If you have a documentary coming out, I’m happy to include a mention in this weekly column’s daily listings. If you would like it reviewed or considered for review, email me a screener link. Maybe I’ll have the time and space and desire. If you have a documentary not coming out but want me to give it a look and tell you what I think, unfortunately that’s not something I can do for free. That is called consulting, even if it’s not timed in a way that would result in any changes to your film or series. Many critics I know have been turning to consulting because it pays better than reviewing. Either way, we critics do need to be paid for our coverage, whether privately as consultants or publicly in a way that gives us a return on investment by appealing to readers, which translates to income via advertising, sponsorships, or paid subscribers.
If I could, I would watch all the documentaries and write at least a capsule review giving my opinion. Even if I were able to live on Nonfics alone, that would be impossible given the amount of documentaries being released (see the listings below), let alone being made. With subscriptions constantly up and down, I continue to work multiple jobs, including the odd background or subbing gig. So I have to be choosy about what I do watch and then review. This is a topic that has plagued critics online for 30 years and continues to be brought up. And we feel like jerks having to decline and explain the reality. It’s not a hobby, and we’re not just sitting around waiting for the next person to pop up with a film we’ve never heard of and our readers won’t be seeking out already. So if I don’t watch your documentary and tell you what I think of it, don’t take it personally. It’s all business, really. Everything is.
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 (including the latest from Brian Knappenberger). 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 and let us know about its release plans.
Nonfics Pick Of The Week: The Dynasty: UConn Huskies (2026)
Matthew Hamachek returns with a follow-up to his riveting 2024 docuseries The Dynasty: New England Patriots, this time continuing the fledgling franchise (with Erica Sashin now joining him at the helm) with a much shorter but still engaging look at the record-holding reign of a women’s college basketball team. The Dynasty: UConn Huskies is a three-part documentary about the success of the University of Connecticut women's basketball team from its first NCAA Division I National Championship in 1995 through its recent 12th title in 2025.
Continue reading our review of The Dynasty: UConn Huskies, which I recommend for Hamachek’s continued focus on “the personalities and relationships that make these games, tournaments, seasons, and dynastic runs so enticing in their entertainment value beyond the display of athletic skill in the moment,” recognizing that it’s “hard to resist their stories when told this well.”
The Dynasty: UConn Huskies premieres and begins streaming exclusively on Apple TV on Friday, August 21, 2026.
Other Documentary Highlights
9/11: Reunited (2026)
As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, one of many expected documentaries commemorating the terrorist attacks arrives this week with a more present story. The three-part series 9/11: Reunited follows survivors who met on September 11, 2001, as they become reacquainted a quarter-century later. Some of these reunions are between rescuers and the strangers they saved. The documentary is executive-produced by Oscar-winning filmmakers Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin, whose One Day in America franchise covered 9/11 during its 20th anniversary five years ago.
9/11: Reunited will premiere on National Geographic on Friday, August 21, 2026, and will begin streaming exclusively on Disney+ and Hulu on Saturday, August 22, 2026.
American Dream (1990) & Harlan County USA (1976)
Barbara Kopple’s two Oscar-winning documentaries about labor strikes are back in the highlights section for the umpteenth time this year. I can’t share them enough, really. This time, American Dream is joining Harlan County USA in the Criterion Collection with its first-ever Blu-ray release. The longtime-unavailable film follows a Hormel Foods strike in the mid-1980s, and it is “powerful in its aim to create empathy among its viewers, especially when it puts us in the passenger seat alongside strikebreakers,” as I wrote when the film was re-released in theaters earlier this year. The new physical release includes a 4K restoration of the documentary, a 1992 interview with Kopple, a 1992 audio discussion between Kopple and Studs Terkel, and a new essay by film programmer Thom Powers.
Harlan County USA has been in the Criterion Collection for a while. But I don’t think it’s ever been released on Blu-ray until now. Plus, this classic feature, which is one of the best documentaries of all time, also has a fresh 4K digital restoration available on Blu-ray and UHD discs. The extras in this edition have been around since its first Criterion DVD release 20 years ago, including a director’s commentary track and a documentary about the making of the documentary. I always appreciate that Criterion retains its bonus features on new formats. I also can’t help but wonder whether Kopple would have anything different to say about her documentary two decades later. Fortunately, she’s still around and talking about it, and I recommend reading her recent conversation with Steven Bognar about the film via Documentary magazine.
