This Week In Documentary
Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - January 16-22, 2026
We’re more than halfway through January, but we’re still seeing some notable films from last year officially getting released this week. Two of them are on the Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Feature. One of them is on our list of the best documentaries of 2025. Speaking of shortlisted documentaries, the soundtrack for Yanuni, with a score composed by H. Scott Salinas and featuring an original song by Indigenous rapper Katú Mirim, has just been released and is available wherever you buy and/or listen to music. You can hear a sample of it on YouTube.
Now, without further ado, 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. 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 and most anticipated 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: Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025)
I haven’t stopped thinking about Mr. Nobody Against Putin since watching it a year ago during Sundance. That applies to the things I love about the film and the concerns I have for it. I haven’t seen it since then, so maybe my worries have been dealt with, but either way, it still deserves its third-place spot on our list of the best documentaries of 2025, for its necessity, audacity, personality, and form. Here are the first two paragraphs of my review of Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which has since been shortlisted for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature:
In the great tradition of whistleblowing films like Under the Sun and dangerous documentaries where the footage had to be smuggled out of the country or collaborators had to be credited as “Anonymous,” Mr. Nobody Against Putin is an indispensable look at the militarization of youth in Russia since 2022. This alarming work exposes one of the nation’s scariest methods of gaining support for its war against Ukraine and any future empire-building. At the same time, it reveals a Russia full of good people and innocent children terrorized and duped by their leader.
At the film’s center is its co-director, Pavel “Pasha” Talankin, a primary school teacher from Karabash, Russia. He finally has enough of the regime when it impacts his job and the students he cares about, and Mr. Nobody Against Putin is the result of his virtuous resistance. In his role as the school event planner and videographer, he became tasked with aiding in the propaganda machine that suddenly had children marching through the halls and learning about the supposed evils of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of that country. Immediately disapproving of such manipulative lesson plans and activities, Talankin began recording more than just the footage he had to submit as evidence to the government.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin will be released in New York City at the IFC Center on Wednesday, January 21, via Kino Lorber, and will be available for streaming via the Kino Film Collection on Thursday, January 22.
Other Documentary Highlights
Civil Rights Movement & Black Panthers Documentaries
On Monday, January 19, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day (thankfully still a thing), Turner Classic Movies is showing several documentaries on subjects related to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. Only one of them is directly about MLK: King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis. Some, such as the Oscar-nominated Freedom on My Mind and the James Baldwin-focused I Heard It Through the Grapevine, are at least loosely connected to MLK’s involvement in the movement.
Others, notably the films airing after midnight (following a showing of Spike Lee’s Malcolm X), are about the Black Panther Party, which diverted from the Civil Rights Movement and took African-American Activism in a different direction following MLK’s assassination. These films include Agnès Varda’s Black Panthers, Howard Alk’s The Murder of Fred Hampton, and the short documentary The Urban Crisis and the New Militants: Black Moderates and Black Militants.
If you’d like to watch other documentaries connected to MLK’s life and leadership on his holiday, I recommend Lee’s 4 Little Girls (streaming on HBO Max), Sam Pollard’s MLK/FBI (Kanopy), Madeline Anderson’s Integration Report I (OVID), Dawn Porter’s John Lewis: Good Trouble (Hulu and Kanopy), Peter W. Kunhardt’s King in the Wilderness (HBO Max), Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro (Prime Video, Tubi, and Kanopy), and the first two parts of the Eyes on the Prize series (Kanopy).
Deepfaking Sam Altman (2025)
The first of many nonfiction films arriving this year concerning artificial intelligence (two more are on our list of the most anticipated documentaries of 2026), Deepfaking Sam Altman begins as an effort to make a movie about the titular CEO of OpenAI (developers of ChatGPT) and winds up an ouroboric reflection on the project itself. Directed by and starring Adam Bhala Lough (one of the Critics Choice Award-winning filmmakers behind the docuseries Telemarketers), the feature explores and even incorporates ethical dilemmas regarding generative A.I., the latter of which is difficult to appreciate if you’re watching because you disapprove of the technology.
As you might assume from the Roger & Me-referencing poster, the film spins outward from an unsuccessful attempt to interview Sam Altman, but Lough is no Michael Moore, for better or worse. He travels to India to create a chatbot substitute for the real Altman, yet things get complicated when that “Sam Bot” raises the issue of its own fate. Lough also contemplates the future for his children as A.I. continues to grow so rapidly. This is an apparently common area of interest for documentary filmmakers tackling the subject, and might start to get tired since it’s all speculative. Otherwise, Deepfaking Sam Altman is interesting for what it says about humans more than machines, confirming again that our impending extinction will be our own fault.
