This Week In Documentary
Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - September 5-11, 2025
Do you feel that? It’s FOMO season for documentary enthusiasts. Most of us aren’t able to attend the big fall festivals. Still, at least for the dramatic narrative fans, the hot titles out of Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York fests are released within months, for Oscar consideration. That’s not as likely to be the case for the documentaries. Most of last year’s festival premieres were released this year, and some haven’t even come out yet. The situation is getting better. One of the best documentaries of 2024, The Last of the Sea Women, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall. However, more of this year’s list will also represent the 2024 programming, including Venice’s One to One: John and Yoko and New York’s My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow.
For the impatient, a handful of documentaries are coming soon that premiered or will premiere soon at one of the major fall festivals. Mike Figgis’s Megadoc, about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, will be released in theaters this month following its Venice International Film Festival debut. The same festival saw the premiere of Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus’s Cover-Up, which is due in theaters in mid-December, just in time to qualify for the Oscars.
Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt’s series The American Revolution was shown at Telluride and will air on PBS in mid-November. Telluride also marked the premieres of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, and Juan Camilo Cruz’s Lost in the Jungle, which debuts on National Geographic, Hulu, and Disney+ next weekend, and Marshall Curry’s The New Yorker at 100, which is expected to hit Netflix by the end of the year. Toronto will see the debuts of Colin Hanks’s John Candy: I Like Me, Vasarhelyi and Chin’s LOVE+WAR, and Ben Proudfoot’s The Eyes of Ghana, all of which are supposed to be out this fall. Finally, the upcoming Apple TV+ docuseries Mr. Scorsese will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival ahead of its streaming date of October 17.
Without further ado, below are this week’s documentary highlights, including capsule 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 the aforementioned John Candy: I Like Me). 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. If you have a doc in need of coverage or a mention in our listings, you can reach me at christopherbartoncampbell (at) gmail.
Nonfics Pick Of The Week: The American Southwest (2025)
If you’re tired of nature documentaries falling into the same familiar boxes (anthropomorphizing and narrativizing Disney films; epic-scope David Attenborough-voiced series; over-produced and over-narrated yet ultimately underwhelming bombastic efforts like The Americas), you will find The American Southwest absolutely refreshing, as I did.
Narrated by Quannah Chasinghorse (Bad River) and directed by underrated filmmaker Ben Masters (The River and the Wall, Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story), this conservation-focused feature offers gorgeous wide landscape shots and extremely close-up wildlife sequences. None of it seems to be trying too hard to garner our attention. All the voiceover and visual information is fascinating enough by staying genuine, precise, and detailed in its presentation of ecological, geological, agricultural, and historical material centered on the titular region.
The American Southwest will be released in theaters on Friday, September 5.
Other Documentary Highlights
The Celluloid Closet (1995), Frank And Ollie (1995), & Into The Arms Of Strangers: Stories Of The Kindertransport (2000)
This week’s most notable documentary anniversaries include a trio of very dissimilar films, even if two of them concern film history. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s The Celluloid Closet turns 30 on Friday. It’s a comprehensive history of LGBTQ+ representation in cinema, and it features my favorite documentary score of all time (composed by Carter Burwell). You can read more about it on our lists of the best portraits of LGBT culture and the best Sundance documentaries of all time. Frank and Ollie, which turns 30 on Tuesday, is a highly entertaining portrait of Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston and a “warm look at enduring friendship,” as we noted in our list of great Disney history films. Finally, the Oscar-winning Holocaust documentary Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport turns 25 on Sunday and is recommended for its grim yet family-friendly history lesson.
The Celluloid Closet, Frank and Ollie, and Into the Arms of Strangers are all available to rent or buy digitally via Amazon, Apple, Google, YouTube, and Fandango.
