This Week In Documentary: 'The Tale Of Silyan,' 'All The Empty Rooms,' & 'Carol & Joy'
Theatrical & Streaming Releases - New & Recommended - November 28-December 4, 2025
I hope all my American subscribers had a great Thanksgiving holiday last week. I just want to say how thankful I am to all my email subscribers, online readers, and paid supporters, especially in months like this when I’m swamped with my other job, family, and holiday commitments. Also, as we enter the week of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday, I remind you that, like Mariah Carey, all I want for the holidays is you… as in your continued support. Also, join me in my day-after-Thanksgiving tradition of watching the documentary special Harvest of Shame (on YouTube via CBS), as it was intended and originally aired 65 years ago.
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 known notable releases and broadcasts, plus a brief look at what’s coming soon for doc fans (including a re-release of a thought-lost film). 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 Tale Of Silyan (2025)
One of the last big awards contenders to come out this year, The Tale of Silyan is at least among the most beautiful documentaries of 2025. You shouldn’t be surprised, given that it’s the latest film by Macedonian director Tamara Kotevska, whose feature debut, Honeyland, made history with two Oscar nominations in 2020. I like this one even more and hope it can pull a repeat at the Academy Awards next year.
The Tale of Silyan follows a struggling farmer who considers selling his land. Not to spoil the ending, but it’s got a nicely wrapped-up narrative with a circular plot, which is rare for verite works. There’s also a bit where the man finds an injured stork and tries to take care of it, but it’s only a small part of the story despite what the film’s synopsis and marketing would have you believe. Well, it’s a big enough part that it ties into an overarching voiceover element telling the titular Macedonian fable.
There’s something very universal about the protagonist’s struggle, as well as something very timely. And yet the whole time I was watching him, I felt a calming empathy where I wished I had a life so unburdened by the technology, politics, and social concerns of our world. Surely his life wasn’t as easy as I’m implying, but there’s an interesting contrast in the film whenever it shows the man talking to his wife and adult child, who have relocated to the big city. It seems peaceful, if not painless.
The Tale of Silyan opens in theaters on Friday, November 28.
Other Documentary Highlights
All The Empty Rooms (2025) & Other Oscar-Seeking Shorts
While it didn’t win in the shorts category at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, All the Empty Rooms is my pick for the favorite to take home the Oscar next year. That’s not to say it’s my favorite short of the year, but it’s the one I think will win. Directed by Joshua Seftel, who was previously nominated in the category in 2023 with Stranger at the Gate, it’s a film about a collaboration between journalists Steve Hartman and Lou Bopp to document empty rooms of children killed in school shootings. It’s a film where the subjects’ work is more worthy of honoring than the film they’re in, but it’s still the most polished documentary short I’ve seen this year.
Some other substantial shorts in pursuit of Oscar recognition were released last week and deserve the spotlight alongside All the Empty Rooms. They include the much more artsy documentary Voices from the Abyss, which spotlights cliff divers in Acapulco through stunning black and white cinematography. There’s also the very heavy short Seeds from Kivu, about women survivors of gang rape by local militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the much lighter, Critics Choice-nominated film Fiddlers on the Moon: Judaism in Space, which poses the question of whether Judaism will ever exist beyond Earth.
All the Empty Rooms begins streaming on Netflix on Monday, December 1.
Voices from the Abyss and Seeds from Kivu are both currently available to stream on the Watch Documentaries YouTube channel.
Fiddlers on the Moon: Judaism in Space screens at the Firehouse Cinema in New York City on Tuesday, December 2.
Carol & Joy (2025) & Other Criterion Channel Shorts
Keeping the focus on shorts this week, it’s time I acknowledge that The Criterion Channel has suddenly become a major distributor of noteworthy short documentaries. Carol & Joy is the latest to be added to the streaming service, and it goes along with their interest in programming films that will appeal to their cinephile demographic. The women of the title are Oscar-nominated actress Carol Kane and her 98-year-old mother, Joy Kane, who’d been a jazz singer, dancer, and pianist. However, the documentary is really solely focused on the elder as she tells stories of her life. It’s great that it’s actually shot on film, as evident in all the times Joy’s stories go long, and only the sound recording is heard after the screen goes dark.
Other recently added short documentaries worth checking out include We Were the Scenery, which showcases a pair of Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines in the 1970s who wound up being background actors in Apocalypse Now. That one is on the shortlist for the Cinema Eye Honors alongside All the Empty Rooms. Criterion has also exclusively picked up Tiger, a short film about the Indigenous family behind the Tiger t-shirt brand. Those are just a few of the new shorts available to stream, but The Criterion Channel has also been curating many classic and little-known but essential short documentaries in its wider programming highlights.
Carol & Joy begins streaming on The Criterion Channel on Monday, December 1.
