Latest News

Oscar nominations: Honeyland makes history with double nod, joins For Sama, The Cave, The Edge of Democracy, American Factory in Best Documentary Feature race

Honeyland also scores nomination for Best International Feature Film; Apollo 11 stranded on launch pad

"This is incredible news!" Short doc filmmakers react to earning Oscar nominations

Life Overtakes Me, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone..., In the Absence, Walk Run Cha-Cha and St. Louis Superman make cut

Oprah Winfrey backs out of Untitled Kirby Dick/Amy Ziering Documentary on minority women and #MeToo movement, says it won't stream on Apple TV+

Winfrey insists film isn't ready to premiere at Sundance, but filmmakers are going forward

For Sama scores as BAFTA nominations announced

Film by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts earns four nods, including Outstanding Documentary; it will go up against 1917, Rocketman in another category

Advocate directors on their Oscar shortlisted documentary about Israeli human rights lawyer Lea Tsemel

St. Louis Superman, Life Overtakes Me, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) make cut as Academy announces documentary shorts shortlist

Only 10 films remain in competition. Click for full list.

Netflix dominates as Oscar documentary shortlists announced

But non-Netflix contenders from For Sama to Honeyland remain in contention as feature contenders trimmed to 15. Click for full list. 

Maysles Brothers' classic documentary Salesman coming to Criterion Collection in March

1968 film documented door-to-door Bible salesmen purveying Holy wares up and down the east coast

Apted, Klayman, Masters and more: photos from the IDA's fall screening series

The IDA hosts 50 free screenings in LA and NYC, featuring multiple Oscar contenders

Now playing: dazzling 3D documentary on choreographer Merce Cunningham

Alla Kovgan's film reveals artistry of 'a revolutionary figure in the 20th century'

Oscar doc race wide open as multiple films land latest prizes from critics, IDA Awards

Director Rachel Lears on receiving the IDA's Emerging Filmmaker Award

For Sama wins top award at 35th annual IDA Documentary Awards

American Factory, Leaving Neverland, Honeyland, Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) and more claim awards [full winners list]

AFI Fest wraps in LA with Audience Award for documentary I Am Not Alone

Grand Jury Prize for Documentary results in tie

Sandra Winther's award-winning short documentary Lowland Kids now streaming for free on HuffPost.com

Her film tells story of last teenagers living on Louisiana island that's sinking into the Gulf from effects of climate change

Films with international focus lead way as Producers Guild Awards announces 2020 Outstanding Documentary nominees

Seven films in the running, including two from Syria, one from North Macedonia

Top docs on the program as AFI Fest gets underway in LA

The Kingmaker, The Cave, American Factory and Alex Gibney's latest among films on nonfiction slate

Exclusive: watch clip from DOC NYC world premiere The Queen's Man [video]

Film tells story of  one man's quest to solve case of priceless art collection stolen from the exiled queen of Iran 

The field is set: 159 feature docs qualify for 2020 Academy Awards

Click for the full list, and to find out which directors landed two films apiece on the qualifying list

Capital in the Twenty-First Century, documentary based on Thomas Piketty's massive bestseller, holds North American premiere Sunday at DOC NYC

Kino Lorber acquires North American rights to the doc; plans April 2020 theatrical release

American Factory and Apollo 11 lead the way as Cinema Eye Honors nominations announced

They score five noms apiece; Honeyland, For Sama, One Child Nation among other docs up for Outstanding Nonfiction Feature

For Sama earns audience prize as Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival announces awards

Circus of Books, Objector, Mossville: When Great Trees Fall and A Love Song for Latasha among other HSDFF winners

Exclusive: The Kid Stays in the Picture director Brett Morgen on his relationship with Robert Evans: 'One of the best friends I've ever had in my life'

Filmmaker shares his favorite Evans' stories, like the time the documentary almost fell to pieces: 'You guys have to cease and desist'

New Orleans Film Festivals hosts two screenings of Pier Kids, documentary on New York's homeless LGBTQ youth 

