Film
At Sundance, Films Tackled Sex, Love, Gender, and the Law
Whether it’s catfishing clueless rich guys, catching sex predators on YouTube, or assisting a woman in conceiving a child, questions of legality often have little to do with morality.
Documentary
Film
The Existential Crisis of Free Leonard Peltier
The film was made to agitate for the release of the wrongly imprisoned Indigenous activist. Despite last-minute edits after his clemency, it still shows some cracks.
Film
Zodiac Killer Project Is a Parody of the True Crime Genre
The documentary is an incisive critique of how cliché-bound the genre has become, encouraging viewers to ask more from it.
Interview
The Story of the Godfather of Asian-American Media, Told by His Son
“The best film I could make was one that only I could tell as his son,” Tadashi Nakamura told Hyperallergic about legendary director Robert Nakamura.
Guide
Not-to-Miss Documentaries at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Several nonfiction works playing at the festival are timely, whether in their current subject matter or relevant reflections on the past.
Film
Art Spiegelman Won’t Shrink Back From Controversy
The artist has illustrated more than one contentious New Yorker cover in his career, chronicled in a new film, and his next project will be no less gutsy.
Film
The Beautiful Infinity of Tetris
A new documentary-game includes an interactive timeline, interviews, and of course, playable versions of the game.
Film
Social Bonds May Save Our Lives
Join or Die is part of a cresting wave of cultural production circling around the intertwined issues of loneliness, divisiveness, and our political right turn.
Film
Recreating Nellie Mae Rowe’s Dreamlike World
A documentary screening in NYC this week combines animation, interviews, and archival material to tell the self-taught artist’s fascinating story.
Film
How Did a Pro-Democracy Activist Become a Trump Supporter?
Over seven years, director Nanfu Wang documented Cuban activist Rosa María Payá’s fight for a democratic Cuba — and her journey to endorsing the MAGA movement.
Film
Jordan Withdraws Artsakh Film From Oscars, Citing “Diplomatic Pressures”
My Sweet Land by Jordanian-Armenian director Sareen Hairabedian follows an 11-year-old boy during the Second Artsakh War.
News
US’s Biggest Documentary Festival Comes to NYC This Month
The trials of late-in-life romance and a photographer's chronicle of Black life under South African apartheid anchor the 15th edition of DOC NYC.