We Were the Scenery and Tiger are currently streaming on The Criterion Channel.
Downeast (2012)
A few documentaries by David Redmon, two of them with his wife and regular collaborator, Ashley Sabin, are hitting OVID this week. Among them is Downeast, which we wrote about exactly a decade ago when they were programmed by Doc Alliance. Here’s an excerpt:
“Gouldsboro is a quintessential example of the Downeast region of Maine, the coastal portions of the state’s two easternmost counties. At least its residents would like you to think as much, never passing up an opportunity to explain their personality by way of their geography. It comes up again and again at town meetings in David Redmon and Ashley Sabin’s Downeast, the most cited reason by locals to explain their gruff resistance to the business plans of Italian-Bostonian entrepreneur Antonio Bussone. His struggles to reopen a failed sardine cannery as a lobster processing plant compose the film’s primary narrative thread, but it’s an equally perceptive portrait of the community as a whole, an aging town of working-class Mainers hit hard by the decline of American industry.”
Downeast begins streaming on OVID on Thursday, December 4.
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025)
This Critics Choice-nominated music documentary, which is directed by Amy Berg, was a Pick of the Week back in August. Now it’s headed to its streaming home. For the occasion, here’s an excerpt from my review of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley:
“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 premieres on HBO and begins streaming on HBO Max on Thursday, December 4.
My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air In Moscow (2024)
Here’s another of my favorite documentaries of the year and another Critics Choice nominee. For its latest theatrical opening, here’s a bit from my review of My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow:
“Because the director, Julia Loktev, is close to some of the characters and films them with only an iPhone and no additional crew, My Undesirable Friends is more intimate than most observational documentaries of its kind. Yet, it’s still removed enough not to feel overly involved. Loktev makes a point to feel present without interacting much. The women often talk to her directly, but they might as well be talking through her to get to the audience. Loktev has acknowledged that she wanted her lens to be like a stand-in for the viewer, and that is the effect. Enough that maybe the title should be Your Undesirable Friends.”
My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow opens theatrically in Los Angeles on Friday, November 28.
The Stringer (2025)
I’ve thought a lot about this documentary since seeing it during Sundance, and all the negative things I wrote at the time are not among my recollections. Instead, it’s the subject matter and intriguing discourse on journalism ethics, as The Stringer is about the iconic Vietnam War photograph of Phan Thi Kim Phuc, a.k.a. “the napalm girl,” and how it may have been credited to the wrong person. But here’s my primary take from my review of The Stringer from January:
“Investigative documentaries can make the mistake of showing too much of the investigators, as is evidenced by The Stringer. The film, directed by Bao Nguyen (The Greatest Night in Pop), follows an incredible story, and the investigation is compelling and fruitful, yet there are a lot of redundant moments where the investigators restate things they’ve already said or unnecessarily seem to be thinking out loud for the sake of stretching the narrative or holding the viewer’s hand. It’s not as if the documentary lacks other layers to its subject to make it interesting enough without those moments.”
The Stringer begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, November 28.
Awards Highlights
Critics Choice Awards Below-The-Line Shortlists
My latest chance to highlight one of my other jobs came last week with the announcement of the first Critics Choice Awards Below-the-Line Shortlists, which sample some of the potential nominees in 11 crafts categories. I wasn’t expecting any of the mentions to be documentaries, but Viridiana Lieberman was recognized on the editing shortlist for her work on Critics Choice Documentary Awards winner The Perfect Neighbor (currently streaming on Netflix). Hopefully, she will go on to the next round, and hopefully, it’s not the only documentary honored (The Tale of Silyan and 2000 Meters to Andriivka are possibilities for Best Foreign Language Film).
Less surprising was the mention of Diane Warren on the Best Song shortlist, but this time she’s being acknowledged for writing a tune for her own documentary. It’s called “Dear Me,” and it can be heard in the feature Diane Warren: Relentless (now streaming on Kanopy), performed by Kesha. I suspect that with major competition coming from Wicked: For Good, KPop Demon Hunters, and Sinners, it doesn’t stand a chance.
