Documentary DVD & Blu-rays 2022 List

With Sam Pollard • Benjamin Hedin

Based on newly discovered and declassified files, the film documents the extent of the FBI’s surveillance and harassment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

With Brent Wilson

Join The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson on an intimate journey through his legendary career as he reminisces with Rolling Stone editor and longtime friend, Jason Fine.

With Kirsten Johnson

In this inventive portrait, director Kirsten Johnson seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever by staging fantasies of death and beyond. Together, dad and daughter confront the great inevitability awaiting us all.

With Edgar Wright • Ron Mael • Beck • Nira Park • Russell Mael

Edgar Wright’s debut documentary The Sparks Brothers, which features commentary from celebrity fans Flea, Beck, Jack Antonoff, Jason Schwartzman, Neil Gaiman, and more, takes audiences on a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers/bandmates Ron and Russell Mael celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.

With Jamila Wignot • Lauren DeFilippo

Many know the name Alvin Ailey, but how many know the man? Ailey’s commitment to searching for truth in movement resulted in pioneering and enduring choreography that centers on African American experiences. Director Jamila Wignot’s resonant biography grants artful access to the elusive visionary who founded one of the world’s most renowned dance companies, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

With Ilinca Calugareanu

In the 1980s, Corey Pegues was embroiled in a life of crime as a member of New York City’s infamous Supreme Team gang. After a near-death gang confrontation, Pegues flees the city, only to return years later as a rising star in the NYPD. When Pegues speaks publicly in support of police reform, he becomes a target within the department and details of his former life are thrust into the spotlight.

With Sébastien Lifshitz

LITTLE GIRL is the moving portrait of 7-year-old Sasha, who has always known that she is a girl. Sasha’s family has recently accepted her gender identity, embracing their daughter for who she truly is while working to confront outdated norms and find affirmation in a small community of rural France. Realized with delicacy and intimacy, Sébastien Lifshitz’s documentary poetically explores the emotional challenges, everyday feats, and small moments in Sasha’s life.

With Peter Jackson • Clare Olssen • Ken Kamins

Acclaimed filmmaker Peter Jackson’s “The Beatles: Get Back” is a unique cinematic experience that takes audiences back in time to The Beatles’ intimate recording sessions during a pivotal moment in music history...

With Chris Rock • Lin-Manuel Miranda • B.B. King • Jesse Jackson • Questlove • Stevie Wonder • Abbey Lincoln • Mavis Staples • Mahalia Jackson • Nina Simone • Sal Masekela • Moms Mabley • Max Roach

Over the course of six weeks in the summer of 1969, just one hundred miles south of Woodstock, The Harlem Cultural Festival was filmed in Mount Morris Park (now Marcus Garvey Park). The footage was never seen and largely forgotten–until now. SUMMER OF SOUL shines a light on the importance of history to our spiritual well-being and stands as a testament to the healing power of music during times of unrest, both past and present. The feature includes never-before-seen concert performances by Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Ray Baretto, Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach and more.

With Oliver Murray

Chronicles the life of saxophonist Ronnie Scott, from poor, Jewish kid in the East End of London to owner of the legendary night club, Ronnie’s.

With Julie Cohen • Betsy West

Tells the story of the legendary cookbook author and television superstar who changed the way Americans think about food, television, and even about women. Using never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos, first-person narratives, and cutting-edge, mouth-watering food cinematography, the film traces Julia Child's surprising path, from her struggles to create and publish the revolutionary Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1961) which has sold more than 2.5 million copies to date, to her empowering story of a woman who found fame in her 50s, and her calling as an unlikely television sensation.

With Brent Wilson

Join The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson on an intimate journey through his legendary career as he reminisces with Rolling Stone editor and longtime friend, Jason Fine.

With Stanley Nelson

In the fall of 1971, tensions between inmates and guards at the Attica Correctional Facility are at an all-time high. On the morning of September 9, it all comes to a head when inmates erupt into one of the largest U.S. prison riots ever witnessed.

