Biography

Before Libuše Jarcovjáková was known as the “Nan Goldin of Czechoslovakia,” she was a young female photographer. Striving to break free from the constraints of Czechoslovakian normalization she embarks on a wild journey towards freedom, capturing her experiences through thousands of photographs

THE QUIET DIPLOMAT

The Quiet Diplomat centers on former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. The UN saved his life during the Korean War, inspiring him to become a man of peace. During two terms as the 8th Secretary General, Ban discovers the challenges of international diplomacy in an increasingly splintered world.

MÁRIO

From Billy Woodberry, acclaimed director of Bless Their Little Hearts and When I Die, I Won't Stay Dead, Mário follows the story and legacy of Mário Pinto de Andrade, founder of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Pan-African thinker and activist whose critical mission within the African liberation movements of the 60’s and 70’s laid the groundwork for the identity and representation of the newly formed African nations after European colonization.

A LONG HARD STREAK

This is a story of the struggle for redemption through art, and a man's powerful legacy within an isolated community of the South. Billy Dean Anderson was a prolific outsider artist and criminal who escaped prison multiple times. He was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List and fled to live in a Tennessee cave for almost five years. The cave became his home and spiritual refuge, while his paintings were a means of communication with the outside world.

HERBERT. BARBARIAN IN THE GARDEN

Polish author Zbigniew Herbert is one of the most remarkable poets of the 20th century. His works have been translated into 40 languages, acclaimed and awarded around the world, mainly because of its timeless and universal dimension. However, behind the crystalline beauty of his poetry, there was a man struggling with everyday life. Featuring exclusive and intimate interviews with the poet and his wife, Katarzyna Herbert.

REALITY WINNER

The incredible true story of Reality Winner in her own words. Filmed over five years, this is the only documentary about the young NSA whistleblower who exposed Russian interference in U.S.elections and went to jail for it. With exclusive access to Reality Winner and the media outlet involved in her arrest, this film also reveals FBI evidence never before released. Would you risk your freedom to protect democracy?

LAST FLIGHT HOME

Acclaimed filmmaker Ondi Timoner's (Dig!, We Live in Public) latest film is a deeply personal chronicling of the final days of her 92-year-old father, Eli, as he chooses to end his own life (legally, under California law). The family journeys back through Eli's remarkable yet painful life (Eli Timoner founded Air Florida, the fastest growing airline in the world in the 1970s) to discover what true love looks like. Last Flight Home is a transcendent celebration of life.

REWIND AND PLAY

In 1969, at the end of a European tour, Thelonious Monk was invited to appear on a television program, where he would perform and answer questions in an intimate studio stage. Using newly discovered footage, filmmaker Alain Gomis reveals the troubling dynamic between Monk and his white interviewer. Gomis’s gripping film is a fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary; a subtle yet searing exposé of casual racism; and, above all, a chance to see one of the monumental geniuses of 20th-century music at work.

CODED: THE HIDDEN LOVE OF J.C. LEYENDECKER

J.C. Leyendecker was one of the most prominent artists of his time, but his story is largely forgotten. Forced to keep his sexuality a secret, his coded imagery spoke directly to the gay community and laid the foundation for LGBTQ+ representation in advertising today.

NORTH BY CURRENT

A visual rumination on the understated relationships between mothers and children, truths and myths, losses and gains. After the inconclusive death of his young niece, filmmaker Angelo Madsen Minax returns to his rural Michigan hometown, preparing to make a film about a broken criminal justice system. Instead, he pivots to excavate the depths of generational addiction, Christian fervor, and trans embodiment.

HORTON FOOTE: THE ROAD TO HOME

Chronicles the creative journey of acclaimed writer Horton Foote - a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and winner of two Academy Awards for screenwriting (Tender Mercies, To Kill a Mockingbird) - through his own eyes and voice at the end of his life. The documentary captures a personal and inside view of his life and work and it's connection his hometown.

