Following the passage of California’s controversial Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage, progressive David Boies and ultra-conservative Ted Olson, legendary foes who had faced off in Bush v. Gore, formed an unexpected legal partnership to fight for its overturn, with two same-sex couples serving as the opposition’s public face. Ben Cotner and Ryan White follow […]
For more than two years, Egyptians have turned out in massive numbers to occupy Cairo’s Tahrir Square and demand change from their leaders. During the many dramatic shifts over that time, director Jehane Noujaim and her crew have captured what’s happened in the square through the eyes of several young revolutionaries. They range in background […]
Set in the world of extreme sports, The Crash Reel follows one of its heroes, the snowboarder Kevin Pearce, who’s forced to reflect on the dangers inherent in his passion. Just before the 2010 Olympics, where he was expected to be the chief rival to gold medalist Shaun White, Pearce suffered a horrific accident during […]
In this chilling and inventive documentary, executive produced by Errol Morris and Werner Herzog, the filmmakers examine the Indonesian death squads that murdered hundreds of thousands in the 1960s and are today celebrated as heroes. The film team challenges the killers to reenact their crimes in the style of the American movies they love. The […]
In Stories We Tell, noted actor and director Sarah Polley (Take This Waltz) is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by her family of storytellers. She interviews and interrogates a cast of characters—her siblings, her father, her parents’ friends—who each relate their version of the family mythology. Present-day recollections shift into […]
In 2010, Roger Ross Williams won the Academy Award for his documentary short Music by Prudence, becoming the first African American director ever to receive an Oscar. Now he explores the evangelical campaign to change African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting the “sexual […]
Gideon’s Army follows Travis Williams, Brandy Alexander and June Hardwick, three young public defenders who are part of a small group of idealistic lawyers in the Deep South challenging the assumptions that drive a criminal justice system strained to the breaking point. Fifty years after the Supreme Court’s landmark Gideon vs. Wainwright ruling established the […]
Shot over the course of five years, First Cousin Once Removed is Alan Berliner’s intimate portrait of his cousin, friend and former mentor—the poet, translator, and teacher, Edwin Honig—and his journey through the ravages of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. It is an unflinching and beautiful essay on the fragility of being human, hailed by […]
Today drone strikes, night raids and U.S. government-condoned torture occur in corners across the globe, generating unprecedented civilian casualties. Director Richard Rowley takes us on a chilling ride with investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill (Blackwater), tracing the rise of the most secret fighting force in U.S. history and exposing operations carried out by men who do […]
When Orlando’s SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau was killed by the Orca whale Tilikum, it was reported as a freak accident. Blackfish digs deeper into the story to trace the history of captured Orcas—including Tilikum—who had killed before. This extraordinary investigation uncovers rare video footage obtained through lawsuits and meticulous research. Blackfish deepens our appreciation for […]