With Errol Morris • Sonia Kennebeck

Investigates the case of alleged Wikileaks courier and Anonymous hacker Matt DeHart, an alleged whistleblower who believes he was the target of a U.S. government conspiracy.

With Emily Kunstler • Sarah Kunstler • Jeffery Robinson

Interweaving lecture, personal anecdotes, interviews, and shocking revelations, in WHO WE ARE — A Chronicle of Racism in America, criminal defense/civil rights lawyer Jeffery Robinson draws a stark timeline of anti-Black racism in the United States, from slavery to the modern myth of a post-racial America.

With Chris Woods • Dan Friedkin

Project Recover, a small team of accomplished scientists, historians, and military veterans, scour the depths of the ocean and the farthest corners of the earth, to search for and recover the remains of the more than 80,000 Americans missing in action since World War II, delivering closure, solace, and kinship to MIA families who’ve gone generations without answers.

With Tony Rammos

For Ricky Ringer, bull riding was always his life, but he could never win a championship. Twenty-five years later, Ricky continues to ride and despite warnings from his wife, mother and his ailing body, Ricky is determined to chase that elusive title or die trying.

With Nikolaj Coster-Waldau • Riz Ahmed • Jonas Poher Rasmussen

The story of Amin Nawabi as he grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to derail the life he has built for himself and his soon to be husband.

With Yung Chang

In a time when the world needs greater cross cultural understanding, Wuhan Wuhan is an invaluable depiction of a metropolis joining together to overcome a crisis.

With Michelle Rodriguez • Rebecca Tickell • Josh Tickell

With Robert B. Weide

Documents Kurt Vonnegut over the years through the prism of his long-evolving friendship with filmmaker Robert B. Weide,

With Alejandro Carreńo • Gustavo Dudamel • Elly Saúll Guerrero • Nathaly Al Gindi • Arturo Marquez • Theodore Braun

Conductor Gustavo Dudamel sets the music world afire with his original interpretations of the greatest symphonic works. He is named one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People” and serves as music and artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Amidst social unrest in his native Venezuela, he devises an innovative concert that celebrates the power of art to renew and unite.

With Lamya Essemlali • Vincent Kelner • Jens Mortan Rasmussen • Torik Abraham Rough • Runi Nielsen

The fjord’s water, surrounded by stunning green mountains, is turning blood red. It is the “Grind” season again – Faroe Islanders’ ritual slaughter of pilot whales. Two proud Faroese whalers are on one side, two young and passionate Sea Shepherd activists on the other. A Taste of Whale invites you to see past preconceived positions and question what meat-eating is truly about.

With Brian Trenchard-Smith • Grant Page • Margaret Gerard • Monique van de Ven

Part documentary, part rock film, and all kinds of crazy. Stunt Rock is a feature length ode to fearless Australian stuntman Grant Page (the Mad Max films, Road Games, The Gods Of Egypt).

With Chase Joynt • Aisling Chin-Yee

American jazz musician Billy Tipton developed a reputable touring and recording career in the mid-twentieth century, along with his band The Billy Tipton Trio. After his death in the late 80s, it was revealed that Tipton was assigned female at birth, and his life was swiftly reframed as the story of an ambitious woman passing as a man in pursuit of a music career.

With Jeff Goldblum • Michael Sragow • Daniel Raim

Documents director Norman Jewison's quest to recreate the lost world of Jewish life in Tsarist Russia and re-envision the beloved stage hit as a wide-screen epic.

With A.B. Zax

In the shadow of the pandemic, a small town rallies to protect a beloved local bookstore. A landmark in Lenox, Massachusetts, The Bookstore is a magical, beatnik gem thanks to its owner Matt Tannenbaum, whose passion for stories runs deep

With Daniel Hymanson

Half a century into their marriage, Chicago artists Jackie and Don Seiden approach the fragility of their elderly lives in their own distinct ways. Jackie, notorious for her unbound energy, is constantly on the move, inspired to create works of art while also maintaining the couple’s multistory, eccentric Victorian house. Don steadily sketches in his notebook while facing alarming interruptions to his health.