Documentary Release Calendar 11/28/25 - 12/4/25
Friday, November 28, 2025
Benita (2025) - A documentary by Alan Berliner (Nobody’s Business) about the late filmmaker Benita Raphan. (In Theaters)
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions (2025) - A documentary based on the video art installation of the same name about the Black experience. (In Theaters)
Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman Season 1, Episode 7: “Proof Is in the Po’Boy” - The latest installment of a travel food series following the titular pro wrestler as he attempts to eat every item on restaurant menus. This episode takes him to New Orleans. (USA Network)
Garçonnières (2022) - A documentary feature by Céline Pernet in which she interviews men about their love lives. (OVID)
Happy Pills (2022) - A documentary feature about society’s dependence on pharmaceuticals. (OVID)
Married to El Chapo: Emma Coronel Speaks (2025) - A documentary feature about the wife of the titular Mexican drug lord. (Oxygen)
Murder at the Motel Season 2, Episode 5: “Sportsman’s Lodge” - The latest episode of this true-crime docuseries involves the Florida coast. (A&E)
My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow (2024) - A documentary about independent journalism in Russia. Read our review of My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters: Los Angeles)
Obsessed with Light (2023) - A feature documentary about dancer, designer, and lighting technician Loie Fuller. (Film Movement Plus)
The Stringer (2025) - A documentary uncovering the truth about the iconic Vietnam War “napalm girl” photograph. Read our review of The Stringer. *NONFICS PICK* (Netflix)
The Tale of Silyan - A Critics Choice-nominated documentary feature that follows a struggling North Macedonian farmer. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
The Unbelievable with Dan Aykroyd Season 3, Episode 4: “Astonishing Feats” - The latest installment of a docuseries about mysterious and bizarre people and things. (History)
Vantara: Sanctuary Stories Season 1, Episode 4: “Mind Over Matter” - The latest installment of a six-part docuseries on the world’s largest wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility, in India. (Animal Planet)
You Got Gold: A Celebration of John Prine (2025) - A concert film presenting an event honoring the life of the titular singer-songwriter. (In Theaters)
Saturday, November 29, 2025
Accident, Suicide, or Murder Season 6, Episode 2: “Fatal Vows” - The latest episode of this true-crime series involves a woman’s death in Detroit. (Oxygen True Crime)
Army Champions (1941) - An Oscar-nominated Pete Smith Specialty short about young men enlisting in the U.S. Army. (TCM)
The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Story (1951) - A medium-length documentary presenting footage from new MGM movies of that year. (TCM)
The Power of Film Part 4: “Heroes and Villains” - This episode of the ongoing series focuses on two types of characters, how they’re different and sometimes similar. (TCM)
Seventeen World Tour [New_] in Japan (2025) - A concert film starring the titular K-pop icons. (In Theaters)
Toronto Airport: Uncovered Season 1, Episodes 3 & 4: “The Crash” & “Battling the Storm” - The latest two installments of a docuseries that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Toronto Pearson Airport. (National Geographic)
Sunday, November 30, 2025
Grandpa Called It Art (1944) - A short documentary looking at the difference in taste in art over generations. (TCM)
Killer Grannies Season 1, Episode 4: “Granny’s Under the Bridge” - The latest installment of a true-crime series hosted by June Squibb about elderly woman killers. (Oxygen)
Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins Season 4, Episode 4: “Small Town, Big Lies” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries about romances gone tragically wrong. This episode involves the killing of a woman in Tennessee. (Oxygen)
Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints, Season 2, Episode 3: “Thomas Becket” - The latest episode of this docuseries, which explores the lives and sacrifices of historical saints, focuses on Saint Thomas of Canterbury. (Fox Nation)
The Sky Divers (1969) - A short documentary on the making of the film The Gypsy Moths. (TCM)
Snapped: Behind Bars Season 3, Episode 4: “Angelina O’Mara” - The latest installment of a true-crime docuseries featuring interviews with murderers who appeared on the show Snapped. (Oxygen)
Unseen Guardians (1939) - A short documentary about workers at the Postal Inspection Department, the Underwriters’ Laboratories, and the Children’s Home Society. (TCM)
Words + Music Season 1, Episode 1: “John Legend” - The first episode of a new music docuseries in which artists perform and discuss their hit songs. (MGM+)
Monday, December 1, 2025
All I Can Say (2009) - A documentary feature about and partly made by Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon. (The Criterion Channel)
All the Empty Rooms (2025) - A Critics Choice-nominated short documentary about journalist Steve Hartman, photographer Lou Bopp, and their project showcasing empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. *Nonfics Pick* (Netflix)
American Sasquatch: Man, Myth or Monster (2025) - A documentary feature exploring the mysteries surrounding Bigfoot. (VOD)
And, Towards Happy Alleys (2023) - A documentary love letter to the cinema and poetry of Iran. (The Criterion Channel)
Carol & Joy (2025) - A short documentary executive-produced by Natalie Portman about actress Carol Kane and her 98-year-old music teacher mother, Joy Kane. *Nonfics Pick* (The Criterion Channel)
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami (2017) - A biographical documentary feature about the titular singer and actress. Read our review of Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami. *Nonfics Pick* (The Criterion Channel)
