This Week In Documentary
Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - August 8-14, 2025
This month’s news that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will close shop is devastating for the documentary community and its fans. Since 1967, the nonprofit has helped fund numerous nonfiction programs for PBS and NPR. Ken Burns said about 20 percent of his funding for his documentaries has come from CPB. The PBS doc showcase Independent Lens credits the corporation as its primary sponsor. American Masters received “major support” from CPB, and American Experience lists them under their “additional funding provided by” section. Any films funded through ITVS, including many POV titles, were also mainly aided financially by CPB.
To keep those and other great doc programs going, they’ll need us to donate and watch more. Subscribe to PBS Passport and/or the PBS Documentaries channel on Prime Video. Donations to smaller and rural area local PBS affiliates are particularly encouraged since they’ll be hurt the worst. We need those little films that cater exclusively to their regional audiences, but we also need those stations to exist to bring the national programming to everyone. If action is more your thing than giving, learn more about how to do that at the Protect My Public Media website.
I don’t have any new PBS documentaries to highlight this week, but I recommend looking at other recent editions of This Week in Documentary for some of my favorites. You should definitely go see Mstyslav Chernov’s 2000 Meters to Andriivka, which is now in theaters. The film is produced by Frontline, which gets some of its funding from CPB. You should also watch Slumlord Millionaire via the CPB-funded series VOCES, We Want the Funk! via Independent Lens, and the James Beard Award-winning Marcella via American Masters. Currently, POV doesn’t include CPB as one of its funding partners, but you could also watch any of their great films available now.
Below are this week’s documentary highlights, including reviews of new nonfiction films and series. They are followed by daily listings for all notable releases and a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including a making-of doc about Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis). Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to receive more in-depth highlights and reviews in the future, and to give me more time to watch more (if not everything) available.
Nonfics Pick Of The Week: It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025)
Too many music documentaries aren’t just generic; they’re barely qualified to be visual media. They’re oral histories on tape, pieced together by seemingly randomly selected archival photos and clips. They’re tributes filled with hyperbole provided by celebrity guests. Most of the ones I have to watch, I barely “watch” because there’s not much to look at. Amy Berg’s It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley could easily have fallen into that trap and been enough to please fans of the titular musician. Instead, it’s one of the most compelling music docs of the year, narratively and visually.
Berg respects the cinematic audience with her pacing and imagery, the latter including animation that permeates the stills and footage to the effect that the film isn’t the usual hodgepodge of aesthetically clashing illustrative elements cut together. There’s a dynamic artfulness rarely seen outside of Brett Morgen’s docs (though certainly not to the kaleidoscopic extreme of Moonage Daydream; I was mostly reminded of Cobain: Montage of Heck). I don’t even find Jeff Buckley’s story that interesting, and I don’t feel the documentary ever gets to who he was as a real person. But his brief life and what he meant especially to a handful of women, including his mother and girlfriends, is presented so well that I was drawn in for every anecdotal bit.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley opens in theaters on Friday, August 8.
Other Documentary Highlights
American Prince: JFK Jr. (2025)
Two years ago, CNN Films was being mourned the way the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is now. Fortunately, last fall, the cable news channel’s motion picture division, known for collaborating on such features as the Oscar-winning Navalny and the archival masterpiece Apollo 11, was reportedly back. Still, for every Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, they’ve got some less-cinematic docs on their docket. American Prince: JFK Jr., about the other Kennedy Jr., marks the final series in a trilogy of new works directed by longtime CNN Films executive producer Amy Entelis, following last month’s Billionaire Boys Clubs and Live Aid: When Rock 'n' Roll Took on the World.
American Prince: JFK Jr. premieres on CNN on Saturday, August 9.
The Best Black Documentaries Ever
Last week, the Black Movie Hall of Fame unveiled its list of the Best Black Movies Ever, highlighting 100 essentials of Black cinema going back as far as 1920 and even including one 2025 release. There are seven nonfiction features on the list, including the concert film Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (now streaming on Netflix). The other documentaries, in order of their ranking, are Hoop Dreams (streaming on HBO Max, The Criterion Channel, Pluto TV, and more platforms), O.J.: Made in America (Netflix), I Am Not Your Negro (HBO Max and Kanopy), When We Were Kings (HBO Max, The Criterion Channel, Pluto TV, and Shout! TV), When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (HBO Max), and Paris is Burning (HBO Max and The Criterion Channel).
I also want to shout out to some of the Black critics who included other documentaries on their individual top 10 lists. Destiny Jackson named The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix), Trey Mangum named Hale County This Morning, This Evening (Kanopy), tt stern-enzi listed the 2025 release Sly Lives! (a.k.a. The Burden of Black Genius) (Hulu), Stacey Yvonne named The Original Kings of Comedy (Kanopy), Samuel Leggett Jr. named Descendant (Netflix), Tre’vell Anderson included Kokomo City (Paramount+ with Showtime) and Tongues Untied (Kanopy and OVID), and both Rendy Jones and Wilfred Okiche included Time (Prime Video). Ronda Racha Penrice was the only critic to name one of the films on the big list: I Am Not Your Negro.