With Pål Waaktaar • Magne Furuholmen • Morten Harket • Thomas Robsahm

When a-ha's breakthrough hit "Take on Me" shot to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1985, it turned its three young band members into global superstars overnight. While the iconic song and its groundbreaking music video remain ubiquitous to this day, the story of a-ha didn't end there. After 35 years, a deep catalog of 11 studio albums and 55 million units sold – despite controversies and disagreements – a-ha continues to record music and play to packed arenas around the world.

With Danny Marsden • Jeff Harasimowicz • DJ King

Metlakatla is Alaska's last Native Indian reserve. For hundreds of years two distinct traditions have defined their community- fishing and basketball. Watch as two cousins lead their local High School team toward a shot at their first state championship in over 30 years. In the aftermath of an unimaginable tragedy, a basketball title has the ability to breathe new life back into this small town.

With Glenn Holsten • Chayne Gregg

Hell or High Seas follows U.S. Navy veteran Taylor Grieger and writer Stephen O’Shea as they embark on the adventure of a lifetime — sailing around Cape Horn, the world’s most treacherous ocean waters. The film is a moving portrait of a veteran using his own painful journey with PTSD to find healing for himself, and pave a smoother path for veterans returning to civilian life.

With D.L. Anderson • Matt Durning

A spirited celebration of 83-year-old Lena Mae Perry and her legendary North Carolina gospel group The Branchettes. The film documents The Branchettes as they record their first, fully live album.

With Peter Jackson

The Beatles’ unforgettable concert on the rooftop of Apple Corps’ Savile Row headquarters on January 30, 1969, will debut as a 60-minute feature at an Exclusive IMAX® Event Screening and Filmmaker Q&A on January 30, 2022.

With Jeff Goldblum • Michael Sragow • Daniel Raim

Documents director Norman Jewison's quest to recreate the lost world of Jewish life in Tsarist Russia and re-envision the beloved stage hit as a wide-screen epic.

With Jim Farrell

A documentary tracing the life of Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy.

With Frank Marshall • Ryan Suffern

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell, aka “Jazz Fest,” is the signature annual music and cultural event of the city and has been called America’s greatest festival. Celebrating the music, food, and arts and crafts of all of Louisiana since 1970, Jazz Fest is an essential showcase of the rich heritage of the region, and hundreds of thousands attend the event each year.

With Daniel Radcliffe • Emma Watson • Chris Columbus • Rupert Grint • Casey Patterson

The retrospective special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts will tell an enchanting making-of story through all-new in-depth interviews and cast conversations, inviting fans on a magical first-person journey through one of the most beloved film franchises of all time.

With Nick Alfieri

Following a handful of American professionals on a team of German amateurs, UNICORN TOWN takes us into one of the most fascinating sports organizations in the world. Despite having just 40,000 residents and limited financial resources, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns have been able to compete at the highest level of football in all of Europe. But as more money floods into the sport, coaches and fans must face the question: has this team become a relic of the past or can their remarkable culture propel them beyond the constraints of reality?

With Julie Cohen • Betsy West • Lisa Erspamer

In 2011, former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords survived an assassination attempt that left her partially paralyzed and unable to walk. This is her story.

With Shuaib Raheem • Stefan Forbes

When Shu’aib Raheem tried to steal guns for self-defense, it sparked the longest hostage siege in NYPD history.

With Christophe Cognet

A handful of prisoners in WWII camps risked their lives to take clandestine photographs of the hell the Nazis were hiding from the world. Director Christophe Cognet retraces the footsteps of these courageous men and women in a quest to unearth the circumstances and the stories behind their photographs, composing as such an archeology of images as acts of defiance.