Democracy Noir (2024)
From Oscar-nominated director Connie Field (Freedom on My Mind) comes the latest documentary about a world leader whose autocratic leanings should seem familiar to Americans right now (a la Apocalypse in the Tropics). Democracy Noir follows three characters in Hungary during the lead-up to the reelection of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his fifth term. Two of the characters (journalist Babett Oroszi and politician Tímea Szabó) provide compelling context, if not much personality, for the film, but the third (a nurse and activist named Niko) is only interesting when she shares the screen with her conservative grandmother. It’s only really worth seeing if you are completely in the dark about Hungary’s current political situation.
Democracy Noir will be released in theaters on Friday, September 5.
Elizaveta Svilova Documentaries
One of the five women documentary pioneers you should know, Elizaveta Svilova (or Yelizaveta Svilova) is best known for her work as an editor on such landmark films as Kino Eye (available on Kanopy and Darkroom), Man with a Movie Camera (Kanopy, Darkroom, and GuideDoc), and The Fall of Berlin (YouTube), the latter of which she also directed with Yuli Raizman. She also worked with her husband, Dziga Vertov, and brother-in-law, Mikhail Kaufman, on the monumental Kino-Pravda newsreel series (on YouTube via the Austrian Film Museum). Other works to check out include Vertov’s Stride, Soviet! (Kanopy), Enthusiasm (Kanopy), and Three Songs for Lenin (Kanopy), all for which she was an assistant director, Nuremberg Trials (Tubi and Flix Fling), which she helmed with Roman Karmen, and Auschwitz (Tubi), which she solo-directed. This Friday, September 9, will mark the 125th anniversary of her birth.
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (2008)
My favorite college football documentary is Kevin Raffety’s Harvard Beats Yale 29-29, which seems to have an absurdly impossible title. Technically, the famous game between the titular rival Ivy League universities was a tie, and the title is just a reference to the Harvard Crimson headline celebrating the former school’s rallying success in reaching that score. I saw it at a time when I still didn’t watch or care about college football, but was entertained enough by its riveting storytelling. The film is also one of Seth Meyers’s favorite documentaries, if that means more to you than my endorsement. While it’s already been available digitally and streaming on Kanopy and OVID, it gains another platform this week.
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 begins streaming on Kino Film Collection on Thursday, September 11.
Love Con Revenge (2025)
In the spirit of the film Catfish spawning a successful TV series of the same name, the hit Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler has now inspired the docuseries Love Con Revenge. Similar to how the Catfish show is hosted by the subject of the original feature, this investigative series stars Tinder Swindler survivor Cecilie Fjellhøy as she helps other women in cases of romance scams. It’s not really my thing, but if you liked the film, you might like this unofficial spin-off.
Love Con Revenge begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, September 5.
Men Of War (2024)
I didn’t have the chance to watch Men of War ahead of this week’s deadline for coverage, but I feel it’s worth highlighting because it’s the latest film by Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys, Screwball), co-directing this time with producer Jen Gatien. The documentary is about a former U.S. Green Beret who took part in a failed mission to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In place of being able to share my own thoughts, I recommend reading Stephen Silver’s review.
Men of War will be released on VOD on Tuesday, September 9.
Seen & Heard: The History Of Black Television (2025)
While not as rich in its content or as well-edited as the similarly focused Number One on the Call Sheet or as culturally enlightening as last year’s Black Twitter: A People’s History, the two-part documentary Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television is another essential take on the entertainment industry’s long disservice to people of color. The first installment (“Seen”) chronicles waves of trends and popularity for Black television over the decades, while the second part (“Heard”) does more to profile current creators in the business. Much of it is rather simple and lacking in new insights, but there are some substantial points, such as in its address of why Black TV comes in waves and in what ways Black entertainers are still being marginalized. It feels like more of a primer than an enriching lesson, but it’s a good start.
Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television premieres on HBO Max on Tuesday, September 9.
Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War On NYC Streets (2024)
I was hesitant to watch, let alone write about, Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War On NYC Streets, because it sounded like another October 8. Fortunately, unlike that documentary, this one is an example of how to handle an issue as big and society-splitting as the post-October 7 strife between Israeli-Americans and pro-Palestine protesters in the U.S. It’s still relatively unbalanced, but I have no problem with that as long as it acknowledges both sides’ arguments without misrepresenting either. It’s a philosophical rather than political work, with a basis in humanism. Here is an excerpt from my review of Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets:
“Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets should serve as a reminder that images (including text) can contain multitudes. In support of its own theme, though, the film’s statement shall be divisive. That only proves it’s a success. Torn explores the creation and evolution of a piece of artistic transmission that became personalized and politicized to the point where its initial purpose was lost. Following the October 7 attacks by Hamas in 2023, posters showcasing Israeli hostages began appearing around New York City. As presented in the documentary, for some, these posters were cathartic. For others, they were propaganda meant for the justification of the ensuing bombing in Gaza. Many were torn down. That act begat actions and reactions that themselves became propaganda via social media. The hostages were exploited and re-exploited for political reasons, often performatively so.”
Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War On NYC Streets opens theatrically in New York City and Los Angeles on Friday, September 5.
Documentary Release Calendar 9/5/25 - 9/11/25
Friday, September 5, 2025
The American Southwest (2025) - A documentary feature narrated by Quannah ChasingHorse focused on water and wildlife conservation. (In Theaters)
Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex (2022) - A documentary feature about a tribute album honoring the glam rock icon Marc Bolan. (VOD)
Democracy Noir (2024) - A documentary feature following three women fighting to expose corruption in Viktor Orbán's Hungary. (In Theaters)
Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire (2024) - A biographical documentary about the titular author and Holocaust survivor best known for writing the memoir Night. (In Theaters)
Expedition: Greenland (2025) - A documentary feature about a team of explorers navigating Greenland’s ice sheet. (In Theaters)
Live Aid: When Rock ’n’ Roll Took On the World (2025) - A four-part docuseries about the Live Aid concert event. (HBO Max)
Love Con Revenge (2025) - A docuseries about romance scams starring one of the subjects of The Tinder Swindler. (Netflix)
Memphis to the Mountain (2025) - A documentary following American rock climbers in Africa. (Hulu)
Most Wanted: Teenage Hacker (2025) - A docuseries about a Finnish hacker and his cybercrime victims. (HBO Max)
Paperweight (2025) - A documentary feature following a recording artist as they try cage fighting. (VOD)
Rabble Rousers (2022) - A documentary feature about Frances Goldin and her fight against gentrification in the Lower East Side. (OVID)
Riefenstahl (2024) - A documentary feature about the legacy of Nazi propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. (In Theaters)
A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant (2025) - A biographical documentary about political cartoonist Patrick Oliphant. (In Theaters)
Torn: The Israel-Palestine Poster War on NYC Streets (2024) - A documentary feature about a clash between pro-Israel activists and pro-Palestine activists involving posters around New York City. (In Theaters)
Saturday, September 6, 2025
Believe It or Not (Second Series) #5 (1932) - A short documentary hosted by Robert L. Ripley presenting shocking phenomena, including a shrunken head and floating rocks. (TCM)
Naming the Dead Season 1, Episode 6: “The Man on Fire” - The latest installment of a docuseries about bodies being identified through genealogical investigations. This episode concerns a man burned alive in Atlanta. (National Geographic)
Sunday, September 7, 2025
I Never Forget a Face (1956) - An Oscar-nominated short documentary about famous people in the 1920s. (TCM)
Monday, September 8, 2025
The Age of Water (2024) - A documentary about a community in Mexico seeking justice after three children die of cancer because their water is radioactive. Presented as an episode of POV. (PBS)
Secrets of Celebrity Sex Tapes (2025) - A docuseries revealing unknown information about famous sex tapes. (A&E)