Director Elegance Bratton was a homeless pier kid himself: 'When I was 16 my mother kicked me out for being gay'

Women filmmakers make dramatic showing as IDA Documentary Awards nominations are announced

Women dominate Best Director category; Six of 10 Best Feature nominees directed or co-directed by women

Exclusive photos from 30th Annual New Orleans Film Festival

New Orleans Film Festival: Exodus wins documentary Jury Award, Pier Kids earns honorable mention

A Love Song for Latasha and Mossville: When Great Trees Fall also earn recognition

New Orleans Film Festival showcases Ringside, documentary on young boxers with a bright future, if they can survive Chicago

Director André Hörmann and cinematographer Tom Bergmann on scenes they captured, and one they almost missed: 'We jumped in a cab with a camera like rushing there'

'As a craftsperson, absolutely, she is masterful': Flannery directors on writer, Flannery O'Connor, cherished by Springsteen, Tommy Lee Jones, Ken Burns and more

Documentary just held world premiere at Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival before playing at New Orleans Film Festival

'It isn't going to work.' The River and The Wall director Ben Masters on Trump's border wall project

Award-winning documentary in which Masters and friends traveled 1,200 miles of the Rio Grande, premieres on Starz tonight 

Exclusive photos from 28th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

...including pictures of unofficial festival dog, rescued by a filmmaker

'Documentaries are truth': Hot Springs underway, with more than 100 nonfiction films programmed

World premiere of Flannery kicks things off; One Child Nation director Nanfu Wang earns HSDFF's Impact Award

30th edition of New Orleans Film Festival now underway in Crescent City

Vision Portraits, Mossville: When Great Trees Fall, among outstanding docs playing this weekend

Flannery, documentary on writer Flannery O'Connor, wins first-ever Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film

Elizabeth Coffman and Mark Bosco's feature doc holds world premiere Friday night at Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

Now streaming: Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable, about 'soul surfer' who survived a shark attack to become elite competitor

'She definitely took something where most of us were like, "Well, that's not possible" and just made it happen'

Now streaming: The Cat Rescuers documentary on New York City dwellers helping vulnerable cats survive the urban jungle

Film by Rob Fruchtman and Steven Lawrence now available on all major digital platforms

A dozen nonfiction film projects to share $850,000 in grants from IDA Enterprise Documentary Fund

Prominent grantees include Caroline Waterlow, Joslyn Barnes, Robert Greene, Marilyn Ness and more

For Sama, Honeyland, Diego Maradona and more make IDA's shortlist of year's best docs

But some major titles left out...

Exclusive: presidential candidate Cory Booker turns out for girlfriend Rosario Dawson's new documentary, calls actress/activisit "The love of my life" [video]

Booker also backs message of film The Need to Grow, calling soil depletion a crisis, but one that brings 'profound opportunities'

Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life, explicit documentary on famed gay porn star, to screen this month at NewFest and Reel Aspirations festivals

Tomer Heymann's film last month won Israel's equivalent of Academy Awards

Drag Kids, documentary on pre-teen practitioners of drag, to make U.S. debut at NewFest LGBTQ Film Festival

'Through their passionate commitment to being themselves, they have a lot to teach us about ourselves,' director Megan Wennberg says of 10- and 12-year-old stars

Betsy and Julie and Julia: RBG filmmakers re-team for documentary on Julia Child

'Julia’s story has inspiration, romance, and plenty of spice,' says filmmaker Julie Cohen

Knock Down the House director Rachel Lears and filmmaker Freida Lee Mock to receive major honors at IDA Awards

Ceremony set for December 7 one Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood

Coming soon to Showtime: documentary Sid & Judy on the great Judy Garland and third of her five husbands, Sid Luft [video]

"It's a story of a relationship, really from the inside," says director Stephen Kijak

Now playing: Breakthrough, documentary on Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jim Allison who solves cancer mysteries by day, plays harmonica by night

Allison tells Nonfictionfilm.com why data rules, and why Bill Haney's film brought him to tears