American Dream and Harlan County USA will be released on Blu-ray — with the latter also newly available on 4K UHD disc — on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, via The Criterion Collection. Both are currently available to stream on The Criterion Channel. Harlan County USA is also available to stream on HBO Max.
Conan O’Brien Must Go Season 3
Despite my distaste for the tone of Conan O’Brien Must Go when the series debuted two years ago, I have to highlight its return for being so popular and successful. And I should probably give it another shot. The program has won big at the Emmys, the Eddies, the DGA Awards, the Cinema Eye Honors, and the Critics Choice Real TV Awards. After Season 2 was shortened by one installment, the third season is back up to four episodes, as the series now follows the titular podcast host to locations in India, the Netherlands, Morocco, and the Philippines, as he continues to meet his international fans introduced on his show Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.
Conan O’Brien Must Go Season 3 will premiere on HBO on Friday, August 21, 2026.
Documentaries By Kazuo Hara & Sachiko Kobayashi
No documentary studies education is complete without viewing Kazuo Hara’s Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 and The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On. His other films are also vital and now can be found alongside those two masterpieces in the latest of the Criterion Collection’s Eclipse-branded compilations. The box set “Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi” includes films directed by Hara and produced by Sachiko Kobayashi, his wife and creative partner. The other films bundled within are their debut feature, Goodbye CP, and the later documentaries A Dedicated Life and Sennan Asbestos Disaster.
I just watched Goodbye CP for the first time the other night (these films are also currently available to stream exclusively on The Criterion Channel). It’s not as personal or as historical, respectively, as the two classics that would follow. Still, it’s as collaborative and challenging as nonfiction cinema gets, as it involves a group of activists with cerebral palsy and confronts its audience to really see them — for who they are, not sympathetically but with respect. It also has one of the most striking scenes involving a filmmaker refusing to stop rolling no matter how uncomfortable their interaction with an on-screen figure becomes.
With the growing preference for documentary subjects to be referred to as “participants,” Hara’s films come to mind as what that genuinely means. They also remind me of Lars von Trier’s famous statement that films should be like a pebble in your shoe. He meant it for the viewer. Hara’s films are like pebbles in the shoe for the viewer, the filmmakers, the subjects/participants, and the world around them. Now, if only the release of these five documentaries, each of them interestingly longer than the last, is popular enough that Hara’s other films become available here. Technically, his and Kobayashi’s latest, Minamata Mandala, should be part of this new set but isn’t.
Goodbye CP, Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974, The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On, A Dedicated Life, and Sennan Asbestos Disaster will be released on Blu-ray together in the box set “Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi” on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, via The Criterion Collection. All five films are currently available to stream exclusively on The Criterion Channel.
How To Build A Library (2025)
This week’s installment of POV Season 39 is How to Build a Library, which follows two Kenyan women as they set out to renovate Nairobi’s McMillan Memorial Library. That might sound like a simple story on the importance of libraries, books, and reading, wherever it may be. But the complication of this story is that the McMillan is a symbol of colonialism, having opened in 1931 as a whites-only establishment. That’s why it’s not right to call it a restoration project.
The film reminded me of Dahomey in some of its themes, though it lacks the creativity of that documentary. When it deals with historical archives found in the library in need of preservation, it reminded me of The Eyes of Ghana, without the focus. It’s an interesting story told without the depth that could make it more essential. It mostly wants to be character-driven rather than discourse-driven, and the protagonists are likable enough. It just doesn’t pull viewers in or along with any momentum.
How to Build a Library will be broadcast on PBS via POV on Monday, August 24, 2026.
When The Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts (2006)
A year ago, several documentaries about Hurricane Katrina were released to commemorate the disaster’s 20th anniversary. The three-part series Katrina: Come Hell or High Water was not my favorite, if only because the Spike Lee-helmed episode does not connect well in style, attitude, or focus to the installments directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Samantha Knowles. This was surprising since before last year, Lee delivered two of the most necessary Katrina docs, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and If God Is Willing and da Creek Don’t Rise. This week marks the 20th anniversary of the HBO premiere of the former, and it’s still worth watching.
When the Levees Broke is dated in some respects, but because it was made so quickly following the hurricane’s destruction and its immediate aftermath, as well as despite this fact, it remains a fascinating oral history full of memories that were still recent in the minds of its interviewees and also reactions that were, for better and worse, rather fresh in the historical sense (it’s funny that in 2010 I referred to the film as having a real “hindsight perspective” that quickly). Theories, since proven right and wrong, are heard alongside one another. Many of the anecdotes involving personal tragedies remain powerful, as do a lot of the images shared in the sections where Lee pauses the talkiness of the doc and offers devastating montages set to a somber jazz score.
