American Documentary

A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, King Coal meditates on the complex history and future of the coal industry, the communities it has shaped, and the myths it has created. The film reshapes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking ...

In Hummingbirds, Silvia and Beba tell their own coming-of-age story, transforming their hometown on the Texas-Mexico border into a wonderland of creative expression and activist hijinks. Filmed collaboratively over the final summer of their fleeting youth, their cinematic self-portrait celebrates ...

Born with a rare disability, filmmaker Ella Glendining wonders if there is anyone who can share the experience of living in a body like hers. This simple question–one which non disabled people take for granted, leads to a journey ...

A quintessential post-industrial American city is seen through the efforts of a new generation. This film is an inspiring portrait of Youngstown, Ohio, activists and leaders who have chosen not to abandon their hometown, but to stay, rebuild and make ...

“Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave?” With those words at the 1964 Democratic Convention, Fannie Lou Hamer changed the course of Civil Rights forever. By working in the cotton fields of Mississippi ...

Bring It Home tells the story of five families at a crossroads after the closing of the GM Lordstown auto plant. GM's decision forced thousands to decide between transferring out-of-state or staying put. If they stay, they risk loss of ...

Nadia Shihab’s Jaddoland is an intimate portrait of the work and process of the director’s visual artist mother Lahib Jaddo. Jaddoland offers viewers a fresh look at the immigrant story in America. Through an exploration of her mother ...

Where The Pavement Ends transports viewers to Missouri towns Kinloch and Ferguson, examining the shared histories and deep racial divides affecting both. Through archival audio recordings, photographs and the recollections of residents from what was then all-Black Kinloch and the ...

A loving and insightful portrait of two transgender siblings — Luca and Ren — and their parents, set in the changing social climate following the 2016 presidential election. Little Miss Westie takes audiences behind the scenes as the family navigates puberty, school ...

Set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic at San Quentin State Prison, What These Walls Won’t Hold chronicles the organizing and relationships of people who came together beyond the separations created by incarceration, to respond to this crisis ...

A family reeling from the unjust incarceration of an ailing mentally ill loved one, calls on their faith and the strength of community to right a systemic wrong. Music, love and creativity are used to permeate the isolation of a ...

In New York City's Chinatown, the theater club of PS 124 is staging an adaptation of the film "Frozen”. As the 5th graders gear up and rehearse for the musical production, nervous excitement and flubbed lines brush up against cultural ...

From a young age, Yaya and Jack saw each other as they truly were, a girl and a boy, even though most of the world didn’t see them that way. As they grew older, they supported each other as ...

First Vote is a character-driven verité documentary with unparalleled access to a diverse cross section of politically engaged Chinese Americans: a gun-toting Tea Party-favorite candidate courting GOP votes in the South; a podcaster in Ohio who became a citizen in ...

Elizabeth and Jud Curry always knew they wanted a large family. Despite already raising multiple children, their ambitious altruism pushes them to do more. Over the course of several years they adopt five children, all with special needs, from Vietnam ...

Father Khader El-Yateem, is a Palestinian American Pastor and long time resident of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. With the support of local organizers and activists, including Aber Kawas and Linda Sarsour, he launches a campaign for a seat on the city ...