30k attendees expected at New Orleans Film Festival, opening October 16

Dozens of documentaries on the program, from Gay Chorus Deep South to Vision Portraits

Maiden, one of year's most successful documentaries, arrives on home video, digital platforms

Alex Holmes' film tells inspiring story of first all-female crew to compete in around-the-world yacht race

World premiere of Flannery, documentary on writer Flannery O'Connor, to open Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

HSDFF adds two more world premieres to lineup, including Objector and Quest of the Muscle Nerd

Lauren Greenfield's The Kingmaker gets trailer and release date

Documentary on Imelda Marcos and her continuing sway on politics in the Philippines opens November 8

Rock steady: Linda Ronstadt film number one again at documentary box office

Where's My Roy Cohn? takes second spot in week where Cohn's mentee, Donald Trump, faced launch of impeachment inquiry

Screenings, receptions, Q&A's and more screenings: a busy week as awards season ramps up

​From Honeyland to On the President's Orders, contenders get the word out in LA

One Child Nation, For Sama, Varda by Agnès and more award-winning films heading to Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

North America's longest running doc festival runs October 18-26 in Arkansas spa resort 

Mariska Hargitay, Viola Davis, Stephen Curry team up for Emanuel, documentary on racially-motivated Charleston church massacre

Should the white supremacist who killed nine African-American churchgoers be put to death? Curry and director Brian Ivie weigh in

'Good people could have done something earlier, absolutely.' Untouchable director Ursula Macfarlane on why Harvey Weinstein wasn't stopped sooner

With her documentary now streaming on Hulu,  Macfarlane speaks on HW's upcoming trial and his alleged sexual abuse: 'I think it is about power. It's not actually about sex.'

Mariska Hargitay, Raoul Peck, Peter Kunhardt, Science Fair's Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster among big winners at News and Documentary Emmy Awards

'You matter deeply and what happened to you matters,' Hargitay says to sexual assault survivors as she accepts Emmy for I Am Evidence

Ooh, Baby Baby! Linda Ronstadt film keeps strong grip on documentary box office

Where's My Roy Cohn?, film about malevolent character who "helps explain Trump," records impressive debut

Fresh from Emmy wins, Free Solo's Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin sign first-look production deal with National Geographic

They will develop nonfiction series, specials and feature docs, with their next feature already in the works

'We're turning a corner as creators and filmmakers.' Director Roger Ross Williams on his Emmy-nominated VR documentary Traveling While Black [Video]

He talks with Nonfictionfilm.com on Emmys red carpet about film that tells true story of The Green Book. 

Now playing: Asif Kapadia's Diego Maradona on soccer legend who reigned on the field, found scandal off of it

Oscar winner's follow up to Amy in theaters before October 1 HBO debut

Jimmy, Chai, RuPaul and more: Exclusive photos from blazing Emmys red carpet and backstage

Doc filmmakers and acting legends mingle at Creative Arts Awards in downtown LA

Director Feras Fayyad's The Cave wins top audience award for documentary at Toronto International Film Festival

Fayyad's follow up to Last Men in Aleppo opens in theaters October 18

Creative Arts Emmys: Free Solo goes 7 for 7; Our Planet, RBG, The Sentence, Leaving Neverland join winners circle 

Leaving Neverland's win sparks negative reaction from diehard Michael Jackson fans, but director Dan Reed defends the film to Nonfictionfilm.com: 'It's as true and unassailable now as it was on the day of broadcast'

Now playing: Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice, on one of America's greatest singers: 'Perfect pitch, perfect rhythm, perfect passion'

Documentary from renowned directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman celebrates talent who earned success across incredible range of genres

Trailer released for 63 Up, latest from Michael Apted in acclaimed series tracking lives of a dozen-plus British people over decades

First film in the series premiered in 1964

Daniel Johnston, idiosyncratic singer-songwriter profiled in The Devil & Daniel Johnston, dies at 58

Jeff Feuerzeig's 2005 film won documentary directing award at Sundance

TIFF: Director Lauren Greenfield documents the rise, fall and rise of Imelda Marcos in The Kingmaker

Film about former Philippines first lady comes to theaters this fall, and later to Showtime

With passing of photographer/filmmaker Robert Frank, what becomes of his controversial documentary on the Rolling Stones?