HER SOCIALIST SMILE

Though her life generated voluminous literature, most people ignore the fact that iconic deaf-blind author Helen Keller (1880–1968) was one of the most passionate socialist advocates of her time. Continuing his work of patient and insightful political filmmaking, director John Gianvito (Profit Motive and the Whispering Wind) resurrects Keller's radical views, which have been largely suppressed or sanitized over the years.

MAURICE HINES: BRING THEM BACK

An intimate portrait of an outspoken showman who with humor and grace navigates the highs and lows of a seven-decade career, and a complex relationship with his superstar brother, Gregory Hines. Maurice and friends — Chita Rivera, Mercedes Ellington and Debbie Allen — tell tales from his seven-decade career, while reflecting on the ever-present challenges of being a gay, black man in show biz.

UNLADYLIKE2020

Illuminating the stories of extraordinary American heroines from the early years of feminism, Unladylike2020 is an essential series consisting of 26 episodes, between 9 and 12 minutes in length, that profile courageous, little-known and diverse female trailblazers. The series utilizes original artwork and animation, rare archival footage, and interviews with descendants, historians and accomplished modern women who reflect upon the influence of these pioneers.

HENRY GLASSIE: FIELD WORK

The worldwide travels and unique cultural finds of renowned American folklorist Henry Glassie are enthrallingly chronicled in this portrait. Field Work allows us to witness the walling up of a massive kiln in Piedmont, North California, and features archival recordings of Glassie's encounters with carpet weavers and ceramicists in Western Turkey, and storytellers in Collins and Hogan's home country of Ireland, where Glassie's subjects reflect on their troubled present by talking about the past.

STEVENSON: LOST AND FOUND

As one of the New Yorker’s most prolific cartoonists, James Stevenson’s body of work spans five decades, countless drawings and innumerable laughs. Featuring delightful animated interludes and interviews from colleagues, editors and his nine children, this wonderful look at Stevenson’s life - who also wrote a column for The New York Times and is a noted writer of children's books - is a testament to observing the world from an original perspective.

MR. TOILET: The World's #2 Man

To a stranger, he’s a guy obsessed with toilets, but to those who know him he's “Mr. Toilet,” a crusader in global sanitation. A former entrepreneur, Jack Sim uses humor to campaign for something no one dares talk about: shit. It's a crisis that impacts over 2 billion people. In India alone, 200,000 children die each year from lack of safe sanitation. Jack fought for and established UN World Toilet Day, but with recent corporate pushback and thinning resources, he is discovering there is a price to pay for being the world's #2 hero.

ZIVA POSTEC: The Woman Who Edited Shoah

In 1985, Claude Lanzmann debuted Shoah, one of the most monumental cinematic works of all time. Ziva Postec was an indispensable part of the project. In this fascinating documentary, Postec recalls this gargantuan, painful and necessary experience which consumed six years of her life. With previously unseen footage from the making of Shoah, it's a moving portrait of an artist who for a long time has largely gone unnoticed, eclipsed by the towering presence of her male colleague.

TONY CONRAD: COMPLETELY IN THE PRESENT

From performing in Jack Smith’s legendary Flaming Creatures to creating a series of groundbreaking experimental films to playing a pivotal role in the formation of The Velvet Underground, Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present, twenty-two years in the making, examines the pioneering life and work of artist, musician, and educator, Tony Conrad.

LETHEM

A multi-faceted portrait of the life and work of bestselling author Jonathan Lethem, whose acclaimed novels include The Fortress of Solitude, Gun With Occasional Music, and Motherless Brooklyn, Lethem considers the cultural influences that inform his writing and features interviews with family members, friends, and the author himself.

WILLIAM EGGLESTON IN THE REAL WORLD

A new edition of the landmark documentary, William Eggleston in the Real World – from Michael Almereyda, director of Escapes, Marjorie Prime, Experimenter, and Hamlet, among others – is a brilliant and intimate look at the renowned photographer, whose hallucinatory Faulknerian images were featured in the Museum of Modern Art's first one-man exhibition of color photographs.

