Documentary DVD & Blu-rays 2021 List

With Suzanne Hillinger • Ophelia Harutyunyan • Alex Gibney

On January 20th, 2020 the US and South Korea both discovered their first cases of COVID-19. However, 9 months later, the novel Coronavirus has claimed the lives of almost 200,000 Americans and caused staggering economic damage, while in South Korea, there were no significant lockdowns and, in an urbanized population of 51 million, only 344 lives have been lost. Where did we go wrong? Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, directing with Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, interrogates this question and its devastating implications in Totally Under Control. With damning testimony from public health officials and hard investigative reporting, Gibney exposes a system-wide collapse caused by a profound dereliction of Presidential leadership.

With Andrea Moller • Sylvia Earle • Keala Kennelly • Rose Molina • Inna Blokhina • Coco Ho • Cinta Hansel • Ocean Ramsey • Anna Bader • Jeannie Chesser

A woman is like the ocean: a true force of nature. SHE IS THE OCEAN follows nine extraordinary women, scattered across all corners of the globe. But they are united by the same sea, and their love for these waters is matched only by their dedication to preserve and protect them. A journey of both natural beauty and human empathy, SHE IS THE OCEAN is the story of powerful women with depths unknown.

With Bing Liu

Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.

With Sarah Colt • Josh Gleason

What do a farmer in Kansas, a laid-off factory worker in Ohio, and an Uber driver in Florida have in common? All three are resourceful, positive thinkers who strive to adapt and thrive despite dehumanizing forces at play in the American economy. As the film’s heroes face these roadblocks with courage, certain ideals remain sacred: family, love, and staying strong in the face of adversity. Lush cinematography galvanizes a sense of place and, as the narrative unfolds, the intimacy with the characters results in an emotionally rich observational drama. Ultimately, THE DISRUPTED reveals a collective American experience of financial challenge, family resilience, and the quest for the purpose and dignity of work.

With Adam Brody • Kevin Smith • Lauren Lapkus • Paul Scheer • Ione Skye • Zeke Kamm • Sandi Harding • Doug Benson • Taylor Morden

This fun, nostalgic documentary follows the manager of the last Blockbuster as she struggles to keep the store open and reveals why Blockbuster corporate really went out of business.

With Gina Cappo Pack • Michael Pack

A documentary about the conservative U.S. Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas.

With Gerry Mulligan • Dinah Washington • Anita O'Day • Louis Armstrong • Mahalia Jackson • Bert Stern • Thelonius Monk • Chuck Berry

Filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and directed by world-renowned photographer Bert Stern, Jazz on a Summer's Day features intimate performances by an all-star line-up of musical legends including Louis Armstrong, Thelonius Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O'Day, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, and closes with a beautiful rendition or The Lord's Prayer by Mahalia Jackson at midnight to usher in Sunday morning. Fully restored in 4K.

With Father David L. Guffey C.S.C. • Father Willy Raymond C.S.C. • Mother Marguerite McCarthy L.S.P. • Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle • Dennis Roverato • Dorothy Halloran • Jonathan Cipiti

The inspiring true story of a poor Irish immigrant who sets sail for America in 1928 with dreams of becoming a millionaire but, with the help of the most iconic celebrities of Hollywood, ends up spending his life championing the message, "The family that prays together stays together."

With Alexander Nanau • Hanka Kastelicová • Bernard Michaux • Bianca Oana

In 2015, a fire at Bucharest’s Colectiv club leaves 27 dead and 180 injured. Soon, more burn victims begin dying in hospitals from wounds that were not life-threatening. Then a doctor blows the whistle to a team of investigative journalists. One revelation leads to another as the journalists start to uncover vast health care fraud. When a new health minister is appointed, he offers unprecedented access to his efforts to reform the corrupt system but also to the obstacles he faces. Following journalists, whistle-blowers, burn victims, and government officials, Collective is an uncompromising look at the impact of investigative journalism at its best.

With Alex Winter

With unfettered access to the Zappa family trust and all archival footage, Zappa explores the private life behind the mammoth musical career that never shied away from the political turbulence of its time.

With Ric Burns • Oliver Sacks

A month after receiving a fatal diagnosis in January 2015, Oliver Sacks sat down for a series of filmed interviews in his apartment in New York City. For eighty hours, surrounded by family, friends, and notebooks from six decades of thinking and writing about the brain, he talked about his life and work, his abiding sense of wonder at the natural world, and the place of human beings within it. Drawing on these deeply personal reflections, as well as nearly two dozen interviews with close friends, family members, colleagues and patients, and archival material from every point in his life, this film is the story of a beloved doctor and writer who redefined our understanding of the brain and mind.

