Documentary Movies 2020 List

With Gabe Polsky

Detailing an incredible true story involving gangsters, strippers, and live bears serving beer on a hockey rink, Red Penguins tells the wild forgotten true story of capitalism and opportunism run amok in Moscow. Shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the famed Red Army hockey team formed a joint venture that redefined what was possible in the new Russia. Eccentric marketing whiz, Steve Warshaw, is sent to Moscow and tasked to transform the team into the greatest show in Russia, attracting some of the biggest names in Hollywood and advertising along the way. He takes the viewer on a bizarre journey highlighting a pivotal moment in U.S.-Russian relations during a lawless era when oligarchs made their fortunes and multiple murders went unsolved.

With Joan Jett • Kirk Hammett • Paul Stanley • Wayne Kramer • Cameron Crowe • Michael Stipe • Gene Simmons • Alice Cooper • Chad Smith • Scott Crawford

Capturing the messy upheaval of the '70s just as rock was re-inventing itself, the film explores CREEM Magazine's humble beginnings in post-riot Detroit, follows its upward trajectory from underground paper to national powerhouse, then bears witness to its imminent demise following the tragic and untimely deaths of its visionary publisher, Barry Kramer, and its most famous alum and genius clown prince, Lester Bangs, a year later. Fifty years after publishing its first issue, "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine" remains a seditious spirit in music and culture.

With Dan Wayne

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

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

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 Hillary Bachelder • Julie Cho • Bryn Bird • Myya Jones

Equal parts personal and political, REPRESENT follows three women on both sides of the aisle who share the singular goal of improving their community through public service. Myya attempts to spark a youth movement and unseat the incumbent mayor of Detroit; Bryn, a farmer and working mother in Granville, OH, runs for township trustee; and Julie walks a tightrope between her identities as a Korean immigrant and Republican candidate for State Representative in a liberal Chicago suburb.

With Robyn Byrd • Bobby Lee • Chris Reccardi • Vince Waller • Billy West • Ron Cicero • Kimo Easterwood • John Kricfalusi • Vanessa Coffey • Lynne Naylor • Richard Pursel • Bob Camp

In the early 1990s, the animated show Ren & Stimpy broke ratings records and was a touchstone for a generation of fans and artists. Creator John Kricfalusi was celebrated as a visionary, but even though his personality suffused the show, dozens of artists and network executives were just as responsible for the show’s meteoric rise. As Kricfalusi’s worst impulses were let loose at the workplace and new allegations about even more disturbing behavior have surfaced, his reputation now threatens to taint the show forever. With clips recognizable to any Ren & Stimpy fan and interviews with Kricfalusi and his fellow creators whose work has been both elevated and denigrated by their connection to him, this film is a complex look at a show that influenced the history of television, animation, and comedy.

With Jesse Moss • Amanda McBaine

Every year, 1,100 boys head to Austin, TX. Only one will be elected Governor.

With Neil Jordan • Terry Gilliam • Andrzej Wajda • Slavoj Zizek • Bertrand Bonello • Bertrand Mandico • Noël Véry • Patrice Leconte • Lisbeth Hummel • Peter Bradshaw • Kuba Mikurda

How does a filmmaker go from creating cutting-edge work and competing in Cannes to being labelled a failed erotic filmmaker? The debut documentary feature from Polish critic and academic Kuba Mikurda investigates the work of Walerian Borowczyk, a director of unparalleled creativity & sensitivity, revered in the 1970s for creations including Goto, Island of Love, The Beast, & Immoral Tales. The film interviews his closest collaborators, filmmakers, and leading intellectuals who put his work into perspective, including Bertrand Bonello, Neil Jordan, Patrice Leconte, Slavoj Žižek, Terry Gilliam and the late Andrzej Wajda.

With Moroni Benally • Zachariah George • Alray Nelson • Saila Huusko • Jasper Rischen

Moroni Benally is running for the presidency of the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American nation in the US. Young, gay, Mormon, and highly educated, he sets out to confront the political establishment in a homecoming that challenges what he imagined home, and himself, to be. Simultaneously a behind-the-scenes look into a political campaign within a Native American community and an exploration of identities within the community, Moroni for President is an eye-opening and humorous portrait of a political race that runs surprisingly parallel to the current political landscape of the US at large.

With Erica Katzin • Jon Pavlovsky • Michael Leoni • Michelle Kaufer

The film follows eight teens - Kiki, Ryan, Greenz, Bublez, Nick, Ish, Crystal and Mischa - who have been living on the streets since ages 15-16. Filmmaker, Michael Leoni, leads us into a world that most people don't know exists. A world where in order to survive, kids are forced to sell drugs, beg for money or sell their bodies. They live under bridges, in abandoned houses or anywhere else they can hide to remain safe from the dangers they face daily on the streets.

With David Greenwald

David Blech wanted to be remembered for creating an industry that saves millions of lives. Instead, he finds himself $11 million dollars in debt, struggling to keep his family afloat and awaiting a possible jail sentence. Mental Illness and addiction are the powerful nemeses that threaten to bring down the one-time biotech titan as he races to develop a potential cure for Alzheimer’s Disease that could reverse his fortunes and rebuild his legacy.

With Peter Ettedgui • Richard Curtis • Barbara Broccoli • John Battsek • Ian Bonhote • Greg Nugent • Jonnie Peacock • Jean Baptiste Alaize • Shingo Kunieda • Daniel Dias • Tatyana McFadden • Prince Harry

Rising Phoenix tells the extraordinary story of the Paralympic Games. From the rubble of World War II to the third biggest sporting event on the planet, the Paralympics sparked a global movement which continues to change the way the world thinks about disability, diversity & human potential.

With Sharon Stone • P. David Ebersole • Naomi Campbell • Todd Hughes • Dionne Warwick • Jean-Paul Gaultier • Pierre Cardin

Millions know the iconic logo and ubiquitous signature but few know the man behind the larger than life label. House of Cardin is a rare peek into the mind of a genius, an authorized feature documentary chronicling the life and design of Cardin. A true original, Mr. Cardin has granted the directors exclusive access to his archives and his empire, and unprecedented interviews at the sunset of a glorious career.