Documentary Movies 2023 List

With Cathryne Czubek • Hugo Perez

Welcome to Wakaliwood, the Wakaliga village outside of Uganda's capital and birthplace of the over-the-top, no-budget action movies produced by maverick Ugandan filmmaker Isaac Nabwana. Dubbed Africa's Tarantino, Isaac has produced 40+ films, including Who Killed Captain Alex and Bad Black. His inspiration is equal parts 1980s American action movies and Shaw Brothers martial arts films, with a Ugandan twist. His films' budgets are in the range of $200, and his homegrown studio employs neighbors and friends working on as many as five productions at once. But the story continues… Fascinated by Isaac's movie trailers on YouTube, film nerd Alan Hofmanis gives up his life in NYC and moves to Uganda to work and live alongside Isaac. He not only becomes Isaacs producer, promoter and right-hand man, but also accidentally becomes a Ugandan action movie star. Alan’s marketing savvy brings a wave of international press attention from: Vice, BBC, Al Jazeera, The Wall Street Journal, and every other media outlet on the planet journey to Wakaliwood to cover this rising star. Wakaliwood then explodes into an international viral sensation. Once the dust settles, in one way or another, things will never be the same…

With Chris Smith • George Michael • Andrew Ridgeley

In 1982, the best of friends and still teenagers – George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley as WHAM! set out to conquer the world. By June of 1986 they played their very last gig at Wembley Stadium having done exactly that. Now for the very first time, told in their own words, the amazing story of how in four years they dominated the charts around the world with timeless and classic pop songs. Hit after hit – Club Tropicana, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, Freedom, I’m Your Man and of course Last Christmas. Their time in the spotlight was white-hot, becoming the very first western pop act to play in China.It was a time that both encapsulated and epitomised not just their youth, but also those of the many millions of fans that adored them. With unprecedented access to both George and Andrew’s personal archive including remarkable and never-before-seen footage, alongside rare, candid and previously unheard interviews, WHAM! charts their incredible journey from school friends to superstars.

With Sam Pollard

The League celebrates the dynamic journey of Negro League baseball's triumphs and challenges through the first half of the twentieth century. The story is told through previously unearthed archival footage and never-before-seen interviews with legendary players like Satchel Paige and Buck O’Neil – whose early careers paved the way for the Jackie Robinson era – as well as celebrated Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron who started out in the Negro Leagues. From entrepreneurial titans Cumberland Posey and Gus Greenlee, whose intense rivalry fueled the rise of two of the best baseball teams ever to play the game, to Effa Manley, the activist owner of the Newark Eagles and the only woman ever admitted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, The League explores Black baseball as an economic and social pillar of Black communities and a stage for some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game, while also examining the unintended consequences of integration.

With Alex Winter

This documentary film from Alex Winter explores the ascension and acceleration of YouTube, a video-sharing website that started with humble origins and has gone on to change how we experience the world.

With Josh Braun • Van Soest • Dan Braun • Landon Van Soest • Ben Braun

First-hand account of Gerald Blanchard, one of the most creative, calculating, and accomplished criminal masterminds in modern history. Two unlikely Winnipeg detectives track Blanchard across the globe as he perpetrates a series of increasingly elaborate heists in a quest for fame and notoriety through a life of crime.

With Mark Ruffalo • Marisa Tomei. • Jesse Short Bull • Laura Tomaselli • Sarah Eagle Heart

The film chronicles the Lakota Indians’ quest to reclaim the Black Hills, sacred land that was stolen in violation of treaty agreements. A searing, timely portrait of resistance, the film explores the ways America has ignored its debt to Indigenous communities and ponders what might be done today to repair the wrongs of the past.

With LeBron James • Hubert Davis • Maverick Carter • Aubrey “Drake” Graham • Adel “Future” Nur

A documentary that exposes a history of racism in hockey through the untold stories of Black hockey players, both past and present, in a predominantly white sport.

With Matt Eastin • Mac Reynolds • Turner Pope • John Janick

Far from the days of playing in dive bars and casinos across the Las Vegas Strip, Imagine Dragons returns home to perform at the city’s largest stage, Allegiant Stadium, in a triumphant concert film that showcases the band’s rise to fame and the city that helped shape their sound.

With Sam Pollard

The League celebrates the dynamic journey of Negro League baseball's triumphs and challenges through the first half of the twentieth century. The story is told through previously unearthed archival footage and never-before-seen interviews with legendary players like Satchel Paige and Buck O’Neil – whose early careers paved the way for the Jackie Robinson era – as well as celebrated Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Hank Aaron who started out in the Negro Leagues. From entrepreneurial titans Cumberland Posey and Gus Greenlee, whose intense rivalry fueled the rise of two of the best baseball teams ever to play the game, to Effa Manley, the activist owner of the Newark Eagles and the only woman ever admitted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, The League explores Black baseball as an economic and social pillar of Black communities and a stage for some of the greatest athletes to ever play the game, while also examining the unintended consequences of integration.