Living Proof (2025) - A documentary about an organization focused on how Black women deal with HIV. (Hulu)
The Merchants of Joy (2025) - A documentary feature following five families selling Christmas trees in New York City. (Prime Video)
Paul Anka: His Way (2025) - A documentary about the titular singer. (HBO Max)
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) - A stand-up comedy concert film starring Richard Pryor. (TCM)
Scott Walker: 30 Century Man (2006) - A documentary feature about the titular musician. (The Criterion Channel)
Song of My City (2025) - An archival short documentary depicting New York City in the 1970s through movie clips. (HBO Max)
The Taste of Mango (2023) - A feature documentary about three generations of women, including the director and her mother and grandmother. (The Criterion Channel)
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
5 Star (2025) - A docuseries following four football recruits in their first year of college. (Paramount+)
Capturing Kennedy (2024) - A documentary feature about John F. Kennedy’s personal photographer, Jacques Lowe. (DVD and VOD)
From Improv to Icon: The Journey of Mike Nichols (2023) - A biographical documentary about the titular film and theater director. (DVD)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the NFC East Episode 1 - The return of a docuseries that goes behind the scenes of NFL teams. (HBO Max)
I Heart Monster Movies (2012) - A documentary feature on what appeals to horror fans about the genre. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo Season 2, Episode 4: “Hidden Giants” - The latest installment of a docuseries exploring hidden worlds. (History)
Northwoods Survival Season 2, Episode 6: “Dog Days of Winter” - The latest installment of a docuseries that follows young Canadian homesteaders living in remote landscapes. (National Geographic)
The Return (2025) - A short documentary about a 12-year-old boy apprehended at the U.S. border and sent back to Guatemala. (OVID)
Richard Pryor... Here and Now (1983) - A stand-up comedy concert film and documentary starring Richard Pryor. (TCM)
Who Hired the Hitman? Season 1, Episode 5: “The Genius and the Mastermind” - The latest installment of a six-part true-crime docuseries about murder-for-hire plots. (Investigation Discovery)
Wild Style (1982) - A hybrid film showcasing hip-hop culture. (DVD and Blu-ray)
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
About Face Season 1, Episode 6: “Tumors, Tumors, Everywhere”- The latest episode of a series that follows surgeons specializing in facial reconstruction. (TLC)
Blum - Masters of Their Own Destiny (2024) - A documentary about Emerik Blum and the unique European energy company he founded, Energoinvest. (In Theaters)
Fugitives Caught on Tape Season 2, Episodes 17 & 18 - The latest installments of a docuseries following law enforcement in their pursuit of fugitives. (A&E)
Intimidad (2008) - A feature documentary by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon (Girl Model) about a reunited family. (OVID)
Monsta X: Connect X in Cinemas - A concert film starring the titular Korean boy band. (In Theaters)
Peaches Goes Bananas (2024) - A documentary feature following the musician known as Peaches over 17 years. (In Theaters)
R.F.D. Greenwich Village (1969) - A short documentary tour of New York City made to promote corduroy clothing. (TCM)
Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood (2019) - A feature documentary about Hollywood’s portrayal of Asians after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. (TCM)
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Downeast (2012) - A documentary feature by Ashley Sabin and David Redmon (Girl Model) about one man’s efforts to bring factory work back to his town in Maine. *NONFICS PICK* (OVID)
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley - A Critics Choice-nominated biographical documentary by Amy Berg (Janis: Little Girl Lost) about the titular musician. Read our review of It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley. *NONFICS PICK* (HBO and HBO Max)
Lali: Time to Step Up (2025) - A documentary feature about the titular Argentine singer and actress. (Netflix)
Mardi Gras: Made in China (2005) - A documentary feature by David Redmon (Girl Model) about the origins of Mardi Gras beads. (OVID)
Murdering Love Episodes 1 & 2: “Maj and Åke” & “Johan and Emmelie” - A true-crime docuseries involving romances gone deadly. (Viaplay)
When We Were Kings (1996) - An Oscar-winning documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Africa. Read our review of When We Were Kings. *NONFICS PICK* (TCM)
When You’re Strange (2009) - Re-release of a documentary feature by Tom DiCillo about The Doors. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
Sneak Peek At What’s Coming Soon
12/5 - Endless Cookie - An animated documentary feature by Canadian half-brothers, one white and one Indigenous, about their family. (In Theaters)
12/9 - Dawn of the Dogman - A documentary feature about a mythological wolf-like creature that allegedly haunts the forests of Michigan. (VOD)
12/11 - Wizkid: Long Live Lagos - A documentary feature about the titular Nigerian singer/songwriter. (HBO Max)
12/12 - Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes - A previously lost documentary feature about the titular adult film star. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (DVD and VOD)
12/19 - Cover-Up - A documentary feature by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus about reporter Seymour Hersh. *NONFICS PICK* (In Theaters)
1/6 - Homegrown - A documentary feature following three Trump supporters as they campaign for his 2020 reelection. Watch the new trailer for the film below. (Gathr)