week of doing research and talking to people who lived in my neighborhood, I was very charged up, and by the end, I was like, there was a different way to talk about protests in our day and age.

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In most editions of this newsletter, the Nonfics Pick of the Week goes to the best film coming out over the next seven days. This week, it goes to the most important or most timely documentary release. This may happen more frequently as the need for such content increases (next week’s choice is the best and also the most important in a timely sense). Th…

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The Oscars took 14 ceremonies to introduce an award devoted exclusively to documentaries. The addition was only a matter of time after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had nominated a documentary at their first event, awarded a documentary at their third, and saw seven short documentaries win over the next decade, all in various other existing categories. Finally, in 1942, the first Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) was given to Churchill’s Island, selected from a pool of 11 nominees.

While the Oscars would have likely created a documentary category eventually, we can probably thank World War II for the timing of its debut. Nonfiction shorts and newsreels were showing audiences the scope of the conflict, with some propaganda films specifically aimed at garnering Americans’ support for the Allied powers. One year earlier, the Academy even nominated the British documentary London Can Take It!, about the English capital’s resilience during the Blitz, in the Best Short Subject (One-Reel) category. (It didn’t win.)

By the time of the next Academy Awards, the U.S. had entered World War II, plenty of Hollywood actors and filmmakers had enlisted (some, including James Stewart and John Ford, had already done so even earlier), and the industry as a whole was more focused on what it could do for the war effort. The Oscars were nearly cancelled following the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the Academy went ahead with a less glitzy ceremony. Some attendees chose to wear their military uniforms to the event instead of the usual formal attire.

The war wasn’t the only thing on the minds of the guests at the 14th Academy Awards, however. That year is remembered today more for the Best Actress rivalry between sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland, the disappointing “near-washout” (as Variety called it) of Orson Welles and Citizen Kane, and the celebration of Walt Disney and Fantasia with special honors. Still, there was a rousing, pro-aggression speech given by former Republican presidential candidate Wendell Willkie and an appearance by the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Huh Shih.

The prewar U.S. military was on display in several of the year’s nominees, including Best Special Effects winner I Wanted Wings and Best Cinematography contender Dive Bomber. These movies were made with the support of the U.S. Army Air Corps and the U.S. Navy, respectively, and the latter actually captured real military activity during filming. Still, the majority of nominees depicting World War II specifically could be found in the new documentary-only category.

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Nearly a decade after making his feature debut as a co-director of Albert Maysles’s final documentary, In Transit, David Usui finally went solo for this hidden gem of a film. Been Here Stay Here is a mostly observational portrait of a conservative, religious island community enduring under threat of climate change that they believe is God and nature’s w…

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This weekend is Mother’s Day, a time to celebrate the woman who raised us. It’s also an occasion to meet the mothers who were special or crazy enough to have a documentary made about them. Two years ago, I listed a bunch of documentaries worth watching on Mother’s Day, and they’re all still recommended.

Here’s an update with must-see films released since…

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Bait-and-switch is a mostly negative term used for retail fraud, but I sometimes use it to describe documentaries that lure in audiences expecting one thing but deliver something better. Previously, I’ve used the term in my appreciations for The Queen of Versailles, No No: A Dockumentary, American Nightmare, and The Perfect Neighbor, all of which could …

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Most years, the first draft of our best documentaries list is a struggle. We’ve usually seen some of what will be our favorites of the year, via Sundance, but these and other strong contenders won’t be officially released until later. (We anticipate Nuisance Bear, Soul Patrol, and One in a Million, all of which we saw in January, will rank well when that happens). This year, we waited a bit to share the first pass. It’s now been a third of the way through 2026, and we're struggling to keep the list to only a top 10.

We also decided to allow titles released through May 1, given how it fell on the calendar (ultimately, four of the titles to make the list were released in February, three in March, two in April, and two on the first of May). To see where other films rank, visit us on Letterboxd and follow us for updates to our list throughout the year. At the rate we’re going, we expect many more to be added to the upper rankings. Who knows how many of the titles below will still land in our top 26 at the end of 2026?

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A new month begins this week, and that means we have a very full listings section, mostly thanks to The Criterion Channel, as usual. The week’s listings section also might be populated with more *Nonfics Picks* than ever. I count 16, almost half of which are new releases (or at least re-releases or recent releases hitting a new format or platform for th…

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Debra Granik is best known for directing Jennifer Lawrence to her first Oscar nomination in Winter’s Bone, a drama that also earned the filmmaker recognition as a screenwriter. In addition to writing and directing two other acclaimed fiction features, Down to the Bone and Leave No Trace, she helmed one of the best documentaries of 2015, Stray Dog. Now she’s back to nonfiction with Conbody vs. Everybody, a five-part film she worked on for about a decade. The documentary follows a formerly incarcerated man who starts a fitness gym based on the exercise regimen he developed behind bars. This business also only employs other former inmates.