With Rebeca Huntt

First-time feature filmmaker Rebeca “Beba” Huntt undertakes an exploration of her own identity in the remarkable coming-of-age documentary/cinematic memoir Beba. Reflecting on her childhood and adolescence in New York City as the daughter of a Dominican father and Venezuelan mother, Huntt investigates the historical, societal, and generational trauma she’s inherited and ponders how those ancient wounds have shaped her, while simultaneously considering the universal truths that connect us all as humans. Throughout Beba, Huntt searches for a way to forge her own creative path amid a landscape of intense racial and political unrest.Poetic, powerful and profound, Beba is a courageous, deeply human self-portrait of an Afro-Latina artist hungry for knowledge and yearning for connection.

With Bradley Jackson

Nolan Ryan’s numbers tell a story, but numbers alone do not capture his essence. Flashpoints have emblazoned him onto our subconscious: like pitching with his jersey covered in blood. Running a cattle ranch during the off-season. The iconic brawl where Ryan walloped the 20 years younger Robin Ventura. Despite mythical moments and statistical brilliance, Ryan’s career is a study in extremes. Not only does he hold the record for most walks and most wild pitches, but he has also given up the most grand-slams and the most stolen bases. Many of today's baseball analysts do not consider him to be among the greats, but with all this in mind, where does Ryan fit in the ever-evolving game of baseball?

With Jonathan Cahn

Is it possible that what has happened to the United States and the world, from COVID-19 to 9/11, are part of an ancient mystery? Is it a warning? Does the mystery tell us what is yet to come? Do we have the key to uncover it? New York Times best-selling author Jonathan Cahn takes audiences on an epic journey from an island off of Massachusetts Bay to the Supreme Court, from Ground Zero, through the New York Harbor, to the Statue of Liberty to uncover this stunning mystery. Uncover… · The ancient signs that warn of impending calamity · The mystery that goes back to the prophet Jeremiah that pinpointed 2020 as the year a plague would come to America · The harbingers that appeared in the last days of an ancient nation that have now appeared on American soil · What all these things reveal about what is still to come · The key, the hope, and what you need to know about the future

With Caroline Vignal

Antoinette, a schoolteacher, is looking forward to her long planned summer holiday with her married lover Vladimir, the father of one of her pupils. When she learns that Vladimir has to cancel because his wife organized a surprise hiking vacation, Antoinette decides to follow their tracks, accompanied by a protective donkey named Patrick.

With Dayna Goldfine • Dan Geller

HALLELUJAH: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song is a definitive exploration of singersongwriter Leonard Cohen as seen through the prism of his internationally renowned hymn, “Hallelujah.” This feature-length documentary weaves together three creative strands: The songwriter and his times; the song’s dramatic journey from record label reject to chart-topping hit; and moving testimonies from major recording artists for whom “Hallelujah” has become a personal touchstone. Approved for production by Leonard Cohen just before his 80th birthday in 2014, the film accesses a wealth of never-before-seen archival materials from the Cohen Trust including Cohen’s personal notebooks, journals and photographs, performance footage, and extremely rare audio recordings and interviews.

With Philipp Reichenheim

Homage of one of the most influential bands on the American East Coast, which inspired the rock scene - an emotional, tragically funny and sometimes noisy roller-coaster ride by a dysfunctional family - Dinosaur Jr.

With Ron MacCloskey • Thomas Hamilton • Michael Jarmus

A documentary that sheds light on William Henry Pratt (better known by his stage name, Boris Karloff) as Hollywood’s master of menace, as well as his films, his legend and the fears that haunted him through his life. Karloff is best known for his role as “The Monster” in the classic horror films Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). This documentary examines his extraordinary 60-year career in the entertainment industry, as well as his continuing influence as a horror icon.

With Larry A. McLean

Based on true accounts, a Las Vegas escort is recognized by her sister in a viral social experiment video. Looking to reunite the sisters, and secretly motivated to capture the reunion on camera, Joey Salads and his apprehensive crew are thrown into the dangerous and corrupt world of escorting, documenting every step of their desperate effort to rescue the woman from human sex trafficking in Las Vegas.