Grizzly Man (2005)
This week, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the U.S. theatrical release of Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man, which grossed more than $4 million worldwide. For the occasion, and because the documentary was recently included on a notable list of the best films of the 21st century, I wrote a separate showcase for paid subscribers highlighting why it’s considered a classic. Here’s an excerpt from that column:
“Werner Herzog’s 2005 feature seems to include but also scrutinize everything that made documentaries so successful at the time (and maybe predated some trends as well). Grizzly Man combines a nature film with a study of an eccentric yet charismatic character, while occasionally feeling like a true-crime investigation in its tone and an examination of independent filmmaking technique in its structure. It capitalizes on trauma, anticipates certain elements of influencer culture, and entangles itself with ethical dilemmas regarding the sensationalism of it all. Of course, tying the documentary together is Herzog’s voice, which, before Grizzly Man, was known exclusively to hardcore cinephiles. The film helped make Herzog and his profoundly captivating and distinctly accented narration famous to everyone.”
Grizzly Man is currently available to stream on Prime Video, Kanopy, and Tubi.
Name Of The Game (2023)
Will Forbes and Douglas Skinner’s Name of the Game is another documentary that should be recognized by the Black Movie Hall of Fame. It’s not the most polished feature, but its raw production values match the underground nature of its subject. The film invites viewers into the world of the L.A. male exotic scene, sharing every wild and raunchy detail, visually and orally. This documentary has everything, including a history of the city’s Black male strip clubs, why they recruited men just out of prison, how much money its biggest stars could make in a night, and why the profession is more lucrative for men than women. Also, so much whipped cream.
Name of the Game opens in theaters on Saturday, August 9.
Sudan, Remember Us (2024)
While some international conflicts are regularly big news in the U.S., the civil war in Sudan has gotten very little attention here. That makes a film like Sudan, Remember Us all the more important, but also all the more difficult to attract audiences. The fact that the film doesn’t provide much in the way of context in its spotlight on young Sudanese activists isn’t helpful, though it’s not necessarily a flaw.
Journalist and filmmaker Hind Meddeb first began documenting her subjects during the 2019 Army headquarters sit-in, which was met with military force in what came to be known as the Khartoum massacre. The film covers another four years leading up to the civil war that sent most of these activists into exile. Meddeb begins with April 2023, noting that there’s not much talk about the war in France either. She then takes us back to 2019 and narrates her interest and reason for covering this story, which unfolds with footage of the protests, massacre, military coup, and less eventful days. We experience these years through her lens and the activists’ commentary, the former reminding us of the need for independent embedded journalists like Meddeb and of the power of young voices in times of revolution, oppression, corruption, and war.
Sudan, Remember Us opens in theaters on Friday, August 8.
Documentary Release Calendar 8/8/25 - 8/14/25
Friday, August 8, 2025
Action on the Beach (1964) - A short documentary about the making of the D-Day sequence in the film The Americanization of Emily. (TCM)
Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex (2022) - A documentary feature about a tribute album honoring the glam rock icon Marc Bolan. (In Theaters)
Grand Prix: Challenge of the Champions (1966) - A short documentary about the making of the film Grand Prix during race day at Monaco. (TCM)
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025) - A biographical documentary by Amy Berg (Janis: Little Girl Lost) about the titular musician. (In Theaters)
Stolen: Heist of the Century (2025) - A documentary feature about a jewelry heist in Antwerp in 2003. (Netflix)
Sudan, Remember Us - An award-winning documentary following young Sudanese activists before the current civil war. (In Theaters)
Saturday, August 9, 2025
American Prince: JFK Jr. (2025) - A docuseries about the famous namesake son of President John F. Kennedy. (CNN)
Buried in the Backyard Season 6, Episode 5: “Deadly Dishonor” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about the odd locations where murder victims were found. This episode involves a missing ROTC student. (Oxygen True Crime)
Famous Movie Dogs (1940) - A short documentary starring canine performers in Hollywood. (TCM)
Name of the Game (2023) - A documentary about male exotic dancers. (In Theaters)
Naming the Dead Season 1, Episode 2: “A Box of Bones” - The latest installment of a docuseries about bodies being identified through genealogical investigations. This episode concerns a murder victim. (National Geographic)
Souvenirs of Death (1948) - A short film following the journey of a souvenir World War II pistol. (TCM)
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 5, Episode 4: “Brides for Sale” - The latest installment of this award-winning series involves Vietnamese women sold into marriages in China. (National Geographic)
Sunday, August 10, 2025
Cub Camp (2025) - A docuseries about a couple who care for traumatized black bear cubs. (National Geographic WILD)
Naming the Dead Season 1, Episode 2: “A Box of Bones” - The latest installment of a docuseries about bodies being identified through genealogical investigations. This episode concerns a murder victim. (Hulu and Disney+)
Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 5, Episode 4: “Brides for Sale” - The latest installment of this award-winning series involves Vietnamese women sold into marriages in China. (Hulu)