Deepfaking Sam Altman opens in New York City at the Quad Cinema on Friday, January 16, via Abramorama. This will be followed by a January 30 release in Los Angeles at the Laemmle NoHo Theater and, later, a nationwide rollout.
LaLee’s Kin: The Legacy Of Cotton (2001)
Plenty of documentaries are celebrating anniversaries this week, most of them having premiered at Sundance on these dates, but the class of 2001 has my attention the most, with such films as Dogtown and Z-Boys and LaLee’s Kin: The Legacy of Cotton both turning 25 on Monday, January 19. The latter is the focus of our latest Documentary Classics column. Here is an excerpt from this retrospective review of LaLee’s Kin:
What is expected of a documentary like LaLee’s Kin provides another problem. HBO’s reason for commissioning the film was surely out of concern, with the desire to create awareness that would lead to positive change. LaLee did reportedly benefit to a minimal degree, as a community effort managed to finally get her running water in her home. Outside of that, no substantial progress is evident as a direct result of the documentary shedding light on its issues. If anything, the longer that its legacy is one of apparent deficiency regarding the intended goal of being helpful, the greater the issues loom. Retrospectively, LaLee’s Kin now just looks like “poverty porn,” with its images of one family’s life in squalor and little boys bathing in buckets. However, viewed contextually for the present and going forward, it’s increasingly more damning.
LaLee’s Kin: The Legacy of Cotton is currently available to purchase on DVD, but poor-quality bootlegs of the documentary can also be found streaming online.
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! (2026)
There aren’t many revelations to be found in the two-part documentary Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!, which is directed by Judd Apatow and his regular collaborator Michael Bonfiglio. In fact, many of the answers and stories Mel Brooks provides are repeats. The filmmakers don’t try to hide this, as they constantly cut to older interviews and TV appearances for a cross-cutting of such evidence. But fans of Brooks won’t be disappointed. We’re just happy the guy is still around, and it’s understandable that he’s run out of new things to say at his near-centenarian age (the many celebrities gathered to talk about him are another matter). That said, I loved every part of the film dealing with Brooks’s marriage to Anne Bancroft. I could watch a whole documentary focused solely on their relationship.
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! premieres its first part on HBO on Thursday, January 22, and its second part on HBO on Friday, January 23. Both parts will be available to stream on HBO Max beginning on Thursday, January 22.
Seeds (2025)
One of the reasons I wanted to look at LaLee’s Kin this month was to see how it relates to Seeds, a new film depicting Black farmers in southern Georgia in 2023 as they struggle to get by while waiting for promised government subsidies. This debut feature from director Brittany Shyne, who is also responsible for the film’s award-winning black and white cinematography, is not an issue film, but its loose narrative exists within the context of an ongoing issue of racial discrimination affecting Black farmers in America. Instead, it’s a portrait of a family of farmers, focused on the elder members while also prominently showcasing the youngest generation. One montage sequence in the middle of the movie, presenting the cotton harvest, is possibly worth the price of admission alone, but the documentary as a whole is too long.
Seeds opens in New York City at the Film Forum on Friday, January 16.
Shuffle (2025)
Nothing against Abramorama or the accomplishment of Shuffle having theatrical distribution, but the idea of paying to see this film on the big screen feels weird to me. It’s the sort of journalistic documentary that should be delivered more directly, especially since TV news programs are depreciating in terms of their integrity and value in spotlighting social and political issues. Shuffle’s first-person reporting from someone close to the issue of addiction and concerned about the corrupt treatment and recovery industry is very Vice-like, and not just because it reminds me a lot of the 2018 Viceland series Dopesick Nation. It’s infuriating and could be very helpful to a lot of people, parents particularly, but they won’t be seeking it out at their local cinema.
Shuffle opens in New York City at the DCTV Firehouse Cinema on Friday, January 16, with other screenings coming soon to theaters nationwide.