WORLDS OF URSULA K. LE GUIN

An essential documentary exploring the remarkable life and legacy of the late feminist author Ursula K. Le Guin, best known for her classic Earthsea series and masterworks of science fiction such as The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed; with reflections from literary luminaries including Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Michael Chabon, and more.

MR. FISH: CARTOONING FROM THE DEEP END

A political cartoonist known for his subversive and often controversial art, Mr. Fish’s work can be seen in publications like Harper’s, The Nation and the LA Times. In this revealing documentary, we are introduced to the dangerously funny cartoonist as he struggles to stay true to his creativity in a quickly changing political and economic climate.

TOWARDS MATHILDE

Presented in the US for the first time, from filmmaker director Claire Denis (Beau Travail, 35 Shots of Rum, Let the Sunshine In), Towards Mathilde utilizes sumptuous 8mm and 16mm cinematography, striking performances and the music by PJ Harvey to craft a singular documentary portrait of choreographer and dancer Mathilde Monnier.

THE ORGANIZER

Before its infamous demise, ACORN had been the largest community organization in the US, a national political powerhouse for the poor that transformed lives and communities. Featuring a wealth of archival footage, this is a comprehensive portrait of the organization and its founder, Wade Rathke, as well as an exploration of that much maligned & misunderstood occupation -- community organizing.

HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405

2018 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary Short Subject, Heaven is an extraordinary documentary, a portrait of artist Mindy Alper, whose astonishing body of work – drawings and sculptures of powerful psychological clarity – reveals a lifetime of struggle with debilitating mental illness.

INGELORE

Combining first person accounts, archival footage, and simple recreations, Ingelore is a mesmerizing documentary about a remarkable woman, Ingelore Herz Honigstein, who, born in 1924, narrates her heartbreaking and inspiring story of living as an outcast in Nazi Germany not only as a Jew, but also as a deaf woman.

AND WHEN I DIE, I WON'T STAY DEAD

Embodying the spirit of his poems, the new film from Billy Woodberry, director of Bless Their Little Hearts, is a vivid appreciation of Bob Kaufman, the legendary Beat figure, featuring interviews with his contemporaries, readings, rare photos and footage, and a soundtrack with the likes of Billie Holiday and Ornette Coleman.

LETTERS FROM BAGHDAD

Voiced and executive produced by Tilda Swinton, Letters from Baghdad is a visually rich, beautifully crafted documentary that tells the story of Gertrude Bell, who, more influential than her friend and colleague Lawrence of Arabia, shaped the modern Middle East in ways that still reverberate today.

FENGMING

Often cited as one of the great documentary achievements, Wang Bing's dazzling tour-de-force — a gripping monologue recounting five decades in the life of a once-ardent socialist in the new China — is a testament to the power of oral history and the strength of one extraordinary woman. Never before available.

THE 100 YEARS SHOW

From Alison Klayman, director of The Brink and Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, the remarkable story of Cuban-American artist Carmen Herrera, a pioneering abstract painter in the '40s and '50s who only found recognition as she approached her 100th birthday.

DREAMING AGAINST THE WORLD

This beautiful, evocative documentary captures the life, work and struggle of one of the most original yet under-recognized artists of the 20th century – the writer and visual artist Mu Xin.

DON'T BLINK - ROBERT FRANK

One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, a documentary about Robert Frank, the legendary photographer and filmmaker behind the seminal book “The Americans” and landmark films like Pull My Daisy.

DOUBLE PLAY: BENNING AND LINKLATER

This documentary on the friendship between these renowned filmmakers explores the connections and divergences in their approach to life and cinema.

HERB AND DOROTHY 50x50

An ordinary couple who amassed a world class art collection on their modest salaries and then gave it all away – donating fifty works of art to one museum in each state.

HERB AND DOROTHY

The extraordinary story of an ordinary couple who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history.

THE ARTEFACTA

The mysterious work of Nicola Costantino, one of Latin America’s most controversial and admired artists.