The Yogurt Shop Murders Episode 2: “The Fifth Victim” - The second installment of a four-part true-crime docuseries by Margaret Brown (Descendant) about the killing of four teenagers in 1991. (HBO and HBO Max)
Monday, August 11, 2025
Cub Camp (2025) - A docuseries about a couple who care for traumatized black bear cubs. (Hulu)
A Killer Among Friends Season 1, Episode 5: “Secrets to Reveal” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about murders that tear friend groups apart. This episode involves a girls’ trip to Vegas gone wrong. (Investigation Discovery)
Survival Mode Season 1, Episode 6: “Fort Worth Pileup” - The latest installment of this docuseries focuses on a massive traffic accident in Texas. (NBC)
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
25 Cats from Qatar (2025) - A feature-length documentary about an American woman who transported 25 feral cats from Doha to Milwaukee. (DVD and Blu-ray)
American Santa (2023) - A short documentary about Black Santas in America. (OVID)
Andy Warhol's Factory People (2008) - A docuseries about Andy Warhol’s Silver Factory. (DVD)
Bad Company - Bad Company - Official 40th Anniversary Documentary (2025) - A documentary feature about the titular rock band. (DVD)
Beyond Trainspotting: The World of Irvine Welsh (2025) - A documentary about the author of Trainspotting. (DVD)
CodeSwitching: Race and Identity in the Suburban Schoolhouse (2020) - A medium-length documentary about Black students who attend better schools outside their district. (OVID)
Cosmic Dawn (2025) - A documentary feature about the making of the James Webb Space Telescope. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Higher Power (2023) - A medium-length documentary about cannabis laws in Washington, D.C. (OVID)
Legends of the Canyon: The Origins of West Coast Rock (2010) - A documentary feature about the Laurel Canyon music scene of the 1960s and 1970s. (DVD)
Rather (2023) - A documentary about TV journalist Dan Rather. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Russians at War (2024) - A documentary feature following a Russian Army battalion fighting in Ukraine. (Direct-To-Audience VOD)
Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible (2023) - A documentary about the titular Scottish band best known for the ‘80s hit “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”. (DVD)
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
The Grateful Dead Movie (1977) - A re-release of the classic concert film with bonus footage. (In IMAX Theaters)
Las Abogadas: Attorneys on the Front Lines of the Migrant Crisis (2022) - A documentary feature following four immigration attorneys during Trump’s first term as president. (OVID)
Mysteries of the Abandoned Season 12 - The return of a docuseries about ancient marvels now in ruins. (Discovery)
Soledad (2020) - A short documentary about a woman from Central America seeking asylum in the U.S. (OVID)
Stop Time (2022) - A medium-length documentary about an immigrant who lived in a church basement for three years to avoid deportation. (OVID)
To Catch a Smuggler Season 9, Episode 5 - The latest installment of a docuseries following U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents. This episode involves the smuggling of drugs and ancient statues. (National Geographic)
Vida Diferida: Life, Deferred (2013) - A short documentary about the impact of DACA on an undocumented student and her family. (OVID)
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Deaf Jam (2011) - A documentary feature about a deaf teen who performs sign language poetry in the New York City slam scene. (OVID)
Duties of My Heart (2024) - A short documentary presenting a performance combining sign language, contemporary dance, and spoken word. (OVID)
The Kingdom (2025) - A docuseries about the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty. (ESPN+)
Lie Detector: Truth or Deception Season 1, Episode 6: “Raven Abaroa” - The latest installment of this docuseries about suspected but not charged individuals taking lie detectors to prove their innocence. This episode concerns a man hoping to prove he didn’t murder his wife. (A&E)
True Crime Story: Smugshot Season 2 - The return of a docuseries about disturbing cases of people who thought they could get away with crimes. (Sundance TV)
Walking Thunder (2019) - A documentary feature about the African elephant and other endangered species. (In Theaters)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
8/15 - My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow - A lengthy documentary feature about independent journalism in Russia. (In Theaters)
8/22 - James Can Eat - A documentary feature about Australian competitive eater James Webb. (VOD and Prime Video)
8/24 - Girl Climber - A documentary following Emily Harrington as she climbs Yosemite’s El Capitan. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In IMAX Theaters)
9/1 - Make a Circle - A documentary about child care providers. (PBS)
9/5 - The American Southwest - A documentary feature narrated by Quannah ChasingHorse focused on water and wildlife conservation. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
9/12 - Naked Ambition - A biographical documentary about photographer Bunny Yeager. (In Theaters)
9/17 - David Gilmour: Live at the Circus Maximus, Rome - A concert film starring the Pink Floyd singer and guitarist performing solo. (In IMAX Theaters)
9/19 - Megadoc - A documentary feature by Mike Figgis about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. Watch the teaser trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
9/21 - Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believe - A documentary portrait of the titular Italian tenor. (In Theaters)
11/21 - Zodiac Killer Project - A meta-textual true-crime documentary about an abandoned documentary on the Zodiac Killer. Read our review of Zodiac Killer Project. (In Theaters)