When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts is available to stream on HBO Max.
Documentary Release Calendar 8/21/26 - 8/27/26
Friday, August 21, 2026
9/11: Reunited (2026) - A three-part docuseries about survivors of the September 11 attacks brought together for the tragedy’s 25th anniversary. See our highlights section for more info. (National Geographic)
Bouchra - A hybrid film with some documentary elements about a queer Moroccan jackal living in New York City and his relationship with his mother in Casablanca. (VOD)
Cairo: ‘City of Contrast’ (1938) - A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores the titular Egyptian city. (TCM)
Conan O’Brien Must Go Season 3, Episode 1 - The return of a travel series starring Conan O’Brien. The latest installment takes the host to India. See our highlights section for more info. (HBO and HBO Max)
The Dynasty: UConn Huskies (2026) - A three-part docuseries by Matthew Hamachek (The Dynasty: New England Patriots) and Eric Sashin about the success of the University of Connecticut Women's Basketball team since 1995. See our highlights section for more info and a link to our review. *NONFICS PICK* (Apple TV)
Learning to Fly (2025) - A documentary feature about photographer Aisha McAdams, whose work is focused on marathon runners. (In Theaters)
The Last Picture Shows (2026) - A documentary feature about the state of movie theaters in America. (In Theaters)
Los Angeles: “Wonder City of the West” (1935) - A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores the titular California city, including a visit to Walt Disney’s animation studio. (TCM)
Peter Asher: Everywhere Man (2025) - A biographical documentary about the titular pop star and record producer. Read our review of Peter Asher: Everywhere Man. *NONFICS PICK* (VOD)
Storm (1943) - A short documentary about the tools the U.S. Weather Bureau uses to warn farmers about hazardous storms. (TCM)
To Use a Mountain (2025) - A documentary feature about the decision to bury nuclear waste near sacred Shoshone land. (In Theaters)
Saturday, August 22, 2026
9/11: Reunited (2026) - A three-part docuseries about survivors of the September 11 attacks brought together for the tragedy’s 25th anniversary. See our highlights section for more info. (Disney+ and Hulu)
Fisticuffs (1938) - A short film in the Pete Smith Specialty series spotlighting heavyweight champion boxer Max Baer. (TCM)
The Great American Journey Episode 1: “Building a Nation” - The premiere of a docuseries starring Kelsey Grammer about people and places of significance to U.S. history. This installment involves the Statue of Liberty, the Transcontinental Railroad, the Appalachian Trail, and NYC’s Broadway. (NBC)
The Real Murders of Atlanta Season 4, Episode 7: “Club Night” - The latest installment of an Atlanta-focused true-crime docuseries. This episode involves an unexpected crime ring. (Oxygen)
Super Animals Season 4, Episode 1 - The latest episode of a nature docuseries for kids about animals with special traits. (National Geographic)
Water Wisdom (1943) - A short film in the Pete Smith Specialty series about water safety and life-saving techniques taught by the American Red Cross. (TCM)
Sunday, August 23, 2026
40 Years of Fuckin’ Up (2026) - A documentary feature about the band NOFX and their 2024 farewell tour. (In Theaters)
Decades in Sports Episodes 5: “2000s” - The fifth installment of a six-part docuseries executive produced by Tom Hanks about milestones in sports in America. (CNN)
Hazardous History with Henry Winkler Season 2, Episode 18: “School Dazed” - The latest installment of a docuseries about dangerous toys and household items that were common in the past. This episode involves perilous playground equipment and other items formerly found in schools. (History)
The Mega-Brands That Built America Season 4, Episode 4: “Racing to the Top” - The latest installment of a docuseries about iconic brands. This installment covers the origins of NASCAR. (History)
NASCAR Americana Episode 3: “Enduring Spirit” - The final installment of a three-part docuseries about NASCAR’s place in American history. (USA Network)
Unknown Serial Killers of America Season 2, Episode 4: “Billy Chemirmir” - The latest episode of a true-crime series about less-famous murderers. (Oxygen)
Monday, August 24, 2026
Athletiquiz: What’s Your I.Q.? No. 12 (1947) - A short film testing audiences on knowledge of various sports. (TCM)
How to Build a Library (2025) - A documentary feature about the renovation of a Colonial-era library in Nairobi. The film is presented as an episode of POV. See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. (PBS)
A Killer Among Friends Season 2, Episode 6: “Rivalry Fueled Murder” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about murders that tear friend groups apart. This episode involves teenage baseball players. (Investigation Discovery)
NFL Hometown Eats (2026) - A three-part culinary series on the best food spots in the hometowns of pro football teams. (The Roku Channel)