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect (2025) - A documentary about Thurgood Marshall. (PBS)
Don’t Date Brandon (2025) - A docuseries about women who dated the same deceptive man. (Paramount+)
Finding Lucinda (2023) - A road trip documentary following an aspiring singer-songwriter tracing the path of Lucinda Williams’s success. (DVD)
Men of War (2024) - A documentary feature about a U.S. Green Beret who failed in his task to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. (VOD)
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words (2025) - A documentary feature about the titular screenwriter. (TCM)
Return to ‘Giant’ (1996) - A medium-length documentary about the making of the classic film Giant. (TCM)
Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television Episode 1: “Seen” - The first half of a two-part documentary on the history of Black representation in television. (HBO Max)
Sick-Amour: A Love Story (2024) - A documentary feature about a tree growing in the middle of the Rose Bowl Stadium parking lot. (DVD)
The Tech Bro Murders (2025) - A true-crime docuseries about murder cases from the beginning of the tech boom. (Investigation Discovery)
Thirst Trap: The Fame. The Fantasy. The Fallout (2025) - A docuseries about a young man’s sudden rise to social media stardom. (Paramount+)
Watchers of the Sky (2014) - A documentary feature about lawyer and linguist Raphael Lemkin, who coined the term “genocide.” (OVID)
Wednesday, September 10, 2025
aka Charlie Sheen (2025) - A docuseries about the titular actor now that he’s been sober for many years. (Netflix)
The Peace Patriots (2005) - A documentary feature about American dissenters. (OVID)
Sacred Planet with Gulnaz Khan Episode 1: “The Heart of the World” - The premiere installment of a docuseries about global solutions to climate change. This episode focuses on the Arhuaco people of Colombia. (PBS)
Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television Episode 2: “Heard” - The second half of a two-part documentary on the history of Black representation in television. (HBO Max)
Undeterred (2019) - A documentary feature about the residents of an Arizona border town. (OVID)
Thursday, September 11, 2025
Gaucho del Norte (2015) - A medium-length documentary about a Patagonian sheepherder working in Idaho. (OVID)
Harvard Beats Yale: 29-29 (2008) - A documentary feature about a 1968 football game between the two titular universities. (Kino Film Collection)
I Was Born in Mexico, But… (2013) - A short documentary about a young woman brought to the U.S. as a child. (OVID)
True Crime Story: Smugshot Season 2, Episode 5: “Only in Malibu” - The latest installment of a docuseries about disturbing cases where people thought they could get away with crimes. (Sundance TV)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
9/12 - Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story - A documentary feature about a soccer club in Sweden made up of Kurdish refugees. (Prime Video)
9/19 - Megadoc - A documentary feature by Mike Figgis about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (In Theaters)
9/26 - Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror - A documentary feature about The Rocky Horror Picture Show. (In Theaters)
10/5 - Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread - A six-part culinary travelogue series following the titular actor sampling food around the world with a focus on bread. Watch the new trailer for the series below. (CNN)
10/6 - Cracking the Code: Phil Sharp & The Biotech Revolution (2024) - A biographical documentary about the titular geneticist and molecular biologist. (PBS)
10/10 - John Candy: I Like Me - A biographical documentary about the titular actor. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Prime Video)
10/17 - Mr. Scorsese - A five-part docuseries by Rebecca Miller about filmmaker Martin Scorsese. (Apple TV+)
10/29 - Love+War - A documentary feature directed by Oscar winners Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin (Free Solo) about Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Lynsey Addario. (In Theaters)
11/16 - The American Revolution - A docuseries directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt about the Revolutionary War. Watch the trailer for the series below. (PBS)
11/26 - Teenage Wasteland - A documentary feature by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine about high school students uncovering a conspiracy in their town. Note: Teenage Wasteland premiered at Sundance under the title Midletown. (In Theaters)
12/19 - Cover-Up - A documentary feature directed by Oscar winner Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) and Mark Obenhaus about journalist Seymour Hersh. (In Theaters)