C***sucker Blues documented Stones' 1972 U.S. tour, but the band later sued to keep it from being released

Outstanding documentary Love Bite, on macabre artist Laurie Lipton, earns Vimeo Staff Pick designation

James Scott's film streaming for free on Vimeo. 'All I can do is draw,' Lipton says. 'It's all I'm good for.'

Telluride: Oscar winner Orlando von Einsiedel premieres Lost and Found, documentary on world's largest refugee camp, "home" to persecuted Rohingya

National Geographic plans theatrical release and TV debut on NatGeo Channel

Now streaming on Hulu: Untouchable documentary on heinous acts of Harvey Weinstein

Director Ursula Macfarlane and Weinstein accuser Rosanna Arquette speak to Nonfictionfilm.com: "There were people that said 'Keep your mouth shut. You better be careful.''

Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert punch the clock with American Factory, fascinating doc on Sino-American industrial experiment in Dayton, Ohio

Award-winning film is first in President Obama and Michelle Obama's production deal with Netflix

Morgan Spurlock's long-in-limbo Super Size Me sequel about to reach theaters

Director's admission of sexual misconduct derailed original release plan for Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken

Raise Hell, Ya'll! Molly Ivins comes roaring back to life in spirited new documentary from Janice Engel

Film opening today shows how political journalist turned her back on ruling class she was born into: 'Unfairness - to shine a light on that - that was in her'

Sight and insight: Vision Portraits director Rodney Evans on making art in spite of visual impairment

Vision Portraits is now playing in theaters; earns 100-percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Forced abortions, infanticide: Director Nanfu Wang exposes reality of China's one child policy in One Child Nation

Documentary now playing in theaters reveals trade in adoptive babies and a worse fate for others: 'A lot of them, because they were just left outside, they just died'

Director Lisa D'Apolito on Emmy-nominated Love, Gilda, documentary on 'sweetest, kindest, funniest' Gilda Radner

Filmmaker appears at Nonfictionfilm.com's Emmy Doc Roundtable to talk Radner's legacy, and newly-discovered screenplay she left behind

We're careening toward 'total human apocalypse' and 'green energy is not going to save us': Grim prognosis from environmental doc Planet of the Humans 

Jeff Gibbs' film premiered at the Traverse City Film Festival: 'There are too many people consuming too much for a finite planet to support'

Traverse City Film Festival welcomes powerful documentary After Parkland, about survivors of school shooting tragedy

Trump promised to "solve" mass shootings problem after Parkland massacre, but survivor Sam Zeif tells Nonfictionfilm.com, 'He hasn't done sh**'

Michael Moore, in interview with Nonfictionfilm.com, repeats call for Michelle Obama to run for president

Moore believes former first lady may warm to the idea: "She would crush [Trump]" 

Now Playing, Honeyland: Poignant Film about Europe's last female wild beekeeper

"It's a universal message," director tells Nonfictionfilm.com of award winning-documentary with human and environmental themes

Now streaming on Netflix: The Great Hack shows perils to democracy from Facebook data collection, Cambridge Analytica

Documentary by Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim debuts on same day Facebook agrees to $5 billion fine

Now playing: documentary thriller Sea of Shadows on effort to save precious vaquita from extinction

Director Richard Ladkani on Mexican cartels and Chinese traffickers conspiring to destroy Sea of Cortez: 'This is organized crime attacking our planet for money and greed and we need to stop it.'

Nonfictionfilm.com exclusive: Morgan Neville on his new Showtime docuseries Shangri-La, about enigmatic, brilliant music producer Rick Rubin

"Having a subject that gives you that kind of license to be that creative, to jump off a cliff, like okay, that's how we're going to make it. We're going to jump off a cliff."