Somebody Knows Something Season 1, Episode 4: “Lost at Sea” - The latest installment of a true-crime series about unsolved murder and missing persons cases. This episode involves a young U.S. Army veteran who disappeared during a family vacation on a Carnival cruise ship. (Freeform)
We Never Sleep (1956) - A short in the RKO-Pathé Screenliner series about the oldest private detective agency. (TCM)
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
5 Pointz: An Historical Journey (2024) - A medium-length documentary about the titular graffiti museum. Included in the box set “New York City Urban Documentary Project Vol. 1.” (DVD)
American Dream (1990) - An Oscar-winning documentary feature by Barbara Kopple about a Hormel Foods labor strike in Minnesota. See our highlights section for more info. *NONFICS PICK* (Criterion Blu-ray)
American Martyr: The Stanley Rother Story (2026) - A documentary feature about the first U.S.-born priest recognized as a martyr by the Catholic Church. (In Theaters)
The Best of B.L.A.C.C. Heart: World Tour (2017) - A documentary about the rap group B.L.A.C.C. Heart. Included in the box set “New York City Urban Documentary Project Vol. 1.” (DVD)
Boutique: To Preserve and Collect (2024) - A documentary feature about specialty collector labels for physical releases of films. (Blu-ray)
Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies (2015) - A three-part docuseries executive-produced by Ken Burns about cancer. (DVD and Blu-ray)
The Central Park Five (2012) - A documentary feature by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon about a group of men wrongfully convicted of rape. *NONFICS PICK* (Blu-ray)
Citizen Sleuth (2023) - A true-crime documentary feature about a podcaster investigating a local death. (Blu-ray)
Dark Side of the Ring Season 7, Episode 9: “Zach Gowen: Against All Odds” - The latest installment of a docuseries that shares the darkest stories of professional wrestling. (Vice)
A Dedicated Life (1994) - A documentary feature by Kazuo Hara about the novelist Mitsuharu Inoue. Included in the Criterion Collection box set “Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi.” See our highlights section for more info. *NONFICS PICK* (Criterion Blu-ray)
The Emperor’s Naked Army Marches On (1987) - A documentary feature by Kazuo Hara about a World War II veteran who protested against Emperor Hirohito. Included in the Criterion Collection box set “Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi.” See our highlights section for more info. *NONFICS PICK* (Criterion Blu-ray)
Extreme Private Eros: Love Song 1974 (1974) - A documentary feature by Kazuo Hara in which he films his ex-girlfriend with her new partners. Included in the Criterion Collection box set “Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi.” See our highlights section for more info. *NONFICS PICK* (Criterion Blu-ray)
Gerhard Richter Painting (2011) - A documentary feature about the titular artist. *NONFICS PICK* (Kino Film Collection)
Goodbye CP (1972) - A documentary feature by Kazuo Hara about people with cerebral palsy in Japan. Included in the Criterion Collection box set “Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi.” See our highlights section for more info and a brief review. *NONFICS PICK* (Criterion Blu-ray)
Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seattle Seahawks Episode 4 - The latest installment of the Hard Knocks franchise (technically Hard Knocks Season 22) goes behind the scenes with the titular football team. (HBO and HBO Max)
Harlan County, U.S.A. (1976) - An Oscar-winning documentary feature by Barbara Kopple about a miners’ strike. See our highlights section for more info. *NONFICS PICK* (Criterion Blu-ray and Criterion 4K UHD)
Homestead Rescue: Intervention Season 1, Episode 6: “North Carolina DIY or Die” - The latest episode of a docuseries that follows wilderness experts as they save lives. (Discovery)
Jackie Robinson (2016) - A docuseries by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon about the titular baseball legend. *NONFICS PICK* (DVD and Blu-ray)
Ken Burns: Here and There (2021) - A medium-length film about iconic documentarian Ken Burns. (DVD)
La Lucha: Getting Schooled in America (2023) - A documentary feature about at-risk students attempting to graduate high school. (DVD)
Mackinac Island (1944) - A short documentary about the titular vacation spot in Lake Michigan. (TCM)
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World (2026) - A documentary feature about the titular poet and queer icon. The film is presented as an episode of American Masters. Read our capsule review of Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World. (PBS)
Peaches Goes Bananas (2024) - A documentary feature following the musician known as Peaches over 17 years. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Saggin’ (2019) - A medium-length documentary about the titular hip-hop street style. Included in the box set “New York City Urban Documentary Project Vol. 1.” (DVD)