With Amy Bandlien Storkel • Bryan Storkel

This incredible fish-out-of-water story follows the adventures of Steve Glew, a small-town Michigan man, who boards a plane for Eastern Europe soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall. His mission is to locate a secret factory that holds the key to the most desired and valuable Pez dispensers. If he succeeds, he will pull his family out of debt and finally be able to quit his job of 25 years. Steve becomes the hero of his own adventure, smuggling the rarest of goods into the U.S. and making millions in the process. It was all magical, until his arch-nemesis, The Pezident decided to destroy him.

With Helena Bonham Carter • Steve McQueen • Bianca Stigter

So long as we are watching history, history is not over.Three minutes of footage, shot by David Kurtz in 1938, are the only moving images remaining of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk, Poland before the Holocaust.Three Minutes - A Lengthening explores the human stories hidden within the celluloid.

Twenty-five years have passed since the death of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, sparking a renewed interest in this spiritual giant of the 20th century. Filmed on 5 continents and featuring unprecedented access to both institutional archives and the apostolates of the Missionaries of Charity, this film reveals not just who Mother Teresa was, but how her singular vision to serve Christ in the poor continues to be realized through the Missionaries of Charity today. This is far more than a documentary. It is at once a soaring tribute to a spiritual icon, a powerful witness of authentic Christian charity, and a guidepost for all who seek hope in our turbulent times.

With Dana Nachman

DEAR SANTA shines a light on the 100-year-old ‘Operation Santa’ Program of the United States Postal Service. Each year, hundreds of thousands of letters to Santa arrive at Post Offices around the country. Through Operation Santa, the USPS makes it possible for the public to safely adopt these letters and make children’s dreams come true. The film invites audiences along for the magic of this massive endeavor. Traveling the country, much like Santa does on Christmas Eve, the film focuses on select ‘Operation Santa’ Centers: some in metropolitan areas and others in small towns where the Post Office is the heart of the community.

With Brett Morgen

Moonage Daydream illuminates the life and genius of David Bowie, one of the most prolific and influential artists of our time. The motion picture reveals the celebrated icon through his own voice and features 48 musical tracks, mixed from their original stems.

With Declan McGrath • David Rane • Neasa Ní Chianáin

An inspiring documentary from the filmmakers of School Life, Young Plato charts the dream of Elvis-loving school headmaster Kevin McArevey – a maverick who is determined to change the fortunes of an inner-city community plagued by urban decay, sectarian aggression, poverty and drugs. The all-boys primary school in post-conflict Belfast, Northern Ireland, becomes a hot house for questioning violence, as the headmaster sends his young wards home each day armed with the wisdom of the ancient Greek philosophers. The boys challenge their parents and neighbors to forsake the prejudice that has kept this low-level civil war on the boil for decades.

With Charlene Modeste • Sierra Pettengill, • Tobi Haslett

Welcome to Riotsville, USA, a turning point in American history where the protest movements of the late 1960s came into conflict with increasingly militarized police departments. Focusing on unearthed military training footage of Army-built model towns called “Riotsvilles,” where military and police were trained to respond to civil disorder in the aftermath of the Kerner Commission created by President Lyndon B. Johnson, director Sierra Pettengill’s kaleidoscopic all-archival documentary reconstructs the formation of a national consciousness obsessed with maintaining law and order by any means necessary. Drawing insight from a time similar to our own, Riotsville, USA pulls focus on American institutional control and offers a compelling case that if the history of race in America rhymes, it is by design.

With Todd Haynes

The Velvet Underground created a new sound that changed the world of music, cementing its place as one of rock 'n' roll's most revered bands. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Todd Haynes, "The Velvet Underground" shows just how the group became a cultural touchstone representing a range of contradictions: the band is both of their time, yet timeless; literary yet realistic; rooted in high art and street culture. The film features in-depth interviews with the key players of that time combined with a treasure trove of never-before-seen performances and a rich collection of recordings, Warhol films, and other experimental art that creates an immersive experience into what founding member John Cale describes as the band's creative ethos: "how to be elegant and how to be brutal."

With Abigail E. Disney • Kathleen Hughes • Aideen Kane

Abigail Disney looks at America's dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less. Using her family’s story, Disney explores how this systemic injustice took hold and imagines a way toward a more equitable future.