Documentary Release Calendar 1/16/26 - 1/22/26
Friday, January 16, 2026
Appointment in Tokyo (1945) - A medium-length documentary on the Pacific campaign of World War II. (TCM)
The BMF Documentary: Blowing Money Fast Season 2, Episode 1 - “Tale of Two Brothers” - The latest installment of a docuseries about the Black Mafia Family. (Starz)
Deepfaking Sam Altman (2025) - A documentary feature that asks questions about AI and the future of humanity. (In Theaters)
Hate to Love: Nickelback (2023) - A documentary feature about the titular rock band. (Blu-ray)
Molly-Mae: Behind It All Season 2, Episode 4 - The latest installment of a nonfiction series about British influencer Molly-Mae Hague. (Prime Video)
Monsterquest Season 5, Episode 3: “Trespassers Beware” - The latest episode of a docuseries about strange creatures spotted around the world. (History)
Seeds (2025) - An Oscar-shortlisted documentary feature about Black generational farmers in Georgia. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
Shaka: A Story of Aloha (2024) - A documentary feature about the shaka sign associated with surfing. (VOD)
Shuffle (2025) - A documentary feature about insurance fraud in the addiction treatment industry. (In Theaters)
Saturday, January 17, 2026
Accident, Suicide, or Murder Season 6, Episode 9: “The Final Pulse” - The latest episode of this true-crime series involves a police officer suspected of killing his wife. (Oxygen)
Iyanla: The Inside Fix Season 1, Episode 1: “Unmasking the Truth” - A nonfiction series that revisits Iyanla Vanzant’s show Fix My Life. (OWN)
Maxxed Out Season 1, Episode 2: “The Mama Bear Incident” - The latest episode of a docuseries focused on people currently having financial troubles. (OWN)
Sunday, January 18, 2026
The Hillside Strangler Episode 1: “City of Dreams, City of Nightmares” - The first installment of a true-crime docuseries following two serial killers who terrorized Los Angeles in the 1970s. (MGM+)
Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins Season 4, Episode 11: “Out of the Way” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about romances gone tragically wrong. (Oxygen)
Snapped: Women Who Kill Episode 3: “Deborah Frazier” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about mysterious and violent cases. This episode is technically part of Snapped Season 36. (Oxygen)
Monday, January 19, 2026
120 Hours Behind Bars Season 1, Episode 1: “Washington Parish, Louisiana” - The first installment of a nonfiction series that looks at America’s toughest jails. (Discovery)
Contraband: Seized at the Border Season 8, Episode 1: '“6-7 Hundred” - The latest episode of a nonfiction series focused on smuggling cases handled by Customs and Border Protection officers. (Discovery)
The Curious Case of… Season 2, Episode 2 - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries involving mind-bending and jaw-dropping cases. (Investigation Discovery)
Freedom on My Mind (1994) - An Oscar-nominated feature documentary about the Mississippi voter registration drive of 1961-1964. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
Here Come the Irish Season 2, Episode 7 - The latest installment of a docuseries that follows the Notre Dame football team. (Peacock)
I Heard It Through the Grapevine (1982) - A documentary feature starring James Baldwin as he looks back at the Civil Rights Movement. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis (1970) - An Oscar-nominated documentary feature from Sidney Lumet on Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and activism. Read our review of King: A Filmed Record…Montgomery to Memphis. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
People Magazine Investigates Season 9, Episode 2: “Death in Hell’s Kitchen” - The return of a true-crime docuseries associated with the titular publication. This installment involves the death of a Michigan entrepreneur. (Investigation Discovery)
Say Amen, Somebody (1982) - A feature documentary about the American gospel music scene. (TCM)
Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Beyond Graceland: Ladysmith Black Mambazo (2023) - A documentary about Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s part in the success of Paul Simon’s Graceland album. (DVD)
Black Panthers (1968) - A classic short documentary by Agnès Varda that depicts a courthouse protest in Oakland by the Black Panther Party against the arrest and jailing of Huey P. Newton. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
Emergent City (2024) - A documentary about the debate over the development plans for an industrial area of Brooklyn. Read our review of Emergent City. (DVD)
Endurance (2025) - A documentary about the Ukraine War. (DVD)
Eternal Sky (2022) - A documentary feature about the hunt for the origins of our universe. (DVD)
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Season 12, Episode 3: “Caribbean Roots” - The latest installment of a docuseries presenting celebrities with their ancestral history. Actors Liza Colón-Zayas and Delroy Lindo are the participants in this episode. (PBS)
Handsome Devil: Charming Killer (2026) - A three-part true-crime docuseries about murderer Wade Wilson, known online as the “Deadpool Killer.” (Paramount+)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the NFC East Episode 8 - The latest installment of a docuseries that goes behind the scenes of NFL teams. (HBO Max)
Heart & Soul (2023) - A documentary feature about the early heroes of rock and roll. (DVD)
In the Circle of Life (2026) - A documentary feature about the Indigenous people of Australia. (In Theaters)
Killer Confessions: Case Files of a Texas Ranger Season 1, Episode 2: “Lie, Cheat, Kill Evil” - A true-crime docuseries involving confessions, starring a retired Texas Ranger. (Investigation Discovery)
Land of Opportunity (2010) - A documentary portrait of New Orleans. (OVID)