Now playing: Nick Broomfield's Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, on poet/singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen and Norwegian beauty who inspired him

Marianne Ihlen brought out the best in artists, but was she a muse? 'It's a strange kind of 18th century term'

Now playing: Blue Note Records: Beyond the Notes earns praise for sharp depiction of celebrated jazz label

Director Sophie Huber tells Nonfictionfilm.com how she almost 'blinded' interviewees, and why it was hard to get U.S. funding for a doc about an American art form

Now streaming on Netflix: The Edge of Democracy shows Brazil's dangerous retreat from democratic ideals

Director Petra Costa, producer Joanna Natasegara see warning for U.S. in Brazilian example: 'We polarize more and more and that's not only in Brazil'

Now streaming: The Black Godfather reveals behind-the-scenes role of kingmaker/tastemaker Clarence Avant, most powerful man in entertainment you've never heard of

Major figures owe Avant a debt of gratitude, from Barack Obama and Bill Clinton to singer Bill Withers and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis

Now playing: Frédéric Tcheng's Halston, on designer who changed the course of American fashion

He innovated women's wear, but his greatest invention may have been himself

Now playing: Oscar-shortlisted The Silence of Others on Spain's brutal past, and the cost of keeping secrets

Documentary by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar on screen in LA, New York, SF Bay Area

Now playing: Echo in the Canyon celebrates 1960s SoCal music explosion that changed rock n' roll

Andrew Slater's doc stars Jakob Dylan, features David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Ringo Starr, Tom Petty, Michelle Phillips and more

Stunning work of artist Maleonn at center of Tribeca award-winning documentary Our Time Machine

In film by Yang Sun and S. Leo Chiang, Maleonn creates steampunk masterpiece to connect with his aging father

[Video] Now playing: General Magic, film on forgotten company that made the first smartphone, then fell to pieces

What went wrong? Director and the film's subject talk with Nonfictionfilm.com about lessons from a Silicon Valley near-success story

Now streaming on Netflix: Knock Down the House shows how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulled off huge House upset, becoming major political force

Director Rachel Lears wants doc to crossover to Trump voter territory: 'We're incredibly excited for that potential to reach those viewers'

Now playing: Werner Herzog's Meeting Gorbachev cements legacy of final leader of Soviet Union

Read to find out why famed director praises "courage" of Donald Trump

Why did INXS frontman Michael Hutchence take his own life? Tribeca documentary may have found answer

Richard Lowenstein's film Mystify: Michael Hutchence traces cause back to tragic assault kept secret for decades

Mossville: When Great Trees Fall exposes environmental racism that doomed historic Louisiana town

An "oasis space" founded by freed slaves has become a petrochemical hellscape

Breakthrough doc puts Nobel Prize-winning scientist Jim Allison under microscope

Director Bill Haney talks with Nonfictionfilm.com at Full Frame festival: "[Jim] believes science is the key to human evolution as a culture, as a people, as a nation"

Full Frame festival showcases F11 and Be There, documentary on one of America's greatest photographers 

Burk Uzzle's gift and humanity come into focus in film by Jethro Waters

Full Frame: Director of Molly Ivins doc reveals existence of sealed box of Molly papers

Janice Engel brings Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins to North Carolina festival; says which TV personalities can be compared to late author

"Charming, charismatic, dishonest": Steve Bannon "deconstructed" in The Brink

Director Alison Klayman says she bit her tongue to keep filming as Bannon spread nationalist-populist message around the world

Show Me the Picture: New documentary on Jim Marshall, who captured incredible images of music's premiere talents

Nobody got closer, nobody took as many unforgettable photos as Marshall

The splice of life: Human Nature delves into promise and perils of gene editing technology CRISPR

SXSW hosted world premiere of doc directed by Adam Bolt, executive-produced by Dan Rather

SXSW world premiere: Documentary Tread tells bizarre "killdozer" episode in small-town Colorado

Director Paul Solet recreated homemade tank Marvin Heemeyer welded to get even with his enemies