Sennan Asbestos Disaster (2016) - A documentary feature by Kazuo Hara about factory workers who suffered asbestos-related illnesses. Included in the Criterion Collection box set “Eclipse Series 49: Five Radical Documentaries by Kazuo Hara and Sachiko Kobayashi.” See our highlights section for more info. *NONFICS PICK* (Blu-ray)
The Show About the Show (2017) - A docuseries by Caveh Zahedi about the making of a meta TV show. (Blu-ray)
The Unmaking of a College (2022) - A documentary feature about the 2019 sit-in at Hampshire College to protest the school’s closure. (Kino Film Collection)
Untold: The Testimony of Vince Young (2026) - The latest installment of the sports anthology series Untold. This documentary covers the story of the titular professional football player. (Netflix)
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
911: Did the Killer Call? Season 2, Episode 8: “Homicide Homecoming” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about cases where the murderer is on the 911 call. (Investigation Discovery)
Beautiful Budapest (1939) - A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores the titular Hungarian city. (TCM)
Death of the Pastor’s Wife (2026) - A true-crime docuseries about the mysterious murder of Mica Miller. (Netflix)
Eons: Life and Death on Pangea Episode 6: “Who Survived the Great Dying (and Why)” - The final installment of a six-part docuseries on the mass-extinction event known as the “Great Dying.” (PBS)
ER: Caught on Camera Season 1, Episode 8: “Like, Subscribe and Survive” - The latest installment of a docuseries in which medical patients recall experiences in hospital emergency rooms. (TLC)
Expedition X Season 12, Episode 2: “Secrets of Sherwood Forest” - The latest installment of a paranormal investigation series. The episode continues to focus on Nottingham, England. (Discovery)
Ghost: 2 Big to Rig (2026) - A concert film starring the rock band Ghost. (In Theaters)
Mills Blue Rhythm Band (1934) - A short music film featuring performances by the titular orchestra. (TCM)
Untold Stories of the ER Season 14, Episode 2 - The latest installment of a docuseries about difficult emergency room cases. (TLC)
Who’s Superstitious? (1943) - A short documentary examining various superstitions. (TCM)
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Engineering from Above Episode 3: “Superstars” - The latest installment of a docuseries presenting aerial views of engineering marvels. This episode looks at the Pantheon and the Panama Canal. (History)
Monsters of God Episode 4: “Operation Chameleon” - The fourth installment of a five-part docuseries by Tiger King co-director Eric Goode about the history of exotic reptile smugglers. Read our review of Monsters of God. (HBO and HBO Max)
Visiting St. Louis (1944) - A short documentary installment of James A. FitzPatrick’s TravelTalks travelogue franchise that explores St. Louis. (TCM)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
9/1 - Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly - A documentary feature in the Untold series about the infamous Olympian breakdancer Rachael Gunn. (Netflix)
9/2 - Turning Point: Generation 9/11 - A documentary feature in the Turning Point franchise directed by Brian Knappenberger (Turning Point: 9/11 and the War on Terror) about the legacy of the September 11 attacks. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Netflix)
9/8 - Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool - A documentary feature in the Untold series about Mr. T. (Netflix)
9/9 - Don’t Look Back in Anger - A documentary about the band Oasis as they reunite for their 2025 tour. (In IMAX Theaters)
9/11 - Daughters of 9/11 - A documentary about two women whose fathers died during the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center and their pursuit of justice in collaboration with an FBI agent. (CBS and Paramount+)
9/18 - Traces of Home - A documentary feature in which the filmmaker takes her parents to the ancestral lands they fled in Mexico and Palestine. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
9/25 - Pulp: What Do You Do for an Encore? - A documentary feature directed by Garth Jennings and narrated by Jarvis Cocker about the titular British band. (Mubi)
10/6 - Dolph: Unbreakable - A documentary feature about the actor Dolph Lundgren. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (VOD)
10/12 - Free Leonard Peltier - A documentary feature directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker David France (How to Survive a Plague) about the titular member of the American Indian Movement as he hopes to be released from prison after 50 years and experience freedom again before he dies. (Netflix)
10/16 - The Disciple: A Wu-Tang Fable - A documentary feature directed by Oscar-winning producer Joanna Natasegara (The White Helmets) about Dutch-Moroccan rapper/producer Cilvaringz and his association with the Wu-Tang Clan. (Netflix)