Let’s Spend the Night Together (1982) - A concert film starring the Rolling Stones. (4K Blu-ray)
The Man with the Hat (2026) - A biographical documentary feature about Egyptologist Dr. Zahi Hawass. (In Theaters)
The Murder of Fred Hampton (1971) - A documentary about the titular Black Panther Party leader, whom the Chicago Police Department gunned down. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
The Nude (2018) - A documentary about a figure art model. (DVD)
Orwell: 2+2=5 (2025) - A documentary feature by Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) about George Orwell and how his work relates to the world today. Read our review of Orwell 2+2=5. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Pole to Pole with Will Smith Episodes 3 & 4: “The Amazon: Deadly Creatures” & “The Himalayas” - The latest episodes of a nature docuseries starring Will Smith covering the whole planet. (National Geographic)
Rick Nelson: Guntersville (2026) - A documentary about Rick Nelson’s final performance. (DVD)
Swastika (1973) - An archival documentary chronicling the Nazification of Germany from 1933 through World War II. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Third Ward TX (2007) - A medium-length documentary about Houston’s Third Ward neighborhood and the Project Row Houses artists community. (OVID)
The Urban Crisis and the New Militants: Black Moderates and Black Militants (1969) - A short documentary involving the Black Panther Party in Chicago. (TCM)
Wild But True Season 1 - The first season of a nature docuseries hosted by Robert Irwin and Isabel Yamazaki. (DVD)
WWE Unreal Season 2 - The second season of a docuseries that goes behind the scenes of the titular wrestling organization. (Netflix)
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Alaska State Troopers Season 9, Episode 3: “Lost in the Woods” - The latest installment of a docuseries about state troopers in Alaska. (A&E)
Expedition X Season 11, Episode 3: “Blackbeard’s Ghost” - The latest installment of a paranormal investigation series. (Discovery)
Harlan Coben’s Final Twist Season 1, Episode 3: “No Sign of Nancy” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries exposing shocking murders and scandals. (CBS and Paramount+)
Kidnapped: Elizabeth Smart (2026) - A true-crime documentary about a woman abducted as a teenager and held captive for nine months. (Netflix)
The Marion Lake Story: Defeating the Mighty Phragmite (2014) - A short documentary about an eco-restoration project on the Atlantic Flyway. (OVID)
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025) - An Oscar-shortlisted documentary feature about a Russian teacher who secretly exposes the militarization of youth in his country following the invasion of Ukraine. Read our review of Mr. Nobody Against Putin. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
My Strange Addiction Season 7, Episode 3: “It Looks Like It’s Gonna Pop” - The latest installment of a docuseries about individuals with obsessive behaviors. (TLC)
Police 24/7 Season 2, Episode 1: “Foiled Again” - The latest installment of a nonfiction series following police officers in their work. (The CW)
Song of My City (2025) - An archival short documentary depicting New York City in the 1970s through movie clips. (TCM)
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Disneyland Handcrafted (2026) - A documentary about the artists who created Disneyland in 1955. (Disney+)
Megadeth: Behind the Mask (2026) - A documentary feature about the titular heavy metal band. (In Theaters)
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! (2026) - A two-part documentary directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio (George Carlin’s American Dream) about the titular comedian and filmmaker. *NONFICS PICK* (Part 1 on HBO; Both Parts on HBO Max)
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025) - An Oscar-shortlisted documentary feature about a Russian teacher who secretly exposes the militarization of youth in his country following the invasion of Ukraine. Read our review of Mr. Nobody Against Putin. *NONFICS PICK* (Kino Film Collection)
The Reverend (2021) - An award-winning feature documentary about gospel-rock icon and activist Reverend Vince Anderson. Read our review of The Reverend. (OVID)
Song of My City (2025) - An archival short documentary depicting New York City in the 1970s through movie clips. (TCM)
Soul in Cinema: Filming Shaft on Location (1971) - A short documentary on the making of Shaft. (TCM)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
1/26 - Vivien’s Wild Ride - A documentary memoir directed by Hollywood film editor Vivien Hillgrove about her declining eyesight. (PBS)
1/27 - 33 Photos from the Ghetto - A documentary feature about the only known photographs taken inside the Warsaw Ghetto in April 1943. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (HBO Max)
1/30 - Natchez - A documentary feature about the historical legacy of the titular town in Mississippi. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
2/2 - On Healing Land, Birds Perch - A short documentary about the iconic Vietnam War photograph Saigon Execution. (L.A. Times Short Docs)
2/6 - Queen of Chess - A biographical documentary directed by Rory Kennedy about chess prodigy Judit Polgár. Read more in our 2026 documentary preview. (Netflix)
2/20 - EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert - A concert film directed by Baz Luhrmann starring Elvis. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In IMAX Theaters)
2/23 - The Inquisitor - A documentary feature about Texas congresswoman Barbara Jordan. (PBS)
3/4 - AURORA: What Happened to the Earth? - A concert film starring the Norwegian singer. (In Theaters)
3/6 - André Is An Idiot - A documentary feature following a man after his cancer diagnosis. Read our review of André Is An Idiot. *NONFICS PICK* Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)