With Dave Newberg • Zachary Capp • Molly Dworsky • Julian Williams

Upon his grandfather’s death, a recovering gambling addict (ZACHARY CAPP) used his inheritance to make a documentary about well-known onion rings from his childhood and the beloved Minnesotan chef (LARRY LANG) who makes them. His project changes drastically when the fledging filmmaker becomes hellbent on improving the humble fry cook’s life, despite discovering his subject wants nothing to do with the film. The movie becomes something else entirely when the crew members secretly turn the cameras on the filmmaker, documenting his efforts and failures over a three-year journey.

With Dan Wayne

A documentary about taxidermist Ken Walker and his recreation of a female Sasquatch for the 2015 World Taxidermy Championships.

With Joaquin Phoenix • Victor Kossakovsky

GUNDA chronicles the unfiltered lives of a mother pig, a flock of chickens, and a herd of cows with masterful intimacy. Using stark, transcendent black and white cinematography and the farm's ambient soundtrack, Master director Victor Kossakowsky invites the audience to slow down and experience life as his subjects do, taking in their world with a magical patience and an other worldly perspective. GUNDA asks us to meditate on the mystery of animal consciousness, and reckon with the role humanity plays in it. Executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix.

With Gregory Kershaw • Michael Dweck

Deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy, a handful of men, seventy or eighty years young, hunt for the rare and expensive white Alba truffle—which to date has resisted all of modern science's efforts at cultivation. They're guided by a secret culture and training passed down through generations, as well as by the noses of their cherished and expertly-trained dogs. They live a simpler, slower way of life, in harmony with their loyal animals and their picture-perfect land, seemingly straight out of a fairy tale. They're untethered to cell phone screens or the Internet, opting instead to make their food and drink by hand and prioritizing in-person connections and community.

The demand for white truffles increases year after year, even as the supply decreases. As a result of climate change, deforestation, and the lack of young people taking up the mantle, the truffle hunters' secrets are more coveted than ever. However, as it soon becomes clear, these ageing men may just hold something much more valuable than even this prized delicacy: the secret to a rich and meaningful life.

With Theodore Bogosian

The iconic Mister Kelly’s, once called a “supernova in the local and national night life firmament,” illuminated legendary Chicago’s Rush Street, and the entire country, by launching talent like Barbra Streisand, Richard Pryor, Bob Newhart, Bette Midler and Steve Martin. Its visionary owners George and Oscar Marienthal smashed color and gender barriers to put unknown, controversial voices on stage and transform entertainment, as America knew it in the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ’70s. Now, with the club long gone, and its star talent reaching its golden years, George’s son David and director/screenwriter, Theodore Bogosian, go on a quest to collect the memories of the clubs before they are lost.

With Lawrence Elman • Zara Akester • Ebs Burnough • Holly Whiston

Answered Prayers was meant to be Truman Capote's greatest masterpiece, an epic portrait of NYC's glittering jet-set society. Instead, it sparked his downfall. Through never before heard audio archive and interviews with Capote's friends and enemies, this intimate documentary reveals the rise and fall of America's most iconic gay writer.

With Frédéric Tcheng • Roland Ballester • and Paul Dallas

Documents the famous American fashion designer.

With Werner Herzog • André Singer

Werner Herzog and André Singer’s riveting documentary, filled with unforgettable archive materials and based on three never before seen interviews, provides incredible access to, arguably, the world’s greatest living politician. Now 87 and battling illness, the visionary Mikhail Gorbachev, former General Secretary of the U.S.S.R, is still gently but resolutely pushing towards his goals.

With Luke Lorentzen

In Mexico City's wealthiest neighborhoods, the Ochoa family runs a private ambulance, competing with other for-profit EMTs for patients in need of urgent help. As the Ochoas try to make a living in this cutthroat industry, they struggle to keep their financial needs from compromising the people in their care.

With Jack Pettibone Riccobono • Michael J. Palmer • Ofra Bloch

Jerusalem-born trauma expert Ofra Bloch forces herself to confront her personal demons in a journey that takes her to Germany, Israel and Palestine. Set against the current wave of fascism and anti-Semitism sweeping the globe, AFTERWARD delves into the secret wounds carried by victims as well as victimizers, through testimonies ranging from the horrifying to the hopeful.