Almost 12 years since Granik gave then-fledgling Nonfics a shoutout in the New York Times, I finally made her acquaintance. We got on a Zoom call to talk about Conbody vs. Everybody ahead of its streaming debut on The Criterion Channel on May 1, 2026. We discussed the fiction script that led to the documentary, her initial expectations for the project, and why she finally had to stop filming her subjects. She also broadened my perspective on what the true crime genre should focus on, while confirming what we all know are the mainstream media’s definitions and interests. Below is our conversation, edited for clarity.

When Nonfics last interviewed you in 2015, you mentioned that you were working on a documentary about reentry after incarceration. But I understand the initial idea was different from what the project became. How and when did you meet Coss Marte and then decide to make the film about him and his entrepreneurial efforts?

We were thinking about a project that was a fiction narrative, about the revolving door of the carceral system of the U.S. In 2014, the concept of mass incarceration was finally getting a lot of attention. For me, the suspense and intensity of stories about returning from prison was to be found in the firsthand experiences rather than fiction. The story was going to be a person actually coming home, performing this intense process that we call reentry, which is reintegration into civilian society from your pariah status as a person behind bars.

So we needed to find someone who was interested in trying to explore that—to show how he’s going to live it. And Coss went beyond that. He wanted to involve other justice-involved folks and also non-justice-involved people, realizing that we won’t make much headway if people who haven’t been in the criminal justice system don’t care at all. Coss was looking for ways for non-justice-impacted people to want to understand this other part of American life. I’m fresh out of prison, and I have to get to my new job, but I don’t have money in my pocket. Am I going to jump this turnstile? Am I going to risk getting re-ensnared in the criminal justice system in order to get to work on time?

This is how he pitched it back to me. There was a really positive meeting of the minds between Coss and our filmmaking team.

And then Coss built the Conbody crew pretty quickly. He wasn’t doing this alone. This is where nonfiction gets so scintillating. He’s creating this scrappy urban novel in front of my eyes. He’s saying, “I’m not going to go through reentry by myself. I’m going to build a family around me. This is how we survived on the streets, and inside, and this is how we’re going to do this part of our life.” He proceeds to do that. The odds are against him.

For this project, we got presented with New York in its cinematic bounty — life on the streets, its architecture, its infrastructure, its vicissitudes. It was like the scene cards were being dealt to me really quickly. Here’s a set of compelling individuals, New Yorkers who are going to do their damnedest to survive. Here’s a neighborhood that’s textured as heck to photograph. And here is an American set of themes that you can’t walk away from. What are you going to do? Film for a lot of years, I guess.

From what I read of the fiction project, the film’s ending would have been tragic, with the main character back in prison. I’m glad that with the documentary, we instead get a positive story of people succeeding after reentry, defying not just the odds but the stereotypes. Was this something you were consciously rooting for?

Absolutely. I’m drawn like a magnet to people who defy stereotypes and expectations. We, as a society, Americans, prefer a categorical “or.” This is just a hallmark of our culture. We prefer clarity or black-and-whiteness. Or binariness instead of “and.” The exact definition of defying the stereotype is “and.” Someone is very intrepid, and they care a whole heck of a lot about this aspect of their neighborhood, this aspect of their family, this aspect of sharing profound emotions with other men, whether they’re inside the prison system or outside.

These individuals are problematic because they are complex and therefore difficult to portray. It’s easier to portray black and white, “or.” “Stray Dog” did the same thing to me. I had a very parallel and intense response to encountering someone like Ron Hall. There was north/south. There was red/blue. There were several encampments that he and I stood in that were not opposing but quite separate. For two people to walk from their camps and commonality is messy, but it’s worth it.

The same goes for social class. The number of times you step out of your social class is limited. Your class background, your class socialization, what people normally do within the confines of your class, the education you’ve received, the types of work you try to do in your life, when you meet people who have come up differently or been dealt a very different hand, there are a lot of reasons to have a very intense conversation over many years.

I think documentary filmmakers are often built with a tic in their brain, and the tic is often a set of questions about experiences outside their own. How have you navigated? What do you need the most in this life? How are you going to get it?

We’re born into a very limited path, and there are times you wake up and recognize: You are empirically my neighbor. I live 11 blocks from you. The only way I’m ever going to get to know you is if we have this conversation. Otherwise, we will remain in separate spheres. Even though it is less than one mile as the crow flies from where you dwell and where I dwell.

That reminds me of the scene late in the film when Coss’s brother talks about bringing the neighborhoods together as one community.

Christopher is magnificent at trying to bring that idea up to a whole variety of people across a lot of lines. Not just linguistic and ethnic, but a lot of lines. I appreciate that you saw that in the film.

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