With Alex Winter

This documentary film from Alex Winter explores the ascension and acceleration of YouTube, a video-sharing website that started with humble origins and has gone on to change how we experience the world.

With Mark Mannucci

In South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind, Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger has found the world’s oldest graveyard – and it’s not human. If Lee and his team can prove that this ancient, small brained, ape-like creature practiced complex burial rituals – it will change everything we know about hominid evolution and the origins of belief.

With Ronni Thomas • Jonathan Jacobson • Ian Karr

Follows Jackie Martling's improbable journey – from fledgling days of comedy on Long Island, through his time as one of the 'Beatles of Radio,' to his success as an author and actor.

With Bart Layton • Alessia Zecchini • John Battsek • Ben Cotner • Jamie D’Alton • Sarah Thomson • Anne McLoughlin • Emily Osborne • Laura McGann • Stephen Keenan

A champion freediver trains to break a world record with the help of an expert safety diver, and the two form an emotional bond that feels like fate. This heart-stopping film follows the paths they took to meet at the pinnacle of the freediving world, documenting the thrilling rewards – and inescapable risks – of chasing a dream through the silent depths of the ocean.

With Rosario Dawson • Mark A. Catalena • Leslie Iwerks

Superpowered: The DC Story on Max presents an unprecedented look at the enduring & influential legacy of DC Comics, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company's origins, its evolution and its nearly nine-decade cultural impact across every artistic medium. Featuring a wealth of interviews with the industry's most prolific creators and the actors who bring their iconic characters from the page to the screen.

With Ryan Coogler • Erick Peyton • Marissa Torres Ericson • Peter Nicks • Ben Cotner • Sean Havey

Stephen Curry: Underrated is the remarkable coming-of-age story of one of the most influential, dynamic and unexpected players in the history of basketball: Stephen Curry. This feature documentary — blending intimate cinéma vérité, archival footage and on camera interviews — documents Curry’s rise from an undersized college player at a small town Division I college to a four-time NBA champion, building one of the most dominant sports dynasties in the world.

With Shai Gal

With unique access behind-the-scenes to NASA’s ambitious mission to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, we follow a team of engineers and scientists as they take the next giant leap in our quest to understand the universe.

With Cathryne Czubek • Hugo Perez

Welcome to Wakaliwood, the Wakaliga village outside of Uganda's capital and birthplace of the over-the-top, no-budget action movies produced by maverick Ugandan filmmaker Isaac Nabwana. Dubbed Africa's Tarantino, Isaac has produced 40+ films, including Who Killed Captain Alex and Bad Black. His inspiration is equal parts 1980s American action movies and Shaw Brothers martial arts films, with a Ugandan twist. His films' budgets are in the range of $200, and his homegrown studio employs neighbors and friends working on as many as five productions at once. But the story continues… Fascinated by Isaac's movie trailers on YouTube, film nerd Alan Hofmanis gives up his life in NYC and moves to Uganda to work and live alongside Isaac. He not only becomes Isaacs producer, promoter and right-hand man, but also accidentally becomes a Ugandan action movie star. Alan’s marketing savvy brings a wave of international press attention from: Vice, BBC, Al Jazeera, The Wall Street Journal, and every other media outlet on the planet journey to Wakaliwood to cover this rising star. Wakaliwood then explodes into an international viral sensation. Once the dust settles, in one way or another, things will never be the same…

With Rachel Koteen

Take the Ice goes behind the scenes of the first professional women’s hockey league. As the league’s founder struggles to keep the business afloat, the players must come together in the wake of an on-ice accident that leaves their teammate paralyzed.

With Ivy Meeropol

A community reeling from a fatal shark attack is forced to confront dramatic changes to its environment and its way of life.

With María José Cuevas

In early-2000s Mexico City, nearly 50 elderly women were strangled in their own homes in Mexico City, triggering the hunt for — and capture — of a most unlikely suspect.

With Tama Lundquist • Alyssa Milano • Tena Lundquist Faust • Susan Boggio • Peter Farrell • Sadhvi Siddhali Shree • Sadhvi Anubhuti • Jan Duncan • Tyson Faust • Sue Smith

A documentary about a small group of animal rights activists in Houston, Texas, dedicated to saving the lives of stray cats and dogs living on the street.

With Shannon Halliday

A documentary that explores the struggle between Church and government throughout history.

With D. Smith

Kokomo City is the feature directorial debut of two-time Grammy-nominated producer, singer and songwriter D. Smith. Smith, who made history as the first trans woman cast on a primetime unscripted TV show, also filmed and edited this wildly entertaining and refreshingly unfiltered documentary that passes the mic to four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City – Daniella Carter, Koko Da Doll, Liyah Mitchell and Dominique Silver - as they hold nothing back while breaking down the walls of their profession.

Disguised as a guidebook for capturing a devoted cult following, this docuseries takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the rise of six famed flock leaders.